Chapter 8: When the Supporting Actor is Prettier than the Lead (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: When the Supporting Actor is Prettier than the Lead (2)
My brain momentarily short-circuited.
I understood the words, but I couldn't wrap my head around the meaning.
“Now, now, Ms. Yoon Se-rang. Our actress Lee Yu-jin is a rookie, and this is her first time on a filming set. As her senior, please show some of your poise and grace. Her mother is even here with her.”
“What? Her mother?”
Yoon Se-rang turned to look at my mom with eyes full of bewilderment.
I knew I shouldn't, but both Mom and I couldn't help it—we burst out laughing.
This wasn't the first or second time this had happened. Every time I introduced her as my mother to someone meeting us for the first time, this was the reaction. By now, it was just a comedy trigger for us.
Mom had long since passed the stage of being hurt; she had reached the summit of pure hilarity.
“I-I’m so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It’s just, you two don't look anything alike for a mother and daughter...!”
“Ah! Ms. Yoon Se-rang, stop! Please stop!”
“Oh my, there I go again with my big mouth. I am truly sorry. I swear I wasn't trying to use some backhanded 'Chungcheong-do Kyoto' sarcasm... Oh, right! I was supposed to check on the child actors' acting!”
Babbling incoherently, Yoon Se-rang eventually succumbed to her mental breakdown. She shouted one last “I’m so sorry!” and fled the scene.
Mom barely suppressed her laughter as she spoke to Jang Hyun-soo.
“Actress Yoon Se-rang has a completely different image than what I’ve seen on TV. I thought she’d be cold, haughty, and composed, but she’s actually a bit of a klutz.”
“Ms. Yoon Se-rang is a classic case of Yeon-gang-il-yak.”
“Yeon-gang-il-yak? What’s that?”
“Strong against celebrities, weak against civilians.”
“Aha. So she’s tough on the powerful and soft on the ordinary.”
“She’s originally very strict and sensitive about appearances. That’s why she finds the current situation—where she accidentally launched an 'appearance attack' on a civilian—unbearable. She’s a bit self-centered and has a strong ego, but she’s not a truly bad person. I hope you and Yu-jin won't take it to heart.”
Not a truly bad person? Does that mean she’s just moderately bad?
“Well, it all happened so fast I didn't even have time to feel offended.”
She had appeared out of nowhere to grill the PD, suddenly demanded to know who did my plastic surgery and skin treatments, and then fled in shame after accidentally insulting my mother. I literally hadn't had the chance to feel bad.
“Yeah, In-hyuk. Come over here.”
Jang Hyun-soo called someone over the radio.
A moment later, a burly man in his early thirties arrived.
“Let me introduce you. This is Assistant Director Kim In-hyuk. In-hyuk, this is Lee Yu-jin, the rookie actress playing the role of the bodyguard warrior, Yeon Si-ho.”
“I’m Lee Yu-jin. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I-I’m Assistant Director Kim In-hyuk. P-pleased to meet you.”
When I bowed my head in greeting, Kim In-hyuk stammered and bowed back. When I looked up and met his eyes, he hurriedly averted his gaze.
I was used to this, but I didn't expect a staff member who lived among actors every day to react like this.
“Wow... you’re truly beautiful. I honestly felt like I couldn't breathe for a second.”
“...Thank you.”
Jang Hyun-soo laughed, patting Kim In-hyuk on the back.
“See? Even our AD, who’s a veteran in his own right, froze up the moment he saw Yu-jin.”
Kim In-hyuk continued to stammer while avoiding my eyes.
“You’re really something else. I’ve never seen anyone this beautiful in my life.”
“Uh... thank you.”
No matter how many times I heard it, I could never get used to being called beautiful. It felt like a peanut allergy starting in my ears and spreading to my throat, blocking my airway. Forcing myself to keep my face from stiffening, I offered a polite, social smile.
“Then, our AD will show Yu-jin around the set and introduce her to the other actors... wait a second.”
Jang Hyun-soo snapped his fingers, a sly smile spreading across his face.
I felt a sudden sense of unease.
“AD, Yu-jin here originally had zero interest in acting. I practically had to drag her here, you know?”
“Oh, really? That’s insane. With a face like that, the world might actually end if she doesn't become an actress.”
“So I basically saved the world, then?”
“Yes, you’ve done a magnificent job of saving humanity.”
What on earth are these two middle-aged men doing...
“Anyway, let’s do a quick social experiment. What do you think Yu-jin did before coming to this industry?”
“Hmm...”
Kim In-hyuk groaned as he scrutinized my face.
Was it really that difficult a question? I didn't understand at all. I checked my own outfit: slim-fit jeans and a tight white T-shirt. Just looking at my clothes, didn't I look exactly like a high school student who had come to see a filming set?
“An amateur golfer?”
“...Pardon?”
“Somehow, your posture is perfectly stable. You feel like someone who is used to using their muscles.”
“...”
“Even if not a golfer, I think you were in sports. And your age... I’d guess between twenty-one and twenty-three. PD-nim, am I right?”
Jang Hyun-soo clutched his stomach and let out a silent laugh.
“Ma’am, do you know what Yu-jin’s true charm is—the one she might not even realize herself?”
“Huh? There’s something like that? What is it?”
“Wait, what? Did you say this lady is Actress Lee Yu-jin’s mother?”
“I really am her biological mother... I feel a wound opening in my heart... Mr. Assistant Director...”
“I-I’m so sorry! Argh, I—I really didn't mean it that way!”
Mom bowed her head with a look of exaggerated heartbreak, but I clearly saw the snickering smile at the corners of her mouth. She was definitely enjoying this now.
“Yu-jin is a unique subject who amplifies and reflects the ideal image the viewer desires.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. Do people in the arts have a disease where they can't speak simply?
“For example, when I first saw her, I thought she was a rookie actress in her early twenties about to debut. But I thought she hadn't joined because she wanted to, but because her agency was desperately holding onto her by showering her with all sorts of perks.”
“Isn't that just a personal prejudice? Everyone has those.”
“I’m saying Yu-jin is a subject where that is particularly prominent. Someone who sees her as an idol will imagine her as the center on stage, boasting a flashy dance and a brilliant smile. Someone who sees her as a pianist will imagine a beautiful pianist receiving a standing ovation for her calm technique at a world-famous competition.”
I was getting more and more embarrassed by the second. It was strange how Mom and the AD were now nodding in agreement.
“Whether it’s a figure skater, a swordsmanship instructor, a university professor, or even a high school girl. Yu-jin has the power to inflate and make people imagine the image they first thought of.”
“Is that a good thing?”
At Mom’s question, the smile vanished from Jang Hyun-soo’s face.
“It’s a very good thing. It means she can indiscriminately plant the image she wants to show into the audience’s imagination. I couldn't even imagine she was a high school freshman. It’s not that she didn't look like one; it’s that I didn't want to believe it.”
“PD-nim, wait. A high school freshman? With this face? Really?”
“Yeah. Now that you know, doesn't she start to look like one?”
“Wow, incredible. You’re right. I never would have guessed. I was certain she was in her early twenties. But then again, her aura is much more mature than that.”
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
So, in the end, they just see me however they want to see me, according to their own desires.
Jang Hyun-soo had just expressed it in a rather grandiose way.
Come to think of it, that was how men reacted when I rejected them on the street. No matter what excuse I gave, they didn't want to believe it. I remembered quite a few men who couldn't easily believe me even when I used the extreme measure of saying I had two kids, though they were forced to back off.
Rather than who I introduce myself as, they try to define me by what they want to see.
I hadn't thought of it that way before. I just thought those guys were being persistent and clingy because of my face.
“So, let’s research this together. The image of the bodyguard warrior Yeon Si-ho that we’re going to shove into the viewers' heads.”
I probably shouldn't be thinking this, but working on this project with Jang Hyun-soo felt like it was going to be fun and exciting.
Get a grip, Lee Yu-jin. You can't feel that way.
This was supposed to be a one-time deviation in this life, just to get that hairpin...
*
“We’re going to pre-produce about half to two-thirds of it before we start airing.”
Jang Hyun-soo said he was busy and disappeared, leaving the guidance to AD Kim In-hyuk.
Kim In-hyuk kindly showed us around the set and introduced us to the people we encountered.
“Oh... she’s so pretty. A rookie actress?”
“Hello, I’m Lee Yu-jin, playing the role of the bodyguard warrior Yeon Si-ho.”
“Wait, you’re giving the role of Yeon Si-ho to her? Is that even allowed?”
“...?”
Every actor I met said something like that. As if it would be a disaster if I played the role of a bodyguard warrior.
Mom whispered to me softly.
“Our daughter is so much prettier than the female lead that they’re probably worried the two-shot will look weird.”
“Mom...”
“Honestly, when I saw Yoon Se-rang’s face earlier, I thought she couldn't hold a candle to our daughter.”
“...”
I felt like I shouldn't mention right now that I’d be wearing a mask and only showing my eyes until the very end.
While greeting the actors and staff, I had a peculiar experience. No one saw me as a high school student. Everyone saw me as an adult in my twenties or older, and the older the person was, the older they guessed my age to be.
“Mr. AD, do I look that old for my age?”
“What? No, no, absolutely not! You have a very mature beauty depending on the angle, but you definitely don't look old.”
“Then why does everyone think I’m older than I am?”
One male actor in his fifties even asked if I was around thirty. Suppressing my embarrassment, I borrowed Mom’s hand mirror to check, but no matter how I looked at it, I had the face of a teenager.
Kim In-hyuk scratched his head.
“Maybe it’s something like this? A subconscious reflection of wanting the age gap between themselves and you to be as small as possible...”
“And why on earth would they want that?”
“Because that way, the possibility becomes even a little bit higher. Ahem, you know what I mean, right?”
“...Yes, I see. I understand...”
My head felt dizzy, so I decided to sit down and rest for a moment. Jang Hyun-soo’s voice echoed in my mind.
“Yu-jin, you have a charm that makes people’s subconscious desires—the wish that you were a certain kind of person, or that you must be a certain kind of person—grow stronger.”
It had only been a short while, but the feeling that Jang Hyun-soo’s assessment was chillingly accurate grew stronger.
Still, it’s quite a shock that no one saw me as a teenager.
At that moment, a cold sensation pierced my skin. It was the sharp instinct that had allowed me to break through countless crises in my various past lives. I rarely had the chance to feel it in this peaceful era, but for it to send such a vivid warning...
There!
I bolted upright and ran.
A heavy light fixture was wobbling as if it were about to fall, and then it began its descent. Below it, two child actors were practicing their lines, laughing and completely unaware.
I ran at full speed, then bent my knees and jumped powerfully.
With one leg split wide upward, I kicked the light fixture—which was barely three meters from the ground—with all my might using the sole of my sneaker.
CRASH!
The heavy light was sent flying several meters back, hitting the brick floor with a loud thud.
I passed the child actors in mid-air and landed lightly on the grass. I stood up and brushed off my hands.
Only then did the two child actors realize what had happened. They froze, their eyes darting around in shock.
Anyway, what should I say?
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” was too cliché.
Boasting that I had saved them felt embarrassing.
Let’s just go with the standard.
“I’m Lee Yu-jin, the rookie actress playing the role of the bodyguard warrior Yeon Si-ho. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
They were kids, but they were my seniors in the industry, so I gave them a polite 90-degree bow.
*
The martial arts director’s jaw dropped.
How high did she just jump...? No, how much does that light weigh, and she just shoved it that far away with the sole of her foot?