Master Plan – The Script Reading
"Pleasure to meet you all. I'm Maseok Do, playing Kwak Ji-chul — the guy with this build who's scared of everything and takes a beating every other scene."
Ha ha ha!
Clap clap clap.
Maseok Do's witty, good-natured introduction lit up the room with laughter.
Next to rise was the twenty-year-old rookie who had landed a leading role in a film by none other than the great director Park Chan-hong.
"I'll be in your care. I'm Ryu Yeon-woo, playing Pierre Choi — the fixer who settles the score for our very frightened senior, Ma."
The moment he stood, Yeon-woo bowed a full ninety degrees and asked for their kindness. Smiles spread around the table as applause followed.
Then a middle-aged man's voice boomed across the room.
"Whoa, just looking at that face brightens up the whole place!"
The shout from the back row set everyone laughing again.
It reminded Yeon-woo of An Jun-ho at the first script reading for Summer's Closet. He glanced toward the source of the voice and found cinematographer Kang In-chan grinning at him.
The veteran DP of the Closet team — the elder statesman who had raised his spoon high and declared his company loyalty soaring the moment the reward trip to Hawaii was confirmed.
Glad to see him, Yeon-woo broke into a bright smile and answered with a small nod of greeting.
Next up was the charismatic actor Jeong Ha-gyun, cast as Park Kang-woo — boss of Kangwoo Construction, which was in truth the Kangwoo syndicate. After him, Han So-hyun rose as Jennifer, codenamed "Deer," and drew cheers with her bright, refreshing greeting. The supporting cast followed one by one, introducing themselves in turn.
With so many well-known actors in the room, there was little need to memorize names. Still, a production this large meant a long list of supporting players, and a few faces were unfamiliar. As each person stood and spoke, their names and features filed automatically into Yeon-woo's mind.
Remembering names and faces was one of his specialties.
Once the introductions were finished, Director Park gave a concise rundown of the film's overall flow as he envisioned it, along with the off-script backstories he had built for each character.
"All right. Let's begin."
At Park Chan-hong's word, the assistant director called out,
"Starting now. Scene number one."
Shff—
At the AD's cue, the roomful of people flipped their scripts open in unison.
A bit-part actor playing the president of a security firm opened the scene.
"Look, you'll just have to understand. There's nothing I can do. I'll take care of you handsomely. Somebody has to take the fall, don't they?"
"No, sir. I didn't do anything wrong. If anything, I've been telling you since last month — we needed to shore that side up."
The cyber security company where Kwak Ji-chul worked as head of the programming team handled mostly banks. A DDoS attack had just paralyzed a bank's entire network, and someone had to take the blame.
"I put a real pile in there for you. You won't feel shortchanged. Take a break, and once things cool down you can come back. I know your skills better than anyone, Team Leader Kwak. Hmm?"
They moved on to scene number two.
Kwak Ji-chul hauled a box of his office belongings out of the trunk and slammed the lid shut in a fit of temper.
Thud—!
"Ugh, those filthy bastards. Seriously."
Maseok Do substituted a slap on the table for the sound of the trunk slamming shut. He meant to keep it light, but the whole table jumped, and the actors startled.
"Director Kim."
At Park Chan-hong's call, the flustered assistant director scrambled for his lines. It had been decided in advance that Kim In-hyeon would cover any uncast bit parts.
"Hey! Did you just ding my door?"
At the bang of the car door, the owner of the vehicle parked beside them in the apartment garage got out.
"The trunk. It was the trunk."
One look at Kwak Ji-chul's rough, intimidating face, and the car owner quietly climbed back into his vehicle.
Scene number three: Ji-chul's wife, surprised to see him home early, asked what had happened. He explained everything, and she told him it was for the best — he'd gotten a generous severance, so they should just take it easy for a while.
The reading rolled on. Jeong Ha-gyun's Park Kang-woo sent his men to the retired genius programmer Kwak Ji-chul with a request to build software for an illegal gambling den. When Ji-chul refused, they harassed his family. That scene passed as well.
Maseok Do, who treasured family above all else, tried to fight back — only to get beaten down with combat skills that in no way matched his massive frame. He reported it to the police, but the syndicate cut its losses: only the lowest-ranking thugs caught a slap on the wrist, and the case was closed.
Under the principle of double jeopardy, a closed case could not be prosecuted again. The Kangwoo syndicate's men made it clear there would be payback for the report, and Kwak Ji-chul and his family slowly wore down under the pressure.
"I can't live like this. Money I can always earn again. If you can just fix this, I'll give you everything. Damn it."
In the dark depths of the internet — places ordinary people could barely reach — a fixer floated like a legend. Kwak Ji-chul put in a request.
And so scene seventeen began: Yeon-woo's first appearance, the very sequence he had performed at the audition.
"Devo andare in bagno, scusate."
The scene opened with fluent Italian. A small murmur of admiration rippled through the room — even those who didn't understand the language could tell the pronunciation was something else.
Yeon-woo launched into the phone-call scene he had done at the audition. Since the point of a table read was to lock in the dialogue, he didn't push the delicate facial work he had shown that day — but in Park Chan-hong's and CEO Han Yun-su's minds, that shockingly detailed gradient of expression rose unbidden.
Next, Yeon-woo played the sequence in which Pierre Choi scammed the Italian mafia and slipped away with easy grace.
"Go ahead and search that island of yours a hundred times. Honestly, these guys are just… Non è divertente."
Pierre Choi's final line of the scene, delivered as he left Sicily by motorboat and headed for the waiting ship.
Then the next scene: Pierre Choi arriving at Incheon Airport. He took off his sunglasses and swept a look around the terminal.
"Honestly, this damn country builds airports that are ridiculously huge for no reason. Ah — I've got to get some airport kimchi jjigae. How long has it been? Eheh-ra-di-ya."
In building Pierre Choi, Yeon-woo had crafted a peculiar, magnetic way of speaking that carried both a con man's flippancy and a heavyweight's charisma at once. He delivered the lines in that voice — even tossing in an ad-libbed little flourish that wasn't in the stage directions — and the result was Pierre Choi exactly as he lived in Park Chan-hong's head, realized to perfection.
The fit was so seamless, and the accent so new, that So-hyun beside him glanced over in mild surprise. The other actors were stealing looks at Yeon-woo for the same reason — that strange, captivating cadence.
"Uh, should we do this part too?"
The next scene was written simply as Pierre Choi enjoys kimchi jjigae with gusto — something that would have to be handled with ad-libbing on set. Trying to play it with dialogue alone and no stew in sight felt awkward, so Yeon-woo asked.
The AD checked the directions and shook his head.
"Ah, we're skipping this scene. Scene number twenty-four."
At the AD's word, the reading picked up from the next scene and flowed smoothly on. A few scenes later came the meeting between Pierre Choi and Kwak Ji-chul.
He had sent his wife and daughter to her parents' house. Harassed by Kangwoo syndicate thugs, Kwak Ji-chul couldn't even go home; he was living out of a cheap inn. Burdened by a life that had suddenly twisted sideways, he bought soju at a convenience store and opened the door to his shabby room.
"You the one? Kwak Ji-chul — the guy who put in the request?"
Inside, Pierre Choi lay stretched out on the bed with his legs crossed, casually snacking on the leftover crackers Ji-chul had left from the day before.
"Mother of—! You scared me half to death. Nearly dropped the baby."
Maseok Do's shameless delivery drew a ripple of laughter through the conference room.
"Built like a mountain and you're talking about your mother? Am I your mother?"
Yeon-woo snapped the line back at the perfect beat, and the room finally broke into open laughter. Undeterred, he kept going.
"And what baby are you dropping, exactly? That's not muscle, that's… are you pregnant?"
He delivered the follow-up with deadpan innocence, and the laughter wouldn't stop. Maseok Do waited a good five seconds for the room to settle before picking up his next line.
"Are you Pierre Choi?"
"Yeah. Come sit down. Ah — cheap inn, no chairs. Lie down here if you want."
Pierre Choi patted the spot beside him and shifted onto his side. In the end, Kwak Ji-chul perched forlornly on the very edge of the mattress.
Everyone was only reading the scenario and imagining the scene — but the mental image of massive Maseok Do perched uncomfortably on the corner of a tiny bed put small smiles on every face.
And so they played it: Pierre Choi reclining in a faintly languid pose, Maseok Do hunched on the edge of the bed with his big back bent, the two of them talking.
"But look at you — built like a muscle mountain. How'd a guy like you end up getting worked over by those little punks and coming all the way to me? Not that I didn't read the whole long sob story."
"W-well, I…"
"Talk. Make yourself comfortable."
"When I was little I took the wrong herbal medicine and ended up like this. I don't actually work out at all."
Pierre Choi, who had been lying on the bed, sat up.
"Ma è una burla! For real? Wow. Mysteries of the East?"
"Um, Fixer-nim — more importantly, could you tell me what we're going to do going forward…"
As naturally as breathing, Pierre Choi snatched the convenience-store bag from Kwak Ji-chul's hands, pulled out a snack, and kept talking.
"Just eat some crackers and wait a bit. I've already called in the sharks from this business. Wonder if Deer will show first?"
"Deer?"
Maseok Do's last line closed out scene twenty-eight. The AD took a cue from Park Chan-hong and called out,
"Scene number twenty-eight complete. We'll take about a thirty-minute break and pick it back up."
At the AD's announcement, everyone stood and stretched. Maseok Do, who had been sitting across from Yeon-woo, rose and came over.
"Yeon-woo-ssi. I'm just going to call you Yeon-woo, all right?"
"Yes, sunbaenim."
"Ah, what's with the 'sunbae'? Call me hyung. I know I've got no shame, but still."
They were two full twelve-year cycles apart, but Seok-do told him to call him hyung anyway. Yeon-woo gave an awkward little smile.
"Ah — Seok-do hyung. Got it."
"That's more like it. Anyway, your acting is seriously good, dongsaeng."
The praise was genuine; Seok-do meant every word. Yeon-woo answered with a smile.
"Thank you. I had a great time trading lines with you too, hyungnim — our chemistry was perfect."
Seok-do smiled, clapped him on the shoulder, and headed out of the conference room toward the restroom.
The moment he left, Han So-hyun came over as if she had been waiting for exactly that.