How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 82

Chapter 82

 

“You kept touching your knee during the reading. That’s why I got worried.”

I froze at her words.

I touched my knee?

“Of course, I know that kind of thing can happen when you’re immersed in acting. But your expression too… you looked like someone who was actually in pain…”

Bae Dain muttered.

“I don’t know you that well, but somehow I feel like you’re the type who’d endure pain and keep working. And watching you from beside me, I was seriously worried.”

“Noona, calm down. I’m not hurting at all.”

“…You’re really not?”

Seeing the distrust in her eyes, I let out a laugh.

When I joked that it almost sounded like she wanted me to be sick, she sighed.

“Hey, I’m not joking. You kept frowning slightly… and under the table you kept touching your knee, and it looked like you were sweating too. I really thought something was wrong!”

She made a huge fuss.

I thought she was overreacting, but some of her words felt strangely unfamiliar.

‘I was frowning?’

Aside from that one sigh in the middle, I thought I’d been smiling the whole time.

I felt a bit puzzled, but her next words swept that thought away.

“I was really startled. You don’t act like someone who’s acting…”

“Thanks.”

“I’m not complimenting you!”

Bae Dain made a flounder-eyed face.

She glared at me for a moment before relaxing her expression.

“No, of course I should compliment you. You were amazing just now. Your acting was incredible. That’s why I was so confused. I couldn’t tell if it was acting or reality!”

“…That’s not a compliment?”

I couldn’t understand what she was trying to say.

Seeing my bewilderment, Bae Dain thumped her chest in frustration.

“Haha, you two are adorable.”

At that moment, Byeon Duho, who was sitting next to Bae Dain, joined in.

Dressed like his usual cheerful self, he gave me a thumbs-up.

“Our Seulho, whew! You’re really something. I knew you were a good guy from the first time I saw you, but your skills are perfect too.”

“Even if you praise me like that, I don’t have anything to give you.”

“You brat, you think I’m saying this to get something from you?”

Duho laughed and repeated how much he’d liked my acting.

‘That’s a relief.’

If my fellow actors were praising me this much, then I probably didn’t look bad to the production staff either.

‘I still don’t know why Director Baek suddenly wanted a break…’

Well, maybe he just wanted to rest.

I didn’t want to overthink it and let it go.

“Hyung, your acting was great too. You really feel like a mature man.”

“Oh, really? Nice. That’s exactly what I was aiming for.”

Duho’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled happily.

His overall appearance and the tone with which he delivered his lines radiated maturity.

The three characters in the movie were about the same age, but in reality, Duho was six or seven years older than Dain and me.

Maybe because of that, the male lead Seunggeon he created had that relaxed aura unique to grown men.

“Dain’s acting was amazing too. Ahh, I can already feel it. I think we’re really going to do well.”

“Eek, Oppa! You can’t say things like that. What if we jinx ourselves?”

“Alright, alright. I take it back.”

Bae Dain and Byeon Duho seemed much more comfortable with each other now.

Smiling gently at Dain as though she were his younger sister, Duho suddenly looked at me.

“But I can tell already… once this movie comes out, Seulho’s popularity is going to be insane. Ah, I can say something like this, right?”

“Of course. I think so too.”

Bae Dain nodded.

“The vibe is completely different from anything Seulho’s done recently, so I think people are really going to pay attention.”

“Don’t forget us when you get famous, alright?”

“That’s right. Don’t forget us~.”

They weren’t just getting along.

‘These two really click.’

As I laughed in disbelief, Duho waved his hand.

“Why? It’s a good thing. You’ve got good character and good skills. You have everything… Ah, all that’s left is getting a girlfriend.”

By then, I was getting tired of answering, so I casually replied.

“I already have one, though.”

I glanced to the side with my eyes and returned to my script.

“…This kid.”

After a brief silence, Bae Dain burst out laughing.

“You really know how to make people’s hearts flutter. Anyone who heard that would misunderstand~.”

“I think Seulho’s a real man.”

“Right? Just looking at him, he seems like the type to make a lot of girls cry.”

These two were having way too much fun.

Deciding not to entertain them anymore, I focused on my script.

From beside me came teasing voices.

“Oh my, he’s embarrassed.”

“That side of him is cute too. So charming~.”

These people, seriously.

“Shall we get started again?”

At that moment, Director Baek entered the reading room.

Apparently he’d stepped out during the break, and he came back with a man wearing a black cap pulled low over his eyes.

“Let’s start from where we stopped. Fighting!”

At his energetic voice, everyone shouted their encouragement.

Since the very next scene started with my lines, I lowered my gaze to the script.

And because of that, I didn’t notice at all…

“……”

The expression on the face of the man in the black cap sitting beside Director Baek as he stared at me.

 

***

 

A script supervisor.

The person responsible for preserving the most important thing in filmmaking…

Continuity.

Simply put, they make sure scenes connect naturally.

A script supervisor saw more than anyone on set and sometimes had to inspect things more meticulously than the director himself.

Without one, the quality of a film would drop drastically.

Sometimes while watching a movie, you’ll notice a character move from the living room to the balcony, only for their hairstyle to suddenly change or a button on their shirt to become undone.

Those kinds of mistakes happen because the scenes were filmed on different days, and the script supervisor’s job was to minimize such errors.

‘You could say the movie wouldn’t function without me.’

Kim Donggyun, the script supervisor for ‘What I Loved’, had tremendous pride in his work.

People outside the industry often didn’t even know such a profession existed, but everyone working in film understood its importance and respected it.

And his role was important even during script readings.

‘I have to check everything I can before filming begins.’

Besides looking for continuity-breaking elements in the script, there was plenty to do.

He had to focus on how actors actually delivered their lines and obsessively record any ad-libs they improvised.

‘Actors don’t realize it.’

They didn’t understand how much influence a casual ad-lib could have on the final product.

They might think adding a few seconds wasn’t a big deal, but when those little additions accumulated, they dragged down the pacing.

That was why Kim Donggyun always watched all of an actor’s previous works as soon as the casting was finalized.

Knowing how they usually acted and how strictly they followed scripts made managing the set easier.

Naturally, he’d watched Yoo Seulho’s recent projects ‘Our Space’ and the Arco Beer commercial.

After watching everything, he’d thought:

‘He’s good.’

He’d even checked older works just in case and had been stunned.

The change was so drastic that it almost felt like the person had changed entirely.

‘He excels at making things feel real.’

His diction was good, his vocalization solid…  everything was satisfactory.

Kim Donggyun had expected Yoo Seulho to act well again.

But what he was seeing now…

‘Gulp.’

His pen, which had never stopped moving, came to a halt.

He simply stared blankly at Yoo Seulho.

Even the black cap pulled low over his eyes couldn’t hide his shock.

‘This… is beyond just being good at acting.’

Yoo Seulho disappeared.

Dogeon was there.

‘How is this possible?’

When actors performed well, people often praised them by saying they’d become the character itself.

Kim Donggyun had used that compliment many times himself, and sometimes he’d truly meant it.

But he’d never felt it this vividly.

“…Shall we take a short break?”

At that moment, Director Baek raised his hand and unexpectedly called for a break.

Only then did Kim Donggyun realize his own hand had been motionless for a long time.

Sitting beside him, Director Baek had noticed immediately and deliberately created some time for him to collect himself.

“Director Kim, want to go smoke?”

Kim Donggyun awkwardly got up at Director Baek’s suggestion.

Even after arriving at the smoking room, his mind refused to settle.

Seeing this, Director Baek chuckled.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“How did you know to cast him, Director? That he had this much potential?”

He’d been surprised while watching ‘Our Space’, but not to this extent.

‘Back then, he was just terrifyingly good as a villain.’

Of course, many people would consider that high praise, but to Kim Donggyun, who saw great actors every day, “terrifying” didn’t mean much.

Which meant…

What Yoo Seulho had just shown was beyond merely terrifying.

“Me? I didn’t know.”

“Huh?”

Already stunned, Kim Donggyun’s mouth fell open at Director Baek’s innocent answer.

Director Baek laughed and tapped the ash off his cigarette.

“I didn’t know when I called him either. But the moment I saw him in person, I knew. You saw Seulho’s eyes, right? Just looking into those eyes…”

Director Baek exhaled a long stream of smoke.

His gaze, fixed somewhere in the distance, carried countless emotions.

“He’s definitely not an ordinary person.”