The First Script Reading
In the film, Cheon-young is portrayed as a shaman who serves the Dangsan Tree. She isn't a real shaman, though — just a clever child.
There's a scene coming where Cheon-young, forced to play the shaman simply to stay alive, conducts a ritual offering, and I'd trained with Park Young-ja specifically for that moment. On top of that, I'd been squeezing in physical conditioning whenever I could, soaking up period films and dramas, and drilling my speech and mannerisms until they sat naturally in a historical piece. Time had slipped by before I knew it.
The first script-reading day for Joseon Secret Royal Inspector.
I was the youngest in both age and credits, so I made sure to arrive at the reading room as early as I possibly could.
Someone had gotten there before me.
"Hello!"
"Hello, Cheon-young!"
She shot up from her seat and was in front of me in an instant.
"I'm Ye Na-ri. I'll be playing Il-yeong — Ji-sook. I look forward to working with you."
"The pleasure's all mine! And Cheon-young? Please, just use my name."
Ye Na-ri folded both hands neatly in front of her and shook her head.
"I couldn't possibly. For the time being I have to become Il-yeong and attend Cheon-young — and if I attend you off-camera as well, the performance will come out that much more naturally, don't you think?"
"Even off-camera?"
"Yes. Would that make you uncomfortable? I just… I really want to give this everything I have."
She looked genuinely desperate. Joseon Secret Royal Inspector: The Child Who Serves the Sacred Village Tree had changed a great deal from the Joseon Secret Royal Inspector 1 I remembered from before the regression — but Ye Na-ri's casting, at least, was the same. That desperation was how she'd seized the opportunity then, and how she'd seized it again now.
She was a little different from the Il-yeong I remembered… but Hong Il-beom and Lee Ok-dan would steer her during the reading.
I gave a little giggle.
"Then I'll call you Unnie."
"Whatever you're comfortable with! Thank you!"
Ye Na-ri even bowed her head to me before ushering me toward my seat. Lee Won-seok was hovering nearby looking awkward, so I waved him off that it was fine.
Once she'd settled me in my chair, Ye Na-ri bustled about with water and snacks and even made a move to adjust the air conditioning. I reined her in just enough while I watched her, and that was when I caught a habit.
"If bottled water isn't to your liking, shall I bring barley tea or corn silk tea instead?"
"Wow, thank you! But I'm not thirsty yet, so I'm okay."
"I see…"
A shadow flickered across Ye Na-ri's face — there and gone in an instant. Then she tucked her hair behind her ear, and the blindly devoted Il-yeong was back.
Some kind of Acting Switch?
It was different from my own method, which made it interesting. Would the switch still flip if someone else tucked her hair back for her?
I was about to ask when a new face burst into the reading room with a greeting loud enough to rattle the walls.
"Good morning! I'll be playing Kang Geon-bok in Joseon Secret Royal Inspector: The Child Who Serves the Sacred Village Tree — I'm the actor Bae! Su-chan! This is my first film, so I still have a great deal to learn, but I intend to grow into a better actor! Please! Take good care of me!"
The moment he crossed the threshold, Bae Su-chan squeezed his eyes shut and introduced himself at full volume, then bowed so deeply the back of his head was pointing at the ceiling. When nothing came back at him, he straightened up in awkward little twitches — and finally spotted us.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room.
He forgot how ridiculously early he was. I returned the greeting before the moment could get any more painful.
"Hi! I'm Lee Su-a. This is my first film too — I look forward to working with you."
"Ye Na-ri. Likewise."
Ye Na-ri followed my lead and greeted him as well.
Bae Su-chan sat down at his own place with a sheepish look. He kept glancing across the table at us like he wanted to start a conversation, but Ye Na-ri — already immersed in Il-yeong — was watching him with a distinctly wary air, and he didn't seem to know what to do with that.
Fortunately, the awkwardness didn't last long.
"Wha—"
"Ah! Good morning, sunbae! I'm Bae! Su-chan! I'll work as hard as I can! Please guide me and teach me well!"
"Hey! It's been a while."
"Hello. I look forward to working with you today."
Jo Yong-jin had arrived at an hour more typical of a rookie, and he looked startled to find so many people already there. It was an unusual situation, to be fair. The staff, still in the middle of setting up for the reading, were equally at a loss.
"Um — actors? We're not quite ready yet. Would you mind giving us a moment?"
At the assistant director's careful request, the three adults shot to their feet. I took the hand Ye Na-ri offered me so courteously and stood as well, and we all filed off into a corner.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The four of us clustered together, and an awkward silence filled the space between us.
Jo Yong-jin — rumored to be the most painfully shy person in the entire entertainment industry — greeted me with his eyes alone before dropping his gaze to the floor. Bae Su-chan, all that earlier fire nowhere to be found, was busy reading the room. Ye Na-ri had angled her body slightly toward me, as if I were the only person worth her attention.
Don't people usually try to get to know each other at something like this? We're going to be shooting together for months.
Someone had to go first. It was going to have to be me.
"This is my first time filming a movie, so I'm so excited! What about you?"
"Me too…"
"This is my first film as well!"
"Actually, mine too…"
"..."
And then nobody opened their mouth again.
Good grief. These grown-ups were more wound up than I was. They could barely even play along. If I went quiet too, this stiff atmosphere didn't stand a chance of thawing, so I started talking about whatever came into my head.
"I heard most of the filming is in Gangwon Province? I've never been there before. It's going to be so hot in the summer, but the forests and the valleys should be a little cooler, right? I learned a bit of pansori because I thought it would help with Cheon-young's scenes, and I actually went up a mountain to practice with my pansori teacher. It was a warm spring day, but once we got into the mountains it was kind of chilly. Oh, and I saw a squirrel from far away — I hope I get to see one in Gangwon Province too."
As I chattered away on my own, all three of them gradually started paying attention. Jo Yong-jin — the only one who already knew me, and who'd once been scolded by Ki Sung-hee over something similar — found the courage to speak.
This guy and I have even exchanged a few Inbreeze messages. Why is he acting so awkward?
"There'll be a lot of people on the crew, so you probably won't see any animals. Plenty of bugs, though…"
"Wow, I want to catch butterflies and rhinoceros beetles."
"It'll be more like mosquitoes and gnats, mostly…"
"Aww, that's no fun. Mountain mosquito bites itch like crazy."
"They do. That's why you have to put on insect repellent. Even then, plenty of them still get you…"
Jo Yong-jin seemed to loosen up a little; he even grimaced and gave a full-body shudder. He must have had some bad memories involving bugs.
"Don't worry. I'm really good at catching bugs. I'll catch them all for you."
"Thanks…"
"I'll help too, Cheon-young."
Ye Na-ri, who had been listening quietly, put in her offer. Bae Su-chan, who'd been watching my conversation with Jo Yong-jin with openly envious eyes, asked a question.
"Cheon-young? Did you two work out some kind of concept?"
"No. Il-yeong serves Cheon-young, so I'm preparing to stay in character ahead of time."
Ye Na-ri tucked her hair behind her ear and answered with cool, guarded eyes — nothing like the way she looked at me. Bae Su-chan seemed a little put off, but he appeared to take it as acting practice and let his curiosity show instead.
"Wow, you're already getting ready to immerse yourself in the character! Method's always been a bit difficult for me. That's impressive."
"Ah — um, thank you. I just want to work a little harder this time."
"I'd like to follow your example. For me, becoming one with the character is… hard, I guess? When I'm acting, I keep feeling like I show through, and it throws me off."
Jo Yong-jin, who had been listening in silence until then, opened his mouth at the mention of acting.
"I've struggled with something similar. Rather than trying to stay fully immersed in the character at every moment, I focused on understanding them deeply and practicing techniques to express them with precision. Then, when the character hits a major turning point, I let myself drop into full immersion — and the performance comes out completely natural."
His voice was a little quiet, but every word was clear, and he glanced my way as he finished. Just then, though, a staff member called us back — the setup was done.
Bae Su-chan was on his feet as if he'd been waiting for it. Ye Na-ri stood as well and took her place at my side. I headed back to my seat under the weight of Jo Yong-jin's disappointed look.
The rest of the cast began arriving in ones and twos. Every one of them looked thrown to find the leads already there. On top of that, Bae Su-chan kept shooting to his feet every time someone walked in, which pulled Jo Yong-jin up with him, and the bit-part actors were starting to look faintly tortured by the whole ritual.
"I hear our leads took first place in the arrival race?"
Word had clearly gotten around. Lee Ok-dan stepped into the reading room, took one look at Jo Yong-jin and Bae Su-chan standing at attention, and smiled.
"You two make a good pair. I hope you'll keep that up on set."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Yes! I'll work my hardest!"
She greeted every actor one by one, warm and easy, then took her seat.
The atmosphere had just begun to soften — and that was when Director Hong Il-beom walked in, his expression colder than usual.
The tension that had just started to ease snapped taut once more.