An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 21

#6 – Supporting Role (2)

It was a day of thunder, lightning, and pouring rain.

That day, my head tingled all day long, right up until I went to bed.

It wasn’t my scalp or hair that tingled.

I wasn’t sure if it was my brain or what part of it, but the inside of my head bothered me all day.

I don’t know what this is.

I just had a feeling that it was somehow related to the dreams I’d been having.

There’s no clear reason why it’s related to the dreams.

I can’t even properly describe the feeling in my head.

But the image of the dancer I saw when the lightning struck,

and the headache and tingling in my head at that moment…

I could tell by instinct.

Could I find out more if I dream again?

Today, while practicing the script, I suddenly jumped up from my seat.

And I left the practice room and headed to the sleeping room in the company.

I lay down on an empty bed in the sleeping room and closed my eyes.

If I fall asleep like this, will I be able to dream of the Clockmaker or any dream at all?

If that happens, I might be able to figure out what the dream is trying to tell me.

Beeeeeep.

The alarm rang an hour later.

I must have fallen into a deep sleep, contrary to my worries about being able to fall asleep.

In that hour of deep sleep, I couldn’t find any dreams or clues.

***

“Director, that’s all for today.”

“Okay.”

The director straightened up and stretched.

“How many people auditioned today?”

At his words, the staff member next to him opened his mouth.

“40 in the morning and 67 in the afternoon.”

“Wow, that’s a lot today.”

As the director got up, the staff began to organize the profiles in front of him.

“Everyone worked hard. I have another schedule, so I’ll head out first.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Director.”

As the director got up, the assistant director and staff got up and bowed.

The assistant director and staff remained in the conference room.

The staff was busy organizing the cluttered documents and items.

At that time, one of the staff members approached the assistant director and spoke.

“Assistant Director.”

“Oh, Min-cheol.”

The assistant director, who was sitting down, pulled out a chair and looked at the staff member.

The approaching staff member sat down in the chair and said.

“You worked hard today.”

“What hard work? You did a good job too.”

“Thank you.”

He looked at the profile papers spread out in front of the assistant director and asked.

“Are these the profiles of the supporting actors for this time?”

“Yes, from here to here.”

The assistant director showed him the profile picture, and Min-cheol pointed to one of the profiles and asked.

“But Assistant Director, why is this guy on the final list?”

“Who?”

The assistant director tilted his head and looked at the profile where the staff member’s fingertip was pointing.

“Ah… Jin Hee-sung?”

“Yes, I know he’s good at acting from the recorded video, but weren’t there many actors with this level of acting skills?”

The assistant director listened to him without saying a word.

“If the acting skills are the same, wouldn’t it be better to have an actor with a great resume? Jin Hee-sung, this guy’s filmography seems lacking.”

At his words, the assistant director nodded slowly and spoke.

“It’s true that his filmography is lacking.”

The assistant director raised one eyebrow and continued.

“But… that’s only when you look at it superficially. In this industry, the acting you show on set is more important than specs, right?”

“That’s true.”

“But this guy, what should I say? Jin Hee-sung, this guy has something that just sucks you in on set.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, among the supporting actors who made it to the final list this time, he was the only one who received unanimous approval from the audition judges.”

At the assistant director’s words, the staff member’s eyes widened.

“From all four of them?”

“Yeah, all of them.”

The staff member said with wide eyes, as if surprised.

“Wow! Isn’t it really difficult to get a role with a unanimous vote?”

“That’s right. But this guy did it. It’s amazing.”

“I could see that he was good at acting when I watched the video, but it’s still surprising.”

The assistant director frowned and recalled, as if Jin Hee-sung’s acting came to mind.

“It’s not like he’s particularly passionate or immersive, but strangely, you just get sucked into his acting.”

He raised the corners of his mouth and continued.

“So the director said he wanted to see him one more time on the set. The writer also said that he seems to be the perfect actor for this role.”

Then the staff member raised their thumbs, saying in unison.

“The role has met its owner.”

“I guess so. I think this guy will be finalized, but take a look on set. Min-cheol, you’ll be impressed too.”

“Yes, I’ll look forward to it. Haha.”

The assistant director picked up Jin Hee-sung’s profile, looked at it, and nodded.

***

“Ahem, no, I didn’t say that I didn’t do it.”

My voice echoed in the practice room.

This is not the right tone.

After wetting my throat with water again, I shouted.

“No, I didn’t say that I didn’t….”

“Hee-sung!”

The practice room door burst open, and Manager Kim called me urgently.

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

His face was flushed red, and he held a piece of paper in his hand.

Manager Kim stared at me with an unknown expression.

“What is it? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Even at my words, he didn’t move.

I opened my eyes wide and poked Manager Kim’s arm and asked.

“Are you okay, hyung…?”

Reacting to my worried expression, Manager Kim placed the paper he was holding on the table.

“What is this?”

My gaze went straight to the paper.

At the top, a large font was written.

‘The Clockmaker and the Dancer – Casting’

My expression tightened with concentration.

I focused intently and read the names.

And then my eyes stopped.

-Male Supporting Role: Shin Sung-hyun (Main Character’s Friend – Park Choong-hyun)

-Male Supporting Role: Jin Hee-sung (Clockmaker – Kim Dae-han)

-Female Supporting Role: Go Ah-hyun (Dancer 1 – Areum)

-Male Supporting Role: Confidential (Clockmaker – Choi Min-hwan)

-Male Supporting Role: Confidential (Main Character’s Younger Brother – Na Hyun-min)

-Female Supporting Role: Confidential (Dancer 2 – Nara)

I hurriedly rubbed my eyes.

My vision turned white because I rubbed them too hard, and even when the blurry vision slowly returned, the names were still visible.

‘Jin Hee-sung’ was my name.

As soon as I checked again, I jumped up from my seat and shouted at Manager Kim.

“Hyung, is this me?”

Only then did he smile and nod.

“Is it confirmed?”

“Yeah, Hee-sung. You did it!”

Without either of us saying anything, we screamed so loud that the practice room was about to collapse.

“You worked so hard. Hee-sung, you were perfect for it.”

It was thrilling.

My fist clenched and my heart beat so hard that I could hear it clearly.

My chest was full.

Could I be happier than this?

It was a different kind of happiness than when I passed the one-act play a while ago.

I can’t compare which one was happier.

My role in this mini-series was the result of a whopping 400 to 1 competition.

I took the role from 400 competitive actors.

I couldn’t describe this thrill.

“Wow, I can’t believe it, hyung.”

“You really worked hard, Hee-sung.”

He was smiling brightly with a face that was even more flushed than mine.

After feeling like I was floating for a while, I regained my senses and checked the documents again.

The three letters ‘Jin Hee-sung’ were still shining.

And the other supporting actors I saw.

There were a total of 6 main supporting roles.

3 people including me had their names written.

Next to the remaining 3 roles, the word ‘Confidential’ was written.

Why did they put ‘Confidential’ in the role?

I tilted my head and asked Manager Kim.

“Hyung, what is this confidential thing?”

“It’s obvious.”

He sat down next to me and said.

“That’s where external influence has an effect.”

“What do you mean?”

“Um… there are two possibilities.”

Manager Kim pulled up a chair and sat down, explaining.

“First, the director doesn’t like anyone, so he’s trying to audition more people.”

I nodded and then had a question.

“But that doesn’t make sense for this role, does it?”

“Which one?”

“Here, the role of the main character’s younger brother.”

I pointed to the paper and said.

“The competition rate for this role was higher than my role. Didn’t you say it was 700 to 1?”

“That’s right. As many as 700 people auditioned, wouldn’t there be one person they liked?”

At his words, I nodded.

Manager Kim held up two fingers and continued.

“This is the second case. Pressure from investors or broadcasters.”

“If it’s pressure, are investors or broadcasters putting actors in right away?”

He snapped his fingers and replied.

“That’s right. That’s the seat that’s been left empty for that purpose.”

“Without knowing that, did as many as 700 people audition?”

I shook my head.

It was because I understood the desperate hearts of those 700 actors better than anyone else.

“Then you don’t know who will come in?”

“That’s right. Well, usually broadcasters and investors are working with large entertainment companies.”

In fact, our company is also one of those large entertainment companies.

When an idol in the company switches to an actor,

Or the company’s influence has a lot of influence in the drama lead competition.

But that didn’t apply to me at all right now.

“We’ll have to wait and see who will come in for this role.”

“That’s right.”

After understanding, I looked at the documents again.

-Male Lead: Choi Seo-bin (Na Hyun-woo)

-Female Lead: Song Yu-na (Han Seo-hee)

Uh…? Wait a minute.

Song Yu-na is the female lead?

The female lead role is a dancer.

The scene I saw in my dream…!

Song Yu-na, who was a dancer dancing on stage.

What’s going on now?

When I first did the Hwangkkot drama, Song Yu-na, who played the princess, was clearly different from the princess I saw in my dream.

I saw Song Yu-na in this dream….

Then is my dream a premonition?

No, it wasn’t the Hwangkkot drama to say it was a premonition.

Whether it’s connected to reality or not.

The more time passed, the more confusing the connection became.

The forgotten headache pounded my head again.

Is there something I don’t know?

Then suddenly, a name came to my mind.

It was Han So-jeong.

At the one-act play dinner, Han So-jeong also said that she was auditioning for the ‘Clockmaker and the Dancer’ drama.

Did she take on a role in this drama too?

I was lost in thought at that time.

“Hee-sung, you’re getting a call?”

Surprised by Manager Kim’s words, I hurriedly picked up my cell phone.

[Caller: Han So-jeong]

As soon as I checked the caller, I jumped up from my seat.

Wow, speak of the devil….

Feeling goosebumps on my arm, I spoke to Manager Kim.

“Hyung, I’ll take this call for a second.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

I arrived at the lounge before the call was disconnected.

“Hello?”

-This is Han So-jeong. I’m sorry for contacting you so suddenly. Are you free to talk?

She asked in a quick voice, as if she was nervous about calling me.

“Yes, it’s okay. What’s wrong?”

-I was wondering if you have the contact information for the ‘Don’t Look at the Stars’ writer.

“Ah… yes, I do. Shall I send it to you?”

-Yes, I forgot to save it and couldn’t find it. I have something to contact them about today. Please.

“Yes, I’ll send it to you right after I hang up.”

-Thank you.

“Yes, then….”

As I was about to finish the call, she suddenly shouted in an urgent voice.

-Hey, Hee-sung!

“Yes?”

-The ‘Clockmaker and the Dancer’ we talked about last time. I heard the results came out today, how did it go?

If Han So-jeong had passed, she would have received the list of successful candidates.

In addition, Han So-jeong’s name was not on the list.

I carefully spoke to her.

“I passed.”

Although it wasn’t on the list, I asked her in case it was a confidential list.

“How about So-jeong?”

-Unfortunately, I… failed.

“Ah… really?”

-Yes, I really wanted to do it, but I guess I didn’t have enough skills.

A voice full of regret.

I was wondering what to say to her, but she spoke again.

-I’m glad Hee-sung passed. Please do well.

“But….”

-Please act for my share. Fighting! I have to go in now, so please send me the contact information.

“Yes, I’ll send it to you right away.”

-Then see you next time.

The call was cut off.

Han So-jeong’s voice made my heart bitter.

It wasn’t that I passed instead of her, but I felt like I had done something wrong, and I felt sorry even though I didn’t need to feel sorry.

Moreover, she was not usually a friendly person.

But it seemed like she was pretending to be bright on purpose so as not to show her regret about failing.

That doesn’t mean I can ask her if she’s preparing for another drama or acting now.

Well, with Han So-jeong’s acting skills, she’ll get a role anywhere.

She was a good enough actor.

As she said, I thought it was right to do my best in this drama.

Up to Han So-jeong’s share.