Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 211

< 211. As You Would to a Heretic >

“If the engagement falls through… how about me?”

Rembrary recited the line.

“Hmm.”

Writer Yoon scratched his chin, looking troubled.

“Is it strange?”

“Well, how should I put it…”

Rembrary wondered if he seemed very strange, so he recited the line again.

“If the engagement falls through, how about me?”

But Writer Yoon just gave an awkward smile again. After repeating the same line several more times, Writer Yoon scratched his cheek and said,

“To be honest, it sounds really natural, but it doesn’t make my heart flutter at all.”

The makeup artist sided with Rembrary.

“Why? My heart flutters just making eye contact with Yeonwoo. Aren’t you being too picky, Writer Yoon?”

Writer Yoon glared at the makeup artist, who just grinned and said, “It’s true.”

Rembrary glanced at Director Yoon while reading the line again.

“If the engagement falls through… how about me?”

“Hmm. No, that’s not the feeling.”

Rembrary repeated the line several times. Even after the makeup was finished, Rembrary read his lines in front of Writer Yoon.

However, Writer Yoon was not satisfied with any of them, and his face gradually fell into a state between anger and worry. He was the one who insisted on casting Rembrary, but he couldn’t stand the way he was acting, so he couldn’t get angry and looked like he was going crazy.

“Let’s do this. I’ll revise the lines a bit. Memorize them again with the revisions. I won’t change much, so you’ll be able to memorize them quickly.”

“Can we change them now?”

“…It’s better to change them now, even if it’s late.”

* * *

As Rembrary entered the set wearing a light brown dopo [a type of traditional Korean overcoat], the director exclaimed as soon as he saw him.

“Wow, the visuals are great.”

It wasn’t just empty praise. The staff also exclaimed in admiration.

He already had a gentle impression, but after dyeing his hair black for the drama and wearing a hanbok [traditional Korean clothing], Rembrary looked like a noble and cherished young scholar.

“If we do well, we might gain even more fans this time?”

One of the staff praised Jongwoo openly.

While Writer Yoon was showing the revised script to Director Lee, Rembrary greeted the actor playing Go Gyuin and rehearsed the lines in advance.

Originally, there was a scene where Go Gyuin and Woo Baekyeon sparred before the scene they were about to film.

However, since that scene was originally filmed by two stunt doubles instead of the actors, there was no need to replace them, so they were only going to reshoot the scene where they talked after sparring.

In the meantime, one of the staff ran over and lightly sprayed water on Go Gyuin and Woo Baekyeon’s foreheads to make it look like they were sweating.

After finishing the work, the staff stepped back. The director, who had finished discussing with Writer Yoon, called for action.

As soon as the director gave the signal, the actor playing Go Gyuin panted with a refreshed face. But soon his expression darkened, and he vowed in a firm voice.

“I knew it. I’m going to apply to Wonhwa [an elite group of young people in Silla, an ancient Korean kingdom]. Throwing away opportunities because of a fiancé I’ve never even met is crazy.”

Although it was an engagement made in the womb, Go Gyuin and Baek Seolcho had never seen each other’s faces.

Of course, his father says that Baek Seolcho is a magnanimous man, so it’s okay. But Go Gyuin found it hard to believe everything his father said. Because what his father meant by ‘magnanimous’ was just that he had a large frame.

Go Gyuin, who had made up his mind, wiped his sweat and asked Woo Baekyeon.

“Are you going to oppose me too?”

Rembrary began his line.

“Who cares who opposes you? Sister, do what you want to do.”

At those words, Go Gyuin smiled brightly.

“I knew you’d say that.”

“Doesn’t First Brother support you? First Brother is always on Sister’s side.”

“Support? What support? He just asked what would happen if the engagement was broken off. Jerk.”

“I see. He’s a jerk. Then that’s good.”

“What?”

Go Gyuin frowned. He wasn’t interested in his fiancé, but those words didn’t sound good either.

“Is that a curse?”

At Go Gyuin’s bewildered question, Rembrary replied with a kind expression.

“If the engagement is broken off, you can marry me.”

“…”

Go Gyuin stared at Rembrary in surprise for a moment, then smiled brightly and tapped his arm.

“Our kind Yeon. You’re even saying you’ll marry me to comfort your sister.”

He had heard those words so often since he was young that it sounded like a joke to him this time as well.

Rembrary smiled bitterly and didn’t answer. But deep down, he felt resentful and sad that Go Gyuin always took his sincerity as a joke. Because that’s what was written in the script.

At that moment, the director shouted.

“Cut!”

As soon as he received the signal, the actor playing Go Gyuin, who had been smiling brightly, quickly changed his expressions, smiling, frowning, and getting angry to break the emotional line.

Rembrary looked at Jongwoo and asked with his eyes. How was I?

But Jongwoo was only looking at Director Lee. It was because Director Lee was muttering with a worried face.

“The delivery of the lines is okay, but isn’t the emotional delivery a bit weak?”

“I agree. He just seems like a close younger brother who lives next door. A kind younger brother.”

Jongwoo’s expression hardened.

After today’s filming was over, Jongwoo took Rembrary back to the accommodation and told him what Director Lee had said.

“Did the director really say that?”

“Have you ever had a first love, or even a feeling similar to first love? Can’t you try to recall that memory?”

Rembrary answered immediately.

“No. Not at all.”

“…Ah. You don’t have any memories at all. Even if you did, you wouldn’t be able to recall them. Then ask Keshi. What does it feel like?”

“Don’t you have one? A first love?”

“I don’t have one either. I want to explain it, but I really don’t have one at all.”

After getting out of the car and returning to the accommodation, Rembrary asked the members one by one what it felt like to be in love, following Jongwoo’s advice.

“My first love was when I was seven years old. She was a friend in the dolphin class at the same kindergarten. She was the best at using chopsticks in the class. I thought, ‘Wow, she’s really smart,’ and fell in love.”

“What did it feel like?”

“Like, ‘Wow, she’s smart. If I’m good at using chopsticks, will my uncle stop nagging me?’ Something like that?”

However, Hyegyeol was too young at the time, so it wasn’t helpful.

“I didn’t have time to pay attention to anything else because of my mother’s work.”

Jeongseo didn’t have the mental余裕 [mental余裕 is a Japanese word that means mental余裕], so it wasn’t helpful either.

“I’m not interested in dating. Succeeding as a celebrity is my priority.”

Taein also had great ambition, so he wasn’t very helpful.

Rembrary looked at Keshi, who was eating tangerines on the sofa and texting with Yulri. The only one he could expect anything from was Keshi, who was currently in a relationship.

“What about you? Keshi, do you know what it feels like to be in love?”

When Rembrary asked, Keshi raised his chin arrogantly, as if he knew his turn would come.

“I’ve been a fan of Yulri since before my debut. I know exactly what it feels like.”

“What does it feel like?”

“The people in the world are divided into four types: Yulri, family, friends, and others.”

Hyegyeol chimed in from the side.

“Keshi, do we fall into the friends category or the others category?”

“Others.”

“You son of a…”

“What?!”

While Keshi was about to fight with Hyegyeol, Rembrary crossed his arms and muttered.

“If that’s what love is, then I’m already in love. I divide the world that way too.”

Keshi stopped scolding Hyegyeol and quickly turned his head.

“What? Really? Then you have someone you love too?”

“But the one who is my standard is not a person.”

“Then who?”

“It is God.”

“…”

“I divide people into two types: believers and heretics.”

Hyegyeol, who was watching, clicked his tongue.

“Hyung, that’s not love, that’s a cult.”

* * *

The next morning.

Rembrary moved to film the scene where he helps Baek Seolcho.

This time, there was footage of the fight scene filmed by the staff, so Rembrary only had to reshoot the first meeting scene with the actor playing Baek Seolcho.

Following the direction, Rembrary greeted Baek Seolcho while ‘hiding his ulterior motives and pretending to be kind.’

As soon as filming began, the actor playing Baek Seolcho immediately expressed his liking for the other person with just his eyes. His eyes were definitely different from Rembrary’s.

Jongwoo was impressed, but he was also worried that Rembrary would be overshadowed by the other person’s performance, so he glanced at the director.

‘Is it okay?’

It wasn’t okay. The director, with his arms crossed, was staring intently at the camera screen, his expression serious. Seeing that, Jongwoo’s admiration disappeared. The director was frowning and tilting his head, clearly not liking something.

Jongwoo was worried, but anyway, the first meeting scene with the main actors was now all filmed. All that was left was to record Woo Baekyeon’s monologue.

This monologue was especially important because it came in the very last scene, right before the ending.

However, the emotional line was a problem again. With this one monologue, Rembrary had to let the viewers know that Woo Baekyeon was in love with Go Gyuin. But no matter how many times he said it, Rembrary’s monologue didn’t convey that feeling at all.

“No, Mr. Woo Yeonwoo. You’re meeting the lover of the person you’re in love with. How can you say it so kindly? Woo Baekyeon isn’t even a kind character.”

No matter how much Director Lee nagged, Rembrary couldn’t follow. In the end, Director Lee instructed Rembrary to practice separately and began filming other scenes first.

The scene that Director Lee was going to film after sending Rembrary away was from episode 2. The location was the same, but it was the scene where Go Gyuin and Baek Seolcho met for the first time without knowing that they were engaged to each other.

As Rembrary entered the waiting room, Jongwoo asked Sagamjae for a favor.

“It sounded natural enough to me, but I don’t know what the problem is. Gamjae, don’t you have any advice for Yeonwoo?”

However, even while asking Sagamjae for a favor, Jongwoo didn’t expect much. Because he now realized that Sagamjae wasn’t very helpful as a manager. Among the company’s employees, it was considered the company’s biggest mystery that Sagamjae hadn’t been fired and was still around.

But unexpectedly, Sagamjae immediately gave Rembrary advice.

“Mr. Yeonwoo, your feelings for God are deeper than others. Why don’t you try following those feelings?”

“How dare you.”

Jongwoo was amazed that Sagamjae was giving Rembrary advice at his level, but Rembrary flatly refused. Rembrary thought it was blasphemous to express his feelings for God to a person.

Sagamjae shrugged but didn’t push it further.

But Sagamjae’s advice was a little helpful. He couldn’t accept the advice as it was, but another good idea came to mind.

‘I can’t treat her as I would Redrin. But what if I do it like when I’m trying to bring someone who isn’t a believer into the fold?’

Isn’t that also a kind of love?

As he was thinking, the director called him and held out the microphone.

“Okay. Let’s record the monologue again for the last time.”

The director’s expression was devoid of expectation. In fact, the director had already given up on Rembrary’s filming this time. It was too much to expect deep acting from an idol, so he decided to be satisfied with him delivering the lines naturally and capture the emotional line through the situation.

“Mr. Yeonwoo. This monologue is a kind of jealousy. It’s your inner thoughts, so you don’t have to say it so elegantly. Are you ready? …Action.”

As the director gave the signal casually, Rembrary opened his mouth as if he were speaking to a heretic.

“…Is it you? The man who is engaged to the woman I love.”

At that moment, Writer Yoon clenched his fist tightly.

< 211. As You Would to a Heretic > End