The Table Read Goes Off the Rails
If I just read the room and scoop up whatever good comes my way, I should be fine.
Maybe because I was about to do something kind, rewards were already popping up even when I did nothing.
And I haven’t even started the charity foundation yet.
Well, if you’re going to hand it to me, I’ll accept it gratefully. Thank you.
Director Rhy-lac shouted, “All right, let’s begin!”
I quietly focused on the script. The actors’ lines rang out pleasantly, and the sound made my skin prickle.
It’s been so long since I’ve been on set.
I missed this, really.
The tension made a smile rise to my face all on its own. Every time I felt like this, the same thought came back to me.
I really do love acting.
It felt as though sparks were flying through my head. I steadied my breathing, and before long it was my turn.
Yu-jin, playing my mother, said, “Son, where are you?”
I delivered the line I’d prepared with all the projection I could muster. “The ceiling!”
“That’s not the ceiling.”
“Really? Television said it was the ceiling.”
It was a line about ordinary everyday life, but in truth, there was no such thing as a wasted scene in a movie.
Well, there might be once in a while—but this is a Rhy-lac film.
There was no way that would be the case here.
The reading went on.
“The ceiling is higher up.”
“Higher than here?”
“Yes.”
Deliberately looking up at the ceiling, I said, “I want to see it.”
That was the scene. Just as we were about to move on to the next page, Director Rhy-lac said, “Hold on a second. Sorry, let’s pause for a moment.”
I turned my head. What was wrong? Was there a problem? Director Rhy-lac blinked a few times, then burst out, “Wow. I really did cast well.”
It was an exclamation of pure awe. Yu-jin, looking satisfied, wordlessly reached out to pat my head.
Of course. Looks like I did well after all.
And tailored to the director’s taste, too.
“What do you think?”
The cast answered in unison.
“He’s good.”
“Wow, that projection.”
“For a second, I thought I was actually in the basement.”
How long had it been since I’d heard praise like this?
Keep going.
It was always new. Always thrilling.
Yu-jin said, “Gongza’s acting is so good. It makes this even more exciting.”
I whispered, “Did Gongza do good?”
“You did amazingly well. Wow, now I need to work even harder.”
Yu-jin grinned brightly. Her slightly flushed cheeks told me all I needed to know.
She must be looking forward to acting with me. She’s getting a little excited.
Well, I’m very grateful for that.
Director Rhy-lac said, “See?”
He was grinning from ear to ear. “I told you Ma Gongza was amazing, didn’t I? But nobody believed me. Assistant director, I think we can finally clear our names.”
“It took you long enough.”
“He did great in the drama, too. Why wouldn’t you believe it?”
I knew exactly why.
Because I’m Ma Soo-jung’s son.
That one fact drew everyone’s attention, and everything I did well got buried underneath it.
Still, that’s only a matter of time.
Inyeon alone wasn’t enough. If I showed off an absurdly impressive performance, that would solve everything.
Another cast member said, “Oh, right.”
“His projection is good. He even cuts off his breath properly.”
“Looks like he learned acting well.”
That was when Lee Gu-jun spoke up. “Looks like Ma Soo-jung spent some money on him.”
Wow. That bastard.
You just made a mistake.
Have a piece of this.
“Yes! She did spend some! Mama even made a practice room just for Gongza!”
Everyone began to murmur. That was the background music I’d been waiting for. I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Mama said, Gongza, because you’re Mom’s son, there’ll be a lot of people who say nasty things if you don’t do well.”
Of course, my mom had never actually said those words.
I just happened to do well on my own.
Still, it wasn’t as if Mom had left me to fend for myself. Honestly, through Deok-su, hadn’t she been watching and hearing enough already?
She’s not ignoring me. She probably just thinks I’m the kind of kid who doesn’t need her to meddle in every little thing.
Of course, given my mother’s personality, she didn’t seem like the type to hover over every detail. For one thing, she was in the middle of her prime as an actress, which meant she was incredibly busy.
But that makes me like it even more.
Maybe because I knew she trusted me, a steady warmth kept welling up in my chest every single day.
So I’m going to lie a little.
I’ll tell you the truth when I get home, Mother.
“So Gongza has to do well.”
I met Lee Gu-jun’s eyes.
“I don’t like my mama getting bad-mouthed because of me.”
Did you hear that, Mr. Lee Gu-jun?
I blinked innocently, pretending I had no idea what I’d just done.
“Gongza will work even harder!”
Groans rose from all around us.
“Aw, he’s adorable.”
“My goodness. Gongza is such a dutiful son.”
“Ma Soo-jung really did raise her son well.”
I grinned.
Gu-jun. If you talk down to a kid like this, you’re not even human.
Well, actually, you already don’t seem to be one.
Lee Gu-jun’s face twisted. I was smiling faintly as I enjoyed the sight of it when Director Rhy-lac said, “Aigoo, my little treasure. How cute. All right, let’s move on. Let’s go again.”
The next lines began.
Yu-jin said, “If you go outside, the sunlight will hurt. You’ll have to cover your eyes with your clothes. No, wait. I’ll give you this.”
“What’s this?”
“Glasses. Mom will tint them black for you. You’re going to wear these.”
The son who had lived only in the basement had never once seen sunlight.
This line becomes important later.
It was part of the ending, too.
The reading continued, and I turned the pages of the script.
At last, we reached the part where Lee Gu-jun finally appeared. He’d bragged with his own mouth about being a middle-aged actor and all that, but his acting was clumsily amateurish.
This is completely different from the emotional line the director wanted. Isn’t this the revised draft?
If things went badly, he could easily throw off the emotional rhythm of the actor opposite him, too. It was the kind of blunder that could turn into a full-blown disaster.
I smiled to myself.
Hah. So you’re an actor too, are you? Fine, then. I’ll just do my part.
Go ahead and choke on it.
I concentrated on the script.
“I want to give this to Mom.”
My line carried an emotional tone and cadence that were completely different from Lee Gu-jun’s. Naturally, the two couldn’t mesh at all.
The first person to sense the disconnect was Director Rhy-lac. His eyebrows twitched slightly. But Lee Gu-jun, not noticing a thing, kept going.
“Do you think she’d like that?”
I answered in the same manner. “Would she not need it?”
“It’s shabby.”
“I hope she’d need it...”
That was as far as it went. With a loud sigh everyone in the room could hear, Director Rhy-lac said, “Let’s stop for a moment.”
The cast members who knew what had gone wrong nodded along. Naturally, Lee Gu-jun had no idea why. He only looked anxious because his turn had been cut short, and his eyes were trembling.
I stared at him.
“W-what?”
Yu-jin said bluntly, “That’s the old script.”
“Huh? Oh. I saw the new script, too. But, Director, the lines didn’t change?”
That part was true.
Lee Gu-jun’s lines hadn’t changed.
But the emotional line had. The ending had been tweaked, too, and made slightly more hopeful.
Not completely happy, but at least with some hope.
Most likely, that revision had been made after the casting was changed from Han Su-yoon to me.
Honestly, I like the revised ending better.
It was still the story of a mother and child who emerged from the basement only to keep surviving in a brutal reality. A cruel, bloodless ending wasn’t bad either, but a lot of people had said it was too harsh.
Director Rhy-lac looked at Lee Gu-jun and said, “That’s right. Your lines didn’t change much, Mr. Gu-jun.”
“See? I checked. I’ve been in this business for ten years, Director Rhy-lac.”
“But, Mr. Gu-jun, are you only reading the parts you’re in?”
Director Rhy-lac let out another sigh. “Mr. Gu-jun. No, senior. You didn’t analyze the whole script at all, did you?”
“Director Rhy-lac, come on, it hardly changed at all. Was there any need to be this prickly?”
“Senior, even little Gongza here came prepared with emotional revisions for the changed script.”
That is absolutely correct.
“He probably had Ma Soo-jung do all the work for him.”
“Senior!”
“No, fine, I get it! I’ll do it! Isn’t that what you want?”
Director Rhy-lac didn’t say another word. He just kept staring at Lee Gu-jun.
Director Rhy-lac isn’t the kind of person who’d get pushed around at work like that.
He might look a little loose around the edges, but still.
“Senior.”
“Ah, just let it slide.”
I still have some pride left, you know. That was probably what he meant. But Director Rhy-lac narrowed his eyes.
“Yes. Well, I understand.”
My long experience told me one thing.
He’s getting cut after the reading, isn’t he?
No way!
I’ve only given him one piece of revenge so far!
And it was ending like this, with two pieces still left?
What a shame.
I needed to keep tormenting him for a long, long time.
I blinked. “Ah, I’ll apologize later.”
“Yes, well. I’ll accept your apology, senior.”
So he was only accepting the apology, then.
To be honest, I thought Lee Gu-jun would just let that go. But to my surprise, the idiot did seem to have some sense of timing after all.
“Director Rhy-lac, what do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said, senior.”
“No, the nuance is weird. Are you trying to cut me out or something?”
Director Rhy-lac let out a long sigh. “Yes, well. That’s how it’s turned out.”
“What do you mean, that’s how it’s turned out! Hey, I missed one script reading, and this is how you’re treating me?”
Wow. Anyone watching would think Lee Gu-jun was some incredibly powerful actor.
Honestly, isn’t he just your run-of-the-mill middle-aged actor?
And the mother character in The Basement wasn’t even a role that demanded some earth-shattering display of acting skill.
Though, to be fair, a true actor should be able to make even a small role shine.
At the end of the day, there were plenty of actors in Korea who could act well.
There’s no real reason it has to be Lee Gu-jun.
Director Rhy-lac stood up and said, “Yes, that’s right, senior.”
For all his laid-back appearance, Rhy-lac was a pretty solidly built director. That was when someone grabbed my hand.
When I glanced sideways, it was Yu-jin.
She wore a worried expression, as if afraid I might be startled by the ugly turn the atmosphere had taken.
She’s doing this to calm me down.
What a wonderful person, Yu-jin.
She gave me a smile that said not to worry. I gave a tiny nod in return.
Yu-jin really is general material.
And even with all this going on, she was still taking care of the child actor. She really was a good person.
“Director Rhy-lac! How dare you do this to me!”
“Senior, I’m sorry, but the investor gave the casting authority to me.”
Wow, Director. He really was angry now.
“The investor? That’s your wife!”
“Yes. My wife told me not to worry about appearances when I was working, and to do whatever I wanted.”
She sounds like a lovely person.
“She did say she’d divorce me if I failed, but anyway, senior, I’m afraid this isn’t going to work.”
“It’s just a table read!”
“The thing is, if it were only this one issue, I’d let it go, too.”
Director Rhy-lac shrugged.
“I happened to overhear quite a bit. I was in the next room because of a production meeting, and I could see plain as day that you were ruining the mood.”
Ah. So he’d been listening after all.
“I forgot about the meeting and kept listening to that instead. Then we talked a little about you. The conclusion was, ‘If he does this one more time, we replace him.’”
Wow.
Director Rhy-lac really is strong.
I’d thought he was the type who didn’t notice things, but he’d been pretending not to hear on purpose.
“But now you’ve gone and caused this mess, so, well. That’s how it is, senior.”
Lee Gu-jun trembled with rage. Yu-jin let out a small laugh.
“Hey! You people! Just wait and see how this turns out! You cheap, no-budget losers!”
Lee Gu-jun spat onto the table and got to his feet. Watching him, I smiled faintly.
Goodbye.
I still had two pieces left, after all.
It’s a shame to send him off like this.
Now, what would be best?
I’d like to make his walk a little lighter on the way out.
Come to think of it, he sure had bragged about those shoes.
Well, even luxury goods wear out if you use them long enough.
I called out immediately, Coin Activation! Tell me how much it’ll cost to break the soles of the shoes Lee Gu-jun is wearing right now, and what the penalty will be!
20 coins will be consumed to reveal the cost.
To break the soles of veteran actor Lee Gu-jun’s shoes, 200 coins are required. The penalty is itchy toes for 2 seconds.