Life is Easier If You're Handsome-Chapter 183

"D-Do it again?"

Director Lee Seong-deok was visibly startled by Kim Donghu’s request.

But he wasn’t the only one.

Has Kim Donghu ever asked for a retake before?

Everyone except Donghu was caught off guard by his request.

"Was there something you weren’t satisfied with?"

Actors requesting retakes wasn’t uncommon.

But since Kim Donghu had never done so before, Director Lee couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

What part wasn’t good enough?

Had there been a flaw in what was supposed to be a perfect take?

Kim Donghu had always delivered flawless performances.

A request like this put the director on edge.

"No, it's not that. I just think the perspective should be a little different."

"Perspective?"

"Yes."

Donghu glanced toward the camera setup.

There were cameras positioned behind both him and Han Taegun.

However, there were significantly more behind Taegun.

Naturally, this was to capture Donghu from multiple angles,

ensuring he was the focal point of the scene.

But Donghu had a different idea.

"I think this scene should unfold from the Hero’s perspective, not Detective Choi Yongsoo’s."

"You mean the Hero’s viewpoint?"

"Yes."

The title of the movie was True Hero.

It was a critique of the inefficacy of the legal system and the police force.

Because of that, the focus shouldn't be on how the Hero carries himself.

It should be on how the police perceive the Hero.

"The Hero’s enemy isn’t just criminals. The police hunting him down are included too."

A criminal who punishes other criminals.

A vigilante who, despite acting outside the law, is revered as a judge.

How do the so-called protectors of the people view such a figure?

That, Donghu believed, should be the film’s final message.

"And... I think it should be more desperate. The rain, the setup—it’s all great,

but the Hero should be screaming, crying out for justice."

Recalling his past—where he had never been protected.

At that moment, the Hero wouldn't just see the police as enforcers of the law.

He would resent them for never standing on his side.

Running away calmly until the very end?

That made no sense.

Because in the end, he was still just another criminal.

Even if victims worshiped him as a hero,

he was still just a man.

"If we do it this way, do you think the film will be better?"

This time, it wasn’t Director Lee who responded.

Han Taegun, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke.

"If we go with your idea, will it truly make the film better?"

It wasn’t a challenge—

it was pure curiosity.

The proposed change would fundamentally alter the film’s framework.

And no one knew what kind of impact that would have.

So, Taegun was asking the person he trusted the most.

"Yes."

Donghu’s response carried unwavering conviction.

"Then I want to reshoot it too."

If that was the case, there was only one choice left for Director Lee.

"...Shall we start immediately?"

He had no choice but to say yes.

However—

"Give me a week. No, three days. I need time to... to sharpen myself."

Han Taegun needed time.

Time to push himself to the limit so he wouldn’t disrupt Donghu’s vision.

And those three days passed in the blink of an eye,

as he stripped away everything, honing both his body and mind for the role.

Then—

"...Alright, let’s roll!"

The True Hero reshoot, born from Kim Donghu’s request, had begun.

***

The reason I asked for a reshoot—

It was because the world I had envisioned from the script hadn’t fully come to life.

This isn’t it.

The Hero’s world was far more brutal, violent, and desperate.

From the moment he killed that thug as a child and ran,

to when he returned to his neighborhood—

only to hear of his mother’s death, abandoned and unprotected.

When he saw the smug face of the factory manager who had worked her to death,

he realized then just how ugly and wretched the world truly was.

And then, when he killed those corrupt bastards,

when he saw victims breaking down in tears of relief at their deaths—

the Hero understood that this was the path he was meant to take.

And beyond that—

"Thank you... Thank you so much."

"Because of you, I can finally sleep in peace. My son’s injustice has finally..."

"I saw my daughter smiling in my dreams. I... I truly..."

The Hero was not alone.

The world stood behind him.

The victims’ resentment and suffering,

the tears born from their agony,

guided his footsteps.

And so—

"Action!"

As the lens focused on me—

"You—You’re here to arrest me?! Me?! Right now?! Instead of the people still suffering this very second?! Instead of saving them—you’re wasting your time chasing me?!"

I let the rage I had been holding in explode.

A deep night.

A narrow tunnel.

Rain pouring so heavily that even the police sirens were drowned out.

And the sheer absurdity of public resources being wasted on me.

"How the hell does that make sense? When I begged for help, you told me you were too busy, that there were procedures to follow!"

But now, suddenly, they could move without a damn procedure?

Why?

Then why—

Why couldn’t they save my mother?

When they inspected that factory’s safety conditions,

they could have easily seen how horrifying the work environment was.

But they just laughed and chatted with the manager,

and now—now, they call for backup just to take me down?

"It’s because I made the news, isn’t it?"

The Hero’s eyes locked onto the police.

Choi Yongsoo.

That bastard who had been relentlessly chasing me.

Who had obsessively sworn to take me down.

Despite all the more pressing matters at hand.

Despite the victims who were still crying for justice.

"And that’s why you’ll never change."

Not even worth getting angry over anymore.

The torrential rain roared into the tunnel.

As I slowly felt my body becoming drenched,

I turned and stepped toward the emergency exit.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three warning shots.

A clear message—

The next one will be real.

I scoffed.

"You really think your bullets should be aimed at me?"

Was this really the best use of their time?

Do they have any idea how many monsters I’ve killed—

and how many more still need to die?

Finally, one of them spoke.

"You’re just a serial killer who thinks he’s delivering justice."

"I know! I know that! I know!"

The words were laughable.

"I killed people! Even if they were scum! Even if they deserved it! I killed multiple people! So now—now you want to call it serial murder?! That’s what you care about?!"

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They still didn’t understand.

"There are people who need to die. People who deserve to die.

So I killed them."

But you—

You are the ones protecting them.

My hands trembled.

It was pure, undiluted rage.

These people, whose very duty was to clean up filth—

were instead trying to shield the very scum that needed to be purged.

And now, they dared to point their guns at me—

the one actually delivering justice.

It made me sick.

BANG!

I slammed open the emergency exit.

Dragging a bound man out with me.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

The moment another figure emerged,

the officers hesitated. Their guns lowered.

The sheer absurdity of it made me laugh.

"Male, 35 years old. No prior convictions.

Charges: Multiple counts of rape and arson resulting in corpse desecration."

"What...?"

"That’s the garbage I’ve got here."

People had begged the police to catch him.

Pleaded for someone to kill him.

When that got them nowhere—

they turned to me.

And as I spoke those words, my grip tightened.

I couldn’t hold back.

The fact that this bastard was still breathing—

that he was still looking at the police with hope—

even though he couldn’t speak, even though he was gagged, he was still squirming, as if begging for their protection—

It shattered my patience.

Crunch!

So I killed him.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With the very knuckles that had delivered justice so many times before—

I snapped his neck and crushed his skull.

And the police?

They did nothing.

Why?

Because that’s the law.

Because that’s what their damn protocols told them to do.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?!"

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

I smiled.

A blatant, mocking smirk.

I lifted my blood-soaked, bone-drenched fingers and pointed at them.

"You’ve been shouting all this time, but what have you actually done?"

They had fired their warning shots.

They had made their threats.

And yet, when it truly came down to it,

they had just stood there.

That was when I finally understood.

"Right. You’re no different from the rest."

Everything I had witnessed before—

their incompetence, their excuses—

It all suddenly made sense.

The way they stood frozen, unable to stop a murder unfolding right before them.

The way they couldn’t reconcile their beliefs with the reality happening in front of their eyes.

"Don’t you feel ridiculous even to yourself?"

Thud.

I kicked the lifeless scum at my feet.

Splash.

Water splattered.

"Here. Take it and get lost. That’s all you care about, right?

Your damn results. Your public image."

What the hell does "the people" even mean?

I wouldn’t know. I’m too dumb to understand.

The rain splashed again.

The conversation was over.

There was no reason to stay here any longer.

And as if on cue—

Bang!

A gunshot rang through the tunnel.

"Hah. Of course. That’s exactly the level you’re at."

That was the Hero’s final line.

***

In the end, Detective Choi Yongsoo—

"Huff... huff..."

—never pulled the trigger on the Hero.

No, he couldn’t pull it.

Because he didn’t feel qualified to.

On what grounds could he arrest this man?

Simply because he was a cop?

Because his job demanded that he uphold justice?

Then what was I, all those times I failed to do my job?

Had he always fulfilled his duty?

No.

No, he hadn’t.

Somewhere along the way, he had lost his belief that the police represented justice.

He had started saying things like, we’re just salarymen doing a job.

And now—

Now he was supposed to draw the line?

That was why, in the end, he couldn’t shoot.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

Through the torrential rain, backup forces arrived to capture the Hero.

"...Ah."

And in front of him—

was a lifeless body.

A corpse with no prior convictions.

Had the victims begged for help?

What had he said back then?

"File your complaint over there... we’ll contact you later. Until then, just rest at home."

He looked ahead at the empty tunnel.

The relentless downpour would wash away any footprints.

Nothing remained.

The Hero had vanished without a trace.

"Detective! Detective, are you alright?!"

A junior officer’s voice called from behind him.

More than five police cars had arrived.

All this manpower—just to capture one man?

Now, they would scatter into the storm,

fumbling through the dark mountain roads, trying to track him down.

"...What’s the point?"

Would everything be resolved just because the Hero died?

Of course not.

So then—why was it necessary to catch him?

"Once you catch him, you’ll be up for a promotion. It’s time for you to start moving up."

An old conversation surfaced in his mind.

What had he said back then?

He couldn’t remember.

No—he didn’t want to remember.

***

When he first heard the request for a reshoot, Director Lee Seong-deok had wondered—

Just how much could change?

But now—

...What the hell did I just film?

As soon as the final cut was made, he realized—

I just captured a miracle.

A moment that would never happen again.