Descent of the Demon Master

Chapter 662. Tightening (2)

Chapter 662. Tightening (2)

'Well, I guess Miss Choi was trying to say she'd be here as soon as possible...'

Zhang Xiang sighed grandly while handing the phone back to the assistant director.

“What did she say, Director?”

“She says she's coming.”

“Really?” The assistant director gasped in shock and stared at his boss.

Zhang Xiang cocked an eyebrow. “What's up with your reaction? Is Miss Choi's willingness to help us out that weird to you?”

“Yes, it sure is,” said the assistant director. “Even regular actors would be unhappy about this situation, but we are talking about that Choi Yeon-Ha, aren't we? Just because she got angry, didn't she raise her voice at... Kuh-hum, in any case! Isn't it weird for a woman with such a fiery temper to agree this easily? I figured she'd lose her temper again and slam the phone down or something...”

“...Yeah, me too.” Zhang Xiang nodded contemplatively since he couldn't really disagree with his assistant director. Calling Choi Yeon-Ha was him clutching at straws. And he feared the only reward for his desperate attempt would be more humiliation.

So, imagine how surprised he was by Choi Yeon-Ha's immediate and favorable reply.

“You know what she said? She said we're in this together, making this TV show. And if there's a problem, we should solve it together since that's what an actor is supposed to do. Apparently... This production doesn't only belong to the director,”

“...I see. That sure is a reasonable stance to take, I think. And it's also a stance not many can uphold.”

“Yeah, that too...” Zhang Xiang smacked his lips ruefully.

He couldn't help but be awed by Choi Yeon-Ha's professional conduct. What if he was in her shoes? What if Zhang Xiang had been the actor instead? Would he be willing to join the shoot a few days after having a bust-up with the director and going through that nonsense yesterday? Especially when the bullying director was the one needing help?

'Nope, I wouldn't.'

Zhang Xiang would've raised his middle finger to the director by ending the call. Actually, he'd go further than that by using the excuse of not feeling well and staying in bed until Liu Wei showed up again.

He would've been solely focused on ruining the director's day, that much was for certain. He had enough pretext, after all!

No one would've criticized Choi Yeon-Ha even if she chose to make Zhang Xiang's life difficult. Why would they when he made things pretty much unbearable for her yesterday?

To think that an actress from a smaller nation could be so broad-minded and heroic! Zhang Xiang was freshly reminded of how petty and shameful his conduct had been yesterday. His face grew hot and flushed just thinking about the shame.

Now that he thought about it some more, he should've realized how commendable it was for an actress to travel to a foreign country to film a TV show and hold on so well for so long. He failed to consider that since Choi Yeon-Ha had been such a professional in front of the camera.

'I should pay more attention to her...!'

Not only was Choi Yeon-Ha exceedingly pretty, but her acting talent was also nothing to scoff at. And then, there was her professional attitude and respect for the process of filmmaking to consider. How stupid had Zhang Xiang been for treating someone of her caliber so poorly!

“She certainly put me in my place, huh...” Zhang Xiang quietly tutted away.

“Director, shall we get ready?”

“Yeah. Let's change the schedule and shoot Choi Yeon-Ha's scene first. It shouldn't matter since Liu Wei's scenes and hers overlap, anyway.”

“Understood. I'll get the crew ready. However, we might run out of time for today. Do you think we can make it, Director?”

“Well... If she can arrive quickly, sure.” Zhang Xiang checked his watch, then a hint of anxiety crept into his expression. Unfortunately, this was the best they could do in this situation. “...Get everything ready, so Miss Choi can start on her makeup as soon as she arrives on set. All we can do is pray for her swift arrival.”

“Understood, Director.”

Zhang Xiang sighed at the sight of the assistant director rushing outside the director's tent.

'Thirty minutes, huh... If only, right? If only...'

A bitter smile floated up on Zhang Xiang's face as he picked up the script and flipped through its pages.

However, he had no idea. He had no idea that Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't simply stating her intention to reach the filming location as soon as possible.

***

Han Eun-Sol screamed in terror. “Uwaaaaaaaaaaah?! We're gonna die!”

“Be quiet, will you?!” Choi Yeon-Ha sharply shot back at her manager.

“We, we're gonna die! We... Uwaaaahk?! Noona, noona! Please do something! Please stop that crazy man from killing us!”

Choi Yeon-Ha and her crumpled expression glared at Han Eun-Sol. “What's the matter with you! How can a man be this gutless!”

“A man?! A man? You think a man won't die when you shove him into a crash?!” Han Eun-Sol roared out a somewhat incomprehensible rant as his eyes went bloodshot.

Although he was putting on a rather sorry spectacle, everyone would sympathize with his plight after learning about his current ordeal.

Since ancient times, the roads of Sichuan were infamous for their ruggedness. The phrase, 'Life is a bumpy road,' wasn't invented for no reason. Many roads in China had become paved to match the era and to make one's journey less of a fraught adventure, but Sichuan's road network beyond the city limits could still be bumpy and unforgiving.

To exacerbate the situation, the filming location happened to be riiiight at the top of a tall mountain. To reach this scenic spot, one had no choice but to travel on a dangerous path built next to a steep cliff. One mistake on this road would mean the traveler would plummet to their death far below!

Most modern-era drivers would slow their cars right down and pray for the best while traveling on these roads. But not Kang Jin-Ho. He was nonchalantly racing along on this dangerous stretch of the road in a large van! In fact, he was averaging over 80 kph!

“This is insaneeeee!”

Han Eun-Sol cried out in despair at the pants-wetting sight of a steep chasm just beyond the van's windows. Why were they driving so fast on such a road?! Why!

'Not even M. Schumacher would be ballsy enough to do this!'

This was no longer on the level of being irresponsible. No, this was suicidal!

Han Eun-Sol urgently cried out, “Mister Jin-Ho! Wait! Uwaaah?! Mister Jin-Ho!”

“Keep it down!” Choi Yeon-Ha yelled while angrily slapping Han Eun-Sol's back.

“How can I keep it down, noona?!”

Even though he was being physically assaulted, Han Eun-Sol couldn't feel any pain. Besides, pain was the least of his problems right now. If he was dead, he wouldn't have to worry about pain, anyway!

Han Eun-Sol bitterly regretted not ignoring Choi Yeon-Ha's demand when she told him to hand the driving duties over to Kang Jin-Ho. Indeed, he should've started questioning whether Kang Jin-Ho even held an international driving license!

Han Eun-Sol should've resorted to whatever excuses he could think of and never relinquished his position as Choi Yeon-Ha's driver! However, how could he have known that seemingly normal Kang Jin-Ho would transform into a maniac once he was deposited behind a steering wheel?

At least Kang Jin-Ho stayed within the boundaries of an aggressive driver while speeding along China's national highway system. However, he discarded all pretenses of a sane man by stomping on the accelerator as soon as their van hit the unpaved roads!

Choi Yeon-Ha confidently nodded. “We aren't gonna have an accident, okay?”

Han Eun-Sol desperately yelled at her. “How do you know that?!”

“Hah, seriously...” Choi Yeon-Ha frowned in dissatisfaction before turning her head toward Kang Jin-Jo in the driver's seat. “It'll be fine, yes?”

“Yes. But is this the right road?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “I'm following your directions, but...”

“Keep driving on this road. We'll eventually get there.”

“I see. In that case, I'm going to speed up. You said you're in a hurry, after all.”

“Thank you.”

Han Eun-Sol's face froze up and stuttered as if his brain was still in the middle of buffering.

What did Kang Jin-Ho say? He's going to up what now?

Vrooooooom!

Han Eun-Sol soon felt the sensation of the van's full-on acceleration with his entire body. Even as their vehicle ran over large rocks and went airborne several times, the sensation of ever-increasing speed was still unmistakable!

“You... You insane lunaaaaaatics!”

Han Eun-Sol's scream, containing all his despair and rage, exploded out of his throat again and again. Despite screaming until his throat became hoarse, the van racing along the edge of a steep cliff didn't show any signs of slowing down.

***

“Huh? I-isn't that...?” The assistant director blinked his eyes in surprise while pointing somewhere in the distance.

Zhang Xiang hurriedly looked around. “What is it now?”

“Isn't that... Miss Choi Yeon-Ha's van?”

“Huh?” Zhang Xiang turned his head and fixed his gaze in the direction pointed out by the assistant director. “What? How come she's already here?”

A distinctive van was urgently rushing toward the film set's entrance in a cloud of dust. That vehicle definitely belonged to Choi Yeon-Ha. Not many cast members drove around in vans, and those who did all used black vans. However, only Choi Yeon-Ha used a white one. That made identifying her vehicle that much easier, though.

That was beside the point, however. How did she arrive so quickly? She should've taken at least one and a half hours to get here from her lodging. But she didn't even need thirty minutes?

'Was she on standby by the foot of the mountain?'

That couldn't be right. Even if Choi Yeon-Ha had nothing better to do, why would she waste her time doing that? Even if she somehow predicted Liu Wei's absence, she still had no reason to wait for a call from the director at the foot of the mountain.

In that case...?

The assistant director tilted his head. “Maybe... She was somewhere nearby? You know, having a picnic or something?”

“Yeah, that sounds plausible...?”

Before Zhang Xiang could finish his sentence...

The van seemed to hit the brakes and began rapidly slowing down. And then, even before its tires could stop spinning, the van's rear door urgently flew open.

'What the hell? What's the rush?'

However, the person jumping out of the van wasn't Choi Yeon-Ha.

“Bleeeeeeergh!”

A grown-up man practically threw himself out of the van's passenger compartment and toppled over the ground while vomiting like a lunatic!

'What the hell is going on now?'

Zhang Xiang fell into a bout of mild panic at this incomprehensible situation.

The assistant director gasped in shock. “Hang on... Isn't that Miss Choi Yeon-Ha's manager?”

“Huh? Yeah, it is him.”

Zhang Xiang usually didn't care about crew members not directly involved in filming but still recognized Choi Yeon-Ha's manager. A director was supposed to communicate with his actors at all times, so how could he not recognize someone he had been shouting at for the past several months?

“W-what's the matter with him, then?”

“Could it be car sickness, Director?”

“Eh? Car... sickness?”

“Yes, that. You know, motion sickness.”

That was when cold sweat began trickling down Zhang Xiang's forehead.

'Wait a bloody minute. They couldn't have driven past that road in thirty minutes for real, right? Right?'

Now, that wasn't something a sane-minded person should be attempting. Doing so wasn't the question of one's driving skills. The road leading up to this filming location was a bumpy, unpaved road carved on a precarious cliff. It didn't even have any guard rails installed along the perimeters, for goodness' sake! Just how much trouble did the crew encounter while transporting all the filming equipment on that bloody road!?

But now... Choi Yeon-Ha traveled on such a road at an unreasonable speed? Unless she was a cat with nine lives, that shouldn't even be possible. So how did she...

“Oh my gawd, Eun-Sol! That's disgusting!” Choi Yeon-Ha deeply scowled while exiting the van. “How could you throw up like that in a film set! You dummy!”

While expressing her irritation, Choi Yeon-Ha began pulling out several wet wipes from inside the van. She delicately held those tissues between her thumb and index finger, then extended her hand as far away from herself. Her target was, of course, Han Eun-Sol.

However, rather than gratitude, Han Eun-Sol's eyes were filled with venom and resentment.

The glare in his eyes was sharp enough to send shivers down anyone's spine, but the unmentionable state of his nose and mouth meant Han Eun-Sol didn't look all that scary.

He painfully growled at Choi Yeon-Ha. “You... You demonic...”

“You're being noisy again.”

“I, I almost died... Wuuuph?!”

Choi Yeon-Ha slowly shook her head, then took out the entire box of wet wipes from the van to dump it on Han Eun-Sol's head. Then, she strode toward still-stunned Zhang Xiang.

He was still too stupefied by this scene to say something and could only stare at the approaching actress.

“I'm here, Director,” said Choi Yeon-Ha.

“Oh, uh...” Zhang Xiang finally sobered up when Choi Yeon-Ha's nonchalant voice registered in his hearing.

“Are we doing the scene originally scheduled to be shot in three days?”

“Ah, yes. We're doing that scene.”

Choi Yeon-Ha nodded. “I see. In that case, I'll quickly get the makeup done and join you on set. No, wait. Can you join me during my makeup session? There were some parts of the script I didn't understand on an emotional level. I think our interpretation of the scene might differ.”

“Oh? Which part?”

“Let's discuss that while I'm getting makeup done. Well, then.” Choi Yeon-Ha spun on her heels and got ready to walk away, only to suddenly stop. “Oh. By the way...?”

Zhang Xiang tilted his head. “Mm?”

“I had to sacrifice my vacation time to come here, so you must compensate me for this. Remember that this was my first vacation, too!”

“Of course I will do that! Definitely!”

“Then, we're all good, Director.” Choi Yeon-Ha nodded, then coolly turned around to leave.

Zhang Xiang sighed softly under his breath. If Choi Yeon-Ha had decided to rake Zhang Xiang over the proverbial coal for this matter, he wouldn't feel as sorry as before. However, she didn't bother to bring up the hardship she faced. And that only made Zhang Xiang even more apologetic.

'I better increase her screen time.'

Not only that, but maybe he should consider altering the story a bit toward the climax, too!

When he compared Choi Yeon-Ha to the idiot Liu Wei who couldn't even act to save himself and irresponsibly skipped out on filming, it became clear who should play a more prominent role in this TV show.

While Zhang Xiang was contemplating this new direction for his show inside his head, Choi Yeon-Ha patted the back of still-vomiting Han Eun-Sol a couple of times, then headed to the van's driver seat.

She smiled brightly at Kang Jin-Ho. “Thank you.”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “I haven't done anything particularly impressive.”

“By the way, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yes?”

Choi Yeon-Ha leaned in closer and whispered quietly. “I'll also be in a difficult spot if Liu Wei doesn't show up soon. So... I'm asking you just in case, but can you find and drag that bastard over here?”

What an absurd request that was. How was anyone supposed to find a single person in this vast land called China? Not to forget, didn't Kang Jin-Ho arrive in this country only a couple of days ago?

However, there was not a speck of doubt in Choi Yeon-Ha's eyes. She was deeply confident about Kang Jin-Ho's ability to capture Liu Wei without breaking a sweat.

As if to satisfy her expectations, Kang Jin-Ho leisurely replied to her. “I can find him immediately. Will that be fine with you?”

The smile blooming on Choi Yeon-Ha's face was as radiant as a smile could possibly get.