SDM 57
by Sorai‘Acting is fun, especially when you’re paired with an actor you have good chemistry with.’
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, brother, I…”
As soon as the camera light came on, Ryu Chae-yoon, fully immersed, trembled and spoke in a submissive voice as if he were truly afraid. It sounded so weak that Sang-hyun felt oppressive emotions, as though he routinely beat Chae-yoon.
“Kang-woo.”
‘Shin Jeong-woo’ called out to ‘Shin Kang-woo’ in a voice softer than cashmere. Chae-yoon flinched, his body shaking violently as he raised his deeply bowed head, his eyes trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Baek Sang-hyun smiled, baring his canines, before instantly returning to a gentle expression as that vicious smile was just an illusion. Like a snake pretending not to eat a mongoose.
“Do you know why I’ve kept you alive?”
“…”
“I asked if you know the reason.”
‘Shin Kang-woo’ took half a step back for every full step ‘Shin Jeong-woo’ took forward. When ‘Shin Jeong-woo’ took exactly three steps forward, the distance between them became zero.
“Just go and put this in that policeman’s pocket, that’s all.”
“Brother…”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m your brother, aren’t I?”
“…”
“So the younger brother should do as he’s told, right?”
Whispering sweetly with his lips against Kang-woo’s ear, ‘Shin Kang-woo’ blinks countless times as if he might collapse at any moment. Sang-hyun’s gaze lingers for a moment on the fluttering of those long eyelashes before he puts on Shin Jeong-woo’s face again.
“…I, I understand.”
“Now, that’s a good boy.”
Sang-hyun stroked the soft hair a few times and straightened up. A face turned deathly pale as if about to collapse at any moment, cheeks trembling slightly, eyes welling up with tears ready to cry, eye area infinitely crumpled and reddened, but never actually shedding a tear.
“Cut! Ah, that’s great. Let’s shoot once more from the opposite angle. Can you do the same acting again?”
“Yes.”
Chae-yoon answered, taking a tissue from the manager to dab at his eyes. His face, having emerged from the acting, returned to its usual calm expression, but his reddened eyes couldn’t be helped.
“Your eyes are red.”
“Very?”
“Just right. It’ll be fine since we’re shooting my side this time anyway.”
If he were the director, he would show Ryu Chae-yoon’s face in this scene. It’s a scene where ‘Shin Kang-woo’s’ fear is the main focus. Besides, there’s no way Director Lee Joonho would miss Chae-yoon’s eyelashes fluttering like butterflies.
“Wow, this is gold, pure gold. Sang-hyun, Chae-yoon! Come here and watch this once before we go again.”
“Yes.”
Chae-yoon awkwardly approached the director’s side. Sang-hyun, who had been quietly watching him from behind, burst out laughing.
‘How could this person not be ‘Jin Seong-woon’?’
Sang-hyun had never experienced such a blending of acting with anyone other than ‘Jin Seong-woon’. As if every blink of an eye, every exhale, every step on the dirt, even every heartbeat, was calculated.
“Here, this eye-opening scene is really good.”
“…Thank you.”
“Did you practice your vocalization a lot? You don’t miss even a single line.”
“Yes, moderately…”
“You should have started acting two years earlier. If you had been in my previous work, it wouldn’t have flopped!”
Despite the director’s outrageous comment, Ryu Chae-yoon’s face, which just smiled, was imbued with a familiarity as if he had been in this business for decades. The only things he seemed awkward with were praise, affection, and sweet things like love.
“Sang-hyun, you were possessed by the character today, too.”
“I have good chemistry with Chae-yoon.”
“I heard you two have been practicing together at home lately.”
“We just studied for exams.”
“That’s something! You need to get close to act well together! Chae-yoon is like a chemistry fairy; he was perfectly in sync with Ji-gwang earlier, too. Did you go meditate on a mountain or something?”
To the director’s questions mixed with praise, Chae-yoon just scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly. As if he had never received praise in his life. Then, like a simply programmed robot, he just uttered words of thanks.
“No, not really… Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for? I should be thanking you. The camera’s all set up, so let’s go again.”
“Yes.”
Turning around, Chae-yoon exhaled deeply. If he were an ordinary rookie actor, he should have been on cloud nine by now. Instead, he seemed rather uncomfortable, as though allergic to praise.
Sang-hyun recalled filming “Confidential Assignment” with Jin Seong-woon. No matter how brilliantly he acted, how cleanly he delivered his lines, or even how he performed action scenes without holding back, neither the PD, camera director, assistant director, nor anyone else ever praised Seong-woon.
After shooting a scene where Sang-hyun and Seong-woon escaped from a police car on the verge of explosion, the PD showered Sang-hyun with praise. But he didn’t even glance at Jin Seong-woon, who had acted alongside him and nailed it in one take. Unable to bear that strange atmosphere, Sang-hyun had grinned and redirected the credit to Seong-woon.
“Thanks to Jin Seong-woon Sunbae, we got a good scene. Wasn’t your acting really good too, sunbae?”
“Of course, he should be able to do that much. If he can’t even do that, why would we cast him?”
The PD waved his hand dismissively, as if even mentioning his name was distasteful. Seong-woon pulled on Sang-hyun’s sleeve as he was about to say something more, finding the treatment so absurd and unbelievable. That gesture deeply conveyed the intention to please, don’t.
“Sunbae, why…”
“I’m used to it.”
Sang-hyun couldn’t express more emotion. He could see his heart, which had become so hardened that wounds no longer formed. His heart was wounded and scarred over and over until it was too tough for new injuries.
“…I like acting with you, sunbae.”
“Ah… really?”
Then, as Ryu Chae-yoon now, Seong-woon awkwardly fiddled with the back of his head.
“…Thank you. It’s been a while since I heard something like that.”
Seong-woon, barely managing to say thanks as if he couldn’t believe it, smiled a little more comfortably.
‘At that time, I should have praised him more. I should’ve told him that his acting was good, that he was a seasoned actor, that the light he showed was so enchantingly beautiful that words failed.’
Sang-hyun always thought of his own acting as moonlight. The moon couldn’t shine on its own, so it needed the light of stars. He thought his acting was reflecting that light.
‘There was a star in his name. Is that why he radiates like a starlight?’
He used to marvel endlessly while staring at the TV screen. Twinkling, he shone and shone, truly like a “star”.
Even now, looking at him emitting light that hasn’t dimmed even a little, Sang-hyun briefly covered his face with both hands.
“Sunbae?”
“…”
“Are you okay? Should we take a break?”
When he removed his hands, Ryu Chae-yoon was looking at him with a worried face. The slightly furrowed eyebrows and tightened jaw were all too familiar.
On the day he slammed the bastard who was vilely cursing Jin Seong-woon into the table, Jin Seong-woon, who was comforting him, had exactly that face. When he got angry, asking why he wasn’t affected, why he just listened to such words, he said the same thing again, ‘I’m used to things like that.’
‘Still awkward with praise he should naturally receive, yet he’s so used to such nonsense.’
Swallowing anger that was long past its time, Sang-hyun barely managed to collect his emotions.
“No, I’m fine.”
“…Okay.”
Even the slightly suspicious gaze doesn’t bother him. Beyond doubt to certainty, call him crazy if you like. After all, moonlight cannot exist without stars.
For Baek Sang-hyun to exist as Baek Sang-hyun, Jin Seong-woon is necessary. In whatever form.
* * *
‘Hmm… is he okay?’
Seong-woon slowly moved away from Baek Sang-hyun, whose mood had been strange for a moment. He settled about two steps away and rubbed his slightly churning chest.
He panicked for a moment, thinking, “Not another heart attack?”, but it was a completely different feeling. It was as if he had swallowed feathers; his stomach felt ticklish and queasy like he’d been on a boat for a long time.
Seong-woon barely managed to put his hand down as he unconsciously tried to touch his burning face. If the makeup smudges any more here, it will take more time, and then there won’t be enough time to sleep, and this fragile body might be sick for days.
‘So much enhancing physical strength and recovering from illness, those damn con artists.’
─ We’re not con artists…!
‘Shut up.’
Seong-woon silenced C1012’s rebuttal and slowly calmed his emotions after lightly turning his body once. No sooner had he fully prepared himself by closing his eyes for a long moment and opening them again, than the director’s shoot signal came.
Acting with Sang-hyun always felt easy and natural. He briefly mused that it probably wouldn’t be this easy even acting with a twin, before focusing on the performance again.
It wasn’t too difficult as they were filming the same act from a different angle, but it required concentration because ‘Shin Kang-woo’ had to show the most diverse and delicate acting when meeting ‘Shin Jung-woo’ in the play.
“…That’s right, good boy.”
After delivering the last line, Baek Sang-hyun stepped back a little.
‘Shouldn’t the cut signal come now?’
As he was wondering, Seong-woon maintained his emotions and stood by in the same place.
Suddenly, the assistant director came forward and took Sang-hyun in, and a water truck started spraying water from above.
‘Could that director bastard really be crazy? No matter how much he wants to create a good scene, he should at least come and talk about it openly. Did he think I’d just stand there and take it if he just sprayed?’
‘…Oh, of course I’d just stand there and take it, as if there’s anyone who would throw a fit and refuse to do it here…’
There are many. There are so many, but Seong-woon wasn’t that kind of actor. Even falling into a half-frozen pond before was something he experienced without prior notice.
Thinking about it now, it seems like one-sided bullying… But back then, Seong-woon wasn’t in a state of mind to judge such things. It was natural to be hated, so it hurt more because of Baek Sang-hyun. Because he made him realize that not everything he endured was justified.
Tears mixed with rainwater felt hot like blood. As Seong-woon shed a few drops of tears, unsure whether they were from ‘Shin Kang-woo’ or ‘Jin Seong-woon’, the water pouring from the truck abruptly stopped.
“What are you doing right now?!”
Hyeong-seok, who broke through the crowd surrounding the set, shouted at the director while draping a blanket over Seong-woon’s head. His chest visibly swelled and deflated, showing how angry he was.
“Didn’t you say it would only be used to wet the ground? I’m going to file an official complaint about this!”
“No, but it really looked like it would turn out well!”
As Seong-woon waved his arms, unable to see well because of the blanket, Hyeong-seok asked in surprise,
“Young master, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, um… the complaint is good, but how about we finish shooting what we were filming first?”
“What? I’m not letting this slide. I’d rather you dropped out of the shoot…”
“I don’t think that’s right, since I’m already wet anyway…”
“That’s right! Let’s shoot quickly while you’re already wet. I’m telling you, this will be a masterpiece!”
The tactless director chimed in.
‘I just wish he would shut up.’
Seong-woon sighed invisibly and tried to persuade Hyeong-seok. But before he could properly speak, someone lifted him up from behind.
“…Sunbae? Please put me down.”
Seong-woon, who was reflexively struggling in surprise, stopped moving only when he saw the familiar gray coat.
“No.”
“The shooting is still…”
“We’ve shot everything we need to. I told you there’s no need to play along with the director’s stubbornness.”
“I’m already wet anyway…”
“And how sick will you be tomorrow?”
During the two weeks they spent together, Seong-woon had completely exposed himself to Sang-hyun about how poor his physical condition was. He had seen how Seong-woon started dozing off just after dinner time, how his body was always cold, and how worried Hyeong-seok and his family were. Especially with Ryu Chang-yoon calling and nagging every day…
“If we just film today, the next shoot isn’t for three days…”
“Director!”
Ignoring Seong-woon’s words, Sang-hyun called out to the director loudly. With his vision and hearing half-blocked by the blanket, Seong-woon couldn’t quite tell what was going on.
“You’ve shot everything you need, right?”
“Ah, it’s a bit disappointing…”
“I saw you already moving the camera before I turned off the water.”
“You saw that too? Wait, it wasn’t the water truck manager who turned it off, but you, Sang-hyun?”
“Yes. Director, you didn’t think you could do whatever you wanted just because Ryu Chae-yoon is a rookie, did you?”
“Come on, of course not…”
“Right? Surely you’re not that kind of person, Director.”
His words were laced with sharp criticism. Without stopping, Sang-hyun carried Seong-woon into the waiting room and set him down right in front of the heater. The director followed them into the waiting room, flustered.
“Um, Chae-yoon. I just wanted to get one good scene…”
“It would have been nice if you had discussed it with me beforehand. I also thought the scene would be more dramatic if it rained.”
“Oh, really? Then…”
Just as the director’s face brightened up and he was about to suggest going out to shoot again right away, Hyeong-seok and Sang-hyun intervened simultaneously.
“No!”
“Ryu Chae-yoon.”
“Um… it’s a bit cold, but I’m fine when filming…”
With both sides fiercely objecting, Seong-woon mumbled while shrinking his shoulders. Of course, it was cold, bone-chillingly cold at that! But this was a sensation he can easily forget in front of the camera.
“We really got an amazing scene, you know? But if we could just shoot 5 more seconds, just 5 seconds at the end…”
“Ah, if it’s just that much…”
“I said no!”
“Sigh…”
One is crying, and the other looks like he might explode any moment. Seong-woon found this situation really strange and awkward, to the point where his body felt all twisted up, but he tried hard to maintain a calm facade.