Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Acting Practice (1)
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"Cut! Okay, that was great! So-yul, you're on fire today too."
Director Park Jung-hoo's okay sign rang out.
Applause erupted from the staff all around.
"As expected of Jung So-yul."
"Did you see that look in her eyes just now? Insane."
"She made legend again today."
"She's the perfect tragic heroine now. That spoiled rich girl attitude from the early scenes? Completely gone."
The staff's praise poured in.
Korea's top star of her twenties.
A walking corporation.
A woman who turns even breathing into a photoshoot.
And a ten-million actress.
All descriptors for Jung So-yul.
The words used to describe her were always dazzling.
It was only natural.
The best actress whose every project was a smash hit.
She outacted most veterans, and her uniquely beautiful face and voice delivered an intoxicating charm to audiences.
On top of that, the entertainment industry was a ruthless meritocracy.
A world where attitude and personality were forgiven as long as the results were good.
And Jung So-yul's achievements there were overwhelming.
Even Director Park Jung-hoo had to tread carefully around her.
The moment filming wrapped, she wiped away the tragic heroine expression and reverted to her haughty true face.
"Good work, everyone."
She gave an elegant nod, perfectly matching her public image.
Then the male lead, Hwang Jun-ho, came rushing over breathlessly and offered her a bottle of water.
"Sunbaenim, great job. Sorry I was slow picking up the emotions earlier... Was it tough?"
Hwang Jun-ho.
Korea's rising star, doing quite well these days.
He put on a cool, aloof act in front of fans, but around Jung So-yul, he was just a wagging puppy.
Ever since she coldly rejected his dinner invitation before.
No, from the moment she captivated the set with her flawless acting—he'd been reduced to a thousand wagging tails.
Any lecherous desires to get with her had vanished.
You don't even look at a tree you can't climb, as they say.
Hwang Jun-ho had felt the gap between them and stopped his pointless advances.
He had some sense, at least.
And Jung So-yul had zero interest in a loser like him anyway.
She didn't take the water he offered.
Instead, she picked up the tumbler her manager uncle had brought, her lips curling just slightly.
"No. You did great too, Jun-ho. Beyond expectations, even."
"Really? That's a relief. I practiced so much to match your tempo, sunbaenim. I'll do even better next scene. So..."
Hwang Jun-ho's words didn't even register.
'Boring.'
Jung So-yul swallowed a yawn inwardly.
The director's "perfect" praise?
Lies.
Today's acting was trash.
At least by her own standards.
She couldn't immerse herself.
The emotions from her co-star were too shallow.
He was supposed to be obsessed with love for her, suppressing her.
But this guy in front of her wasn't suppressing anyone—his eyes were trembling just trying to please her.
'Coward.'
She could feel him hesitating even to touch her, terrified of upsetting her.
No real force when grabbing her wrist, either.
Gentle, like handling fragile glass.
'Should I have held back more back then?'
If she'd just gone along moderately during rehearsal, he wouldn't be groveling like this.
After getting caught in her performance and losing his rhythm, Hwang Jun-ho had been chewed out by Director Park multiple times.
His confidence had tanked since.
Idiot.
He should have pushed back harder.
That's how scenes come alive.
She'd dropped hints so many times, but he never caught on.
This was a rising star?
Disgusting.
Just lucky with two or three hits, and calling himself a rising star.
Couldn't even grasp acting basics, let alone character research. A total moron.
The type who chose acting just to become a star.
This guy wasn't a real actor.
"Sunbaenim, there's a team dinner later tonight if..."
"Sorry. I've got another schedule."
She cut him off sharply and climbed into her van, closing the door.
Click.
With the noise shut out and alone at last, her mask finally slipped.
"Haa."
Irritation surged.
She glared at her reflection in the mirror.
Beautiful.
Perfect.
Embarrassing to say it herself, but she was that stunning.
But it was empty.
No satisfaction or relief from nailing the scene on her face.
No wonder.
It had burned out incompletely.
Unsatisfying acting, directors always calling cut anyway.
Co-stars delivering subpar performances.
Having shown her peak once before, but unable to reach it again.
All of it gnawed at her.
Lately, acting had lost its thrill.
To be precise...
Everything had grown dull since that day.
'Kim Jinwoo.'
The fierce face of that man flashed in her mind.
The school rooftop.
The man who choked her throat with rough hands, pinning her arms.
The only male who'd stared straight into her eyes, utterly indifferent to her being top star Jung So-yul.
-Do it right. This is a waste of time otherwise.
His voice echoed like an auditory hallucination.
The terror and thrill she'd felt then.
And the real emotions that had burst out under that pressure.
That's what she needed.
If she could feel that stimulation just once more...
She could deliver peak acting again.
"The drug's worn off."
Jung So-yul gnawed at her nail.
Thanks to the jolt from Kim Jinwoo that day, her acting had been sharp for a few days.
Recalling the fear he'd instilled let her nail the emotions.
But time passed, and the sensation faded.
Imagination alone wasn't enough anymore.
She needed that pressure again.
The tangible violence that choked her breath and made her tremble.
"Why is everyone so spineless?"
Thinking of the men outside made her scoff.
All desperate to impress her.
Showering her with flowers, praise, princess treatment.
She used to think it was natural. She was Jung So-yul, after all.
But after Kim Jinwoo, she saw it clearly.
It wasn't consideration.
It was them running scared, lacking the guts to handle her.
Cowards keeping distance under the guise of worship, unable to dominate her as a woman, as a human.
'No fun.'
Playing acting games with them bored her now.
She didn't need a gentle prince.
She needed a mad dog to shatter her shell and drag out her depths.
Jung So-yul picked up her phone.
The saved contact.
-Kim Jinwoo.
This wasn't her work phone—it was strictly personal.
She answered any call to this number unless filming. Only for those she'd truly approved.
That's what giving Kim Jinwoo this number had meant.
Yet he'd never once called.
"I gave him my card, and not a single call."
Ignoring me?
Or some twisted push-pull tactic of his?
Honestly, her pride stung.
She'd assumed he'd call first, of course.
Every guy she'd seen went crazy to be with a superstar like her.
So naturally, he'd reach out.
But nothing.
As if her number was no big deal.
What does he take me for?
"Do you know what kind of number that is?"
She bit her lip.
"...Should I call?"
Staring at the number, she exhaled deeply.
Her crumpled pride was old news.
A week and change of no contact from him had already maxed it out.
No more pride left to crumple by calling first.
No choice.
He held the upper hand.
She had to be perfect.
She couldn't tolerate flaws in her acting.
'Not because I'm drawn to him.'
She needed him.
His coercive power let her immerse deeper in acting.
He was...
A tool for great performances.
A stimulant.
Yes, Kim Jinwoo was exactly that.
"......"
But the look in Jung So-yul's eyes on the screen wasn't that of someone seeking a tool.
The eyes of an addict suffering withdrawal.
Craving those rough hands on her body again.
Those indifferent eyes piercing her once more.
She yearned.
Still staring at her phone, she called out to her entering manager.
"Uncle."
"What's up?"
"What's my schedule tomorrow?"
"...No weekend gigs. Photoshoot meeting, but what's this about?"
She replied calmly to her manager uncle's question from the rearview.
"Push it back."
"Reason?"
"Uh, school assignment?"
A quick meet with a school guy.
Not wrong.
"Call it an important lesson."
"......"
He stared at her.
"So-yul."
"Yeah?"
"Don't make headlines."
"I know what you mean. Don't worry. No scandals in years."
"...I trust you."
Permission granted.
Jung So-yul gripped her phone tight.
She couldn't wait anymore.
She'd go herself, fill that void with stimulation.
Back home, she called Kim Jinwoo right away.
It barely rang before he picked up.
And then.
-Took you longer than I expected?
A leisurely voice came through the receiver.
As if.
He'd known she'd call first.
Thump.
Ah.
This tone.
Lording over her from above, condescending.
Jung So-yul felt her heart race for the first time in ages.
Vrrr.
The phone on the table buzzed.
The name on the screen.
-Jung So-yul.
Right on time.
'About time the drug wore off.'
A smile spread across his lips.
Jung So-yul was a perfectionist.
Couldn't stand her acting falling short.
And the 'fear' and 'pressure' I'd injected on the rooftop? Perfect stimulants for her.
But not permanent.
Time fades it, dulls the thrill.
Then she'd come crawling back like an addict in withdrawal.
Hating to admit it, but her body and senses would remember me.
She'd proposed script practice together.
Annoyed she'd suggested it then never followed up.
So I didn't call first.
Of course.
The thirsty one digs the well.
I waited.
Like a fisherman with line out, bait set.
The time was ripe.
Harvest season for the ripened fruit.
Playing dumb, I hit call leisurely.
"Took you longer than I expected?"
I gave her exactly what she wanted.
I know everything about you.
Don't even think of coming at me.
In our dynamic, the one in control?
Not top-star you, just ordinary college student me.
All that in one line.
It landed; rough breaths came through the phone.
-Um... are, are you busy?
Cautious voice.
Pretending calm and haughty, but the underlying anxiety bled through.
"Cut the evasion. Get to the point."
-......
Silence for a moment.
-Clear your schedule tomorrow.
"Why?"
-Acting practice. Need to sync up again. Like last time... still feels lacking.
Beating around the bush, but it boiled down to one thing.
'Rough me up again. Crush and suppress me, drag out my real emotions.'
Using acting as an excuse to crave my dominance.
Unable to forget the thrill of being choked and pinned.
But here's the thing.
"Sorry, tomorrow I'm busy."
-Huh?
"Some of us work weekends too."
-......
"You can wait till I'm off if you want. Cool with that?"
How's that?
Ready to waste your golden time for your 'helper'?
-...I'll come to the shop.
"Good. Send the address, come on time."
I hung up without hearing her reply.
I could picture it.
Jung So-yul clutching the phone, face flushed, pissed yet relieved.
The hook was deep.
"Sunbae, who was that?"
"Oh, nothing."
Han Chae-ah emerged late from the bathroom, and we headed out for dinner.