LS Ch 7

A week later, the actual filming began. Since this was a project where all episodes were filmed before broadcast, scenes weren’t shot in sequence but grouped by location. This meant that the scenes were out of order, making it challenging for actors to maintain the emotional thread of their characters.

“In this scene, ‘Haeyul’ doesn’t yet know that ‘Geonhwon’ is the emperor. He just thinks he’s one of the many princes. Being a hostage, ‘Haeyul’ is highly guarded but also has a sense of resignation. However, ‘Hwon’ begins to infiltrate that guarded heart. Yiwon, you need to show a completely different side when you’re ‘Hwon’. You must reveal the emotions you’ve bottled up for ten years as ‘Hwon’, which you couldn’t show as the emperor.”

The director explained in detail the emotions of the characters within the scene. Both actors had already familiarized themselves with the script, but they listened to the director’s explanation with seriousness.

For ‘Haeyul’, played by Jewoo, the emperor was the enemy who had conquered his country and forced his queen to commit suicide. However, ‘Geonhwon’, who approached him in disguise, became the only warmth in this strange land, turning into a friend with whom he could open up. ‘Haeyul’ had to harbor both hatred for the emperor and affection for ‘Geonhwon’.

Having to express completely opposite emotions towards the same person made it increasingly difficult to portray as the narrative unfolded. It would be a challenging role for a rookie actor to express those complex emotions in the latter half of the series. That’s why the production chose Han Jewoo. The director trusted that Jewoo could handle it effortlessly, and indeed, Jewoo managed his role smoothly from the first scene.

There were hardly any NGs. Any NGs in scenes with Jewoo were caused by other actors, not him.

“Being expressionless is different from being stiff. ‘Yeong’ isn’t emotionless; he’s just good at hiding his emotions.”

At the director’s critique, Yejun, a rookie actor, tensed up, his face turning pale.

“Yejun.”

Jewoo, who had been watching from the side, called out to him as he kept making mistakes. When Yejun turned around, looking very nervous, Jewoo gave him a comforting smile.

“It’s okay. It’s fine to make mistakes.”

At these soothing words, Yejun blinked.

“If you mess up, we can just reshoot. The director might nag a bit, but that shows he has expectations for you. So don’t feel pressured.”

“But I’m causing trouble for you, senior…”

Yejun felt guilty as they were already on their fifth take of the same scene.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m still adapting to my role, so repeating the shots helps me too.”

With Jewoo genuinely not minding, Yejun finally smiled faintly and nodded. After taking a deep breath to indicate he was ready, filming resumed. This time, his expression and delivery were noticeably better, allowing the director to breathe a sigh of relief.

The next scene only featured other actors, so Jewoo could sit in a chair set up on the side for a brief rest. The long hair covering his neck made him hot, so he had to keep fanning his face with a handheld fan. Other actors were in a similar situation.

“Period dramas are too much work.”

Actor Sihyeon, checking his flushed face in the mirror, grumbled.

“You get hot too, huh?”

He said, looking at Jewoo.

“It’s not just hot, I hate it. I prefer cold over heat.”

Jewoo shook his head in agreement. He and Sihyeon had worked together before on another project and, being the same age, they had become close. While they were exchanging small talk, Jewoo looked around.

“Looking for something?”

Sihyeon asked, finding Jewoo’s behavior odd.

“Kang Yiwon. Can’t see him.”

“He’s over there.”

Sihyeon pointed to a spot further away where Kang Yiwon was sitting alone on a folding chair behind the staff, looking over his script.

“Why is he sitting there by himself?”

“Who knows. There’s something about him that feels hard to approach. Not easy to get close to.”

Sihyeon shrugged in response.

“He seems kind of cold.”

Even Yejun added his two cents.

“That’s not true.”

Jewoo stood up and walked over to Kang Yiwon. As he got closer, Yiwon looked up, sensing his presence.

“It’s nice and cool over here.”

Jewoo pulled up a chair in front of him and sat down casually. Yiwon’s eyes followed Jewoo’s face. When their eyes met, Jewoo smiled first.

“Do you like being alone?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then you’re just shy.”

“…”

Jewoo stood up again, grabbed Yiwon’s arm, and pulled him up.

“Let’s go over there. Everyone wants to get to know you.”

With a cheerful face, Jewoo pulled Yiwon, who looked flustered but didn’t resist much.

“Yejun, can you bring one more chair?”

Returning to their spot, Jewoo asked Yejun, who looked back and forth between Jewoo and Yiwon before belatedly saying, “Yes,” and bringing over a chair from beside them. Jewoo sat Yiwon down and then sat next to him.

“You didn’t properly greet the other actors on the day of the script reading because you arrived late, right? You probably know all their names, but what about their ages…?”

Jewoo, who seemed about to explain everything, got stuck at the very beginning, causing Sihyeon, who was listening, to sigh as if he expected it.

“Yejun is probably a year younger than Yiwon. Jewoo and I are the same age.”

With Sihyeon’s explanation, it was Yejun, not Yiwon, who made a strange “Eek” sound.

“Senior, you’re really the same age as Sihyeon?”

“What’s with that reaction?”

When Sihyeon frowned, Yejun laughed awkwardly, “Ahaha.”

“It’s because Yejun looks young, not because I look old.”

At Sihyeon’s rebuttal, Yiwon chuckled.

“Kang Yiwon, do you think I look old too?”

Sihyeon turned the arrow towards Yiwon. Yiwon cleared his throat to wipe the smile off his face.

“Rather than saying you look old, I agree that Jewoo looks young.”

“See? That’s the issue I’m talking about!”

“I really thought you were around my age.”

Yejun still seemed amazed, staring at Jewoo blankly.

“Why the formal language if you thought we were peers?”

At Jewoo’s question, Yejun hesitated.

“Because in terms of acting experience, you’re a senior by a long shot…”

So, he was treating Jewoo like a senior.

“Oh, forget it. Just be casual. Call me ‘hyung’.”

Jewoo was so down-to-earth that everyone warmed up to him quickly. Although Kang Yiwon didn’t say much, he laughed at others’ remarks more than before and occasionally joined the conversation. Watching this, Jewoo smiled contentedly. It was indeed better to see Yiwon mingling with others rather than staying alone.

“Mr. Han Jewoo! They’re calling you for filming.”

One of the staff called for Jewoo. As it was his turn to shoot, Jewoo stood up first.

“…Yiwon, Kang Yiwon!”

At the sound of his name being called, Yiwon turned to Sihyeon a beat late.

“Did you have something to say to Jewoo?”

Sihyeon looked towards where Jewoo had already gone into the filming area. This was because Kang Yiwon had been staring intently at Jewoo just moments ago.

“No.”

After giving a short answer and closing his mouth, Sihyeon, who was looking at him, tilted his head but said nothing more. Shortly after, Yiwon also left for his filming.

“It’s quite strange.”

Sihyeon muttered, left alone with Yejun.

“What is?”

“About Kang Yiwon.”

“…?”

“He seems to have a wall around him, but sometimes he doesn’t.”

“He’s probably just shy. He said so himself earlier. It takes time for him to get close to people.”

“That’s true, but isn’t it different with Jewoo?”

To Sihyeon’s question, Yejun looked over to where Jewoo and Yiwon were filming.

“I don’t really get it.”

Seeing Yejun tilt his head, Sihyeon let out a small sigh.

“You’re dense. You’ll have a hard time surviving in this industry.”

Sihyeon shook his head while patting Yejun’s shoulder. Yejun, feeling like he had missed something, stared harder at Jewoo and Yiwon but still couldn’t grasp it.

“What is it, really?”

Unable to bear his curiosity, Yejun grabbed Sihyeon’s arm and asked.

“Look over there.”

Sihyeon pointed at Kang Yiwon. They were taking a break after finishing a scene, and he was talking with Jewoo.

“Doesn’t his expression look different?”

“His expression?”

Yejun squinted his eyes, focusing on Kang Yiwon’s face. When Jewoo smiled brightly and said something, Yiwon’s mouth curved into a gentle smile. It just looked like they were getting along well.

“Kang Yiwon is smiling.”

“And what’s the problem with that…?”

“He didn’t smile like that in front of us.”

Only then did Yejun let out an ‘Ah’ of realization. Indeed, Kang Yiwon seemed less guarded when dealing with Jewoo.

“Weren’t they already friends from before?”

“I doubt it. Remember the first day of the script reading? They were quite awkward with each other.”

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, during the script reading, they couldn’t even look at each other while performing scenes with physical contact. Everyone remembered how even the usually cheerful Han Jewoo looked quite flustered.

“Was there something during the poster shoot?”

That was the only day before filming started when they could have met.

“Maybe they got closer because they saw each other again?”

Unlike Sihyeon, who watched the two with suspicion, Yejun was trying to understand with his own reasoning. Looking back at Yejun, Sihyeon made a face like ‘What am I going to do with this one?‘ and shook his head.