Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Translator: Penny
Chapter 18
“Cut! Great job, everyone~.”
This was four hours after Ha-eun’s first shoot had somehow wrapped up.
Ha-eun, who had just finished the last scene without any major mistakes, walked out of the studio with Ju Jeong-yun.
However, just before they could completely leave, Kim So-hyun appeared and spoke to Ha-eun.
Ha-eun looked at Kim So-hyun with the same puzzled expression she had when Kang Seon-woo approached her a few hours earlier.
“Um, Ha-eun. Well, um….”
A long moment of hesitation followed. Stuttering.
Wondering what she wanted to say that made her so hesitant, Ha-eun stopped walking and waited for Kim So-hyun to speak.
“I’m…sorry about today. For everything.”
Kim So-hyun apologized for ignoring Ha-eun’s greeting and other things.
Ha-eun didn’t know how to respond and hesitated for a moment.
She didn’t particularly harbor any ill feelings towards Kim So-hyun, so she brushed it off with a simple “It’s okay.”
In fact, she had almost completely forgotten about her greetings being ignored.
More than anything, Ha-eun’s mind was preoccupied with other thoughts.
She finished the conversation with Kim So-hyun with a polite “I look forward to working with you next time” and walked towards the studio exit again.
She got into Ju Jeong-yun’s black van.
As they started driving on the quiet highway late at night, with hardly any cars passing by.
‘Hmm, Ha-eun, your interpretation is good. It’s good, but… from now on, it might be better to focus more on the situation than the character.’
She began to think about the new perspective on acting that Kang Seon-woo had shared with her.
This was the first time anyone had given Ha-eun advice on her acting.
And it was also the first time the results were so significant.
Acting that touched the emotions of others, unlike when she focused solely on herself.
Touching something she had never even considered touching before felt strange in many ways.
However, just a slight provocation was enough to stop Kim So-hyun’s countless NGs in an instant.
Even though it was an ad-lib that wasn’t written in the script, the flow of the dialogue became smoother.
Of course, Ha-eun’s previous acting wasn’t wrong.
Kang Seon-woo, who gave the advice, had also said that Ha-eun’s interpretation wasn’t incorrect.
It was just that, from the perspective of a veteran actor who had experienced many filming sets, Ha-eun’s acting was, so to speak, ‘selfish.’
Of course, he didn’t directly use the word ‘selfish,’ but he explained to some extent how Ha-eun’s acting felt to Kang Seon-woo.
“Hey, Ha-eun. I told you, reading the script in the car will make you carsick.”
“…I can handle it for now.”
It made Ha-eun think that she shouldn’t stick to just one direction when playing Kim Jia.
Opening the script again, which she had read over and over, was an extension of that thought.
And so, until the next filming day arrived.
She spent her time planning acting that focused on the situation, as Kang Seon-woo had advised her.
Strictly speaking, she didn’t intend to stick to acting that focused solely on the situation.
Each approach had its own advantages and disadvantages.
It was just that, if she was prepared with both types of acting.
It would be easier in many ways to film the scenes for "The Neighbor Next Door."
-Step.
“…Hello.”
“Oh, Ha-eun, you’re here.”
Ha-eun continued to ponder until she reunited with Kang Seon-woo at a small church located in the suburbs, which they had rented as a filming location.
It was after that that she began to tour the set with Kang Seon-woo, who would be with her for most of the scenes she would be filming today.
“Did you eat breakfast?”
“Ah, yes. I did.”
“Oh? You ate? It’s only 8 o’clock now?”
“I usually wake up at 7 and eat.”
“Ah…. I see. You have very healthy habits, Ha-eun.”
After that, they shared stories that were neither more nor less than small talk, while Ha-eun simulated the scenes in her head.
Then, the staff’s voices saying it was time to prepare could be heard from all over the set.
The first scene Ha-eun would be filming today was the scene where Jin Gang-sik and Kim Jia meet for the first time.
The setting was that Kim Jia, who had come to eat the free meal provided by the church on Sunday morning, and Jin Gang-sik, who had happened to stop by the church, meet by chance.
Either way, it was just a normal conversation scene that didn’t require deep emotional acting.
Since it was a relatively calm scene in the beginning, there was no need to put in too much effort.
｢Um, mister. Did you come here to eat too?｣
｢I have someone to meet here. I already ate.｣
｢Then, can you give me your meal ticket? I’m growing, so I’m always hungry.｣
｢…Okay.｣
“Cut! That was clean, you two!”
The filming was completed without any particular difficulties.
Unfortunately, the next scene was set in the dark of night.
So, they had to wait at the studio until the dark night sky arrived.
Even so, Ha-eun didn’t find it boring because the last scene they were filming today was the last scene of "The Neighbor Next Door."
The filming location was also the same small church where they had filmed in the morning.
It was, so to speak, a "beginning and end" type of production, where Jin Gang-sik and Kim Jia reunite in the same place where they first met.
The difference was that, unlike their first meeting where they had simply come to eat breakfast, this time Jin Gang-sik had come to rescue Kim Jia, who had been kidnapped.
This last scene was the one Ha-eun had been preparing for and putting the most effort into.
“Then, I’ll see you later, Jia.”
“Yes, see you later, mister.”
With the most serious expression she had worn recently, she said goodbye to Kang Seon-woo, who played Jin Gang-sik.
There was only one thing Ha-eun hadn’t considered.
“Um, Ha-eun, please bear with it even if the storage room is stuffy.”
“…Yes.”
Unlike the morning scene where she was free, this evening scene was starting with her as a hostage.
And so, Ha-eun was now.
‘…I should have brought a hot pack.’
Alone in a small storage room in the corner of the chapel.
It was a little cold, perhaps because they hadn’t even turned on a small light for a more dramatic effect.
\\
“Haa….”
Every time she exhaled, she could see her white breath.
Fortunately, she was wearing thermal underwear, so it wasn’t unbearable.
Apart from the cold, she was a little bored being alone in the small storage room.
There were about 10 minutes left until the storage room door in front of her would open and she would be rescued by Jin Gang-sik.
Either way, she had to stay quietly in the storage room until all the villains waiting outside were defeated by Jin Gang-sik.
Her eyes kept wandering to the small objects scattered around the storage room.
And among them, the one that caught her eye the most was.
｢The Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7｣
A wooden sign with a familiar sentence written on it.
The problem was that it was a sentence that was familiar in a bad way.
‘…Isn’t it time to forget now?’
She still didn’t know why her memories of her past life remained so vivid.
Her memories were completely denying the famous saying that humans are creatures of forgetfulness.
Perhaps it was because she was crouching alone in a small storage room.
Things that could not be called good memories, even as a polite gesture, came to mind one by one, leading to a chain reaction.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that rare of a story.
A cliché story that everyone has encountered at least once in dramas or novels.
A cold hospital room, the smell of disinfectant, the monotonous sound of machines that kept ringing in her ears.
And, sitting demurely on a pure white sickbed.
‘I’m okay, Chairman. Don’t worry too much.’
Her own self, telling blatant lies to her paternal grandfather, who was the chairman of a well-known mid-sized company.
It was a figure created by those people, with none of her own will involved.
‘Do you know how much your mom and dad are suffering because of you?’
‘…If you were just a little healthier, we wouldn’t be treated like this.’
From a young age, she had been seriously weak.
To those who were blinded by the succession of the company’s management rights, a sickly child was nothing more than a hindrance.
They lied to her grandfather, saying that her health was gradually improving.
They struggled to avoid being pushed out of the succession rankings by lying that they, too, had a successor to run the company.
They tried to pretend that they, too, had ordinary children, just like the relatives who had ordinary children.
Then, once in a while.
On days when she coughed lightly in front of her grandfather.
-Slap.
-Thud.
‘I, I’m sor, ry….’
‘…Shut up.’
They literally used every means possible.
They limited the expressions, voices, and gestures she could show so that their future would not be ruined by her.
Therefore, if she wanted to live even one more day.
If she wanted to breathe comfortably even one more day, she had to become the ideal child that those people wanted.
She only made the expressions that those people wanted to see.
She only made the voices that those people wanted to hear.
She only put on the appearance that those people wanted to see.
She only showed things that were injected and learned, not what she truly felt.
As if she were a doll made of clay, not a person.
However, unlike the sentence on the wooden sign in front of her, not even a little bit of life was breathed into her.
As if the personality called ‘I’ had never existed in the first place, she hid it deep in her heart, which had become a deep swamp.
Every time, she created and showed the ‘I’ that others wanted to see with the mud piled up on the surface of that deep swamp.
…Was that why?
One day, she happened to come across Virtual Youtubers, beings who only showed what others wanted to see, just like her, and her eyes were drawn to them.
However, unlike her, those people on the screen were loved by people.
When those people laughed, people laughed along with them.
And at no point could she find any hatred welling up from the depths of their hearts.
She had been envious of those people on the screen for some time.
Even though they were dolls just like her, they seemed truly happy.
Even now, living a life that was not quite the normal family and normal life she had so desperately wanted, but was somewhat no different from others.
She did not deny the dream she had had while crouching in the corner of a dark hospital room without a single ray of sunlight, because the memory of envying the people beyond the invisible but insurmountable wall still remained vivid.
Even now, as she artificially creates expressions, voices, and gestures to show to people.
She wanted to be loved like a person, even if she was a doll, not a person.
Even if she had to imitate a person.
\\
-Creak.
The sound that was not scheduled caused all the staff’s eyes to focus on the storage room in an instant.
What appeared through the slowly opening wooden door was Ha-eun with a very stiff expression.
Kang Seon-woo, who had just defeated the last villain and was about to run towards the storage room where Ha-eun was trapped, was also speechless and flustered by the unexpected sight.
However, from the small lips that slowly opened.
｢…Mister…?｣
A pathetic voice came out, devoid of the composure that Kim Jia had been showing.
In addition, the small body that slowly began to tremble.
The two blurry eyes that were slightly red and staring straight at Jin Gang-sik in the distance.
Made Jin Gang-sik realize, belatedly, that Kim Jia, whom he had been trying so hard to rescue, was right in front of him.
-Step.
-Step.
With an expression that was a complex mixture of worry, anxiety, joy, and relief, he took one step at a time towards Kim Jia.
Finally, Jin Gang-sik’s shadow arrived right in front of Kim Jia.
After that, he lowered his gaze little by little.
Only then, after making eye contact with the black eyes that were already completely wet, did he open his mouth.
｢…Let’s go home, Jia.｣
He announced that all the dangers that had befallen Kim Jia had been ended by Jin Gang-sik.
It was right after that that he carefully reached out his hand towards Kim Jia’s huddled body.
And so, the moment Jin Gang-sik’s scarred hands completely embraced Kim Jia.
-Drip.
Kim Jia’s suppressed emotions, which had finally flowed out in the form of warmth.
｢Mister… I, I missed… you….｣
Along with the voice that trembled so much that Kim Jia herself couldn’t control it, she wrapped her arms around Jin Gang-sik, causing him to hug Kim Jia even tighter.
“Cut!”
Everything from start to finish was different from the script.
Even so, no one felt that Ha-eun’s acting was wrong.
No one had the confidence to say that Ha-eun’s acting was wrong.
📝 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