The set, resembling stillness itself, was like a frozen frame.No one could think to move first; they were locked in place, a few with their mouths slightly agape, and every gaze fixed on just one person. What the fuck was that. They had seen something, but it was so unbelievable their brains glitched into overload and then freeze, like an error had tripped. That was Lee Sihyeon? The Lee Sihyeon whose only watchable feature was his face, whose “acting” barely scraped past reading from a language arts textbook?It made no sense…Around the time they were all seriously wondering if they’d dreamed in unison, Sihyeon—having delivered the last line—found himself in an awkward bind when the “Cut!” that should have come didn’t. There was no next beat. Looking down coolly at the man still trembling in front of him, Sihyeon murmured again the numbers he’d been counting in his head for a while now. One, two, three, four… But no matter how long he waited for a cue that surely had to come by now, he didn’t hear it, and in the end he had no choice but to lift his head first.And what he saw were a bunch of dumbstruck faces.“…?”Sihyeon knit his eyes slightly at the incomprehensible sight, stared for a few seconds, then gave up, and opened his mouth toward the director, who was likewise staring blankly his way. He hadn’t expected to get it in one go anyway, and he still had no idea what the hell “get it right” meant, so to him this was only natural.“…Should we go again?”As if that were some magic incantation, the director jolted and barked, “Cut, cut!” with a flustered face, and only then did everyone seem to come to, the red lights on the cameras beginning to wink out. What did I just watch? Park Gangjun felt an urge to scream on the spot. At first he’d thought it was a fluke—he’d been so disappointed that he had them roll again—and then Lee Sihyeon made that disappointment embarrassing.An even darker, gloomier air; the way he tapped the man’s chest with the toe of his shoe as if to naturally mark position; even the hand timing, dead on. And what the hell was that face at the end, Jesus. In that brief moment when the seated Sihyeon walked toward the man sprawled on the floor—clearly nothing special—and yet there was something that tightened the palms with sweat. A white hand reached out, grabbed a fistful of hair, and the words he let fall carried no tremor, no feeling. He simply asked whether the man really wanted to die, and answered “good thing” in dry fashion to the reply that he wanted to live. Nothing more in the voice.Does he run loans on the side or what…? Rubbing the goosebumps that had broken out on his wrist, he looked at the wide shot on the monitor, and there it was: Sihyeon’s full figure wearing that suit to perfection. He looked lean but with just enough muscle, all long lines—he could have passed for a model. But just now, neither that body nor that inhuman face had been visible at all; there had only been one cold, gloomy man.How is this real, he thought, face clouded with confusion as he looked Sihyeon’s way—and at some point, Sihyeon was kneeling.“Excuse me.”Sihyeon was in a bind. The shoot seemed to be over, and yet the man collapsed at his feet didn’t seem able to get up. He hadn’t hurt him, but he had grabbed the hair a bit carelessly, so Sihyeon slowly bent his knees. When he spoke, the man’s back visibly shuddered. It was clear he’d scared him without meaning to. Sihyeon let out a low sigh and reached his hand out again.Instead of seizing the hair like before, those pale fingers carefully smoothed the man’s mussed hair back.“Does it hurt?”The voice was gentle. At the completely different tone, the man flinched and slowly lifted his head. Their eyes met, and the face looking down at him now—where had that earlier expression gone—looked a little worried. “…Are you okay?” With no answer coming, the voice asked again; as if coming to, the man nodded and gingerly pushed himself up. Sihyeon watched in silence.“Thank you for your work,” he said in a low voice once the man was fully upright. For someone so notorious for not greeting people, Lee Sihyeon not only dipped his head slightly to a mere extra; he turned to the men who’d played the underlings and offered “Thank you for your work,” politely, one by one. He even asked others if they could help support the man gently. The total opposite of that earlier chill and fear, and the extra looked bewildered, but in the end he had no choice but to let himself be guided off the set.God, this is harder than the shoot.He was thinking that as he watched the man shuffle away supported on both sides, when someone hit him like a wave, making that look like nothing.“Lee Sihyeon…! What even are you—sob—are you trying to make my heart drop out or what? Huh?”You think I don’t know? You’re doing this on purpose lately to freak me out, aren’t you? The person who rushed him and clamped tight around his neck was the manager. He’d been trembling like he might jump off a rooftop any second, and the moment the cut sign came he’d obviously burst into tears. Even with everyone staring in shock, he either didn’t notice or couldn’t care, and launched into the display of talking through sobs yet again.“You were so good—sob—you were really good, Sihyeon, really…! If only you’d been like this sooner…!”The tail end grated a little, but he kept repeating how good it was; in the end Sihyeon let out another quiet sigh and lifted a hand to gently stroke the back clinging to him. The shoulders were shaking so much they looked fragile—he couldn’t bring himself to shove him off. His sigh deepened, as if in resignation.“I told you not to cry.”Even so, he bent down a little. The shorter height hanging there looked uncomfortable.“But, but…”“What ‘but.’ Stop.”How am I supposed to just stop—sob sob sob. At the manager, crying even louder, Sihyeon let out a short, incredulous laugh. It wasn’t his first rodeo, and at this point, how was this twenty-eight in any way—he couldn’t fathom it. Clicking his tongue softly, Sihyeon slid the hand that had been rubbing his back up and caught the back of his collar, yanking. Startled by the sudden pull at his back, the manager let go and dropped away—and there was Sihyeon’s face, less than a hand’s span away. He looked at the already tear-blotted manager like he couldn’t believe it, met his eyes slowly, and—“Stop.”—said it seriously. It wasn’t a scary face, but the voice was strict enough that the manager startled and actually stopped crying, and somehow that amused him and he let out another small laugh.He’d been radiating that dank gloom a minute ago, and now he wore a faint smile like nothing had happened—beauty so striking it barely felt real. Unlike the button done tight up his throat, the tie was loosened a touch; the hair he’d dyed black fluttered against his nape; the shadowed eyes from the makeup—all of it had a strangely sensual, touchable quality. But the man himself looked utterly uninterested in any of that. He’d thought more than once that he wasn’t human; since waking up again in the Hospital, he seemed upgraded another level, into criminal territory.“…? Why are you staring like that. Is the shoot over?”“Huh? Oh—uh, yeah! Good job, good job, Sihyeon! Not a single NG, you finished and—really…!”“Then can we go?”“There’s nothing else on today’s schedule, so yeah, but why? Tired? Do you feel off?”Maybe a little. Seeing he was about to tear up again while saying “good job,” Sihyeon deflected, putting on a deliberately tired face, and the manager started making a fuss about getting back to the dorm quickly. Truthfully, he’d thought they’d be stuck pulling an all-nighter and had even warned the members—he hadn’t expected to be heading back this fast. Watching the manager carry on, Sihyeon figured if he left him alone he’d keep it up forever, so he asked, “Is it fine if I go say goodbye to the director first?” The manager snapped his head up. “Oh, right!” He nodded.Without a moment’s hesitation, Sihyeon walked over to the director—who was staring at him like he’d seen a ghost—and offered a brief, “Thank you for your work.” The man nodded, dumbfounded. “Would it be alright if we head out first?” Sihyeon followed naturally. “Uh, uh…” the director stammered, then, like he was hypnotized, managed, “Yeah, good work… next—next shoot…” and failed to finish. Sihyeon waited patiently, but when it was clear there was no next sentence coming and the man was just staring, he bowed again and turned away.“Let’s go,” he said, calling to the manager—now on the phone with someone and beside himself with glee—and left the set. As he passed staffers, he offered, “Thank you for your work,” and then vanished as quickly as he’d come.Lee Sihyeon has seriously lost his mind…!The scream-like exclamations burst only after that.When the manager and Sihyeon came through the door, the members all looked shocked. Only a few hours earlier he’d left muttering with a pale face that they might not be able to come back to the Dorm tonight because of the shoot; it was strange to see them return already. And though he didn’t look gloomy, the manager’s eyes were red like he’d been crying—again—which made it obvious something serious had happened, whatever it was.Did he get cut from the role? That was what everyone most wanted to ask, but no one could bring themselves to say it. Rajoon, who had been working furiously on his laptop, tossed it onto the table and came dashing over first.“Hyung, hyung! Uh… you’re back?”He deliberately skipped the word already that should have gone before you’re back, and when Rajoon smiled, Sihyeon answered, “Yeah,” casually as he slipped off his shoes and stepped into the living room. Sanyoo, who’d been in his room, opened the door at the sound of the lock and said, “Mm,” as if choosing his words, then came over and patted Sihyeon’s shoulder. “Good work.” Both of them seemed oddly careful, but before he could wonder why, Euihyun—sprawled on the sofa writing something—snickered and said,“Hey, why are you back already. Did you get cut?”Wow, straight to the gut… Rajoon’s face said, Don’t, hyung! and Sanyoo looked awkward, oh dear, but Euihyun was not the type to care. Sihyeon looked over, wondering what he meant, and Euihyun flicked the notebook and pen onto the table and drawled,“Could happen. You were shit at acting.”“Ah, hyung…!”“I watched that drama you did before and nearly rolled on the floor, okay? So stop digging yourself a grave.”You were always bad at acting. He gave the words extra stress, like he wanted to underline them, and Sanyoo shook his head, not sure whether to laugh or cry, while Rajoon flapped his hands and scooted up to Sihyeon. “No, no, it wasn’t that bad, hyung…”—clearly trying to deny it somehow. He looked worried he might hurt him, and as Sihyeon silently watched, he faltered—and then, “It’s true…!” eyes quaking like an earthquake, as if afraid he wasn’t being believed.The manager, who had been staring blankly, finally seemed to come to.“No, no…! We finished everything for today! He didn’t get cut—why would he get cut? Do you have any idea how good he was!”“…Huh?”“What?”“I got goosebumps today, seriously! When Sihyeon grabbed the other actor’s hair and went, ‘Looks like you want to die,’ it was—”“Stop exaggerating.”Sick of the speech he’d already had to endure the whole drive back, Sihyeon cut in with a face that said he couldn’t take it anymore. The manager’s usual fragility was nowhere to be seen; “I’m not exaggerating!” he shouted, all worked up, and launched into another stream of praise. Next to him, Rajoon listened with shining eyes, nodding earnestly. Doing this to my face, really? Watching with mild discomfort, Sihyeon noticed Chan slip out of the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) kitchen and take his place beside him without a sound. The sink was covered with ingredients; he’d probably been preparing dinner.If he’d heard all that, Chan’s interest had already moved elsewhere.With a hand still slightly damp, Chan carefully swept Sihyeon’s now jet-black hair back behind his ear. At the cool touch, Sihyeon flinched and edged away, and Chan found it oddly cute and couldn’t help staring. Feeling that stare, a lazy voice asked, “Why?”“…Your hair.”“Oh, right—you changed it,” Sanyoo said. “Sihyeon.”“It suits you.” In the morning when he’d left, his hair had definitely been two-tone; now it was pitch black. Seeing that, Sanyoo came over too and, as always, gently ruffled it with his hand. Since Jihan was set to have black hair, Sihyeon only now remembered going out early to get it dyed at the salon. Rajoon, who had been soaking up the manager’s speech, scampered over, let out a weird little “Wow, waaah,” and said, “It’s pretty,” as he fingered at the ends.Is this a neighborhood petting zoo.“Move,” he said, annoyed at all the handling. Rajoon pulled his hand back immediately, but Sanyoo, still smiling, went, “Hm?” and, instead of moving his hand, ruffled even more. He was obviously doing it on purpose. Sihyeon gave a short sigh and blinked like he was tired. Earlier, he’d only said he was tired to deflect; now he really was. Tired, from what, again. He was exasperated by a weak body that never seemed to adapt—but satisfied it was getting better, little by little. He started toward the room, but Euihyun’s voice from behind made him stop.“Oh, right. The CEO called earlier.”We’re about to—“They said the new song concept is coming out.”Ha…Damn Lee Sihyeon.

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