If it had been the body owner, he would have been hurt even in this moment. But Hwi-gyeom only had that expression while inwardly lowering his evaluation of Ha-seok. Ha-seok also lacked consideration for others too much, just like the other guys.
“If he hits you again next time, tell me. I’ll turn that bastard’s face into a pulp.”
Would he really?
Hwi-gyeom didn’t believe Ha-seok’s words. If he knew what kind of person Seo-jin was, he’d definitely be careful too. Even though he looked like a gangster, Ha-seok was also a person running a sound business. Maybe he and Seo-jin even knew each other.
“Don’t you want to just receive sponsorship from me? Am I not enough?”
Ha-seok poked Hwi-gyeom’s cheek with his index finger and asked. Hwi-gyeom couldn’t answer readily and just fiddled with the script.
“……It’s not something I can decide on my own.”
Receiving sponsorship in the first place wasn’t the body owner’s will either. It was something Du-shik, who was money-hungry, had done on his own.
“Hmm. If that’s the case.”
Ha-seok backed off cleanly. Hwi-gyeom felt it once again. That he too only treated him as a toy like Seo-jin.
Suddenly he thought there was a long way to go. At this rate, even if he told them he wanted to escape from the agency president, there was a high possibility they wouldn’t even pretend to listen.
“I won’t bother you anymore. Read the script.”
Ha-seok said as if being greatly generous. Hwi-gyeom bowed his head and finally opened the script.
‘I fell in love with a murderer.’
The script that began with the male protagonist’s monologue had tremendous immersion from the very first scene.
A campus where rain drizzled down. A female student collapsed on the ground with her white t-shirt stained red with blood. And in front of her, the female protagonist Lee Seo-jin standing holding a blood-stained knife.
The role Hwi-gyeom would audition for tomorrow was precisely Cha Da-on, the male protagonist who witnessed that horrific scene. Yi-hyun wanted Hwi-gyeom to audition for the supporting male lead role, but Hwi-gyeom wanted to win the male protagonist role if possible. When he talked about this part, Yi-hyun showed reluctance but didn’t stop Hwi-gyeom.
The script only had episode 1. After reading it once from beginning to end without stopping, Hwi-gyeom finally noticed the prickling gaze touching his cheeks. When he slightly raised his head, Ha-seok was staring at him blankly with an expressionless face.
Ah, did I get too immersed?
Though he was only guilty of reading the script when told to read it, Ha-seok was a person who prioritized his own mood. His moods were severe too. He might have been offended that Hwi-gyeom got so absorbed in the script that he forgot his existence.
“……I’m sorry.”
Hwi-gyeom apologized first. But even so, Ha-seok didn’t say anything.
Is he really angry? How petty.
It seemed like only 30 minutes had passed, so he thought it was a bit too much. If he was bored waiting, he could have at least talked.
The reason Hwi-gyeom had been able to concentrate for quite a long time was because Ha-seok had also stayed quiet. If he’d talked to him, his concentration would have broken right away.
“Why apologize? Did baby do something wrong to me?”
Ha-seok finally opened his mouth. At the voice tinged with amusement, the tense atmosphere loosened somewhat. Hwi-gyeom held back the sigh he wanted to let out deeply. Making him read the mood then asking why he’s apologizing. How completely self-centered.
“……I thought you might have been bored alone.”
But he should still answer. When he forced himself to make up a reason, Ha-seok’s lips curved up in an arc.
“Mmm. Not at all. I didn’t even notice time passing while looking at baby’s face. You look even prettier outside. I didn’t know you’d catch the sunlight this well. I should have taken you out to play earlier.”
This face is quite attractive, isn’t it. It wasn’t simply pretty, but a beauty that transcended gender was contained in his delicate features.
“Then shall we get going? I’ll take you home. You have an audition tomorrow, so I shouldn’t take up more of your time.”
How unusual for him to say something normal. Though puzzled, Hwi-gyeom inwardly cheered. After reading the script, he wanted to properly memorize the lines and practice acting.
Ha-seok truly kept his promise. Though on the way taking him home, he continuously kneaded Hwi-gyeom’s buttocks in the car, the moment the car stopped in front of the officetel building, he cleanly removed his hands.
He almost felt a bit touched by the words wishing him well on his audition, but Hwi-gyeom chewed over not to forget what kind of person Ha-seok was as he got on the elevator.
***
The next morning.
Woken by the alarm ringing from his phone, Hwi-gyeom rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned. After brushing his teeth, he opened the refrigerator and seeing it completely empty, he only took out a water bottle.
About to drink cold water, thinking it wouldn’t be good for his throat, he boiled water in the coffee pot. Rummaging through the cupboard, he saw green tea bags so he also took out a mug.
Holding the mug with steam rising from it, he went to the sofa. On the table lay the script that had become tattered in just one day.
While sipping tea cooled by blowing on it, he opened the script. With highlighter and pen, he’d drawn lines not only next to the male protagonist’s lines but also next to the female protagonist’s and supporting characters’ lines and written memos.
When to pause breathing, how to handle eye direction, what the psychology of the character saying this line is. Scenes where emotions intensified were marked with thick pen circles overlapping several times.
It wasn’t just the male protagonist’s lines. Hwi-gyeom had memorized the counterpart’s lines in their entirety too. Unless it was solo acting, chemistry with the partner was truly important too.
As a result, before he knew it, all the scenes of episode 1 were contained in Hwi-gyeom’s head. As if he’d already filmed it, just reading one line made related scenes come to mind one after another.
His whole body itched wanting to hurry and act. After taking a sip of warm tea, Hwi-gyeom recited lines while looking at the air.
“I…… fell in love with a murderer. People suspected her, the police pointed to her, and even I wavered in that moment.”
This line would probably be inserted as narration if they actually filmed the drama. It was a scene where he had to express emotion only with his voice, not facial acting.
If he showed too much emotion, it would look tacky, and if he was too dry, the emotional line wouldn’t be conveyed properly. He had to convey emotion through each word, each breath. It was a scene where restrained emotional expression was important.
It was difficult acting for a rookie, but Hwi-gyeom was confident. When he was dying in the hospital, what kept Hwi-gyeom going was acting.
If he hadn’t been able to practice acting, Hwi-gyeom might not have endured and might have gone up to the hospital rooftop and thrown himself off. Because he was suffocated by the lonely hospital life with not a single visitor and the mounting pressure of daily hospital bills.
But only when he was acting could he escape his miserable reality. Becoming someone else and living that person’s life was truly fascinating. Back then, there was no role Hwi-gyeom hadn’t tried. He obtained every script collection he could find online or offline and practiced every single day.
Later, the people in the same hospital room would applaud Hwi-gyeom’s one-man acting performances. Since it was a room with only critically ill patients, a gloomy atmosphere always pervaded, but Hwi-gyeom’s acting passion brought smiles not only to himself but to those around him as well.
As the audition time approached, his palms began to sweat. So he ended up skipping lunch. He felt like he would get indigestion no matter what he ate, so he only drank a cup of tea all day.
Around 3 PM, Hwi-gyeom carefully bathed and found the neatest clothes from his wardrobe to wear.
“Do mediocrely at the audition and come back”
It was while he was checking his outfit in the mirror. A text came from Du-shik. The word “mediocrely” caught his eye. Rather than cheering him to do well, the content seemed to hope for his failure, making Hwi-gyeom sneer.
Du-shik probably didn’t know. What level Hwi-gyeom’s acting skills were at now. While it wasn’t method-level acting, he had never heard anywhere that he couldn’t act.
Since Du-shik was praying for him to fail the audition, naturally he didn’t provide Hwi-gyeom with vehicle support either. Even though he gained many benefits from working Hwi-gyeom like a slave, looking at what he did, he was truly vicious.
He left home early to avoid overlapping with rush hour. He took the bus and subway and arrived in front of the building where the audition was being held. He had searched in advance and found there was a cafe near the building, so he planned to look at the script there and then go in at the right time.
Why are there so many people?
But there wasn’t a single seat available in the cafe. Unfortunately, the place where the audition was being held was in a residential area, so this was the only cafe nearby.
As Hwi-gyeom stood in front of the cafe hesitating without readily going in, people’s gazes converged on him. Currently, all the customers inside the cafe were women. Feeling the fervent stares, Hwi-gyeom gave an awkward smile.
It was when he was about to search for another cafe, having no choice. It was because there was too much time left to just stand and wait.
“Um, excuse me.”
