Life, Once Again!

After Story 111

Three runs — it was not a lot compared to the number of rehearsals they had until now. Just how different could they become in those three runs? — she had that suspicion at first.

“Although nowadays, acting in a play and acting in front of a camera has become a lot more similar, in terms of the scale of your actions, it is definitely a lot more exaggerated in plays. Of course, I am sure you are all aware of this already, but sometimes, you forget about it when you act. That’s why, I think it’ll be better if you use your arms a little more in this scene, Mr. Youngjin.”

Maru reached his arms out and said a line. He was like a refrigerator full of ingredients: he easily displayed various emotions like he was able to cook anything.

Youngjin, who received the advice, changed his ways slightly. Even from a glance, she could tell that it was better than before.

“Let’s continue,” Maru said, stepping aside.

The actors looked like they would believe whatever came out of Maru’s mouth now.

Jungah wrote down the things Maru said in a notebook. She was more fervent than ever. This was the first time she felt nervous that she was going to miss a word. She was originally going to use her phone to record it, but her phone’s recording features weren’t that good and were unable to capture what was going on on the stage. The only thing she could rely on were her highly functional ears and her skilled hands.

“Joohwan, come in.”

Joohwan left the curtain at Maru’s gesture, his hand still locked with Sinhye’s.

In the first run, the two of them were uncomfortable and awkward when acting in that position, but now, they acted freely as though they forgot about the person next to them.

“I told you I wished the village chief would die, but I didn’t kill him. Everyone thinks like that from time to time, don’t they? I mean, people wouldn’t actually kill based on that alone. Please use common sense. You aren’t monkeys.”

Even Joohwan’s acting, which she considered to be perfect and couldn’t be improved upon, had seen some changes. His presence, which always felt like the leading character, became fainter. He was melting into the performance. The harmony between the actors was brought out.

It was a slight pity since the actor that was the symbol of the play was being put behind a veil, but in terms of completion, this was much better.

“What do you want me to do!” Maru shouted as he stomped his feet. This time, he was acting as the college girl.

He instantly switched into the character and acted, but he didn’t look out of place. In fact, he looked more fitting than her friends who had analyzed the characters for months.

As he had promised, Maru showed about two different acts. This was multiple times more difficult than explaining it through abstract words.

Jungah imagined herself going up on stage and explaining and acting like Maru did. She soon shook her head. Even imagining it made her exhausted.

Analyzing a dozen characters in a short period of time and showing each off as an act was not something anyone could do. When Maru was asked a question, he asked them to give him some time to think and came up with a response about ten-something minutes later. He was unstoppable.

The faces of her friends who got an answer from him became brighter without exception. They looked like they found their lost wallets from underneath the drawer.

“Repeating yourselves until you can reflexively display the performance is something you naturally have to do. You can’t think about acting without proficiency. However, if you stop there, you will never become a good actor. Keep thinking. Think and ponder. Question a character’s actions and look into what that signifies. Directors and writers recognize the actors who do that well. Personas don’t appear due to coincidence.”

She had heard similar words in many lectures during college. However, those words were just piled up in a corner of her head as knowledge, just like bricks piled up in a corner of a construction zone.

Maru’s words, however, were different. They weren’t inorganic objects, but creatures that might pop out anywhere at any moment. It was insufficient to just accept them as they were. They had to grab onto it with all of their minds.

Think and ponder — those words drove her into a rather frustrating, yet still enjoyable worry.

For the first time, Jungah regretted taking charge of the production. She wanted to be on the stage and receive advice from Maru like the others. If that was possible, she would be able to better her acting skills.

She slapped her left cheek to get herself together. This wasn’t the time to be drenched in regret. Maru’s lips hadn’t stopped. She had to be moving her hands right now.

The things she wrote down in her notebook today would become a guidepost in leading this play in the future. Perhaps it might become a legendary legacy that was passed down through generations of her major.

“I think that should be enough. All that’s left now is to assimilate the things you have heard with your body. Let’s do it one last time. I won’t stop you midway, so do everything to your heart’s content. As long as you don’t mirror the advice I have given you, anything’s fine. Combine the fragments and build up what has collapsed. Once you’re done with that, this performance will become much better than it is now. Some of you might be able to find your character.”

Maru came down from the stage. Jungah exercised her sore wrists and put down her pen.

“Great work. And thank you,” Jungah said to Maru, who sat down next to her.

“It’s still too early to thank me. There’s a lot of work for you to do from now on.”

“Me? I think most of the problems are solved. Is there anything I have to do?”

“There’s the most important thing left.”

The actors on stage got behind the curtains. The play was going to start soon.

“Joohwan is a smart kid. He only grumbled like a child because he came across a difficult problem for the first time in his life. I’m sure you can tell from his acting, but he now knows what the problem is, and he has found a solution himself. You can see that the play is becoming more harmonized, can’t you?”

“Yes. It has become surprisingly good.”

“You know why that is too, right?”

Jungah clutched her notebook slightly and said, “He’s no longer eye-catching.”

“Yes. If this was a drama or a movie, the character balance can be maintained through the power of editing, but that’s not possible with a staged play. Joohwan quickly realized the problem and shirked back to reduce his presence.”

Maru pointed at Joohwan, who slightly poked his head out of the curtain.

“Joohwan is a desirable-looking ripe apple. An apple you can tell is good from looking at it. Compared to him, the other actors aren’t as ready. They aren’t fully ripe yet. Had this been a play that was focused on Joohwan, there shouldn’t have been any problems. However, his portion in this play is so-so at best.”

“So Joohwan must be lowering himself to be equal to the others.”

Maru nodded.

“This is his first time putting together a stage and performing with his peers, right? And one where he isn’t the lead character.”

“Yes, this is practically the first time.”

“That’s why there was some trouble. Of course, that has become better now. However, just because one of the apples in the basket is deliciously ripe, is it the right thing to remove that from the rest? Is it really the right thing to do to lower one’s capability for the sake of the whole?”

“I don’t think that’s right.”

“Now you see what you have to do, don’t you? Raise the basic skill level of actors other than Joohwan. When are you putting on the performance?”

“Next month.”

“So there’s about a month left. If you want to raise the overall completeness of the play, you’re going to have to think a lot with the other actors. It’s probably going to be difficult.”

Jungah looked at Maru. She could say with confidence that these three hours of practice they had with Maru were more helpful to the actors than what they did for the past few weeks. If Maru was in charge of directing this whole play, she felt like they could get through any kind of storm with ease.

It was just as she was about to ask him about it that Maru spoke,

“I’m only helping you today. Students have more to gain from student plays when they do it by themselves.”

Maru brought it up first as though he had read her mind.

Jungah put on an awkward expression.

“You’ve done well until now, so please hold on a little more.”

“Will I be able to do well from now on?”

“You will have to. There’s no other way.”

“That’s a lot of pressure.”

“It’s just what it means to be in charge of directing. You should buy some stomach medicine from the local pharmacy.”

Really, she felt like she needed some stomach medicine.

“When did you get so much experience with acting on stage?”

“I had the opportunity to do that in various places.”

That was a rather peculiar answer. It was also the first question that Maru avoided answering. She felt like it would not be polite to ask anymore and stayed silent.

“Please look after Joohwan a lot. He will never cause a problem if there’s someone to watch him by his side. He’s also going to grow at a frightening pace. Raise him to be a good actor.”

“I don’t think he’s someone I can handle.”

“That may be the case if you look at him as an actor. But, the person known as Park Joohwan seems to be heavily reliant on you, Miss Jungah.”

“Do you really think so?”

“If it’s truly too much for you to handle, just give him a slight push on the back when he falters. He’ll start running again in no time.”

Unlike how harsh he was to Joohwan before, Maru’s eyes were filled with kindness.

“You seem to be quite fond of him?”

“He’s a good fellow. He’s not someone who has blind faith in his talent either. I like people like him.”

“And it would be great if you could be here to give him advice.”

“As I said before, this will be the last one. The next time I come here is to watch a play.”

“I’m just saying. It’s such a pity.”

Jungah shut her mouth and looked forward. The play was about to begin.

* * *

“My dad is a producer at a TV station, and he has been one ever since I was born. When I was young, I thought all the dramas on TV were created by him. And maybe because of that, I caused a fuss saying I wanted to become an actress. When I grew up, I found out that dad had nothing to do with the drama department. Although it’s a bit of a pity, what could I do? I had already taken a liking to acting by then.” Sinhye let out a long sigh. Her breath was mixed with a strong smell of alcohol.

Maru looked around him. Most people had become drunk and passed out.

The first one to have passed out on the stage was Joohwan. He could only handle a glass of beer and a glass of soju. That was it.

This drinking occasion, which just consisted of endless drinking without any games, kept producing one victim after another. Jungah said that she was in charge of taking care of the aftermath and didn’t drink a sip.

As a result, the only ones conscious other than Maru were four people, with Sinhye being the only chatterbox.

“Senior, you are going to come again, right?”

“I’ll be here to watch it when you perform.”

“Gosh, don’t say that, and help us out from time to time. Please?”

“No.”

“You’re so cold.”

“I get that a lot.”

Maru grabbed a rolling bottle and put it upright. It looked like they should wrap things up now.

“You should go back now. I’ll take care of the others,” Jungah said.

Sinhye, who was muttering all this while, also lowered her head as though she was excited.

“Take good care.”

“This isn’t the first time this happened, so I’m used to it. Sorry I can’t see you out. They might cause trouble if I’m not here.”

Maru smiled and went down the stage.

“I had a lot of fun today. Call me next time when you perform. I’ll definitely come watch.”

“Yes. I’ll call you about it. And thank you. I think we’ll be able to put on a good performance thanks to you.”

Sinhye, who was nodding off, suddenly raised her head before crying and telling him not to go.

Maru quickly finished off his goodbyes and left the place.

He stayed for too long, and it was already going past 10.

“It’s a good age to enjoy.”

Maru looked at the theater before turning around.

* * *

“Ugh, my head.”

Sinhye sat at the table while sniffling. Her father, who was preparing breakfast, gave her a cup of cold water.

“Way to go, girl. The only thing you got better at in college is drinking, isn’t it?”

“Must you say that when your daughter is suffering so much?”

“Of course I have to. My fully grown daughter was crying while asking to open the door. What do you think a parent would feel after seeing that?”

“That’s because I take after you, dad. You’re always drunk when you come back from planning, looking for mom.”

“Attagirl.”

Sinhye drank the cold water and asked,

“But hey, how come you’re making breakfast today? Didn’t you say you were busy preparing a documentary?”

“My ignorant daughter. That was three months ago. The editing is all done, and all that’s left is the dubbing.”

“Your work is going to be on TV, huh? What is it about this time? Last time it was about bees. I wish it was about penguins this time.”

Her father chuckled before sitting down.

“This time, it’s not about animals, but people.”

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