In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 90

The director’s request was simple.

“Be more specific with your acting. Don’t just think of the roles as they appear in the ad script, but imagine that you’re really in that situation. How would you feel if this were real? That’s what you need to convey.”

“…Emotional acting?”

“It might seem like a lot to ask, but I think this could really improve the quality if you do it well.”

Woojoo felt like saying it was too hard, but he swallowed it.

Because of his last words.

Even though he had never learned acting, he couldn’t miss this opportunity.

Woojoo had to try, even if he failed.

No. They had to succeed.

“…Hyung, can we do it?” the youngest asked Woojoo with a worried look.

“We never practiced emotional acting. I don’t know if we have enough time…”

“I know, it’s hard.”

Woojoo nodded.

“But let’s give it a shot. The director gave us a chance, we can’t waste it. Let’s do our best, whether we live or die.”

“Then…”

Jiho looked at the clock on the wall of the auditorium. Then he looked at the other members who were filming.

“It looks like we have about thirty minutes. I’ll try to teach you as much as I can about emotional acting with my skills.”

The lesson began right away.

“First, stand up.”

“How?”

“However you feel comfortable.”

“Who feels comfortable standing up?”

“Don’t talk back. We don’t have much time.”

“…”

Woojoo did as he said. He stood in the most comfortable posture he could.

“Now, make eye contact with me.”

“Like this?”

“Yes, and while you look at me, think of the person you love and cherish the most in the world.”

There weren’t many people he loved and cared for.

Their Kim Deoksoon lady. Seokhwan Hyung.

And…

“What?”

The youngest narrowed his eyes.

“Did you think of someone? You look the same as before.”

“Why would I look the same?”

“As expected. I knew it.”

He looked smug.

“It’s because I’m the cutest and the most lovable, right?”

“You are cute.”

“Really?”

“You looked cute when you ate tteokbokki while crying.”

“…”

The youngest, who had been glaring at him, switched back to teacher mode.

“Usually, when you try to act with emotions, your body becomes tense. And your movements become unnatural. So, whether you’re a hero or a villain, it’s important to relax your body when you deliver lines with emotions.”

“Hmm, I think I got it. What’s the next step?”

“There are various methods. This one is about acting theory, so let’s skip it. For beginners, the easiest thing to do is…”

The youngest seemed to have thought of something after a moment of hesitation.

“There are two tricks that you can use.”

“What are they?”

“One is to recall a situation that you experienced in your life that is most similar to what’s written in the script.”

“A similar situation…”

Well.

A situation where he was looking for his lost school jacket and ran into a transfer student who had it in his arms in the auditorium.

There was no way he would have such a situation.

It wasn’t even a normal situation.

Woojoo thought hard, but he couldn’t find anything similar.

“What’s the second one?”

“This one is more difficult. It’s to imagine that you are in that situation.”

“Isn’t that acting?”

“No, by ‘you’ I mean you, not the character.”

“Me?”

“Usually, when actors act, they think that they become the character. They think, what would this character think in this situation? That kind of thing. But the method I’m talking about is to think from your perspective, not the character’s.”

“Oh, I see.”

He meant that instead of thinking how the character, the class president, would feel, Woojoo should put himself, Seon Woojoo, in that place.

“I’ll try the second one.”

“Okay, then shall we practice once?”

Woojoo nodded to his younger brother, who was shining his eyes.

Had he grown taller lately?

He always looked so young, but now he felt more reliable than anyone.

They started practicing again.

Instead of focusing on the actions and expressions that suited the situation, Woojoo focused on himself.

What would he feel if he were in that situation? What would he think? He focused on those points and colored each line with emotions.

Meanwhile, Woojoo admired Jiho’s emotional acting, who was guiding him from the front.

Was their kid a genius?

Even Woojoo, who didn’t know much about acting, could tell that he was very good.

He didn’t just act superficially, but he started to put real emotions into it. And the character looked different in an instant.

It felt like he was talking to the ‘transfer student’, the character in the play.

He was amazed by his naturalness.

On the other hand, Woojoo also felt betrayed.

How could he cry and say that he couldn’t act when he was so good?

Woojoo wondered if he was the one who lacked self-awareness.

It was impossible to explain how he could do so much in a situation where he had absolutely not enough practice time, unless it was talent.

Woojoo praised him with admiration after the reading was over.

“You’re amazing, our youngest.”

“I’ve been learning for three years. Of course I have to do well.”

“No, this is not something you can do well by learning.”

Woojoo complimented the youngest, who spoke casually.

“You have real talent, you know.”

“…Thank you.”

But the youngest had a rather uncomfortable expression.

Woojoo wondered why he was acting like that, even though he usually jumped around at the slightest praise, when a completely irrelevant question came back.

“Hyung, are you really acting for the first time?”

“Why?”

“No, it seems like you have something, Hyung…”

“No, I don’t.”

Woojoo had a guess.

Expression, the most basic thing to convey emotion.

Since he had the ability to imitate movements, he had to be good at expression acting. So he must have conveyed emotions better.

It was when he smiled at the misunderstanding youngest.

“Next scene, let’s get ready!”

“Okay!”

Woojoo walked back to the center of the auditorium.

The extras who came in from the gaps between the seats looked exhausted.

They must have felt pressured by their first acting experience.

Woojoo high-fived the members and switched places with them.

They checked the movements with the assistant director and waited for the standby.

“Hyung.”

“Hmm?”

Jiho swallowed his dry saliva.

“Do you think I can do well?”

“Why are you worried? I should be the one who’s worried.” Woojoo comforted the youngest and said, “You’re doing great, don’t worry. I’ve never seen anyone act as well as you lately.”

“Come on.”

“It’s true. I can bet on Rihyuk too.”

“That’s not convincing. You should bet on Bijoo Hyung.”

“If I could, I would bet on Seokhwan Hyung too.”

They exchanged smiles as they saw their manager nodding his head as if to cheer them on from afar.

“It’ll be fine. And what if you can’t do it?”

“It’ll be embarrassing.”

“Hey, how many people here will see us again? They’re just people we’ll see once and never again. As soon as the shooting is over, they’ll probably forget what we look like.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The only ones who don’t need to know about our embarrassment are our fans.”

At that, the youngest laughed.

He seemed to calm down for a moment, then looked up at Woojoo and nodded his head.

“Let’s do it right, Hyung.”

***

The shooting resumed.

The three members who had just finished their shooting walked towards the monitor.

The director and the assistant director with headphones.

The production staff, the advertising agency staff, and the advertisers in suits lined up in a row.

They whispered nervously from behind.

“Can you see?”

“No.”

Bijoo lifted his legs and shook his head.

“I can’t see well because it’s too far.”

“Junghyun Hyung. Can you see?”

“Can’t you see?”

“…”

“Are you too short? Should I carry you one by one?”

The two members glared at him with laser eyes.

But the situation was easily resolved when Team Leader Woo, who had spotted them, gave up her seat.

The monitor came into the members’ eyes.

The faces of the eldest and the youngest were reflected on the screen.

As Jiho’s face was close-up, a sigh of admiration escaped from them.

‘You’re doing well. Our youngest.’

The leader asked him casually, as if interrogating him, and the transfer student answered while hiding his confusion.

But he wasn’t just flustered.

At first, he was startled, but soon he avoided the questions by turning his answers around.

He had a way with words, and he looked older than the high school student he was playing.

He acted well for his character.

In fact, the role of ‘transfer student’ that Jiho played was a setting where an adult entered a high school student’s body.

[The protagonist who possessed an extra in the webtoon he was watching.]

It was an advertisement about a college student who was watching a webtoon on the subway and realized that he had become a ‘transfer student’ in the magic school of that webtoon, and after a lot of trouble, he returned to reality.

Jiho’s acting brought out the narrative of that character well.

His face was young and innocent, but as they watched, he felt like a twenty-year-old college student had possessed him.

-I’m sorry, I have a hard time telling you.

The others might not know, but it was a surprising thing for the members who knew Jiho as usual.

There was a limit to experience.

It was amazing to see their younger brother, who had just entered high school this year, bring out the feeling of a college student.

And his emotions were clearly conveyed.

When they saw him acting coolly, as if he had been holding back all this time, they stuck out their tongues.

They realized why the youngest could do that.

‘Woojoo Hyung is supporting him.’

Usually, when one side did too well, the other side got buried, but Woojoo was backing him up firmly.

Of course, the feeling was different.

If Jiho acted as if he was one with the role, Woojoo seemed to be acting as that role.

They couldn’t tell the exact reason.

But they were sure that he was good.

Feeling a strange sense of pride, the New Black members looked at the expressions of the people around them.

The director, the assistant director, the advertiser, the advertising agency staff.

Their faces were different, but they all stared at the monitor.

Rihyuk turned on his phone’s memo pad.

-But when did those two practice?

-Yeah

Junghyun shrugged his shoulders, and Bijoo moved his fingers.

-Maybe they practiced beforehand?

***

The scene ended in one cut.

“Cut!”

“Good job!”

As preparations for the next scene began again, the advertiser’s side began to get ready to leave.

An agency staff member followed them.

“How was it, Director?”

“Not bad.”

The executive director of KG International smiled as he watched the New Black members jumping around in the distance.

“Much better than the last time. I can trust them and leave it to them.”

The staff of the advertising agency looked relieved at his words.

The executive director left the auditorium, putting on the coat he received from his subordinate.

He greeted the people who came to him from all directions, then turned his eyes to Ms. Woo, the team leader.

“Did you say you’re staying at the set?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please follow up well on this project. Report to me immediately if there are any changes or issues.”

“I understand.”

“By the way, I heard that the broadcasting station is coming later. Take good care of them when they arrive. Give them whatever they want.”

He gave detailed instructions on every trivial matter, and then he moved his steps.

That was when it happened.

“Excuse me, sir!”

Yoo Geon, the director in charge of today’s CF, walked up to him briskly.

He looked at him as if to ask what he wanted, and the director got straight to the point.

“How about changing the continuity a little bit?”

“You want to make changes?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not a change. Do you remember the original continuity that we planned to shoot?”

“Oh, that one.”

As the one who approved the project, the executive director nodded his head.

“Tell me.”

Ignoring the glances of the staff behind him, Yoo Geon explained firmly.

It was a rather logical argument.

The shooting period was only one day longer, the actors had enough skills to pull off their roles, and only a few lines and scenes were changed. The overall plot was the same.

That was why they suggested to go back to the original script, which had received better feedback at the planning stage.

When all the explanations were over, the executive director, who had been listening with a calm expression, had only one thing on his mind.

“What about the cost?”

“It’s just changing a few lines and one or two scenes. There’s no difference at all.”

As he turned his head to check if that was true, the finance manager nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

The executive director of KG International thought for a moment and made his decision.

Soon after, Director Yu’s face brightened up.

***

Finally, the morning shoot was over, just before lunchtime.

“Hey, hey, hurry up and throw some flowers. Our top star is leaving.”

“He’s leaving!”

As Junghyun and Woojoo walked around, pushing away the crowd like bodyguards for the top star, Rihyuk and Bijoo pretended to scatter flowers in the air.

The person in question was blushing.

“Guys, why are you doing this to me? I’m embarrassed.”

They ignored him.

“Wow, look at our top star being humble.”

“You don’t have to be humble. Jiho, you did great.”

“You did amazing.”

“You’ve grown so much, Wang Jiho. It feels like yesterday when you cried after eating tteokbokki.”

“It was yesterday. And can you stop doing this?”

“What are you doing? Hurry up and throw the flowers. He deserves it.”

They teased the youngest member by making a fake flower path for him.

It was a petty revenge for what happened a few days ago.

He was so good at it, but he cried and made a fuss that he couldn’t do it. It was still annoying to think about it.

Of course, they didn’t just do it to tease him.

It was their way of showing gratitude to the youngest who did well all morning.

“It’s because we love you that we do this for you.”

“Why are you only doing this to me? Hyung did well too.”

“No, no, the MVP of today is you, you.”

They tried to create a mood like that, but the other members looked at each other as if they agreed.

“That’s true.”

“Woojoo Hyung did well too.”

“No, guys. Jiho did much better.”

“Hyungs, hurry up and make a flower path for Woojoo Hyung too.”

And so, Woojoo got the same treatment as the youngest.

As they were being forced to walk on the flower path in pairs, Jiho asked Woojoo something as if he remembered something, “Right. Hyung, I have a question for you.”

“Yeah. What is it?”

“It’s about the teacher who taught you acting. Do you know his name?”

“Why?”

“No. I’m just curious.”

“Do you guys want to know too?”

They all nodded.

“Well, it was such a long time ago… It was like a special lecture for one day only. He taught all the trainees together. He was quite famous.”

Woojoo thought for a while, and then he recalled his name.

“Kim Seokmoon? I think that was his name.”

***

While Woojoo was changing his clothes in the dressing room.

The members who were waiting for the food truck gathered around and searched their smartphones.

“Oh, here it is.”

When they searched for the name ‘Kim Seokmoon’, several names came up.

They clicked on the movie category and his profile appeared.

He was a person who had once been active on the screen, but had to give up his dream of acting and became an educator after getting a disability from a horse-riding accident.

When they searched for related articles, there were many interviews.

-Kim Seokmoon ‘I’m not satisfied with the actors these days…’

-Professor Kim Seokmoon, who raised the Hallyu star, “Gyeonwoo’s acting is so-so.”

-The story of actor Kim Seokmoon… ‘There was no way in my time.’

There were pictures of him in a wheelchair with a grumpy expression and the actors he had raised like shooting stars.

“Gyeonwoo Sunbae’s acting is so-so…”

“What did he say to Woojoo Hyung?”

“He said it wasn’t bad.”

“That ‘not bad’ seems to have a different definition from the ‘not bad’ we know. It might be a compliment, if anything.”

“He’s good at it, isn’t he?”

“That’s right, he was complimenting him.”

“…”

Silence ensued.

Soon, Jiho sighed.

“I fell for it again.”

The members, who were looking at each other like meerkats, turned their eyes to the eldest brother who was walking from afar.

He tilted his head, as if aware of their gazes.

Rihyuk clicked his tongue, seeing his calm expression.

“It’s really strange, you know.”

“What is?”

“Well, anyone can see that you have talent.”

Seo Rihyuk clicked his tongue again.

“Don’t you think you’re deluding yourself by saying you don’t?”