Chapter 259
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: A Successful Premiere
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In the waiting room of the Eunhasu Center.
“Well then, sunbaenim! I’ll be going now!”
“Okay. You have a performance tomorrow, so don’t drink too much.”
“Yes, sir!”
Choi Chanyoung, the actor who gave a passionate performance as Park Wonkyung, bowed with a flushed face and left the waiting room.
“That ending gave me chills. You were insane.”
“Heh. Really?”
“The stage direction was incredible. This play is going to be a huge hit.”
Through the slightly ajar door, boisterous voices, likely belonging to Choi Chanyoung's friends, could be heard.
Both Kim Jongho and his manager couldn't help but smile at the excited voices.
“But why are these guys taking so long?”
“I know. Should I give them a call?”
“No, it’s fine. They’ll be here soon.”
After grumbling for a moment, Kim Jongho sat on the plush sofa, rereading the script as he waited for someone.
Knock, knock.
A knock sounded, followed by a familiar voice. Kim Jongho closed the script and grinned. His manager also smiled and opened the waiting room door.
Standing at the door were two sparkling actors and one actor who was good at acting but had a questionable personality.
“Jongho Samchon! We’re here!”
“We enjoyed the play today.”
Seojun and Park Dohun smiled as they placed bouquets of flowers in Kim Jongho’s arms.
Holding two large bouquets with his rugged face looked unbalanced, but Kim Jongho was simply delighted.
“Thanks, you two.”
“Hey, Hyung? I’m here too, you know? Can’t you see me?”
Even as the actor with good skills but a questionable personality, Lee Jiseok, hovered in front of him, Kim Jongho paid him no mind.
Lee Jiseok’s manager, Yoon Sungoh, chuckled at the familiar scene and handed a paper bag to Lee Jiseok.
Lee Jiseok smiled and took something out of the paper bag.
“How can we celebrate Jongho Hyung’s first time on stage in ten years without champagne! I bought the most expensive one in the store.”
Oh!
Seojun and Park Dohun looked at him with renewed surprise, but then nodded as if they had expected it all along.
There was a reason they had remained close friends for so long, despite their bickering.
“It’s a surprise to see you buying something like this, Jiseok.”
Kim Jongho said, stroking his chin.
His voice was quizzical, but the slight curve of his lips showed he was pleased with the champagne gift.
“I guess I can’t drink any.”
As the underage Seojun pretended to slump his shoulders, Lee Jiseok chuckled and said.
“You can drink it too, Seojun. I bought a non-alcoholic one.”
“…Then it’s not really a gift for me, is it?”
Non-alcoholic champagne. That was just sparkling juice.
Kim Jongho looked at Lee Jiseok as if to say, "I knew it."
Lee Jiseok shrugged with a mischievous look on his face. Seojun, Park Dohun, and the managers burst out laughing at the familiar sight of the two actors.
“Alright, let’s go get dinner.”
“But is it okay for us to go with you? Don’t you have a company dinner or something since it’s the opening night?”
At Seojun’s question, Kim Jongho recalled the actors who, with flushed faces after a successful first performance, had left to have celebratory parties with their families and friends. Each one had stopped by the waiting room to greet Kim Jongho before leaving.
“A lot of the actors’ families and friends came today since it’s the opening night. They should spend quality time with their families on the first day. We can have a company dinner on the last day of the performance.”
Seojun nodded at Kim Jongho’s words.
“So, where should we go?”
“I’ve made a reservation.”
At Lee Jiseok’s words, Park Dohun raised his hand.
The actors and managers moved through a corridor used only by staff, not the Eunhasu Center lobby where the audience was.
“It’d be better to go in one car, right?”
“Then let’s take my car.”
“Should we?”
The three actors got into Seojun’s car, the largest among theirs.
Lee Jiseok’s manager, Yoon Sungoh, decided to come along, while Park Dohun’s and Kim Jongho’s managers decided to head home for the day. Yoon Sungoh would follow them, driving Lee Jiseok’s car.
An Daho got into the driver’s seat.
The four actors, sitting facing each other, fastened their seatbelts.
Kim Jongho, who had carefully placed the bouquets beside him to avoid damaging them, hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat and asked.
“So, how was the play?”
At Kim Jongho’s question, the three actors opened their mouths as if they had been waiting.
“Everyone did well. No one stood out in a bad way, and the control of the dialogue’s intensity, typical of a play, was good.”
“I liked how the actors’ emotions were consistent. While the past was being reenacted on the first-floor stage, the audience’s attention was directed there, but the atmosphere of the second-floor courtroom remained unchanged.”
“That’s right. It would have been easy to let their minds wander, but you could see everyone was focused. And it couldn’t have been easy to act out similar scenes with different atmospheres twice, but it was amazing how they made both the prosecutor’s and the defense lawyer’s arguments seem plausible.”
An Daho, who had been thinking, ‘The stage divided into the first and second floors was incredible,’ smiled upon hearing Lee Jiseok, Park Dohun, and Seojun’s comments.
It seemed that because they were actors, they were more concerned with the actors’ performances than the stage, which was immediately noticeable to anyone.
Kim Jongho grinned at the flood of compliments. Coming from three actors who were serious about their craft, it was a reliable assessment.
“Chanyoung did a great job. The other actors did well too.”
The bailiff who stood silently before escorting Park Wonkyung out of the courtroom at the end; the jurors who watched the trial, clicking their tongues, frowning, or pretending to sob.
The prosecution and defense, fiercely presenting their arguments, and the judges looking down with as much dignity as possible.
And the witnesses, testifying in a tense tone as they carefully recalled their memories.
“Everyone practiced really hard.”
Becoming a hot topic was a good thing, but becoming a topic of discussion beyond imagination was a source of pressure.
The play, which became even more talked about due to the false report of ‘Lee Seojun’s appearance,’ made the actors happy, but as the opening day approached, the pressure mounted.
The only way to overcome the pressure was to practice even harder.
It was Kim Jongho who held the center for the actors practicing day and night with worried faces.
‘A few years ago, I wouldn’t have cared…’
Kim Jongho’s gaze turned to the three actors who were cheerfully discussing the jury.
It seemed his heart had softened a bit after spending time with actors who loved their craft.
Maybe it’s about time I start giving advice to my junior actors again.
Kim Jongho smiled, thinking something that would have delighted Lee Jiseok and Park Dohun if they had heard it.
“You usually get pretty close when you do a play, but I think we’ve become closer than usual this time.”
Recalling the jury team actors who practiced diligently, Kim Jongho said with a pleased smile, and the three actors who loved acting also smiled brightly.
“Actors that you like, Hyung… It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“It really has. Introduce us next time, Jongho Samchon.”
“Me too. I want to meet them too.”
“Sure.”
Kim Jongho nodded.
They were all good actors, so they would become friends in no time.
* * *
[Play ‘The Jurors’! Awe-inspiring stage design!]
[Actor Kim Jongho, Actor Choi Chanyoung, showcase their amazing acting skills!]
[The past seen from the courtroom! Who is the director?]
[Prosecutor? Defense Attorney? Whose words were right?]
[Song Moonseok, author of the novel ‘The Jurors,’ to have another novel adapted into a drama?]
[Play ‘The Jurors,’ sold out every day!]
-Wow. The stage was insane. They basically built a whole other stage.
=Wow… you saw it? I’m so jealous.
=Friend’s connection. It was an invited seat hehe
=Even here, connections… ㅠ Fine. Tell me more.
- _______ >> _Pros_ Judge _Def_
=ㅣ_ㅣ_ㅣ >>ㅣ_ㅣLiving Roomㅣ_ㅣ
=I thought it was just a stage, but it opened up like this. The audience was buzzing when it opened lol
=When the doors closed and opened, it would switch between a hospital, a living room, and outdoors lol It was insane ㅎ
-They said they didn’t even seat anyone in the front three rows because of this stage direction.
=So that’s where my seat went!!
=My neck can hurt all it wants! I want to see it!
-The direction was amazing, but the actors were great too.
=Kim Jongho is a given, and Choi Chanyoung, who played the main character, was also really good.
=The ending gave me chills!
=In the novel, it ended ambiguously whether it was the prosecutor or the defense, but it seems the play decided to go with the prosecutor’s side and added a twist.
-Aren’t they going to broadcast this? ㅠ
* * *
After school.
Before starting practice for ‘Mirror,’ Seojun reviewed its script and stage direction.
After watching ‘The Jurors,’ a play also based on a novel like ‘Mirror,’ he saw a few things he wanted to change.
But after a moment of thought, Seojun closed the script.
Unless he could have the stage to himself, there was nothing more he could change.
‘And ‘Mirror’ isn’t that kind of story.’
It seemed better to stick to the original plan.
Before practice began, Yang Joohee, who was chatting and laughing with the music team kids, said jokingly.
“About the music. We can’t do it live, can we?”
“Absolutely not.”
The third-year music major in charge of the music team shook his head with a deadpan expression.
Yeoul Hall, where the graduation performance would be held, has a space between the stage and the audience. It was an area where an orchestra could be placed in front of the stage, like in an opera performance.
Joohee’s idea was for the music team to be in that space and provide live background music along with the play.
The music team kids also shook their heads no.
“Why?”
Kang Jaehan, who was listening from the side, tilted his head, and the music team leader chuckled.
He recalled the first time they faced Seojun and the acting team when they started actual acting practice in November, not just script readings.
“Because Seojun is too good at acting!”
The music and background team kids nodded in agreement.
None of them could forget the scene from that first day.
‘Ready, action.’
At Seojun’s single phrase, Seojun and the acting team kids were instantly immersed.
The familiar practice room had suddenly transformed into a stage bathed in spotlights.
The kids stopped practicing their instruments and working on the background, staring blankly at the actors.
The actors were performing at such a close distance that even their ragged breaths and dripping sweat could be heard.
Even though it was just a practice, they were giving it their all as if they were on a real stage.
It was so powerful that it made them automatically think, “So this is why people go to see plays.”
‘…Isn’t this their first day of practice?’
‘I get why they’re called the golden generation.’
‘I laughed so hard when I heard that… I don’t think I can laugh anymore.’
The music and background team kids gulped as they watched the actors create brilliant colors, turning their surroundings monochrome.
“The other kids are too good too! If we were to play live, we’d have to match the timing while watching the play, but I’d be so distracted by you guys that I wouldn’t be able to conduct and would just be staring blankly.”
A conductor who is supposed to watch the play and conduct in time, just staring blankly.
If the music timing was off, it would create discord with the play.
Seojun, who had been momentarily tempted by Yang Joohee’s words, weighed the pros and cons of a live performance and came to a conclusion.
‘Let’s stick to the plan and record it.’
Meanwhile, the background and music department kids asked the acting team kids.
“Do you acting majors get to see this kind of acting every day? Right in front of you?”
“You guys have integrated classes with our department too.”
When Jeon Sungmin tilted his head, the third-years shrugged.
“We’re just staring blankly then too. Besides, we only do simple stuff in the integrated classes.”
“You guys get used to it so well.”
“Anyway, we can’t play live. Absolutely not.”
At the kids’ vehement reaction, Yang Joohee raised both hands.
“I was just kidding.”
Seojun and the kids burst out laughing.
“Oh, by the way, the results came out today, right? Congratulations on passing, everyone. Everyone on our team got in!”
“Congratulations!”
The first and second-year students clapped at Park Siyoung’s words, and the third-years from the music and art departments beamed.
All third-years on the ‘Mirror’ team passed the entrance exam for Mirinae Arts High School.
At this tremendous result, the teachers’ gazes toward Seojun became peculiar.
“I understand the acting and violin majors…”
“But how did you know about the art and other instrument majors?”
Seojun had simply chosen the kids who he felt, based on what he saw and heard, were the best fit for ‘Mirror.’
‘I didn’t know they would all pass.’
While the kids were congratulating the third-years, Park Minhyung, a first-year art major whose class ended late today, arrived.
“Sorry I’m late!”
“No, it’s fine.”
Once all the ‘Mirror’ team members had gathered, Seojun stood up.
“Alright, let’s start today’s practice.”
There were now less than four weeks until the graduation performance.
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