Chapter 25: The One Line That Won't Come to Mind
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25: The One Line That Won't Come to Mind
For a moment, I even harbored a ridiculous suspicion.
Does she know? Does she know I’m a natural silver-head?
I’d been sick and tired of the excessive attention from my classmates since the start of elementary school, so I’d kept it dyed black ever since.
Root touch-ups were a hassle, but my life was easier if I could suppress the interest of hormone-driven teenagers, even just a little.
I had planned to quit the annoying dyeing once I graduated high school, but...
"Silver! How about silver? Your skin is so pale, I think it would look amazing on you. You might look like a total elf!"
"..."
I found it hard to keep up with her high-tension excitement.
I think I was starting to understand why the child actors always tried to sneak away whenever they saw Writer Jung Yoon-ah...
"Writer, I think dyeing my hair might be a bit difficult."
"Why? Take this chance to try it. I’m telling you, it’ll be gorgeous. We’ll cover the costs, so don't feel pressured at all."
"It’s not that. My hair is already dyed, so if I bleach it and dye it again, the hair will get too damaged. It’ll look frizzy on camera."
"Huh? You mean this is dyed? What do you mean?"
I sent a text to my mom.
[Me]: Do you have any photos of me from elementary school before I started dyeing my hair?
[Me]: I need them for something right now.
[Mom]: <Photo> <Photo> <Photo> <Photo> ...
One would have been enough, but she sent a whole bunch.
It might seem funny to others that I didn't have any photos of myself on my own phone.
"Writer, these are photos of me before I dyed my hair..."
"Oh my! Oh my goodness! My word! Is this for real? Is this your natural hair? No, wait—this was your original color? How is this real? Oh my god! Wow! This is insane!"
Jung Yoon-ah’s reaction was so intense that I reflexively looked around.
The way she stared at the screen, as if she were about to lick it, was actually a bit terrifying.
Suddenly, Jung Yoon-ah let out a heavy, lamenting sigh.
"What a waste. If you hadn't dyed it, I could have expressed the character so much better. But since it’s already dyed, I can’t possibly ask you to re-dye it."
"But instead of re-dyeing, is it impossible to just remove the dye?"
"It’s not that simple. You dyed silver hair black, right? Black pigment is very strong. To get it out, you’d have to bleach it multiple times and then dye it silver again. It wouldn't be restoring the original color; it would be a recreation. Oh, wait."
Jung Yoon-ah’s eyes suddenly changed.
"Yu-jin, how often do you do your roots?"
"Once every four weeks? My hair tends to grow unusually fast."
"Once every four weeks. It does grow fast. Hmm, let me see..."
Why did her contemplative expression make me so uneasy?
It was like she was preparing to drop a bombshell.
"How about this? Stop the root touch-ups and let your natural color slowly show from the roots. We’ll capture that change on screen bit by bit."
"Excuse me?"
"The more power she consumes, the harder it becomes to maintain her human form. This is good! In the final moment, as she exhausts all her strength to save the Princess! She completely loses her human form and returns to her original state as the Soul of the Sword!"
"Did you just come up with that?"
"Yes, what do you think?"
"But for my hair to grow out to this length, it would take at least a year."
"We can handle that with CG or temporary hair coating. Since the color will be coming in from the roots anyway, matching the color correction won't be a problem."
I imagined the scene in my head for a moment and then nodded.
"I think the direction you mentioned is good. I think my mother would like it, too."
"Right, right? Your mother will finally get to see her 'Elf Daughter' in her true form on screen after all this time. Imagine how happy she’ll be!"
"But silver is a bit... how about blonde instead?"
"Hmm... is it because you think that would be prettier?"
"Yes, exactly."
"I really think silver is the one for you. It’s the color the God of the Genetic Lottery bestowed upon you to match your looks."
Jung Yoon-ah muttered, tilting her head.
Her eyes were once again fixed on the photo of me from elementary school, before the dye.
"I’m worried that once the broadcast starts, I won't be able to walk around properly because people will recognize me. To be honest, I get approached by strangers quite often even now..."
"You’ll be flooded with requests for handshakes from every direction. Once it airs, don't even think about going anywhere alone. Your beauty is exceptionally rare, Yu-jin."
"That’s why I was planning to stop dyeing my hair later and cut it to shoulder length. I thought people wouldn't recognize me then."
"Outside? Then are you going to wear a black wig whenever you act in the future?"
"Yes. I want to separate my images."
"I understand what you mean. I do. You want to go about your daily life with your natural hair and wear a black wig for your acting career? Hmm..."
Jung Yoon-ah crossed her arms, her eyes darting back and forth.
"So, the problem is that revealing your natural silver hair in the exit scene would eliminate your 'private mode' entirely?"
There was another thought in my heart that I hadn't shared with Writer Jung.
I’m going to retire after filming this anyway. If Yeon Si-ho appears with black hair until the end, no one will recognize me later when I go back to my natural hair, right?
It was a perfect retirement roadmap where absolutely no one would recognize the actress Lee Yu-jin.
Besides, I’d been tired of maintaining the dye for a long time.
"But should we put heavy shackles on 'Actress Lee Yu-jin' just for the sake of 'Individual Lee Yu-jin's' privacy? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
Since Writer Jung didn't know I was preparing for retirement the moment I debuted, it made sense for her to think that way.
"Yu-jin, what was it that you wanted from the start?"
"I said anything was fine as long as it was a version of me my mother would enjoy seeing on screen..."
As I spoke, I felt a sudden catch in my throat.
I realized it from the calm, knowing look in Jung Yoon-ah’s eyes.
It was a question designed to make me realize it myself.
"Do you think what your mother really wants to see on screen is a fake blonde, or her daughter’s true self?"
"..."
"Blonde would be pretty, sure. But I don't think that’s what would truly make your mother happy."
"..."
"Well? Do you want some time to think about it?"
"...No."
I found myself taking a deep breath.
Once filming was over, only the 'black-haired warrior maid' would remain, and I would return to my original color to sever the connection.
Even if people I knew recognized me, strangers on the street wouldn't.
Jung Yoon-ah had effortlessly dismantled that roadmap of mine with just a few words.
Funny enough, I felt no resentment.
I only felt grateful that she had pointed out something I’d overlooked.
"The two of us were preparing a surprise gift that your mother would really love. Right?"
"You’re right, Writer. I lost sight of that."
"Stop the root touch-ups. We’ll take care of the rest with CG or hair coating, so don't worry about a thing."
A look of regret washed over Jung Yoon-ah’s smile.
"If we had enough time before the broadcast, I would have waited for your hair to grow out to its current length naturally. What a shame."
"I feel the same."
"Oh, stop it. It’s so obvious when you’re saying things you don't mean."
"..."
"More importantly, I have a wish. Could you give me a few photos from your silver-haired days? I promise I won't leak them or show them to anyone. I’ll only look at them while I’m writing the script. Just for inspiration."
"That’s not hard. I’ll give them to you."
I sent her a few solo shots from my silver-haired days that I’d received from my mom.
Jung Yoon-ah dove into them, looking like she was about to devour the screen with her eyes.
"You’re so beautiful. You’re a total elf. Come to think of it, you’ve been hiding this insane 'elf-power' with dye all this time?"
"Ahaha..."
"Hiding your athleticism, hiding your silver-haired elf-power... what else are you hiding? Tell me quickly. I feel like I’m going to suffocate from curiosity."
"I haven't been hiding anything to begin with."
"Oh, liar. You probably just think you aren't hiding anything. But when was this taken? Was it when you dyed it before entering high school? So, middle school?"
"My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think it was second grade."
"...Huh? This was second grade? What on earth do you mean?"
"I reached my full height in second grade. And I dyed it because I was annoyed by the other kids constantly trying to sneakily pull my hair out."
"..."
Jung Yoon-ah’s eyes and mouth hung open past their limits, and her grip on her phone loosened.
I quickly snatched the falling phone and placed it back in her palm.
"You should be careful."
"Unbelievable... How could a second grader have this kind of physique... You really had an eventful time in school."
"The boys were a bit noisy."
"What are you, exactly? The moment you say you aren't hiding anything, something new pops out."
"...My mother is waiting, so I should probably get going."
*
After Lee Yu-jin left.
Jung Yoon-ah, who had been smiling broadly, focused back on her screen.
In the photo, Lee Yu-jin stood with a somewhat haughty expression.
She looks like a male student who didn't want to take a photo but was forced to stand there because his mom wanted a souvenir. If you only look at her expression and posture, that is.
Wouldn't girls that age, especially ones with that level of beauty, take selfies as naturally as breathing?
Yet, on set, she had never even seen Lee Yu-jin look into a hand mirror.
It was as if the person least interested in Lee Yu-jin’s face in the entire world was Yu-jin herself.
She’s exactly like a High Elf from Norse mythology. No wonder her eyelashes seemed a bit light. Ah, so she was using colored makeup for her eyebrows.
It wasn't something to say now, but perhaps that Actor Kim, who had wanted to marry her as soon as she turned twenty, had some decent insight.
Suddenly, she recalled a brief comment PD Jang Hyun-soo had made about Lee Yu-jin.
「Yu-jin? She’s a subject who takes the feeling the viewer wants to see, amplifies it to the max, and gives it back to them.」
She knew what he meant. She had felt it the whole time she watched the filming.
At the same time, she realized she hadn't truly understood it until now.
Not until she saw the photos from her silver-haired days.
I thought she was a beauty with a strong mixed-race feel because of her pale skin, but looking at her again, she’s a High Elf cosplaying as a human.
Her tongue felt maddeningly itchy.
No matter how much she licked her lips, her thirst only grew.
What would Yeon Si-ho look like if she were dressed in ornate martial attire, with her voluminous silver hair fully revealed, holding a large, magnificent bow?
Regrettably, it was a sight she wouldn't be able to see in this lifetime.
A silver-haired elf beauty who suppresses her beauty with dye... A Soul of the Sword who maintains a human form with the power accumulated in the blade...
A relentless storm of inspiration raged in her head.
To ensure she didn't forget a single keyword, Jung Yoon-ah opened her laptop and began typing frantically.
[S-Grade Exit Scene for Sword Spirit Yeon Si-ho]
[Just before being absorbed into the sword (Consider a directing trick so viewers mistake it for her vanishing *Important!), Yeon Si-ho, having returned to her original form as the Soul of the Sword, speaks <calmly> to the weeping Princess (Queen).]
[Candidate 1: I will be born as your sword again in the next life.]
[Candidate 2: I’ll rest for a moment and then come back.]
[Candidate 3: Even without me, the Queen must...]
Lines of dialogue were written in an instant.
The words she would utter with her own mouth in that singular moment—words that might serve as a final testament to the viewers.
Dozens of lines were created in rapid succession, each with its own number.
Jung Yoon-ah paused her typing and scanned the final lines she had written for Yeon Si-ho.
"I don't like them."
"Every single one is boring and pedantic."
"This won't do."
In the end, Jung Yoon-ah struck through every line with a red mark, except for the situational descriptions.
She didn't delete them, just to prevent herself from coming up with the same things later.
"Ha, isn't there a line that’s short, concise, and pierces the viewers' hearts..."
Jung Yoon-ah once again admired the photo of silver-haired Yu-jin with captivated eyes.
"What should this face say before she dies—no, before she exits as if she’s dead—to make the viewers want to lynch me?"
Her unfocused eyes stared intensely at the young, silver-haired Lee Yu-jin.
"A line that will make the viewers wail, asking why I killed her, making them want to kill the writer. Ah, I really can't think of it."