Mossol (3)
Kang Tae-san gently closed his eyes. The cleaning client's memory, blessed with perfect recall, wasn't as horrifying as the others. He hadn't stored it away in the memorial box, so there was no need to summon it during the performance like before. He simply wanted to hold on to his own rhythm amid the pressure of the audition.
Everyone inside the audition room watched him in hushed silence.
'His focus is solid. The real face looks even better than the mask.'
Having only seen Kang Tae-san through videos and photos, Mo Yeon-hee now understood why Kidari Entertainment had fought so hard to push him. If Jeong Seung-il was a born actor, Kang Tae-san possessed a strange magnetism that held the eye. Plenty of handsome faces filled this industry, but good looks alone didn't guarantee charm. If she had to compare, he wasn't an intimidating French tasting menu; he was more like a clean, familiar Korean home-cooked spread. At first glance he felt neat and approachable, yet the longer you looked, the more your eyes kept returning.
"I'll perform scene ten."
Kang Tae-san had chosen a scene from the film's early portion, unlike Jeong Seung-il. The character Gong Geon-ah was a genius engineering student who was also hopelessly awkward at romance. That very innocence was what drew the female lead, Jang Yi-hyeon, to him. Scene ten was their first meeting: on the university campus steps, Gong Geon-ah spots Jang Yi-hyeon, falls for her at first sight, and nearly trips. She catches him. It was a comic twist on the classic romance moment where the man supports the woman.
Kang Tae-san drew his upright posture in slightly, lowered his gaze, and began to move. Step by step he climbed the stairs until the sound of someone rushing down made him freeze. He knew he should step aside, yet his body locked in place. The sight of her hurrying down with a hair tie between her lips, tying up her hair, was simply too beautiful. Only when she reached two or three steps away did he turn, and the lingering image of her face made him stagger in surprise. Jang Yi-hyeon grabbed the front of his shirt to steady him. The pose looked almost as if she'd seized him by the collar, yet his eyes held nothing but her.
Kang Tae-san clutched his own shirt with one hand and spoke in Gong Geon-ah's place.
"……You're beautiful, noona."
The people watching couldn't help smiling at Tae-san's clumsy delivery. The harmless yet rude line of calling a stranger "noona" made the whole moment feel genuinely cute and endearing.
"Noona? Do I know you?"
Director Mo Yeon-hee read the heroine's line for him.
"Ah. Uh. No?"
"Then why are you calling me noona?"
"I-I was going to say something about the back, not the front…… I'm sorry."
Jang Yi-hyeon laughed in disbelief. Watching that laugh, Gong Geon-ah fell for her all over again. Kang Tae-san stared straight at Director Mo Yeon-hee, mouth slightly open. His pitch-black eyes contained nothing but her. Everything else blurred; no other sound reached him.
Have I ever felt this before?
Yes. When he had lived Lee Jae-yoon's life as a lifelong single, the moment Jae-yoon first saw his college junior, his first love, at the freshman welcome party. The world around her had melted into a haze, leaving only her in existence. He had thought such special effects only happened in dramas, yet it was no exaggeration at all. Of course, the man himself had squandered that blessing by diving straight back into games.
Kang Tae-san poured every drop of that lived experience into his acting. He gazed at Mo Yeon-hee as though he had fallen for her at first sight. She felt the look of a twenty-one-year-old youth helplessly in love. Had she ever seen such an expression? Never. She had never once been looked at by someone who loved her that completely. Yet from the director's seat she knew with certainty: if a camera captured this actor's face right now, the audience would feel exactly the same. At this moment, Kang Tae-san wore the perfect face of someone in love.
"……That's enough. We'll stop here."
"Thank you."
"One question. You seemed capable of handling scene forty-one even better, so why choose this one?"
"Scene forty-one?"
"Ah. Could you hand him the script, Assistant Director?"
When Tae-san asked, Mo Yeon-hee told the assistant director to pass it over. Only the director would know every scene by heart. The request came naturally since Jeong Seung-il had just performed that scene. As the assistant director moved to hand Tae-san the script, he spoke without even glancing at it, as though he had memorized the entire thing.
"You mean the scene where Gong Geon-ah becomes obsessive after his girlfriend Jang Yi-hyeon doesn't answer his calls?"
"I thought that scene felt too similar to roles I've already played. I wanted to show something new. More than anything, I believe scene ten is the most important moment for Gong Geon-ah."
"Why?"
"Because it's the first time the audience sees Gong Geon-ah, and they see him at the same time as the heroine."
"So the first impression the audience gets is everything?"
"……Yes."
Jeong Seung-il had viewed scene forty-one as the essence of the character. Kang Tae-san saw the character's essence in his very first appearance.
'Neither of them is wrong.'
Mo Yeon-hee found herself growing calmer the more sincerely these actors analyzed and prepared. That was simply her nature: the more excited the situation, the colder and more rational her mind became. Meanwhile, Tae-san watched the director's expression cool and wondered, 'Was it a mistake to speak so freely? These people are far smarter than me……'
Just then the production company's head stepped in. "Why don't we see another scene? Scene forty-one might be good for comparison."
Mo Yeon-hee shook her head. "No need. You've worked hard. Thank you."
"Yes. Thank you."
Kang Tae-san bowed politely. 'Right. I shouldn't have shown off.'
The moment he left the room, the atmosphere shifted.
"What was with that guy? His image completely changed all of a sudden."
"I thought acting a murderer would make romance scenes awkward, but he's really good."
"Those eyes were pure melodrama. Perfect for shaking Yi-hyeon, don't you think?"
With no comment from Director Mo Yeon-hee, the others chimed in, replaying Tae-san's performance. Even after watching Jeong Seung-il immediately before, the praise showed no sign of stopping.
"I heard Kidari signed him for a huge amount. Makes sense now."
"Didn't Eun Chae-won recommend him?"
"Yeah. They apparently worked really well together on The Killer."
"At this rate he'll be leading projects everywhere soon."
"What did you think, Director?"
The head finally broached the main topic. Kang Tae-san's performance had been so strong that letting him go felt wasteful.
"Hmm……"
"From a casting standpoint, Jeong Seung-il has the recognition, but that first-love feeling just now was incredible."
"It really was."
The lukewarm reaction told the head that the director's heart had already leaned elsewhere.
"Well, considering commercial viability, Jeong Seung-il is probably the safer choice. His acting is plenty good too."
"That's true."
"All right. Then we'll pass on this friend, unfortunately."
"No."
Mo Yeon-hee picked up a profile with clear decision. It was Kang Tae-san's.
"We'll go with this one."
"Eh? Not Jeong Seung-il?"
"If I hadn't seen Kang Tae-san, I probably would have chosen Jeong Seung-il. But after watching him, no one else feels right."
"Really? That much?"
"Both are excellent actors with strong character analysis, but Kang Tae-san fits this role better."
Mo Yeon-hee couldn't forget the way he had looked at her. Good acting ultimately meant how deeply it pulled the audience in. As the head said, Jeong Seung-il's recognition might help viewers immerse themselves, yet that familiarity could also become a drawback. An already-known face and expression. This was exactly why she sought out new actors. A fresh face carried enormous impact on its own. Especially in film, where a powerful image and conviction had to be established in a short time, a newcomer who could act well delivered extraordinary immersion. The curiosity of "Who is that actor?" combined with the fresh shock of "Wow, first time seeing that face and the acting is this good" created perfect synergy. Just like the impact Kim Tae-yi had made when he beat 1,500-to-1 odds to debut on screen in The Chaser. Of course, that only held true when the acting backed it up.
Mo Yeon-hee was certain. Kang Tae-san was a monstrous rookie capable of exactly that kind of impact.
"I said we didn't need to see scene forty-one because it was obvious he'd nail it. The fact that he didn't choose it himself probably came from that same confidence."
"Whoa. A rookie with that kind of nerve? He's going to be huge."
"And it looked like he'd memorized the whole script."
"The script?"
"He named scene forty-one without even hesitating earlier."
"Wow, did he seriously memorize the script just for the audition? Is that even possible?"
"It means he's an incredible hard worker."
Kang Tae-san had indeed memorized the script, yet Mo Yeon-hee interpreted his ability slightly differently.
"I believe people like him deserve to succeed. Talented and diligent. Effort itself is a talent, after all."
"Haha. You're right."
Thus, the audition for The Killer concluded neatly with the arrival of a monstrously hardworking genius.
Min Jin-cheol glanced at Kang Tae-san through the rearview mirror. The fact that Tae-san had stayed quiet after the audition suggested it had gone smoothly. Min Jin-cheol wasn't originally from this industry, so he couldn't judge for himself, but from what the Kidari staff had said, Tae-san's acting ability was apparently quite something.
"How was the audition?"
"I don't think it'll work out this time."
"Why?"
"When I said goodbye at the end, the director's expression was kind of ambiguous."
"Hmm. That must be disappointing."
"Can't be helped. I've been lucky so far anyway."
"True. Every audition you've done until now has gone through. The seniors say that's basically unheard of. In baseball terms, you're a leadoff hitter hitting a home run every game."
Tae-san appreciated Min Jin-cheol's consolation. Rejection and failure would repeat endlessly in an actor's life; having someone reliable beside him during those times would be a great source of strength. Besides, they hadn't even received an official rejection yet. Even if they did, it wouldn't be too painful, because it simply wasn't his role. There was no such thing as a predetermined "his role" to begin with. If work came his way, he would simply do it again.
"My turn will come again."
"Nice mindset."
Having grown up without parents who were wholly on his side and spent ten years doing part-time jobs, Tae-san knew better than anyone that things rarely went exactly as he wanted. "We're here. Shall we head up?"
"Yes, hyung."
Today was the production presentation for The Killer. The place Min Jin-cheol and Kang Tae-san had arrived at was the SBC Drama Center.