Chapter 52: You haven't seen the news, have you?

༺ You haven’t seen the news, have you? ༻

“I wrote it with the intention of having Bohyung ‘pretend’ to be pitiful.”

“Hmm… I think being ‘really’ pitiful might be better. The nuance of pretending can be conveyed through close-ups of costumes or props. Won’t the ‘pretense’ be too obvious?”

Observing the writer advocating for ‘pretense’ and the director for ‘real’, Yoomyeong quietly chuckled.

He asked that question because the script given was only up to the second episode, and Bohyung’s character hadn’t fully been revealed.

That was the superficial reason.

“Let’s go with ‘real’ for now. You came well-prepared.”

The other reason was because Yoomyeong had anticipated such a response.

Politely asking about the director’s intentions during an audition was a gesture that adds plus points to one’s image.

Moreover, preparing both versions demonstrates dedication and passion.

“Let’s begin.”

Yoomyeong took a deep breath and then suddenly sat down, hugging his knees.

Like a pitiful cat that sat against a wall.

His clothes were ragged as if he’d been kicked out somewhere, but the expensive watch shining on the wrist wrapped around his knees was ironic.

“Hana.”

“Huh? Bohyung? Why are you dressed like that?”

The assistant director voiced Hana’s lines.

“Our family went bankrupt…”

“What?”

“I have no clothes to wear… and nowhere to sleep tonight…”

“Oh no! Are you okay? What about your parents?”

“They… they ran away, leaving me alone. They took the cat… probably because it eats less than me… huhuhu.”

Hugging his knees tighter, Bohyung whimpered.

“Do you have any newspapers at your place? I’ve heard newspapers keep you warm. There’s a reason why homeless old men sleep covered in newspapers. A box would be nice… but that’s too much luxury, right? I asked too much from you… I’m still young, so a newspaper is fine…”

The lines were meant to be comical, but they somehowmade him seem genuinely pitiful.

Writer Yook Mi-young wrote this part as if ‘Hana should hear it.’

Hana and Bohyung became friends after running into each other a few times while walking their cats. In reality, Bohyung was the son of a wealthy family and was pretending to be poor to stay with Hana, a person his family would never recognize, to avoid being caught.

That was the idea behind the costume: the mismatch of expensive accessories he was casually wearing with the clothes he picked from donation bins to pretend to be pitiful.

Hana, being from a humble background and unaware of luxury brands, was convinced by this act.

However…

It looks like this act could deceive not just Hana but also the audience. If Bohyung could realistically act this pitifully, then perhaps he should also consider entering the entertainment industry for real.

Seeing an actor deliver lines meant to feign pity in such a genuinely pitiable manner was unexpectedly captivating.

He was strikingly pitiable, so to speak.

“I live with my grandma… If you want, you can stay at our place until you find a part-time job and can pay for a room.”

“Rea… really? Thank you, Hana. I will definitely repay this favor. Thank you so much!”

His face was radiant and innocent.

What should I do? I quite like this guy…

Writer Yook glanced at the director’s expression.

*

In the next few scenes, Yoomyeong played the role perfectly.

“Is it true that you have little acting experience?”

“He’s quite clever. Bohyung’s charm really stands out, doesn’t it?”

“Well… he’s good, but he’s not quite the type of Bohyung I had in mind…”

The director subtly countered the praises from both sides with a sidelong glance.

At the end of his gaze was… Director Moon Yu-seok.

However, Yu-seok’s attention was focused solely on Yoomyeong.

‘Hmm… With that level of acting, he’d immediately pass even if this was an agency audition.’

‘As expected, a shiny apricot isn’t always sweet.’

Yu-seok developed a discerning taste.

“Let’s see the free acting you prepared, shall we?”

The casting director initiated the next step, and Yoomyeong replied “Ah, yes…” before speaking to the judges.

“By the way, you haven’t seen the news because of the ongoing auditions, have you?”

“Uh… yes, why do you ask?”

“There’s chaos outside. There’s been a terrorist attack in the middle of Seoul downtown.”

“What? A terrorist attack?!”

The people, who had been working non-stop from just after lunch until the evening without ever leaving the room, were shocked.

A terrorist attack… Why did no one tell them? Are their families okay?

“Ah, it wasn’t on a large scale, and there were no casualties. It occurred at a small movie theater in Sillim…”

The assistant director, who had a house in Sillim, looked shocked.

“It was a war movie, you know? They thought it would be interesting to see how people, who are enthusiastically watching a film with grenades going off and guns firing, would react if something actually exploded…”

Yoomyeong’s tone became peculiarly slow.

“I heard someone threw a homemade bomb…”

His eyebrows rose slightly.

A thoughtful look briefly appeared in his eyes before being shaken off. The corners of the mouth start to lift ever so slightly, then settled back down.

“Was the culprit caught? Have you heard the interview with the perpetrator? Is he crazy?”

The assistant director raised his voice in agitation.

The writer and the casting director were slowly catching onto the situation, their mouths agape in shock.

“I’m not crazy. I’m just curious how people who enjoy watching other people’s misfortune react when it happens to them.”

“What?”

“That’s why I threw it.”

Now, the corners of his mouth fully rose.

“What? What are you… wait… was this an act?”

After a brief pause,

“Yes, it was my free-acting segment. Thank you.”

The startled assistant director who had jumped up in surprise slowly sank back down on his chair.

“So… there wasn’t actually a terrorist attack in Sillim?”

“No, there wasn’t.”

“Damn, you really scared me.”

The relieved assistant director inadvertently let out a curse.

The writer Yook Mi-young excitedly bombarded Yoomyeong with questions.

“Was that improvisational? Or was it prepared?”

“It was prepared free-acting.”

“Man, you really caught me off guard. Are you telling me this is a practiced performance? It’s so natural that I thought it was real. Is there a reason why you prepared something like this?”

“…Free acting usually displays strong emotions like crying or anger, but since this is a drama audition, I wanted to show that you can act naturally. Even with a minimal emotional range, I wanted to deliver an impactful performance, even if it was misleading. I apologize.”

At his words, Mi-young clapped her hands.

“No, it was very entertaining. That’s actually the reason why I’d rather pass when auditionees do free acting. Everyone tends to overdo it.”

The writer’s face lit up with joy while the director’s face darkened.

And Director Moon Yu-seok felt as if he had discovered a treasure.

*

Eureka!

It seemed he had found the second treasure he was looking for right in front of his eyes.

He realized sooner than anyone else in the room that the actor was putting on a performance. Specifically, from the second sentence, ‘There’s chaos outside.’

His quick wit was part of the reason, but it was also because he had spoken to him personally just moments before.

His tone was different. His atmosphere had completely changed, as if he were a different person.

To depict a different character to that extent even though it wasn’t an emotionally intense performance, this actor was undeniably the ‘genius’ he had been searching for.

And he had something that the ‘first treasure’ lacked, which was the passion for acting.

He took the initiative to find out the casting director’s contact information on his own and sent a casting request email, prepared and wore a costume that matched the character’s image, and came prepared with different versions of the performance based on interpretation.

He was also smart.

The lines he had prepared targeted the scenario of [judges who hadn’t been outside all day due to continuous auditions]. He had completely taken the judges, who had been dulled by the end of the audition, by surprise.

Acting skills, dedication, and resourcefulness.

Yu-seok, who had rarely encountered an actor who truly caught his eye throughout his life due to his high standards, was captivated by this fish, who was swimming freely.

Would he catch the fish,

Or…

Yu-seok fidgeted with the business card in his pocket.

*

“Thank you for today. I’ll let you know once the results are in.”

“Ah, is there no second round?”

“Our headquarters is in chaos right now. We haven’t had a hit show this year, but Company S hit a home run. We hurriedly scheduled our next expected hit for next year, so the production deadline is tight, and we don’t have time. You’ll get the results in a few days.”

“Ah, okay.”

Yoomyeong felt it the last time as well, but she spoke so candidly. Was that even allowed?

Min-jung said her goodbyes, and Youmyung left the place.

Inside the conference room, two people were talking.

“Sir… Director Moon. Writer Yook is insisting on that person…”

“You promised the role to one of our company’s actors, saying the audition was just for show.”

“That’s true…haaa… but who would’ve thought someone like that would suddenly pop up? Min-jung knew the situation, so why didn’t she consider him for other roles?”

The situation was complicated.

KBK’s dramas were performing very poorly this year. This was due to a strike between the broadcast station’s management and the producers, which had been ongoing for several months. The strike involved many prominent producers, especially from the drama department.

In the midst of this, Company S hit gold with <Lovers in Paris>, and the management hastily rescheduled a highly anticipated work for next year to the end of this year.

They also appointed PD Joo Ilho, who currently didn’t have a project, as the production director. However, the urgent schedule was unreasonable.

“Seunghyo hasn’t signed the final contract yet, right?”

“Director Moon, please…”

Most sought-after actors already had most of their schedules filled, so there weren’t many good actors available to fit into the immediate production schedule. Especially problematic was the male lead role, which the drama described as a ‘top-class actor’. How laughable would it be if such a character was portrayed poorly?

That’s when Director Moon Yu-seok of Good Entertainment suggested the Baek Seunghyo card. Although he had a scheduled project, Director Moon said he’d compensate for the breach of contract because the script was good.

Taking such a step might lead to bad rumors, but the fact that no comments arose showed that Director Moon was indeed a shrewd player.

The problem arose when he demanded an ‘additional TO’ in return for bringing in Baek Seunghyo.

Requesting additional roles while casting a popular actor was not uncommon. The real issue was Writer Yook’s stubbornness.

— Baek Seunghyo is good. He fits the image and is a decent actor. But isn’t he not quite at the level to demand specific roles as an additional TO?

— Under normal circumstances, yes. But given our urgent situation… They also took a loss to accommodate us.

— I understand if they want a few minor roles, but Bohyung is non-negotiable. The character intermittently enhances the mood of the drama. If this role isn’t portrayed attractively, the drama will fail.

What she said wasn’t wrong.

Above all, she was a writer whose last three works were consecutive hits, increasing her stock value significantly. Other broadcasting stations were eagerly reaching out to her, making it hard for KBK to act as the dominant party in the situation.

On the other hand, he was a PD who was criticized as a ‘fad’. It had been years since he was given a mini-series to direct. He had a burning desire to succeed this time and re-establish himself.

So, PD Joo couldn’t afford to ignore the writer’s sentiments.

The dramatic compromise was to conduct auditions for the role of Bohyung with the condition that the decision would lean towards the actor from Good Entertainment unless there was an exceptionally outstanding candidate.

— Our actor is a rising talent that I’m ambitiously promoting. I believe you’ll be satisfied once you see their performance.

Yu-seok had confidently remarked at the time, but the current situation was dire.

When the story of Baek Seunghyo’s contract falling through was brought up, Director Joo, who had been cornered, retorted weakly.

“Wait, Director Moon… you said you’d bring in a capable actor. But the one you proposed is just average…”

His words trailed off as he looked at Yu-seok’s expression.

The discomfort on Director Moon’s face was palpable.

The actor Yu-seok originally wanted to bring was his ‘first treasure,’ who would not pale in comparison even when placed side by side with the ‘newly discovered treasure’.

Because of that, he was confident that they would win the role even if he didn’t have to use Baek Seunghyo, but then decided that he would definitely give the role of Bohyung to ‘that guy’ and chose the safe path.

But Yu-seok never expected that guy to betray him like that…

While it was true that he had to resort to an actor with an open schedule, Director Joo wasn’t in a position to complain.

“Director, are you still involved in ‘that’? You should focus on filming the drama now.”

“Huh? No… Hahaha. It seems Bohyung’s role really fits your actor best. I’ll try to persuade Writer Yook.”

Yu-seok had leverage over him.

With a subtle reminder of that weakness, the director became flustered and backed down.

Just then,

Knock, knock—

The sound of knocking echoed and the door handle turned, opening the door.

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