The Million-Dollar Flower Folding Screen
Rembrary considered it for a moment, then nodded.
Ceol Im told him to follow along.
The place he led him to was a different practice room. There, about fifteen people who still had a distinctly youthful air about them were gathered, and standing before them was an acting instructor in a comfortable tracksuit, holding a wad of papers.
"CEO Im? What brings you here?"
The acting teacher, who had been barking orders at the trainees, spotted CEO Im and came over with a smile.
CEO Im gave Rembrary a light push on the back, sending him forward, and said, "I'd like him to sit in on a class."
"Woo Yeon-woo... is it?"
The acting teacher recognized Rembrary's face immediately and murmured.
"You want him to act?"
"The kid's got a great face, doesn't he?"
At CEO Im's words, the teacher was instantly convinced. "True. I thought he took to the camera well just watching the screen, but he's even better in person."
Yet even as he offered the compliment, the teacher's expression was oddly ambiguous. Rembrary got the distinct feeling that the man didn't like him very much.
In truth, the fifteen or so trainees standing a short distance away wore much the same look. And they had every reason to. These were people who had gathered because they wanted to become actors, pouring everything they had into practicing their craft in pursuit of that dream. Then CEO Im walks in and openly announces he's bringing in a somewhat famous idol to try his hand at acting — of course their guard went up.
Rembrary, knowing nothing of these circumstances, simply assumed the trainees glaring at him out of nowhere were giving him the cold shoulder for being an outsider.
"CEO Im, aren't you leaving?"
"Nah. I'll watch Yeon-woo act first. Want to see if he's got any talent."
When CEO Im called Rembrary by a familiar nickname and even dragged a chair over to sit and observe, the trainees' expressions crumpled further. As if bringing in an idol to act weren't enough, now the agency itself seemed determined to push him.
The acting teacher, guessing at the sense of deprivation the trainees must be feeling, forced a smile. "If it's his first time acting, there's nothing worth watching. Come back later, CEO Im."
"No, I need to see it now."
CEO Im beamed pleasantly, and the teacher's expression, in turn, twisted slightly. But being the professional he was, he quickly smoothed it back into an easy smile and addressed Rembrary.
"Any acting experience?"
"None."
The teacher recalled CEO Im mentioning that Rembrary had lost his memory, then nodded along. "Ah, right." With his memories gone, any experience he might have had was as good as nothing anyway.
"I asked a pointless question, then."
Muttering this, the teacher walked over to his large bag set before the big mirror and picked up the yellow folder beside it. He pulled two sheets of A4 paper from the folder, came over, and handed one to Rembrary.
Rembrary looked down at the paper. It was a script of sorts — short enough that he could take in the whole thing at a glance. And despite the brevity of the lines, the single page contained the full spectrum of human emotion: joy, rage, sorrow, and pleasure.
"Sang-hee."
The teacher then called on one of the trainees. At the sound of her name, a trainee stepped forward — very short in stature, but with a compact, adorably pretty face.
"You play the opposite role for me."
He handed the remaining script to the trainee and stepped back. She shot Rembrary a quick glance, then smoothly read the first line of the script.
"You think you're so special?"
It was a quiet voice, but an angry one.
CEO Im, watching quietly, raised his eyebrows in an ooh sort of way. The acting teacher, catching that look, allowed himself a small smile as well.
Among his fifteen pupils, the teacher had two standouts, and the trainee who had just stepped up was one of them. With things having turned out this way, the teacher had seized the opportunity to showcase one of his own trainees before CEO Im's eyes.
Utterly unaware of this maneuver, Rembrary read his line.
"Why would you say that."
At the utterly flat delivery, CEO Im nodded along, thinking: Not bad.
The acting teacher's face, on the other hand, crumpled. It wasn't that the idol Rembrary was acting better than expected. It was that the script clearly said (sadly), and he'd delivered the line completely deadpan.
The trainee playing opposite him sneered inwardly, but followed the script and put anger into her voice. "Asking because you genuinely don't know?"
"Honestly, no idea."
Rembrary's voice was flat again. CEO Im thought once more: He's even more natural than I expected.
The teacher's face crumpled further still. Rembrary had ignored the (sadly) direction this time too.
And so the brief back-and-forth script came to an end.
CEO Im, thinking Rembrary was a better actor than he'd bargained for, smiled in satisfaction. Of course, that smile's shelf life was short. The moment he looked at the original script the teacher handed over, the smile vanished from his lips entirely.
The acting teacher spoke, half indignant and half incredulous. "You said it was his first time, didn't you? If he learns properly, I'd say he could reach a mid-level. His voice is natural, so he's not at the total-rookie-botching-it stage... but the way he disregards the script is severe."
"..."
"His nerve is impressive, though. Most people, acting in front of others for the first time, their voice shakes or their breathing goes to pieces. The lines were short, but there wasn't a trace of — what do you call it — vocal vibrato in his throat? Nothing like that at all."
CEO Im nodded along. He thought he understood what the teacher was getting at.
It was true that Rembrary hadn't acted according to the script. Compared to a script brimming with every shade of emotion, Rembrary's delivery had been uniformly dry and toneless throughout.
But that flat delivery had come across as remarkably natural.
CEO Im smiled in satisfaction. "This'll do."
After all, what he'd expected from Rembrary was not a skilled character actor with exceptional acting chops. The agency had plenty of solid mid-career actors of that stripe already. What CEO Im hoped for in Rembrary was a star actor with a thick, devoted fanbase.
Besides, a type like Rembrary who could deliver lines so effortlessly was easy to package as a good actor. If you just picked roles that suited him, you could make him look as though he could act as much as you wanted. For a first attempt, this was more than satisfying.
CEO Im decided to take Rembrary to show a friend of his.
The next day, Rembrary came to the agency again and attended a class alongside the acting teacher. The trainees shot him displeased glares, but Rembrary paid them no mind whatsoever. Eventually, the trainees got tired of it and just went about their own business.
As they were at it, around lunchtime, CEO Im came by and called for Rembrary.
"Yeon-woo, clear your schedule for a bit."
He then summoned the in-house stylist, had Rembrary change into new clothes and even put on light makeup, told him they were stepping out for a bit, and loaded him into a car.
"Where are we going?"
"Oh, to a friend's place. Nothing to be nervous about."
Why the new clothes and the makeup just to visit a friend's house? Rembrary found it strange, but held his tongue for the time being.
They arrived at the second floor of a building with no signboard. There, a stranger around CEO Im's age was waiting, and — apparently the meeting had been arranged in advance — came over smiling.
"You got here fast."
"Figured we'd grab a meal while we were out."
"Is this him? Wow, he's way better in person. I was completely floored by the photos, and he somehow got even more handsome. How is that possible?"
"Great face, right?"
"The best. Absolutely the best."
Wondering what on earth they were talking about, Rembrary stared at them blankly, and CEO Im pointed at the stranger his age. "This is Writer Shim Gyeong. The very famous— ah, right, you wouldn't know her."
"Why wouldn't I? I might."
"Yeon-woo lost his memory."
"What?"
"Keep it under wraps."
After giving Shim Gyeong a brief explanation, CEO Im continued the introductions. "She's an enormously famous drama writer. A friend of mine."
"Why'd you lose your memory? Were you injured? Are you still cleared to keep working in entertainment?"
To Shim Gyeong's barrage of questions, CEO Im added that he'd tell her the details later.
"Yeon-woo's got the face, but no acting experience. He was an aspiring actor, but he joined our agency not long before debuting, so it all happened fast. Full disclosure — honestly, he's not good at acting."
"That's fine, he doesn't need to be."
"No, but he's not at the hopelessly-bad level either."
"Then what is he?"
"You're the one who said he didn't need acting skill. I brought him so you could see for yourself and decide."
At CEO Im's words, Shim Gyeong nodded along. "Ah, right."
Am I supposed to perform something here? Rembrary, listening to their exchange, thought in a fluster. The few very short scripts he'd read yesterday were the entire extent of his acting résumé. He'd done a two-hour class at the agency today too, but it had been nothing but vocalization and enunciation drills the whole time. Yet when CEO Im said "see for yourself and decide," the pressure suddenly landed on him.
"Hmm. Then could you try this on?"
But instead of testing his acting, Shim Gyeong went into a small room attached to the office and came out holding a black clerical robe.
When Rembrary went inside, put on the robe, and came back out, Shim Gyeong let out one gasp of admiration after another. "Wow. Beautiful. Wow. This is perfect?"
Then she made a request. "Could you show me something like a photoshoot pose?"
"A photoshoot sort of feel?"
"You know those photoshoots shot inside a coffin? Sacred yet decadent—"
The decadent part he couldn't speak to, but a sacred air? That, he was confident about.
Rembrary promptly pressed his palms together and composed the expression he wore when at prayer. Back in his apprentice priest days, he'd been scolded unless he maintained this very expression even when sleep crept up on him — making this face was his specialty.
Shim Gyeong, who had been murmuring exclamations nonstop, went silent in an instant. CEO Im said nothing either.
Rembrary, eyes half-lidded, recited a prayer in a very small voice, then lowered his hands and turned to look at Shim Gyeong.
Only after a long pause did she throw up both thumbs and shout, "Perfect! A million-dollar flower folding screen! This image alone is all we need!"
For the rest of the meal, Shim Gyeong showered Rembrary with praise. In a somewhat peculiar manner.
"Do I act well, then?"
"Oh please, why would you need to act, Yeon-woo?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Let the lead actors handle the acting. You're the picture, Yeon-woo. A walking advertisement."
"A... picture?"
"It's fine. Not just anyone can be a picture, you know. This is a talent too? There are so many people who, however you position them, just melt into the background."
"?"
"Yeon-woo, trust me on this. I think you'll become the finest picture in the world."
Rembrary couldn't tell whether Shim Gyeong was complimenting him or tearing into his lack of acting ability. CEO Im is laughing, so I suppose it's praise...
CEO Im sipped his cider with a chuckle and said to her, "He's a little short on common sense, what with the memory gone and all? Look after the kid well on set."
"We haven't stamped the contract yet, you know."
"Shall I send him over anyway?"
"That's a roundabout way of saying stamp it fast."
"Is the shoot confirmed? What about the male lead?"
While the two of them talked business, Rembrary quietly concentrated on his food. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he could tell things were going well.
"I do have someone in mind for the male lead. But I hear his schedule doesn't line up."
"Who is it?"
"Maeng Woo-shin."
Mid-bite, Rembrary stopped eating at the unexpected name, startled.
He turned to Shim Gyeong with his eyes stretched wide. Were they talking about the attention-seeker now?
"Visual-wise, our Yeon-woo would crush him."
"What, you think Maeng Woo-shin isn't handsome? He's another one who's better in person."
"Still, he's no match for Yeon-woo. This kid's got nothing in his head, but there's a lot going on in that face of his. Ah, sorry, Yeon-woo."
"..."
"But the male lead is supposed to be a priest, isn't he? Doesn't Maeng Woo-shin's image clash a bit? He's always playing executives and bureau chiefs."
"But every now and then something shows in his eyes — a certain madness, you know? And that's exactly the image I need right now. Madness."