Pen and Paper Translations

I even wore a mask and a cap to hide the fact that I was getting in touch with Kwak Yeonji’s side.

If I got caught, the insurance policy called Lee Seobin might disappear completely.

Thinking coldly, I have to keep Lee Seobin in the mix. But the best is for Kwak Yeonji to show good acting.

When I arrived in front of Kwak Yeonji’s agency, the manager I’d contacted in advance was waiting out front.

However he recognized me, he came hurrying from a distance and bowed.

“Director Gyeong Chanhyeon?”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

“Hello! I’m manager Go Sang-woo!”

I was a bit taken aback at the way he bent almost in half the moment he saw me, but he just beamed as if it didn’t bother him.

A face I felt like I’d seen somewhere, but only faintly.

Thick horn-rimmed glasses that didn’t suit him. I was sure I’d seen him somewhere…?

When I looked him over closely, he looked at me like I was the strange one and said,

“Shall I… show you in?”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Following Go Sang-woo’s lead, I went into the acting practice room where Kwak Yeonji was.

She was acting in front of the camera, wearing the neat kind of outfit reporters would wear. She seemed immersed in her role, not even noticing I’d come in.

“Yeon—”

“Don’t call her. Let’s just watch for a bit.”

I stopped Go Sang-woo as he was about to call her, and watched Yeonji act for a moment.

The part she was practicing was the same as the assigned scene.

The nasal tone wasn’t very noticeable, but her throat sounded a bit hoarse, with a lot of rasp.

Maybe because of that, the feeling she’d shown in the audition wasn’t coming through.

“I only hope it completely falls apart. Hoo…”

After a deep sigh, she went to check the camera that had been filming her, then saw me and bowed.

“Ah, hello! Sunbaenim. No—Director!”

Like manager, like actor.

I almost laughed at how she greeted me exactly the same way as Go Sang-woo.

She was definitely a completely different person from the Kwak Yeonji I knew.

“Uh… right. Here, just call me sunbae. Drop the ‘-nim.’ Like at the drinking table.”

Bonds with actors matter on set, too.

How we address each other is pretty important in building a relationship, so it’s better to keep it as comfortable as possible.

I spoke as kindly as I could, assuming she’d be our Lee So-hee anyway.

“Okay, sunbae.”

Her voice cracked a little. Maybe in trying to get rid of the nasality, she didn’t have enough support and forced her throat too much.

“It’s good you’ve dropped the nasal tone. But your throat sounds a little shot, huh?”

“Ah… yes.”

“Want to watch your audition video first?”

She nodded, took the CD, and watched herself on a laptop.

She stared at her on-screen self pouring her heart out as if it were another person.

As if absorbed, she watched her own acting without even blinking.

When the audition video ended, she gazed at the blank screen with an awed expression.

“It’s a little different from what you just did, right? In that video, you feel like Lee So-hee herself.”

“It does…”

“That’s the kind of acting I want. When I watched the first and second round videos, Lee Seobin was better… but that changed my mind.”

“Yes…”

With a sigh, she pressed her fingers to her brow as she answered.

“Try doing it thinking exactly like what we just watched. I’ll do the recording. Start as soon as you’re ready.”

“Yes!”

I watched her through the camera.

She closed her eyes as if reconstructing her movements in her head, concentrating. After a moment, she began.

“Even just lining up the people after your neck…”

“This isn’t it.”

Even though she’d only gotten one sentence out, I cut her off; she looked over, clearly flustered.

“Pardon?”

“Think about your eyes, too. Go watch the video again. Your eyes are different there.”

At my words, she quickly rewatched the audition video. But she still didn’t seem to have the feel of it and let out a sigh.

“It’s different, but… I don’t know exactly how to express it…”

“…”

Was it really a fluke?

Is she one of those ridiculous actors whose acting gets better when they drink?

It’s not like drunken boxing… what kind of nonsense is this?

“Hm…”

If she’s an actor who can only show good acting when she’s drunk, then, just like Junseong said, we should use Lee Seobin.

Because the risk we’d have to shoulder would be too big.

“If you can’t get the performance into shape, the odds swing heavily toward it being Lee Seobin.”

The moment she heard me, she ground her teeth.

Her eyes changed, too.

“Huh…?”

A fierce thirst for revenge that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

I felt the atmosphere I’d seen at the audition.

As for who the revenge was aimed at—thinking of what I’d just said made the answer easy.

Lee Seobin.

Her resentment toward Seobin seemed big; even her breathing turned rough.

So the reason that kind of acting was possible wasn’t actually the alcohol, but Lee Seobin?

When she suddenly showed the gaze I’d seen at the audition, I couldn’t help being surprised.

But I hid my surprise and slowly watched her reaction.

If I can use this trigger, she mustn’t catch on.

The moment she knows it’s being used, the effect will drop.

“You got the chance to do the final audition because of that performance. As the director, I need that performance. If that performance isn’t there, there’s no reason I have to use you.”

“I’ll do it, no matter what!”

“But spare your throat a bit. Focus on facial acting first. As for what kind of psychology makes Lee So-hee behave that way… you seem to know it well. Use that to refine the performance.”

“Yes! Sunbaenim!”

With eyes hardened by anger, she answered, and I kept my gaze on those eyes as I said,

“Let’s try it again.”

“Yes!”

It wasn’t just her eyes that changed. The feelings she was having seemed to spill straight into the performance, her emotions surfacing naturally.

Watching the acting she’d shown at the audition for the first time, even Go Sang-woo had his mouth hanging open at the monitor.

If I hadn’t been minding myself, I’d probably have reacted the same; I clenched my fist and held it in.

“Don’t praise Kwak Yeonji. Not until she can summon that emotional line at will.”

“Sorry…?”

“And dial your reactions way down.”

“Y-yes! (inhales)”

Eyes wide, Go Sang-woo stared at her acting, and Yeonji, having poured all her emotions out, collapsed to a sit and panted hard the moment the take ended.

Her eyes had already returned to normal.

“Ha… this isn’t it. Maybe it’d be better to use Lee Seobin…”

Watching the screen, I murmured in a voice just barely audible.

Whether she heard it or not, Yeonji glared at me.

With that fierce gaze aimed at me, the back of my neck went cold.

“I’ll do it again!”

We spent almost a week like that.

From lunch to evening. Six hours a day at Pureum Entertainment, I coached Yeonji’s acting.

The method worked pretty well not just for her but for me.

Watching Yeonji act, I started revising Lee So-hee’s lines.

After seeing Yeonji act as if she were possessed by Lee So-hee and then looking at the script, certain lines jumped out as not fitting the character.

A person whose pride is so strong she can’t stand being done to.

A Lee So-hee, who can go mad for revenge.

Framing the character like this made the script flow much more smoothly.

Each time I brought Yeonji a revision, she nailed the lines with a dramatically improved performance.

And as her line delivery became more natural, Yeonji’s acting started to surpass even what she’d shown at the audition.

Even though it was only a week which was a short time, the growth was remarkable and gratifying.

Watching her act, I felt quite satisfied.

But the more some things improved, the more something else looked lacking.

I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was missing, but some lingering lack kept tugging at me.

Wondering what on earth it could be, I slowly pictured the character Yeonji was playing—Lee So-hee.

In this project, Lee So-hee has sociopathic traits.

“A crazy person you’d hate to have as an enemy, but who’s rock-solid when she’s on your side.”

This was what I wanted to convey to the audience, but it was hard to feel that from Yeonji.

Thinking it might be an external issue, I scrutinized her image on the monitor.

Long straight hair, a tiny face with features so perfectly proportioned you wonder how they fit.

Like Kim Mujin said, if the acting were good on top of that, she could have enthralled the nation.

But is the problem that she’s just too pretty?

With that thought, I looked her over again properly.

Maybe out of an obsession with the reporter profession, she wore a crisp suit with her hair neatly tied back.

Maybe because of that, her outward image was that of a very tidy reporter.

But what I want is a striking image.

Thinking of actors who projected a strong image brought a solid reference to mind.

The drama that flashed through my head was Sky Castle, which was quite a hit here.

The actor who played the admissions consultant gave off an overpowering image that made you feel you had to trust and entrust yourself to her.

How did that actor manage to give that feeling…? The answer to that split-second question came easily.

Mad Max, Alien, V for Revenge, Dokjin.

The actresses in films like these dominated the atmosphere of their movies on screen.

Every time they appeared, they radiated intimidation and naturally pressed in on the audience.

Yes, their acting was part of it, but their image, especially short hair, made their forcefulness even stronger.

But I couldn’t just ask that of Yeonji lightly. She’d walked a different path from those actresses.

Picturing a short bob, I focused again on her face on the monitor.

Looking closely, her face shape was similar to those actresses I’d just thought of.

A small face, an egg shape with a slightly longer lower half. And cheekbones that didn’t jut out much.

It seemed like it would suit her well…?

I cautiously called her name.

“Yeonji.”

“Yes?”

Catching her as she’d just finished a take and sat down to rest, I spoke, and she looked at me with her big eyes.

“If you take on Lee So-hee this time, it’s an acting transformation, right?”

“Right, it’d be my first time doing anything like this.”

Maybe because we’d had a lot of conversations over the week; she seemed to have gotten somewhat comfortable with me, too.

“But what do you think Lee So-hee is like? I get the feeling you know her better than I do.”

Resting her chin in her hand, she thought for a moment and answered.

“Cool. She does righteous things because revenge is her driving force. And as a result she does end up doing righteous things. That gives the character consistency and makes her more attractive.”

Flushed, Yeonji talked about the Lee So-hee she knew.

“But in another sense she’s pitiful. Seeing how she’ll cut others down to seize what she wants, it feels like she’s gone mad.”

“Hm… so what about how you look right now?”

At my question, she looked at me with those big eyes like, what are you talking about?

“I’m not sure…”

“How about cutting your hair short this time?”

“Sorry?”

She couldn’t answer right away and just blinked.

Then, touching her hair like she absolutely couldn’t give it up, she went on.

“Short? Do you mean like a bob?”

“I think even shorter than a bob would be better.”

At my words, even Go Sang-woo stared at me, mouth open, saying nothing in surprise.

What I wanted was hair even shorter than a bob that touches the shoulder line.

We could add a device to the character—like her wearing a long wig depending on the situation.

But looking at Yeonji’s face… I thought it might be hard.

“Shorter than a bob?”

“Yeah. I’m thinking of adding a concept.”

“…”

She seemed not to hear me; with a grave expression, she stared at the floor without a word.

Then Go Sang-woo, who’d been listening to our conversation, spoke first.

“Yeonji. I’ll speak with him outside and be right back. Wait just a minute. Director, could we step out for a moment?”

“Sure.”

Go went outside with me. He, too, wore a serious look as he asked,

“Is that really necessary, Director?”

“Please trust me this once. This film will succeed.”

At my short, firm answer, his pupils wavered as he looked at me. He clamped his mouth shut for a moment, seeming quite conflicted.

It was understandable.

She’d only ever appeared on screens big or small in pretty roles, and now we were talking about transforming her image completely into another kind of role, so she couldn’t take on the roles she’d done before… from Yeonji’s perspective, it would be a massive gamble.

“So you’re saying it’s really necessary…”

With a sigh, Go crouched down in front of me.

His eyes seemed to be shaking.

I patted his shoulder as I looked at him.

“You need to trust me completely. Manager Go. Sang. Woo.”

---