Chapter 52: A Splendid Return (2)
Chapter 52: A Splendid Return (2)
What kind of person was Hong Jeong-hee?
To be honest, she was a character Seo-yeon found impossible to understand.
A human being driven to the extreme by their affection for another.
In her past life, Seo-yeon had never harbored such affection because she couldn't understand emotions. In this life, she had only received healthy, proper love, so she knew nothing of the twisted kind.
The concept of harboring such intense affection for another was so foreign to Seo-yeon that she couldn't fathom why Hong Jeong-hee was so obsessed with Bae Seong-hak.
She supplemented that gap through Pyo Ji-woo’s acting.
The emotions Ji-woo had felt for Min Seo-ho.
That emotion so intense it turned into murderous intent when he betrayed her.
Like an old black-and-white television.
Like watching a silent film.
Seo-yeon examined those feelings one by one.
Even though she couldn't truly empathize, there were things she could recognize.
Affection.
They say that once you harbor it, it’s not easy to let go, even if you want to.
Suddenly.
Seo-yeon thought of her past life.
Come to think of it, her parents had been the same.
Twisting her, pressuring her.
Even though they suffered, they never let her go in the end.
Obsession.
A parent’s, a lover’s.
Seo-yeon observed each of these as she moved her body, her mouth, and her face.
“You’re too greedy,” Shim Cheong-seok had said during their discussion on character interpretation.
“No human is perfect.”
Therefore, every person’s interpretation of a character is different.
“The role you’re playing is, in the end, a human being made of flaws.”
A person broken by their craving for another’s affection.
“So, a performance of 'proper' affection wouldn't fit in the first place.”
If you act it that way, the audience will be deceived.
That was what Shim Cheong-seok had said, and Seo-yeon knew it too.
She would express the intensity of the human known as Hong Jeong-hee.
Inferiority, despair, jealousy, obsession, affection.
She listed those complex emotions and assigned them an order.
And the first emotion Seo-yeon placed at the top was—
“...If it’s wrong, it has to be set right.”
Obsession.
“Think about it. When did he start changing? Since when, where did he go? What was he doing?”
Under the dimmed lights, Hong Jeong-hee’s monologue began.
Her movements were creaky, like a ball-jointed doll.
“Fan meeting on February 22nd. Event in Gwangju on the 27th. No one contacted him separately during March rehearsals.”
With a hunched back, her long black hair spilled over, masking her face.
Through the strands of hair, her eyes shifted toward the audience.
“April, visiting a facility for... volunteer work.”
Red eyes.
Red eyes swirling with every kind of emotion.
Even though her face wasn't fully visible, those eyes reached the audience more clearly than anything else.
Not a single breath could be heard.
The sheer wrongness of Hong Jeong-hee, who knew every single detail of Bae Seong-hak’s schedule from A to Z.
That eerie obsession was vividly imprinted on the audience.
Why go that far?
Everyone was likely thinking the same thing.
The answer was simple. Her obsession with Bae Seong-hak was what moved her.
Slowly.
A dragging gait.
Thump. Thump.
Hong Jeong-hee’s feet moved as she crossed the stage.
“I have to find them.”
She tilted her head toward the audience, one section at a time.
As if she were looking for someone.
“I must.”
The audience members who locked eyes with Hong Jeong-hee froze instantly, unable to even part their lips.
Soon, Hong Jeong-hee pulled away from the edge of the stage and turned around.
The moment the tension crushing the surroundings began to dissipate—
Hong Jeong-hee’s body whipped around, and she lunged toward the audience in an instant.
“!!”
The audience flinched in shock.
It felt as if Hong Jeong-hee were literally pouncing on them.
No, it felt as if her face had suddenly appeared right before their eyes.
However, Hong Jeong-hee’s feet did not leave the stage.
At the very edge.
“It’s you.”
Teetering precariously on the edge of the stage, Hong Jeong-hee looked at the audience and spoke.
“Yes, it was you.”
The lights grew even dimmer.
“It was you, Song Min-seo.”
Total darkness.
Only then could the audience finally breathe a sigh of relief.
They shuddered at the suffocating presence of Hong Jeong-hee.
‘She’s utilizing the stage to its full potential.’
Director Bae Jin-hwan’s hands were itching.
He was taking notes on every single detail of this scene.
As he touched his lips, he realized he was wearing a smile of pure exhilaration.
‘This isn't the end, is it? Ju Seo-yeon.’
He wanted to see more.
He wanted to see her next performance as soon as possible.
Bae Jin-hwan wasn't the only one who felt this way.
The role of Hong Jeong-hee was, after all, the villain.
The antagonist of the play.
And that antagonist was seizing control of the entire production.
‘But as a play, this isn't good.’
If the lead doesn't feel like the lead, the impression of the play becomes blurred.
What would the people who saw this play today say?
“The villain was amazing. The play? The play was just okay.”
That’s surely what they would say.
That wasn't good for the actors or the play itself.
‘I wonder.’
What would happen?
Would it end as a play dominated by Ju Seo-yeon?
With those thoughts, Bae Jin-hwan watched Act 3 unfold.
The two leads began to get entangled in earnest.
The story of the protagonists, Bae Seong-hak and Song Min-seo, played out.
In between, there was one person who passed them by without a single line of dialogue.
Hong Jeong-hee.
Every time she appeared, the audience held their breath, watching the situation.
Fearing what Hong Jeong-hee might do.
And then, Act 4.
The moment Hong Jeong-hee stepped to the forefront and came into direct conflict with Bae Seong-hak.
Ju Seo-yeon and Shim Cheong-seok.
The moment the acting of Shim Cheong-seok and Ju Seo-yeon collided head-on.
“Are you out of your mind?!”
Bae Seong-hak’s shout cut through the stage.
His acting, which had been merely decent when he was with Song Min-seo, had changed.
A sharp edge of emotion suddenly flew out and struck home.
Those with an eye for acting recalled Bae Seong-hak’s performance when he had faced Hong Jeong-hee earlier.
His acting had changed in an instant.
‘Is this... his true skill?’
‘He’s adjusting his tone depending on the actor.’
They looked at Shim Cheong-seok with newfound eyes.
But Shim Cheong-seok didn't care about any of that.
‘Ju Seo-yeon.’
Beneath his face, which couldn't be seen from offstage.
A fierce smile emerged.
‘I have no intention of losing to a rookie who’s only just taken her first step.’
That sentiment seemed to radiate from his smile.
The idol Bae Seong-hak.
A role that originally didn't suit him.
However.
His aura shifted completely.
Into the kind-faced idol actor, Bae Seong-hak.
“Ms. Hong Jeong-hee. I’ve had my suspicions for a while. But I never thought... you. You, who always cheered for my performances, why?!”
After finishing his performance safely, Bae Seong-hak felt a strange sense of anxiety.
Song Min-seo, whom he was supposed to meet after the show, was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, he remembered.
That Hong Jeong-hee had not been seen at today’s performance.
The woman who always followed his shows.
She had been a precious fan, but lately, he had felt a strange tension from her.
He had been sensing a thick murderous intent directed toward Song Min-seo.
Recalling this, Bae Seong-hak ran to find Song Min-seo and Hong Jeong-hee.
And he managed to intervene just in the nick of time.
“Why to Min-seo...!”
“Min-seo?”
A low chuckle, he-he, was heard.
A glinting light in her eyes turned toward Bae Seong-hak.
“Since when did you two become so close, Oppa?”
Her voice was extremely calm.
Monotonous.
A spine-chilling voice that seemed devoid of even emotion.
A voice that completely hid the intense emotions Hong Jeong-hee had shown until now.
That voice.
“You were never like that with me.”
It gradually became passionate.
She grabbed his collar.
She pinned him against the wall.
“You were never like that with me!!”
With a scream-like shout, the hands gripping Bae Seong-hak’s collar trembled violently.
“What do I lack? I liked you much, much longer than she did.”
Tears fell drop by drop.
She was frustrated. What exactly did she lack?
No, she knew.
She probably hadn't been a source of comfort for Bae Seong-hak.
Hong Jeong-hee was, in the end, just a fan.
And Song Min-seo, who couldn't hear his voice, wasn't his fan.
To her, he was just an ordinary man who approached her normally.
That difference.
No, was that all?
Hong Jeong-hee panted, unable to continue her words.
“You don't lack anything.”
Overlapping her trembling, Bae Seong-hak spoke.
“You have always been a fan I didn't deserve.”
So.
“Please, don't commit any more wrongs. I’m begging you, Ms. Jeong-hee.”
A desperate plea was carried in his voice.
At those words, Hong Jeong-hee stared at him blankly.
For the first time, her idol had made a request of her.
She just stood there, dazed.
The entire audience watched the scene, mesmerized.
And a woman sitting quietly in the audience.
‘...This is wrong.’
Jo Seo-hee bit her thumbnail.
‘What are you doing right now?’
Jo Seo-hee’s gaze wasn't on Ju Seo-yeon.
It was on the actress playing ‘Song Min-seo’ behind her, Lee Hye-jin.
She remembered that was the name written in the pamphlet.
Jo Seo-hee had already skimmed through the general plot and reviews before seeing this play.
She had even checked videos.
Because she expected it would definitely be different from the previous versions.
If that Ju Seo-yeon was involved.
So, she noticed the mistake immediately.
In this scene, Song Min-seo was supposed to intervene between the two.
But right now, Song Min-seo was frozen, unable to break into their acting.
‘Are you going to ruin the play?’
Ju Seo-yeon.
Not the bright starlight she had seen before.
Seeing her emitting darkness, Jo Seo-hee felt a chill touch her heart.
‘If only I were in that spot.’
The fact that she had never done theater was painful.
But the frozen Song Min-seo didn't move.
If this continued for just a bit longer, the audience would notice something was wrong.
The 'mistake' made by the actor.
Just then.
“Song Min-seo!!”
A suppressed shout from Hong Jeong-hee cut across the stage.
“Are you... are you being conceited because you won? Why, why are you looking at me with those eyes?!”
Jo Seo-hee felt it.
‘A line that wasn't in the script.’
An ad-lib.
Song Min-seo was originally set as 'deaf.'
Naturally, she shouldn't have been able to hear Hong Jeong-hee’s shout.
But the audience didn't realize that in the moment.
Even if they did, it would have sounded like Hong Jeong-hee’s final, desperate outburst.
But Jo Seo-hee knew.
This wasn't a shout directed at Song Min-seo, but at the actress Lee Hye-jin.
At the same time, the presence of the weakened Hong Jeong-hee suddenly diminished.
“Min-seo, are you okay?”
And in sync with that, Bae Seong-hak’s gaze turned toward Song Min-seo.
Adding sign language, he belatedly reminded the audience that she was deaf.
With that natural flow, Song Min-seo’s dead presence was instantly revived.
He had forcibly directed the audience’s gaze toward Song Min-seo.
“I... I’m okay.”
Lee Hye-jin—Song Min-seo—barely managed to squeeze out her line.
Her vocalization faltered slightly and her voice trembled, but given the situation, it felt like part of the acting.
She had successfully deceived them by framing it as Song Min-seo’s flustered emotion.
Lee Hye-jin was an actress too.
She naturally realized what had happened and knew she had to make up for this mistake.
She steadied her heart.
One deep breath.
“Ms. Jeong-hee.”
There were many lines that were supposed to follow.
But Lee Hye-jin felt it.
That she shouldn't drag out her words here.
“I’m sorry.”
Gently, Song Min-seo hugged the weeping Hong Jeong-hee.
Cradling her, softly.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Forgiveness for Hong Jeong-hee, who had spat out violence and accusations at her.
Song Min-seo expressed it simply by quietly embracing Hong Jeong-hee.
“Sob.”
The tears that had been falling drop by drop now flowed pitifully.
Along with Hong Jeong-hee’s sorrowful weeping.
Act 4 came to a complete close.
And that was.
Hong Jeong-hee’s final appearance in the play.
*
“Wow, so this is what theater is like. It’s my first time, and it’s insane.”
“The lines are a bit different from when I saw it before. But this is good too.”
“Really? But the male actor was so handsome. Isn't he a real idol?”
Following that, Close Your Eyes concluded with Act 6.
The audience filed out, chatting about various topics.
And the topic that came up most frequently from their lips was—
“The girl who played Hong Jeong-hee, that was Princess Yeonhwa, right?”
“I didn't get that feeling at all. Honestly, I was so scared I almost walked out in the middle.”
“Ah, seriously. But I felt a little sorry for her at the end.”
It was Ju Seo-yeon, who played Hong Jeong-hee.
Seo-yeon’s performance as Hong Jeong-hee had been that groundbreaking.
The acting that had momentarily frozen the audience still came back vividly when they closed their eyes.
“Whew.”
It was the same for Director Bae Jin-hwan and Producer Cha Dong-jin.
The two let out a sigh, still immersed in the lingering afterglow of the play.
“...How was it?”
Producer Cha Dong-jin was the first to speak.
His voice carried a strange sense of anticipation.
Bae Jin-hwan shared that anticipation.
“I’ve reflected on my assumptions.”
“Reflected?”
Bae Jin-hwan nodded.
“Yes. A return after ten years. The image of Princess Yeonhwa was so strong that I thought it might be a bit risky.”
He recalled Seo-yeon looking at the audience as she walked across the stage.
Originally, Hong Jeong-hee isn't such an intense character.
She’s the main villain, but she’s more of an ‘unpleasant’ character than an intense one.
“But this is good too. It was a new interpretation.”
“The last line in Act 4 was different too, right?”
“Yes.”
After saying that much, the two slowly nodded.
“You’re thinking the same thing as me, right?”
“Of course.”
The young age of seventeen.
At first, that had been a concern, but now, it didn't matter.
“Let’s do it.”
It was the moment the villain for their upcoming movie, The Chaser, was decided.
However.
There was one problem they hadn't anticipated.
“...What? Actress Ju Seo-yeon doesn't have an agency right now?”
“?”
The two, who were about to deliver the script to Seo-yeon and contact her.
Faced an unexpected problem.
The fact that they had no way to contact her.
While Bae Jin-hwan and Cha Dong-jin were clutching their heads in despair.
At that moment, the person in question, Ju Seo-yeon, was—
“....”
At the after-party following the play.
Two people had chased her there.
“...Ha.”
“Hmph.”
Park Jung-woo and Jo Seo-hee.
She was stuck between the two of them, cautiously reading the room.