An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 23

#6 Supporting Role (4)

To think that Park Min-joon was playing the undisclosed supporting role.

A burning heat bubbled up from deep within me.

A supporting role with more significance than my own – a lead-level supporting role.

Park Min-joon twisted his lips as he looked at me.

At that sight, I clenched both fists tightly, as if they would burst.

How could the world be so unfair?

I auditioned after so much practice, facing a competition rate of 400 to 1.

And that bastard gets the role without any practice or a highly competitive audition.

A curse almost burst out of my mouth, but I barely swallowed it back down.

Getting angry at Park Min-joon and cursing him wouldn’t change anything; it would only make my mouth dirtier.

Even if I complain about the unfairness, there’s nothing I can do in this industry.

That’s just how the entertainment world is.

I calmly inhaled and exhaled, trying to find stability.

If the entertainment world is such an unfair place, there’s no need to complain anymore.

It’s wiser to devise a way to survive here.

There’s a saying, isn’t there? If you want to criticize the college entrance exam system, you should at least get into Seoul National University [considered the most prestigious university in South Korea] first.

Otherwise, it’s just the grumbling of a loser.

The world isn’t as warm and just as you might think.

Not just the entertainment world, but everywhere else too.

Being an actor is the path I chose.

I knew it wouldn’t be fair anyway.

Even if someone rises without any effort, I can’t tear them down or criticize them.

Even if it’s dirty and underhanded, I just need to reach the top.

I will definitely reach the summit.

To do that, I need to become more ruthless and stronger than I am now.

I can’t let my mentality be shaken by this and just complain about the world.

I slowly released my fists, which I had been clenching so tightly that nail marks were left on my palms.

The resentment and anger that had been boiling inside me blazed up as willpower.

And I bit my lower lip tightly and shouted silently.

I will succeed spectacularly.

I will definitely be better than that bastard.

No, I will climb much higher than him.

***

Finally, the day I had been eagerly waiting for: the script reading day.

Until today, I had been focusing solely on practicing the script, repeating company, home, company, home.

It was my first drama mini-series, so I didn’t want to make even the slightest mistake.

Moreover, because that bastard Park Min-joon was also going to be there, I wanted to show an even more perfect version of myself.

I had finished practicing to the point where I could recite not only my lines but also the lines of my co-stars.

“Hee-sung, do well!”

Section Chief Kim smiled brightly and waved as I headed in for the script reading.

“Yeah, I will!”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting right out front.”

He raised his fist as if to cheer me on.

That sight filled me with even more confidence.

I smiled as I looked at Section Chief Kim, who believed in me and supported me, and opened the door wide.

“Hello.”

I bowed deeply as soon as I opened the door.

Even though I had arrived earlier than the scheduled time, several actors had already arrived.

Shin Sung-hyun, sitting far away, was playing a supporting role similar to mine.

Before taking my seat, I made eye contact with him and exchanged greetings.

“Hello, I’m Jin Hee-sung.”

“Yes, I’m Shin Sung-hyun. I look forward to working with you.”

Shin Sung-hyun stood up and offered me a handshake.

I took his hand and opened my mouth.

“You’re playing the lead’s friend, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. It seems like I’ll be overlapping with Hee-sung a lot, so let’s get along.”

“Yes, I look forward to working with you too.”

As we were exchanging greetings and introductions, the door burst open, and a person came in with a hearty laugh.

It was the director of this drama, Bae Sung-han.

The actors inside all stood up at once and bowed to him.

“Director, you’ve arrived.”

“Hello.”

The writer, who came in with Director Bae, stood in their place and uttered a short greeting.

“Nice to meet everyone. I look forward to working on the drama.”

Unlike during the audition, Director Bae spoke with a kind smile.

“Let’s do the introductions together when everyone is here.”

At the same time, a loud voice was heard from the front of the door.

“Director Bae Sung-han, hello!”

The person who shouted loudly and ran towards Director Bae was Park Min-joon.

At his appearance, Director Bae laughed heartily and welcomed him.

“Our work’s pillar has already arrived.”

Director Bae put his arm around Park Min-joon’s shoulder and said.

He clung to Director Bae and replied, “Oh, no, I’m not.”

Park Min-joon smiled so much that his eyes disappeared and stayed close to Director Bae, then stood up straight in his place.

As soon as he made eye contact with me, his eyes instantly changed.

He looked straight into my eyes, raised only one corner of his mouth, and twitched his eyebrows.

It was a face that boasted and gloated, as if to show off that he was close to Director Bae and that he was the pillar.

Instead of being envious of such Park Min-joon, I felt sorry for him.

He was acting like a puppy, fawning over Director Bae.

Park Min-joon, who had been showing off like that, opened his mouth towards Director Bae.

“I’m working with the director…”

Just as he was about to say something, a commotion was heard from outside the door.

Then everyone’s gaze moved away from Park Min-joon and towards the door.

A person entering through the door was Choi Seo-bin, the lead of this drama and a famous actor in Korea.

When Choi Seo-bin, called the celebrity of celebrities, appeared, the other actors also began to stir.

Director Bae saw him and moved his feet before Park Min-joon’s words were finished.

“Seo-bin, you’re here?”

“Yes, Director. How have you been?”

Director Bae continued the conversation with Choi Seo-bin with a beaming smile.

“Yes, now that our Choi actor is here, I already feel reassured.”

“Haha, no, I’m not.”

“This drama has to be a success. The success or failure of this work depends on our Seo-bin!”

Director Bae patted Choi Seo-bin on the back and said. He lowered his eyebrows into a figure eight and smiled broadly.

It was a different attitude from the one he had shown to Park Min-joon a little while ago.

It seemed like he was just greeting him out of courtesy.

From the beginning, Park Min-joon didn’t audition and was joined by the push of agencies, so Director Bae had no choice but to say hello and ask for his cooperation.

But the words he said to Choi Seo-bin seemed to contain sincerity.

He lowered his eyebrows and spoke as if he was really asking him for a favor.

Director Bae’s desire for him to work hard for the drama in the future was revealed.

It seemed that it wasn’t just me who felt that.

When I turned my head and looked at Park Min-joon, his face was red from his neck up.

He couldn’t possibly not know that Director Bae’s treatment of Choi Seo-bin and himself was different.

But he couldn’t talk to Choi Seo-bin or Director Bae, so he just bit his lip tightly.

Frankly speaking, Director Bae’s story is right.

The success or failure of a drama also depends on how well the leads do.

Of course, the external parts are also important, but it can be said that the importance of the lead is definitely high.

When I shifted my gaze towards Choi Seo-bin, he was smiling with a relaxed expression.

Even if he didn’t try to show it on purpose, the relaxation and kindness that came from within…

Before I knew it, I was smiling along with him.

Cool.

Rather than because he was handsome and popular, I thought I couldn’t help but admire that kind of relaxation and the aura that emanated from him.

After a ten-minute break, the script reading began immediately.

My second script reading in my life.

I thought I wouldn’t be nervous because I had done a one-act play script reading last time, but that wasn’t the case.

The one-act play had few actors, so the scale was quite small.

I thought this mini-series was bigger than that.

It was much bigger than I expected.

Excluding the managers, there were more than 30 actors alone.

Among these competitive actors, I have to show myself through acting without being buried.

Of course, I don’t intend to do exaggerated acting to stand out more than other actors on purpose.

Because the actors are so good at acting, I shouldn’t fall behind.

I clenched my fist and burned with determination.

***

“So, you can feed your family with just one clockwork.”

Since I had already memorized the script, I recited the lines while looking at the other actor.

The actor playing the role of the watchmaker raised the corner of his mouth as he looked at me.

“That’s right. It’s enough for your age.”

“About clockwork…”

I frowned deeply as I uttered the lines.

The 30 or so actors were sitting tightly during the script reading.

But I couldn’t see them in detail.

Because as much as I recited the lines, those scenes I saw in my dreams swirled in my head as if strangely.

I didn’t make any mistakes like forgetting the lines because of it.

Rather, I felt a sense of immersion, as if I had entered that era.

Thanks to that, my lines made others focus on acting.

“…What should I do to become a craftsman?”

I asked the actor playing the watchmaker with eyes burning with will: raised eyebrows, clenched fists.

Director Bae, who was staring at me, stopped reading and opened his mouth.

“Wait a minute!”

At Director Bae’s words, everyone turned their heads and looked at him.

Because I had stopped in the middle of saying my lines, my heart started beating rapidly.

*What is it? Did I make a mistake in the lines…? No, I didn’t get it wrong?*

I swallowed hard once and looked at Director Bae, and he raised one corner of his mouth.

“Hee-sung, you’re good at acting.”

At his words, some actors smiled and nodded as if they agreed.

The compliment made my heartbeat even faster.

“Thank you.”

“Everything is good. I want you to change the tone of the lines in the front a little bit to the feeling of that era, can you do it?”

Director Bae read out the things he had checked one by one with a pen while watching my acting.

I smiled and nodded at his instructions to tell me what to fix rather than vaguely saying ‘do it again’.

“Yes, I will!”

“Okay. Let’s go again.”

After my scene was over, the next page of the script was turned over.

The next scene is a conversation between Choi Seo-bin and Song Yu-na.

Because it was a scene where only the lead actors exchanged lines, all the actors, including the director and writer, paid attention.

Everyone’s eyes were on them, and Choi Seo-bin had a relaxed expression as if he didn’t even feel the gaze.

“If you just stay by my side, I think anything would be okay.”

Even though he just shouted the lines, Director Bae clapped his hands.

He put down his pen as if there was nothing to point out and watched while admiring, not directing.

The writer sitting next to Director Bae also nodded repeatedly with a satisfied expression.

Certainly, there was nothing to criticize about his acting.

It was literally perfect.

His acting, which was completely immersed in the role he played, was something I had to admit.

Director Bae smiled brightly and opened his mouth.

“Okay, let’s continue from here. Yu-na, start with the lines.”

“Yes.”

Song Yu-na shook her head once with a coy expression, and then she concentrated.

“That’s what you think. I work as a dancer… I can’t leave this place.”

Director Bae looked at her again with a happy expression.

Then he looked at Choi Seo-bin and Song Yu-na alternately.

Song Yu-na’s acting also seemed to be improving.

Her cold acting as a woman who loves dancing so much that she can’t follow a man was enough to focus the actors here.

But there was a problem.

Every time she opened her mouth, the image of the dancer I saw in my dream kept overlapping.

*Is it because she resembles her in my dream?*

After the lead actors’ acting was over, my turn came again.

This time, it’s a scene where I and Park Min-joon exchange lines.

We come out as rivals, so in this scene, the lines of the scene where we collide came out again.

Because I had to express the intensifying emotions, I closed my eyes and started to immerse myself in the scene.

As I took a long breath and organized my emotions, before the immersion was over, Park Min-joon spat out the lines.

Even though he saw that I didn’t open my eyes, he deliberately hit the lines and came in.

“Hey, Kim Dae-han. What are you going to do if you do the work like that?”

Nevertheless, I quickly opened my eyes and glared at him without panicking.

One corner of my mouth went up naturally. I snorted and raised my tone.

“Like that? Is that all you have to say?”

As if a real fight had broken out, the scene froze in an instant.

*I just said the lines….*

Park Min-joon and I looked at each other and exchanged glances.

“I barely held back from doing it more severely. You son of a bitch.”

I frowned at Park Min-joon’s words.

I had memorized all the lines of the other actor, so I had no choice but to do so.

That wasn’t in the script.

I hurriedly looked at the script in case, but as expected, there were no such lines.

Director Bae, who was rummaging through the script like me, tilted his head and stroked his chin.

And he raised his hand and shouted loudly, “Wait, stop!”

At Director Bae’s words, the air here instantly turned cold.

Everyone’s eyes were on him.

Director Bae was looking at Park Min-joon with a displeased expression.

Park Min-joon asked with surprised eyes, “Yes?”

But Director Bae said in a low voice with a cold face, “What are you doing now?”