Chapter 66
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Cracking the Shell
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My vision was all blurry.
I'd gotten so immersed that Nam Yeon-su and I had bawled our eyes out, pouring every ounce of emotion into it.
Thanks to that, our eyes were red and puffy.
We lay side by side on the portable massage beds, getting eye treatments with our bulging fish-eyes.
"Heck. Can you two even see straight? This is gonna sting later."
"It's fine......"
I mumbled in a weary voice and let all the tension drain from my body.
Cha Il-nam had loved my ad-lib and said to keep going that way, leading to a few more takes after that.
The shooting had been so intense that I hadn't even had a moment to think about Nam Yeon-su's performance.
I'd probably sobbed about five times because of it.
After getting Cha Il-nam's satisfied "cut," the two of us decided to get some eye massages first.
With the next shoot right after lunch, we'd all moved together to the outdoor location.
Two staff members had prepped frozen water bottles and chilled eye masks, and now we had damp towels over our eyes to cool them down.
"You two really cried so well, though."
"How do you both start tearing up the second you get the cue? I saw it with my own eyes, but it's still unreal."
"At other shoots, child actors are always hunting for eye drops, but you guys didn't even need that."
"Ugh, it was just so sad for Woojoo and Haesung."
"Seriously, you two are...... incredible, just incredible."
The staff, clearly moved by our acting, kept praising us nonstop while swapping out the damp towels.
"I'm good now."
"Really? Yeon-su, go wash your face in the bathroom."
"Okay."
Nam Yeon-su said he was done and got up first.
They probably hadn't gone down yet.
But the coolness felt so good that keeping the towel on must've felt stuffy.
"Is it too cold for you, Siu?"
"No. It's perfect."
"Haha, look at that. Siu's got the perfect posture?"
"Yeah, like some uncle lounging in a sauna."
Uncle?
I had no idea what a sauna was, but I swallowed the lump rising in my throat at the word.
They meant it cutely, because it was cute.
My position felt just right, so I'd stay like this a bit longer.
Still, Nam Yeon-su had handled my acting surprisingly well.
With the cool eye mask over my eyes, I sank into thought.
I'd thought he was the type who just mechanically went through the script, but he'd responded to my lines like he'd prepared for it.
Even after my first ad-lib got the okay from Cha Il-nam, I kept testing him, tweaking my lines and actions here and there.
No matter how I varied it, Nam Yeon-su never faltered oncehe nailed every response.
At first, I'd seen a flustered look on his face and thought he'd panicked, but that wasn't it either.
Nam Yeon-su never broke character as Ji Haesung till the end.
There were a few NG calls, but those weren't flubs from my ad-libsthey were just him stumbling over lines.
But the more I thought about it, the weirder it got.
From his usual behavior, he didn't strike me as quick on his feet at all.
How could he respond to my acting so precisely, like it was all calculated?
I pondered deeply, then suddenly realized something.
"Um, can I take this off now?"
"Sure? Looks like the swelling's gone down. Siu, go wash your face too."
"Okay."
I answered quickly and hopped off the portable bed.
I checked that Nam Yeon-su hadn't come back from the bathroom yet.
Good, not back yet.
Pretending to rummage through my bag, I glanced at Nam Yeon-su's spot.
Sure enough, there was the script he clutched rain or shine.
"Hmm"
Acting like I was grabbing mine, I snatched his script all natural-like.
Whoa, look at this paperit's all worn and shaky.
Even Kang Su-jeong's script, which she lived with, wasn't this beat-up.
Nam Yeon-su's felt downright mushy compared to mine, like it'd been flipped through endlessly.
Let's see.
I flipped through it quickly.
What appeared was page after page of incredibly dense handwriting.
But...
"...What the hell is this?"
I was so shocked I muttered out loud.
The writing crammed into Nam Yeon-su's script wasn't in a kid's handwriting at allit was an adult's!
No way.
I glanced aroundno one was looking my way, luckily.
The set was buzzing with next-shoot prep, which saved me.
Panicking, I grabbed the script and headed somewhere quieter.
I needed to check this out properly.
"Uncle!"
"Huh? Siu, what's up."
"Gonna borrow the car quick."
"To grab something? Hold on."
I rolled up Nam Yeon-su's script tight and went hunting for Uncle.
I'd spotted him right awayhe was helping staff move stuff here and there.
He took my hand and led me to Mom's car.
"Was the sea breeze chilly? Want me to grab your windbreaker?"
Me wanting to head to the car mid-shoot was super rare, so he asked worriedly.
I shook my head no at that.
"Just wanna read my script quietly."
"Huh? Didn't you memorize it all?"
"Just. It's too noisy over there."
He gave me a puzzled look at my unusual behavior, but only for a second.
"Good thinking. I was worried about the wind out hereperfect."
Uncle thought it was smart and quickly unlocked the car.
I climbed into the back seat and got ready to read Nam Yeon-su's script.
"Then I'll hang here, Uncle. Come get me when they call standby?"
"Yeah."
With a final "be good" from him, Uncle hurried back to the set.
Being a manager wasn't just about tending to actors, it seemed.
You had to keep an ear to the set at all times, ready to jump.
Ever since becoming my official manager, Uncle had been supporting me hard.
He was great with people toogot along with the staff and always brought me the info I needed.
"Alright, let's see."
Thanks to Uncle, I was finally alone.
Too many people on settoo risky getting caught anytime.
I opened Nam Yeon-su's script with a clear mind.
"Whoa...... check this out?"
Looking closer, every scene had meticulous notes on how Ji Haesung should act, from one to ten.
Adult handwriting, tiny as sesame seeds, crammed everywhere.
Hardly any white space left on the pages.
And that wasn't all.
Countless Post-its plastered on, packed with even more writing.
"Whoa."
Even more shocking: it wasn't just notes on how to play Ji Haesung.
For each direction on Haesung's acting, it'd mapped out every possible way the other actor might respondright down to ad-libs.
From textbook responses to improv countersall conceivable cases.
Next to those, detailed counters for how Nam Yeon-su should reply to ad-libs.
Notes so obsessive they'd make you nauseous just reading.
Just in case, I flipped through more.
Every Haesung scene was coveredno exceptions.
Dozens of pages crammed with inferences on the co-actor's acting directions and full countermeasures.
"No way, even today's scene......?"
I quickly found the scene we'd just shot sobbing.
Oh god.
The house-leaving scene for Ji Haesung was annotated just as densely.
Skimming it fast, every single action Nam Yeon-su had done matched exactly.
My hands trembled holding the script.
Why?
Maybe because it reminded me of when I was Noah Battenberg.
It was like hearing His Grace Hugo Battenberg right now.
'You must not shame Battenberg Castle or the family name.'
'Do not think or judge anything beyond what I command.'
My father, who never praised me once despite my killer lesson schedules.
Every encounter, he'd mechanically list what I mustn't do, what I must domaking me dread facing him as a child.
This script evoked that same voice from Hugo Battenberg back then.
No doubt about it.
Nam Yeon-su was bound by his parents' obsessive control, just like I had been.
A chill ran up my arms.
"Ughhh!"
I couldn't stare at the script anymore and tore Nam Yeon-su's script to shreds.
"Standby, please!"
Afternoon shooting was restarting.
Uncle came to fetch me, and holding his hand, we got back to set.
As expected, Nam Yeon-su looked off.
While Cha Il-nam explained something, he fidgeted with his hands, restless, and kept whispering to his manager.
But his manager said nothing much.
He probably hadn't admitted losing his script.
If he had, the manager would've asked around everywhere.
A kid who couldn't do anything alone.
People think it's normal for kids to be helpless solo, but whether they have the will to or not makes all the difference.
On set, Nam Yeon-su was no different from someone who'd lost their will.
Because he wasn't here to act as he wanted.
"What's wrong, hyung? Something up?"
"Huh? N-no, nothing."
I approached Nam Yeon-su casually and asked what was wrong.
Sure enough, he waved his hands wildly, insisting it was nothing.
I glanced down at his empty hands.
"Huh? You're always holding your script. Where is it?"
"Uh, uh?! ......Left it over there,"
"For real? Where."
I bolted toward where he pointed, pretending to look.
Nam Yeon-su grabbed my arm in a panic.
"N-no, wait. ......Actually, I think I lost my script."
"For real?"
Did I play it too casual?
After his big confession, Nam Yeon-su stared at me wide-eyed, like how could I be so chill.
"Hyung, but you memorized all the lines, right? You were always looking at it."
"Y-yeah. Lines are memorized, but......"
"Then you're good, right?"
With that, I strode to the nearby seaside trash can and tossed my own script I'd been holding.
"W-what are you doing!"
Nam Yeon-su paled and grabbed my arm, trying to stop me.
His mouth flapped like "pick it up now."
To him, the script must be as precious as life.
A performance manual written thick as a robot's handbook.
But I'd memorized the whole thing cover to coverno biggie without it.
"It's fine. I already got it all down."
"B-but still......"
"Why freak if there's no script? You can't act? Haesung-ssi says he skips it on purpose on set."
"I-I can't do that."
He froze at thatnot just me, but big-shot Moon Heesung too.
But he protested softly right after.
Yeah, figured.
Without that densely noted script, he'd feel lost.
You couldn't just memorize all those notes easily.
"Hyung, how about this."
"Huh?"
I pulled Nam Yeon-su along to Cha Il-nam, who was prepping.
"Director, can we do ad-libs like this morning, full throttle?"
"Huh?"
"S-Siu!"
At my words, Nam Yeon-su called my name, face drained white.
Back in the car before set.
I'd torn Nam Yeon-su's script without thinking, but I didn't regret it.
And I thought.
I want to free this kid, Nam Yeon-su.
If he won't break out of his own shell, then I'll crack it for him.