TLICO 03

Chapter – 03

“Ah, but in that case, I can’t read the lines for the male character. You said the script is changing.”

“No. You can just read them exactly as they are.”

……?

Exactly as they are?

At Ha Eun-rae’s answer, which continued to defy expectations, Jegal Seyeon hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Well… alright then.”

With her answer, Ha Eun-rae smiled brightly and bowed.

“Thank you!”

Just a moment ago, she had seemed like a seasoned veteran negotiating with a director, but the face that instantly brightened was filled with the naivety unique to someone in their early twenties.

Yet, what is this strange sense of déjà vu that even this feels like acting…?

While Jegal Seyeon felt a nagging unease, Ha Eun-rae suddenly stood up and crawled under the desk…?

Then, she poked only her head out and spoke.

“If you give me the ‘Cue,’ I’ll begin!”

“Ah…. Yes….”

‘She’s strangely cute.’

Come to think of it, the female protagonist, ‘Su-in,’ is a character who believes she is a ghost—eating under the desk and sleeping under the bed. Is she doing that to reenact it…?

The cinematographer watching from the side let out a snicker. Jegal Seyeon almost laughed, too,o but held it in. She had to judge the audition coldly.

“Cue.”

The moment she called it out with solemnity.

The cinematographer quietly lowered the camera toward the underside of the desk. There, in that short interval, was Ha Eun-rae—no, ‘Su-in’—with her hair completely disheveled. Like a real ghost, she sat curled up under the desk, her eyes rolling around.

That appearance was strangely eerie, yet—

‘Cute.’

What is this? This cuteness.

Jegal Seyeon had written Su-in simply as a shut-in patient, but Ha Eun-rae was adding her own unique charm to it. It wasn’t that she lacked the desperation of someone who had been gnawing away at their inner self for a long time.

The actions of a person who thinks of themselves as a non-existent being—a ghost—were strangely felt in her expression, her fingertips, and her toes. The way she tried not to stretch her body out, or the way her eyes constantly scanned the surroundings while curled up, made her look unstable yet pitiable.

‘Like a frightened kitten.’

Because a version of Su-in with an image she had never imagined appeared, Jegal Seyeon looked at the script a beat late.

[Hyeon-woo: Ahem…. Excuse me.]Ah, right. Hyeon-woo has to enter.

“Ahem.”

The moment Jegal Seyeon cleared her throat while looking at the script.

Ha Eun-rae, who had been pressed against the desk leg, flattened her body against the floor in a flurry. Simultaneously, her hair spread out wide across the floor.

“…!”

What was that cat-like movement?

‘Cute.’

She felt it again—she’s really… cute!

The moment she saw that scene, the storyboards in Jegal Seyeon’s head began to be revised frantically. Originally, this scene was supposed to show the female lead from the male lead’s perspective. It was meant to highlight objectively how sorrowful Su-in’s life as a ghost had been, making the male lead feel a bit of pity.

‘I thought that was the only way a romance could start….’

Since it was a scene written out of a sense of obligation, the directing for it hadn’t come easily to Jegal Seyeon’s mind. But seeing Ha Eun-rae’s acting, directorial ideas began to gush forth. Because the character had changed!

“Ex-excuse me….”

As Jegal Seyeon read Hyeon-woo’s line, Ha Eun-rae’s ‘Su-in’ lifted only her gaze toward the camera while remaining prone.

‘Does she know the camera position has been adjusted?’

Jegal Seyeon was surprised once more. In Ha Eun-rae’s eyes, which had seemed frightened at first, a sharp, sparkling light flickered for an instant.

‘Wha—what is this….’

And in the next moment, Ha Eun-rae snapped her head up. The tempo of her movements—alternating between slow and suddenly fast—strangely reminded one of a cat rather than a person, and it fit the ghost concept perfectly.

‘I think it would feel even more eerie if we shot this handheld.’

She was already having such thoughts, drawn into Ha Eun-rae’s acting. Having lifted her head, Ha Eun-rae crawled toward the camera and suddenly wore a gaze full of yearning.

“……Yong-mok?”

Tears began to drip from her eyes, which had been dry just a moment ago. That look was so sorrowful that for a moment, Jegal Seyeon didn’t even realize the script had been changed. It was only when she finally snapped out of it and read the next line.

“Um…. I heard you’re the tenant living here….”

“Honey, you finally came to me. Did you become a gho, st too?”

……?!

Only then did Jegal Seyeon realize how this actress had changed the script. With her eyes full of tears, Ha Eun-rae smiled.

“I missed you!”

She pulled off the act of smiling while crying. And Jegal Seyeon’s mind became incredibly busy. She now had a clear sense of how to rewrite the script.

To be honest, the next auditions didn’t even register in her mind. The female lead for this movie had already been decided. There was no need for all those prominent actors from the elite arts universities.

Right now, there was only one ‘Su-in’ for Jegal Seyeon. It was the 21-year-old rookie who had never filmed a proper movie before: Ha Eun-rae.

‘The atmosphere isn’t bad.’

After finishing the acting, I glanced at the expressions of Jegal Seyeon and the cinematographer. Having frequented countless auditions and meetings, I was an expert at reading the room.

An actor is fundamentally a profession that must be chosen. No matter how high an actor’sguarantee rocketss, it doesn’t mean they can do any project they want. And the person with the casting authority here is the director, Jegal Seyeon.

I knew what kind of person ‘Jegal Seyeon’ was.

‘I once had a meeting because I wanted to appear in a Jegal Seyeon film. I didn’t get cast in the end, though….’

For the record, that movie surpassed ten million viewers. Tsk. It’s annoying that she didn’t pick me then, but Jegal Seyeon is a genius of heartwarming comedies that make the Korean public laugh and cry.

Since this was a meeting with someone like her, I had come after familiarizing myself with her entire filmography. Her feature debut, Living with a Ghost, was no exception.

To be honest, it wasn’t that entertaining. Since it was the work of a director who is good at both heart and comedy, I had high expectations, but the romance was… well. However, I remembered the comedic introduction being quite fun.

‘As expected, she’s insanely good at the comedic mise-en-scène.’

I had even written down parts that felt lacking or parts I liked while watching it. Back then, the weakness I thought Living with a Ghost had was this:

The link between the female lead and the male lead is weak.

“Why did you think to change this part like that?” Jegal Seyeon asked with a slightly surprised face.

“I thought it would be more interesting if the person in the car with the female lead during the accident wasn’t her parents, but her lover. So, I set it up so that the female lead mistakes the male lead for her dead lover.”

That’s right. I attempted improvisation partly to hide the fact that I hadn’t memorized the script, but I really was acting out the improvements I had thought of. Back when I watched the movie, I felt that for the chemistry between the two leads to work, their narratives needed to be more deeply intertwined.

Originally, ‘real romance’ explodes madly when each other’s deficiencies meet. Just like….

‘Just like how I wanted to satisfy my deficiency for family by meeting Kim Do-un.’

“Then did you set it up so that the male lead resembles the old lover? That’s a bit contrived….”

“I don’t think it matters if they don’t look alike.”

“Then why does she mistake him for her lover?”

“Because she’s lonely,” I said, looking steadily at Jegal Seyeon.

For the record, Jegal Seyeon had been filming my face the whole time. So, while looking at her, I was intentionally speaking while maintaining a 75-degree angle toward the camera. It’s the angle that captures my acting best.

‘I wonder who told me that….’

I continued my thoughts as I spoke.

“Su-in has been alone for a long time, hasn’t she? She believed she was a ghost and isolated herself to ease her guilt. But in truth, she must have been lonely. She must have wanted to connect with others, and so, the moment she saw a man who didn’t even look that much like him—”

I recalled the day I first met Kim Do-un. Honestly, he wasn’t my style. The man who showed up near the filming set in a red sports car, even though I said it was fine, and took me to a flashy restaurant. His boastful way of speaking, his excessive kindness, his constant praise of my looks—these were behaviors I wouldn’t normally be attracted to.

But—

“You had a controversy recently, didn’t you?”“Ah… yes.”“People just talk without knowing anything. Right? Don’t pay attention to that. To be honest, I like you, Eun-rae. And if you become my woman, I’m going to sew those people’s mouths shut. Personally.”……Because I was lonely. Because I wanted someone to take my side blindly.

Romance doesn’t originally start with perfectly matched partners recognizing each other. Rather, it is closer to a fantasy created by my own deficiencies.

“She wanted to believe that man was her lover. And in my opinion, in that kind of love….”

I felt a slight surge of emotion. Regret. Sadness. Frustration. And at the same time, as always when I feel these emotions, I thought about how I would appear on camera. Through countless hours of monitoring myself, I knew.

I—

‘I’m pretty at times like this. Beautiful, and striking.’

“……There is no reason.”

I shed a slight tear, conscious of the camera. And in that moment, seeing the expressions of Jegal Seyeon and the cinematographer, I was certain.

I passed this audition.