Chapter 94
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 94
“…Me?”
“Yeah! It’s totally confusing!”
Normally, I would have ignored him, but since I knew he was actually sensing something, I couldn’t dismiss it so easily.
I narrowed my eyes at him and asked, “Are you saying… I look like some kind of ghost?”
What kind of nonsense was this to say to a perfectly healthy young man? Min Ji-heon looked me up and down. He tilted his head with a serious expression, which actually made me a bit nervous.
“…Hmm. Well, I guess you look fine now. It’s a bit touch-and-go.”
“Do you realize how much you change your mind, and how absolutely useless everything you say is?”
“Do you realize how mean you are, Hyung?”
Min Ji-heon muttered, “So mean…” with a wounded look on his face.
“Seo Ho-yun! Come on in now. Let’s start filming!”
“Yes, sir.”
Leaving the annoying Min Ji-heon behind, I strode into the camera’s view. As I was checking my blocking, Yoo Ji-ah walked in shortly after.
This was the scene where our characters meet for the first time.
“Ugh! I’m nervous too! What do I do?”
“Director, you can’t be nervous! Ho-yun, you’re doing fine. It’s okay. Just relax and act naturally.”
The staff and the director were doing all the fussing for me, so I didn’t have much to say. I just maintained a faint smile, and Yoo Ji-ah spoke to me from beside me.
“Ho-yun, let’s do a good job.”
“I look forward to working with you, Senior.”
Once preparations were complete, Director Yoo gave the cue sign from behind the camera. To mark the editing point, the assistant director stepped forward, snapped the slate, and shouted.
“Scene 15, Take 1, Shot 1!”
Right on cue, Yoo Jeong-hwa walked toward the rooftop railing and shouted brightly.
“Agh! Let’s do our best today too!!”
I don’t know why dramas always include a scene where someone shouts their resolutions from a rooftop.
It was a scene where she was comforting herself after being crushed by mistakes and getting chewed out by her seniors on her first day of work.
Yoo Jeong-hwa took another deep breath and shouted.
“It’s a rookie’s job to make mistakes! Let’s do better next time! Just endure! Enduring is winning! Let’s go, Yoo Jeong-hwa, fighting!!”
…I’d heard that Writer Kim Suk-hee had a pretty rough career, and it felt like the writer’s own mindset was visible in the dialogue at about 80% opacity.
“Excuse me, do you know where the Variety Department is?”
When I heard that line, it was my turn to look back.
Next, I was supposed to nod and answer slowly.
‘Yes, it’s five floors down.’
I recalled what the acting trainer, who had been brought in at the last minute, told me to do.
Something about thinking of the character three-dimensionally… Recalling the theories crammed into my head, I opened my mouth.
“Yes. It’s five floors down.”
Yoo Jeong-hwa’s eyes wavered slightly.
‘Hmm?’
Something felt off, but for now, I held onto the emotions the trainer had emphasized and delivered my next line.
“Are you a new employee?”
“Yes. I’m Yoo Jeong-hwa, and I was assigned to the Variety Department starting this month.”
“The Variety Department.”
“Cut!”
When we got to that point, the director tilted his head slightly and called for a cut.
“……?”
I looked back, confused, and saw the director frowning while looking at the monitor.
“What was that? Ho-yun, are you nervous because it’s your first time?”
At those words, light laughter broke out on the set.
‘…Huh?’
I wasn’t nervous, though?
Yoo Ji-ah, who had snapped back from Yoo Jeong-hwa to her usual self in an instant, clapped her hands lightly to refresh the atmosphere.
“Ho-yun, shall we go again?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Since it was an NG, I apologized quickly. The director, who still had maximum affinity for me, waved it off. Filming resumed immediately.
“Are you a new employee?”
“Yes. I’m Yoo Jeong-hwa, and I was assigned to the Variety Department starting this month.”
“The Variety Department….”
“Cuuut!”
The second time was a bust too.
“Yes. Five floors down….”
“Cut!!”
The third time was also a failure.
‘Wait, what is it?’
I was doing it the way I usually did. I was even putting in effort!
As I stood there not knowing what to do in my confusion, Director Yoo spoke up.
“Hmm… Shall we take a break first?”
Having been essentially kicked off the set, I strode over to Director Yoo.
“Director, I’m sorry for the repeated NGs. Could you tell me what the problem is?”
“Oh, Ho-yun. Well, it’s nothing major. You’re doing well. You’re doing well, but…”
“Yes.”
“It’s just not what I saw during the audition or the script reading. Back then, I thought, ‘Wow, this is Lee Jeong-hun PD himself.’”
Director Yoo scratched his head.
“Now it’s just… it feels like you’re just acting?”
“…….”
“I mean, it’s natural for an actor to act, but still.”
Director Yoo shrugged, seemingly feeling that his own words were a bit incoherent. But he said there was no other way to explain it.
Unable to understand, I was rewatching the filmed footage on the monitor when Yoo Ji-ah approached me.
“I think it’s because the director has high expectations.”
“I’m sorry, Senior.”
After bowing in apology, I went to a corner of the set and stared down at the script. I recalled what the acting trainer had said again. Something about being conscious of accurate pronunciation, emotions, and things like that.
‘That’s strange.’
Just then, Min Ji-heon, who had been watching from somewhere, popped out while slurping his coffee.
“Ji-heon has arrived.”
“…….”
He’s really something else….
For a moment, I thought he and Kang Yi-chae would get along famously.
Min Ji-heon took a long sip of his coffee, let out a huge yawn, and asked, “Ho-yun, did you get a trainer?”
“Pardon?”
“I think that’s the problem.”
What kind of out-of-the-blue nonsense was this?
Sensing that people weren’t paying much attention to us, Min Ji-heon dropped the formalities and spoke casually.
“Mmm… I don’t know what the trainer told you, but you should just appear on screen exactly as you are. You’ve been the personification of Lee Jeong-hun PD until now. Why are you overthinking it?”
“……!”
Wait, he was right.
“That’s why you look awkward. Because you’re trying so hard to ‘act,’ you’re adding an unnecessary layer that’s clouding the essence.”
…He was absolutely right.
“The only thing worth listening to from a trainer is… well, maybe vocalization. Your diction was already good, but it’s different from how actors usually project.”
He really wasn’t wrong about a single thing.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, it’s just… I’m a bit shocked.”
I thought he was just a listless, airheaded guy, but seeing him speak so seriously about acting caught me off guard.
‘I guess Min Ji-heon really is serious about acting….’
You have to delve into something like a madman to be able to accurately pierce through someone else’s problem and give advice.
Besides, according to Jeong Da-jun, his acting skills lately weren’t just peaking—it was like a god had descended upon him.
‘…He might actually be possessed.’
As I looked at him in a slightly different light, Min Ji-heon gave an embarrassed smile.
“…Oh dear, was I being too much of a senior?”
“…….”
“But I find it burdensome when people respect me too much. I’ve been burned a lot… sorry.”
“You can rest assured that will never happen.”
“…Okay.”
I took a deep breath to calm myself and stepped back onto the set.
*
Yoo Ji-ah touched up her makeup and entered the fourth take. Seo Ho-yun had returned with a slightly sour expression after talking to Min Ji-heon.
‘Do they not get along?’
However, the moment his eyes met Yoo Ji-ah’s, his expression returned to normal. Yoo Ji-ah let out a hollow laugh.
‘He’s got a strong spirit. He’s good at hiding things, but he seems to have enemies everywhere. Yet, he doesn’t seem to care….’
Yoo Ji-ah didn’t think much of it. Having been tossed around the entertainment industry since she was young, she could tell at a glance who would make it and who wouldn’t.
Seo Ho-yun was clearly the former.
‘In the first place, he sets the stage himself, so there’s no way he won’t succeed.’
Even so, Yoo Ji-ah always felt a strange sensation when looking at him.
He was desperate, but he wasn’t the type to be desperate for the thrill of the stage. But… could someone like that work so hard to become an idol?
“Senior, I look forward to working with you again.”
“Me too.”
‘He’s fascinating….’
Regardless, Yoo Ji-ah liked Seo Ho-yun quite a bit. A junior who was clean, didn’t cross lines, did his job, and wasn’t interested in others was always the best.
“Alright, cue!”
The slate snapped down. Returning to the role of Yoo Jeong-hwa, she rubbed her face with her hands, then stood up as if she had made up her mind. She caught the passing Lee Jeong-hun PD and spoke urgently.
“Excuse me, do you know where the Variety Department is?”
Lee Jeong-hun PD didn’t stop walking; he just shifted his gaze to glance at Yoo Jeong-hwa. Yoo Jeong-hwa flinched when she saw him.
Beneath his slightly tired eyes lay a layer of indifference. He looked exactly like a corporate zombie freshly harvested from the streets of Yeouido.
“Yes. It’s five floors down.”
As Yoo Jeong-hwa nodded blankly, Seo Ho-yun… no, Lee Jeong-hun, looked down to check Yoo Ji-ah’s ID badge and asked casually.
“…Are you a new employee?”
‘Oh, what’s this?’
“Yes! I’m Yoo Jeong-hwa, and I was assigned to the Variety Department starting this month!!”
“…Ah.”
At those words, a hint of hollow exhaustion flickered in his tired eyes.
“The Variety Departmeeeent….”
‘Wow.’
Yoo Ji-ah was impressed.
‘I’m actually a bit jealous of this.’
It didn’t feel like acting. Seo Ho-yun was Lee Jeong-hun PD. Without any special lines, just with that one word, ‘Variety Department,’ he conveyed all the irritation of someone who had already weathered all the grimy storms of the department.
It was only natural.
For Seo Ho-yun, who had already been ground down to dust in the Variety Department and wouldn’t even point his pillow toward the broadcasting station when he slept, this was authentic, lived-in acting.
Looking at the visibly flustered Yoo Jeong-hwa, Lee Jeong-hun let out a short “Hmm.”
“I wonder which program you’ll be assigned to… surely not mine.”
“A program?”
“…Ah, yes. I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Lee Jeong-hun PD.”
“What?! The Lee Jeong-hun PD?!”
“…You know me?”
The man who looked more than just handsome—who actually looked quite kind—was that Lee Jeong-hun PD, the one notorious for his ‘Devil’s Editing’ and for being a total nightmare to work with. Yoo Jeong-hwa’s mouth fell open as she stammered, and seeing her reaction, Lee Jeong-hun’s eyes gradually narrowed.
“‘That PD,’ you say.”
“…….”
“I’m quite curious where a rookie who just joined could have heard about me….”
‘I’m screwed!’
Yoo Jeong-hwa used her wits.
“The PD?”
“…Yes?”
“Not a celebrity?”
Seeing Yoo Jeong-hwa desperately overreaching, Lee Jeong-hun’s eyes widened for a moment before he burst into laughter. As the corners of his mouth curled up and his eyes crinkled into half-moons, he sparkled beautifully.
“Your social skills are impressive.”
“…….”
“Congratulations. You’ll survive anywhere, Ms. Yoo Jeong-hwa.”
I was actually being serious about the celebrity part, though.
Unable to say those words, Yoo Jeong-hwa stared blankly at that radiant face.
Lee Jeong-hun simply gave his greeting and walked out of the camera’s frame without even waiting for an answer.
“He seems like a jerk, but….”
Left alone, she ruffled her hair roughly and spoke dazed.
“…Should I just dedicate my life to this workplace?”
Yoo Jeong-hwa was a sucker for a pretty face.
She just hadn’t considered her future fate of being roasted alive by the Devil’s Editing PD….
“Cut!”
At the same time, the director shouted cut and gave a thumbs up with sparkling eyes.
A big thumbs up.
It was the expression that only came out when the director was completely satisfied.
*
“This is exactly the picture I wanted! Both Seo Ho-yun and Yoo Ji-ah were perfect! Rookies these days are truly terrifying. He absorbs feedback like a sponge~.”
“Hahaha, it’s all thanks to you.”
“There are no holes in the acting! Min Ji-heon, of course, and Yoo Ji-ah, and now Seo Ho-yun! It’s worth picking up the megaphone for this~!”
After the first filming ended, the director praised us until his mouth was dry. Naturally, Min Ji-heon, who had no interest in such things, was just raiding the snacks on set.
Last time, I saw him eat ten people’s worth of food in one sitting….
‘I can see why they said they took him to every hospital imaginable.’
If my younger brother ate that much, I’d probably travel the whole country out of worry that he was sick, too.
“How are you so good at acting? I heard you only recently started taking acting lessons at Daepasung….”
“Haha, no. I was just worried I’d be a burden.”
“Hoooom….”
Yoo Ji-ah, who was already a great actress herself, seemed to want to hear my secrets, perhaps because she was ambitious and had a strong desire to improve.
However,
‘There is no such thing.’
I didn’t really need to try to understand Lee Jeong-hun. I just had to recall all the garbage experiences I had during my days as a Devil’s Editing PD.
On the day of the script reading, every time I gave a virtuous smile while thinking of the Bureau Chief, Director Yoo and Writer Kim Suk-hee would scream and fuss, saying, “That’s actually terrifying.”
“Anyway, great job on the first shoot today! I’d love to have a team dinner, but we have an early morning shoot tomorrow.”
“Haha. We’ll have one when the first episode airs.”
“That’s true, hahaha!”
The director disappeared, still chuckling over the successful shoot. I greeted all the staff and actors before returning to the van. The manager was away for a moment, talking to some officials.
Ding!
[It’s practically a free pass, isn’t it? You’re just coasting through this acting thing.]
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the system window. I crunched down on a piece of candy while looking at it.
“Did you have a nice strike?”
[…It wasn’t a strike, okay?]
“Really? Then did you have a nice vacation? Did you go to Hawaii or something?”
[Yes, it was lovely. I went surfing. ^^]
Surfing, my ass….
Ever since I accepted the acting role, the system window had been answering me with gritted teeth, as if it held a grudge. I could feel the resentment vividly through the text.
“Let’s get to the point.”
[…….]
“What are you, you little brat?”