Life, Once Again!

After Story 47

Maru leaned against the wall and looked at the script. He was given 10 minutes. While there was a script, it was closer to improvisation.

First, he excluded all emotions and read the lines. He looked in detail at what was happening, what emotions were being felt, and what event was going on. He analyzed all the information given through text and then read through it with emotion.

He intentionally shook his body in scenes where he was being mischievous, and he flinched backward in the scene where he was being chased by a killer.

Script reading was something that displayed the uniqueness of actors. He didn't find it satisfactory to say lines while standing still and frowning while looking at the script.

"Senior Kim likes two sticks of instant coffee in one cup, and as for our dear detective Choi, I put all of my love into one stick."

He winked as he said his line and even twisted his body slightly. He moved various parts of his body until he felt like the right feeling seeped in. He decided on the directionality of the cut and read the lines out loud until he could recite them subconsciously.

The other participants, who were swallowing their voices, started speaking out loud as well. They seemed to have belatedly realized that this was no time to be thinking about inconveniencing other people.

Maru decided to use a very slightly higher tone than usual for the beginning scene. It wouldn't strain his neck and it wouldn't sound off either.

Now that he had the beginning down, it was time to do the later part.

Maru started hopping on the spot, intending to shake off the mischief from his body. The scene where he threw around trivial jokes and the scene where he was driven to a corner by a killer and died was an assortment that could allow the judges to see two extremes of emotional acting.

Maru also used to ask audition participants to show a laughing act and a crying act. He did so in order to see whether the actor was capable of handling various emotions.

He stuffed himself into the corner and sat down. He couldn't just scream in the air so suddenly. He had to shout after a suitable consideration. From the text, the 'officer Park' he was acting did not go out to the field alone. He separated from his senior in the process of chasing down the killer and was murdered as a result of that. Even in his script, he looked for 'senior Kang'.

What would officer Park's feelings be like? He should still have a shred of relief remaining in the hope that his ally nearby would come soon. There should also be an attitude of 'there's no way I'd die, is there?' somewhere as well. Perhaps there was even a little bit of confidence that he had cornered the killer as well.

According to what was given to him, officer Park was a cheerful man who could laugh despite being nagged by his seniors. He might be a character who might bring out courage in the face of trial.

Now it was time for him to decide. Would officer Park get struck with fear from the start? Or would it be after he shouts?

He decided that the character would be stricken with fear after calling out to 'senior Kang.'

"Senior Kang! Senior Kang!"

If the script indicated that he should be stricken with fear when he said so, Maru would've followed it to the tee. However, the script only mentioned the situation and wrote down the lines. There was not even an ellipsis that could indicate some kind of intent from the writer. It might be an incomplete script, or it might be intentional on director Cha's part. Whatever the case may be, the script placed importance on the decision of the actor who received it.

He shouted in confidence. He had finally caught the killer. Senior Kang was nearby, so there was no problem. He even had the confidence to stall for time if the killer decided to attack. He took a step feeling like a cat who had caught a mouse.

Just then, the killer took out a knife. He flinched and looked around. This was a warehouse at the end of a dark alley. His sides were blocked off. There were only two choices: forward or backward.

Senior Kang wasn't here, and a sharp knife had entered his pupils. Something throbbed below his stomach. It was the fear that he had forgotten about until now. He suddenly recalled the obvious fact that people would die if they get stabbed.

"Senior Kang! Senior!" He took a step back.

The fear that had taken root in his stomach spread around his whole body in an instant. The muscles on the inside of his thighs became stiff, and his knees felt stiff as though he had walked up a skyscraper on foot. He had only chased after the killer with the sole thought that he would be able to arrest the killer as long as he caught up.

Fatigue assaulted him at once. He probed his own body, but he didn't have any weapons on hand. He had found the suspect while he was out to lunch after all.

Where are the reinforcements? Where's senior Kang? Wait, wasn't that guy faster than me at running?

The distance was shrinking. At this point, the knife looked bigger than the killer's face.

Facing off against an opponent armed with a knife was a shortcut to being KIA — he recalled senior Kang's joke.

Death. This man in front of him had already committed murder. He should not have any hesitations. He would approach and stab the stomach like putting a knife through a fish.

The sense of duty that he had to stop the killer was slashed apart by the blade. He only thought about escaping; about surviving. He moved sideways like a crab before stepping on something. He only realized as he fell over that it was a bottle.

No, No — he turned his body around with all of his energy. He put his hand on the ground to push himself up before slipping.

His body was being strange. His limbs were not listening to him like the first time he was learning military marches.

A sudden thought struck him: I'm showing my back to the criminal. He didn't have the courage to look back. Where should the criminal be? Right behind him? Or did he run away thinking that it was an opportunity?

There was silence. His rough breathing replaced all the noise in the world.

He turned around, very slowly. The killer was looking down at him, his clenched hand trembling.

He knew as soon as he saw that. The killer was trembling because of uncontrollable excitement.

The knife drew a straight line and stabbed into his stomach.

A knife that climbed up his chest was stuck in his throat. The sound that was supposed to escape through his mouth ended up escaping through his stomach.

He gasped and clutched his stomach. He cried before he could scream. He couldn't do anything else but that.

The moment he tried to tense his throat in order to shout, a mind-boggling pain climbed up his nerves.

It was just one strike. That one attack snapped all the nerves in his body.

He curled up to tense the muscles as much as possible and gasped like a dog. His breath circulated in his lungs. His mind was flashing in and out, and he lost his energy to flounder.

He took his hands off his stomach and calmed his breathing.

Maybe he went too far? Because he drove the character to the extreme, his actions were synchronized with the character. It wasn't a bad feeling, but there was a need to fix the way he turned around and crawled away.

It would be a lot easier if the way he died was specified. He didn't even have that, so he had to imagine the last moment.

He had experienced being stabbed so he knew where it hurt the most. Heck, not to mention being stabbed, he tried jumping off a roof, died from cancer, and even got crashed into by a car.

He knew better than anyone the methodology to express pain. What could be more realistic than actual experience?

He crossed his legs and started at the script. Just then, he realized that the shadows of the other participants that he could see on the floor were not moving at all. He raised his head. He made eye contact with the other participants.

Maru smiled awkwardly.

"That's enough, Mr. Maru. You can stop here," Director Cha said. The camera lens was directed at him. Maybe it was shooting him doing practice?

"It's not really organized since I was just practicing. I'd like to try that again."

"No. That's just the atmosphere I wanted to see. Let's have a look at the other things later."

He couldn't complain to a director who told him that it was enough. If it was over, then it was over.

"I mean to say that you're so good that I don't need to see anymore. Please don't misunderstand."

"Okay."

"Then let's start with the person to the far left. Don't be nervous."

The man in question replied curtly and stepped forward. Maru leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

* * *

Seungah retracted her gaze and looked at the camera. Director Cha gave her the signal.

“It’s not like there’s a clear solution. Even in this era, where people are giving up on many things just to make a living, it’s not like there’s a method other than trying hard. If I was destined to make my life better by winning a lottery, then I might as well have won it already. But that’s not what happened, so I can only work to death.”

She smiled with all of her might to show that she was okay. She also showed that she wasn’t a girl who would collapse from just this.

“Isn’t it easier to blame society rather than admitting your own deficiency?” director Cha responded to her words.

Seunah said ‘maybe’ before continuing, “Sometimes, I want to blame society. But realistically speaking, there’s nothing to gain from doing so. It’s not like just feeling a little better will make my rented apartment my own, and it’s not like my salary will rise either. It might sound like I’m obsessed with money, but what can you do about it? There’s nothing as honest as money among the things I saw.”

She almost hesitated midway because she couldn’t remember the words. Fortunately, her tongue did the work for her and uttered the lines. Muttering the lines for about 10 minutes was quite effective. She also maintained her emotions until the end without wavering.

She felt like she did better than the girl before her. She then changed the atmosphere a little and acted out the next scene. She didn’t make any mistakes this time either.

“You’re good,” said director Cha. He said those words to all applicants.

He did not have any specific requests or tell them anything he found disappointing. You’re good, you’ve done well — these were the only things he said.

Her mouth felt dry. She drank the remaining drink and looked to the left, looking at the only man who managed to bring out more than three words from the director. He was also the man who brought back the nervousness she had forgotten about. She didn’t know his surname, but his name seemed to be Maru? That’s what director Cha called him so it should be about right.

She recalled back to 40 minutes ago when they just started practicing after getting the script. Up until that point, she wasn’t nervous at all. Her teacher told her that she didn’t need to worry because she would be picked without a doubt, and she had the confidence as well. She had already tried acting as several minor characters with lines in other dramas as well.

However, the moment she saw that man move and say his lines, she felt a sense of wariness. At first, she thought that he was being an annoyance, like a new trainee who just shrieked but can’t even act properly, but when his emotions heightened and color started appearing in his acting, her thoughts changed entirely. That man had voiced just enough, and that voice had the power to make the imaginary into reality.

She would absolutely get picked thanks to her connections? She looked at the woman next to her. If that woman was as good as the man who was practicing officer Park right now, then she would lose the role. That was how good the man’s acting was. His skills in bringing the world inside the script into reality were something else.

Actually, it was rather embarrassing to act so naturally in front of people she had seen for the first time. That was why she muttered in a small voice, even if it meant muffling her words. She changed her mind when she saw the man acting with his whole body. That was when the audition venue turned noisy. One person managed to change everyone’s attitude.

“Let’s stop here for today. Please wait just a bit.” Director Cha left the room.

Seungah stood on tiptoes before coming down to shake off the residue from her acting. The atmosphere in the room became calm again, bringing about an awkward silence. She looked around the empty room for a while before approaching the man.

“You were really good back there.”

She tried talking to him.

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