I waited for PD Lee Woo-seok's 'shoot' signal, but strangely he didn't raise his hand from behind the camera.
His eyes stayed fixed on the monitor, his expression faintly furrowed.
It wasn't a simple technical problem. It was the face of someone sunk in thought.
'...Why did he stop?'
He walked over slowly and stood in front of me.
"Eun-yul."
His voice was low but strangely sharp.
"Your expression right now... it's a bit different from the script."
I flinched slightly at that.
Honestly, the Yoo Dae-yeong the PD had first laid out was a little distant from my own interpretation.
But that was purely my personal thinking, and I couldn't conclude that a man with his field experience was wrong.
So, trying not to look needlessly stubborn, I only steadied my breath carefully and waited for his next words.
"But... strangely, there's a feeling of being overwhelmed."
Seeming to think for a moment, PD Lee Woo-seok continued.
"If it were Yoo Dae-yeong, what emotion would be right?"
It was a sudden question. Normally the PD lays out the direction, and here he was asking for my opinion instead.
I lowered my eyes slightly and sorted out my thoughts.
"He's blunt normally, but this time I think the emotion should show a little more."
PD Lee Woo-seok looked at me for a while without speaking.
A weighty sympathy passed through his eyes, as though he were chewing over my words and nodding along.
Feeling that gaze, I added my thoughts without holding back.
"Not pouring the emotion out as it is... he has to press it down and hold it in. I think that restraint will land deeper."
The PD's gaze bored deep into my eyes.
A brief silence ran, and then he nodded as if he'd decided something.
"Good. Let's go the way you said."
A short, solid sentence.
In that instant, a strange tension and anticipation filled my chest at once.
This wouldn't be simply executing a script. It felt like it would be a scene the PD and I created together.
"You ready?"
"Yes."
At last it dropped from his mouth.
"Action!"
At PD Lee Woo-seok's signal, the shooting began.
The road home after finishing a convenience store shift. The cold night air seemed to take a little of the long day's fatigue away.
But then, from inside a narrow alley, the sound of a man and a woman quarreling reached me. The content of it wasn't ordinary.
Just as I was thinking 'should I report this?', the woman shoved the man aside and walked quickly out of the alley.
When she came toward me, I realized the woman was Su-hyeon.
Her eyes met mine for a second, and anger and sorrow were mixed in that look.
But she turned her gaze away at once and passed me by.
'Tears......'
Even seeing her tears, I couldn't take any action.
But her boyfriend didn't just let her go. Right in front of me, he grabbed Su-hyeon's arm roughly.
"Hey, you look cheap at a glance, so don't act expensive. Putting on airs when you don't even have parents......"
The moment that man's words drove into my ears, something detonated inside me. Rage boiled up from my chest and carried all the way to my fist.
There was no reason to hesitate any longer. I clenched my fist and struck the man down, and he went sprawling on the ground.
Looking down at him, I held my emotion back as hard as I could and spoke in a cold voice.
"Hey, you run your mouth just because you've got one? Watch what you say, you bastard."
It was the first time I'd hit anyone. My arm was trembling faintly, and because I didn't want that tremble seen, I clenched my fist tight.
"Cut!! That was good!"
PD Lee Woo-seok called out to me with a bright expression.
"The delivery was excellent, and the slight tremble in the arm is good. Let's shoot this part again with a different angle."
PD Lee Woo-seok changed the camera position and shot the same scene several more times.
After a few rounds of monitoring, PD Lee Woo-seok said, seemingly satisfied, that they should wrap.
"Mm~ good. Shall we start packing up?"
I heard PD Lee Woo-seok's satisfied voice. But a feeling of reluctance to end it here remained in my chest.
I...
No, Yoo Dae-yeong wanted to talk with Su-hyeon a little more.
That inexplicable emotion was lodged in my chest.
'It's frustrating...... I don't want it to end like this......'
As a supporting actor it was hard for me to speak up rashly, and just as I was about to let it go, someone behind me asked,
"Woo-seok, looks like that actor has something he wants to say?"
PD Lee Woo-seok and I both turned toward the voice in surprise.
'Director Na Han-seok!? Why is he here?'
Director Na Han-seok is a master of the domestic action film world.
His debut work drew attention with an invitation to Cannes, and with 'Black Shadow' and 'Heart of Iron' he swept the Baeksang and the Blue Dragon at once.
A director who reads an actor's eyes before the actor does, and wakes the ability sleeping inside them. A man who draws acting out like breath.
And he was here.
'Does he have some connection with PD Lee Woo-seok...?'
He greeted the surrounding staff a little sheepishly, then continued his conversation with PD Lee Woo-seok.
"Huh? Hyung-nim, I told you to go straight to the dinner."
"Hey, they're not even my actors, what am I supposed to do there by myself? I came to see you."
"You've gotten good at lying."
PD Lee Woo-seok spoke as if certain Director Na Han-seok had come with some intention.
Director Na Han-seok seemed thrown, laughing awkwardly and touching his beard. Then he turned his eyes to me and hurriedly changed the subject.
"Anyway, looks like the actor in front of us has something he wants to say?"
Director Na Han-seok and PD Lee Woo-seok both looked at me. I hesitated for a second, but in the end I opened my mouth.
"Um...... Actually......"
This scene was the one where the relationship between Yoo Dae-yeong and Su-hyeon reaches a turning point.
From here the two of them grow gradually closer and become close friends, and I said honestly that I felt the depiction of that turning point was a little thin.
PD Lee Woo-seok nodded a moment, seeming to think something over.
The truth is, I know and PD Lee Woo-seok knows. What viewers look forward to are the lead actors' scenes, not a supporting actor's.
Which was why I was careful.
"So, what would you like to do about it?"
Director Na Han-seok asked as if intrigued.
I sank into thought for a moment, then carefully spoke.
"What if one more scene like this went in before it?"
At that PD Lee Woo-seok reacted far more positively than I'd expected, and Director Na Han-seok nodded and added his agreement.
"Thank you. I was worried I'd said something out of turn for nothing."
At that PD Lee Woo-seok said with a laugh,
"No, I like it. Give me opinions like that anytime. Hearing them and adjusting is the director's role."
At those words Director Na Han-seok snickered and nodded as well.
And so an additional scene was decided.
"Ready~ action!"
Under an orange streetlight, in front of a gate belonging to who knows whose house.
Su-hyeon and I were crouched side by side.
The awkwardness between us was obvious, but even that silence was strangely comfortable.
"You can't even fight, so why did you hit someone?"
Su-hyeon's voice was blunt, but there was worry soaked into it.
"I was going for mutual assault."
I answered in the same tone. Short and solid.
"What?! So you got hit on purpose?"
I nodded without a word.
At that ridiculous answer, Su-hyeon looked at me as if dumbfounded.
And then she smiled brightly.
A light, clear laugh.
Inside that laugh were the memories of our childhood together at the orphanage.
The times we laughed, holding hands and messing around.
One small snack shared between us.
The nights we shared secrets.
But as we became adults we avoided each other, and drifted apart, and the time at the orphanage hardened into feelings that could be a wound to the other person.
Which made it harder to approach. I was afraid of that distance becoming familiar.
But right now, with this one short laugh, all of those tangled feelings dissolved.
Not the unreasonable memories that the label 'orphanage' had given us, nor the past I'd forced myself to look away from, but one memory from those days that had simply been good, surfacing again.
Su-hyeon and I both seemed to have gone back a little to that childhood time.
We were becoming friends again.
'Without words, with only a laugh......'
Just as that quiet emotional line was running on naturally, PD Lee Woo-seok's voice came from a distance.
"......Cut!"
A call that came a beat late.
Which meant he'd been that absorbed, and that satisfied.
PD Lee Woo-seok was smiling proudly in front of the monitor.
Arms folded, he nodded and looked around at the staff.
"Good...... That emotional line just now......"
The camera director followed with,
"Wow... that came out really beautifully, didn't it? The lighting was perfect and both their faces were alive."
A lighting staffer quietly applauded.
Su-hyeon and I looked at each other without a word and gave a small laugh.
Her laugh was a little more real than the one in the scene we'd just shot.
The air on the set changed, softer.
With this scene, it felt like an important beginning had opened for Yoo Dae-yeong and Eo Su-hyeon.
And everyone was feeling it.
"All right—! Let's go eat!"
***
PD Lee Woo-seok's cheerful voice rang out, and laughter broke out all over the restaurant.
Staff and actors alike let their tension go for the first time in a while and gathered in twos and threes.
The dinner turned warm and lively faster than expected.
People who hadn't even known each other's names got comfortable in one stroke, and some were busy passing drinks around while others grilled meat.
Su-hyeon was thoroughly soaked in that mood too, and I laughed freely for the first time in a long while myself.
And that day—
Around the time the dinner was winding down, dizzy with the alcohol, I was propping my chin on the table and smiling blankly.
Just then, someone came over beside me and spoke.
The voice was low and quiet, but strangely it came through clearly.
"Hey, did you hear? PD Lee Woo-seok and Director Na Han-seok... apparently talked about you a lot. Said your acting is good. Said you have good eyes."
I turned my head, but I don't remember who said it.
Too many faces, too many glasses, and an atmosphere that was far too warm.
The words felt like something out of a dream, but that short sentence stayed with me strangely long.
Quietly, very slowly.
***
PD Lee Woo-seok and Director Na Han-seok were talking as they walked slowly toward the dinner venue.
Director Na Han-seok was the person who had helped enormously when PD Lee Woo-seok made the switch from variety to drama, and over many projects together they'd built the friendship of longtime colleagues.
"I hear from people around that you butted heads with the investor a bit at first?"
Director Na Han-seok spoke first.
"Haha, yes. There was some friction. Word really does travel fast."
PD Lee Woo-seok answered with a laugh, and Director Na Han-seok went straight to the point.
"The reason that investor gave you a hard time, it was because of that actor Cha Eun-yul, wasn't it?"
PD Lee Woo-seok put his laugh away briefly and nodded.
"Yes, you've heard already. But it's fine now. After seeing Eun-yul's acting, that investor actually offered to raise his investment if we'd increase the boy's screen time."
"Is that so? Impressive."
Director Na Han-seok nodded as if it were unexpected, intrigued.
"He's definitely good. You can't tell there was a five-year gap."
PD Lee Woo-seok seemed to be acknowledging Cha Eun-yul's ability sincerely.
Director Na Han-seok nodded in agreement.
"Hm... his character analysis ability looked outstanding too, certainly."
After hesitating a moment, PD Lee Woo-seok asked with a light laugh,
"So what kind of actor are you looking for?"
At that Director Na Han-seok flinched slightly, but soon wore a thoughtful expression and said,
"An actor who's good but still isn't widely known."
Director Na Han-seok answered in a serious voice.
PD Lee Woo-seok looked puzzled.
"Why? Usually using a famous actor helps with promotion and is better, isn't it?"
Director Na Han-seok smiled and shook his head.
"The role I'm looking to fill this time is a monster of a person... so the less known the actor's face is, the more impact it has on the audience."
PD Lee Woo-seok nodded, understanding now.
"I see. But for a monster, wouldn't an actor with a scarier face be better?"
Director Na Han-seok grinned and answered,
"That's the twist point of this project. A likable face, a kind person, and when someone like that delivers the reversal later, the shock is that much greater."
"Oh...... Of course......"
PD Lee Woo-seok nodded, impressed.
A reversal like that could certainly leave a powerful impression on an audience.
Director Na Han-seok kept up the easy conversation with PD Lee Woo-seok.
In the middle of it, a van pulled up in front of the set.
Eo Su-hyeon and Cha Eun-yul got out of the car with exhaustion on their faces.
Spotting the two directors standing side by side, the pair looked slightly tense and bowed at the same time.
"Hello!"
Their voices were clear, but a subtle tension had seeped into their stiff expressions.
Director Na Han-seok watched that quietly.
'They were laughing like children just a moment ago......'
In that instant, something flashed in Director Na Han-seok's head.
'A smile as pure as a child's, and if that face could act a cold, cruel expression......?'
Director Na Han-seok stopped speaking for a while, then muttered as though he'd fitted together the puzzle he'd been looking for.
"Hey...... Woo-seok......"
"Yes, hyung."
"When does Cha Eun-yul's shoot end?"
Director Na Han-seok wore a resolute expression, as if he'd made up his mind about something.