Chapter 49
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Actor Jung Jiin has been finally selected for the role of ‘Lee Su’ in the drama <Eternal Night>.
Production company ‘Wellmade’ announced this afternoon, “We decided on the casting after judging that actor Jung Jiin’s stable acting ability and delicate features shown in numerous works satisfy the conditions for the role of ‘Lee Su’.”
His agency ‘UB Entertainment’ also stated, “We think of this as an opportunity to show more of actor Jung Jiin’s charm. Through sharp character analysis and deep emotional acting, we will draw empathy from viewers. Please look forward to the actor’s transformation.”
Jung Jiin has continuously appeared in numerous works without rest, illuminating many productions with his solid acting ability without any ups and downs. Since he had no notable work activities after <Tomorrow’s Diary>, which ended early this year, fans are already anticipating what kind of acting transformation he will show in <Eternal Night>.
Following <Tomorrow’s Diary>, this is also a work where he will appear consecutively with actor Yoon Juho, so how much new chemistry the two can show while escaping from the shadow of their previous work is being counted as another point of interest for the production.
Meanwhile, <Eternal Night>, confirmed to air in early October, will enter script reading from early August and accelerate production.
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Though there was no specific mention of when they would notify me of results, I suffered from anxiety from the moment I sent the footage to the production company. After transmitting the video on Sunday night, I couldn’t sleep properly.
I only managed to fall into shallow sleep after it became bright outside, and around 10 o’clock I gave up trying to sleep more and sat up drowsily.
It seemed like I’d be restless all day if I stayed at the dorm. I contacted Seohae hyung to see if he had any free time and made an appointment.
I raised the intensity of my workout a bit more than usual. Since I had to focus on posture, flow, and breathing, I could escape from other thoughts during exercise. It was effective. Though the moment I got down from the Cadillac, my worries rushed back as if they’d been waiting.
“It’s more surprising that you’ve lived without a car until now. You thought well. You’re not the type who can call managers anytime and use them like taxis. You should have bought one long ago.”
When I mentioned I was thinking of buying a car, hyung nodded while cutting off a corner of cake with his fork.
Today, instead of fruit after exercise, a slice of cheesecake came out as a snack. Hyung was thorough about managing himself, saying he gained weight easily, but sometimes when he really couldn’t resist, he enjoyed desserts like this. Unlike me, who didn’t particularly like sweets and moved my fork slowly, hyung was diligently crumbling the cake and bringing it to his mouth.
“I’m thinking of buying a used one.”
“Used? What conditions do you want? Should I find you one?”
“You, hyung?”
“I have incredibly wide connections, you know. There’s a certified used car service where the official M company importer directly purchases and sells. There are quite a few exhibition vehicles and test drive vehicles with less than 5,000km. If you don’t mind used, that place is good. What model do you want?”
Hyung was indeed suitable for this kind of thing. It was true that he had wide connections, and he was also someone who enjoyed helping others. Though he had a lot of light chatter but wasn’t the type to reveal deep personal stories, so I couldn’t know hyung’s exact lifestyle, he didn’t seem like someone who just resided in the studio giving lessons.
“I’d prefer an SUV over a sedan… just, something that doesn’t stand out too much in appearance, has decent fuel efficiency, and is a sturdy car I can drive comfortably.”
It was my boring request. Hyung’s expression, which had been swelling with anticipation, became listless.
“You look like you’d specify every interior material and place a bespoke order with Rolls-Royce… alright, then just roughly set a price range. I’ll have them narrow down a few options to show you.”
It was then that I received Jaewoo’s call saying the role of ‘Lee Su’ had come to me.
I put down my fork without eating much of the cake, and just as I was pushing the plate toward hyung who was eyeing my portion of cake, the phone rang.
Excited Jaewoo was almost screaming. Later, the guy’s voice even trembled slightly.
I wasn’t unaware of how the industry worked enough to get excited about the hope that a role would come to me when I wasn’t affiliated with a major agency nor had some tremendous wealthy person as a sponsor. It was a world where appearance wasn’t everything, and sometimes even acting wasn’t everything.
It was something I had clung to while holding onto minimal, insignificant expectations, so as not to leave behind regret that I had given up easily.
“What phone call is making your manager make such a fuss? Is there good news?”
“Uh… they said my appearance in <Eternal Night>… has been decided.”
“Director Hwang Sooyoung’s drama? The one where Juho is the lead?”
I slowly nodded while staring blankly down at the disconnected phone, using that as my answer.
Hyung made a fuss, saying shouldn’t I be getting the latest luxury sedan instead of a used car? Hyung seemed to accept this news much faster than I did.
Even as I hurriedly gathered my things and got up, saying I had to go because there was a meeting with the production company right away, I just felt bewildered.
But for something like this, the brain’s realization was unnecessary.
My steps were quickening as I put the crossbag on my shoulder and exited the officetel corridor. The face reflected in the shining elevator door was glowing brightly.
I gripped the crossbag strap crossing over my chest tightly. The faces of people waiting for a play to begin in a theater hall. The pure joy that couldn’t be hidden when facing something truly beloved. Such light was flowing from me now.
What more could be needed? Even if I couldn’t feel it was real, my body was already reacting.
It felt stuffy to sit quietly in the back seat of the taxi. After taking several deep breaths, I felt the taxi driver’s glancing eyes, probably seeing me as someone with worries.
I leaned my elbow on the bottom of the car window and rested my chin on my hand. Even trying to calm my mind by focusing on the scenery outside the window wasn’t easy. Laughter kept spilling out from behind my covering hand.
It was a sense of fulfillment accompanied by thrills that I was feeling for the first time since coming to Seoul and becoming an actor.
Before… I had felt a similar sensation.
There was a time when I hung around a theater troupe in Naples from Paeli. After finishing high school, I was learning work at ‘Mio Palazzo’, so it was impossible to become an official member. I had to be satisfied with occasionally helping the props production team and contributing even a little to putting one play on stage. Being able to watch the actors practice sometimes and being a practice partner for memorizing lines was also one of the pleasures.
Anyway, at that time I had exactly one experience on stage.
I was given the opportunity to stand in as a substitute for an actor who had a serious fight with the director and left without permission. It was possible because several people in the troupe knew that I had memorized all the lines of the work.
Even then, I thought I had made peace with acting.
That I could be satisfied with just helping works while mingling with theater people. I had concluded that being helpful by my mother’s side was more important, and I believed there was no hesitation about that.
But when I received the contact asking if I could stand on stage, I felt alive. I had to face that my thirst and lingering attachment to theater hadn’t disappeared, but I was just denying it.
Body and mind react first with thrills. In front of work you truly love, you can’t even deceive yourself.
While retracing old memories, the taxi had gotten quite close to the dorm. The public parking lot where he had parked his car was right ahead. Since I couldn’t attend a contract meeting in the outfit I wore to the Pilates studio, I planned to stop by the dorm to just change clothes and then move to the meeting location.
As the thread of time rolled, memories unraveled a bit more.
When I was in an excited state after receiving the contact asking if I could stand on stage, the first person I ran to tell the news wasn’t my mother or siblings. That choice was unexpected even to me at the time, but it wasn’t a decision made after much deliberation. Before my thoughts could reach anywhere, my feet were already heading toward that child.
A person who seemed as happy as me, no, happier than me, just because I was happy.
The face of that child I’d only spent a few days with had become blurry now, but I still remembered the bright vitality of the face that had received my joy with their whole body.
Because they were someone who had to leave, while keeping parting in mind, I was spending time with that child while simultaneously letting that time flow away. So it wouldn’t hurt after leaving.
Nevertheless, the emotions and communion of that time were still vivid. Like how the sadness of being scolded was remembered more clearly than what I was scolded about by my parents.
After changing into proper clothes, I met Jaewoo and got in the car. Jaewoo, who had been excited during the phone call, now clearly looked nervous. Though a UB executive was scheduled to come directly to the Wellmade office, it was understandable that he’d be nervous since this was his first time attending a contract meeting after being promoted to team leader level.
Lost in our respective thoughts, we headed to Wellmade’s office in silence.
While drinking the water Jaewoo had prepared to calm the excitement and anticipation that inflated my chest like a hot air balloon, and some anxiety, my thoughts reached him. I wanted to quickly tell him this news.
Just as my body reacted before reason could recognize it, just as my past self had run toward that child without knowing it, the fact that his face and name came to mind first in front of good news was also unrelated to my will.
My fingers holding the phone itched, but I wanted to be cautious until I signed the contract and everything became certain.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
