Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Why...? The Shell is Clearly Perfect...
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Why...? The shell is clearly perfect...?
Fixer from Hell audition site.
Even though I wasn't an actor under Stone Actors, the audition went smoothly since I'd connected with them through their introduction.
I sat quietly, waiting for my turn.
Back when I had nothing, I'd prayed for even a bit part while waiting, stuck talismans on myself, tried all sorts of things.
Now, whether it was thanks to Unshakable Composure (B) or confidence in my skills, I didn't tremble like before.
"We'll now begin auditions for the role of 'Hee-chan.' Mr. Kwon Hyuk-su?"
"Yes!"
A familiar face I'd seen in the media now and then stood from his seat and entered the audition room.
And that wasn't all.
As expected from a highly anticipated drama, even for a supporting role like this, every applicant was someone familiar.
And then.
"Mr. Jung Woo-jin?"
My long-awaited turn had finally arrived.
Guided by a broadcasting station staff member, I entered a room with a U-shaped desk where three people sat side by side.
Two of them were familiar.
Choi Hyun-yong PD and Hong Ye-won writer.
Choi Hyun-yong PD was a star PD known for multiple mega-hits and guaranteed solid ratings on every project.
Hong Ye-won writer had a relatively short career but was skyrocketing in fame after churning out hit works in record time.
And Hong Ye-won writer was famous for something else besides her skills.
Her looks.
No way, writer-nim! This is total deception! Is that woman really the author of History of a Total Loser?
Hong Ye-won writer must've been a delinquent back in school. How does someone that hot know the loser's life so well?!
One total loser reporting in.
The real-life Hong Ye-won writer I was seeing for the first time exceeded the rumors.
Just sitting there quietly, her large, sparkling eyes like jewels made her look incredibly pure and beautiful. Her lower body was hidden by the desk, but her slender neckline alone hinted at her figure.
And looking at Hong Ye-won writer, I renewed my determination for this audition.
[Hong Ye-won]
- Currently covet-able talent: Attractive Character Shaping (C+)
⤷ Primary Condition: Make ‘Hong Ye-won’ amazed.
⤷ Secondary Condition: Fulfill the primary condition first.
I stood before the three of them and greeted politely.
"Hello. I'm actor Jung Woo-jin, auditioning for the role of 'Hee-chan.'"
Responding on behalf of the panel was Choi Hyun-yong PD.
"Nice to meet you. We sent you a side script with two scenes featuring 'Hee-chan.' Could we see the first one first?"
"Yes, of course."
"Start whenever you're ready."
I gave a slight smile and bowed my head.
Hong Ye-won felt a halo-like glow shining behind the auditionee named Jung Woo-jin as he entered the room.
His looks were that outstanding, and his voice had a clean mid-low tone that matched perfectly.
To the point where she wondered why an actor with such appearance was auditioning.
But...
'He still doesn't fit the role of Hee-chan.'
'Hee-chan' was a sociopathic killer.
Most people thought killer roles were easy—just go blank-faced and serious—but that was wrong.
The 'Hee-chan' she wanted had to exude a bizarre, chilling vibe beneath the blank expression. And usually, that eeriness came largely from innate looks.
But the man before her had too kind an impression. Incredibly clean and handsome in a good way.
'And besides...'
The Hee-chan in Fixer from Hell was a being who lived blended among people, wearing a mask. Lacking normal emotions but thoroughly calculated and practiced to 'show' them.
In other words, 'Hee-chan' wore a painted-on smile while among people.
A perfect smile. Bright to the point of chills.
Alone: eerie blankness. With people: painted smile. Before victims: painted smile laced with irrepressible excitement.
That level of acting was needed.
Hong Ye-won couldn't imagine the applicant before her had it.
With looks like that plus such acting, he'd already be a top star.
So Hong Ye-won watched the applicant's actions without much expectation.
"Start whenever you're ready."
At Choi Hyun-yong PD's cue, the applicant called Jung Woo-jin quietly closed his eyes and bowed his head.
The moment he lifted it again.
'......!!'
Hong Ye-won couldn't help but receive a massive shock.
About one second.
In that brief moment, the clean, handsome man's face had transformed into that of a cold, creepy killer.
A blank expression so cold and rigid it was hard to believe it was the same person—almost inhuman.
The man stared straight ahead and let out a sigh.
"Hoo..."
Then he pulled up the corners of his mouth into a radiant smile.
'Ah...!'
Hong Ye-won nearly let out an exclamation at the sight.
It was exactly the 'painted-on smile' she'd imagined, etched on the man's face.
A face that draws you in, makes you want to strike up a conversation.
But it vanished soon after, reverting to the chilling blankness.
The man stared ahead, murmuring to himself.
"Why...? The shell is clearly perfect...?"
Just before this scene, 'Hee-chan' had been called out by the female lead 'Hye-ri.'
- Your expression's weird. It's a creepy smile.
The painted-on smile was 'Hee-chan's best mask, honed through a decade and a half of trial and error.
The first opponent it failed against.
'Hee-chan' tilted his head, flashed the painted smile once more, then returned to blank.
The expressions connected with eerie naturalness and speed.
Hong Ye-won shuddered at the impossible scene.
'I-impossible... Can you switch expressions that fast...? And control each one perfectly identical?'
Hong Ye-won had worried endlessly while shaping the character 'Hee-chan.'
Would there really be an actor who could pull it off properly?
Top actors with the skills wouldn't consider it—'Hee-chan' wasn't lead or supporting, just a semi-supporting role in one episode.
But 'Hee-chan' was minor in screentime yet crucial for driving the drama's tension.
That's why Hong Ye-won had lavished stage directions on 'Hee-chan's descriptions. To convey even a glimpse of that feel.
Yet she'd watched six actors so far. All aspiring for 'Hee-chan.'
Somewhat known faces she'd seen around.
But none satisfied her. They couldn't capture the 'eeriness' or 'calculated mask' she demanded.
And now, out of nowhere, a complete newbie was bringing the real 'Hee-chan' to life before her eyes.
'No, is that even acting? What if he's a real sociopath...?'
The feeling of a character she'd shaped coming alive in reality—something she thought impossible as a writer.
Hong Ye-won rubbed her goosebumped arms and kept watching the actor.
Now for the sociopathic killer's final expression.
Hong Ye-won recalled the script directions.
- Approaching the groaning victim on the floor with slow steps, Hee-chan wears a painted smile since he's with another 'person,' but he can't hide his thick excitement, and the mask starts cracking bit by bit.
So this next scene was right before 'Hee-chan' commits the murder.
Approaching the victim with a smile that could charm others, but layering on deep excitement so the perfect smile cracks, revealing fragments of his true blank expression.
She didn't expect much.
Just hoping he'd add some different nuance to that earlier smile.
Hong Ye-won pulled her chair closer and straightened up, staring at the applicant.
"Haa..."
'Hee-chan' wiped his bloodied hand across his face.
He approached the judges' table with a radiant smile, very slowly. Incredibly deliberate steps.
'Hee-chan's eyes turned to Hong Ye-won.
The perfect smile mask crumbled bit by bit, revealing the horror beneath.
Eyes gleaming with madness and excitement. Pale lips trembling uncontrollably from the thrill.
"Haa..."
Breath heating up.
At that bizarre, chilling sight, Hong Ye-won felt a sudden chill.
She wanted to flee from the approaching man.
Clunk-.
The chair she sat in jolted once.
'Hee-chan' had come close unnoticed and bent at the waist to meet Ye-won's eyes.
A flat tone soothing the victim like. But lines totally disconnected from the situation, amplifying the dissonance.
"Have you eaten?"
The pleasant mid-low voice had twisted into a hoarse timbre laced with eerie madness.
'Hee-chan' trembled in rapture; 'Ye-won' in terror.
Ye-won couldn't avert her eyes from the sociopathic killer's gaze, as if she really were the victim.
Couldn't even beg for her life.
She knew it was pointless.
'Hee-chan' would only revel in her pleas and thrust the knife deeper.
"Ah... Ah..."
A stifled groan escaped Ye-won's lips.
"C-cut! That's enough!"
Choi Hyun-yong PD called the end of the audition, even using the director's "cut!" as if this were a real set.