The Script Reading
"The only thing you could jump into right away is a fusion historical drama. Will that be all right?"
"I'll give it a try."
"Good. Then I'll put my faith in you and push for a substantial role."
Yoon Jay had looked on Arong Arong favorably for two reasons: filming was imminent, and it was a period piece no one could ever accuse him of having imitated anyone to create.
Baek Jin-ri was, after all, merely an imitation of someone else.
What he hadn't expected was for CEO Lee Seo-won to actually slot him into a supporting role—much less for an anonymous investment firm to abruptly come through with funding besides. He could only call it good fortune.
A period drama... one I've never actually watched.
That was the problem: Yoon Jay had never seen a single sageuk in his life. The moment his casting was confirmed, he paid for the original webtoon and read it cover to cover, then combed through the acknowledged masterpieces of the genre along with every historical drama of recent years. There was no time to watch them in full, so he made do with condensed recaps on MyTube.
Do-hwa did mention that regression stories were all the rage in webtoons and web novels lately... Having never touched the genre, Yoon Jay found the premise genuinely fresh.
Arong Arong merely borrowed the trappings of the Joseon era; it was officially set in a fictional kingdom and laced with a touch of fantasy, which left it relatively free of historical-accuracy controversies. It also came with the premise of sacred heirlooms passed down from one's ancestors, each harboring a mysterious power. Within the story they were the stuff of legend, and naturally, the protagonists put them to use.
The drama was a fusion sageuk and a regression story built around its heroine. Jung Yeon-hwa, the female lead, was a young noblewoman of a prestigious aristocratic house, promised in marriage to Crown Prince Lee Geon—until Lee Geon lost his political struggle against Grand Prince Muhwi, was stripped of his title, and sent into brief exile. In his absence, Grand Prince Muhwi stirred up a rebellion of princes and usurped the throne, and Jung Yeon-hwa's family could not escape the storm unscathed. Racing back to the capital from exile, Lee Geon cradled Yeon-hwa's fallen body and wept. And in that moment, light spilled from the sacred heirloom in his grasp, and time itself flowed backward. Regressed to a point before every tragedy began, Jung Yeon-hwa wielded her memories of the future to rise unstoppable and rewrite her doomed fate.
They say it's a popular character...
The Crown Prince was beloved, but Grand Prince Muhwi was every bit his rival. Back when the webtoon was serializing, readers had split into Crown Prince and Prince camps, and the fandom's nerves had reportedly stayed taut for the entire run. The series was popular enough that fan-casting threads among drama enthusiasts never stopped circulating, either.
If I do well here, the name Yoon Jay will finally take root. If it were up to him, the ratings would be strong, too. Even without ever revealing to the world that he was Yoon Jae-hee, he wanted to become someone his younger siblings could brag about.
By the time he finished his preparations, the day of the script reading had arrived.
"Oh? Managing Director. You're riding with us?"
"Of course I am. It's our number one actor's first supporting role."
Kwak Dohyun had a reputation in the industry as a man who got things done, and he had come along to throw his weight behind the occasion. Twisting around in the passenger seat toward the back, he asked, "Jay, it's raining—how are you feeling?"
"Not great."
Had it been only slightly off, he would have said he was fine. Honestly, he couldn't have managed even that much of a lie. Yoon Jay sipped at the warm tea Kwak Dohyun had bought for him. The nightmares had stolen whatever sleep he might have gotten, and his whole body throbbed with a dull ache.
"Why does this happen every time it rains, though? Don't tell me you've got arthritis. At your age..."
"Nothing like that. Old injuries. Strange as it sounds, my body acts up whenever it rains."
"Injuries? From your service days?"
"That's right."
He hadn't seen the man often, but he had never seen him like this. A worried look crept over Kwak Dohyun's face at the sight of Yoon Jay's pallor. "It's just a simple reading, so don't push yourself. The investment came through beautifully thanks to you—nobody gets to say a word."
"He's right. I heard the writer took quite a liking to you, hyung."
At the two men's encouragement, the corners of Yoon Jay's mouth lifted. Even so, he still harbored a stubborn wish to make a good first impression. It wasn't a press gathering, but they would be shooting a making-of film for MyTube.
"Go on in ahead of me."
"Will do."
Kwak Dohyun peeled off toward somewhere or other, and as Yoon Jay made for the elevators with Han Jin-woo, he found someone already waiting in front of them. He recognized the man at a glance: Kim Hyun-jun, the four-year actor cast as the male lead, Crown Prince Lee Geon.
"Hello, Kim Hyun-jun sunbae-nim."
"Ah, right... Grand Prince Muhwi? That's you, yes?"
"Yes. I'm Yoon Jay."
Kim Hyun-jun looked him up and down. Huh. Not bad-looking, actually. Where had he had the work done? No way that face came straight from nature—it had to be a little sculpting here and there. And the line of that body was nothing to sneeze at either. His tone curdled of its own accord. "Yoon Jay? Never heard of him. You're a rookie?"
"Yes, sir. I have a long way to go, but I look forward to working with you."
Yoon Jay bowed with impeccable courtesy, and for a brief moment Kim Hyun-jun's gaze softened. There it is. That's how a rookie ought to bow.
"Don't tell me this is your first project?"
"Arong Arong isn't my first."
"Ah, now that I think of it, I heard you were in one of Moon Chang-min sunbae's dramas... Well, a bit part is still a part, I suppose."
As if he's never heard my hyung's name in his life. Han Jin-woo, eavesdropping in plain sight from behind like a ghost, clenched his fists.
He was being dismissed to his face, yet Yoon Jay scarcely registered it. I only brought it up because of The Child.
What strings did this guy pull to land a supporting role already?
He's going to bore a hole through me at this rate. When is that elevator coming?
Kim Hyun-jun at least had the sense not to say any of it aloud, and Yoon Jay did his best to ignore the prickling stares. Into that strained silence, as they waited for the elevator, someone approached.
"Hello there. Oh? Kim Hyun-jun."
"Seo-ah noona. It's been a while."
It was Park Seo-ah, the drama's female lead, Jung Yeon-hwa. Kim Hyun-jun's face split into a beaming grin—an expression from a different universe entirely than the one he'd spared for Yoon Jay.
Park Seo-ah did carry the ugly nickname "Chemistry Destroyer," but that was just noise from the community boards; within the industry, work found her constantly. Among actresses her age, few managed themselves as well or acted as capably.
"What kind of greeting is that? It's been two years since we've shared a set."
"We see each other at every awards ceremony anyway. What's the difference?"
Some of the warmth was surely an exaggerated performance staged for Yoon Jay's benefit. You wouldn't know this, rookie, but I'm showing off just how friendly I am with the other actors.
There's falseness mixed into that. Having caught the note of it, Yoon Jay quietly closed the book on his assessment of Kim Hyun-jun. A man who measured people by the fame of whoever stood beside them—there was no need to get close. He stepped back without a word.
"I hear you've been doing MyTube these days. Is it doing well?"
"Doing great. Subscriber count's climbing, too."
"Aren't you putting a bit too much energy into things outside acting? You're not an idol."
"Noona, actors and idols are a hair's breadth apart now. You've got to manage the fans."
"Aigoo, fine, fine. Look at you, all high and mighty."
When Kim Hyun-jun preened, Park Seo-ah fought to keep her expression neutral. He got famous off that face, and now he won't stop running his mouth.
Just then, the long-awaited elevator arrived.
"Go on up."
"Why? Let's ride together."
"I left something behind."
"Have your manager grab it."
"Then hurry up and go."
The air had soured enough that sharing a car held no appeal, and Yoon Jay made no move to follow—but Kim Hyun-jun, for his part, had eyes for Park Seo-ah alone. Just as Yoon Jay moved to greet her first, she was quicker.
"We're old acquaintances, aren't we?"
"I'm Yoon Jay, sunbae-nim."
"I'm not one to stand on seniority, so there's no need to be so formal. And..." Park Seo-ah drifted in close beside him. Not too close—there were far too many eyes watching—but near enough that the managers waiting behind them caught every word. "Hyun-jun really can be insufferable. The moment your name recognition ticks up, he'll be tripping over himself to act friendly."
"Thank you for the advice."
The ledger was already balanced in his mind. Even if Kim Hyun-jun's attitude changed, Yoon Jay would keep him at arm's length; he need only mind the man for the duration of filming.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you joined our drama, Jay. Do you happen to know my nickname? Chemistry Destroyer."
"I can't say I've heard it."
"No need to play innocent. I hear you and I crossed paths back in your bodyguard days?"
Darling of the community boards though she was, Park Seo-ah despised the Chemistry Destroyer label. It had been pinned on her because no on-screen chemistry ever seemed to survive her pairing with any male lead. These days plenty of spare, romance-free projects were being made—but wasn't the name just another way of saying she had no charm?
"Whew. Still, when I heard our brief encounter had gone well, I can't tell you how relieved I was... Anyway, I look forward to working with you."
"I'll give it everything I have."
Before long, the elevator delivered them to the reading venue, where people were already streaming through the entrance.
Is that him?
How good must his backing be, waltzing straight into a supporting role?
Great face, though. And he looks even taller than I heard?
Every eye that had placed him latched on and followed. Admiration, suspicion, mockery. Perhaps it was his battered condition, but for a moment he could almost hear the voices of his childhood.
The man I am now is not Yoon Jae-hee.And I already beat my fear of the camera long ago. Yoon Jay, who had faltered mid-stride, set his feet moving again.
A short while later, after the writer, the director, and the two leads had made their introductions, his turn came.
"I'm Yoon Jay, the actor playing Grand Prince Muhwi, Yi Hwi. This is my first historical drama, so I ask for your generous understanding if I stumble."
When he finished, a fair number of people clapped and cheered. The room was, at least in spirit, encouraging toward a rookie. Or was that just the making-of camera talking?
Yoon Jay had done nothing but drink water until his turn arrived. Perhaps because it read as a rookie's nerves, the making-of camera lingered on Park Seo-ah and Kim Hyun-jun instead, and the room as a whole seemed to have quietly written him off.
It's only a reading, after all.
Just land the lines.
Fortunately, Grand Prince Muhwi barely appeared in episode one. Just as the director and the writer—both studying his gray complexion at close range—were letting their expectations sag, the assistant director read out the scene direction.
"Yi Hwi closes the distance to the kneeling Yeon-hwa. And takes Yeon-hwa's chin in his hand."
"At last."
Two words. But the voice bore nothing of the tone from his introduction. Several actors who had kept their eyes nailed to their scripts stole glances at Yoon Jay.
"So you've finally landed in my hands."
A voice cracked raw with fatigue—it was like a serpent's hiss one moment, the low rumble of a beast the next.
Hm. Not bad, for a rookie?
Looks like he did his homework.
Just as surprise surfaced in Kim Hyun-jun's and Park Seo-ah's eyes, it was the writer who broke the current. "One moment—I'd like more emotion in this passage."
He had stripped the feeling out and poured everything into breath and enunciation to compensate for his condition, but a veteran writer saw straight through the trick. "Jay, what do you think Hwi was feeling here?"
"A love that borders on obsession with Yeon-hwa, and longing. The exhilaration of seizing what he wanted. And a faint hollowness."
The writer's eyes gleamed at the answer, delivered without a hitch. Well, look at that. He actually prepared.
"Hm, your reading of it is correct. First-reading jitters, perhaps? Let's take it again from the top."
The reading resumed. From the very back of the room, Managing Director Kwak Dohyun nursed a private regret—if only it hadn't rained today, the boy would never have drawn that note.
What? "Please forgive me if I stumble"?
For all her open critique, writer Im Hyun-hee was quietly delighted with Yoon Jay. A character interpreted to the exact degree, and a steady sageuk register from a man billed as a rookie. What was more, his script hadn't so much as trembled, lying there showing nothing but its cover. Not that he seemed to know it, too busy washing down his nerves with water.
Interesting. I wonder what he's like on set?
He had gone viral off a single photograph even back in his bodyguard days, and now the character posters—a hundred percent faithful to the original designs—drew warmly favorable reactions. The script reading footage released soon after proved no different.
The production company had posted the footage as an exclusive first reveal, so the real-time reactions played out in plain view. The PR team screenshotted the choicest ones and even spun them into promotional articles.
But the world holds every kind of person, and the moment anyone starts drawing praise, certain souls materialize like ghosts to tear them down.