Chapter 16
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 016
Chapter Title: Test Screening
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Shin Yi-han's insane acting as Lee Ha-neul.
Kim Geun-tae PD and Pyo Nam-un Director, people she could trust with the project.
Things had been going great for Yoon Si-a lately.
The Brilliant Sky contest win, and all the casting headaches from the start—they'd faded into distant memories now that filming had kicked off, washing away every worry.
But was it because they'd bombed out in the same contest themselves?
Why were there so many things they just couldn't stand?
'A rookie snagging Ham Yeon-jeong? Must be nice. You know how pricey she is, right?'
'You don't think you just lucked into riding Kim Geun-tae PD's coattails?'
Yoon Si-a felt helpless against the SBC writers who kept coming at her like that.
It was frustrating.
Like she was sinking into the depths of the ocean.
Kguruk—
But then.
"Let's get out of here."
A firm hand reached out to her.
"Run!"
In that moment, Yoon Si-a couldn't help but see Lee Ha-neul in Shin Yi-han.
It stuck with her so deeply that she barely even registered the writers who'd shown up today.
That evening, Yoon Si-a grabbed her revised manuscript and headed to see Kim Geun-tae PD.
The more she tweaked the scenes, the more real they felt.
SBC Broadcasting Station.
"What? Again?"
The follow-up meeting with Kim Geun-tae PD was underway.
"I've been on board with everything so far, but..."
"I don't think we can add any more Lee Ha-neul scenes."
Kim Geun-tae PD tilted his head at the sudden talk of expanding Lee Ha-neul's role.
"No, trust me, you'll love it. Even Actor Shin Yi-han was thrilled."
"Shin Yi-han was?"
He quickly changed his mind.
"...Wow."
A quiet exclamation escaped him.
"Honestly, when you said you were adding more Lee Ha-neul parts, I thought it was a hard pass."
"But it's not."
"It's way more fun. We'd have regretted skipping the changes!"
Kim Geun-tae PD grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. If anything, he seemed more excited than she was, frantically pulling out his phone.
"I'll handle contacting Actor Shin Yi-han! Shooting's the day after tomorrow, so not sure if it works, but this scene needs Lee Ha-neul now."
Everything fell into place smoothly. Yoon Si-a left the meeting room with a spring in her step.
Of course, she'd never doubted it'd get approved.
It was too good a scene not to shoot...!
And it was all thanks to Actor Shin Yi-han.
She was grateful for the help, but more than that—watching him always unclogged every creative block she had.
This time was no different.
Yoon Si-a walked the station corridors with a silly grin.
But apparently, she wasn't the only writer stuck in meetings with PDs.
"Oh! Writer Yoon Si-a!"
It was Cheon Ji-hee, SBC's star drama writer.
Cheon Ji-hee had been holed up at the station late like Yoon Si-a, too.
Her own drama was barreling toward its finale, so no helping it.
"You were here late, too, Si-a Writer!"
Cheon Ji-hee flashed her a warm smile.
The only SBC writer who was genuinely kind to Yoon Si-a.
"Heading home now?"
She greeted her cheerfully.
As a mom with a daughter around the same age, she rooted hard for Yoon Si-a to succeed.
"Yeah! Just wrapped my meeting. You?"
Yoon Si-a returned the greeting easily. She was a good senior.
"Oh, I've got a session with PD Seok."
But the joy was short-lived; today's heavy meeting had Cheon Ji-hee venting a little.
"But... honestly."
Truth be told, she wanted to grab anyone and beg for help.
"The actor for our finale scene just isn't cutting it. I'm worried."
Cheon Ji-hee cradled her cheek with one hand and sighed.
It was the face to cap off the ending... but it just didn't feel right.
"We did test shots, and the delivery's off. Something's not clicking."
The ending scene was a clichéd but essential moment.
The kid always protected by the protagonists grows up and declares she'll follow in their footsteps.
"Hunting a new actor this late isn't easy."
"And for such a short scene to tie up the whole drama's emotions... does a young actor like that even exist?"
It signaled their story wasn't over, even if the drama was.
"That's tough, right?"
Especially since her drama was about the independence movement.
Yoon Si-a listened to Cheon Ji-hee.
"Oh, wait."
The words slipped out before she knew it.
"For something like that."
No, she blurted it out excitedly.
Perfect timing—the extra shoot was the day after tomorrow.
"Why don't you come to our set?"
The actor who'd bailed her out of every rut before was due on set then.
"The day after tomorrow, we've got just the guy!"
"...?"
Cheon Ji-hee heard the confident voice ring in her ears.
Around the same time.
Good news hit Shin Yi-han from two fronts.
Not only did Kim Geun-tae PD confirm the extra Lee Ha-neul shoot and ask about his schedule the day after tomorrow.
"Really?"
- Yeah! We burned the midnight oil for days straight. You have no idea!
Assistant Director Kwak Hoon called to say the movie edit was done.
- So come on! Tomorrow morning work?
There was a test screening tomorrow.
"Can I even show up? A few flashback scenes are all me."
- What're you talking about, Yi-han?
Kwak Hoon sounded baffled.
- We edited our asses off for you. Balanced it around you! You kept pushing to keep those past scenes, and Director's standards shot through the roof. Thought he lost it during filming!
Shin Yi-han chuckled softly at Kwak Hoon's rapid-fire chatter.
"Got it. I'll be there."
- Awesome! Head to Red Film on time! You know the place?
"Of course."
Shin Yi-han ended the call with a smile tugging at his lips.
He was thrilled, honestly.
Murder's Delusion. A movie he'd watched endlessly in his past life.
The script he'd clung to desperately amid the burns and screams.
And now, he'd be in it.
As an actor.
Breathing life into that world.
He wondered what it'd feel like to face Murder's Delusion again.
Shin Yi-han could hardly wait for tomorrow.
Ah, and if possible, the Brilliant Sky extra shoot the day after that, too.
The next day, Red Film office.
A handful of insiders gathered for the Murder's Delusion test screening.
Not just Director Song Won-sik and Assistant Director Kwak Hoon.
Red Film's CEO Baek Ja-ryeon was there.
A few distributor reps had arrived, too.
"Ah, she can't make it?"
"Too bad. Was hoping to meet the lead."
But disappointed murmurs rose from the invited distributor staff.
The lead actor for Murder's Delusion wasn't coming today.
Instead, Shin Yi-han—who'd handled the lead's flashback scenes—was there.
"Yi-han! Get over here!"
"Our Yi-han's here?!"
Eyes naturally turned to Shin Yi-han, whom Song Won-sik and Kwak Hoon were greeting enthusiastically.
Who...?
The director and assistant director fawning over someone looked odd to the distributor reps.
And understandably so.
"Right, this is our Red Film CEO Baek. CEO, meet Yi-han!"
"Oh, I've heard so much, but first time seeing you in person. Nice to meet you."
They were introducing him so eagerly to Baek—not some random staffer.
But his face was new to them, so the curiosity grew.
"So... who's the newbie?"
"Exactly. Too pretty for an editing grunt."
The distributor reps tilted their heads.
The flashbacks had wrapped in a single day, and Shin Yi-han had been a last-minute fill-in with no audition. No wonder.
To them, he was a total unknown in the industry.
"Hello, I'm rookie actor Shin Yi-han."
Shin Yi-han approached them first, greeting with a warm, easy smile.
"Whoa. Uh, you're ridiculously handsome."
"Nice to meet you. But rookie actor...?"
Interest poured in at his striking looks.
"In Murder's Delusion, I play the young killer in the flashbacks."
"Ah..."
The flashbacks?
Their vibe deflated at his answer.
'Oh. Director hyped him up, thought it was a big role. Just some no-name bit player.'
'Yeah. I'd remember a face like that. No-audition side role.'
'Barely screen time, and he shows? Probably just sightseeing.'
The reps finished their hellos with other thoughts brewing, drifting away from the unknown actor.
Honestly, they didn't think much of Shin Yi-han.
'What could a bit player even do?'
'Just came to show his face.'
The distributor staff shrugged and took their seats.
They just wanted to see the cut and head back.
"Alright! Lights out!"
With Assistant Director Kwak Hoon's call, the room went dark. The movie started.
It opened on black.
Pitch darkness revealing nothing.
- Hm, hmm~.
A humming tune drifted out. The sole melody echoing in the silence.
It sounded so carefree.
Yet... eerie. Unsettling.
Gulp. One distributor rep swallowed hard without thinking.
Chills down the spine from mere humming at the start.
'...Lead actor's voice?'
No.
Too young for the middle-aged lead.
'What the hell... why's it so creepy?'
'Who's even humming...?'
Questions flickered, but the dark gave no answers.
No one could guess yet.
It was the young killer from the unshown flashbacks, humming away.
And as that tune layered into the background score.
- Murder's Delusion
The title hit the screen, and the film truly began.
An old man with dementia.
Forgetting what he must never forget.
Only after ages did past memories resurface.
But they were so hazy.
He kept getting confused.
And the audience was just as lost.
Was he a senile geezer? Faking to hide his past?
Or a genuine dementia-plagued killer?
Fragmented flashbacks teasing through his mind offered no answers. Neither the old man nor the viewers knew.
Then, as the film hit its climax.
- Grandpa. You really don't remember?
The sole holdout against giving up on the truth: a reporter seething with rage.
The old man nodded. He didn't.
- No way. Even this?
But shoved with evidence from the past.
- Even this, and you still don't remember?!
The old man finally cracked a smile.
A photo of a young boy.
- Ah.
That's when he realized.
- I killed him.
A face he could never forget.
Reflexively, the old man hummed.
As if that lost day had returned.
- Hm, hmm~.
The chilling hum from the opening overlapped.
The scene shifted, unveiling one relic from the past.
The old man's flashback fully revealed to the audience for the first time.
- Hi there.
A school-uniformed boy greeted the child.
- Wanna play with big bro? There's a puppy over there.
He extended his hand.
And the story flowed on.
Exactly 20 minutes later.
The movie ended.
"......"
"......"
The test screening crowd sat silent even after it finished.
Palms sweaty.
That nausea rising from the gut—what was it? No words fit.
Silence was all they had.
Except for one.
Shin Yi-han couldn't hide his rising smile.
'Yes.'
Despite watching it so many times before, this felt like seeing the real film for the first time.
'This is it.'
The movie he'd watched trembling with resentment, jealousy, desperation.
'This.'
Pure joy now.
It almost tricked him into thinking it was a whole different film from the one he'd huddled alone in his room for.
No. It was different.
Not just his expanded role.
Before, flashbacks were mere tools to show the old man's past.
Now...
They felt central. Pivotal.
Intense enough to upend the whole movie.
Exactly that potent.
'Way more fun.'
Teased piecemeal before, now fully unveiled in the back half. The old man's foggy memories hit harder pre-reveal.
Audiences couldn't help but waver.
Like a rollercoaster.
A terrifying, intense thrill ride.
'Fun.'
That peculiar thrill only movies deliver.
Shin Yi-han's favorite feeling.
He knew the audience's confusion well—that's why he'd started Innocent Boy.
His heart raced.
He couldn't wait for the world to see it.
Wanted everyone to feel it soon.
And dead opposite his sparkling joy.
The insiders meeting Shin Yi-han for the first time were still frozen.
'What... what did I just watch?'
Maybe because the full flashback dropped at the end. Or the raw murder traces sucked them in impossibly.
'The lead... isn't the lead anymore...?'
Eyes inevitably turned to one person.
The young killer.
Shin Yi-han.
Despite barely 20 minutes of screentime.
He lingered in their minds alone.
'S-sure, same character in the film, but... damn, those flashbacks are insane.'
That young killer's smile wouldn't fade.
And creepier still.
Throughout, the old man and young killer never felt like separate people.
Only post-credits did they realize the flashback kid sat right beside them.
Past killer and future geezer—expressions, speech, mannerisms identical.
Incomprehensibly seamless.
'What the hell is this no-name?'
'Shin Yi-han? He's nuts, right?'
The distributor reps regretted their pre-screening thoughts.
What? Bit player couldn't do much?
Insane. He'd done it all!
Never expected acting this explosive.
It grabbed viewers by the collar and yanked them into Murder's Delusion.
'Where'd this monster come from?'
Critics' rave reviews were already a given.
Bound to be a sensation.
"Hey!"
"Shin Yi-han-ssi...!"
The reps rushed him—not the director or AD, but the unknown actor.
"That was incredible!"
"Were you in theater before?! That level's no beginner's work!"
"Next project lined up? We'd love to handle distribution if possible."
Forgotten, their film feedback.
"Thank you."
Shin Yi-han spoke slowly. He grinned at their total 180 from before.
He kinda enjoyed the reversal.
A subtle thrill from faces flipping on the unexpected.
"I did go to an acting academy for about a month."
Shin Yi-han teased the truth playfully.
"This was my first real acting gig."
In this life, anyway.
"...?"
"Pardon?"
The reps looked disbelieving. Surely a joke.
"It's true. I brought him myself—his debut, first take on set!"
But Kwak Hoon chimed in, and their jaws dropped.
'For real?'
'What?'
Shock on shock.
Shin Yi-han chuckled softly again at their reaction.