Han Seongtae and Kim Minseok left their seats.
Kim Cheolmin and Yeon Jaehun saw the two of them off, then started walking slowly.
For a moment, silence lingered around them.
“Executive Kim.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“If you have a bit of time, would you like to have a cup of coffee before you go?”
“Coffee sounds good. Is there a decent cafe nearby?”
At Kim Cheolmin’s words, Yeon Jaehun nodded and guided him to a nearby cafe.
A two-story cafe called “Doma.”
The two of them took seats on the second floor.
“Executive Kim.”
“Yes, Director.”
“May I ask why you came so suddenly?”
“Hmm…”
“I was too out of it earlier to ask. Didn’t you say you were busy?”
At Yeon Jaehun’s question, Kim Cheolmin shrugged.
“I’m busy. Preparations for filming are almost done, so I’ve been even busier lately.”
“Yes, that’s what I understood, so I’m curious why you wanted to come today. This isn’t an after-party after filming or anything. It’s just a normal meal.”
Yeon Jaehun’s doubt was not strange at all.
He knew very well that Kim Cheolmin was an extremely busy man.
Except for sleeping, Kim Cheolmin’s time was filled entirely with meetings and work.
It wasn’t something Yeon Jaehun could fail to know.
Especially, making time for something small like this, at a time like now, could be called unreasonable even from Kim Cheolmin’s perspective.
‘There’s no reason for him to force it just to come.’
Within Yeon Jaehun’s gaze, Kim Cheolmin leisurely took a sip of coffee.
Seeing him look as if he were even enjoying the little bit of leisure he had, Yeon Jaehun blinked.
“I wanted to know.”
“…Pardon?”
“I wanted to get to know Actor Han Seongtae. In many ways.”
“Mm.”
“We’ll be spending a lot of time together going forward, so it’s good to get to know him in advance, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
There was nothing strange about Kim Cheolmin’s answer.
And yet, for some reason, Yeon Jaehun felt as if one of his intentions was hidden.
The problem was that he couldn’t figure out what that hidden intention was.
“Hm… so how was he?”
“He seems like a decent person. Polite, too.”
“He’s a good person. And a good actor as well.”
“Yes, I heard earlier. He seems like a good actor. His passion for acting also looks impressive.”
When he heard about what happened with Yoo Beomsan at the audition, Kim Cheolmin had felt quite intrigued.
“I’ll need to watch a bit more, but he seemed like a good actor.”
At Kim Cheolmin’s words, Yeon Jaehun nodded.
“How do you think the project will turn out?”
“I don’t think it’ll be bad. The story came out well, and the actors are good. It depends on the directing, but if it goes well, I think it could even make the popularity rankings.”
“To that extent?”
“Yes. The story matters, but when you see Actor Han Seongtae’s acting, it doesn’t feel impossible.”
“Oh.”
Seeing Yeon Jaehun so confident, Kim Cheolmin’s eyes widened.
It was the first time he had seen Yeon Jaehun this sure of himself.
And that only made him even more interested in an actor named Han Seongtae.
What kind of person was he, and just how incredible could his acting be, for Yeon Jaehun to react like this?
‘I’ll know once I see filming.’
They would start filming as soon as the audition ended, so his curiosity would be resolved soon enough.
“If we start the script reading next Tuesday… can we go straight into filming that week?”
“We can.”
“Good. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Yes, you can look forward to it. I’m looking forward to it too.”
Filming with Han Seongtae.
Yeon Jaehun was waiting for that moment.
The audition ended.
Kim Minseok and Yeon Jaehun moved busily to finish preparations for filming.
In the midst of that, Han Seongtae waited for filming while reading the script.
―Jung Dusik: They say there’s a script reading next Tuesday starting at two. I’ll pick you up at twelve.
Now that the script reading date was set, Han Seongtae’s practice time grew even longer.
Whether he went to school or not, his day began with practice and ended with practice.
Days like that were spent in busy practice.
―Seongtae, what are you doing right now?
Park Yeeun called.
A connection he had gained from Baeknyeoncho.
At her contact, a smile formed at the corner of Han Seongtae’s mouth as well.
“I’m reading the script right now.”
―Ah, that Netflix one you’re doing this time, right?
“Yes, that’s right.”
The news that Han Seongtae was working with Netflix was something everyone who knew him already knew.
―You must be busy preparing for Netflix. Seongtae, I know all about how much you practice.
“It’s not necessarily like that. While practicing the script, I’m also looking for new projects.”
―Oh, a project besides Netflix?
“Yes.”
While practicing Haru, Han Seongtae was also looking for his next project.
‘Because I want to keep acting.’
With dramas or films, even if you want to do them, you can’t just go straight into filming.
You need time to prepare, and there are many other parts where time inevitably gets spent.
Even if he wanted to move into another project after Haru finished filming, he might end up wasting at least a month on the preparation process alone.
Of course, people around him might say he was being too greedy, but Han Seongtae did not care at all.
‘If I want to do even the acting I couldn’t do in my previous life, there isn’t enough time.’
There was a lot of acting he hadn’t been able to do in his previous life, so in this life, he wanted to do many different kinds of acting.
―Seongtae, you really live a busy life. I should learn from you too.
“No. Yeeun, you work hard too. I heard you went into a film even now.”
―Oh, you knew?
“Of course. There was an article.”
Just as Han Seongtae lived busily, Park Yeeun also lived a very diligent life.
After Baeknyeoncho ended, she immediately joined a film called Pirate Ship.
‘I think the cumulative audience was a little over one million.’
He remembered it as an action-comedy film that received quite good reviews.
“I’m always cheering for you.”
―Me too. I’m cheering for you too, Seongtae.
“Thank you.”
At Park Yeeun’s words, Han Seongtae smiled and nodded.
After the call ended, Han Seongtae picked up the script again.
In his home, as he started reading the script, only the quiet sounds of turning paper and breathing could be heard.
Time passed.
And the day of the script reading arrived.
“You didn’t leave anything behind, right? You brought the script?”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae opened his bag right away and checked his things.
From the script on, everything he needed was properly packed.
“Yes, I’ve got everything.”
“Good. We’ll head out right away.”
“Yes, hyung.”
On the drive over.
―Kim Minseok: You on your way?
―Yeah. Heading there now.
After replying to Kim Minseok, Han Seongtae immediately opened the script.
One hour until the script reading venue.
It was more than enough time to practice.
Buzz, buzz.
The front of the script reading venue was crowded with people.
‘There are reporters too.’
Among the people, he could see reporters holding cameras.
They were taking photos of the faces of people entering the script reading venue.
“Those guys are relentless. Relentless.”
Jung Dusik clicked his tongue at the sight.
Han Seongtae scanned the reporters, then moved inside with Jung Dusik.
“Oh? That’s Han Seongtae!”
“Han Seongtae, how do you feel right now?”
“Please say a word!”
The moment he appeared, the reporters rushed at him like a swarm of bees.
It wasn’t even more than ten people, but the way they charged in with eyes blazing was enough to make him flinch instinctively.
“Do not come past this line.”
“We clearly told you not to cross the line.”
Security guards blocked them.
Inside the script reading venue, people who had arrived early were seated in their places.
Click, click.
There were reporters inside the script reading venue too.
Seeing reporters filling an entire side, Han Seongtae let out a hollow laugh.
Before, he had hoped to catch even a little of the reporters’ attention.
‘Now it’s a bit uncomfortable.’
Now he was worried whether the flash popping from reporters might interfere with his acting.
They said position changes a person.
Han Seongtae felt like he could understand what that meant, at least a little.
“Do the reporters bother you? Don’t worry too much. They can’t release what they’re filming right away anyway. The reporters inside here are people who already finished their arrangements with Netflix.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae nodded.
Drama and film production companies try as much as possible to prevent scripts from being leaked because of reporters.
Netflix was the same.
To begin with, Han Seongtae wasn’t too worried about that.
‘Because among Netflix productions, there were almost none that leaked midway through.’
Even when something did leak, it was the day before release.
It was always when the trailer came out.
What Han Seongtae worried about was purely the acting.
“That’s your seat.”
“Yes.”
Han Seongtae’s seat was right next to Yeon Jaehun.
It differed by broadcaster, but usually, the closer your seat was to the director, the more it signaled that you were in an important position in that project.
Slide.
As Han Seongtae sat down, people’s gazes poured toward him.
“Hoo…”
Letting out a light breath, Han Seongtae casually looked around.
In front of him was Seo Harin, and nearby Yoo Beomsan and the other actors were seated.
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello.”
At Yoo Beomsan’s greeting, Han Seongtae smiled and nodded.
After everyone gathered, Yeon Jaehun sat down.
“Thank you all for coming. Before the script reading, shall we take a brief moment to get to know each other? I’m Yeon Jaehun, the director.”
Yeon Jaehun signaled to Han Seongtae with his eyes.
At that cue, Han Seongtae stood and spoke with a gentle smile.
“I’m Han Seongtae, playing the role of Choi Deoksu. It’s an honor to be able to film with such wonderful people. I am lacking in many things but I hope you’ll look on me kindly. I look forward to working with you.”
Waaah!
Clap, clap, clap.
At Han Seongtae’s words, people reacted loudly with applause.
At that sight, Han Seongtae made a strange expression.
He had only greeted them once, and yet he was getting such a good reaction.
‘I need to work even harder.’
Since he received a good reaction, he needed to show something worthy of it.
Han Seongtae made that resolve and took hold of the script.
“Alright, then, let’s lightly match lines.”
At Yeon Jaehun’s words, Han Seongtae immediately flipped the script pages.
He saw the stage directions, and he saw the lines.
“Scene 8. Choi Deoksu walks.”
At Yeon Jaehun’s words, Han Seongtae exhaled deeply.
With a deep breath, his atmosphere changed completely.
“Haa…”
His acting began.
“…!”
And the entire script reading venue fell into silence in an instant.
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