Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: First Audition
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My first audition ever.
I'd been worried I might get too nervous..., but surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I wasn't shaking at all. After all, Seonwoo had already been through dozens—probably more—of job interviews.
Compared to that, acting in front of people I knew was nothing.
But there was one irritating thing.
"You prepared well?"
Backstage.
As he sat in a chair, steadying his emotions, someone suddenly approached Seonwoo and spoke up.
It was Seo Jinwook.
He was looking down at Seonwoo with that same sleazy smirk he always wore.
"Yeah. I did."
"Oh? Good to hear. Even if you don't make it, don't get too down about it. That's how these things go—you build experience by bombing them."
Seonwoo was inwardly dumbfounded.
Pretending to care, pretending to give advice..., but wasn't it really just a way of saying, "You're gonna fail anyway, so don't bother trying"?
Seonwoo simply stared at Seo Jinwook in silence.
That made him chuckle.
"What? Think you can win this?"
"......"
Seonwoo mentally carved the character for "patience" into his mind.
How many rude interviewers had he dealt with in actual job interviews? Compared to that, this was nothing. Absolutely nothing...
"Senior."
"Yeah?"
"Am I scary?"
Nothing at all.
Ah, whatever. Maybe he'd gotten too immersed in Seungdo's emotional arc and was feeling extra sensitive. Or maybe he just decided it was time to push back a little.
Honestly, it was a pretty emotional move.
"......What?"
Seo Jinwook clearly hadn't expected Seonwoo to respond like that.
He stared at him with a blank expression for a moment. Only after a few seconds did his face twist in anger.
"You little shit, how dare you..."
"Jinwook senior! You're up!"
Just as Seo Jinwook was about to unleash on Seonwoo, his name was called.
He glanced toward the stage, then turned back to Seonwoo with a deeply furrowed scowl.
"......We'll talk later."
"Sure."
Wow, scary stuff.
This wasn't the army—why was he always trying to pick a fight?
Seonwoo took a deep breath.
......Calm down first.
He must have gotten too wrapped up in Seungdo's dark emotions. It felt harder to hold back his anger than usual.
Was this the kind of thing method actors felt?
He'd feel pretty pissed if he lost to Seo Jinwook after going this far..., but right now, Seonwoo had some confidence.
A major change had occurred in the color orb of the Seungdo he embodied.
It started from one simple question.
Why on earth did Seungdo go to see the priest?
The script didn't specify why Seungdo visited the priest.
People just speculated. That he'd gone to declare war.
That since God had done nothing while his world crumbled, they had no right to judge him.
At first, Seonwoo had thought the same.
But as time passed, his thinking shifted.
The more he felt Seungdo's dark, horrific emotions..., the more that idea faded.
I want to escape from this.
Wasn't Seungdo hoping for the same thing?
Staying immersed like that forever—the rage Seungdo felt was just too agonizing and torturous.
The moment that thought hit him.
A change appeared in Seungdo's color orb that he'd never seen before.
From the orb that had always glowed a dark crimson, a faint ashen aura began to emanate.
Seonwoo instantly understood what that gray represented.
Hope.
The desperate wish to break free from this pain.
In that instant, everything became crystal clear.
He knew exactly what kind of person Seungdo—the one he needed to portray—truly was.
"I'm going to kill the person who killed my family. How will you punish me for this sin?"
There was only one thing Seungdo wanted.
A path to escape this torment.
A reason not to destroy himself.
His family surely wouldn't have wanted that for him either.
"How... will you punish me?"
At first, he'd been a bit worried.
This Seungdo was very different from the original.
But now, Seonwoo had no such concerns.
Thanks to his certainty.
That this must have been how Seungdo's heart truly felt.
And when he finished the performance and lifted his head, Seonwoo realized he hadn't been wrong.
The eyes looking at him... were burning hot.
The first to speak was Eunseok.
"......Seonwoo? What the hell was that? How did you even come up with that interpretation of Seungdo?"
Fortunately, he didn't seem to hate the Seungdo that Seonwoo had portrayed.
If anything, he looked intrigued.
Seonwoo let out a quiet sigh of relief and replied.
"If I were Seungdo, that's how I'd feel. Like I was hoping someone would stop me."
Eunseok's expression turned peculiar at Seonwoo's words.
A look like he was staring at some weirdo.
For a split second, Seonwoo wondered if he'd said something wrong.
Who knows.
This wasn't a real interview, and there was no need to overthink every little word.
Didn't Yechun say as much? Cheongsong just cared about good acting.
That was when Doyoung spoke up.
"You know that's different from how anyone's ever played Seungdo before, right?"
"Yes."
"You think it's okay to change it up like that?"
It wasn't aggressive. If anything, it felt a bit indifferent.
But that only made Seonwoo more tense. One wrong answer, and he'd be in for it.
He hesitated.
If this were a company interview, he'd have given some polished, safe response.
But this wasn't an interview.
It was a place for acting.
"I had no choice. Any other Seungdo just didn't make sense to me."
So Seonwoo decided to just be honest.
What could he do? The color orb visible in his eyes had already changed.
"Alright. Got it."
Fortunately, Doyoung didn't press further.
Jiwan nodded with a grin.
"That's enough questions. Good work, Seonwoo. Go take a seat."
"Yes, sir."
Seonwoo nodded and headed to the audience seats.
On the way, his eyes met Seo Jinwook's briefly. He'd expected glares or something, but surprisingly, not.
If anything, he averted his gaze like he hadn't seen him.
......What was he thinking?
Whatever. He didn't even want to guess with that guy.
Seonwoo sat down and quietly waited for the results.
Watching Eunseok, Jiwan, and Doyoung huddle in the front row, deep in discussion.
Truth be told, this moment felt scarier than the actual performance.
Doyoung's earlier attitude nagged at him too.
'Should I have just played it like everyone else?'
Seonwoo shook his head. Too late now.
All he could do was wait.
"Alright, everyone who auditioned, come up on stage."
Right on cue, Jiwan called all the applicants onstage.
He grinned at them.
"No need for long speeches, right? Time to announce the winner."
"Yes!"
"The person taking the role of Seungdo this time is......"
He'd said no long talk, but Jiwan still paused, scanning the crowd.
Seonwoo swallowed hard.
For some reason, it felt like Jiwan lingered on him a bit longer..., but that was probably just nerves...
"Kim Seonwoo."
......Not his imagination?
Seonwoo stared blankly at Jiwan.
Maybe it'd be followed by, "Not you, don't get your hopes up."
But nothing like that happened. Jiwan grinned wide.
"Seungdo's yours, Seonwoo. Anyone got a problem with that? Speak now."
As he said it, Jiwan glanced at Seo Jinwook.
He figured the usual Jinwook might complain.
But in the end, Seo Jinwook stayed silent.
He must have seen it clearly too.
Who had given the more compelling performance.
Jiwan chuckled and turned back to Seonwoo.
"Looks like everyone's on board. Kim Seonwoo."
"Yes."
"You can do this, right?"
Seonwoo answered without hesitation.
"I'll do my best!"
Even if he couldn't, he'd have to make it work.
Still, it was a bit unexpected.
He'd thought Doyoung didn't like his take..., but apparently not.
'......Did even senior think my acting was decent?'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Let's go with Kim Seonwoo."
After watching all the auditions, Doyoung was the first to speak.
Jiwan looked at him in surprise.
"Really? Weren't you just grilling him about that interpretation?"
"I was a little thrown off. I've never seen Seungdo played like that in all my time at Cheongsong."
"And?"
"He said it himself—no other Seungdo made sense to him, so he had no choice. But... that kinda resonated."
Doyoung recalled Seonwoo's Seungdo.
A Seungdo he'd never seen before. But... it felt more vividly alive than any version he'd witnessed.
Yeah. To be honest.
It was acting that truly moved the heart.
"This is gonna be fun."
Doyoung's eyes sparkled.
"Acting alongside him."