Seeing Through the Pain
Leaving Ruan immersed in his deep emotions, I stepped out of the studio with Director Shim Sun-hee.
She'd been smoking for a while when she finally spoke.
"Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"Why Ruan couldn't properly act out Pi Do-seon."
"Yeah."
"How?"
To be honest, there had been a hint.
While filming Gongbeomche, I'd realized that Eum Sung-hyun's pain was connected to Hyun-tae's, So Jeong-hoon's mindset mirrored Jeong-hoon's, and Park Sung-won's hidden shame matched Su-cheol's buried secret.
Even actors whose personal hang-ups I hadn't pinpointed likely had similar parallels.
In that sense, I figured Ruan had something akin to Pi Do-seon's issue.
"I just noticed while watching."
"How is that possible? You can read an actor's psyche just by looking?"
"Eh, I got lucky."
This part felt a bit embarrassing.
As I gave an awkward smile, Shim Sun-hee said,
"Honestly, it's throwing me off. The fact that Pi Do-seon's struggle mirrored an idol's professionalism..."
"Why's that?"
"It's just acting. Playing a killer doesn't mean you endorse murder."
"Think about it, Director. Thirteen? Fourteen? He's lived a controlled life for idols since trainee days, his whole existence pointed in one direction. And now succeeding at it."
"......"
"Every part of his life aimed that way. Even in a script, denying it isn't easy, right?"
"Yeah... I suppose."
Shim Sun-hee looked at me with a strange gaze.
"You're really different, Director."
"Different how?"
"Everyone I've seen before just hounded results. Never dug for the root cause."
"Let's drop the embarrassing talk."
But the flattery didn't end there.
Actress Oh Young-hee came out from the studio and chimed in.
"No, Director Shim's right. Hyun-woo, you're really different."
Oh Young-hee was my senior from the Gamtan theater troupe.
We'd never worked together, but she often came to watch our plays, so we were acquainted.
"Thanks for your hard work, Senior. Coming all this way on your day off."
"Pfft, forget it. My kid's exactly like him. He pushed with ad-libs earlier, so I scolded him to cut it out."
"Really?"
"Si-woo lucked out. I wish I'd met a director like you at that age. Back then, it was all con artists and thugs."
"Haha..."
She must've endured a brutal era.
As I chuckled awkwardly, I suddenly thought of the headquarters manager.
"What about the headquarters manager?"
He'd said he'd drop by to watch Ruan practicing at the Seoul studio.
He was the one who'd brought Senior Oh Young-hee too.
"He left midway."
"Back to the company?"
"Who knows? He just split."
"I see."
Something urgent must've come up.
Gong Seok-jun entered the representative's office and sank onto the sofa.
Han Sung-hoon, the CEO, spoke to him as he sat there dazed.
"What's up? You look lost."
"No..."
"How was the set? Not official shooting, just practice, right?"
"......CEO."
"Yeah?"
"I think Hyun-woo sees something."
"Sees what?"
"Everything. No way he pulls that off without seeing it."
Han Sung-hoon set down his documents.
"What're you on about?"
"It's weird, right? A first-year CE scraping budgets when funds run low, snagging Jeon So-ra who's hinted at a comeback, reeling in Kim Ra-un in a week."
"That happened."
"But... that idol we thought was just for rights sales? Turns out not. How do you do that without seeing something?"
"You're talking about Ruan?"
"CEO."
"Yeah?"
Gong Seok-jun spoke with oddly excited energy.
"I don't think... we're gonna lose money on this."
"Cut! Okay! That was perfect! Moving to the next scene!"
Looking around the set at Director Im Un-jae's excited shout, I saw the staff and actors all wearing stunned expressions.
Rumors had spread since morning that Ruan's acting had changed, and he'd just proven it in that one-man scene.
Even Director Im ran over like a Pororo, demanding retakes of a few scenes.
Lots of curious glances turned my way, wondering what happened in Seoul.
Hm, someone's straight-up asking.
"What did you do?"
It was Jeon So-ra.
Man, when does she take off that padding?
"Do about what?"
"That idol kid. He changed overnight."
"I didn't do anything special. He found his groove."
"In one day?"
"He's a good actor."
A brief silence fell, and I voiced what I'd been wondering.
"I've got a question too. Why'd you pick this project, Actress Jeon So-ra?"
Truth is, actors vanishing for years isn't usually for some grand reason.
Sometimes they just enjoy lounging, or they keep delaying without a satisfying script, and years pass.
Those who can afford breaks earn billions from a single ad year anyway.
But returns always have a reason.
That was what piqued my curiosity.
"Gotta tell you? You dodged mine properly."
"Don't have to if you don't want."
"Know my real name?"
Random question.
Wasn't Jeon So-ra her real name?
"Jeong Ha-yeon."
"Jeong Ha-yeon?"
Pretty name, but it didn't quite fit Jeon So-ra's image.
Maybe because I'd heard Jeon So-ra for so long.
"At some point, Jeon So-ra overshadowed Jeong Ha-yeon. Even without the persona talk... people expect things from Jeon So-ra. I always planned to shatter that someday."
More ordinary than expected.
Actors attempting reinvention for such reasons wasn't rare.
"But no role clicked. Everyone handed me scripts written for Jeon So-ra."
"Ah, so that's..."
"Yeah. It was fun. The script too. And the director offering the fourth-lead role."
As Jeon So-ra smirked and waved the script, a thought struck me.
"Just like Sa Mo-yeon."
"What do you mean?"
"Sa Mo-yeon feels the same watching Hanguel as Jeong Ha-yeon does watching Jeon So-ra."
That's why the superpower recommended Jeon So-ra.
"That's a weird way to put it. In the end, Sa Mo-yeon gives up everything for Hanguel?"
"Oh, right..."
Jeon So-ra chuckled.
"Your first directing gig? Felt sidelined till now."
"Misunderstanding. Just no spots to direct."
"Not bad to hear."
"It'll do well, probably."
"What will?"
"Whatever. Watching you act, it can't fail."
"Me, senior?"
Oh, I called her senior.
As I tried to backpedal, Jeon So-ra beat me.
"Maybe that's why this script hooked me. It knew what an actor wants."
Yeah, that's it.
That was the path I realized laughing in Joo Young-hoon's face.
Oh Ha-eun wanted to get close to Ruan.
No, she had to.
Her cousin was a massive fan.
Months on set together, and if she didn't snag an autograph, blood might spill.
Early on, she'd held back under Do Hyun-woo's watchful eye; mid-filming, Ruan's rough patch kept her silent.
The director hadn't liked his acting.
But today.
Opportunity knocked.
Ruan unleashed god-tier acting from early morning, warming the set.
'Hang on, In-hye. Unnie's getting that autograph!'
And finally, 5 p.m.
Timing perfect.
Lurking by his van with her script, Ruan stepped out.
But he had green tea packs over his eyes.
'Was there a crying scene this morning?'
As she pondered, Ruan approached with a greeting.
"Hello, Senior."
"Oh, hi. Ruan."
They'd sorted titles at script reading; Oh Ha-eun debuted months before him.
"Why the green tea packs?"
"Ah, habit thing."
"Habit?"
"If I cry the day before, my eyes feel puffy all next day. Know it's not, but can't help it."
Ruan smiled innocently, but Oh Ha-eun's mind wasn't.
It turned very un-innocent.
"You... cried yesterday?"
"Ah, uh, for acting..."
Trailing off, embarrassed to say "cried during acting" to a pro, but it hit her wrong.
Oh Ha-eun's brain spun wildly.
Yesterday, Ruan went to Seoul with Do Hyun-woo.
Cried till eyes swelled.
But reluctant to mention yesterday.
And today, career-best acting.
Which means...
'He got beat till he nailed it...?'
"Gasp!"
Oh Ha-eun clapped her hand over her mouth.
Do Hyun-woo's recent gentleness had her fooled...
No, fooled by the fooling.
"Senior? You okay?"
"No, nothing. Totally fine."
Absolutely couldn't let on she knew.
Otherwise, tteokbokki, mala tang, or delivery as career path.
"I-I gotta go. Prep for next scene!"
Dashing to her van, Oh Ha-eun double-checked her upcoming scene.
No mistakes allowed.
Perfection!
And so...
"Okaaaay! Perfect!"
Oh Ha-eun updated her personal best once more.