Taming Lee Se-rin (2)
Lee Se-rin’s eyebrows shot up the moment I offered to give her a reason to cooperate with taming her.
“A reason?”
“The CF you’re about to shoot. It’s for the cosmetics company Belle Epoque.”
My words made Lee Se-rin flinch so hard she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Are you actually a stalker?”
Not this again. Why does she keep shoving me into that box? I protested, genuinely aggrieved.
“No! Please. Why do you always drag the conversation there? I keep telling you I’m not interested in you.”
That was a lie. In truth I wasn’t without interest in the great actress. As an actor, my passion for her ran deep. Still, I was no stalker.
Lee Se-rin stared at me with open suspicion.
“Fine. Let’s say that’s true for now. So what about the company?”
“The CEO has multiple fraud convictions on record, all targeting celebrities. There are also fresh rumors that he’s tangled up with unidentified loan sharks. Nothing about it is good for your image.”
Information I had seen in the news before my regression. They had advertised snail mucin essence, yet the product contained none; it was nothing more than an unnaturally sticky base cream.
A company built for a single big score.
The scandal had been fairly well-known at the time. Several celebrities had been dragged down with it. For a perfectionist like Lee Se-rin, the prospect must have felt deeply unsettling.
“It might not be much money to someone like you, but the image damage would be enormous. If you don’t believe me, look it up yourself. A few minutes of searching and you’ll see how off it feels.”
The ice in Lee Se-rin’s eyes finally wavered.
“……”
After a long silence she spoke.
“Wait here. I have a call to make.”
She wouldn’t swallow my words whole, but the seed of doubt had been planted. She would want to verify it immediately.
“Take your time.”
“…”
I smiled at the silent Lee Se-rin.
“But you can’t just wipe your mouth and walk away afterward, understand?”
“I don’t believe you in the first place, but even if it’s true I wouldn’t stoop to that.”
“The staff member who submitted this CF proposal isn’t picking up… I’m truly sorry, Se-rin.”
“What? What do you mean?”
Her manager let out a heavy sigh at the question.
“I just spoke with Reporter Choi from the entertainment desk at K Daily… How on earth did you know about this?”
Lee Se-rin’s brows drew together.
“Reporter Choi was practically screaming. They’ve been embedded for undercover reporting for two months. The story was greenlit by the desk and scheduled to drop exclusively at eight tomorrow morning. He was losing his mind asking how you learned about an embargoed piece.”
“I see.”
“There are even rumors that the CEO is already preparing to flee the country.”
Lee Se-rin ended the call and exhaled a long breath.
“Haa.”
Kim Doyun—that inscrutable actor—had been telling the truth.
Her manager’s urgent inquiries had confirmed the rumors: Belle Epoque was drowning in severe financial trouble. An exclusive report on the misappropriation of investment funds was imminent.
She had nearly been swept up in a fraud scandal that could have left a permanent stain on her career.
How did he know?
Even if the company had been careless, the information had been dug up by exhausting every connection her agency possessed. Yet a mere rookie actor named Kim Doyun had quietly passed it to her.
How? Was something like that even possible?
…Just who is he?
For a moment the man smiling in the distance looked utterly alien to Lee Se-rin. The same eerie sensation she had felt during rehearsal washed over her again. She realized she had been overwhelmed by his acting without even noticing.
Lee Se-rin had been taught that a true actor must stand above others and shine.
To overwhelm everyone with superior performance. To seize every eye in the room.
That was the reason for an actor’s existence—something her mother, Lee Myeong-hwa, had instilled in her.
But…
Kim Doyun was different.
He could devour the stage with his presence, yet he lowered himself so his partner could shine. And now he had pierced straight through her greatest weakness. She had expected him to exploit it, yet instead he offered to help.
Lee Se-rin could not fathom his motives.
Am I his target?
Even by her own assessment, her appearance was flawless. Setting modesty aside, she could confidently call it exceptional. Plenty of men had approached her with exactly that in mind.
She gazed at Kim Doyun in the distance. While she had been on the phone he had continued practicing alone.
…It doesn’t seem that way.
He had clearly stated he held no personal interest in her. His behavior showed no sign of that kind of attention. Did he even care about anything besides acting?
I don’t understand… Yet she had no choice but to acknowledge it. Kim Doyun existed outside ordinary categories.
And if his story was true…
I told him I have stage fright.
His help was something she desperately needed right now.
“If he can truly fix it…”
Lee Se-rin looked at the man before her.
Kim Doyun.
She had no evidence, yet something told her that if anyone could do it, it might be him.
She clenched her fists tightly and walked toward him.
“What, you’re done already?”
The man greeted her with a bright, goofy grin. She felt the urge to slap him, but strangely she wasn’t angry.
“Fine. I’ll cooperate.”
Got her. A real keeper!
Well, it’s not like I tricked her.
It was genuinely helpful for her too.
I squatted in a corner of the stage and thought.
Should be about time.
The method I had told her earlier for overcoming stage fright: perform alone on an empty stage at midnight. The ghosts would applaud.
I had always loved that story. I first heard it during my part-time days at a small theater.
Surprisingly, a lot of people claimed it actually worked.
Of course no real ghosts would appear. My theory was that the extreme immersion born from fear simply erased the trembling. Once you experienced that bone-deep exhaustion from performing in front of “ghosts,” the fear of a living audience felt trivial by comparison.
It’s not from personal experience. I’ve never shaken like that after being hit.
It’s true.
Just then I saw someone step onto the stage.
She came.
Lee Se-rin might lack politeness, but her character was upright. She had promised, yet I hadn’t fully believed she would actually show up at midnight to act.
Though I did say it believing she might.
She’s surprisingly pure-hearted.
On stage, Lee Se-rin closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to perform.
Oh, she’s good.
She was skilled, but she also looked a little scared. Maybe she was acting out the “receiving moisture” scene. Soon she stopped and muttered.
“What am I even doing?”
She glanced nervously around the dark theater.
“Now that I’m looking… it is a little scary, isn’t it?”
Time to stop teasing.
I rose from the audience seats and clapped.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!”
…It hurt. My slapped cheek stung.
“It’s your fault.”
“It hurts.”
“I said it’s your fault.”
“It hurts.”
“…Sorry.”
Lee Se-rin seemed unexpectedly concerned. She was softer-hearted than she let on.
My cheek throbbed, but if it made her listen to me more readily, the price was cheap.
“So? Wasn’t it effective?”
“Effective? It was just terrifying. Do I look like I came here for a horror experience?”
“Oh, so you do get scared.”
Who would have thought the icy Lee Se-rin could feel fear?
“……”
“After performing in a state of extreme fear and total immersion, you get a kind of psychological hypnotic effect. Plus, once you’ve acted in front of ghosts, the thought of a mere audience stops feeling so frightening. It creates a sense of liberation.”
“Not even slightly.”
“Still, the stage should feel more comfortable now, right?”
Lee Se-rin reluctantly nodded.
“It’s… not as bad as I expected. If I keep trying this method…”
She admitted it with clear reluctance. I smiled benevolently and spread my arms.
“Good. Then I’ll teach you the real method now.”
“What? Then what was all that just now?”
“A traditional folk remedy passed down through generations of theater troupes.”
“…”
It really was a method handed down in acting companies. You couldn’t know if it worked without trying it.
The people in the Actor Gallery had said the same thing.
As a result, I got slapped.
Well, I hadn’t expected any real effect anyway.
It hadn’t been purely a joke. I had simply thought it would serve as decent ice-breaking on the first day.
However, since I now had to become a strict trainer, I could not offer such excuses.
With a perfectly serious expression I answered.
“Have you never heard of the bridge effect? You need to be anxious and scared before you’ll rely on me. See? In the end you ended up asking me for help.”
Lee Se-rin’s brows drew together.
“I-is that how it works?”
It was actually working. The bridge effect was real.
“Don’t worry. This time I have a genuinely perfect method.”
The best treatment method the Psychiatrist Actor had given me. He said the stronger the pride and the deeper the acting immersion, the greater the effect.
Lee Se-rin asked, visibly uneasy.
“What is the method? If it’s something weird again…”
I held up three fingers.
“Starting today, give me three full days. No rehearsals, no schedules—just three days.”
“Three days?”
“Yes. In three days I’ll completely cure your stage fright.”
Probably.
Lee Se-rin tilted her head.
“You already told me that. I said it was fine.”
I carried over the luggage I had stashed in the corner, set it down in front of her, and smiled.
“What are you talking about? It’s a two-night, three-day stay. We eat and sleep right here on this stage.”
“M-me? With you?”
Once again her face went slack with disbelief. I clenched both fists and gave her my brightest smile.
“Yes.”
The prescription the Psychiatrist Actor had given me.
For three days on this stage, Lee Se-rin and I would abandon our own identities and become Ha-rang and Sang-chul. And we would completely overcome her stage fright.
That was my plan.