An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 175

175. Opportunity Like Destiny (7)

“Yoona, you’ve worked hard.”

Manager Choi looked at Song Yoona in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

She didn’t even seem to have the energy to acknowledge Manager Choi’s greeting.

She had been making an unusual number of NGs [no-good takes, or mistakes] throughout the shoot.

Song Yoona was grimacing and tightly shutting her eyes.

Worried about her, Manager Choi sighed and focused on driving.

The car quickly left the set, and as they got on the road, Song Yoona slowly opened her eyes.

Then, she looked out the window and sighed.

“Haa… what’s wrong with me these days?”

Manager Choi, surprised by Song Yoona’s voice, asked her.

“What was that?”

Manager Choi hadn’t heard her because she had mumbled quietly.

Song Yoona answered him with a frustrated look.

“It’s nothing. Just focus on driving.”

“Ah… okay.”

Song Yoona seemed to be venting her anger at Manager Choi, anger that had been building up due to the constant NGs she had been making for the past few days.

A few minutes later.

The car soon stopped at the hotel.

“Yoona, dinner…”

Before Manager Choi could finish speaking, Song Yoona abruptly opened the car door and replied.

“I’ll take care of it myself.”

“…Then call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Song Yoona quickly grabbed her script and luggage and got out of the car.

After going up to her hotel room, Song Yoona sat straight down on a chair without eating anything, staring blankly at her script.

“Why am I making so many mistakes?”

She was usually someone who never made mistakes with her lines.

She was angry at herself for the continuous NGs.

Song Yoona pressed her hands firmly on her head and sighed deeply.

“Especially today’s NGs were legendary…”

She opened the script to the scene where she had made an NG earlier that day.

Then, she covered the script with her hand and recited the lines.

“I… I like you, Teacher. I have for a very long time. Going to the hospital room, deliberately moving with Nurse Park, it was all because of you.”

She continued the lines without a single mistake.

Song Yoona chugged water as if feeling empty.

“What, why am I doing this on set when I can do it so well here? It’s not like I suddenly developed camera shyness.”

She tilted her head and thought back to the set.

“I definitely… immersed myself in the emotions as usual. And I memorized all the lines…”

She was usually optimized for romance genres.

The NGs she had made today were even more unacceptable to herself.

There wasn’t a single scene with medical terminology.

It was all sweet, emotional scenes where she exchanged love with Jin Hee-sung.

Therefore, the lines were not difficult for Song Yoona at all; she could recite them with her eyes closed.

She stood up and walked to the window, frowning.

“Strangely, when I act with Jin Hee-sung, I feel like my emotions are more intense than usual.”

Song Yoona pictured Jin Hee-sung’s face in her mind.

“I definitely feel more immersed when I see Jin Hee-sung. Okay, that’s not important. I need to practice quickly so I don’t make any mistakes tomorrow.”

She leaned against the window and opened her script.

She had already memorized all the lines for tomorrow, but she recited them again to avoid making mistakes.

“I have nowhere else to retreat…”

Song Yoona, who was reciting the lines while thinking of her co-star Jin Hee-sung, suddenly stopped speaking.

“What, why does Jin Hee-sung’s face keep appearing so vividly?”

She stopped reciting the lines and chuckled, savoring the image of Jin Hee-sung’s face.

“Jin Hee-sung looks so different now that he’s gained weight. He still has a sharp look, but now he’s kind of chubby.”

Song Yoona smiled to herself as she thought about Jin Hee-sung’s eyes, nose, mouth, and even his arms and legs.

“Since he’s chubby, he’s kind of like a teddy bear.”

Suddenly, she saw her own smile reflected in the mirror in the distance.

“Ah, what is this!”

Seeing her own face smiling while thinking about Jin Hee-sung, Song Yoona shook her head vigorously and brushed away the smile.

“What am I thinking right now?”

She deliberately frowned.

She erased the smile and turned her back so she couldn’t see the mirror.

“Haa… okay, let’s clear my head by getting some fresh air.”

She opened the window wide and looked outside, her eyes catching the straight road and the lush green mountains and trees.

She took a deep breath of the peaceful scenery and exhaled, shaking off the thoughts of Jin Hee-sung.

“This is so nice.”

But the thought of Jin Hee-sung remained in one corner of her mind.

Song Yoona stared blankly out the window and stroked her shoulder.

“Right, I feel sorry for Jin Hee-sung after the lighting accident that day, so I keep making NGs whenever I act with him.”

Then, she nodded her head vigorously and said.

“Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense that I would be nervous around Jin Hee-sung, right?”

Song Yoona shook her head as if to reinforce her thoughts.

At that moment.

Two people entered the peaceful scenery.

It was Jin Hee-sung and the extra actress Jung Ari.

The moment she saw them, Song Yoona’s gaze was fixed on Jin Hee-sung.

“Isn’t that Jin Hee-sung and Jung Ari?”

She had a few scenes with the extra actress Jung Ari.

She was able to recognize her right away.

“The combination of those two is so random.”

Song Yoona frowned and continued to move her gaze, following their footsteps.

Since the floor of her room wasn’t on the first floor, she couldn’t hear their conversation at all.

Watching Jin Hee-sung and Jung Ari walk towards the hotel, Song Yoona chewed on her fingernails.

“Since when have they been so close? What are they even doing together?”

***

“Um… so Ari-ssi came alone?”

I asked her as I headed to the hotel with Jung Ari.

Jung Ari bowed her head to me and replied.

“Yes, it seems like the message wasn’t delivered properly to Min-gyu earlier. He said he’s waiting in the hotel lobby.”

The extras had made plans with me after the shoot.

It wasn’t to go bowling or fishing this time either.

They just had a lot of questions they wanted to ask me, as a senior actor and a senior in life.

At their request, I agreed without hesitation.

Of course, after the shoot, I, who had relatively more filming than them, felt tired.

But I had also gone through the same period as them.

And at that time, I often thought, wouldn’t it be nice to have a senior actor I was close to?

This industry of actors wasn’t like a company where seniors were assigned.

The seniors changed whenever the filming location changed.

Moreover, the number of extras was overwhelmingly large compared to the main and supporting actors.

There weren’t many lead actors who paid attention to each and every one of them.

I also couldn’t share the questions I had at the time or communicate with the senior actors.

So, I wanted to communicate with them and help them in any way I could.

Because that’s what I wanted.

And more than anything, I sincerely hoped that these passionate and hardworking actors would succeed.

“It’s okay. We can just go to the lobby together.”

“Yes, but sunbae-nim [senior colleague]. Is your shoulder okay?”

Jung Ari looked at my shoulder and asked with a worried look.

I rotated my shoulder back and forth and smiled.

“Yes, I recovered quickly thanks to everyone worrying about me like Ari-ssi.”

“That’s a relief. They always talk about sunbae-nim at our pension.”

“They talk about me?”

At my words, she smiled brightly and replied.

“Yes, they say that there’s more to learn from sunbae-nim than just acting. It seems like sunbae-nim’s name comes up almost every time we get together. Haha.”

I narrowed my eyes and asked her playfully.

“Don’t tell me… half of those stories are about me being criticized?”

“Oh, not at all!”

Jung Ari replied with a startled look.

“Haha, I’m just kidding. I’m touched that you speak well of me.”

“We’re the ones who are touched. There are so many extras, but you always pay attention to each and every one of us.”

I also enjoyed building friendships with them.

When the filming of the drama ‘Doctor’ first started and I was bored.

I built a friendship with Kim Min-gyu, and after that, I naturally met other extras more often.

I wasn’t the type of person who divided actors by class and only wanted to build friendships with famous actors.

I liked communicating with many actors and people and expanding my network.

So, I also felt that these times were precious and meaningful.

As we headed to the lobby, several extras, including Kim Min-gyu, were waiting for me.

As soon as they spotted me, they rushed towards me and bowed their heads.

“Sunbae-nim, you’ve arrived?”

“Oh, did you wait long?”

“Not at all.”

We moved to a cafe in the hotel lobby.

“Let’s talk while drinking coffee.”

“Okay.”

We arrived at the cafe, took our seats, and after taking a sip of coffee, I asked them.

“Why, what worries do you have today?”

At my words, Son Seong-jin carefully raised his hand.

“Sunbae-nim… there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

At his words, I raised my eyebrows and replied.

“Yeah, what is it?”

He jumped up from his seat, took a seat in front of me, and opened his mouth.

“Actually, I’m about to sign a contract this time.”

As soon as he finished speaking, I smiled brightly and clapped my hands.

“Wow, that’s great. Congratulations.”

Son Seong-jin scratched his head and grinned.

“Thank you. But I haven’t signed it yet.”

I immediately understood his intention and asked.

“You’re curious about the conditions?”

At my words, Son Seong-jin’s eyes widened as he looked at me.

“Wow, how did you know?”

“So, you’re trying to get advice from me?”

Son Seong-jin nodded his head and began to recite the contents he had written on his cell phone to me.

“Could you listen to this just once and tell me what you think?”

“Yeah, tell me.”

“The contract period is…”

Son Seong-jin read the contract conditions without stopping.

I put my coffee aside and listened attentively to his story.

After explaining for a long time.

I looked at Son Seong-jin and pouted my lips.

“What is it?”

At my words, he bit his lip with a worried look.

“I thought it was okay, but is it not good?”

Soon, I raised my lips into a smirk and replied.

“No, it’s good? The conditions are good for a new company. It doesn’t seem bad from what I’m hearing now.”

“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”

Looking at the happy Son Seong-jin, I raised my chin and said.

“If you get the contract later, I’ll look at the conditions again. Contact me.”

“If you would do that for me, I would be very grateful.”

Son Seong-jin jumped up from his seat and bowed to me.

After that, several extras continued the conversation with me, including sharing trivial worries.

Soon, the coffee was empty.

“Then, shall we go in soon since there’s filming tomorrow?”

At the same time as I finished speaking, we got up from our seats.

Since it was a cafe located in the lobby, they bowed to me and immediately said goodbye.

“Sunbae-nim, thank you. You worked hard today as well.”

“Yeah, you guys worked hard too. See you on set tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

They were looking at me until I turned around.

I waved my hand at them and said.

“Go quickly.”

“Sunbae-nim, please go in first.”

“Haha, okay. Go carefully.”

After saying goodbye to them, I headed to the elevator.

In front of it, Song Yoona was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

It seemed like she was waiting for me since the elevator button wasn’t pressed.

I was surprised by her for a moment.

Song Yoona asked me in a blunt voice.

“What were you doing?”

“Pardon?”

I tilted my head at her sudden question.

“An actor shouldn’t just… anyone… huh? Walking around like this, and people too… huh?”

Song Yoona was rambling and asking me what she wanted to say.

I scratched my cheek with my finger and replied.

“I was just giving my juniors some company advice. Did you see that?”

Song Yoona raised her voice as if she had heard my words.

“So, why are you doing that outside like this? What if someone takes a picture!”

“It’s a bit much to call everyone to my room. I just wanted to get some fresh air together and have a cup of coffee…”

Before I could finish speaking, Song Yoona shrugged her shoulders and replied.

“Hmph, never mind.”

Then, she immediately got into the elevator and closed the door.

“What’s wrong with her?”