An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 131

131 #24 – Her Two Faces (8)

“Haa… Are we still far?”

Director Cha of Blackman frowned deeply and snapped at the staff.

“I’ll call again.”

“Ugh, how many times is this?”

Director Cha sighed, his face contorted, and walked towards Choi Seo-bin.

“Seo-bin, wait a little longer, and if he doesn’t come, let’s shoot the next scene.”

Choi Seo-bin nodded.

“Yes, I’ll talk to Ha-joon when he gets here. I wonder what’s going on with him these days….”

“I know, Ha-joon has been late too often lately.”

Just then.

“I’m sorry!”

Lim Ha-joon rushed in, bowing deeply.

Director Cha barely suppressed a sigh and began to speak.

“Ha-joon, what time is it…!”

At that moment, Lim Ha-joon’s manager ran up and bowed deeply to Director Cha.

“Director, I’m really sorry. The traffic was terrible….”

“Manager, everyone is coming on the same road, aren’t they? Are you being too much?”

Director Cha, unable to shout at Lim Ha-joon directly, scolded his manager instead.

Lim Ha-joon, without a word, passed his manager and began preparing for the shoot.

The shooting was delayed because of Lim Ha-joon.

They could only start filming after hurrying to finish the preparations.

“Ready, action!”

At Director Cha’s shout, Choi Seo-bin and Lim Ha-joon faced each other.

Lim Ha-joon strained his eyes and began his lines.

“I’ll take care of everything. If you leave it to me….”

Lim Ha-joon, who flubbed his lines from the start, squeezed his eyes shut.

“Haa… I’m sorry.”

“Cut, NG [No Good/No Go, meaning a failed take].”

Director Cha shook his head as he looked at Lim Ha-joon.

He grabbed the megaphone again and shouted.

“Let’s go again. Ready, action!”

“I’ll take care of everything. If you leave it to me, I’ll definitely do it… Ah, I’m sorry.”

Lim Ha-joon’s mistake happened again.

Director Cha, frustrated with the continuous mistakes from the first line, shouted at him.

“Let’s take a break. Ha-joon, review your lines again.”

Director Cha sighed deeply and turned off the megaphone.

Then, Choi Seo-bin, the opposing actor, frowned and walked towards Lim Ha-joon.

“Ha-joon.”

Choi Seo-bin’s displeasure was evident with her eyebrows raised high.

Lim Ha-joon, however, wrinkled his nose and replied playfully to her call.

“Yes, Senior [a respectful term for someone with more experience].”

“Haa… What’s wrong with you these days?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Choi Seo-bin sighed deeply at Lim Ha-joon’s grinning response.

“Get it together.”

Still, Lim Ha-joon didn’t seem to realize the seriousness and said with an awkward smile.

“Yes!”

Then, he stuck close to Choi Seo-bin and joked.

“Senior, but our ratings are good, right? Haha.”

Choi Seo-bin bit her lip at his words.

She glared at him, a murderous look in her eyes, and said.

“If you don’t want the ratings to drop because of you, get your act together and do it right.”

Choi Seo-bin, after her outburst, passed Lim Ha-joon and left the set.

***

A short break of a few days.

Even though I hadn’t rested for a week after the last shoot.

I took a long sleep to make up for the sleep I had missed.

While filming this drama, I thought about going on a short trip as soon as it was over.

But as soon as it ended, I decided to put that thought aside.

Because the last episode hadn’t aired yet, I couldn’t leave comfortably.

Moreover, today was the day we were all going to watch the 16th and final episode together and have a dinner.

I woke up late and slowly started getting ready.

Today, as soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I did was check the ratings.

The 15th episode, which aired the day before, was 18.9%.

Starting with 14% for the first episode, it had been steadily rising without faltering.

Of course, I was concerned that it didn’t exceed the magic 20% that everyone was expecting.

But since the last episode was still left, I looked forward to the 16th episode airing today and hurried to the shower.

An hour later, when I came down from the house, Manager Kim, who had already arrived, greeted me.

“Hee-sung.”

He smiled brightly, opening the car door wide.

I waved my hand and got into the car.

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], long time no see.”

“Haha, yeah. Is it… only been 3 days?”

“Has it already been that long?”

Manager Kim nodded and replied.

“Yeah, it was Saturday when we drank at your house after the last shoot… or the day after.”

“I see your face every day, but it feels new after not seeing you for 3 days. Haha.”

“I know, we see each other too often.”

We looked at each other’s faces and shook our heads.

Then, we laughed and headed to the dinner location.

“Hyung, the ratings came out at 18.9%?”

“Yeah, I saw it this morning too. It would have been nice if it had gone up a little more to 19%.”

“Right. Today is the last episode, I hope it exceeds 20%.”

I closed my eyes tightly with half expectation and half nervousness, and clasped my hands together.

“It will. Everyone is wondering what happens to you in the last episode.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, everyone is guessing what choice the main character will make in the ending, and the comments on the internet are crazy.”

“Haa… I’m nervous.”

Manager Kim smiled at my anxious expression and reassured me.

I opened my cell phone and checked the internet.

I searched to see the reaction to the drama ‘The Other Woman’s Temptation’.

After reading a few posts, a drama caught my eye.

It was ‘Blackman’.

The drama starring Choi Seo-bin.

The viewer response to Blackman, which has aired up to the 6th episode, was quite enthusiastic.

No, it was much more explosive than ‘The Other Woman’s Temptation’, which I appeared in.

It wasn’t a competing drama because it was on a different broadcasting station and on a different date.

So I could comfortably check the reaction to the drama.

“Hyung, Seo-bin’s drama is doing well in the ratings.”

Manager Kim looked at me in the rearview mirror and raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I saw it too, it’s quite interesting.”

“Really? I should watch it at home when I have time.”

He tilted his head at my words and asked.

“What are the ratings for Blackman?”

“It’s already at 17% after 6 episodes last week.”

“Wow… that’s incredibly high.”

Manager Kim exclaimed.

I nodded and replied.

“The reaction is getting more and more positive than the first episode, so Blackman could aim for 20%. No, even 25%?”

“Yeah, it would be successful as long as the story doesn’t suddenly go off the rails.”

“That’s right. What else could make the ratings drop in a drama besides the story?”

“That’s right. It’s not like the actors’ acting skills will suddenly become strange.”

Manager Kim stuck out his lower lip and continued.

“And if that drama does well… Seo-bin will have a warm end of the year this time, right?”

Good news that could happen to Choi Seo-bin.

I didn’t feel any jealousy or envy.

Rather, I smiled as I thought of Choi Seo-bin at Manager Kim’s words.

Her position was secure enough.

Moreover, Choi Seo-bin was invited to the year-end awards ceremony every year without fail.

“This time, Seo-bin could aim for the Grand Acting Award [Daesang, the highest award].”

“Yeah, I can already see the people who will be nominated for the PBC Grand Acting Award.”

“That’s right. If Seo-bin does well in Blackman, she could win the Grand Acting Award this time.”

I was talking about Choi Seo-bin with Manager Kim when we soon arrived at the dinner location.

“We arrived just in time. Let’s go quickly.”

“Okay.”

We hurried out of the car and headed inside the restaurant.

After arriving at the dinner location, I greeted many people.

About 30 minutes passed after taking a seat and raising a glass.

Somehow, the main actors and leading supporting actors took their seats around Director Song.

Seo In-woo was next to me, and Shin Min-young was across from me.

Director Song smiled and raised his glass.

“Wow, all the main players of our drama are here. Let’s have a drink quickly and watch the broadcast.”

“Yes, Director.”

Clink-.

Our glasses collided fiercely in the air.

Even in that short moment, Shin Min-young’s glass didn’t brush past mine.

There was still a cold atmosphere flowing between Shin Min-young and me.

Fortunately, only the two of us felt that emotion.

No, Seo In-woo, who knew about this relationship, too.

“Min-young, did you get a good rest after filming?”

Shin Min-young smiled brightly at Director Song’s question and began to answer.

“Yes, I was at home….”

When her eyes met mine in the air while she was talking.

Her words were awkwardly cut off, and we quickly averted our gaze without either of us taking the lead.

Seo In-woo still wanted to resolve the tension between Shin Min-young and me, so he kept talking to me.

“Ah, there was a scene in yesterday’s 15th episode where Min-young and Hee-sung had an affectionate scene.”

Director Song, not me, got excited at his words and spoke up.

“Wow, the reaction to that was very hot, right?”

“That’s right. Everyone is saying that the chemistry between the two is amazing.”

“Haha, yeah. My wife even asked me if Min-young and Hee-sung are actually in a relationship?”

Director Song looked back and forth between me and Shin Min-young and asked again.

“Did you two get together behind my back?”

Shin Min-young narrowed her eyes at his words and exclaimed.

“Ah, Director!”

I waved my hand at Director Song and replied.

“Not at all.”

Seo In-woo, who had become her actual boyfriend, knew the history between Shin Min-young and me so well.

Instead of being jealous, he looked at me with a smile, hoping to ease the situation.

I could even feel Shin Min-young’s gaze, which was glaring at Seo In-woo out of the corner of her eye.

Because it was Shin Min-young who tried to separate him and me.

At that time.

“The drama is starting!”

The staff’s voice was heard.

As the volume of the TV was turned up, the place became as quiet as a mouse, as if it had never been noisy.

So we all put down our glasses and chopsticks and watched the last episode.

The start of episode 16.

“Haa… Hee-sung’s acting is crazy there.”

While watching the drama, my monologue was shown on the screen.

Exclamations erupted from everywhere.

“Wow, Hee-sung’s emotions are really amazing.”

I smiled awkwardly and bowed my head.

Seo In-woo held out his cell phone, which he had been staring at intently, to me.

“Senior, look at this. Don’t you think our last episode will get good ratings?”

The screen he held out showed the real-time viewer reactions to the drama.

Seo In-woo and I fixed our eyes on the cell phone, not the TV.

-Look at our Hee-sung’s acting ㅠㅠ.

-Seriously… is today the last episode?

-Who’s going to cure my Monday blues when the drama ends? ㅜㅜ.

-No. Don’t end like this.

-Just let Jin Hee-sung and Shin Min-young love each other.

-I was angry at the adulterous man Jin Hee-sung while watching the drama, but in the end, I became a fan with a love-hate relationship ㅋㅋ.

-Guys, Jin Hee-sung was a zombie before he became an adulterer ㅋㅋ. Be sure to watch the movie ‘Survivor of the Destroyed World’. It’s so much fun.

-The Other Woman’s Temptation is a drama of my life. I’m starting to re-run from episode 1 again!

-Jin Hee-sung season♡ When my oppa [term of endearment for an older brother or male celebrity] said he was going to film an affair drama, I thought it would be Jin Hee-sung’s off-season, but I decided to respect my oppa’s taste. Do all the works you want to do, oppa!

Seo In-woo and I were chuckling as we read the comments one by one.

Director Song was so focused that he seemed to be sucked into the TV.

“Look, the comment reactions are amazing, right?”

“That’s right.”

Seo In-woo refreshed the comments with a proud face.

After a few minutes, the last scene of the drama finally ended.

Clap clap clap.

We in the restaurant got up from our seats without hesitation, without looking at each other.

Then, we cheered, clapping our hands enthusiastically.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“Thank you all for your hard work.”

Some hugged each other, reminiscing about the past.

I watched the last scene where the credits were rolling and felt chills all over my body.

Then, Director Song, who was in front of me, showed a faint smile.

He was hurriedly making a phone call somewhere.

As we were exchanging greetings at that time.

Director Song, who had finished a short phone call, clenched his fist and shouted.

“The ratings for our last episode are out!”

At his words, all the staff and actors turned their heads and paid attention to Director Song.