TLICO 04

Chapter – 04

“Thanks to you, Eun-rae, I think I can revise the work to be much better. Come to think of it, ‘Su-in’ is the character I felt more attached to, but the problem was that I was obsessed with how the male lead would fall for her.”

I just wanted to put Jegal Seyeon’s work in my early filmography, but she’s doing a full revision? Even—

“I want to tell the story entirely from Su-in’s perspective. Your lines might increase quite a bit; would that be alright with you?”

The atmosphere shifted to me pushing the male lead aside and becoming the sole lead. I hesitated for a moment at a reward much larger than I had expected. However, at times like this, it’s necessary to act like a rookie.

I bowed my waist at a 120-degree angle and spoke.

“Please leave it to me! I will do my best!”

And it was the moment I lifted my head after saying that. Something flickered before my eyes. At the same time, something strange… appeared.

[Editing Wiki for …….]

[Would you like to search the revised Wiki for ?]

What is this?

I tilted my head in confusion and lost my balance. My steps got tangled in the sudden situation. Just as my body was about to fall clumsily, someone grabbed my shoulder.

I lifted my head to see who it was.

“…!”

I remembered.

“Ha Eun-rae, you look better when filmed from below 75 degrees. That opening scene, the angle was disappointing.”

75 degrees. Who was it that said that?

Standing before me was a man who looked more like an actor than an actual actor. Holding my shoulder, he whispered low into my ear.

“……I enjoyed your acting.”

In that moment, goosebumps broke out all over my body. No way. In my past life, those were words ‘Park Seo-woo’ had never said to me even once.

Taking his hand off my shoulder, Park Seo-woo reached out as if asking for a handshake toward the stunned me.

“I’m Park Seo-woo, a member of the filming crew.”

It’s Park Seo-woo. That Park Seo-woo who won the Oscar. A monster of a film director in this industry who has never experienced a single failure in his career. A greedy human who sweeps awards every time he enters an overseas film festival and never misses out on both box office success and artistic quality.

Added to that, with looks more striking than the actors, he was a man whose fans would testify after every premiere that they took pictures of Park Seo-woo’s face instead of their own favorite actor.

‘This man was a camera crew member for a Film Academy graduation project 12 years ago…?’

As far as I knew, Park Seo-woo was a graduate of a so-called prestigious university who won an award at a film festival with a single short film he shot in a movie club. After that, he gradually filmed independent and commercial films until he reached his current… no, his future position.

And in the past, I called him this: The Bastard.

“I watched your work. 39 minutes and 25 seconds. The eye acting was good, but the tone at the start of the dialogue seemed wrong.”

A crazy human who lays out a critique of my acting before even saying hello. A jerk who would watch everything, whether I appeared in a B-movie or a morning drama with failing ratings, and pick apart my acting down to the nanosecond.

How could he memorize a two-hour movie down to the minute and second, and remember exactly what kind of acting I did in which episode of a 20-episode drama? He said he was from Seoul National University—does he have a camera in his head?

What made it even more infuriating was that, although he was a bit taciturn with other actors, he never laid out acting critiques like that for them.

‘Why on earth only to me…!’

Because of that, I even took care to avoid him whenever possible. Even though I dodged him like that, Park Seo-woo always approached me first at award ceremonies or private gatherings. Then, he would critique my acting as if it were a greeting.

“Ha Eun-rae, you look better when filmed from below 75 degrees. That opening scene, the angle was disappointing.”

……I should really kill him.

And yet, when I returned home, I would practice the parts Park Seo-woo mentioned. Even if they were the words of a jerk with a foul personality, his talent was the real deal. And I wasn’t an actress who would throw away the feedback of a talented director for nothing. No matter how dirty it made me feel.

The timing of Park Seo-woo handing me a script was completely unexpected. Four years ago. That is, it was when I was forced to step down from a leading role after my family’s “Debt-too” controversy.

[Ha Eun-rae bows her head in apology over family debt controversy… Lead actress of replaced]

For a few days, I turned off my phone and just played games at home. I touched cup noodles, which I never ate, and drank as much cola as I wanted. It was the day I snapped out of it after realizing I had gained 2kg. When I turned on my phone, messages from my agency’s CEO arrived. A huge number of messages.

[Eun-rae. I’ll fish for a better project..][You’re resting at home, right?]

All useless messages. Among them, one caught my eye.

[Eun-rae! I fished for a Park Seo-woo project! It’s a script he wrote with you in mind! That Park Seo-woo who won an award at the Toronto Film Festival! I read it first and it’s perfect for you!]

Park Seo-woo? Even among the CEO’s messages, a text had come from an unknown number.

[I received your number from the CEO and am contacting you. I am Director Park Seo-woo. I really hope we can work together on this project.]

That is the only memory I have of Park Seo-woo being polite to me. And I kicked that polite request away. A project that would go on to win an Oscar, no less. All because of trash like Kim Do-un.

I crumpled my brow, chewing over that memory. I thought my connection with Park Seo-woo had ended there. Until I met him again,n long after I got married.

“Is someone like her even a fit for our Do-un? Just the other day, that woman called my in-law came by asking for money. Do you know how many girls I had picked out for our Do-un…?”

Bee Entertainment’s founding anniversary. It was when my mother-in-law was drunk in the hotel’s VIP lounge, badmouthing me. I stood there awkwardly, hearing everything, before slipping away.

That’s when I met Park Seo-woo in the hallway.

“This is why you shouldn’t let people marry out of their class. There are actors who were raised well, but she just stands there even when I insult her to her face. No pride, just walking on eggshells.”

I heard it. My face turned red as I realized Park Seo-woo had heard all the verbal abuse pouring out of the VIP lounge. I wanted to run away. My reality—the one thing I didn’t want the annoying director who picked on my acting to find out—had been completely exposed.

I was about to ignore him and walk past when Park Seo-woo spoke.

“Don’t you regret it?”

When I turned around, I saw Park Seo-woo’s contorted face. On his face, which was always sharp and composed, there were rare scars of emotion. Why?

“Have you never thought about turning back? Is family… really that important?”

Did he mean don’t I regret not doing his work? Well, how satisfying it must be for him. The actress who rejected him is living such a pathetic married life.

It was while I was looking up at Park Seo-woo, recalling the past. Something strange popped up before my eyes.

[Editing Wiki for …….]

[Would you like to search the revised Wiki for ?]

Haven’t I seen countless fantasy movies? People usually call this kind of thing a mysterious ability that appears after regression. And it’s only right to use an ability when you have it.

‘Yes.’

After my answer, the Wiki window opened. Under Park Seo-woo’s handsome profile picture from 12 years in the future, typical Wiki information like his birthday and family origin appeared, and soon the scroll moved down rapidly.

Q. Is there a particularly memorable actor, or an actor you want to work with in your next project?

A. I’ve worked with so many good actors that it’s hard to pick just one. However, there is an actor I want to promise a future with. I had a chance to see an audition video by chance when I was a student, and those eyes stayed with me the whole time. So, I write every time while thinking of that person. I don’t know if they will ever realize it. (NEW!)

Only the revised part sparkled and glowed. And through the translucent window, Park Seo-woo was looking at me.

“I enjoyed your acting. Especially your eyes—they were really good.”

It was the first… compliment I had ever heard from Park Seo-woo.