What were all of them doing here?
In the cramped space of the hotel’s clinic, were the esteemed main characters of ‘Code Black,’ all of them looking at Zeno with wide eyes.
“Is… everything alright?” Chaewon PD started off sounding more cautious than usual. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes,” Zeno said. However, his voice came out hoarse. Just then, two bottles of water were placed on his bed.
One from Ian, and one from… Risa?
He frowned in confusion. She seemed awfully chummy for someone who wasn’t fond of Zeno after he deflected Hyunbin’s request.
Zeno grabbed Ian’s bottle, causing the latter to smile brightly. He then opened it and chugged it down.
Risa watched the scene, biting her lip as some water spilled from Zeno’s lips. “He would be great in an alcohol commercial,” she muttered.
In reality, though, she had said it out loud, capturing everybody’s attention.
She chuckled awkwardly and patted Jiho’s back, causing the latter to cough out loud. “I mean, I want alcohol. Does anyone want to drink after this? It’s been a rough day.”
“You should lay off on the alcohol,” Ian teased, causing Risa to turn to the side with warm cheeks.
Zeno sighed. If they were going to speak among themselves, then they should have done so in their own time!
“Do you need anything?” Zeno asked. They turned to him once again.
Chaewon turned to Jiho while the latter pursed his lips, appearing hesitant to talk. However, he knew he had a huge fault in what had happened, so he caved in the end.
“Thank you for being a great help, Zeno,” Jiho said through gritted teeth. “We had considered all of the disasters that could happen, but it seemed we weren’t careful enough.”
“You just wanted to rush things,” Zeno said, massaging his aching head.
The room turned silent, and Jiho opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water.
“This is a big-budget film, so I don’t understand. If you wanted to keep the staff and the actors safe, you wouldn’t have proceeded without enough firefighters or doctors on board.”
“Actually,” he continued, looking directly at Chaewon PD. “We could have avoided all of these if we just used CGI for the fire. Or, is that too expensive, now?”
Chaewon PD struggled to find the right answer. She just wanted to make something different from all the CGI disaster movies. However, she realized she had placed the entire team in danger.
Jiho clicked his tongue. “Hey, I know you’re upset, but you don’t have to—”
“I’m sorry,” Chaewon PD said, cutting Jiho off. Except for Zeno, they all turned to her with wide eyes. Chaewon PD, the woman with a steel heart, was apologizing to a rookie actor?
“You’re right,” she sighed, running her fingers through her hair.
That made them even more shocked. Now, she was even admitting her mistakes? Jiho was the most flabbergasted. Chaewon PD had never apologized to him, even when she spilled coffee on his white pants, making it appear like he had peed and pooped himself at the same time!
“The production had come so far,” Zeno continued. “It would be a waste to end here when you’ve all worked so hard.”
They listened to him intently, wondering where his statement could go.
Zeno pursed his lips. He did all of those in order to avoid delays in their filming. ‘Yeah, I did,’ he thought with conviction. He couldn’t back down now when he had already done so much!
“So, I suggest we continue filming,” he said, causing Chaewon PD to gasp in surprise.
Meanwhile, Ian looked at Zeno with admiration.
Zeno could feel it, but he chose to ignore the A-list actor’s sentiment.
“Still, I hope this doesn’t happen again. I saw some mansions with similar structures around the island. It’s best to just use CGI for that scene, so we can also have multiple takes,” he said.
Chaewon PD excitedly nodded. Hyunbin pursed his lips and looked away. Of course, he also wanted to continue with the filming, so he didn’t argue.
“Zeno, thank you,” Chaewon PD said, grasping Zeno’s hand. The latter felt her nervousness. It seemed they were waiting for his cooperation to be able to continue the filming. “Do not fret. I shall give you an incentive for your brave act.”
Zeno froze at the thought of extra money. With that, he shook his head.
“It’s alright,” he said, snatching his hand away. “Just use the money for Kwong’s injury. The production is fully responsible for his injury, so this is the least thing you could do.”
Risa felt like she was being sucked in by a vortex. How could he be such a perfect man? A man who can put out fires, can stab people’s necks for emergency purposes, and wasn’t money-hungry? He was the complete package!
Chaewon, too, felt that an actor who could only spawn once in a thousand years had graced their set. “We’re going to do that, of course,” she said. “However, I shall still grant you an incentive. You cannot resist. You have done the work of a firefighter and a doctor all at once, so you deserve this.”
“Moreover, your dedication to the movie despite being an extra is impeccable. You are a natural star.”
“It seems you got it wrong,” Zeno said, wanting to defend himself. That wasn’t the reason why he was doing all of this!
However, they were already convinced—except for Hyunbin and Jiho.
“Rest up then,” Chaewon PD said with a relieved smile. “We shall film again tomorrow.”
Zeno sighed before nodding in defeat.
With that, the main characters made their way out of the clinic, feeling a newfound admiration for Zeno Han.
“Senior Hyunbin,” Ian said, capturing the older man’s reaction. Hyunbin stopped in his tracks and turned to Ian.
“What is it?”
“I think this is the first time I’m going against your assumption,” Ian started off, making Hyunbin frown.
“Zeno…,” Ian mentioned. “I believe he’s the kind of actor who will succeed no matter what.”