An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 136

136. Episode 25 – A Crisis for Some, An Opportunity for Others (5)

A sleepless night.

I read the *Blackman* script dozens, no, hundreds of times, greeting the morning.

The understudy role I volunteered for.

I had to do it much better than Im Ha-joon, no matter what.

A little later, I arrived on set.

Taking deep breaths with a more nervous heart than ever, I composed myself.

Kim, my manager, noticed this and asked me with a worried expression.

“Hee-sung, you’ll do great. Don’t worry too much.”

At Kim’s words, I smiled and replied.

“Of course. I’m not worried. I’ve practiced a lot.”

“There’s nothing to worry about with your acting. Just do what you always do.”

“Thanks, hyung [older brother or close male friend].”

I nodded and got out of the car.

Hurrying towards Director Cha and the staff.

“Hello!”

A booming voice echoed through the set.

Director Cha approached me and accepted my greeting.

“Hee-sung, you’re here?”

“Yes, I’ll work hard filming today.”

“Good, we haven’t had a broadcast for several weeks. So, we’ll have a lot of filming ahead. Adapt quickly and let’s film quickly.”

“Yes, I’ll adapt quickly and work hard.”

“Okay.”

Director Cha finished the brief greeting and walked towards the set.

I then bowed to the staff I was seeing for the first time and began to tour the set.

“Hello, I’m Jin Hee-sung. Please take good care of me.”

Greetings that lasted for several tens of minutes.

And the atmosphere I felt was quite different from the bright greetings.

A cold and chilly atmosphere on set.

Of course, it wasn’t that the atmosphere worsened because of my involvement.

But the drama had been canceled for several weeks due to Im Ha-joon’s arrest.

Moreover, the footage of several episodes that Im Ha-joon had filmed was also scrapped.

It was a situation where that footage had to be re-shot.

The staff had lost a lot of motivation due to that hassle and inconvenience.

Re-shooting was annoying, but.

More than that, they seemed gloomy at the thought that the rising viewership ratings had been put on hold.

No matter what actor came as a substitute, it was natural that the viewership ratings would falter.

I was also worried about that.

But in order not to be swept away by that atmosphere, I tried to brighten the set with an even brighter face.

At that moment.

A person who came to me and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Hee-sung!”

It was Choi Seo-bin.

“Sunbae-nim [senior colleague], you’re here?”

He quickly scanned the surroundings and seemed to grasp the atmosphere right away.

“Oh, you came early?”

“Yes, it’s my first shoot, so I wanted to come even earlier. Haha.”

“Good job.”

Choi Seo-bin made a *tsk* sound and bit his lip.

The gloomy atmosphere on set seemed to bother him.

Moreover, he looked worried that I might lose heart.

He patted my shoulder with his eyebrows drooping as much as possible and said.

“It’s much better now that Hee-sung is here.”

“Yes?”

“I act really well when you’re around.”

Choi Seo-bin shouted in a loud voice as if for all the staff and actors to hear.

“Director Cha!”

“Oh, Seo-bin, you’re here?”

“Yes, Director Cha. Our filming will end early starting today, right?”

Director Cha’s eyes widened and he looked at Choi Seo-bin’s playful remark.

He smiled brightly and said to Director Cha.

“I mean, I’m originally good at acting anyway. But when I act with Hee-sung, the synergy is no joke. Haha!”

At Choi Seo-bin’s words, I scratched my head and smiled.

“Hee-sung is also an actor who can act, so we’ll film quickly. Haha.”

He turned his head and shouted to the staff.

“We’ll do even better than the 6th episode that has been aired so far. I’m sure of it. I guarantee actor Jin Hee-sung’s acting skills.”

Choi Seo-bin put his hand on my shoulder.

As his words ended, Director Cha shouted in a voice that seemed to inject energy.

“Let’s start *Blackman* again with strength. We stumbled once, so we have to use that as a stepping stone to jump higher, right?”

At Director Cha’s words, Choi Seo-bin clapped his hands.

Starting with that, everyone on set began to applaud.

Clap clap clap-.

“That’s right. Let’s cheer up!”

“Fighting!”

Cheers erupted from everywhere.

In that brightened atmosphere, we began preparing for the first scene of episode 7.

***

“Cut, okay!”

Director Cha’s voice echoed.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

I bowed to the staff and left the set.

“Haaah….”

From various places, the sound of yawning with mouths wide open erupted.

It had been quite a while since I had slept comfortably due to the arduous filming.

Due to the cancellation of several weeks, episode 7 had to be released quickly.

So, filming took place day and night.

It was a matter of course for actors and staff alike to stay up all night.

Everyone was barely managing to film with strength.

But I felt a little different from them.

Far from being tired, I waited for the morning with a pounding heart.

Several hours ago.

Episode 7 of *Blackman* aired.

And in a little while, the viewership ratings for that episode 7 would come up.

Of course, Director Cha, Choi Seo-bin, and many other officials were curious about the viewership ratings for that episode 7, but.

Perhaps no one was as nervous as I was.

Im Ha-joon’s substitute.

Jin Hee-sung, who came into a drama that was doing well but stumbled.

Since various modifiers were directed at me, I, who was at the center of it, couldn’t help but be conscious of the viewership ratings.

I vowed to not be shaken by the viewership ratings as much as possible.

But when I actually tried to check the viewership ratings, my heart was pounding so hard that it couldn’t be easily controlled.

Getting into the car and leaning back in the chair, Kim, my manager, turned his head and looked at me.

“Hee-sung, there’s no filming until morning, so get some sleep.”

At his words, I shook my head.

“No. I can’t fall asleep.”

Kim said with a worried expression.

“Your eyes are red, but you can’t fall asleep… Are you that worried about the viewership ratings?”

At his words, I rolled my lips in and swallowed a sigh.

“Well… I expected it to drop, of course, but I’m still worried.”

“It’s okay. The drama itself stopped airing and then resumed, so it’s bound to drop. It’s definitely not your fault, so don’t think badly about it.”

“I know. But since the viewership ratings are going to drop anyway, I just hope there isn’t much of a difference.”

Kim pursed his lips and nodded.

“I watched episode 7 when you were filming earlier, and the real-time reactions were good.”

“That’s a relief.”

He looked out the window and opened his mouth.

“I’ll wake you up when the viewership ratings come out, so get some sleep, even if it’s just a little. You have filming early in the morning.”

“I will.”

In the pitch-dark.

The darkest point just before the sun rises.

I barely closed my eyes for the filming that would start tomorrow, no, in a few hours.

I was so tired that I fell asleep quickly.

But that sleep didn’t last long.

No matter how hard I tried not to worry, I woke up with a start.

And Kim, my manager, was temporarily away.

I quickly opened my cell phone and searched for ‘*Blackman*’.

Even with the fast internet speed, in that fleeting moment.

My mouth went dry, and my heart started beating like crazy.

“Haa… please.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them, and the viewership ratings filled the screen.

Biting my lip, I checked the numbers.

Before I was cast.

That is, the last episode with Im Ha-joon, episode 6.

The viewership rating for that episode 6 was 17.1%.

I thought it was natural that it would be lower than 17.1%.

I just desperately hoped that it would drop as little as possible.

And the number that appeared in front of me was….

As expected.

It was 14%, a 3% drop from 17.1%.

At that number, I let out a long sigh without saying anything.

“…….”

It’s not like I didn’t expect it.

The number 14% was deeply embedded in my heart.

I tried not to be obsessed with the numbers, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

“Still, if episode 8 airs today, it will go up a little. We can go slowly….”

I shrugged my shoulders and braced myself.

The filming time was still far away, but I started preparing for filming.

***

The next morning.

Today, again, the first thing I checked when I opened my eyes was the viewership ratings.

The viewership rating for episode 7 was 14%.

And I was gripped by impatience, wondering if the viewership rating for episode 8, which aired last night, would be better than that.

“Shall I check?”

Kim, my manager, swallowed hard and said to me.

I shook my head.

“No. Let’s watch together.”

And soon, only a heavy silence filled the car.

…13%.

A viewership rating that was 1% lower than 14%, which was the first viewership rating since I joined.

My face instantly contorted.

Kim, my manager, also didn’t say anything to me.

My head throbbed at the continuously dropping viewership ratings since I joined.

No matter how much I anticipated it and tried not to be shaken.

I couldn’t help but sigh at the continuously dropping viewership ratings.

Kim, my manager, wrinkled his nose and said to me.

“Hee-sung, it’s okay. It’s natural that it’s going to drop.”

At his words, I smiled and nodded.

Kim, my manager, raised the corners of his lips and patted my shoulder.

“You know it’s definitely not your fault, right?”

“Yeah.”

“The viewership ratings will definitely rise again after seeing your acting, so there’s no need to be discouraged.”

His words were right.

I had thought countless times that it would falter when I joined.

It’s definitely not my fault.

But from now on, it’s entirely my responsibility.

The drop was clearly due to the aftermath of Im Ha-joon.

But the future viewership ratings will either rise or fall due to my acting.

Rather, if it’s only this much, it wasn’t bad.

Having come down means that there’s only going up left.

And I thought I could prove it enough with my acting.

“Hyung, I’m going to practice now. Filming is right away.”

At my words, Kim, my manager, nodded and smiled.

“Let’s do that.”

I shook my head and brushed off my emotions.

Quickly picking up the script.

And I looked again at the lines that I had read and memorized hundreds of times.

I continued to practice and practice again.

With the determination to do it to the death, I gritted my teeth and turned the script over.

***

In order not to be obsessed with the viewership ratings as much as possible.

I held back the habit of checking the viewership ratings as soon as I opened my eyes.

I was just focused on practicing and being faithful to my acting.

Someday, viewers would recognize that.

Even today, as I was immersed in acting without fail.

“Hee-sung.”

Choi Seo-bin approached me, who was practicing, and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Sunbae-nim.”

He handed me a coffee and said.

“Wow, these days, thanks to you, Hee-sung, our drama is always mentioned on the internet?”

“Yes?”

When I tilted my head at Choi Seo-bin’s words, he raised the corners of his lips.

“See, I told you that you’re really good at acting, right?”

Choi Seo-bin, who spat out incomprehensible words, patted my shoulder twice as it was and left the spot.

“I’m going into filming, so let’s see each other later.”

“Yes, Sunbae-nim.”

This place where I was left alone after he left.

I frowned and picked up my cell phone.

And when I searched for ‘*Blackman*’, comments popped up one after another.

-Jin Hee-sung, I thought he only knew how to do *makjang* [exaggerated or absurd] acting, but that’s not true.

-Honestly, isn’t Jin Hee-sung’s acting much better than Im Ha-joon’s?

-After watching for a few weeks, it seems like Jin Hee-sung is the original role now ㅋㅋ [Korean internet slang for ‘lol’].

-Jin Hee-sung is really good at acting. He suits the role so well.

-The chemistry between Choi Seo-bin and Jin Hee-sung is much better than before, so it’s more comfortable to watch!

I raised the corners of my lips as I checked the comments one by one.

And episode 10, which aired the day before.

The cheers that I had been holding back burst out as I watched the viewership ratings.

Episode 10 viewership rating 17%.

“…Crazy.”

I soon caught up with the original viewership ratings again.

The hand holding the cell phone was filled with strength.

As I checked the viewership ratings that I had been worried about and concerned about gradually rising, my chest burned hotly.

And I was sure.

If I do better, high viewership ratings will just follow.