Chapter 187
Chapter 187
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: A Single Take
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“You talked me up so much. What am I going to do if I can’t pull it off?”
“I’m the one who talked you up, so at least you won’t be embarrassed alone.”
“……”
Ro-si’s facial muscles twitched for a moment, as if she were making an expression for the very first time.
“Don’t worry. The acting coach only set this up because your acting has improved.”
“*Haaa… whooo.* Let’s do this.”
After taking a deep breath, Ro-si’s lips parted.
[Trait ‘Star Maker’ Activated]
[Trait ‘Soulmate’ Activated]
[The target, Oh Ro-si, gains confidence and acting ability through synchronization with you.]
The tension washed away from Ro-si’s face, replaced by a poignant sorrow.
The assistant director came over, holding something the size of a fingernail.
“Need eye drops?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“…Really?”
The assistant director was taken aback by her refusal. He thought it was absurd for an idol, a rookie actor, to refuse eye drops for a crying scene.
“Don’t regret it. You’re the one who’ll get chewed out. I definitely offered.”
The assistant director muttered as he walked away with a bitter smile.
“Just how good of an actor is she to not need eye drops?”
Ro-si must have heard the assistant director’s sarcastic remark, but her expression didn’t change one bit. Synchronized with Min-jun and warmed up from her exercise, Ro-si was no longer nervous.
Ro-si took the child’s hand and sat on the swing.
“You’re warm.”
The child clung to Ro-si, who was radiating heat from her workout, and Ro-si stroked the child’s head as if she were genuinely her own beloved daughter.
“Let’s do a good job, Yoo-jin, okay?”
“Mhm. It’s nice and warm.”
The child, who spoke remarkably well for her age, snuggled up to Ro-si.
-
“Action.”
*Clap!*
At the director’s indifferent shout, the assistant director clapped the slate.
Holding the child, Ro-si began to get into character, and in an instant, tears streamed down her face. A small gasp escaped from the lips of the entire production crew, including the director.
It had taken only five seconds for the tears to fall.
“Wasn’t she from a girl group?”
“Looks like she prepared more than we thought.”
They were murmuring among themselves, but Min-jun heard them clearly.
The director, despite having gasped himself, shot a terrifying glare at the other crew members. The startled crew members feigned ignorance, avoiding his gaze.
“…Mommy, are you sad?”
The child’s heart-wrenching line was delivered.
“No. How could I be sad when I have you, Yoo-jin?”
Ro-si said in a trembling voice, hugging the child tightly again. She looked exactly like a mother overflowing with love for her child.
“Hey, is she really an idol?”
“She’s as good as someone from a theater troupe.”
Hearing the crew murmur again, Min-jun smiled with satisfaction. The very people who had been mocking Ro-si, predicting it would take 10 or 15 takes, were now marveling at her after just the first one.
“But you said you’d let me see Dad. Why won’t you?”
“Uhm… well… they said Dad was busy, so he had to go even farther away.”
Ro-si’s delivery, restraining a sob as she spoke, was incredibly natural, and the crew was stunned once more.
The original script ended there, but the director didn’t call cut, as if he wanted something more.
“Then when do I get to see Dad?”
“…When you’re older, Yoo-jin… as big as Mommy……”
The mother-daughter chemistry was so natural that the director let the scene run long, and when the immersed child and Ro-si delivered a natural ad-lib, he clenched his fist.
And then, Ro-si’s sobs finally broke through.
“*Sob… sniff…* Yoo-jin.”
“Mommy, don’t cry. *Waaah.*”
Only after tears welled up in the eyes of the writer and several crew members did the director’s unintentional long take finally come to an end.
“Cut.”
*Clap… clap…*
The assistant director, thinking it was a brilliant performance, was about to applaud but flinched and lowered his hands when he saw the director’s serious expression.
“Put it together. Now.”
The director urged the on-set editor to stitch the just-filmed scene together, and Ro-si, not knowing what was happening, held the child with a tense expression.
Min-jun realized they were going to edit and monitor the take in sequence with the surrounding scenes and beckoned Ro-si over.
It was clear that they had captured a scene that satisfied the director in a single take.
The on-set editor’s hands flew across the laptop keyboard and mouse. Ro-si, now back to her usual self, tiptoed over while still holding the child, wiping away her tears.
“It’s done.”
With skilled hands, the editor had finished the rough cut in just a few minutes.
The edited video began to play on the laptop, and a dozen key crew members focused on the small screen.
***
A scene where the main character, a candidate for Grim Reaper, sees his former lover and a child he never knew existed, alongside a senior Grim Reaper.
- Reaper Candidate (Woo-hyun): I’ve never lived my life carelessly.
[MONTAGE]
Various scenes of Woo-hyun’s difficult life flash by as the dialogue continues.
- Woo-hyun: You have no idea how hard my life has been. I’ve taken responsibility for everything that’s happened because of my actions…
[FADE OUT]
The bright screen darkens, and Woo-hyun’s flustered words are cut off.
The Grim Reaper, dressed in an American-style two-button striped suit, lets out a long sigh and speaks.
- Grim Reaper (Min-sung): How arrogant. See for yourself with your own eyes.
[HIGH ANGLE]
From a high vantage point, the camera pulls back from the main character to reveal the changed surroundings.
Only then realizing his surroundings have changed, Woo-hyun looks around.
- Woo-hyun: This place is…
Woo-hyun is shocked, as if he recognizes the place well.
- Min-sung: (Raising a finger) Not that way.
Woo-hyun looks in the direction the Grim Reaper is pointing.
[ZOOM IN]
The camera zooms in from over Woo-hyun’s shoulder, bringing the young mother and child into focus.
Recognizing Yoo-jin’s mother, Woo-hyun jumps in shock.
- Woo-hyun: (Swallowing hard) What are you trying to say!
Flustered, Woo-hyun shouts at the Grim Reaper, but the mother and child cannot hear him.
- Min-sung: (Looking at Woo-hyun) Just listen.
[TILT UP]
The camera tilts up, slowly revealing Yoo-jin’s mother, from her old, snagged sweatpants to her stretched-out T-shirt and haggard face.
The cold child was snuggled tightly in Ro-si’s arms, warmed by her exercise, and the sight was as tender as a real mother and daughter.
A single tear rolled from Ro-si’s eye and fell onto the child’s hand. Feeling the warm, wet drop, Yoo-jin looks at her hand, then up at her mother. She asks innocently.
- Yoo-jin: Mommy, are you sad?
Yoo-jin’s mother is startled and wipes away her tears. Then she forces a smile.
- Yoo-jin’s Mother: No. How could I be sad when I have you, Yoo-jin?
Yoo-jin’s mother hugs the child tightly again, hiding the fact that she’s crying.
- Yoo-jin: But you said you’d let me see Dad. Why won’t you?
The child’s words cause a surge of emotion in Yoo-jin’s mother.
- Yoo-jin’s Mother: Uhm… well… they said Dad was busy, so he had to go even farther away.
Ro-si’s lips trembled as she barely managed to speak, clenching her teeth to swallow the sob threatening to erupt.
- Yoo-jin: Then when do I get to see Dad?
- Yoo-jin’s Mother: …When you’re older, Yoo-jin… as big as Mommy……
Overcome with pity for her young daughter, who would be left all alone without a father after she was gone, Yoo-jin’s mother can no longer hold back her tears.
- Yoo-jin’s Mother: *Sob… sob…*
When her mother weeps sorrowfully, the child feels a sense of unease and begins to cry as well.
- Yoo-jin: Mommy, why are you crying?
- Yoo-jin’s Mother: I’m… not crying. *Sob.*
Fully immersed in the scene, Ro-si wept mournfully, and the emotionally sensitive child actor also burst into tears.
The camera cut back to the two male leads.
- Min-sung: Look. Did you fulfill your responsibilities?
- Woo-hyun: …This can’t be happening.
- Min-sung: Did you think you were protecting your pride? Or did you console yourself by thinking it was for her sake?
[FLASHBACK]
Woo-hyun’s recent past flashes by, showing several instances where he had encountered that child.
- Min-sung: If you had paid just a little more attention, that mother could have lived. The ledgers of the afterlife, and even fate itself, are all fluid.
- Woo-hyun: Huh… what do you mean? Mi-yeon dies?
The camera shows the crying Ro-si again before transitioning back to the original location where the two men were.
- Woo-hyun: Mi-yeon! Where is Mi-yeon!
An agitated Woo-hyun lunges to grab the Grim Reaper by the collar.
- Woo-hyun: *Gah!*
With a single, casual gesture from the Grim Reaper, Woo-hyun is thrown back helplessly.
- Min-sung: Your choice from four years ago cannot be undone.
- Woo-hyun: *Ugh…* Tell me! Why does she die!
- Min-sung: What would change if you knew now?
- Woo-hyun: Damn it! The child! What happens to the child!
Woo-hyun’s eyes become bloodshot, and seeing this, the Grim Reaper’s brow twitches.
- Min-sung: Calm yourself. Unless you wish to become a vengeful spirit and wander the earth for eternity.
- Woo-hyun: Please, just let me say one thing to Mi-yeon! Please!
- Min-sung: Impossible.
Woo-hyun’s chaotic pupils focus on Min-sung, as if he’s thought of something.
- Woo-hyun: R-right! There are things like prophetic dreams! Where the dead appear and talk to you.
- Min-sung: To think someone in this day and age still knows of such things. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that word.
But Min-sung’s eyes show not a hint of emotion.
- Min-sung: And you can still say you’ve taken responsibility for everything in your life?
- Woo-hyun: Damn it! What the hell do you want from me! What do you want! Just spit it out!
Kneeling, Woo-hyun pounds the ground furiously.
Woo-hyun’s gaze turns bloodshot once more.
- Min-sung: Becoming a vengeful spirit is also your choice. The agony of burning your own soul with nothing but murderous intent for eons, unaware of your own existence.
Woo-hyun’s body trembles as he suppresses his rage.
Seeing Woo-hyun’s self-control, Min-sung smiles faintly for the first time.
- Min-sung: You are ready.
- Woo-hyun: What does that mean! Is there a way?
- Min-sung: Will you make a deal with me? Oh, blade of the past, rusted red.
A twitch runs through Woo-hyun’s eyes as the camera angle is pulled into them.
The edited clip stopped playing.
‘I was worried since she’s an idol, but she conveyed the emotions perfectly. The scene connects seamlessly. Actor Jung Hyung-sik made a solid recommendation.’
The director looked back at Ro-si, who, against all expectations, had produced a satisfactory scene in a single take.
The director met Ro-si’s gaze and saw a fear that went beyond extreme nervousness, which made him chuckle. She gave off such a different vibe that it was hard to believe she was the same actress who had just portrayed a destitute mother.
“Okay!”
Satisfied with the seamless scene and the outstanding performances of the cast, which required no additional takes, the director declared the shoot was over.
“Whoa!”
The production crew gave Ro-si a huge round of applause. Thanks to her, they could all go home several hours earlier than expected.
Ro-si’s face instantly turned red, and she bowed her head.
“Good work, everyone! Thank you! Good work! Thank you!”
Watching her, the director chuckled again, and Min-jun also smiled in satisfaction.
“Assistant Director. Get her profile.”
“Yes, sir!”
At the director’s quiet words, the nearby crew members all looked back and forth between Ro-si and the director in surprise.
This was because he was a man who despised unproven actors to the point of hatred, but once he trusted an actor, he would pour endless affection upon them.
*Ding.*
[‘Ro-si’s First Acting Role’ Goal Achieved]
By succeeding in the quest, Ro-si has gained a valuable connection.
*Ding.*
[Hidden Goal ‘A Single Take’ Achieved.]
The reward ‘Role Selection Ticket’ is granted.
A Role Selection Ticket?