Does Anyone Know This Actress?

Does anyone know this actress?

Even to my eyes, it was the performance of Hwang Hyejin's life.

Someday, when people talk about her filmography, this would be one of those legendary scenes that never gets left out of the conversation.

Her portrayal of pain was so raw that the PD nearly shot out of his chair, convinced she might actually be hurt. And the way her eyes turned venomous the moment she spotted the male lead while being carried out on a stretcher—even I felt a chill run down my spine.

It was a color I'd never seen from her, not once, in all the time I'd spent filming her acting and her everyday life as her dedicated manager. That gaze of pure hatred locked on the male lead as she was dragged away—that was Han Yuna herself.

It was genuinely great acting.

No one could have predicted Hwang Hyejin would immerse herself this completely in Han Yuna. You only had to look at the reactions around set to know it.

PD Son kept glancing back and forth between the camera monitor and Hyejin in the flesh, unable to tear his eyes away. The other actors stood frozen, tracking only her. Especially the male lead. The way he looked at the "Han Yuna" being hauled off was wavering, on the verge of cracking. A teenage actress who'd come in as a last-minute replacement was suddenly devouring him with her performance—his feelings had to be complicated.

Devoured…

I thought of Hwang Hyejin in the consciousness virtual space, so deeply immersed that Han Yuna had swallowed her whole. How she'd thrashed in genuine agony, as if her legs had really been burned to a crisp by that CG-disguised fake injury.

It's still too dangerous.

Hyejin was delivering a phenomenal performance right now—but what if she took even one step further? Excessive role synchronization, method acting that led to mental illness… wasn't that the exact path so many world-class stars had already walked?

I'd handed Hwang Hyejin an invitation that was far too dangerous. Especially for a kid already drowning in ambition and pressure as a first-time drama lead.

Future technology isn't automatically a good thing just because it's from the future.

The Future App's video production features and powers far exceeded anything I'd imagined. There was a reason its internal ethics protocols insisted on confirming a model's consent every single time.

No more using features that interfere with an actor's consciousness.

Good old analog methods were best. Shoot with a camera, then clean it up with CG in post. If things got truly impossible, get portrait rights consent and generate the whole thing as 100% CG without the actor performing at all.

Now that I knew how far the Future App could go, the temptation would flare up now and then. But I could never compromise an actor's mental health.

"Time to start pulling real aggro."

Ever since Jo Siyeon dropped out of Winter Castle over the drug-and-sex scandal, the production had made no official announcement about her replacement as female lead. Drama fans had been tearing each other apart over where the ship was headed. The pride war between fans of male lead Ko Hyunmin—who played Hyeon Jinuk—and the fans of the ousted Jo Siyeon had gotten pretty loud.

In the middle of all that, immediately announcing that an unknown rookie like Hwang Hyejin had been cast as the adult-role replacement felt a little too risky. So we'd been playing it like the casting was still underwater, waiting for the right moment—and the perfect material had just rolled right into our hands.

"Assistant Director Cha Doyoung, I'm thinking of officially announcing within the next day or two that Hyejin is playing adult Han Yuna as well. The footage we shot today—how soon can you get me the adult CG version?"

"I'll send it over by end of day. Just give me the files now."

"Grab them from the data manager."

"Got it."

The data manager handed over a memory card, and I copied everything onto my laptop. The Future App had already recorded all of it, so I didn't actually need the files—but using the original source material from set was the only way to keep things from looking suspicious.

PD Son Junggu was the captain of this ship. I was just one of the crew.

After pretending to transfer the video files to 30THC, I went looking for Hwang Hyejin, who was resting.

"You okay?"

"Huh? About what?"

"You seemed way too deep into Han Yuna. You know how it goes sometimes—you dig so far into a role that it ends up eating you…"

Hyejin cracked up, smacking my arm as she laughed.

"Oh, come on, Doyoung oppa. I'm a rookie, not some veteran world star. Method acting? Already? Please."

"Mm. Yeah, that reaction is definitely the Hwang Hyejin I know."

"Ah, but during the chase action, it really did feel like I was possessed by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Han Yuna. Like my legs weren't even mine? I suck at physical stuff, honestly."

"I know."

"How bad am I? The team leader once suggested I try debuting as an idol center before becoming an actress."

"Uh-huh."

Here we go—Hyejin's antlion-pit of chatter was starting up again.

"I practiced dancing for about two weeks, and the team leader kept sighing and sighing, and then he goes, 'Hyejin, you should just stick to being a born actress.'"

"Yeah, I bet."

"Normally when people say 'you're an actress, not an idol,' it's supposed to be a compliment, right? But somehow it felt off. There's this weird little difference in the nuance…"

Anyway, I'd confirmed it—Hyejin was completely fine, no side effects whatsoever.

"Doyoung oppa, how was my acting? I want an honest, thoughtful, tasteful critique, please."

"Mm. It was good. You did well."

"That's it?"

I was playing along, picking fluff off a chirping little chick, when things got noisy over by PD Son. Looking over, I could tell the making-film cameraman was getting chewed out.

"One sec."

"Go ahead."

I walked over slowly. The rising volume made it easy enough to figure out what had happened.

"I told you to shoot the making film—who told you to back up the main camera? You're supposed to capture the set, not just sit there glued to the actors' performances the whole time!"

Apparently the making-film cameraman had gotten so hooked on Hyejin's dense, magnetic performance that he'd locked his lens on her and nothing else. A making film was supposed to document the atmosphere of the set—the stuff that never made it to TV. But the cameraman had had his lens stolen by Hyejin's acting.

No usable source material, then.

"This is all you shot? How am I supposed to make a making film out of this? I was planning to edit it today or tomorrow and drop the official announcement—adult Han Yuna is also Hwang Hyejin, she's this good, get excited—and now what?"

"I'm sorry."

Time for me to rescue the scolded cameraman and the exploding PD Son.

Premium Cut. From today's set footage, pull together scenes usable for a making film. Not too much—about three hours' worth. Be smart about it.

Videos cascaded into view before my eyes. Various angles of the set—exactly the kind of footage "Cha Doyoung might have shot." A veteran actor frozen solid after watching Hwang Hyejin's performance. PD Son half-rising from his chair, convinced she was really hurt, then hesitating and sitting back down. The male lead staring at Hyejin with startled eyes the moment the cameras cut—what was his real name again? Whatever. And our Hyejin, the second the cut was called, flipping back into a bright, sunny girl as if all that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hatred had never existed.

Anyone watching would think I'd been the dedicated making-film shooter. If I showed this to PD ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Son, he might end up scolding the actual making-film guy even harder. Still—no choice.

"PD-nim, I was holding a camera and shooting here and there whenever I had a free moment. Want to take a look?"

"Huh? At what?"

"I thought some of it might work for the making film."

PD Son tilted his head and checked the camera monitor album. As I flipped through the video files I'd downloaded to the camera via the Future App, his eyes went wide and he dove straight in. Halfway through, he looked up with a mix of pure admiration and genuine emotion.

"When did you even shoot all of this? Every single one of these could go straight into the making film with zero issues."

"I just got bored only filming Hyejin, so I figured I'd capture some set moments as memories and pointed the camera around."

"I really appreciate this. Dongsuk! You little—you better know Assistant Director Cha Doyoung just saved your life."

"Thank you, Assistant Director."

"Not at all. I'd finished all the storyboard sketches and had nothing left to do. Got a little bored myself."

Assistant Director… There was already a proper assistant director on set, but somehow I'd ended up in a de facto co-assistant-director arrangement. At this point, I'd just let it go.

Yu Gayeong, the manager our company had dispatched—newly assigned to handle Hwang Hyejin exclusively—walked over. Thirty-two, tall, sharp-looking, with an intelligent air about her.

"PD-nim, so we're officially announcing that our Hyejin is the confirmed replacement?"

"Yes. Between today's chase scene and the one where she grabs the male lead and erupts in rage—there's nothing to criticize. As soon as Siljang Cha gets the CG results from 30THC, we'll attach them to the making film and drop the official announcement."

"Understood. Our company will prepare a press release to match."

At least PD Son called me Siljang in front of a Pine Tree employee, not Assistant Director.

Park Cheolmin. Age thirty. Office worker.

An ordinary company employee, he had been a longtime fan of actress Jo Siyeon. Even when the scandal broke—drugs and sex with a younger male idol—he'd stood firm in her defense. Even when she tested positive for the same drugs as the idol, even when evidence kept surfacing that they'd been at the same hotel, he believed in her innocence.

Artists can do a little drugs for inspiration. What pop artist hasn't tried them at least once? Jo Siyeon was just chasing better performances, even if it meant offering her life to the devil.

His unstoppable rampage across the internet as Jo Siyeon's last die-hard defender was coming to an end.

That day, his world collapsed.

All that shattered despair redirected itself toward the drama Jo Siyeon had left—Winter Castle.

This is all because you people forced my bias to drop out.

The causal relationship was exactly the opposite. But to Park Cheolmin, who had mutated into a rabid drama hater, that "fact" was more self-evident than the tilt of the Earth's axis.

He prowled the internet spaces around Winter Castle.

You kicked out our Jo Siyeon—let's see what kind of amazing actress you bring in to replace her. I'll be watching.

But Winter Castle showed no signs of having finished casting a replacement. Long enough that it started to feel like filming might just fizzle out or get delayed indefinitely. Still, Park Cheolmin waited stubbornly—and finally tasted the fruit of his patience.

Park Cheolmin steeled himself, ready to dismantle whoever this was down to the nanometer, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and clicked play.

The opening was a scene from the drama itself. A woman, smeared with soot and blood, hair artfully disheveled, gripped the male lead by the collar and glared at him. Swollen lips. Skin stained with ash and blood. And yet the beauty of that pale, slender face refused to be hidden—it shone like a diamond in the gray, commanding every bit of presence in the frame.

A subtle, youthful purity nestled inside a mature face, teasing something primal in a man. An addictively pretty face you couldn't stop looking at. And above all, those eyes—filled with a deep, bitter grudge that didn't belong on someone her age—hit with devastating force.

Park Cheolmin watched, practically drooling, until he suddenly realized the making film had already ended. He paused on the prettiest frame, stared blankly for a while, then wrote a post.