An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 189

189. Hollywood (2)

“Wow, I could come here every day and never get tired of it,” I exclaimed, stuffing food into my mouth.

Kim agreed, nodding.

“Yeah, their budae jjigae [Korean spicy stew with noodles, vegetables, and processed meats] is the best.”

I ate so enthusiastically that the broth was soon gone.

“Oh, right. Hee-sung, how’s your English coming along?” Kim asked, putting down his spoon. I shook my head.

“Yeah, I’m working hard. I need to work harder to at least look like a student studying abroad, even if I can’t pass for a native speaker.”

“Amazing. I’m glad your skills are improving so quickly.” Kim clicked his tongue and gave me a thumbs up.

“Hey, it’s nothing. If I knew this would happen, I would have studied English more beforehand.”

“It’s because you already have a certain level of skill that you’re improving so quickly.” He twitched his lips and continued, “I recently arranged private tutoring for the trainees at the company, but there are so many who can’t even speak English at an elementary school level.”

At Kim’s words, I smiled slightly and replied, “Hyung [older brother or male friend], elementary school students these days are so good at English!”

“Well, parents have been teaching them English from a young age, so it’s understandable.”

“That’s right.”

We took a sip of water, getting ready to leave.

I suddenly remembered my drinking session with Choi Seo-bin yesterday and snapped my fingers, asking Kim, “Hyung, about me going to Hollywood, can I get more details about that?”

He tilted his head, asking, “I told you everything. What are you curious about?”

“Um… can I see the email I received?”

Kim raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Of course. I’ll show you as soon as we get back to the office.”

“Okay.”

“I’m curious. What’s going on suddenly?”

I chewed my lip and replied, “Hollywood contacted me, right? I’m wondering if I’m being cast directly, or if I might have to audition and potentially get rejected.”

Kim finally opened his mouth and shook his head. “Ah… that? 22nd Century Fox said it’s not a confirmed casting yet, and they want to do some tests.”

“Is it an audition?” I frowned, suddenly feeling anxious.

Kim shook his head. “No, it won’t be an audition like the ones we know, with hundreds or thousands of people competing. I think they just want to see you in person and check your English pronunciation.”

I nodded. “Yeah, they’ve only seen me in videos and photos, so they need to see me in person. And since I have to act in English, they need to check my pronunciation.”

“Right. Is that what you were curious about?”

“Yeah, if I go to Hollywood and I’m just one of the thousands who have to compete… that’s a different story.” I sighed, swallowing hard.

“Hyung, could you check if it’s that kind of audition, just in case?” I asked.

Kim smiled to reassure me, seeing my tense face. “Okay. I’ll look into it, so don’t worry and let’s practice.”

“Thanks.”

***

People sitting around a large table.

“Is everyone here?” The director, sitting at the head of the table, looked at the people in front of him and asked.

They shouted in unison, “Yes.”

“Then let’s talk about the actors we’re going to cast in this project.” The director leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs, and began to speak.

The other team leaders and staff nodded, opening their prepared notebooks.

A large wall behind the director displayed a logo and letters in the middle: ’22nd Century Fox’.

The director took a long breath and said, “What’s the status of contacting that Asian for this project?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the team leader sitting on the innermost side raised his hand and said, “Are you talking about actor Jin Hee-sung from Korea?”

At the team leader’s words, the director frowned and widened his eyes, replying, “I don’t know the name. That Korean Asian actor.”

“Ah… yes, that’s right, Jin Hee-sung. Jin Hee-sung agreed to come, and we’re trying to coordinate the dates.”

“The dates aren’t coordinated yet?” The team leader nodded.

“Yes, they said the third week of next month, Monday…” Before he could finish, the director cut him off with a displeased look. “Let’s designate the dates and let them know.”

“Yes.”

“They should be grateful and follow our lead just for having the opportunity to appear in a Hollywood production. What’s with coordinating dates?” The director shook his head and continued, “Hollywood, and 22nd Century Fox at that, contacted them. Of course, they should follow our schedule, don’t you think?”

The staff members’ eyes sparkled, and they nodded. “That’s right. It’s not easy for a Korean actor to break into Hollywood.”

“Of course. It’s not like Asians are better at acting than Americans anyway.”

The director raised his eyebrows at the team leader. “Let’s see that Asian actor’s photo again.”

The team leader rummaged through his diary and took out Jin Hee-sung’s profile picture. “Here it is.”

The director received the photo, leaned back in his chair, nodded, and stared intently at it. “Hmm… yes, this was the face. He definitely doesn’t have strong Asian features for an Asian.”

Holding the photo in his left hand, he extended his right-hand finger and pointed to Jin Hee-sung’s eyes, nose, and mouth one by one, continuing, “The eyes are a bit slanted, which is an Asian characteristic, but whatever. Still, he’s not a typical Asian mask, so this is good enough.”

The director, who usually looked down on Asians, glared at Jin Hee-sung unpleasantly. However, due to the nature of the project, an Asian had to appear.

“Haa… you still haven’t found an American actor to play an Asian, have you?”

“No, it’s too obvious.”

The director shrugged and muttered, “Well, and those Koreans go crazy whenever a Hollywood movie comes out, right?”

The team leader nodded vigorously. “That’s right. And if a Korean actor appears, even more audiences will flock to it.”

“Asians still have a long way to go to catch up with us. Haha.” The director spun his chair around, looked at their production company logo, and continued, “We have to lead even the Asian film industry, what a heavy burden on our shoulders.”

He smirked wickedly, raising his eyebrows at the team leader. “That Jin Hee-sung? Tell that Asian actor that we’ll pick the date next month and notify them.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“They’ll be so grateful that we picked them that they’ll come running right away. Haha.”

***

I went to the office today to study English conversation and practice acting without rest.

Overseas projects require twice the effort compared to Korean projects. Of course, I had to master the language, so the effort was bound to double.

As soon as I got to work, I went into the conference room to practice. Not long after, Kim burst into the conference room with a pile of papers in his arms.

“Hyung, you’re here?” I asked.

“Yeah, how long have you been practicing?” Kim asked.

I looked at the clock and said, “I think it’s been about an hour. But what’s all that in your hands?”

At my question, he put the pile of papers on the desk and sat down. “These are scripts from overseas projects.”

I widened my eyes and asked, “Is this the script from 22nd Century Fox?”

He wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “No, that script hasn’t arrived yet. They’ll probably show it to you on set.”

“Then what is this?”

“I brought you scripts from past overseas projects to practice with.” At his words, I nodded.

“Ah, I’m going to practice? Thanks for taking care of me,” I said.

“The movie and American drama scripts you mentioned last time.” Kim said.

I gave Kim a thumbs up. “Oh, it must have been hard to get these.”

He shrugged, smiling proudly. “I pulled some strings. Haha.”

“You’re the best, hyung.” I quickly pulled the scripts in front of Kim towards me. While flipping through the script and looking at the lines, I noticed content about comments in the lines.

I suddenly had an idea and snapped my fingers, looking at Kim. “Right, hyung.”

“Yeah?” Kim asked.

“Didn’t you say you caught the malicious commenters last time?”

Kim clapped his hands and replied, “Oh, they said they’d contact me, so I think they’ll contact me within this week?”

“I want to find out who it is quickly….”

“Me too. I want to go see that face.” Kim and I sighed simultaneously and shook our heads.

“Ugh, it’s a waste of time to spend thinking about malicious commenters. I’ll practice quickly, hyung.” I said.

“Okay. I have more data I found, I’ll just print it out and come back.” Kim said.

“Okay.”

As soon as Kim left the conference room, I opened the script again. Ten minutes passed. While reading the script filled with English, Kim, who had left a little while ago, rushed back into the conference room.

I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but it was definitely urgent.

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” I asked.

At my question, he sat down, panting. “What is it?” I repeated.

He hesitated, making a ‘ss’ sound. I didn’t know if something bad had happened to me. I wondered if Hollywood had contacted me, and I frowned with anxiety.

“Hyung, am I… auditioning?” I asked.

Kim forced a smile and shook his head. “No, it’s not that 22nd Century Fox contacted us…” He chewed his lip and trailed off.

I calmly looked at his face and waited for an answer. Kim avoided my gaze and fixed his eyes on the desk. Then, he opened his mouth carefully in a small voice. “I just got a call from the police station.”

“Wow, did the malicious commenter finally come to the police station for investigation?” Excited by the word police station, I slammed the desk with my hand and shouted.

At my question, Kim nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“What? It’s good news, why are you making me so anxious?” The malicious commenter who had been bothering me for so long. I was happy just to hear that he had been caught. I was about to feel relieved at the thought of being able to reveal his identity.

Kim was even more excited than me to see the malicious commenter’s face. Suddenly, I couldn’t help but feel puzzled by his unknown reaction.

“But that malicious commenter said he wants to apologize to you.” Kim said.

Apologize… I didn’t want to receive an apology from that malicious commenter who made up speculations about me, spread lies, and even insulted my parents.

Because that would be an apology that wasn’t sincere, but just spat out because he didn’t want to be punished right in front of him. Furthermore, I couldn’t wash away my wounds with those few short words of apology. Even if my heart was relieved right away, it wouldn’t make the feeling I had when I read the malicious comments disappear.

Rather, I felt that the malicious commenter’s idea of apologizing was selfish.

“No, what apology. Just tell them to draw a red line [proceed with legal action].” I said.

Kim, who I thought would agree with me, didn’t react at all even after I finished speaking. He was just staring blankly at the desk.

“Hyung, I’m not accepting the apology, just according to the law…” I said.

Kim opened his mouth before I could finish speaking. “But that malicious commenter… It turns out he’s someone you know, Hee-sung.”

At his words, I widened my eyes and shouted, “What?”

“Someone I know too, of course.” Kim said.

“Who the hell is it?” My heart started beating rapidly. I frowned and looked at Kim, who was sitting in front of me. He sighed deeply and opened his mouth. “Do you remember Shin Min-young…?”

The name that came out of Kim’s mouth. As soon as I heard the three letters ‘Shin Min-young’, I couldn’t say anything with my mouth wide open.

“That Shin Min-young who filmed ‘Temptation of the Other Woman’ with you.” Kim mentioned the work and told Shin Min-young’s name again, thinking that I didn’t remember.

I shook my head to come to my senses and said to Kim, “Of course, I know. Shin Min-young. Are you saying that Shin Min-young is that malicious commenter?”

Kim sighed in succession and nodded. “Yeah, Shin Min-young has been leaving malicious comments with that ID all this time.”

“…Crazy. No way.”