The Face Genius Actor

Episode 087

In just one day, the entire street has become hell.

Raindrops strike my skin like needles, and I stop in place, shaking my head.

Because I simply can’t believe this situation.

“…So-jung.”

How long have I been standing like this?

After murmuring softly, I run madly towards the familiar body.

I trip over a rock midway but can’t stop moving.

I can still save her.

That’s what I think.

But what I embrace is So-jung’s cold corpse.

And another pitiful child, So-yoon, reaching out towards So-jung.

What sin did these children commit for heaven to pour rain on their cold bodies?

“So-jung… No. So-jung. So-jung.”

I shake So-jung’s body.

And I reach out to So-yoon.

I grab and shake So-yoon’s hand, which was reaching for So-jung, but there’s no response.

“Hey… What’s wrong? What’s going on? It’s me… I’m here. I’m right here.”

No answer when I plead, no answer when I beg.

I collapse in the mud and embrace both of their bodies.

These are corpses.

I think this, but I can’t believe it.

My head and heart are disconnected, continuously denying reality.

“No… This can’t be… Why…”

Now I cry out loud.

But I’m not ashamed.

If they hadn’t died, these children would have cried like this.

That’s all I can think.

I embrace the children and move towards a nearby tent.

Inside the tent, I see another body shot by a gun.

Someone who looks like family is pressing on the gunshot wound, but it’s useless.

So I continue moving towards the tent, still crying.

My tears and the rain choke my throat several times, but I keep moving.

I grip tightly and drag along the ground several times to avoid losing the two children’s bodies.

Now my whole body is covered in mud, but it can’t be helped.

It would be much simpler to move the children to the tent one by one.

But I can’t leave one child on the rainy ground.

Then the rain grows fiercer, and I embrace the two children once more to shield them from the rain.

And I swear.

“Uncle will kill them all for you.”

Caressing the children’s cheeks, I swear once more.

“Uncle will… kill them all.”

* * *

It was an empty conference room in a film production company.

But before my eyes, as if wearing a method mask, every situation unfolded vividly.

So I cried, crawled through the mud, and swore to the two children.

That I would kill them all.

That I would kill every last one of them.

I remained trapped in scene 89.

It felt like my emotions simply wouldn’t wake up.

That’s when someone touched my shoulder.

“That’s enough.”

It was Yoon Bok-gi’s line from scene 90.

I slowly turned my head towards Yoon Bok-gi.

But it wasn’t Yoon Bok-gi who had touched my shoulder.

“…Director?”

“Yes. It’s Kim Pil-sung. Wake up now, Actor Lee Si-joon.”

Only then did I feel my emotions gradually awakening.

Tears were still wetting my face, but the sunken feeling was disappearing.

“Ah. I’m sorry for my rudeness.”

“Here’s a tissue.”

“Thank you.”

I took the tissue from Kim Pil-sung and stood up.

My clothes were a mess from acting out crawling on the ground.

I thought it was fortunate I was wearing casual clothes.

If I had ruined sponsored clothes like this, Song Jin-ah would have been upset.

So I sat back down and gathered all my emotions.

Kim Pil-sung was quietly watching without saying a word.

‘What’s this? Was my acting not good?’

I had been confident until I started acting.

Because I realized scene 89 showed Kim Sung-yeon’s identity and had practiced it repeatedly.

It was also the scene I practiced the most after finishing filming “Let’s Live Together, Princess.”

So even though it wasn’t 100% perfect yet, I was confident I could act well enough to pass the audition.

‘But I got too immersed without realizing and overdid the emotions. Certainly, Director Kim Pil-sung might not like this aspect.’

Director Kim Pil-sung was a picky person.

He might not prefer emotions being exaggerated mindlessly, even in sad scenes.

Some scenes can feel sadder when emotions aren’t exaggerated, after all.

In that sense, I wasn’t satisfied with my acting just now.

And I thought I might receive harsh criticism from Director Kim Pil-sung.

Seeing Director Kim Pil-sung’s expressionless face, I became more certain of this thought.

‘Perhaps it’s not meant to be with Director Kim Pil-sung after all.’

I thought I had mostly moved on from the past.

But it seemed the frustration from back then still lingered faintly in my heart.

That’s how desperate I was.

‘I thought I’d finally be able to work with Director Kim Pil-sung this time.’

As I was feeling regretful with these thoughts, it happened.

“I’m sorry.”

Director Kim Pil-sung suddenly bowed his head.

I was taken aback because it was a completely unexpected reaction.

I hurriedly opened my mouth towards Director Kim Pil-sung.

“Ah, if it’s about the clothes, don’t worry. They’re just casual clothes.”

“My apology isn’t because of the clothes.”

“Could it be because I cried? Ah, that’s fine too. It was a scene where crying was natural, wasn’t it? I’m not wearing makeup that would smear either.”

“Apologizing in case the makeup smeared… Wait a minute. Did you really not wear any makeup? So this is your bare face?”

“Yes. Well. I didn’t have any other schedules after this today, so I didn’t get any makeup done.”

“And yet your face is… Ah, anyway, my apology wasn’t for that. It’s about the acting.”

Hearing Director Kim Pil-sung’s response, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Because of the acting?

Was my acting so terrible that he had to apologize?

I had gained quite a bit of confidence in my acting skills with the help of the method mask.

It seems I was mistaken.

“Ah… So, I failed.”

“What? What do you mean, failed?”

“You just said you apologized because of the acting…”

“Ah, no. I didn’t apologize because your acting was bad. I apologized because it was too good.”

“What?”

“It’s true. Actually, I had misunderstood you. I thought your acting might be a bit lacking because you’re so handsome. But watching your performance just now, I realized my mistake.”

I could roughly guess what kind of misunderstanding he had.

It was a common misconception.

Even so, Director Kim Pil-sung looked like he was about to prostrate himself in apology.

Director Kim Pil-sung grabbed my hand and continued speaking.

“It was a perfect Kim Sung-yeon. Not just the acting was perfect. Everything felt so real, it was as if it was actually raining here.”

“…Was it?”

“Even the positioning of the corpses was precise. I thought I should remember these positions for when we actually shoot. That’s how good it was.”

“…I see.”

“That’s why I felt so sorry. To have doubted someone who could portray Kim Sung-yeon so flawlessly. I’m truly sorry. If you want, I’ll even get on my knees.”

It seemed he wasn’t just threatening to prostrate himself, but was actually about to do it.

“…The knees won’t be necessary, but could you let go of my hand first?”

Only then did Director Kim Pil-sung startle and step back.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“It’s alright.”

An awkward silence fell between us for a moment.

I cleared my throat to break the silence.

Then I spoke.

“Anyway, thank you for the praise. I was actually worried that my acting might have been too emotionally excessive.”

“Excessive? Not at all. Rather, you captured the feeling of rising emotions well.”

“So, does this mean I’ll be joining ‘Escape’ as Kim Sung-yeon?”

“Yes, of course. I’m embarrassed, though. To have doubted your acting skills because of my preconceptions.”

Director Kim Pil-sung continued talking to himself after that.

If only he had looked into ‘Arrest’ or ‘I Will Cast Love’ when Ji Jung-hyun first recommended it to me.

If only he had paid attention when ‘Let’s Live Together, Princess’ was soaring in popularity.

If only he had looked up some YouTube videos out of curiosity when he decided on an audition yesterday.

He continued expressing his regret as if cutting to the bone.

I could deeply feel Director Kim Pil-sung’s remorse.

‘He must have thought my acting would be… quite bad.’

But I didn’t feel bad about Director Kim Pil-sung’s reaction.

Rather, I felt good.

Because I never thought Director Kim Pil-sung would acknowledge me to this extent.

So, Director Kim Pil-sung and I conversed in a warm atmosphere.

It was the moment my casting for ‘Escape’ was confirmed.

* * *

After agreeing to handle the paperwork through my agency, I parted ways with Director Kim Pil-sung.

Director Kim Pil-sung apologized until the very moment we parted.

He seemed to keep feeling guilty about doubting my acting skills and making me audition.

But I really didn’t mind at all.

“Huh? Actor, what’s wrong with your face?”

Even when Yeo Kyung-chan asked this, I just made up an excuse as I sat in the back seat.

“Ah, I’m just a bit tired.”

There was no need to mention that I had cried while acting.

Then Yeo Kyung-chan marveled.

“Wow. Our actor seems to look even more pure when tired. How is that possible?”

“Haha. Thank you for the compliment.”

“The conversation seemed to go on for quite a while. Nothing went wrong, right?”

“No. The casting was confirmed without any issues. Please let Team Leader Kim Bo-mi know.”

“I’ll do that. Then, shall we depart?”

Yeo Kyung-chan started the car and left the underground parking lot.

At the same time, I received a call from someone.

Checking my phone, it was Ji Jung-hyun, who had gone for an overseas photo shoot.

“Senior, I’ve answered the phone.”

-Yes. Did you meet the director well?

“Yes. I met him well and the casting was confirmed.”

-You must have had a hard time acting.

“Huh? How did you know?”

-The director seemed to doubt your skills, but couldn’t say anything because of me.

“Ah. You had a hunch. Don’t tell me… Did you use the overseas photo shoot as an excuse?”

-The overseas photo shoot is real. I just landed at Narita International Airport. Anyway, welcome to ‘Escape’.

“Thank you, senior.”

-I’ll call when I return to Korea, let’s meet then.

“Yes. I’ll be waiting for your call. Good luck with the shoot.”

With that, I ended the call with Ji Jung-hyun, and only then did it feel real that I had been cast in ‘Escape’.

There was nothing to worry about with Ji Jung-hyun, who I’d be acting alongside.

‘Director Kim Pil-sung seems to trust me too…’

Everything felt smooth.

At this point, I didn’t think for a moment that there would be any problems with the filming of ‘Escape’.