I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 221

“Rape?” Yasuta, momentarily stunned, barely managed to regain his composure.

Then.

*Whoosh!*

Yasuta, who had lifted his long, disheveled hair, forcibly suppressed the urge to urinate. He desperately recalled the scenario he had memorized. ‘Let’s proceed. Open your mouth. Move your body.’

‘Huh?’

In that instant, the usually composed Yasuta realized his body had stiffened. He was trembling from the cold, but the stiffness in his joints was not solely due to that. He recognized he was overwhelmed by a force.

Kang Woo-jin’s restrained aura had caused him to shrink back, even in the midst of acting.

There were several reasons why Yasuta, playing Ginzo, suddenly felt a strong urge to urinate. First, the eerie filming location: the darkening sky, the gloomy fishing village, the silent sea, and himself on a boat bobbing on the water.

This alone was enough to trigger a sense of crisis.

But what made Yasuta pause more than anything else was…

“……”

Kang Woo-jin, or rather, Iyota Kiyoshi, was now staring intently at him. The old wooden boat was narrow, its ends within arm’s reach. Therefore, Woo-jin’s gaze, face, and expression were clearly imprinted in Yasuta’s eyes.

Kang Woo-jin was now a void.

His eyes, nose, and lips were mere decorations, nothing more than proof that what was on top of his neck was a face. Woo-jin was looking at Yasuta, but it felt insufficient. He was breathing, but his voice was faint. His upper and lower lips were calmly pressed together.

How could he create such a form? Nothing could be read.

An expression devoid of any emotion. Dry.

However, that dryness completed the scene, maximizing the eeriness and bizarreness of the environment. What was actually causing Yasuta to feel the urge to urinate was Woo-jin across from him. Every time Yasuta made eye contact with Kang Woo-jin, who was sitting quietly nearby, he felt a tingling sensation in his lower abdomen.

‘His eyes are dead… no, it’s acting. It’s acting. I just need to focus on my part. On the next part. Somehow.’

Yasuta struggled to prepare for his next move.

*Swish.*

He looked at Kang Woo-jin, who was sitting still at the end of the wooden boat. He lowered his gaze, checking his own appearance. He was barefoot, wearing a shirt and dress pants, but the suit jacket he had been wearing was gone. Soon, Yasuta’s pupils dilated. The camera on his right side captured it up close.

At that moment.

*Creak.*

The wooden boat of the man with an indistinct face pulled up right next to Yasuta’s boat, and the boats collided with a dull thud.

*Thud!*

Naturally, Yasuta’s head turned. On the boat that had just collided, a man who looked like a homeless person was chewing gum, grinning crookedly. The trembling that had been spreading through Yasuta’s body, or rather, Ginzo’s, intensified more than twice.

He turned his face directly to Kang Woo-jin, or rather, Iyota Kiyoshi, and shouted.

“R-rape?! Are you talking nonsense!!!”

“……”

The camera captured both of them in a side-by-side shot, and Woo-jin, with a blank expression, blinked a couple of times nonchalantly before speaking.

“It will happen. Ginzo, you just need to entrust your body to that person.”

“Wait, wait, wait! That’s not what I meant!!”

“He’s already experienced it. It seems he had a lover when he was in prison.”

“……”

Ginzo, his eyes wide, made a last-ditch effort. He lunged at Kiyoshi. The boat rocked violently, but it was in vain.

*Thwack!*

“Ugh!!!”

Before Ginzo could do anything, Kiyoshi quickly struck his throat. It was a swift blow, and Ginzo collapsed powerlessly on the wooden boat, coughing. Then, just as Ginzo’s coughing subsided, he changed his attitude 180 degrees.

“Hic! Hicc… Save me. Please! I’ll do anything! Save me!!”

Tears and snot streaming down his face, he grabbed Kiyoshi’s ordinary shoes with both hands and begged. But Kiyoshi’s dry tone of voice did not change.

“I haven’t said anything about killing you yet.”

“H-hic! Matsu-chan! No, are you Tsukasa’s husband??! Ah! I’m sorry!! I’ll never! I won’t see you again until I die!!”

“Tsukasa. Ah—you mean Tsukasa Matsu from the accounting team of the company you work for? Your current lover.”

In other words, he was talking about an affair.

“But you’ve got the wrong person. It seems you really don’t remember me.”

“I’m sorry! I was wrong about everything! Please save me! Please!!”

It was then.

*Swish.*

Someone stroked Ginzo’s head, which was lying face down. It was the hand of the man who looked like a homeless person from the boat next to them. Ginzo, startled, let out a shriek.

“Hic!! Anything! I’ll do anything!! Just save me!! Please, please!!!”

His screams echoed throughout the gloomy sea. On the other hand, Kang Woo-jin remained calm.

“I’m saying again, I haven’t said anything about killing you yet. Ginzo, say hello first.”

“N-no. That’s!”

“Why? We’re going to be bumping into each other anyway, so it’s good to get to know each other.”

The man who looked like a homeless person, constantly smiling, spat the gum he was chewing at Ginzo. Ginzo convulsed as if he had been shot. This scene was vividly captured by several cameras, and Kiyoshi, who had been looking down at Ginzo with lifeless eyes, lowered his upper body slightly.

“Ginzo. Do you remember Toka? Misaki Toka.”

*Twitch.* Something flashed in Ginzo’s mind, who had been trembling, and his body and mouth stopped. It was about 5 seconds. Then, he slowly raised his head and made eye contact with Kang Woo-jin. Ginzo’s lips trembled as he yelled.

“Y-yes!! You! You, you! Kiyoshi! Iyota Kiyoshi!!”

It was that moment.

“Cut.”

Director Kyotaro’s signal spread throughout the sea, where a sea fog had been created with special effects.

“NG, let’s go again.”

Several tens of minutes later.

Around the pier, the filming location for ‘Nakkisaeng’ was bustling with dozens of staff members preparing for the reshoot. Kang Woo-jin had gotten off the boat and was having his makeup touched up by the makeup team, while Yasuta was listening to directions from Director Kyotaro near the monitor.

The first filming, the first scene, the first NG [No Good, meaning a failed take].

The starting point was Yasuta, who played Ginzo. Of course, the staff’s opinions were a little different.

“Wasn’t Ogimoto’s acting just now okay? I thought it was.”

“Me too. I thought the quality would be good—well, our eyes and the director’s eyes are different.”

Rather, there were many comments that it was better than Yasuta’s usual acting skills. However, it was not the tension that Director Kyotaro wanted.

“Ogimoto-san, your emotions were outstanding. But it was too much. It would be better to take some of the power out.”

“…I understand.”

“Spread the emotions, but compress the tone. Right now, it looks too much like ‘I’m acting’.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it was the first cut.”

Tanoguchi Kyotaro, a master director from Japan, had many goals for ‘Nakkisaeng’. One of them was to revolutionize the Japanese acting scene. The Japanese entertainment industry was so stagnant that it had become rotten. The domestic market was so solid that even the directors gave up on change, and as a result, all Japanese actors ended up doing stereotyped acting.

They would scream, overdo it, or overact.

Exaggerated and eye-catching acting may seem explosive at first glance, but it was no different from running wild in an empty space. That was Director Kyotaro’s theory.

‘Such things may ring in the ears, but they cannot resonate in the heart.’

Because of that, the current Japanese acting scene may be passable internally, but when viewed overseas, it was met with harsh criticism. It went beyond likes and dislikes. That’s why Japanese content had trouble creating a sensation like the Korean Wave [Hallyu].

On the other hand, how was Kang Woo-jin just now?

He overwhelmed the scene by delivering his lines in the same tone without any shouting or yelling. He swallowed Yasuta with his first word. He poured his presence into the camera.

‘That is the real resonance and delivery.’

It was clearly proven by the murmurs of the staff who were hurrying to prepare for the reshoot.

“But Woo-jin’s acting… I don’t know. Doesn’t it feel different?”

“Y-yeah, it feels like it’s hard to see it as acting?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right.”

“But it was amazing. It was like he was talking quietly, but it was very clear.”

Clearly, anyone who watched this scene would focus only on Kang Woo-jin. Yasuta was just a sacrifice. However, Director Kyotaro, as a director, did not want such a form. A movie cannot succeed if only one actor stands out. The breathing of everyone was important.

So, not only Kang Woo-jin but also Yasuta had to awaken.

Then, the second signal for the same scene was given.

“Hi- Cue!”

Starting again from the beginning. Yasuta had improved with a bit of restraint, but he still did not meet Director Kyotaro’s expectations. Therefore, another NG. Re-action. The scene was repeated. When the NG came out again on the fourth take, Yasuta unknowingly sighed.

“Hoo.”

It was because it was dark.

‘What the hell is it? What’s the problem?’

His lines and emotions were not wrong. He had also changed his acting according to the director’s directions. But the result was the same. Gradually, darkness fell on Yasuta’s handsome face.

Pressure. And frustration.

A huge pressure was felt. He was told that he was lacking, but Yasuta could not grasp what it was. It was disgusting. It was not because of this situation.

‘……Am I this inadequate?’

It was because his own lack of ability was looming in his eyes. Yasuta took a slight deep breath. Then, he glanced at Director Kyotaro. The director was having a deep conversation with the key staff. ‘Did he call an emergency because of me?’

It was the fifth re-action since the first scene.

Filming a movie required momentum. But the first filming was stopped, and because of him. Yasuta, who was on the wooden boat, clenched his teeth without showing it.

Kang Woo-jin, who was on the same boat with him, watched him silently with a poker face. At the same time, he thought.

‘Sigh—he seems a bit out of breath? Is this guy okay?’

He felt a faint worry because he looked out of breath. Then, he spoke in low Japanese, assuming a tough stance.

“Ogimoto-san, take a little pause.”

“Yes?”

“A pause. Slowly.”

“……”

Woo-jin said it to tell Yasuta to regulate his breathing, and he also thought that the sea fog around the wooden boat was a problem.

‘They say it’s not good for your body if you inhale this stuff that’s sprayed by a machine.’

However, the handsome Yasuta suddenly realized something.

‘…A pause? Does he mean to give space between the lines? Is it too fast? To slow down the strong points and insert the character’s anguish?’

Soon, Yasuta looked back at his acting and asked Woo-jin.

“Was I too hasty?”

He was asking about his acting. Kang Woo-jin nodded with a cynical face.

“Yes, you are hasty.”

‘With your breathing, that is.’

Kang Woo-jin and Yasuta faced each other on the wooden boat. The distance was close, but for some reason, misunderstandings arose in their conversation. They were throwing words with different meanings, but there was no problem in communication. Woo-jin was silent, and Yasuta slowly lowered his head and admitted it.

‘Am I hasty? Well, Woo-jin-san has been watching me right in front of me, so what he says must be right.’

“Is that… so?”

Various emotions gradually rose in him: a faint sense of loss, jealousy, and so on. On the other hand, Woo-jin put his hand on his chest and gestured slightly.

“Raise your head and take a deep breath. You’ll feel better.”

‘Is he telling me to calm down a bit? Not to be too overwhelmed by my current feelings?’ Yasuta unknowingly smiled slightly. The age difference wasn’t that big, but he was far behind the Korean actor’s composure.

“…Thank you.”

Soon, Yasuta, who had regained his composure, thought. To be exact, he retraced his acting.

‘Was I too eager to throw out my lines rather than my emotions? As if I was being chased by something…’

At this point, Director Kyotaro, who was watching the two on the monitor, tilted his head.

“Is Woo-jin-san… telling him something? No, I don’t think Woo-jin-san has that kind of personality. He’s a bit aloof.”

Five Japanese reporters, who were allowed to enter the set and were taking pictures of various parts of the set with large cameras hanging around their necks, were also whispering. The topic was, of course, Kang Woo-jin and Yasuta, who were talking on the wooden boat.

“They’re having a deep conversation?”

“It’s serious. I guess it’s because the first scene is getting longer. It’s already the fifth time, right? Director Kyotaro has only been calling for Yasuta, so it’s likely his problem.”

“…I hate to admit it, but honestly, it’s true that Kang Woo-jin crushed Yasuta with his acting. Yasuta is too ordinary. He has no unique characteristics.”

“Yeah, I’ve only been noticing Kang Woo-jin throughout the filming. So, was that deep conversation Kang Woo-jin giving some acting advice?”

“But it wouldn’t be that soon. How long have they known each other? Besides, what kind of advice would a one-year veteran give to Yasuta?”

“Well, it doesn’t make sense that acting would change drastically just by listening to some advice.”

At the same time.

*Clap!*

The sound of the slate echoed from the set. It meant that the fifth filming had begun. As if to prove it, Director Kyotaro’s signal also rang out.

“Hi- Cue!!”

Kang Woo-jin and Yasuta began acting again. Of course, it was the same scene. Yasuta regained his senses. And he found Kang Woo-jin with a blank expression. Yasuta, who would have shown exaggerated gestures asking who he was, was different. It had been similar for the four takes.

But.

“……”

This time, Yasuta was clearly different. He looked at Kang Woo-jin as if in a daze, then looked around at the sea covered in sea fog. He also looked down at his bare feet.

He paused to think.

After fully feeling his senses and emotions, Yasuta’s pupils gradually dilated. It was then that Yasuta and Kang Woo-jin exchanged lines.

“It’s been a while, Ginzo.”

“Wh-who are you.”

The exclamation mark was missing from Ginzo’s tone. There was no exaggeration. On the other hand, a bizarre chill was attached. Director Kyotaro, who had been twitching his eyebrows and had his face glued to the monitor, clenched his fist tightly.

“Yes, that’s it. Ginzo has to start as if his soul has left him.”

Then, Director Kyotaro, who had paused, turned his gaze to the expressionless Kang Woo-jin on the monitor.

“Ogimoto-san’s 180-degree change in acting… did Woo-jin-san really give him some kind of advice?”

The reporters were also busy whispering, lowering their voices.

“Wh-what. Suddenly, Yasuta’s acting… is it like he cast a spell?”

The conclusion was, as expected, Kang Woo-jin.

“No, Kang Woo-jin must have told him something. I’m sure of it.”