Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Translator: Penny
Chapter 17
It's greedy to try and finish all filming with just one take, without a single NG.
No matter how much time you spend practicing, the practice environment is different from the actual filming environment.
"Cut, cut! Let's shoot again~."
So, there was no need to be treated like a heinous criminal just for stuttering once.
Kim So-hyun knew very well that blaming herself for the previous mistake wouldn't do any good.
However, Ha-eun's resigned look that Kim So-hyun had just faced.
Those empty eyes that seemed to be saying, 'Just kill me.'
'Wow, was she always like this...?'
It continued to linger in Kim So-hyun's memory, creating an eerie feeling.
After all, none of the child actors Kim So-hyun had met so far had ever shown such lifeless eyes.
In other words, a sense of incongruity.
Or, a sense of guilt.
No matter how she thought about it, it was a desperate performance that couldn't come from a child of that age, as if she had given up on everything.
A posture that seemed to have taken several steps beyond the agreement between actors that they were only acting out the situation in the script.
In front of the camera, Ha-eun was a girl in a deep abyss that even the human trash Seo Do-yeon couldn't easily touch for some reason.
And that was more than enough to cause Kim So-hyun, who was a person before being an actress, to hesitate.
"Okay, Kim Jia, you're gonna die today... ...I'm sorry. I'll do it again."
Not long after, the second and third takes that started again resulted in Kim So-hyun's acting being disrupted.
It was only natural that Kwon Jong-hyuk's concerns deepened with Kim So-hyun's continuous NGs.
'...She's been eaten up.'
It often happens that one side is swayed by the other's acting in scenes where actors work together.
Such swaying happens more frequently when child actors and adult actors film together.
However, that was only limited to child actors who were pushed back in terms of physique, acting ability, or voice volume compared to adult actors.
It wasn't very common for an adult actor to be eaten up by a child actor's acting like now.
She didn't raise her voice and argue, nor did she appeal to emotions while crying.
She just made eye contact silently.
Yet, with that unique atmosphere, she steadily suppressed Kim So-hyun's acting and eventually took all the initiative to her side.
Strictly speaking, Ha-eun was acting exactly according to the script.
No, rather, she was showing a more Kim Jia-like appearance than what was described in the script.
It was Kim So-hyun, who played Seo Do-yeon, who was delaying the filming.
Seo Do-yeon, who had to suppress Ha-eun with twisted emotions that were difficult for a child like Kim Jia to handle, was being suppressed instead.
Kim So-hyun knew this better than anyone else, so she tried to restore her disrupted acting to its original state.
But for some reason, as time went by, Ha-eun's gloomy atmosphere grew even darker.
As a result, only a scene that was not much different from the first take was continuously filmed.
Director Kwon Jong-hyuk didn't think the situation would improve much even if he continued filming like this.
"Okay, okay. Let's take a short break and continue. So-hyun, go somewhere and take a breather."
"Ah, yes..."
He changed his course to start filming again after about 30 minutes of rest.
It was after that that Kang Seon-woo, who had been watching the filming next to Director Kwon Jong-hyuk, approached Ha-eun.
"Shall we talk for a moment?"
"?"
Perhaps naturally, Ha-eun couldn't guess why Kang Seon-woo had approached her.
That's because it was Kim So-hyun, not Ha-eun, who kept stuttering.
However, no matter what, she couldn't ignore Kang Seon-woo.
"Director Kwon, I'll borrow Ha-eun for a moment~."
"...Don't be too late."
Somehow, she ended up heading to a lounge-like place with Kang Seon-woo.
Of course, her manager, Ju Jeong-yun, was with her too.
However, it wasn't easy for Ju Jeong-yun, who was already very nervous, to maintain her sanity in front of the great actor Kang Seon-woo.
She froze like an ice statue and just watched Ha-eun and Kang Seon-woo sitting face to face at a table.
Ha-eun would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous at all.
The story that someone like Kang Seon-woo would try to tell her by taking her to a quiet place separately wouldn't be a light story.
As the gazes of the two people, each nervous to a different degree, turned to Kang Seon-woo at once.
It was Kang Seon-woo who became embarrassed instead.
"Ha-eun, you're a really good actor. You seem to be even more amazing than during the screen test."
"...Thank you."
First, he tried to break the ice with a slightly exaggerated compliment about Ha-eun's acting.
Nevertheless, the frozen atmosphere didn't thaw, so he ended up throwing away the useless flattery.
"Can you tell me what kind of person Kim Jia is in Ha-eun's opinion?"
He immediately got to the point and took the first step to prevent any more NGs.
Either way, the movie was quite important to Kang Seon-woo, the guy next door.
In fact, there was also the reason that Kang Seon-woo, who had recommended Kim So-hyun for the role of Seo Do-yeon, would be in trouble if the filming was delayed any further.
It didn't look good in many ways that Kim So-hyun, who was cast with Kang Seon-woo's backing without any special audition, kept making mistakes.
"Um, the Kim Jia I think of is—"
After listening attentively to the story of the character Kim Jia that Ha-eun thought of for about 10 minutes.
He brought up the story to modify Ha-eun's acting as Kang Seon-woo thought.
"Um, you interpreted it well, Ha-eun. You interpreted it well... But from now on, it seems better to focus more on the situation than the character."
"The situation...?"
"Yes, the situation. The scene you're filming now should ultimately create a situation where Seo Do-yeon is emphasized as a bad mother, right?"
Strictly speaking, it was common to modify the acting of adult actors in normal cases.
However, he thought it would be more effective to adjust Ha-eun's acting rather than refining Kim So-hyun's acting, which had already been swallowed by Ha-eun.
It was a sorry thing to say to Kim So-hyun.
Objectively, Ha-eun's acting was relatively more advanced.
If Ha-eun's acting was modified as Kang Seon-woo intended, Kim So-hyun's acting could also blend in well.
It's also more efficient for the side with the ability to match the other person, whether it's an adult actor or a child actor, to match.
"Rather than showing Kim Jia's unhappiness as it is, focus on inducing Seo Do-yeon's annoyance and anger. Do you know what I mean?"
"...Yes."
It was right after that that Ju Jeong-yun, who had been standing silently like a stone statue, cautiously said that they should slowly go back to the set.
Well, he had said everything he wanted to say to Ha-eun.
'Someone like that kid will know how to do it on her own.'
There was no need to check in advance how Ha-eun's acting would be modified.
As she was an unusual child who had left Kang Seon-woo speechless at the screen test a few days ago, it was better to stop at just suggesting a new direction in many ways.
"Director Kwon, Ha-eun is here~."
Thus, the filming of the scene depicting Kim Jia's unfortunate family environment finally began again.
"Don't make a fuss and get up. Where did you hide my money!!"
At that moment when Seo Do-yeon's emotions reached their peak once again through Kim So-hyun's voice, which had transformed into a louder volume than before.
"...Where would a debtor hide money."
For the first time, a murmur that wasn't a murmur was uttered from Ha-eun, who should have been silent all the time.
It was only a small voice that was hard to hear unless you concentrated, a voice that could barely be heard if you listened carefully.
A trace of anger mixed into the empty eyes that had only been resigned.
Resentment towards the hopeless human being who wasn't even worth calling her mother.
Decisively, the small corner of her mouth, which was subtly bent upwards, creating an expression that seemed to be mocking Seo Do-yeon.
"You, what did you just say... Okay, Kim Jia, you're gonna die today!!"
It perfectly drew out the rage of Seo Do-yeon, whose only easy target was her small and weak daughter, Kim Jia.
It was about 5 seconds after that that Director Kwon Jong-hyuk's mouth, which had been tightly closed for a while at Ha-eun's ad-lib, opened.
"Cut!"
Perhaps naturally, the NG sign was not added.
Almost at the same time, Kang Seon-woo's thumb was slightly raised towards Ha-eun.
In response, Ha-eun briefly made eye contact with Kang Seon-woo silently.
Before a few seconds had passed, she headed to the corner of the set with Ju Jeong-yun, who had appeared with strawberry milk.
'Situation rather than character...'
However, perhaps because it was almost the first time she had learned about a different perspective on acting than the one she had had so far.
She had a complicated feeling in many ways that she couldn't say was good or bad.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny