Life, Once Again!

After Story 157

Han Maru — Jungyeol thought about the name of the actor who played Gomchi as he watched the movie unfold. The devil that could kill a man without batting an eyelid if necessary put on the mask of a swindler and dragged Gomchi into his ploy.

The director portrayed information about the character known as Gomchi through a short conversation. He was a quick-to-punch boy when he was a student, and even when he grew up and entered a company, he couldn’t restrain his nature and got fired.

It was a common method used to describe a supporting-level character. These kinds of characters would usually be thrown away after being used as a plot device. It seemed that Gomchi was going to be the next one to die.

Jung Beomseok and Jung Gayoung also gathered in one spot as well. The four of them started preparing for the insurance scam.

As he had expected, the director did not waste any screen time showing the method of the scam. Instead, he kept showing what kind of things provoked the character that Kim Hyuk was acting. He made the audience learn that some words and some attitudes acted as a spell to wake up the murderer.

Whenever the team members uttered words that touched upon Kim Hyuk’s mood, he did not look at the center of the screen, but at Kim Hyuk who was at the edge. The ones conversing were definitely the members of the team, but his gaze couldn’t help but move toward Kim Hyuk, who was at the perimeter.

It was a smart production. The director was increasing the tension indirectly. He kept creating a situation where it wouldn’t be strange for someone to die at any moment.

Eventually, the moment of the large insurance scam arrived. It was a classic run-into-a-driving-car method to get insurance money.

The director’s intentions became even clearer with this. He had absolutely no intention to display a precisely devised mechanism or a puzzle.

The only thing that created a sense of tension was ‘Gyukho’, who was being played by Kim Hyuk.

Will Kim Hyuk make his move after the scam is successful? Or would it end in a failure, triggering some kind of change?

They then decided who would get hit by the car. Gomchi decided to be the one getting hit. Was that the end of that character? – Just as he thought so, the roles changed. Gomchi was the one driving, and Lee Dongsik, the character Jung Beomseok was playing, was the one that would get hit by a car.

Jung Beomseok was one of the main characters, so nothing bad would happen to him.

As he wondered about the director’s next move and focused on the screen, Jung Beomseok approached the car which had gained speed.

Just as he was thinking that something was not right, the camera frame shook along with a loud boom. The camera that always had a fixed angle was shaken for the first time.

He gulped down his breath when he heard Gomchi’s head smack the driving wheel.

Silence followed. His heart rate went up as though he was involved in a traffic accident.

The camera showed the side of Gomchi’s face. His delinquent face had been bleached pale.

His eyes shook like crazy, and his facial muscles stiffened up.

Jungyeol covered his mouth with a clenched fist. That acting was really detailed. In a situation without a single line, the actor was creating an extreme sense of reality based on facial expressions alone.

The camera angle changed. It was now outside the car. The tinted window, Gomchi’s shoulders, and Jung Beomseok, who was strewn across the road, were framed all at once.

Along with the rhythm of Gomchi’s breathing, his shoulders jerked up and down, the camera waved along with it.

The director was pulling the audience into the screen. The audience stood witness to the accident, not viewing it from Gomchi's perspective.

The camera no longer shot from Gomchi’s shoulders. It started showing everything from an objective point of view.

Gomchi opened the door.

The scene had not changed.

The way he slowly walked over to the corpse was captured from a fixed perspective. It did not follow Maru to get a close-up of the corpse or portray the scene so that Gomchi’s emotions were conveyed.

At a glance, it could be a boring structure. That was why, however, that he thought that it was a bold move.

It was nearly two minutes of a nearly uninterrupted, long take.

The acting was done by a new actor that he didn’t even know the name of. He might have gained some career experience elsewhere, but the fact that the director chose Han Maru instead of an actor who might shine if used properly, like Jung Beomseok, was surprising to him.

It meant that the actor had the full trust of the director, and Jungyeol wanted to applaud the director for his faith in the actor.

It was splendid. He had totally forgotten about Kim Hyuk, who was at the center of attention throughout the whole movie until now, and he could only see Gomchi, nay, Han Maru.

Just where did that actor pop out from? He knew how to speak with his face and with his body. And he didn’t stop there; he displayed the perfect example of it.

Perfect — Jungyeol never imagined that he would think of that word while watching this movie. He especially didn’t imagine that he would be so impressed by the acting of an actor he didn’t know before over Kim Hyuk.

He frowned when he watched Han Maru strangle Jung Beomseok, who was still alive.

It wouldn’t be strange even if the camera was turned around to show the expression of Gomchi who was doing the strangling, but the director decided to keep showing his back, as though that was enough.

When the impulsive murder ended, it started raining. Gomchi leaned against the car and clutched his face. Amidst the rain, Gomchi’s line could be heard.

-It’s done. It’s okay, it’s done.

The moment he heard that line, he bit his lips. It was a sense of catharsis from cruelty and sadism. They were words that stimulated the desire for violence that any person might harbor deep in their heart.

It was ultimately the truth that Kim Hyuk and Han Maru were disgusting evils. If it was reality, there wouldn’t be a need for sympathy or understanding. They were just evil men.

However, this was a movie. He could only witness the world created by the director and the actors.

Just where could the birth of this evil lead? — He couldn’t help but have such thoughts.

Kim Hyuk met with Han Maru, who came back with a corpse.

He realized that the camera angle had changed. Kim Hyuk, who always stayed on the edge after forming his team, was now in the middle with Han Maru.

It signified that Han Maru had been brought into the team as an equal entity, rather than a consumable.

He had to acknowledge director Lim’s senses in this. There wasn’t a single hint of the nonsensical mafia comedy. He had razed everything down and built everything anew. It didn’t look crude either and was rather well-balanced.

He was probably frighteningly well-coordinated with the camera director. Otherwise, this kind of outcome wouldn’t be possible.

Thanks to the camera tenaciously following the characters, the acting skills of the actors stood out. He also liked the use of intense lighting. The use of lights was so good that he wondered if it was the same director as before, who used lines to do everything. The two people were lit up differently as they climbed up a mountain to bury the corpse.

-What do I do now?

-It’s alright. It’s still okay.

Gomchi, who was trembling in unease, was submerged completely in darkness, and in contrast, Kim Hyuk’s face lit up from a key light, making the dark side and light side of his face clearly distinguishable.

Kim Hyuk’s left lip, which was on the light side, curved upwards. It was a blatant foreshadowing.

There probably wouldn’t be any complex plot points until the end of the movie. The director knew precisely what he had to show and what he had to refrain from doing.

For a while, they were shown to be quite successful and earning a lot of money.

Kim Hyuk did not change, but Gomchi did. His sense of guilt was weathered away in due time, and from time to time, he even uttered words that made him sound proud that he had committed murder before.

The moment there was the thick air of a murderer, which Jungyeol saw in other movies, around him, he realized that Gomchi’s death was not too far off.

The blatant lighting difference on the mountain did not keep staying as a MacGuffin.

Kim Hyuk’s knife clearly penetrated Gomchi’s stomach. It was simple, clean, and mechanical.

Gomchi collapsed while frothing blood and begging for help. His act was dirty and yet desperate.

If he internalized the emotions as much as possible in the accident scene, he was expressing everything.

It might feel forced if it was done too excessively, but Gomchi kept the line frighteningly well.

Jungyeol had never seen any actors who could act on that level at that age. If Kim Hyuk was the one leading the introductory part, the middle and later parts were jointly led by Kim Hyuk and Han Maru.

Comparing pure screen time, Jung Gayoung probably had more. However, the people who watch this movie would probably only remember Kim Hyuk and Han Maru at the end.

It wasn’t that Jung Gayoung was bad at acting. She did her part. It was just that the two men were overwhelming.

Personally, he liked Han Maru’s acting better out of the two. The shock was big because he didn’t have any expectations at all.

The movie ended with Jung Gayoung meeting her death, just as he had expected. The last scene was Kim Hyuk wearing a suit blending and disappearing into a crowd.

The moment the figure of Kim Hyuk could no longer be seen in the streets where many people walked by, the ending credits started rolling along with a song.

The lights turned on. He could hear exhales of breaths throughout the cinema. He also let out a breath that he had been holding back for a while.

The movie was definitely not one with an incredible plot progression. There wasn’t a plot twist that people of this country went crazy for, nor was it a heart-breaking soap opera.

It was a movie that was created purely through the power of production and the actors.

“Ha, geez.”

He rubbed his forehead. He ended up getting charmed by a simple movie.

Should this be called being faithful to the genre? Or should it be called baiting instead?

Tables started appearing on top of the stage. Large advert panels were also installed behind the table. The director and the actors started appearing one by one and each sat down on their chairs.

He rolled his eyes around. He first looked at the director who gave him a pleasant sense of betrayal then immediately looked for Han Maru. The actor sitting on the far left entered his eyes.

At first, he thought that it wasn’t Han Maru. He looked like a totally different person after losing some weight and growing out his hair. Although he had a sharp impression, he looked endlessly gentle when he smiled with a mic.

He was thinking that there was no way someone with such a face could shoot a romantic comedy, but right now, he was thinking that romcom might suit him better.

He acted Gomchi with a face like that, huh?

“We’ll now proceed to the Q&A session. Those of you who want to ask questions, please raise your hand. We’ll give you a mic.”

After a brief introduction of the cast, the journalists were given the mic.

He felt his mouth itch after a long time. He was dying to ask Han Maru where he had been this whole time.

“I’m Park Ohyoung from Cosmos. I have questions for director Lim, as well as actor Han Maru.”

“I’m Kim Serom from X-Movie. I really enjoyed the movie, and I’d like to ask something to actor Han Maru.”

“I’m Park Seoeun from Cinema Road. I have questions for the director and actor Han Maru.”

Everyone seemed to have similar impressions as the questions were focused on the director and the new actor. While the other actors received some questions as well, Han Maru received the most attention.

He could only get his hand on the mic after waving his arm in the air until his arm hurt.

“I’m Lee Jungyeol from Movie People.”

As soon as he introduced himself, director Lim spoke into the mic,

“Look who it is. Aren’t you the critic who despises my movies?”

His tone was befitting of director Lim. His personality of causing trouble on private occasions did not go anywhere.

“You have a good memory, director.”

“Of course I do. I can’t forget something like that. I’m sorry for interrupting, but let me ask this one thing: How was this movie?”

Director Lim smiled in confidence. While he wanted to throw sarcastic comments at that, he did not do so. What was good had to be said that it was good.

“It was good. Some of it was perfect.”

“Now that makes me feel refreshed. Please write something good this time.”

The director put down the mic.

He cleared his throat before speaking,

“I’m sure you must be tired after receiving so many questions, but I can’t help it either. I have a question for actor Han Maru.”

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