Chapter 26
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 026
Chapter Title: Innocent Boy (2)
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"I'll handle the stage directions, so everyone just read your lines comfortably."
Kwak Hoon took charge of the script reading as the director.
"Let's start from Scene 5, with the interviews from the people around him."
They kicked off with the interview scenes early in the story, where people started appearing in earnest.
It was the part where reporters dug into the boy arrested for murder.
The neighbor lady, her face blurred with a mosaic and her voice distorted, was supposed to say this:
The boy's house looked just like any other ordinary home.
Nothing seemed off when we'd exchange greetings in passing.
Ah.
But then, as if it suddenly dawned on her, the lady in the interview let the words slip out.
Come to think of it, the boy was kind of... awkward. A bit slow on the uptake.
He could barely make eye contact when saying hello. Like he lacked social skills or something...
That's right! I saw him arguing with his sister sometimes. Oh my, maybe the siblings didn't get along.
"Could that be why? Looking back, there were all sorts of weird things about him! Gives me the chills."
As the interviews dragged on, the boy was painted in an increasingly sinister light.
His homeroom teacher's interview was much the same.
The kids he hung out with in class were all the socially awkward types.
He seemed to hate being in the spotlight.
Yeah, that's how he was.
He was always reading these weird novels. The brutal kind kids shouldn't be touching.
Every time we talked, something felt off.
"The moment I saw the news, if the culprit turned out to be one of my students... I thought it had to be him. I never dreamed it was real. Ugh."
The boy came across as utterly chilling.
And as the interviews wrapped up, the scene was approaching where Shin Yi-han would make his entrance as the boy, Kang Jae.
"......"
"......"
The actors' gazes subtly shifted toward Shin Yi-han.
Truth be told, they were all dying to know what he had in store.
'How good is he gonna be?'
'I'm curious. They say he got cast without even auditioning...'
Half of them were excited, half skeptical.
After all, wasn't Shin Yi-han locked in as the lead for this indie film from the start?
The director hadn't hidden it, and some of the staff treated it as a given.
They were dying to know why.
'No way it was just personal connections, right?'
'If it's that face, I get it... kinda?'
'But he's taking the lead without a single solid project under his belt. Must have something special, huh?'
All sorts of thoughts swirled in their heads.
Of course, most had already seen Shin Yi-han on TV. His performance as Dong-ho in the drama Blaze marked him as a promising rookie.
And honestly, they were stunned by his real-life presence today.
He looked worlds apart from the screen.
Tall and handsome, with eyes that seemed mature beyond his years.
They'd pegged him as a pretty boy onscreen, but this was something else entirely—disorientingly so.
Shin Yi-han as the boyish Dong-ho had truly seemed like a kid.
How did he pull that off with this image...? That's exactly what crossed their minds.
No clue how he did it.
But first impressions didn't erase all doubts.
After all, the public footage of Shin Yi-han was limited: a few drama ending scenes and the Brilliant Sky teaser—nothing substantial.
Sure, those clips grabbed attention, but...
'He just got lucky with roles that fit perfectly.'
It wasn't enough.
'Or maybe the director's guidance was spot-on, or editing magic.'
What they really wanted was his raw talent.
Pure acting, stripped of lights, sets, everything—in this bare room.
Innocent Boy especially demanded unfiltered performances to match its stellar script.
Without rock-solid acting, it'd flop hard.
Half-hearted efforts would just churn out cringey B-movie schlock.
'Wonder if we'll see why he's the lead.'
'Luck or skill? Show us for real.'
They waited quietly for Shin Yi-han to speak, thoughts like these in mind.
Kwak Hoon and Choo Gyeo-ul, also present, eagerly anticipated his performance.
Gulp. They swallowed hard.
For entirely different reasons than the others, of course.
They couldn't wait to see what he'd bring.
What kind of boy Shin Yi-han envisioned, and how he'd bring him to life.
Choo Gyeo-ul especially.
She still couldn't shake the shock from first seeing him in Brilliant Sky. That desperate urge to sign him.
She'd visited the set nonstop during filming just to watch. No matter how many times, it never got old.
And every time, she spotted it—that one thing.
Yeah, that.
Right before a scene, like he was itching to dive in.
That lip curl.
Indeed, Shin Yi-han was buzzing with anticipation.
Eager to deliver his lines.
This was it—the first time.
From first line to last, a story entirely of his own creation.
His heart raced.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. That was enough.
And just like that, Shin Yi-han...
Did it his way. The way he wanted.
Becoming the boy, no matter what.
"The boy 'Kang Jae,' sitting in the police interrogation room, startles when a detective enters."
The moment Kwak Hoon read the direction...
Shin Yi-han flinched as a boy trapped in interrogation, seized by police.
Spotting the lead detective, his face drained of color.
The boy, silent alone in the room, fixed his gaze on...
The closing door.
Wide-eyed with shock, innocent as a clueless child, he blurted out,
"Mom."
Anyone could see the terror in that boy.
Hard to believe he'd been hauled in for murder.
"Mom..."
Lost in panic, eyes unfocused, he murmured to himself.
His body began to tremble uncontrollably.
But the detective sat down anyway.
Facing the interrogation about to begin, the boy screamed as if he couldn't hold back anymore.
"Mom! Moooooom!"
He twisted and writhed. Gasping like hyperventilating.
"Save me. Get me out of here. Aaaah!"
He seemed fragile, a pitiful shattered child.
Or utterly mad.
His guttural cries carried an eerie, unhinged sharpness.
This marked the turning point where viewers, steeped in the interviews' biases, would judge the boy themselves.
A subtly unsettling boy.
And the script reading attendees, watching it unfold live, felt the same.
Chills raced across their skin. Bodies tensed rigid.
The air shifted in an instant.
No one could speak.
'Th-this... this is that scene...?'
'What the hell... what...'
Nothing like what they'd imagined from the script.
Far more.
All preconceptions about Shin Yi-han's acting evaporated.
Before them sat not a rookie actor, but a single boy.
Kang Jae, arrested for murder.
Kwak Hoon snapped back to reality, reading on.
"......His tantrum lasts only a moment. As the detective quietly presents the evidence, the boy's eyes change completely."
The acting resumed.
Another total shift in atmosphere.
"Ah."
A short gasp escaped.
The flailing boy from before was gone.
Snicker. One corner of his mouth twitched up in a small laugh.
Then, unable to hold it in, he bowed his head, shoulders shaking with stifled chuckles.
The detective actor watching was utterly overwhelmed by the sound.
Breath caught. An incomprehensible unease.
He might not even get his lines out.
But strangely, as the boy lifted his head...
"......!"
The detective actor met his eyes and came to his senses.
No time to panic.
It was bizarre.
As if he really were a detective.
Like he had to uncover this creepy kid's truth, no matter what.
"...You know what this is."
The line slipped out unbidden.
The crucial evidence was in his hands—the key to the case.
But the boy it pointed to said this:
"No idea. I don't."
The writhing from before vanished; his body froze still.
He shrugged like nothing happened.
"That's on you guys."
With chilling eyes, the words dropped.
"To figure it out yourselves, right?"
The room flinched as one.
As if they were all in the real interrogation room.
For a moment, they forgot this was a script reading—betrayed by the transformed boy.
Ridiculous, having pitied the kid crying for his mom moments ago.
Impossible to read this boy now.
It started the moment Shin Yi-han became the boy.
The supporting actors snapped to, suddenly immersed in the script.
Lines they'd half-assed for the reading turned genuine.
Worried they'd be swept away entirely.
But Shin Yi-han delivered even more.
Before they knew it, the actors fully embodied their roles, delivering lines instinctively.
No effort needed. It flowed naturally.
As if dragged into the boy's world for real.
Suspecting him. Pitying him.
Raging, condemning his actions.
Until all truths emerged.
In the end, the parents abandoned the boy. The sister, clinging to faint hope, ultimately erased her brother from memory to escape horrific past.
The homeroom teacher, the neighbor lady—they all returned to daily life as if he never existed.
The news blared daily.
But our world stayed quiet. Unchanged.
And so the story ended.
Just as the boy wished.
"......"
"......"
Back in the script reading room.
Kwak Hoon clenched his fist tight.
Perfect.
Shin Yi-han, as expected.
Even knowing his skill, praise overflowed.
No other actor could embody the boy so flawlessly, steering this tale.
Only because it was Shin Yi-han.
To make this a film, director Kwak Hoon had to prepare meticulously.
To convey this acting fully to audiences.
To show them more of this world.
He'd give his all.
The supporting actors shuddered too.
Feeling Shin Yi-han's acting up close like this.
Chills lingered post-reading.
'Insane.'
They'd been pulled straight to the end, breathless. Coming to, the movie was over.
'Whoa...'
'Time flew...'
One by one, they slumped in chairs, drained.
First time like this.
Full immersion in a script reading—an unforgettable thrill.
Having truly experienced Innocent Boy, the supporting actors thought:
The script alone was impressive.
But the real thing...
'Is on another level.'
Like sticky soda spilled on the floor. Lingering unease, inexplicable thrill. Exhaustion, helplessness... fun.
Yes. The vivid Innocent Boy in the reading was utterly different from their imaginings.
So this is Innocent Boy. This is what we're acting in?
They were floored.
'But... can we even...'
'Be part of something like this?'
Doubting their place in it.
Or grateful they could.
The thrill of breathing life into it wouldn't fade easily.
They anticipated filming—and theaters even more.
Audiences would feel it too.