An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 16

#4 – The Girl from My Dream (1)

Han So-jeong.

Flowing, thick, long wavy hair and cold eyes.

Large eyes and long eyelashes thanks to her thick double eyelids.

A high nose bridge and a deep dimple on only one cheek.

She was definitely the girl from my dream.

What the heck?

The student I saw in my dream was a fresh-faced, makeup-free 20-year-old.

A pure and innocent figure who had just entered university.

But Han So-jeong in front of me now looked to be in her early to mid-20s, not 20 years old.

Her age didn’t seem that different, but outwardly, it seemed to be largely due to makeup.

From skin makeup to eye makeup, she had full celebrity makeup on thick.

Furthermore, her clothing style was also different from the girl I saw in my dream.

Although her impression and style had changed drastically, the fact that her appearance was the same was undeniable.

What could it be?

I was seeing Han So-jeong with my own eyes, but I couldn’t understand it.

I couldn’t say that I knew about my meeting with Han So-jeong like a precognitive dream.

Because the princess I saw in my dream when filming ‘Yellow Flower’ last time was so different from Song Yu-na.

Far from being similar to Song Yu-na, anyone could see that they had completely different faces.

What is the relationship between dreams and reality?

My head was filled with confusion.

At that moment, Manager Kim nudged me and called out in a hurried voice.

“Hee-sung?”

At Manager Kim’s voice, I looked ahead.

Then Han So-jeong was looking at me and nodding.

It seemed she had sent me a greeting, but I was lost in thought and didn’t hear it.

“Ah, hello.”

“I’m Han So-jeong. I look forward to working with you.”

“Yes, I’m Jin Hee-sung. I should be the one looking forward to it.”

She gave a faint smile and walked to her seat and sat down.

I could tell with just a brief greeting.

That I could feel a chill in her voice.

Han So-jeong was exuding a very cold and haughty aura.

The college student I saw in my dream was a tomboyish, lively, and full of youthful spirit.

But the real her seemed to have experienced all the hardships of the world.

Song Yu-na from Yellow Flower also had a cold style, but.

While Song Yu-na was prickly and haughty, Han So-jeong had a kind of unapproachable coldness.

At that time, Director Park got up from his seat, clapped, and shouted.

“Okay, everyone seems to be here. Take a breather, and we’ll start reading the script in 10 minutes!”

“Yes.”

Immediately, managers approached their actors and began to look after them.

And my gaze remained on Han So-jeong.

I wondered if she didn’t like me as her co-star.

But her attitude towards her manager, and when she greeted others besides me, was the same.

What kind of life is she living that she exudes such cold energy?

***

The conference room became quiet.

The actors sitting here to read the script were busy immersing themselves in their roles.

I also closed my eyes tightly and concentrated, thinking about the role I was assigned.

It was my first time reading a script, so I came fully prepared, but I couldn’t control my trembling heart.

Finally, the script reading began.

The first line began with Han So-jeong’s voice.

“Did you guys sign up for that class too? Wow, that’s great. I wanted to take that class so badly that I even went to a PC cafe [internet cafe] when signing up for classes.”

It was amazing.

As if she had never exuded coldness, Han So-jeong’s mischievous and playful college student’s voice from the script burst out.

As expected, an actress is an actress.

Not only her voice, but also a bright smile on her face.

It felt like the college student I saw in my dream had come to the real world.

After a few scenes passed, Director Park shouted with a satisfied expression.

“Then let’s start with the class scene on the next page.”

The actors turned the page and cleared their throats.

And then my line began.

Thanks to memorizing the script, I raised my head, looked at everyone, and opened my mouth.

“As the student said, according to what Stephen Kim was trying to say when he published this paper, astronomy cannot be defined that way. Let me ask a question.”

As I waved my index finger in the air, Director Park and the writer nodded with satisfied faces.

“If we go back to the beginning of the Big Bang….”

Every time I uttered a line, scenes from my dream flashed by.

The image of me lecturing in that day’s dream.

That confident face that only knew astronomy.

I felt strongly that it was overlapping with me now.

This feeling wasn’t new.

When filming the Yellow Flower drama, I felt strongly immersed as scenes from my dream came to mind from time to time.

The only difference was that this drama felt more immersive than Yellow Flower.

That was the only difference.

Why is that?

Is it because this drama is a lead role?

Or is it because there are so many more lines to say that I feel that way….

I don’t know the exact reason, but the conclusion is that I can perfectly play the role now.

Because I can feel the role as it is thanks to the dream.

The feeling of the character I saw in my dream overlapping with me reading the script.

Director Park must have felt this immersion too, as he concentrated on my every word, expression, and gesture and opened his mouth.

“Wow, Hee-sung’s acting is so good. I thought I was taking an astronomy class without realizing it. Haha.”

“Thank you for seeing it so positively.”

“Then shall we move on to the next scene right away?”

“Yes.”

“Can you do that line a little more urgently?”

I nodded at his request and immediately concentrated.

“In today’s class, I’m going to talk about an interesting topic. Aliens. If you were to meet them, what would you want to ask? I have so many things I want to ask. Okay, you in the back?”

***

I closed the last page of the script.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Everyone worked hard.”

My first script reading ended with continuous applause.

Looking at the round clock hanging on the wall, the hour hand was pointing to the number 8.

It hadn’t been long since I had lunch, but time had passed in an instant.

Looking outside, darkness had settled deeply, let alone the sun.

Director Park, who was the first to get up from his seat, opened his mouth.

“Additional schedules will be delivered to each agency. Thank you for your hard work today, and I hope all the actors get plenty of rest and adjust their condition, and we’ll see you on set.”

At his words, the writer replied.

“Thank you for your hard work, Director. Actors, you really worked hard acting today. I may not be able to see you every time on set in the future, but I hope you will show good acting with the script I wrote.”

She received applause and immediately left the conference room.

Director Park and the staff left first, and the actors were busy drinking water or loosening their stiff bodies and tidying up their surroundings.

“Um… your acting was amazing today.”

The person approaching me was actor Baek Seung-hyun, who played a supporting role this time.

“Thank you. Seung-hyun, you were good at acting too. You worked hard today.”

“You can speak comfortably [use informal speech]. I’m only twenty-two years old now.”

“Oh, should I?”

“Yes, and if it’s okay, can we exchange numbers?”

Baek Seung-hyun shyly held out his cell phone.

A high nose and drooping eyes.

He had a likable face at first impression.

I smiled and took his cell phone and typed in my number.

“Leave a text there. I’ll save it too.”

“Yes!”

“Is everyone busy today? I don’t think there will be a day when we can all get together like this in the future. How about a simple dinner tonight on this occasion?”

An actor in his mid-40s who looked like the eldest brother at first glance.

He suggested in a loud voice.

“Good!”

“I’ll go too.”

Several people answered at the same time, and their eyes turned to me.

“I’m available too. Let’s go!”

In a friendly atmosphere, one person quietly got up from their seat.

It was Han So-jeong.

Our eyes followed her, and her manager opened her mouth instead.

“What should we do? We have an additional filming schedule in the countryside early tomorrow morning. So-jeong won’t be able to attend because we have to leave right now.”

Han So-jeong was looking down without any expression, and everyone answered the manager’s words.

“Yes, it can’t be helped.”

“Then see you on set, So-jeong.”

“I’m sorry. See you next time.”

Han So-jeong left the conference room after saying a short word.

***

“Hee-sung hyung [older brother/male friend], it was fun today. I’ll contact you!”

Baek Seung-hyun said, grabbing my arm with his cheeks flushed.

“Okay, Seung-hyun. See you soon.”

“Yes, hyung. I think your manager is here?”

A car stopping in front of us.

It was Manager Kim.

“Oh, I’ll go first. Go in carefully.”

“Yes, go.”

Baek Seung-hyun bent over as he watched me get into the car.

Despite his young age, he seemed polite and sociable.

“Hyung, are you tired?”

When I got in the car and asked Manager Kim, he shook his head.

“No. I ate hard, so how can I be tired?”

When we stopped at a light, Manager Kim turned his body from the driver’s seat and asked me.

“How is it? Did you get closer to people?”

“Oh, I think everyone talked a lot and got close because there were so few people.”

“That’s a relief.”

The Han River seen through the window.

Then suddenly a thought.

Han So-jeong, who had returned earlier, came to mind.

“Hyung, where is she from?”

“Who?”

“Han So-jeong. I’m talking about that actress from earlier.”

“OA Entertainment.”

“OA Entertainment? I think it’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

As I tilted my head and said, Manager Kim opened his mouth as if he agreed.

“Yeah, it’s new. I talked to the managers earlier, but there’s almost no information.”

“There’s no information either? It seems completely new.”

It was only the two of us in the car, but Manager Kim carefully opened his mouth.

“Yeah, but the rumors there aren’t very good.”

“What rumors?”

“The CEO of OA Entertainment is from another industry, but I don’t know exactly, but he was in a pretty bad place [had a shady past].”

A bad place….

“But seeing as she has an additional filming schedule today, she seems to be doing pretty well? It was the first time I saw her face.”

“What, she said it was a minor role in a mini-series? But the lead in that drama had a traffic accident, so the crank-up [final day of filming] was originally last week, but it looks like it’s been changed to this week.”

“So that’s why they’re doing additional filming?”

“I guess so. It seems like Han So-jeong missing the dinner bothered you a bit?”

“A little? She’s my co-star, so I thought it would be good to know her to some extent before filming.”

Knowing my heart, Manager Kim nodded and replied.

“Then I’ll stop by the PR team and ask, and I’ll let you know if anything comes out.”

“Okay, thanks, hyung.”