In This Life, I Will Die As An Actress, Not As A Villainess [EN]: Chapter 26

A few days later.

“Again, again!”

Teacher Yoon Young-jae stood with his hands on his hips, shouting like fire.

Following the experience center, this place is….

It was the practice room in the theater company building that Teacher Yoon Young-jae had been leading for 20 years.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try again.”

My body shrank involuntarily.

I stood right in front of the teacher again.

“Where did that smart look that persuaded me go, you rascal?”

The teacher threatened.

* * *

A modest company dinner.

We gathered at a pork belly restaurant with only a few people, including two actors and staff.

The sound of sizzling pork belly filled the table.

In fact, it was just nominally a company dinner, but I had coaxed my sister to ask the teacher to meet me.

It was after failing to contact him several times through texts and calls.

I poured the teacher some alcohol in a friendly manner.

The teacher, who had been quietly accepting the drink, raised the corner of his mouth.

“Sena, you’re a very transparent person.”

“Yes?”

To my question, the teacher smiled without saying anything and drank the alcohol.

Damn it, I got caught.

Is this what life experience is like?

I exchanged glances with Min-young unnie [older sister or female friend].

If so, then let’s go with the frontal approach.

First, I picked up my chopsticks and started putting meat in my mouth.

As we ate meat and drank alcohol, and the atmosphere ripened….

I carefully watched and opened my mouth.

“Um, Teacher.”

The teacher smiled and nodded as if he knew this was coming.

“I know it’s a nuisance to keep asking, but I need you so much.”

“Sena, I know the title, but I’m not a teacher. I’m just an actor.”

I paused at those words.

It was such a thorough rejection.

It didn’t feel like simple modesty, but words that came from genuinely thinking of himself as a lacking actor.

I was lost in thought for a moment.

And I answered.

“Even if you feel like just an actor… you’re already far ahead of juniors like me. I hope you, who always look ahead, will sometimes look back. At the juniors behind you.”

The teacher sighed softly at my words.

“Please help me, Teacher.”

The teacher scratched his head as if he was in trouble at my words.

“Why me of all people, Sena?”

“Your age, experience, career, and the vocalization honed through theater acting all seem suitable for practicing historical drama acting.”

“Goodness.”

Min-young unnie stared at the teacher’s face with great tension.

I was also sweating from the two hands folded on my lap.

“It’s going to be very difficult, are you okay with that?”

That’s it.

For a moment, I was so happy that I almost hugged the teacher.

“Of course! I will work hard!”

The people in the restaurant looked this way at my loud voice.

I smiled and high-fived Min-young unnie.

* * *

In the end, like this.

“The dialogue is terrible!”

Teacher Yoon Young-jae finally drew his sword, unable to resist the whims of his young junior.

However, it was more of a fiery hell than expected.

“The dialogue… is it?”

Combining my 40 years of life in my previous life, it was the first scolding I had ever heard in my combined 61 years of life.

The actors who were sitting around in the practice room today held their breath.

They were seniors who had come to watch the practice of the new actor at the direction of Teacher Yoon Young-jae.

It was similar to the pressure of enduring a kind of gaze.

Teacher Yoon Young-jae lowered his voice and asked again.

“Are you just going to imitate someone else’s lines?”

So, what exactly is that dialogue?

I didn’t understand what he was saying.

It was an unexpected ordeal.

Why, me, am I suddenly trapped in dialogue hell from the first day?

Something I only did at the academy where I first learned acting.

“You rascal. You’re just imitating it, right now.”

Imitating….

“Right now, your head is full of all sorts of miscellaneous dramas and movie scenes.”

At those words, I gasped as if I had been stabbed in the heart.

The teacher rolled up the script and tapped his chin with it.

“There’s no such thing as a historical drama tone.”

For a moment, I felt dazed as if I had been hit on the head.

“It’s not about lowering your voice, being calm, and using old-fashioned language. It’s about the beautiful Korean language that strictly adheres to pronunciation. That’s the key and the basics.”

It was a part that I had missed because I started my acting career in the 2010s and only did modern dramas.

The image of me sitting in front of the TV all night watching historical dramas unfolded in my head.

I suddenly felt ashamed.

It was my own effort, but the method was wrong….

How foolish.

I barely got this precious training opportunity….

One of the seniors who had been watching me lower my head broke the silence and laughed.

“Teacher. Are you going to catch a baby [scold someone severely]?”

I reflexively turned my head to look at the owner of the voice.

It was Senior Jang Hee-young, who had established herself as a talented actress, going back and forth between theater and drama for more than ten years.

The senior smiled kindly at my face.

White hair was sparsely mixed in with the senior’s short hair and beard.

Even that appearance… was overwhelming.

“The basics aren’t there at all. The most important thing is the basics, the basics. You have to become an actor and a human being who does the basics, in acting and in life.”

The teacher continued to speak without paying attention.

“Teacher – doing those basics is the most difficult thing in the world.”

The senior blocked the teacher’s scolding.

“Are you going to keep interrupting? Then you come out and share the lines with me.”

At those words, Senior Jang Hee-young made an “oops-” sound and got up.

Then, she picked up the script on the table, smiled playfully, and approached.

Soon, she read the script and lowered the corners of her mouth.

The senior instantly changed 180 degrees, staring at my two eyes with a very calm expression.

When I looked into the senior’s two eyes, my heart calmed down in an unknown way.

In the senior’s expression… what should I say, there was a sense of ease and understanding.

Understanding of the acting she would do in the future, and ease….

I stared blankly at the senior, and the senior opened her mouth.

“Sena. Shall we focus?”

“Yes, yes! I understand.”

I took a deep breath and repeated in my head.

‘Not a historical drama tone, but our language. Don’t imitate….’

* * *

The actors sitting against the practice room wall held their breath and watched Jang Hee-young and Han Sena.

Yoon Young-jae also leaned against one side of the wall and looked at Han Sena with sharp eyes.

The short scene where the two exchanged lines was a situation where the king, who had submitted the second answer sheet of the female lead at the past examination hall, became interested.

The beginning scene of the drama.

Jang Hee-young, who played the role of the king, opened his mouth.

“Reduce the privileges of the clear and important positions? Then wouldn’t the court become chaotic?”

Each word echoing in a calm and thick voice filled the practice room clearly.

Even in just two words, there was a sense of weight.

This time, Han Sena, who was kneeling in front of him, opened her mouth.

Her face still hadn’t completely lost its nervousness.

“Who are the current officials advising?”

“Are you trying to argue about my authority? How dare you.”

The king lowered his voice and threatened.

“I am trying to argue about their complacency.”

Han Sena said her lines, calmly lowered her head, and put down the script she was holding to the side.

“It is called advising to speak carefully. Those who used to make accusations with trivial faults, only to cloud Your Majesty’s peace, are now clamoring that every move of Your Majesty goes against the five relationships [the five basic Confucian relationships: ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and friend and friend].”

It was a criticism of the forces that were constantly finding fault because the king did not follow the will of the ambitious Queen Dowager.

Han Sena began to act without being overwhelmed by the king’s momentum, but without abandoning her manners, and with the appearance of an intellectual.

Some of the seniors who were watching the scene slightly raised the corners of their mouths.

‘She’s starting now.’

“They are appealing to the five relationships, but what about the three bonds [ruler and subject, father and son, and husband and wife]? Is blocking Your Majesty’s administration truly an attitude of serving the monarch? They are ignoring the three bonds because they have nothing to fear.”

Han Sena’s voice gradually gained strength.

The voice came from the lower abdomen in a heavy manner.

Jang Hee-young stroked his unkempt beard.

“If you truly want to bring out a clear voice, you must reduce their authority.”

Han Sena’s appeal was filled with a comfortable strength that had never been there before.

It was an acting where unnecessary strength was removed and necessary strength was added.

Han Sena was now sitting with a firm face, not a stiff one.

Meanwhile, Yoon Young-jae stroked his chin while watching the scene.

‘The more I look, the more amazing it is.’

He was lost in thought.

‘She’s not only better than her peers, but the shortcomings are definitely there, but they are to the extent that they can be fixed… and above all.’

Yoon Young-jae smiled slightly without showing it.

‘Her spirit is amazing. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a good person.’

* * *

Slowly, I raised my head.

Applause leaked from the side corner.

The seniors applauded.

Is it okay to receive applause…?

I looked at Teacher Yoon Young-jae with trembling eyes.

The teacher, who had been standing still, opened his mouth.

“It’s a mess.”

Phew-

I felt drained.

I sighed, forced a smile, and swept back my hair.

Then the teacher continued.

“But it’s better than before. Practice without resting, and let’s see each other again in the evening.”

After leaving those short words, the teacher left the place.

Uh….

My head went blank again.

“Good job, Sena.”

“If the teacher said that much, it’s a compliment.”

“Good poison? Huh? Rookie spirit is good-.”

The seniors sitting in the practice room threw a word each and headed for the door that the teacher had left through.

“Thank you.”

With a dazed face, I bowed my head one by one and said thank you.

When only the two of us were left in the practice room, Senior Jang Hee-young picked up the script and handed it to me.

“Sena, take it easy.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be rushed. Don’t just look at the shortcomings and things to fill, but also think about what Sena does well.”

Even though it was a short word, I felt sincerity in the advice that the senior gave me.

“Sena, you’re not like a rookie. You have spirit. The lines will improve if you practice. But parts like spirit are different. It’s not a part that can be done with practice like lines. Don’t throw away the parts you’re already good at like today at the audition.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

After leaving those words, the senior also left the practice room, leaving me dazed.

I stood there for a long time looking at the door…

Beep beep beep-.

The sound of the door lock opening came from outside.