An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 33

#9 – Can’t Foresee an Inch Ahead (1)

The variety show offer wasn’t from a terrestrial broadcast station, but from JBC, a general programming channel.

The viewership was only around 3%, not very high.

It wasn’t JBC’s flagship entertainment program, but it was a show that was steadily loved by viewers.

As soon as I arrived at the office and sat down in the practice room, I started monitoring the most recent broadcasts.

[Blind Mission]

The broadcast started, and since I had seen the program a few times, I became engrossed in the show as a viewer.

While watching the broadcast, a thought struck me.

I wondered if I could do well if I went on that variety show.

And I quickly dismissed the thought.

It’s not the time to laugh and enjoy the broadcast. I need to be serious.

I put my hand on the mouse and moved the cursor to the very beginning of the broadcast.

And the broadcast replayed from the beginning.

I watched the screen with a reverent heart, as if I were studying for an important exam.

I started re-watching each scene like I was studying, observing how the guests acted and reacted.

Before I knew it, two hours had passed.

My notebook was filled with notes from the monitoring.

At that moment, someone opened the practice room door and approached.

It was Manager Kim.

“Hee-sung, are you watching it closely?”

At his words, I clicked the space bar to stop the video.

Manager Kim looked at the densely filled notebook in front of me and said.

“Wow, you’ve been monitoring diligently.”

“But the show is really fun.”

He sat down on the chair next to me with a pleased expression.

“Blind Mission, have you ever seen it before?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen it a few times, but I don’t know if I can do well.”

“Well, it’s your first time on a variety show.”

I nodded.

Manager Kim turned his body and looked at the screen I was watching.

And he pressed the play button.

“Let’s watch it together.”

At his words, I picked up my pen and notebook again.

After watching the broadcast with Manager Kim for about an hour.

I stretched out my stiff body from sitting still.

“Hyung, but is there no script for this?”

Manager Kim nodded.

“No. It’s a reality show, but there will be a rundown [a detailed schedule of activities].”

“You mean the shooting schedule?”

“Yeah, that thing with the order of events.”

I scribbled his words down and replied.

“Then can’t I see that in advance?”

“I can probably get the rundown and the MC’s opening script. I’ll get them in advance and pass them on to you.”

At his words, I smiled.

“Thanks, Hyung.”

Manager Kim smiled and got up from his seat.

“Take a break and watch more. Your legs will cramp.”

“I’ll watch one more episode and then rest.”

Perhaps my worried mind about my first variety show was showing on my face, Manager Kim massaged my shoulders with both hands.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s a reality show, so just comfortably show yourself as you are.”

I nodded at his words, but my worried mind didn’t subside.

Manager Kim left the practice room.

And I immediately played the next episode without rest.

***

The next morning.

I left for the company early in the morning.

I had monitored Blind Mission until late the night before.

But that didn’t mean I could rest at home.

Moreover, the more I watched the variety show, the more burdened I felt, rather than relieved.

The more I laughed while watching the broadcast, the more I wondered, ‘Can I do that in that situation?’

‘What if I say something and it’s not funny?’

I was caught up in various worries and concerns.

And I decided that it would be better to go to the company and talk to Manager Kim about my concerns than to just keep monitoring at home.

“You came early?”

Manager Kim waved his hand and greeted me.

“Yeah, I thought it would be better to work or practice at the company than at home.”

“Good job.”

He took out some documents from his desk and handed them to me.

“What’s this?”

“Blind Mission, rundown and script.”

He said he could get the shooting schedule and MC script, and it seems he already got the materials.

He looked at the documents with a proud face.

I nodded and received them with both hands.

My heart started to pound as I looked at the paper filled with writing.

I was worried when I was monitoring, but seeing the words ‘Blind Mission’ made it feel even more real.

I’m really filming a variety show.

In fact, I have been on a variety show before.

Of course, not as a guest.

Just as an extra.

I played an extra who looked like a background character during an outdoor variety show shoot.

It’s my first time appearing as an actor and as a guest.

I felt even more burdened, and I thought I should monitor even more diligently.

“Hyung, it’s okay if I don’t look at the drama audition script now, right?”

Manager Kim nodded.

“Yeah, the drama just ended, so you can start slowly.”

I’ll postpone the new drama script for now after the variety show shoot.

I should focus on variety show monitoring for the time being.

If I try to catch both, I might fail at both.

I have to do it one step at a time.

“Then I should study while monitoring ‘The Clockmaker and the Dancer’ and the variety show.”

He replied with a satisfied expression.

“Do that. There’s plenty of time to prepare for the audition after that.”

I sat down and started reading the shooting schedule.

***

-The Clockmaker and the Dancer will be broadcast shortly.

Park Min-joon sat cross-legged on the living room sofa.

Park Min-joon, who had no schedule after the drama shoot, made sure to watch the live broadcast.

He opened a can of beer from the refrigerator and took a sip, and the drama started.

He put the beer on the table and focused on the drama.

-I don’t know why I have to be here, why I have to be like this.

The scene of him acting in his role came out on the screen.

Park Min-joon, who was watching himself, smiled contentedly and raised the corners of his lips.

“Keu, I like that part.”

He took a sip of beer and muttered to himself.

He shrugged his shoulders and focused on the drama again, and the screen switched.

And Jin Hee-sung appeared.

The corners of Park Min-joon’s lips slowly went down.

He wished he could fast forward or rewind.

But since it was a live broadcast, there was nothing he could do.

He turned his gaze and looked at his cell phone.

He opened the internet and went to the drama’s real-time bulletin board, and the viewers’ reactions popped up.

-Doesn’t Jin Hee-sung seem to be getting more handsome? lol

-He’s a supporting actor, but Jin Hee-sung and Song Yu-na look good together when they’re in a shot together.

-Their chemistry is 인정ㅋㅋ (acknowledged [short for 인정합니다, meaning ‘I acknowledge it’]).

-The scene where Park Min-joon and Jin Hee-sung fight is 꿀잼 (꿀잼, kkuljaem, very funny [a slang term meaning ‘honey jam’])ㅋㅋ

Because Jin Hee-sung was on the screen, the bulletin board was filled with content about him.

Park Min-joon frowned and turned off his cell phone screen.

When the hour-long drama ended, Park Min-joon poured the remaining beer into his mouth.

After the drama preview came on TV, an advertisement screen appeared.

He raised his eyebrows and made a meaningful expression.

“No, something’s weird?”

Since he was always home alone, he naturally muttered to himself.

Park Min-joon stroked his chin and unfolded the script with one hand.

No matter how much he looked at the script, his part was far more than Jin Hee-sung’s.

Even when he looked at the previous episode’s script, the difference in the amount was the same.

But when he looked at the scenes in the drama, he felt that the proportion was equal or that his part was gradually decreasing.

‘…Was there an influence in the editing?’

He sighed deeply and flipped through the script.

They say movies are the director’s game, and dramas are the writer’s game….

Clearly, Park Min-joon’s lines and scenes were seen a lot in the script.

When he was monitoring the drama, he felt that there were many scenes of Jin Hee-sung.

‘The PD [Production Director] seems to have put in a little… no, a lot of effort in the editing?’

Park Min-joon replayed the previous episode of the drama.

And he shouted in an annoyed voice at Jin Hee-sung’s face that kept appearing.

“No, why does that Jin Hee-sung keep appearing so much!”

탁- (Tak- [sound of something being hit])

In the end, Park Min-joon turned off the TV and threw the blameless remote control violently.

***

A so-called 똥 머리 (ddong meori, bun hairstyle [literally ‘poop hair’ in a playful way]) tied high to the top of her head.

Park Soon-hee, wearing a navy blue school uniform, sat at her desk and stared intently at her laptop.

What she was watching was none other than ‘The Clockmaker and the Dancer’.

-I can’t throw everything away.

Jin Hee-sung’s appearance in the drama.

He made eye contact with the camera with a wistful look.

-If you’re with me, it’s like I couldn’t ask for anything more.

The camera zoomed in on Jin Hee-sung’s face.

Jin Hee-sung’s eyes, nose, and mouth filled the screen.

Park Soon-hee unknowingly opened her lower lip.

‘What, Jin Hee-sung is handsome.’

She 씨익 (ssiik, smirkingly [onomatopoeia for a soft smirk]) raised the corners of her lips.

When the scene changed and Jin Hee-sung disappeared, she used the arrow keypad to rewind the drama.

She found Jin Hee-sung’s scene like that.

Park Soon-hee stared blankly at Jin Hee-sung again, as if she had lost her soul.

-No, that’s not what I was trying to do.

Jin Hee-sung swept the floor in a flustered manner with a flustered face.

-Would I have made such a fuss if you had done it right?

Park Min-joon shouted at Jin Hee-sung.

Jin Hee-sung was startled and trembled.

Park Soon-hee burst into laughter at the sight.

“Isn’t he cute?”

She unknowingly spoke out loud and covered her mouth.

She slowly closed the open door so that her parents in the living room wouldn’t hear.

‘He’s good at acting, and his immersion when he says his lines is no joke….’

Park Soon-hee raised her eyebrows with a satisfied face.

After watching several episodes in a row, immersed in the drama for a long time.

She sighed with a face full of regret.

Park Soon-hee immediately picked up her cell phone and opened an internet window.

‘Jin Hee-sung’

She searched for Jin Hee-sung and captured all the dramas and photos he appeared in.

Then, she unfolded the cute diary on her desk and started writing down the contents.

Jin Hee-sung’s profile and works.

After writing for a while, she put down her pen and searched for Jin Hee-sung again.

Then, when there was nothing more to look for, she changed the search term and searched.

‘Jin Hee-sung fan cafe’

-There are no search results for ‘Jin Hee-sung fan cafe’.

‘There’s no fan cafe yet?’

Park Soon-hee thought with wide eyes as if she was surprised.

And then she snapped her fingers.

Thinking that she would create a fan page, she immediately opened SNS [Social Networking Service].

“Shall we open one?”

Park Soon-hee loosened her fingers and changed her profile picture to a picture of Jin Hee-sung.

After that, she posted all the pictures of Jin Hee-sung that she had saved.

#JinHeeSung #TheClockmakerandtheDancer….

As the first post went up, she looked at the SNS she had created with a pleased face.