Kiss Me if You Can Novel Completed - Chapter 39

“Cut! That’s a wrap!”

At the director’s shout, the tension on the set dissipated all at once. The previously quiet surroundings instantly became noisy with people murmuring, packing up equipment, and chatting here and there. Just then, the director called Naomi, and she left her spot to head towards him. Chase also got up right after.

Josh, who had been standing some distance away, observing him and his surroundings throughout the filming, immediately took a step. He had to stay with Chase until he returned to the trailer.

Laura, his secretary, who had also been waiting nearby, followed Chase more quickly than Josh. Chase took the water she offered, drank a sip, and then his face twisted. Immediately, everyone, including Josh, tensed up.

Soon after, Chase ruthlessly threw the more than half-full plastic bottle away. Water splashed everywhere as the bottle hit the ground, but no one complained. Laura cautiously asked for the reason.

“Is there, perhaps, something you don’t like…? If it’s the brand, I can prepare different water.”

Chase looked down at her with a terrifying gaze. He opened his mouth to a startled Laura.

“It smells like omega.”

“Pardon?”

Laura blinked in confusion. Josh was also startled, but he hadn’t even gone near the bottled water, so he was innocent. Besides, Chase had been irritable and annoyed by such trivial things ever since filming began. Recalling various incidents, Josh soon felt relieved, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. As he watched in silence, Laura hurriedly continued.

“I apologize, I don’t know what happened… I’ll check and be careful in the future. I clearly told the staff that no omegas should interfere with Mr. Miller’s belongings, and it’s even in the contract, so how could this…”

Flustered, she chased after Chase, who was walking away furiously with larger strides than usual, as if angry.

“Mr. Miller, I apologize, but could you please check this part?”

Chase irritably turned his gaze towards her, unexpectedly making eye contact with Josh. Josh habitually offered a smile. But Chase, with an expressionless face, completely ignored him and turned his head away.

At the cold reaction, Josh awkwardly scratched his head. Just then, a passing staff member smiled and greeted him, and he returned the smile. He immediately fixed his gaze back on Chase, but Chase just kept walking straight ahead. Since that day, they hadn’t even made proper eye contact, let alone spoken.

Josh accepted it as a given. He thought that what had happened in the garden that day was merely to mock him, and that the bitterness in a corner of his heart now was also natural.

Nearly ten days had already passed. During that time, filming had begun, and Josh had somewhat gotten used to his black hair.

The original work of the film was a novel that had been published for over 10 years. As it was old, it had many fans, so when the news of its film adaptation first came out, there was a huge uproar. But the even bigger uproar came after it was revealed that Chase would play the role of Doctor Flame.

Doctor Flame, played by Chase, was not the main character but a role equivalent to it, an anti-hero throughout the series. He was a quite charming character who confronted the protagonist, so he had no small number of fans, but the problem was that these fans were extremely fanatical.

Until the photo of him with black hair was released, they unanimously shouted, ‘Not Chase Miller!’ saying he didn’t suit the role.

After the photo of him as Doctor Flame was released, they again shouted, ‘Not Chase Miller!’ saying he suited it, but he shouldn’t be the one. The reasons changed each time, but the conclusion was the same.

Anyway, people hate others for their own reasons. Since he had as many anti-fans as fans, the controversy was fully expected. And the fallout spread from the production company to Keith Pitman, who cast him. Naturally, Pitman didn’t bat an eyelid. And finally, filming began.

Josh believed that all controversy would die down once the movie was released. Although his scenes in the movie were not many, his presence was enough just by passing through one side of the screen. Moreover, when he spoke his lines, even the staff held their breath and listened intently. Anyone could see that at that moment, he was Doctor Flame.

But as soon as the cut signal came, he immediately reverted to Chase Miller. Everyone avoided him, and he also accepted that as a given. Even now, he walked straight ahead and immediately entered the trailer.

His quickly vanished presence caused the momentarily focused gazes to scatter here and there. Josh, who had been unable to relax throughout the filming, also let out a belated sigh of relief. Of course, everyone felt the same way.

Now they could rest until the next scene. He swapped places with Isaac and went to get coffee.

“Hello, Josh.”

One of the staff members acknowledged him. The short woman, who came up to Josh’s shoulder, was said to be another actor’s assistant. He briefly wondered what her name was, but fortunately, she had a name tag. Josh smiled and greeted her back.

“Hello, Heather.”

She blushed faintly and continued.

“Is Mr. Miller’s filming for today finished?”

“No, there’s one more scene in the afternoon. Another member will come. I’m just going to drink this coffee and then rest.”

“It must be very tiring to be on guard all the time, right? Mr. Miller seems to receive a lot of threats, too.”

“It’s my job, so I can’t help it.”

When he answered gently, Heather chuckled briefly. They exchanged a few more words, but when he turned away, Josh couldn’t remember a single one. And he had a few more meaningless conversations with others on his way to the trailer where the bodyguards stayed.

As soon as he returned to the accommodation, Josh went into the makeshift shower, quickly washed himself, and lay down on a bed in the corner. Other men who were already asleep snored here and there. Josh tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep.

“Then I’ll handle that matter. I have about two hours free, should I let you know if I have time?”

To Laura’s businesslike voice, Chase said, “No,” without even looking at her.

“It’s fine.”

“Understood. Please call me if you need anything.”

She quickly retreated and left the trailer. Chase took off his uncomfortable costume, threw it carelessly onto a chair, and lay flat on the bed. He wasn’t particularly sleepy. He tossed and turned, and suddenly his gaze fell on the pill bottle on the desk. His assistant had prepared it in advance. He slowly got up and idly scanned the characters on the label.

He felt an urge to pour the entire contents into his mouth, but there was only enough medicine for one dose inside. Ever since he had emptied an entire bottle of medicine at once, causing a big commotion, Laura always left only the prescribed amount like this. Even so, it was more than the usual amount, and Chase always took the maximum dose of the prescribed usage. During filming, it was common for him to take more than that. This time was no exception.

Tilting the bottle, Chase piled the pills onto his palm, stared at them silently, then put them in his mouth and swallowed. Only after emptying the entire plastic bottle did he finally lean back against the wall.

Outside, the faint sounds of people laughing and talking continued. Inside the trailer, it was deadly quiet. So quiet that even the sound of his own breathing felt burdensome.

The scheduled filming for that day was an explosion scene, so tension had been palpable among the staff since the day before. It was a scene where an entire building was burned down, making retakes difficult. Finishing the scene in one take was always a burden, but since it was a dangerous scene, the responsibility was even greater.

Leaving the specialized staff who were recalculating and re-checking the weight of the explosives behind him, Josh stood at a distance as usual, watching Chase. He was standing next to the director with Naomi, listening to the explanation of the scene.

“The explosion will start there, so you need to run around that point. Safety is the top priority, so be careful. Let’s do a rehearsal first.”

There was a lot to do, starting with setting up safety devices. Naomi joked as usual, laughing.

“If we’re not careful, we’ll be roasted. I prefer rare.”

At her words, another staff member laughed and said,

“Will we have steak for dinner?”

“Oh, I’m really looking forward to it. I just hope it’s not me on the plate.”

Naomi, who had clasped her hands together as if praying, glanced at Chase. She seemed to be hoping he would play along, but there was no such thing. At his attitude of not even looking at her, Naomi gave a wry smile and shook her head, as if she had expected it.

That’s when Josh thought something was strange. He felt an indescribable sense of incongruity from Chase. His expressionless face, tightly closed lips, and dismissive attitude were no different from usual, yet he couldn’t find an answer himself as to why he felt that way.

“Isn’t C a bit strange?”

Josh subtly probed Mark. Mark, who was also guarding the surroundings, including Chase, glanced at Josh and then turned his gaze back to Chase.

“Where?”

“Well, I’m not sure…”

To his voice, which died down without confidence, Mark replied indifferently.

“He’s the same as usual, what’s wrong?”

Josh simply shut his mouth. He had no words to convince himself either. Meanwhile, all preparations were complete.

The progress was smooth. After perfectly completing the rehearsal, the director immediately started filming.

“Alright, let’s focus and finish this in one go.”

He was a renowned director, publicly recognized for his considerable sense not only in action but also in story composition, but even he seemed nervous at times like this. Seeing the director’s face, usually prone to smiles, hardened, Josh concluded that the sense of strangeness he felt was also due to the tension of the filming set being contagious.

Chase and Naomi were seen entering the building. The indoor filming had finished the day before, and today they only needed to shoot the escape scene.

“Don’t they do these things with CGI these days?”

Mark whispered softly. Josh also replied in a low voice.

“Many movies don’t.”

“It’s been a long time since I watched a movie. This is quite interesting in its own way.”

Mark smiled contentedly, thinking of telling his daughters about the adventure when he returned. After filming, he planned to ask a few people for autographs and photos. Of course, Chase was an exception.

A staff member who ran out from inside the building signaled that everything was ready by making a circle with his arms. As he quickly disappeared from the frame, the director took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“Start!”

After about 5 seconds of silence, a loud explosion and flames erupted from a part of the building. The scale was so large that even though they had expected it, they momentarily flinched.