3
# Chapter 3
I closed the script file and stood up. It was almost time to start filming my scene.
“Can I practice first?”
“Yeah.”
When we moved locations, I saw the same set where I had collapsed two days ago.
Remembering how rushed everything had been that day without even a proper rehearsal, I sat on the sofa and looked at my father.
His attitude was no different from two days ago.
His eyes were forceful as he looked down at me, seemingly having already thrown away every last bit of expectation and resigned himself to the situation.
‘Looking at those eyes makes me wonder if Father had something to do with Jaehyun’s death. But if that were the case, the police investigation at the time concluded that Father had no particular motive, so it’s probably unlikely.’
Even while I was lost in thought, preparations for filming continued.
“Lower the lighting a little. It’ll look more natural that way.”
“Yes.”
Before long, the black camera was pointed toward the set.
I sat on the sofa in the cold-looking living room and waited for the director’s signal.
My heart naturally began pounding from the tension.
The director stared at me.
“Action!”
Finally, the camera started rolling.
<We Should Have Met Yesterday> was a romantic comedy drama about the granddaughter of a chaebol family and a male lead who owed her a great debt. The two constantly bickered before eventually falling in love.
And Hyun Jaehyun was a supporting character who appeared for barely three minutes across all of his scenes combined.
He played the immature younger brother of the female lead.
It wasn’t a particularly deep character.
He was simply a teenager going through a rebellious phase who did nothing but act spiteful.
It was an incredibly simple role.
‘This is the final shoot. There’s exactly one line, and the motion is simple.’
As the script instructed, I sank into the soft sofa and thought.
‘…But this is troublesome.’
As expected, it seemed my guess had been correct.
A red flow was floating before my eyes, almost as if it were guiding me.
‘According to the script, I’m supposed to lie down on the sofa so that my face isn’t visible and shout, “Why can’t anything go the way I want!” But why is the flow flipped outside the sofa?’
My eyes rolled from side to side.
I had an idea, but there was no time to think any longer.
Should I follow the flow, just as actor Kim Shinil had done?
Or should I play it safe and simply follow the script?
‘The flow is taking a completely different form from the script. If I ignore it here, will the director dislike it?’
My decision was quick.
---
The director pushed up his glasses and clicked his tongue.
More than ten seconds had already passed since the camera started rolling.
Why was that simple motion taking so long?
Hyun Jaehyun began moving sluggishly from the moment the director clicked his tongue.
The one line in the script was simple and easy.
All he had to do was throw himself onto the sofa and shout nine syllables in a childish voice.
But Hyun Jaehyun didn’t lie down.
Instead, he turned his body and leaned against the sofa at an angle where his face could be seen clearly by the camera.
He slipped one arm over the back of the sofa and raised his face.
Hyun Jaehyun squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again.
‘…Even if it was accidental, the angle isn’t bad. Is it because his face is naturally good? But why isn’t he following the script?’
The director watched the camera screen with mixed feelings.
Soon, the boy opened his mouth with a disgruntled expression.
“…Why can’t anything go the way I want?”
At last, the line the director had been waiting for rang out.
The director stroked his chin and thought.
There was clearly some reason he had improvised, but the director couldn’t quite grasp it.
‘It’s not as excessively stiff as before, but the ad-lib still stands out.’
In a situation like this, the best thing to do was ask the person himself.
“Cut! Come here for a moment, Jaehyun.”
“Yes.”
“This younger brother character isn’t important enough to warrant ad-libbing, is he?”
The director spoke unhappily as he scribbled over the script with his ballpoint pen.
“Give me a reason. If it sounds convincing, we’ll use it. If it doesn’t, we’ll shoot it again as written.”
The director remembered Hyun Jaehyun’s attitude from the previous few days.
Thanks to his enthusiastic and gentle personality, he had a good relationship with the staff.
Aside from being somewhat timid, there was nothing to criticize about his character or appearance.
‘The problem was that his acting ability as an actor was absolutely terrible. He would make NGs even in simple scenes, and whenever he actually managed to recite his lines properly, it was so awkward that it looked like a wooden puppet was speaking…’
But today, Hyun Jaehyun gave an answer the director had never expected.
“I think this character likes his sister more than I initially thought.”
“…What?”
“There are scenes where he constantly tries to mess with his sister and the male lead whenever he gets the chance, only to get scolded. The male lead sees it as nothing more than territorial behavior or a mischievous prank from a chaebol heir, but the sister never blames her younger brother for it. She always finds him cute instead.”
This interpretation was quite unexpected.
“So in these scenes where he simply acts mischievous before disappearing again, if we establish the background of his bullying as a boy who cares about his sister too much and is jealous of the male lead, I think he could become a more memorable comic element in the story.”
The younger brother was essentially a disposable character, a clown whose only purpose was to enhance the comedy of the drama.
The writer had deliberately avoided giving him any particular characterization because that was the intention.
‘Huh? Not bad. More importantly… that attractive face is enough to support the storyline.’
The director turned the screen around and looked at the footage of Hyun Jaehyun.
He rubbed his rough chin.
Soon, a subtle smile spread across his face.
“Jaehyun, have you always been the type to make sure you get your share of screen time?”
“Haha…”
“Let’s see… If we give you a little more close-up time, your face alone might get people talking.”
Click. Click.
The sound of the mouse broke the silence.
The director continued muttering as he moved the footage around on the screen, the corners of his usually serious mouth gradually rising.
Seeing the director’s satisfied expression, I let out a relieved laugh.
“…Haha.”
“If you were capable of doing this well, you should have used it sooner. If the writer is okay with it, I’ll use it like this. Just in case, let’s shoot it once more according to the original script too.”
“Thank you.”
I had been caught off guard.
‘I didn’t expect him to ask why I ad-libbed that. Honestly, I was being too hasty.’
I had merely followed the flow.
The reason I had been able to smoothly come up with a justification for the ad-lib was because of the notes Hyun Jaehyun had left behind from his previous analysis.
Hyun Jaehyun had even thought through better ways to structure scenes that he would never actually get to use and had left notes about them.
I remembered those notes and simply used Hyun Jaehyun’s own interpretation.
‘At first, I didn’t understand it… but once I actually followed the flow, I understood why he had analyzed things so obsessively. He really had come up with improvements that were better than the script.’
After filming the scene once more according to the original script, the director finally became convinced.
“…Oh. The cut with the ad-lib is definitely better. Assistant Director, what do you think?”
“Huh? Yes, it’s good. If we suddenly introduce a supporting character’s backstory, it could become messy, but since it only passes by through his expression, I think it actually works.”
When even the assistant director joined the discussion, I had no choice but to avoid my father’s sharp gaze.
The director, whose face looked exhausted from the tight schedule, spoke.
“Hoo… You know you normally shouldn’t do this, right? You haven’t been acting for only a day or two, Jaehyun.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not like this is a condensed shooting script. When you’re working with a writer’s script that describes things this carefully, the best thing a supporting actor can do is avoid changing it as much as possible. So be careful next time. Even if directors like me aren’t that sensitive about it, there are plenty of people who are very particular about anyone interfering with their work.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
I lowered my posture as much as possible.
There wasn’t a single thing wrong with what he said, and I certainly didn’t intend to take another gamble like this.
“Producer Kang, oh my. You’ve worked hard.”
“Not at all. You worked hard too, Father. Jaehyun, take care of yourself.”
“I should be thanking you.”
After filming ended, Father and I repeatedly thanked the staff before heading toward the parking lot.
I hid my exhausted expression as I reached for the car door handle.
‘I haven’t even had time during these two days to properly figure out why I became Hyun Jaehyun. Once we get home, I need to think about it…’
“Jaehyun!”
I heard Father’s voice and turned around.
“Come back for a moment.”
A woman standing beside Father was looking at me.
I could immediately tell that something troublesome had happened.
‘Just from the atmosphere, I have a bad feeling about this.’
Father welcomed me with the brightest smile I had seen from him during the few days since becoming Hyun Jaehyun.
I looked at the woman uncertainly.
“Hello, Actor. I’m Lee Yoonhee, a casting director at Studio Rain Film. Your name is… Actor Hyun Jaehyun, correct?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
Studio Rain Film?
I looked over the business card she had handed me, silently repeating the name in my head.
It sounded like the name of a production company I had heard somewhere before.
“The reason I approached you is that I found your acting just now very impressive.”
I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at those words.
I had only delivered a single line.
What was so impressive about that?
“It’s cold outside. Shall we go into a nearby café and talk in more detail?”
“Of course! Absolutely.”
However, the fact that Father was so delighted made it impossible to dismiss this as nothing more than a coincidental casting offer.
We immediately went into a quiet café along a nearby road, ordered three cups of coffee, and sat down.
“We’ll have Americanos.”
“You can order dessert too. I can buy you anything. I almost feel bad that we’re only ordering coffee.”
“That’s fine. The kid doesn’t really like sweet things.”
Father answered on my behalf with a grin.
From placing the order to responding to her comments, he handled everything himself.
‘…Didn’t Jaehyun like sweet things? Hmm…’
It had been such a long time ago that my assumption that I was simply remembering incorrectly was the most likely explanation.
The director nodded and began getting to the point, so I focused on what she was saying.
“How long have you been acting, Actor Jaehyun?”
“It’s my sixth year this year. I’ve been working on actual sets for about two years. You can speak comfortably with me.”
“Ah… Of course. Father, it’s okay if I speak casually, right?”
“…Yes.”
Once again, Father answered in my place.
She gave a small laugh.
Her perpetually tired expression, characteristic of people in this industry, made her seem somewhat pitiful.
I was just as uncomfortable as she was.
Perhaps she was thinking, ‘Parents of child actors in this industry are all like this.’
“By the way, you didn’t look very familiar with the set, so I’m surprised to hear that you’ve been acting for six years.”
“Haha… This is my first television drama, so I think I was nervous.”
It was only natural.
The real Hyun Jaehyun, who had six years of experience as a child actor, wasn’t here.
Instead, an ordinary person with absolutely no acting experience had taken his place.
“I see. Then you’re sixteen this year?”
“Yes.”
“You’d be around your third year of middle school, then.”
“I attend Yeongseon Middle School of the Arts, Department of Acting.”
“Hmm, then the drama you were filming today is your first terrestrial television production.”
“That’s right.”
Tap, tap…
She thoughtfully tapped her finger against the tablet before asking.
“Actually, this is a somewhat urgent matter. There’s only one month left until we begin principal photography.”
“…It’s a drama, right?”
“Yes. It’s twenty-four episodes, and it’s scheduled to air during a prime time slot on HBC. The genre is a contemporary crime thriller and investigation drama.”
“How substantial is the role you’re offering?”
“Fortunately, it’s a minor role that only appears from episodes one through three. That’s why the position is still vacant, and I’ve been personally going around looking for an actor.”
If they were looking for a teenage actor, there should have been plenty of other options besides me.
Then why was the casting director of a drama scheduled for a prime-time slot personally running around looking for an actor?
“Well, the role is a little difficult… The actor who was originally supposed to play it is quite famous. Because of that, I think most child actors have been avoiding it because they’re worried about the pressure and damaging their image.”
I ignored my excited father and the casting director, who was awkwardly making the offer, and began thinking.
“…Damaging their image? For a child actor role?”
If it was an HBC twenty-four-episode crime thriller and investigation drama being made this year, there was one drama that immediately came to mind.
‘Could it be that one? <Case File 0223>?’