How to Save Lee Se-rin (1)
I smiled as I watched the internet reactions being tallied in the gallery.
Success!
I never imagined the day would come when my name would rise and fall across the internet. The emotion was so overwhelming I felt like I might cry.
I lowered my gaze and examined the Director's Eye subtitles.
Still nothing.
Unlike the rehearsal, the live broadcast apparently did not evaluate every single scene individually.
So the settlement comes after everything ends.
Both the evaluation and the points would only be known once the play was over.
Good. That was more than enough to use in the final scene.
I only had one appearance left.
I would visit Ha-rang’s hospital room, receive the letter, then deliver it once I reached Min-woo’s studio.
Technically two scenes, but I would perform them as one.
Since it’s my last appearance, I need to hammer it into the audience’s minds.
I never knew showing my acting to so many people could feel this electrifying.
It was completely new!
While I stood behind the stage thinking that, the staff came rushing toward me.
“Great work, Doyun!”
“Wow, I barely recognized you.”
The staff showered me with praise until their mouths went dry and wiped away my sweat.
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to the hard work of the staff behind the scenes.”
“Wow, that’s so like you, Doyun. Your character is just as impressive as your acting.”
“I was worried when the set collapsed, but thanks to you we got through it smoothly.”
One of the staff members nodded.
“If you just finish strong, this will be a successful debut for you, Doyun.”
“Haha. You’re too kind.”
“I overheard earlier that Director Lee Tae-ryun seemed extremely pleased with you?”
“Really?”
Director Lee Tae-ryun was pleased. Just hearing that made me feel elated without realizing it. Before my regression, those rare words of praise from him at auditions had kept me falling into despair and forcing myself back up for decades.
He was the director I had always wanted to be acknowledged by.
“Yes, really. I caught him talking with Writer Yun Song-i. It sounded like they were even discussing casting you in Writer Yun Song-i’s debut project after this?”
I cheered inwardly.
If it was Writer Yun Song-i’s debut work after Flowers Fall, that could only mean the drama Descendants of the War God that had taken Korea by storm.
I had done everything possible to realize the direction Director Lee Tae-ryun imagined and desired. In return I had received thunderous cheers and praise.
And now I was even being considered for the next big hit.
Where else in the world could such luck exist?
Yeah. This should be enough.
Even as I thought that, Dracula’s words kept echoing in my head.
I told myself not to dwell on it. This was already an excellent debut.
“Is something wrong, Doyun?”
At the staff member’s worried tone, I smiled and answered.
“It’s nothing.”
Sang-cheol only had two appearances left. I just needed to finish them well.
With that thought, I nodded.
Sang-cheol’s second appearance. It was a simple scene. All I had to do was hand over the letter.
Having already stood on stage once, the tension had completely vanished.
Visualizing Director Lee Tae-ryun’s image.
Through the narrow gap in the door, the sight of an old metal bed and the sharp smell of disinfectant leaked out.
Moonlight faintly illuminated the hospital room, as if revealing Ha-rang’s precarious condition.
Even seeing it again, the direction is flawless.
Good. I just had to avoid mistakes.
If I performed without error exactly as I had practiced, I could earn Director Lee Tae-ryun’s recognition. With that resolve, I stepped onto the stage.
I approached the hospital bed where Lee Se-rin, playing Ha-rang, lay. Her face wore an expression that suggested she could die at any moment.
As expected of the future great actress. She had told me not to worry needlessly, and she had been right. It really had been an unnecessary concern.
I set the thermos down on the table beside the bed and delivered my line.
“Drink this while it’s warm. It’s cold outside.”
I stripped away any unnecessary emotion. This was to portray Sang-cheol worrying about his friend exactly as Director Lee Tae-ryun imagined.
Lee Se-rin slowly raised her head.
Her face showed hesitation, as though her mouth wanted to open but couldn’t quite manage it.
The look of someone dying to ask how Min-woo was doing.
“Thank you, Sang-cheol.”
“It’s nothing. Min-woo won’t be able to smile again until you’re healthy. Get better soon.”
I kept suppressing the emotions that kept trying to slip out from Sang-cheol. I could worry for Ha-rang, but I must not cross that line.
Sang-cheol knew his boundaries. He was simply a good person. He was not some pathetic bastard who lusted after his friend’s lover!
“Um… how is Min-woo doing? Every time I visit the studio he just gets angry with me.”
The tingling sensation that came from Lee Se-rin’s brilliant acting. Even so, I followed the script. I laughed brightly, exactly as Sang-cheol would.
“He’s struggling too, that’s all! So don’t push yourself too hard either, Ha-rang.”
This had to be the answer Director Lee Tae-ryun was looking for.
But Lee Se-rin. Why was she making that kind of expression?
On the Masterpiece Theater board, discussion about the new actor Kim Doyun had become the hottest topic. The same was true inside the Actor Gallery.
[You’ve opened your eyes. Come to the Actor Gallery.]
[Can’t you just keep them closed?]
[Let’s just never open our eyes for Drac’s reviews]
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However, I shall watch until the very end. Do not betray my expectations.
It’s how I feel.
The entire Actor Gallery was focused on the newbie’s first stage. Moreover, it was the first live broadcast in the gallery’s history. Most of all, although Kim Doyun had not intended it, the fact that he had reduced the proportion of method acting and emphasized technique had caused the Actor Gallery to experience an unprecedented rate of post generation.
After Kim Doyun’s second performance, Director Lee Tae-ryun smiled with deep satisfaction for the first time in a long while.
“Good.”
“What?!”
At the startled reaction from Writer Yun Song-i, Director Lee Tae-ryun turned his head.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“You just said it was good.”
Director Lee Tae-ryun let out a dumbfounded chuckle.
“Do you think I’m some kind of psychopath?”
“What?!”
Writer Yun Song-i looked startled for a moment as if she had been caught, then laughed and spoke.
“Of course not.”
“…It looks like you did.”
“Hahaha… It’s just that this is the first time I’ve heard you compliment Actor Kim Doyun.”
“Did I never do it before?”
He had complimented Kim Doyun. Director Lee Tae-ryun seemed surprised at himself and let out another dry laugh.
“I suppose it is the first time.”
He had always believed that the brilliance visible in an actor was everything. In that sense, Lee Myeong-hwa had been the greatest actress he had ever seen. After losing her, he thought he would never encounter such brilliance again.
Yet he had found it. An existence possessing brilliance equal to hers—if not greater. He had found it in Lee Se-rin.
From the moment he first saw Lee Se-rin, he had intended to make her the greatest actress.
That was why, in this production, he had planned for no one except Lee Se-rin to steal his gaze.
But Kim Doyun had not only stolen his gaze, he had made him doubt his own eyes, and now, without even realizing it, he had praised the man.
“Director, you mentioned trying out Actor Kim Doyun for my debut project. Does that mean he caught your eye?”
Director Lee Tae-ryun smiled.
“It might be worth testing him in a lead role.”
After finishing the second shoot, sweat poured out of me.
I leaned back in a chair for a moment.
“Hoo…”
The relief of having delivered the exact performance Director Lee Tae-ryun had wanted so badly.
Now only the final shoot remained. If it flowed smoothly from here, there would be no problem.
My head understood that, yet Dracula’s words refused to leave my ears.