An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 304

304. #55 – A True Friend (4)

Director Park turned to me, his expression pleased.

“Hee-sung, your acting was really great.”

“Thank you, Director.”

“I was thinking of filming this scene one more time….”

Knowing I’d poured everything into the performance, he spoke gently, not with the overbearing tone he might have used before.

I readily nodded.

“Yes, of course. I’ll prepare again.”

“Your acting was great, but I want to shoot the same scene from different angles.”

In the old days, when I was a rookie, he wouldn’t have bothered explaining the reason for reshooting.

But now, they explain in detail why they have to reshoot, what went wrong, or what parts they want to fix.

I guess my position has changed things.

“This time, we’ll put another camera outside the dolly track [a track for smooth camera movement], and we’ll also do a bust shot….”

Director Park explained how I would be framed in each shot.

I listened attentively and nodded.

“So, the part where I run through the hallway or the scene inside the room will remain the same, right?”

“Oh, there’s no need to change your acting from before. Just pour it out like you did just now. Of course, it’s okay if the acting changes organically.”

“Yes, then I’ll modify the parts I felt were lacking and act again.”

Director Park smiled contentedly.

“Good. We’ll take care of the editing anyway, so just act as you feel.”

“Understood.”

Director Park and I returned to our positions.

While the camera was being set up, I looked at Director Park and shouted.

“Director, you said I don’t have to worry about the camera angles while acting, right?”

He grabbed the megaphone he had set down.

“Yes, the camera operator will be moving it directly, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Understood.”

As soon as the conversation ended, I closed my eyes tightly.

As if I hadn’t been laughing and talking just moments before, I focused, transforming into someone high on drugs.

“Ready, action!”

Director Park’s signal echoed, and the set fell silent again.

“Haa… haa….”

My vision blurred, as if my head was spinning.

The feeling of the drug slowly flowed from my brain throughout my body.

Rather than being painful, it felt as if the cells in my body were moving independently.

My breathing became labored.

The hallway didn’t look like a proper hallway; it seemed the building was collapsing and tilting.

“I shouldn’t… be doing this here….”

I barely forced my tongue, which was about to slacken, to form the words, and scanned the surroundings quickly.

Far away, a small door at the end of the hallway.

“First… I need to hide in that room… haa… I need to hide my body…. Quickly.”

As soon as I spotted the room, I knew I had to get there before the drug completely took over and I collapsed.

Without delay, I ran down the hallway.

But my legs, limp and uncooperative, wouldn’t move as I wanted them to.

I started running, grabbing the thigh of my pants and pulling them up for leverage.

“No, I have to go quickly, quickly….”

Soon, I stumbled inside the room.

Thud-

The door slammed shut, and I was alone in the dark.

As if on cue, the drug began to dominate my body.

“Ugh… haa, haa….”

My arms and legs wouldn’t obey me.

My body bent backward as if every joint had loosened.

“Ugh… haa, gasp!”

Even breathing was difficult.

As the drug spread from my brain, I started hallucinating.

To capture my appearance, a remote camera spun wildly around the room.

But I didn’t care about the camera.

Thud-

I leaned against the wall for support, my body complaining of dizziness and threatening to collapse, but my strength was fading.

I was on the verge of blacking out.

Blink, blink-

I slowly opened and closed my eyes, staring blankly at the room.

“Ugh!”

I tilted my head back towards the ceiling.

My body spun, and I knelt down, my eyelids heavy.

Then, something shifted.

The state of the room, which I hadn’t noticed because I was so focused on acting, slowly came into view as I was trying to finish the scene.

Thoughts flooded in, and I saw the remote camera that had stopped in front of my knees.

When I lifted my head, I saw a very small space between the door and the wall.

A camera was filming me through the gap.

I stared at the camera with blurry eyes, and I saw the director’s figure above it.

Wait a minute…!

‘How can a person fit in such a narrow gap between the door and the wall…?’

Then, I made clear eye contact with the camera operator.

A strong chill ran down my spine.

That person… that’s not the face of the director I know….

The moment I realized it was someone I had never seen before, my vision went black.

* * *

“Cut, okay!”

Director Park held up the megaphone and shouted only after Jin Hee-sung, visible on the monitor, closed his eyes.

Cheers erupted.

“Wow!”

“Amazing, the acting was crazy.”

“How can I get goosebumps just from watching the acting?”

“Really, Hee-sung’s acting… I think it’s the best.”

People praised Jin Hee-sung’s acting, and Director Park stood up, beaming.

“Kuh… as expected of our star.”

Then, he shouted at the staff approaching the room where Jin Hee-sung was.

“Han-cheol, stay here. I’ll go to Hee-sung.”

At Director Park’s words, Bae Han-cheol stopped.

“Understood.”

He smirked and approached Jin Hee-sung.

Creak-

The door opened, revealing the dark room and Jin Hee-sung sprawled on the floor. Director Park clapped his hands and shouted.

“Wow… Hee-sung, your acting was so good! It would have been a big problem if we hadn’t filmed one more scene just now.”

He squinted as if the light was dazzling, turning on the light with a satisfied smile.

Director Park took a step closer and spoke again, seeing Jin Hee-sung still lying on the floor with his eyes closed, even with the light on.

“Hee-sung, we’ve cut. You can get up.”

Even at his call, Jin Hee-sung remained motionless.

Thinking he was joking, Director Park squatted down, exaggerating his movements.

“Hee-sung? Get up now, Hee-sung…?”

As Director Park shook Jin Hee-sung’s body, a chilling feeling washed over him.

“Hee-sung… Hee-sung?”

“…….”

No matter how much he called, Jin Hee-sung didn’t respond.

Director Park, sensing the seriousness, shouted loudly out the open door.

“Medical team… quickly! Call the medical team, immediately!”

* * *

Because of the many action scenes in the movie, the medical team was always on standby.

Fortunately, Jin Hee-sung opened his eyes before they had to take him to the hospital.

“Ugh….”

As Jin Hee-sung twitched and slightly opened his eyes, Director Park and the medical staff rushed to his side.

“Hee-sung, are you conscious?”

“Jin Hee-sung, can you see this?”

“Can you hear me?”

At the barrage of questions, Hee-sung frowned, barely opened his eyes, and slowly spoke.

“Ah… yes, I can see and hear well.”

Director Park sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Oh, thank goodness….”

Then, he carefully asked Jin Hee-sung.

“Hee-sung, what on earth happened? Did you collapse because you were too immersed in the acting?”

“I don’t know. I was trying to act like I was losing my mind from being drugged….”

Director Park and the surrounding staff clicked their tongues.

“Wow… so you really collapsed while acting?”

“Hee-sung, you’re really something else. To be so immersed….”

The camera operator who filmed Jin Hee-sung with the rail gave a thumbs-up, and Director Park said with worried eyes.

“No matter what, you shouldn’t act to the point of collapsing. I was so worried.”

Director Park grabbed Jin Hee-sung’s arm.

At his reaction, Jin Hee-sung slightly smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I will, Director.”

Then, as if remembering something, Jin Hee-sung’s face darkened.

“That’s right….”

“Why, are you hurting somewhere?”

“It’s not that… Director, how many camera operators do we have?”

Not Director Park, but the camera operator answered.

“We have four, right?”

At the camera operator’s answer, Jin Hee-sung’s pupils dilated.

“Right now, there’s the director, the director wearing glasses, the director who always wears a hat, and the youngest director… that’s right, right?”

The camera operator smiled and nodded.

“That’s right. You remember everyone.”

Jin Hee-sung turned his head and looked at Director Park.

“Director Park, then when I was filming in that room earlier, which director came in?”

Director Park and the camera operator exchanged bewildered glances.

“Huh? No one went in.”

“That’s right. Only the remote camera went in, and all four of us, including me, were outside.”

“Ah….”

Jin Hee-sung trembled and grabbed his head.

“Why, is your body not feeling well?”

“It’s not that….”

Director Park called the medical team and said.

“Hee-sung, it seems like you’ve used up a lot of energy acting. You’ve overdone it, so maybe some nutritional supplements….”

While explaining Jin Hee-sung’s condition to the medical team, Hee-sung sighed deeply and muttered.

“Director, it’s not that, I… I think I saw a ghost.”

“What do you mean?”

“A ghost. I saw a ghost in the room. I’m sure of it.”

Director Park chuckled.

“Come on, that can’t be.”

“When I was acting in that room, both times I saw a person holding a camera… no, a ghost. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes.”

Seeing Jin Hee-sung’s serious face, Director Park swallowed hard.

“Really?”

“Yes, why would I lie about something like this?”

Director Park trembled and shouted.

“What is it? I have goosebumps.”

Jin Hee-sung closed his eyes tightly and sighed.

“Director, I think I’m going crazy right now. I definitely saw it. A ghost… filming me with a camera….”

* * *

Meanwhile.

The set was left without Jin Hee-sung.

The staff gossiped about Jin Hee-sung, who had suddenly collapsed.

“Hee-sung woke up.”

“Yes, I just heard.”

“Is he okay?”

They continued the conversation, concerned for Jin Hee-sung’s health.

“Yes, fortunately, he woke up before going to the hospital. He said he just lost consciousness for a moment.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. Why did he collapse anyway? Overwork?”

“That’s right, well. He’s the lead, so he must have filmed so many scenes and worked so hard.”

The staff sighed, feeling sorry for him.

Then, staff member Bae Han-cheol ran over.

“Seniors!”

“Oh, Han-cheol. Is Hee-sung okay now?”

“Yes, and… Actor Hee-sung saw a ghost.”

The set buzzed with excitement.

“What? A ghost?”

“Yes, I think he collapsed after seeing a ghost earlier.”

“Wow… no way.”

The staff looked at the room, sensing a spooky energy, and brushed off the goosebumps on their arms.

“So it was true that ghosts appear in this abandoned hospital. How scary….”

“I know. We still have a long way to go with filming, what should we do? I’m so scared?”

They sighed, mixed with fear and anxiety, and Jang Jun-woo approached them.

“Hee-sung saw a ghost?”

“Yes, he said he saw a ghost while acting in that room earlier.”

“He must have been very surprised.”

“I know. If it were me, I think I’d be too scared to come back here to film. Is Hee-sung okay?”

Jang Jun-woo looked at the room with a worried expression, and suddenly spoke, a thought occurring to him.

“But if we see a ghost while filming… our movie will be a hit, right?”

The staff stirred and replied.

“That’s right. I’ve never seen a movie or show that saw a ghost fail.”

“Thanks to Hee-sung, the movie will be a sensation, right? Haha.”

“Wow, haven’t we already secured ten million viewers?”

Jang Jun-woo stroked his chin and muttered.

“Hee-sung has been so successful, but he said he’s never seen a ghost while acting until now. Then this work… must be really amazing?”