Life, Once Again

After Story 57

“Miss Yang. Didn’t you finish up for the day?”

“I came back because I had something to do. Room A’s empty, right?”

“Yes, it is. Are you going to use it?”

Miso nodded toward the instructor preparing for the late-night class and headed inside. She turned on the lights and had Maru and Seungah come in.

“It’s pretty chilly.”

Many said that autumn would get shorter every year, and indeed, it looked like a thick coat would be necessary by November. She turned the heater on and took off her jacket.

“I didn’t ask you too rudely, did I?” she asked Maru, who was taking off his bag.

“If I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t have come here.”

He was very self-assertive. Miso smiled and unfolded her hair. Seungah brought a chair for Maru to sit on.

“Do you have a type of act that you’re confident in?”

“I do like something where I can use my body.”

“Have you learned things like martial arts?”

“I haven’t, but I can do action to a certain extent.”

It was unexpected to hear that he was confident in using his body. There were very few students who had any interest in action among the people who came to the acting school aspiring to become actors. Most of the time, they come to acting school in order to learn about emotions that are shown in still dramas.

“Can I have a look at that then? I don’t mind what it is.”

He was someone that Seungah of all people had praised. She would’ve dismissed it if Seungah only mentioned that he was just good. However, Seungah was vocal about it long after she finished her audition. She said there was someone who was on a completely different level. Just what kind of ‘level’ was she talking about? Miso found it curious as a casting director.

“I’ll do it with Seungah for a bit. Just a few simple things.”

Maru took Seungah to the floor, who was still. The two of them talked for a while. They waved their arms a few times before laughing.

“You’re going to watch from there, right?” Maru asked. Miso made a circle with her thumb and index finger to signal him.

“It might look awkward, but I’ll do it for now.”

Seungah, who was facing him, started acting. The scenario seemed to be that of an evil loan shark and a debtor.

“So, you can’t pay back the money?” Seungah laughed with a mischievous face and swung her right arm.

Along with a grunt, Maru’s head spun around at the precise timing. He looked like he had a deep understanding of action acting. It didn’t look too exaggerated, or too awkward. The situation was quite comical, but the act itself was quite realistic.

Seungah punched. Maru fell backward like he was hit by an expert martial artist in a Chinese movie. Even Seungah didn’t seem to have thought that he would come out so bad and just looked at Maru in surprise.

Maru, who rolled backward like he was being pulled by a wire by the waist, stood up while staggering. He wiped his mouth with the back of his mouth and went against Seungah again. He seemed to have thrown away the roleplay of being a debtor.

This didn’t seem to have been talked about beforehand, as Seungah just stood there without knowing what to do. Maru, who came over, punched out before frowning and lifting his chin. He staggered like he was hit on the chin, and this time, he flew toward the left.

He spun around once before falling to the ground. It looked pretty precarious, but Maru stood up like it was nothing and dusted off his clothes.

“It’s still on the level of a child’s play. I have to gain some more flexibility if I want to look good with professional actors, but it isn’t easy.”

Seungah approached him and asked if he broke a bone anywhere. The act was so clean that the closest person to him was worried about him getting injured. As someone who was watching from a distance, Miso was unable to find a single flaw.

The skit was closer to a setup to show the action, so there was no need to evaluate that, and based on how he used his body, he was better than most male actors.

It was not an easy feat to fall over where there was no mattress. It was proof that Maru had a significant understanding of his body. He knew how to fall over so that he wouldn’t get injured.

His analytical skills of screens were something else as well. He put on the action while thinking about the camera. He was aware of how to make things look good. If he didn’t learn it specifically, it would mean that he had researched it himself while watching action movies. This was not something that a person could catch onto instinctively.

“You look like you’ve done some sports,” Miso said.

“I don’t have bad reflexes, so it’s probably that.”

“That’s not something reflexes can explain. There’s probably no one at our school who can use their body as well as you can. You’re on the level of someone from a proper action school.”

“Thanks for the flattery.”

“It’s not flattery. It’s the truth. Well, I can see that your action acting is not something I can judge. Can I look at other things as well?”

“What would you like?”

“You can take orders?”

“There’s not a lot on the menu, but I'll try.”

“What’s a good recommended item? From your image, I think a rough style will be good.”

“Rather than free acting, should I go with an existing role?”

“That’s good too.”

He was easy to talk to. Miso crossed her legs, filled with expectation. What would this interesting child, who supposedly learned from videos, show her?

“Have you watched ‘Infiltration’?”

“I have. Anyone who’s acting is not doing their homework if they didn’t watch it. Seungah, you’ve watched it too, right?”

Seungah affirmed her question and recreated a scene from Infiltration. She played the nurse that was being threatened by a North Korean spy. It was short, but the emotions could be felt clearly. Seungah was someone she found worthwhile to teach. She had a little bit of greed, and she knew how to make use of that greed.

“Looks like I can play along with what Seungah just showed.”

“You mean the spy?”

“Yes. I quite admired that actor’s act.”

“It did become quite a bit of an issue. He’s a senior who’s been in the theater field for a long time, and he finally got to see the light.”

“Sounds like someone you know.”

Miso replied with a single nod. Maru jumped lightly on the spot. He shook his hands and feet as well.

“He did that in the audition too. Now that I look at it, he looks like he’s getting ready,” Seungah said from the side.

While Maru prepared himself, Miso looked up the video of the scene in question. There were a few videos floating around the internet that were released by the production company for promotional purposes.

“Should we have a look before we start? Seungah, you should play along as well.”

“Should I?”

She played the video. It was the scene where a North Korean spy, who was discovered, was taking a nurse hostage at a hospital. Miso looked at the two people focusing on the screen. Both of them had a considerably strong concentration.

The video, about one minute long, ended. Maru and Seungah stood in the middle of the practice room. The two of them talked to each other for a while like when they were plotting the action scene earlier before signaling Miso that they were ready.

“Okay. Three, two, one.” Miso signaled.

Maru went behind Seungah and snapped her left arm backward. His right hand, curled up like he was holding a knife, was right at Seungah’s throat. This was the position that the two actors showed in the video.

Seungah let out a rough breath. Her eyes moved around unstably, unable to find focus. Seungah was someone who showed her strength in scenes with drastic movement. While her ordinary life acting looked bland in comparison, she could display a splendid act in situations where she had to drive her emotions into a corner.

Even now, she was expressing the desperation of the nurse quite well. While it looked slightly messy due to the exaggerated emotions, it was very good considering that she had never practiced this before.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“I-I’ll do anything you say. P-please.”

“Shut yer trap.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“I said shut up.”

Miso turned to look at Maru. He was a spy, who had to be cold-minded, but he was hasty because his identity had been exposed. His eyes looked like he knew he was caught in a trap, even though he was looking around looking for a way out.

His taut shoulders, tense arms, and twitching throat from all the gulping… he didn’t express his nervousness through his face alone. There was a lot more information being given off by his body than his face, and he seemed to know that the audience could subconsciously catch the change in body language.

Miso liked that it was detailed, but not exaggerated. It was precisely the kind of acting that the movie industry wanted these days.

“Th-there’s a way out at the end of the corridor. If you go there,” Seungah said once again. She was solely focused on surviving. She expressed as much as possible that she had no intentions of resisting and that she would obediently follow whatever she was told. Her expressions looked better than before.

That was a result of loosening up a little. It was clear that she had gotten rid of the thought that she should be acting scared, acting stiff, and things like that. Or maybe, she forgot about it.

Miso leaned forward. Seunagh was being assimilated into Maru’s breathing speed. It was definitely Maru who held the tempo of the act. He suppressed Seungah from rushing forward in haste so that she could bring out her true skills and then let her go naturally. This was something frequently seen when a veteran actor led a new actor. There were many methods. Some would joke, or play a prank. Some might even start laughing for no reason. Doing so, they would snatch out the new actors from being too focused on the ‘act of acting’ and make them focus on ‘acting.’

Maru turned out to have the luxury to be considerate of his partner even while doing his own act. This student was someone who was not only good at acting but was good at things outside acting as well. No, calling him a ‘student’ wasn’t right. He was an exceptional actor.

“All hail the motherland.”

Maru, who was muttering a North Korean song with a shaky breath, pushed Seungah away. He stabbed his own neck with the knife he put against Seungah.

Because of the lack of props, the tragic beauty couldn’t be seen, but his act couldn’t be blamed at all. If there was a set and a camera here, even the director that shot Infiltration would have praised him for that.

Maru, who fell down, straightened out his knees with a cough. He coughed dryly a few times before smiling awkwardly. The chilly air dissipated. His mouth seemed to feel stiff as he opened his mouth wide.

Seungah smiled and asked how it was. Miso gave the two people appropriate assessments. She raised her two hands and clapped five times, telling them that it was good.

“Alright, be careful on your way home. Maru, take Seungah to her house.”

Miso saw the two people out and came back to the practice room. She looked at the empty space for a while, and Maru and Seungah’s act started playing out with the darkness as the background. It was light but not floaty, heavy, or blunt. It was a smart act that she hadn’t seen for a while.

“Miss Kang.”

Miso opened the door to the faculty office and looked for an instructor. The instructor, who was preparing for the late-night class, asked her what it was about.

“The audition for ‘Giant’ is being held at our acting school this time, right?”

“Yes. We’re all busy because of that. I heard that we’ll have to see about a thousand people.”

“Then let’s make that a thousand and one.”

“From what I know, all of our kids have submitted their profiles. Did someone forget?”

“He’s not someone from the school, but I think I’ll push him in. If it goes well, we can register him as one of us for some promotion.”

“Did you find someone you like, Miss Yang? Tell me his name for now. I’ll take the profile later.”

Miso thanked her before bringing up a name.

“His name is Han Maru. As for his profile, I’ll get it from him later.”