WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Genius Writer Who Will Never Fall Again ◈
Chapter 12: Script Reading (2)
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The day Cheong-a received the casting call for the role of Hyang-dan in Geomgye Ilgun, she felt a strange thrill.
The relief of knowing her practice had meant something.
And the sense of achievement that came from being recognized by Jae-kyung, the writer.
Pride, perhaps.
Of course, she knew a writer's choice did not directly determine casting. Still, this result would not have happened unless Jae-kyung had found her acceptable too.
'I’ll be seeing him again.'
That thought made her heart race a little faster.
She excitedly shared the news with her family.
"Ah, of course! I knew our daughter would make it! You won't even need to audition anymore! You're the lead of a Wednesday-Thursday drama, right? Isn't that the best possible role?"
"Ha ha! That's wonderful! Wonderful, sweetheart!"
They were both delighted.
She had landed the female lead role in a Wednesday-Thursday miniseries as her very first part. Naturally, the whole family spent the day smiling and hugging one another.
After negotiations with the network, her per-episode pay was set at 3 million won.
It was not a large amount given the scale and importance of the production, but it was undeniably exceptional treatment for a completely new actress.
For all sixteen episodes, she would earn 48 million won.
To twenty-three-year-old Cheong-a, it was an astronomical sum.
Enough to pay off the family's urgent debts and finally let them breathe.
And if the drama did well, advertising offers would follow. They could pay off every debt and move into a decent home together.
She had dreams.
Her family had fallen apart once and endured a terrible crisis, but if she did well, they could live peacefully again.
If she became more famous, the family's agency would have more room to breathe too.
Only until then.
"Sweetheart, we're relying on you. You know you're this family's hope, right?"
"What are you saying? Do you think our Cheong-a would forget the kindness of being raised by us? She's such a devoted daughter!"
'...Just hold on until then.'
They were exhausted now after such hard times, but someday her parents would no longer feel this anxious.
Then the family could smile without worries like they used to.
For that alone, she had to do well.
"Hello, Lighting Director! I'm Ryu Cheong-a, playing Hyang-dan!"
"Hello, Sound Director! I'm Ryu Cheong-a, playing Hyang-dan!"
"Hello, I'm playing Hyang-dan... Ah! Please let me carry that with you!"
It was the script reading, the first day the entire production team had gathered.
Cheong-a remembered hearing that manners were important in the entertainment industry.
She greeted everyone she saw, trying to make a good impression.
Fortunately, everyone responded with a smile, and the atmosphere was not bad.
The actors she would be working with were kind.
The production staff were not arrogant, unlike what she had heard.
They were only reacting that way because they had been stunned by the acting Cheong-a had shown in her audition video, but Cheong-a, still a complete newcomer, had no way of knowing that.
After those first moments passed, the script reading began.
It was a meeting held before filming, where they discussed the production and tested their chemistry.
Everyone introduced themselves in turn.
Afterward, Chief Go Young-chan, the chief producer, briefed them on the filming schedule.
There was someone there who caught Cheong-a's eye.
'Ah, the writer.'
Perhaps because his features were so sharp, he stood out immediately.
He was mostly expressionless, and when he occasionally spoke with the people around him, he did so in a quiet voice. He seemed like a very serious person.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Then Jae-kyung indifferently looked away.
Cheong-a was startled.
Jae-kyung had not whipped his head around in surprise, nor had he flinched.
That unfamiliar lack of reaction unsettled her.
'Huh?'
Everyone lived in a different world.
Cheong-a had lived a life where attention naturally gathered around her wherever she went, where people who met her gaze naturally showed her favor.
She had never been smug about people looking kindly at her, but that did not mean an unfamiliar reaction would not feel strange.
That sort of confusion usually turned into anxiety.
'What is it? Does he not like me? Did he want someone else for the role?'
She became nervous for no reason.
She had learned that a smooth relationship with the writer was extremely important during filming.
More than that, for reasons she could not explain, she desperately wanted to act in a way that met Jae-kyung's standards.
Had she done something wrong?
Was she lacking something?
As her worries rose, she began watching for his reaction. And as she watched for it, her gaze snapped onto Jae-kyung.
She did not even realize it herself.
She was staring only at Jae-kyung's face as though she meant to bore through it.
And she did not realize that Jae-kyung found that gaze extremely burdensome.
"All right, Actor Ryu. Shall we try Scene 31 next?"
"..."
"Actor Ryu?"
"...Ah, yes! I'm sorry!"
Only then did Cheong-a realize she had been called and leap to her feet.
She had already lost focus enough to miss the director's words.
Cheong-a hurriedly, yet energetically, said,
"Th-then, I'll give it a try!"
Then she stole a glance at Jae-kyung's reaction.
His eyes were on her.
Yet his expression remained almost indifferent.
Still, there was something in that gaze that stirred her motivation.
Cheong-a took a breath and steadied herself.
She emptied her mind, turned it into a blank page, and painted the scene over it.
She organized the scattered pieces of the scene and placed herself within them.
She put on someone else's clothes.
A young innkeeper who held the woman who took her in close to her heart, stubbornly protecting the legacy she had left behind.
A girl who began to connect with others when she took in Yeongho, collapsed on the street, hoping to carry on the kindness of the innkeeper who had taken in an orphan like herself.
The process of becoming Hyang-dan was a joy.
Whenever Cheong-a felt Hyang-dan without thinking, she would unconsciously come up with words to define her.
They had not met because they needed each other. They needed each other because they had met.
A child who would become happy through that relationship.
One's purpose was the principle behind one's actions.
If she understood the principle, she could apply it.
What mattered was suitability.
A sense of becoming one with the role.
And naturally.
"Even if the thugs are swarming around, we still have to make a living. If we tremble and close up shop, will someone scatter grain for us?"
Cheong-a was the actress in the world most suited to Hyang-dan.
Her tone changed in an instant.
Someone's eyes widened in shock.
Someone else let out a silent gasp.
She had the power to erase every color around her simply by opening her mouth.
It was talent so overwhelming that it seemed almost unfair.
* * *
As expected of her reputation, the entire script reading had been satisfying, but Ryu Cheong-a stood out the most.
What was good acting?
Ryu Cheong-a was practically the answer to that fundamental question.
The ability to make a person seem like someone else while acting.
The ability to draw curiosity and immersion toward that other person.
Without dramatic reactions or elaborate facial expressions, Ryu Cheong-a drew people in through only the bare minimum needed for her own immersion.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say that the air on set had been rewritten into before and after Ryu Cheong-a's acting.
Several people were clearly getting fired up.
Min Byeong-gi was the most enthusiastic of all.
"Good! That was excellent! Let's move on to the next one!"
'He's excited.'
He had been handed the armband of authority and was having the time of his life.
Go Young-chan kept quiet for Min Byeong-gi's sake, and I had no reason to get closer to the set than necessary, so I kept quiet too.
From now on, it was right to preserve the director's authority, and this was what happened when we left him alone.
'Hmm...'
If he tried to get cocky after filming began, I would have to put him down once more.
As I thought that, the turn passed on.
Ryu Cheong-a sat back down with an embarrassed smile amid the cheers around her.
Unless it was a section where she needed to act with someone else, she would sit there and watch the others perform.
...No, she could at least watch them perform.
'Could she stop staring at me?'
The moment she sat down after her turn, her gaze shot toward me again.
It was even more persistent than before.
I had no idea what it was about. She looked at me with sparkling eyes, suddenly looked down at the floor with a sulk, then looked at me brightly again. Over and over.
Should I at least signal with my eyes for her to stop?
'...Forget it. Forget it. Getting tangled up with her would only be exhausting.'
We would be writer and actor, nothing more. Privately, there was no reason for us to meet.
I did not know the details, but Ryu Cheong-a had no reason to commit suicide at this point.
As far as I remembered, Ryu Cheong-a had been fine for four or five years after her debut.
No, to be safe, she had about two and a half years.
At most, I would work with her on this production.
If I needed her for another work, I would maintain only the professional connection needed for that.
Once I made an effort to ignore her gaze, the script reading more or less came to an end.
"Everyone worked hard! Let's do well together from now on! Hah hah hah!"
Min Byeong-gi wrapped things up.
"All right! That's it, everyone! Let's get up!"
It had not been bad.
The acting had been as I expected, and the variables had been what I expected.
Now, if I adjusted only the smaller details, filming could finally begin.
So was it time to leave now that I had seen everything I needed to see?
Not quite.
We were all people who would be working together, after all.
Given the industry's atmosphere and the social culture of the time, there was one thing nobody skipped in 2013.
"Then why don't we get something to eat and talk, so everyone working together can get acquainted?"
A work dinner.
I wanted to skip it, but...
"Writer, get up too! Don't we need to discuss the characters with our actors?"
"Yes, well."
Min Byeong-gi patted my shoulder.
His nose was practically in the air from excitement.
He was having too much fun, so just a little...
"Director."
Quietly enough that the others would not hear.
"I'll leave after the first round."
"Yes...?"
"I wasn't planning on coming at all, but you said it without discussing it with me. I should go at least to save your face."
Min Byeong-gi's eyes wavered.
In an instant, he looked like a kid who had done something wrong.
'Now I feel bad for him.'
I had intended that, but he was so transparent that I could not bring myself to hit him any harder.
How had that senior beaten this guy around so thoroughly?
'Did they have no human feelings?'
Yes, thinking about it again, that senior could have done much worse.
It was remarkable that cruelty could be understandable as a matter of personality.
That senior truly was a fitting bad example for my life.
"Let's go. It's free food, so I should enjoy it."
"H-Hah hah! Right! Free food! I was thinking about your meal expenses, Writer..."
"Yes."
I left the seminar room.
In keeping with fifteen years ago, the work dinner was at a samgyeopsal restaurant.
'8,000 won a serving.'
Even if it was a place meant for work dinners, that was absurdly cheap.
It was enough to make me mourn anew the future where samgyeopsal, once ordinary people's food, would become premium-priced.
* * *
A work dinner in broadcasting was not especially different from a work dinner at any other company.
Those with seniority were treated by those without it.
Work and personal matters were discussed.
And strangers greeted one another.
"I'm Na Jin-geon! I'll do my best!"
"Whoaaaaa!"
The future great actor, a shut-in, shouted energetically in his booming low voice, then downed a soju-beer mix in one shot.
The people around him applauded, and then one of those drink-loving people found everywhere mixed him another glass.
"I'm Na Jin-geon! I'll stay strong!"
"Ooooooh!"
Na Jin-geon drank another glass.
"I'm Na Jin-geon! I'll give this everything I've got!"
"Yeeeeeah!"
He drank again.
That was the broadcasting industry.
Actor or not, if you had no career yet, the best you could do was drink whatever was poured for you and try to keep your wits about you.
'It's been a while.'
In my previous life, I had not attended gatherings like this at all after Geomgye Ilgun collapsed.
I'll just write. Handle everything yourselves.
Don't cause trouble. Please be careful if you know about my reputation.
I pushed people away while radiating that sort of attitude.
It was embarrassing, but I had not been able to help it.
That was when I was at the height of my writerly tyranny.
'Now, I should adjust things a little.'
I had been practically dragged here, but it was not entirely bad.
There was nothing better than alcohol for reading people.
An offhand slip of the tongue could sometimes be a fragment of a bomb.
I needed to observe them.
Most of the major bombs had already been removed during casting, so I was not especially worried.
'Na Jin-geon won't be a problem. He'll probably go home, do his daily quests, and sleep.'
It was certain.
He was not merely someone with an outward image. Everyone in the industry knew he was severely addicted to games, and there were so many stories about him from this period.
He was an active ranked player in a famous RPG everyone knew.
I had heard that around this time, he would split up his sleeping hours if necessary to make sure he completed his daily quests.
'Ma Seong-pil, playing Jang Bung-ik, is newly married, so he'll be under his wife's thumb.'
He had the face of a burly man who looked like he would be saying, "Ahem!" somewhere, yet he was famous for being ruled by his wife his entire life.
'That rookie idol the sponsor pushed in will probably fully switch to acting when their group falls apart. The person beside them will shine briefly, then leave to open a barbecue restaurant.'
There was a certain entertainment in gathering only people with clear backgrounds.
How could things be this clean?
"Ah, hello, Writer!"
...Things were clean except for one person.
"I'm Ryu Cheong-a, playing Hyang-dan! I look forward to working with you!"
Ryu Cheong-a had somehow appeared beside me.
How had she moved over here?
She had definitely been at the table on the other side.
"...Yes, I look forward to it. Though I don't think we'll have much reason to see each other."
"What? We won't get to see each other often!?"
"I'll hardly be on set."
"Th-theeen..."
Her eyes darted around before she continued.
"Questions about the character! Or interpretation!"
"Please ask the director."
"If it's something urgent..."
Her oddly clingy behavior left me flustered.
"Would there be anything urgent? Almost everything is in the script directions."
"R-Right..."
Ryu Cheong-a's shoulders drooped.
She began taking tiny sips of her drink, and silence settled between us.
It was uncomfortable and unfamiliar.
The more I thought about it, the more Ryu Cheong-a differed from the woman I knew.
'Is it because she's young?'
Before my regression, Ryu Cheong-a had been a person with a strange dignity about her.
She was more skilled at dealing with people than she was now. She did not stumble through interactions like this.
Rather than approaching someone first to greet them, she was skilled at handling the people who naturally gathered around her.
A person who maintained dignity anywhere.
A person who revealed nothing with words and showed it through actions.
Perhaps that was why the gap felt so great.
'No, it isn't like there are no similarities.'
Come to think of it, she asked many questions then too.
"Writer, don't you like traveling? For research while you're planning a work, maybe?"
"The internet is good. Why would I bother?"
"Do you have any food preferences?"
"Once it goes in my mouth, it's all the same."
"Do you like movies?"
"I have a friend who lives like a lunatic, so I'm forced to watch them. At least once or twice a week."
"A woman?"
"A man."
Was it because we had many opportunities to talk?
Once we became somewhat close, she asked personal questions whenever she had the chance.
She called it observing people or something, but looking back, my conversations with Ryu Cheong-a had always begun with questions about a role and ended with personal matters.
'Come to think of it, she hardly ever talked about herself.'
I suddenly realized it.
I had learned more about Ryu Cheong-a after she died than I ever had while she was alive.
My mood darkened.
'Pointless thoughts.'
Being at a gathering like this for too long was making me think nonsense.
'The moment I get home, I'll write and revise the script.'
A script was not finished just because it had been written once.
During a reading, a writer needed to observe an actor's habits, the atmosphere in their acting tone, and how that tone emerged when it blended with other actors.
Then the writer needed to refine the completed script again, or adjust the points of scenes yet to be written.
There was work piled up like a mountain.
'I'll finish just this and...'
That was when it happened.
Grab!
Something seized the hem of my clothes.
"...Writer."
When I turned my head, Ryu Cheong-a was looking at me.
Her face was flushed red, and even her eyes had gone unfocused.
"...Actor Ryu Cheong-a?"
"Writer, do you hate me?"
Ssssh.
The moment she said that, the surroundings went quiet.
Everyone who had been laughing and talking fell silent and focused their eyes on me.
"Don't you like me?"
Her words rang through the room.
Go Young-chan murmured with interest.
"Right. It starts with this production too."
"Senior, what starts?"
"Remember this, Byeong-gi. Whenever people gather like this, there is always one rookie actor."
"If there is?"
"A newcomer to working life who has never learned their limit with alcohol."
This was not the time to explain.
"Writer..."
"Ms. Ryu Cheong-a."
"Am I annoying you? Is there something you don't like?"
"Listen."
"Don't you like me? Huh? Nooo, while I was acting at the reading, you kept just sitting there with that blank face and glancing at me, so I thought maybe I did something wrong..."
"Chief, could you pull her off me?"
"Whyyyy are you talking to someone else while I'm talking? That makes me really sad, and I'm only asking if maybe I did something wrong..."
My collar was grabbed.
At the same time that I thought something had gone wrong, I realized something else.
Had I ever seen Ryu Cheong-a drink alcohol?
'...No?'
I had not.
"Writer, are you listening to me? I'm saying I really want to do well, so if I ask you questions, will you answer them? If you could help me just a little, I think I could play Hyang-dan really well..."
"Yes, this is the flower of a work dinner."
Go Young-chan smiled contentedly.
Even though he had not been drinking, his smile looked unsteady.
Naturally.
"I said I can be Hyang-dan!"
"Stop."
"What do you mean, stop!? I'm saying I can be Hyang-dan!"
My collar was being shaken.
* * *
The next day, a long text message arrived on my phone.
[Hello, Writer. This is Ryu Cheong-a, who plays Hyang-dan. I am sorry for sending you such a sudden message, and I am even more sorry for what happened the day before. I thought long and hard about how I should apologize for what happened yesterday, and I decided that I should first apologize to you by text, which is why I am contacting you. I swear that I have no ill feelings toward you, Writer. In fact, I respect you...]
I recalled the day before.
"I can be Hyang-dan!"
"Stop."
"What do you mean, stop!? I'm saying I'm Hyang-dan!"
"..."
I quietly put down my phone.
Sip.
As I drank tea, I revised the script.
'As expected.'
Not getting involved with her seemed like the best option.
I should just write.
Filming would begin soon, so my adjustments were finished.
Now I really only needed to write.
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