Chapter 10
“Scars?”
“…Yes. A large, ugly scar that runs from the forehead, down across the bridge of the nose, and all the way to the cheek. He’s afraid of the way people look at him because of it, so he can’t leave the house.”
I thought about the life I had lived.
“Some people are startled… Some whisper right in front of me. Sometimes they openly stare or even point fingers.”
“Then that character… must hate meeting people.”
“No.”
“What?”
“He’d be the opposite.”
“……Why?”
“Because people avoid him because of his scar. That would make him want to be around people even more. He probably wished there was someone who would look at him just as he was.”
I honestly revealed my feelings.
Before long, we had finished building the characters.
“Professor, if we go with this story, they’ll probably like it too. It’s a hopeful story, after all.”
“Then……. Should I play the character with the scar?”
Originally, during our brainstorming, I had planned for Han Seohyun to play the timid character who was afraid of the outside world.
And I had planned to make the story about me giving her salvation.
But as I continued talking with Han Seohyun, I realized that when it came to acting, she was actually a very proactive person.
And I also became greedy.
I wanted to express this character myself.
“Seohyun, please play the proactive character. I’ll play the character with the scar.”
Fortunately, our turn was near the end.
While the students before us went onto the stage, we had time to prepare not only our acting, but other things as well.
For example, the oral interview.
“Why did you apply to our school?”
“Well….”
“Again. Confidently. The moment you step onto the stage, you’re acting.”
“I believe that Korea University is the university where I can become the best actor.”
“You’ve improved quite a lot in such a short time.”
I had corrected her quite a bit.
“But it’s still not enough. When they ask why you applied to the school, you need to give a more definite answer rather than something abstract and vague.”
“How should I answer…?”
“I applied because I believe the curriculum, which builds basic skills through Breathing and Vocalization, followed by Musical Theater and Camera Acting, will become the foundation for me to grow into a good actor.”
Han Seohyun wrote down what I said in her notebook.
I also showed her the other answers I had prepared for the oral interview.
It was a little unfortunate to give them away, but since Han Seohyun’s evaluation would affect my score, I had no choice.
After practicing for a while, we headed to the final waiting room.
“Did you practice well?”
Choi Byeongcheol came over and asked.
“The girl I acted with is really good. She didn’t even look nervous.”
It was obvious that he was trying to provoke me, but he probably wasn’t wrong.
If it was Shin Dahae, who would eventually enter this class as the second-ranked student, she would naturally be good.
Choi Byeongcheol drank some water and looked at Han Seohyun, who was walking toward us.
He seemed to be looking down on her quite a lot.
In reality, Han Seohyun would eventually become an actress who won the Best Supporting Actress award.
She had been praised for her excellent acting skills since her twenties.
And judging from what I had seen during our practice, her acting was the best among all the applicants I had seen at Daehan Arts University so far.
I moved away from Choi Byeongcheol and approached Han Seohyun.
Standing in front of the stage, Han Seohyun seemed nervous again and lowered her head.
“What’s your eyesight?”
“M-minus….”
“You can’t see well without your glasses, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s act without your glasses.”
If she couldn’t see what was in front of her, maybe her nervousness would lessen too.
Han Seohyun took off her glasses and blinked her slightly sleepy eyes.
Her bright, lively eyes, which had been hidden behind her thick lenses, were revealed.
Only now did she look like the Han Seohyun I knew.
“Then, let’s go.”
Han Seohyun and I went backstage.
From the moment I stepped onto the stage with my first partner actress, my acting had already begun.
Professor Ahn Chi-won was sitting in the middle of the audience with a somewhat dark expression.
He had been looking forward to seeing the student named Yeon Gijun again today.
According to Professor Im Hyeon-sik, Gijun had performed the musical Wings so brilliantly during the previous test that he had turned the professors into members of the audience.
But then Ahn Chi-won saw the female applicant who had been paired with Gijun.
The girl with glasses, who had barely stood out during the workshop, was extremely nervous.
Ahn Chi-won had been a professor for more than ten years.
By now, he could often predict who would pass or fail just by looking at their faces and posture.
If this continues, even the student I like might end up failing.
In this test, the male and female members of each pair received the same score.
It didn’t matter if one person performed well and the other performed poorly.
No matter how important cooperation is in acting, this method could cause a talented student to fail.
Professor Ahn Chi-won sighed.
Of course, the test had to be fair.
The purpose of this workshop was clear.
Can they create a stage together?
They weren’t looking for an actor who could shine alone.
They were looking for an actor who could work with their partner and complete a scene together.
“We have two teams left!”
A student assistant who was checking the participants backstage announced to the professors.
And shortly afterward—
The student Ahn Chi-won had been looking forward to entered.
Huh?
The girl walking confidently beside Gijun looked completely different from the girl Ahn Chi-won had seen earlier.
She wore a pure white blouse and slacks.
Her long, straight hair reached down to her waist and swayed as she walked.
……Something’s different.
Without realizing it, Ahn Chi-won unfolded his arms.
The same striking presence he had felt when Gijun first appeared on stage was now coming from the girl as well.
“Hello!”
The two people standing on stage gave a light bow.
Their serious yet confident attitude was completely different from before.
The girl stood beside the chair placed in the center of the stage.
Gijun sat in the chair and stared blankly into space with a gloomy, expressionless face.
At that moment, the woman spoke.
“Hi. It’s been a long time, Jungi.”
The woman’s voice was remarkably stable.
Without the slightest tremble, she observed the man.
“Uh…. H-hello.”
The man covered his face with both hands.
Even then, his eyes turned toward the woman, but his pupils were unfocused, drifting vaguely into empty space rather than looking at anyone.
It was as if he could only recognize people through their voices.
Professor Ahn Chi-won’s eyes sharpened.
Acting as a visually impaired person?
Performing the role of a visually impaired person at an entrance examination was a dangerous challenge that could easily destroy an actor without sufficient skill.
If their eyes lost focus even slightly or looked unnatural, the entire performance would fall apart.
It’s excellent right now, but can he control his eyes all the way to the end?
Ahn Chi-won swallowed and fixed his gaze on the two people on stage.
“D-did my sister ask you to come?”
“Yes. Your sister was really worried about you.”
Even from the beginning, the personalities of the characters were clear.
The man was anxious, while the woman was extremely composed.
The man nervously bit his nails before suddenly turning his head.
“D-don’t come any closer!”
The wary man covered his face with both arms and turned his head away as well.
“Why? Is it because of your scar?”
“…….”
“I see so many patients at the hospital. It’s okay.”
But the man remained wary and didn’t move at all.
Eventually, the woman moved closer and grabbed his arm.
At that moment, the man violently shook her off.
“Ah—!”
The woman almost fell but barely managed to regain her balance.
Perhaps because he was worried about her, the man turned his head toward her.
“…A-are you okay? I’m sorry.”
“No. I’m not hurt. More importantly….”
The man’s face was revealed as he worried about her.
She examined his face.
“Phew. It’s ugly, right? That’s why I told you it would be better if you didn’t look.”
The woman answered without the slightest hesitation.
“No. It’s not ugly.”
“Y-you must think it looks different from the face you remember.”
“Everyone’s appearance changes, doesn’t it? I’m not the same person you saw when you were young, either.”
The woman calmly sat down in front of the man again.
“Would it be okay if I put some medicine on your face?”
“…….”
The man hesitated for a moment.
The woman seemed to take his silence as consent. She moved his arms aside and mimed picking something up.
Perhaps because he felt guilty about how he had reacted earlier, the man didn’t resist.
“I’ll put some medicine on it.”
The woman pretended to apply something to his face.
Each time she did, the man grimaced in pain.
“There. It’s done. You did well.”
“……Th-thank you.”
As the woman packed her bag, she asked him,
“Your sister told me. She said you haven’t gone outside for several months.”
“…….”
“Don’t you want to go outside?”
“N-no.”
The man’s wariness, which had briefly faded, slowly began to return.
“P-please leave now. I’m really tired….”
“I’ll help you.”
Her voice was warm and calm.
“I-I don’t want that.”
But she was stopped by the man’s stubborn refusal.
“Why don’t you want to?”
“B-because I can’t see.”
“There are plenty of visually impaired people who go outside.”
“A-and I have scars on my face….”
The woman studied the man.
His head was hanging low, and his shoulders were trembling.
When Gijun created this character, he mixed his own past experiences with what he had learned by observing Han Seohyun.
The character that emerged from that combination was incredibly unstable.
“I-I’m scared….”
“Hmm. It seems there’s something I don’t know. Your sister only told me that you had been in an accident. Can you tell me what happened?”
The man thought for a moment before speaking.
“A-after the accident, my eyesight started getting damaged… Even after I got the scars, there were times when I could still see.”
“So?”
“……After I got the scars around my eyes, the way people looked at me….”
The man couldn’t finish his sentence.
The woman spoke for him.
“People looked at you badly then, didn’t they?”
“…Yes.”
“So you wanted to run away.”
“…….”
“Even after you completely lost your eyesight, you shut yourself away here.”
While the woman’s calm, analytical voice echoed through the room, the man sat with his knees pulled toward his chest, becoming even more defensive.
Knowing this, the woman moved closer to him.
“Would you like to go outside with me for a little while?”
At her words, the man’s wariness reached its limit.
“…….”
The man became completely rigid.
His lips trembled, and the tension running through his body was so intense that every joint of his fingers had turned white.
And Professor Ahn Chi-won, who was watching this, also tensed his fingertips.
Because what that student was expressing was acting far beyond the level of an entrance-exam applicant.
