– Script Reading (2)
“Hm? What’s with the look, oppa? Did something good happen?”
Something good?
You bet.
I had no idea she would hold her ground that well.
Well, “hold her ground” wasn’t quite right. “Deflect” was more like it.
Nothing was getting through.
I told her not to worry, not to feel intimidated or hurt. Maybe she hadn’t needed that advice at all.
Sung-ah scanned the room, then let one corner of her mouth curl into a knowing smirk.
“I can pretty much guess what went down. You look happy, so she must’ve handled herself?”
Sung-ah’s arrival had brought a temporary ceasefire, but it was easy to guess what happened by the lingering tension in the air.
Mi-yeon Chu’s face flushed red. Hee-yeon stared back at her with eyes like bottomless wells as everyone else watched the two of them with undisguised interest.
The evidence was right there in plain sight.
“Hello, sunbae-nim.” Mi-yeon managed a greeting to Sung-ah even in the middle of all this.
It felt like watching a neighborhood bully run into the actual boss of the district.
“Yeah, nice to meet you.” Sung-ah accepted the greeting with barely a glance and headed toward the senior actors.
The room’s entire atmosphere shifted with her movement.
Whether it had been a show of power or shadow boxing, Mi-yeon was used to being the center of attention. Now, though, she had been shoved completely to the background.
With that, whatever tension had existed dissolved entirely.
After making her rounds and greeting everyone, Sung-ah circled back to me.
Team Lead Kwak hadn’t spoken to me either, as if he had been expecting this. He just stood there glaring.
I wondered if he would ever get around to picking a proper fight.
He was someone I could deal with happily enough.
“What a shame. I wanted to watch.” Sung-ah’s eyes genuinely clouded with regret.
“You wanted to watch Hee-yeon get picked on?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. One look at the room, and I can tell she wasn’t the one getting picked on. Did you give her advice or something? From what I can see, she’s not the type to be cunning enough to mess with someone on her own.”
I shrugged.
“Not much. I told her there would be mind games but not to worry too much. Don’t feel intimidated, don’t take it personally. Get your revenge through your acting at the read-through. Something like that.”
“Ah.” Sung-ah nodded, then let out a quiet laugh.
“What?”
“Nothing. Good advice. Next time, try telling her to flip it around and mess with them instead. That would’ve been really fun.”
“…You think that would actually work?”
“Who knows. Try it sometime as an experiment.”
She walked to her seat with a smile.
The mood had already shifted because of Sung-ah.
Everyone had their noses in their scripts.
Hee-yeon was leisurely flipping through hers.
But there was an outlier. Mi-yeon Chu.
She stared holes through Hee-yeon with her arms crossed.
It felt like something was about to come flying out of that mouth any second.
However, the voice that came wasn’t from there. It came from right beside me.
It was Team Lead Kwak’s voice.
“Manager Kang.”
Oh right, this guy.
I was ready to have some fun putting him in his place, but the timing was unfortunate.
I didn’t have time for him.
Why? Because Mi-yeon Chu finally opened her mouth.
“Hey.”
She must have found it truly humiliating because she pushed through the derailed atmosphere to restart the mind games all over again.
And in the middle of this, Team Lead Kwak couldn’t read the room and tried talking to me.
“Manager Kang, when you see someone, it’s manners to greet-”
“Shh.”
“…What?”
“Could you keep it down?”
I needed to watch Hee-yeon right now.
I would deal with him later when I had a moment to spare.
I turned my attention back to the situation, leaving a red-faced Team Lead Kwak behind.
Sung-ah was watching Mi-yeon Chu’s behavior too as she wore a faint smile.
“Maybe you don’t know because you’re an idol or a newbie in showbiz, but whatever you are, if you were cast in a movie, shouldn’t you at least know basic manners? What makes you think you can talk back to a senior and make things awkward?”
Having no acting career was true enough, but a newbie?
Talking back and making things awkward?
How was it possible that every single thing out of her mouth was wrong?
Even if it was a false accusation, this was bordering on a witch hunt.
“…”
“Not answering again? What, are you upset?”
“No.”
“Then I’d appreciate it if you answered when you’re asked a question. Openly ignoring me in front of all these seniors? What in the world is going through your head?”
“I was thinking about what to say.”
Her answers was solid as a concrete wall. One that didn’t chip no matter how hard you hit it.
Her voice was quiet and steady as she looked straight at Mi-yeon and spoke facts.
The scenario from before started playing itself out again.
Mi-yeon drew in a deep breath, ready to raise her voice.
This time, however, the director and the production crew walked in through the door.
The second bout was anticlimactically snuffed out the moment it started.
“Pfft!”
Another laugh burst out of Sung-hyun Park.
And with that, the record stood at two wins, zero losses.
Watching her let things slide, evade, and defend was like watching a Mayweather fight.
“All right, everyone, let’s exchange greetings and get started.”
With that, the third bout was about to begin.
**
「Could I Borrow a Little of Your Luck?」 was a comedy drama centered on two leads: Team Lead Park (played by Sung-hyun Park) and Min-ah Lee (played by Sung-ah Kim).
Team Lead Park’s career had been on a downward spiral for reasons he couldn’t pinpoint, his position growing more precarious with each failure.
Then one day, he was assigned to manage a newly launching girl group called Lemon Girls.
The group consisted of four members.
There was Min-ah Lee, who lacked raw ability but whose luck exploded at every critical moment, and three others.
Team Lead Park was overjoyed when the debut song arrived.
“Girls! The debut song is amazing! Min-ah, it’s thanks to you we even got a track like this. Haha! The composer had been saving it for another team, and we ended up snagging it.”
Min-ah had become the star composer’s lifesaver, which was how they had landed the song.
She was waiting for the crosswalk light to change, slipped, grabbed the person in front of her, and they’d both gone down together. That was it.
Everything fell into place. All that was left was to make it big.
On the way to the broadcasting station for the debut stage…
“Oh, that’s-?!”
Min-ah spotted her friend Hyun-ah through the car window.
“She’s got bad luck clinging to her… But she said today’s interview is really important.”
A little while later, Min-ah stood outside a building with her phone against her ear.
“Hello? Hey, Hyun-ah! Can you come out for a second? Your interview hasn’t started yet, right?”
Hyun-ah came outside and stared at Min-ah like she’d lost her mind.
“What are you doing here? Isn’t today your debut? Looking at your clothes… that’s definitely a stage outfit. Why are you here?”
Min-ah told Hyun-ah everything.
The ability she’d kept secret from everyone and the time she’d stolen Hyun-ah’s luck before an important interview.
“Are your ears stuffed with rocks? I told you to gather people’s luck and hand it over. You ditched your debut stage and came to my interview? Fine. I’ll give you some credit. Our friendship is still salvageable. But I can’t forgive you. Not for stealing my luck last time. So… this time, I want you to take responsibility. Scrape together every last bit of luck and hand it over. Let me… have one proper run of unbelievable fortune.”
Downtown at lunchtime was packed with people.
Hyun-ah, blazing with an almost blinding mass of fortune, didn’t just pass the interview. She made an exceptionally strong impression on one of the executives.
The effects of that enormous luck didn’t stop there.
Hyun-ah showed up at the music show’s waiting room after all the recordings had finished.
It was to help Min-ah, who had caused chaos by vanishing before her debut performance.
Min-ah was in a corner of the waiting room, sobbing.
“Sitting here crying like an idiot?”
“Huh…? Hyun-ah! How… how did you get in here?”
“Luck. They probably thought I was staff because of the suit.”
“G-go. Before our manager gets here. I’m completely done for.”
“Hey. Anyone around you right now bursting with good luck?”
“Huh?”
Min-ah’s gaze drifted to one side, and Hyun-ah followed it.
“She’s got a nasty-looking face. You sure she’s loaded with luck?”
“Why… what are you going to do?”
“Start by sucking her luck dry.”
“No! That sunbae is the one I told you about. She’ll catch me before I even get close, and I’ll just embarrass myself.”
“Oh! That bitch from your company. That’s her?”
“Hey. Don’t. Don’t go. Hyun-ah!”
**
Throughout the table read, the director’s hand moved relentlessly, writing down notes for direction.
Regardless of whether an actor delivered something extraordinary or something disappointing, his face stayed locked in a poker face from start to finish.
‘Though, his hands tell you everything his face won’t.’
His emotions seemed to bleed through in the way he wrote.
When Hee-yeon, Sung-ah, Sung-hyun, and Chul-hwan were performing, his pen danced across the page as lightly as if it were doing ballet.
When Mi-yeon and the other actors performed, the pen moved heavy and deliberate, pressing hard into the paper.
‘And Mi-yeon Chu called Hee-yeon a newbie?’
It was so absurd I couldn’t even laugh.
A considerable amount of time had passed since the table read began.
Chul-hwan Son, Sung-hyun Park, Sung-ah Kim, Hee-yeon Lee.
Those four had seized the room in a vice grip and showed no intention of letting go.
As if competing with each other, they poured top-tier performance after top-tier performance without a giving a moment to breathe.
‘She’s still at the tail end of those four, for now.’
But for a newcomer? She was a monster.
Whenever she shared scenes with the other actors, Hee-yeon’s presence became even more distinct.
‘Finally, here comes the scene where she’s up against Mi-yeon.’
The arrogance from before the read-through was nowhere to be found.
Mi-yeon’s lips were dry as she constantly wet her lower lip, her fingers creasing the corner of her script.
Hee-yeon opened her mouth. No, actually, Hyun-ah did.
“Hello.” She spoke in a detached voice.
“Hello. I’m Aram from Lovely Lovely.” Mi-yeon delivered the line brightly, as if she was greeting a broadcasting station staffer.
“Something good happened to you today, right?”
“Excuse me? Haha. But, um… and you are…?”
“Nobody in particular. I’m here to give you a warning. You’ve got a face that says you pick on nice people. I would suggest you stop. Before I rip every piece of hair out from your head.”
Toward the end, Hee-yeon chewed the words like she was grinding them between her teeth.
She had good projection, and raw emotion was loaded into every syllable. Just listening to her voice sent a chill down your spine.
Then Mi-yeon spoke.
“Anti-soo! A-Are you an anti?”
(T/N: The opposite of a fan)
She bit her tongue and her voice wavered.
The line was supposed to be delivered with contempt, but pressure of not wanting to fall behind Hee-yeon must have been too much.
Realizing how badly she’d fumbled, she lifted her script to her face, so no one could see.
Hee-yeon continued. “An anti? Well, I do kind of wish you would crash and burn.”
“I see you came right when nobody’s around. And how did you even get in here?”
“I’m on some incredible luck right now, so I feel like I can do anything. Should I just rip it all out? Your hair, I mean.”
Where before, she would press the threat with force, now she was mixing in reckless, unhinged laughter.
That wasn’t in the stage directions.
The character she sculpted with Sung-ah in their practice sessions shone through at this very moment.
Mi-yeon, who was playing Aram from Lovely Lovely, spotted Min-ah creeping up to her and was supposed to snap at her irritably.
Key word, supposed to.
“W-What are you doing here?”
Was that also a character forged through deep artistic deliberation?
It sounded like some cowering wimp reading lines off a page.
Was it lucky or unlucky that there were no cuts in a table read?
From where I sat, it looked unlucky.
**
“Good work today, everyone. I’ll see you all at the blessing ceremony.”
(T/N: A traditional blessing ceremony held before the start of filming on a Korean production, which typically involves offering food and prayers for a safe and successful shoot.)
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
After the producers, the director, and the main crew filed out through the door, the actors slowly rose from their seats, and just then…
“Hey, you! What was with that garbage acting?! You can’t just wreck the character however you want! Stop trying to show off and get the basics right!”
There it was.
Maybe she figured out that nobody in this room was going to step in to interrupt, but Mi-yeon erupted openly, screaming and throwing a tantrum.
I clicked my tongue in pity as I watched.
She really should have thought before speaking.
Such a shame.
“I’m the one who taught her how to act, and the character work was more than fine. She didn’t go off-script. She made it compelling.”
Sung-ah stepped in with a smile.
Mi-yeon, who was already dripping cold sweat from the aftershock of the table read, went ashen.
If she ever got cast in a horror movie, the lead role would be hers for the taking.
“Well?” At Sung-ah’s voice, and the room froze solid.
Right. If you wanted to excude presence, this was how you did it.
Professional, wasn’t it?
“Sung-ah sunbae-nim. What I meant was…”
“Did you crease your script on purpose? To make it look like you read it a lot? Nice try.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Wow! At least she had some basic survival instincts.
She bowed her head without another word, but that wasn’t going to make Sung-ah stop.
“If you’re going to trash-talk someone, at least pick something that makes sense. Getting outperformed by someone who just started learning to act? That’s the thing you should be embarrased about.”
Chul-hwan, who had stayed out of it until now, clicked his tongue and looked at Mi-yeon with open disdain.
Then, he gestured toward Hee-yeon.
“You, over there. Come here.”
“Yes, sir.”
As if stranded on her own island, untouched by the lethal atmosphere, Hee-yeon strolled right past Mi-yeon without a second glance.
Chul-hwan pointed to a section of the script.
“This part here. When we go for the take, try it with a wistful expression. You were initially going for self-deprecating, right?”
“Yes.”
Sung-hyun, who had been hovering beside Chul-hwan, glanced at the script in Hee-yeon’s hands.
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Of course.”
Sung-hyun opened the script, and a gentle smile curled across his lips.
“Look, it’s all written down in here. Haha. Reminds me of when I was starting out. I used to write down every little thing just like this.”
“She works hard. Let me see. Mm. Yeah. This part, it’s better to do it this way. Yep. Sung-ah taught her well.”
Mi-yeon watched all of this, then stalked out of the read-through room with bloodshot eyes.
She was like a cartoon villain vanishing with an unspoken “You’ll pay for this!”
Pathetically.
“Manager Kang.”
But there was still one more villain left.
Team Lead Kwak.
He fixed me with a look of naked displeasure.
I made sure he could see the smirk on my face.
‘Is it my turn to teach him a lesson?’
I was about to open my mouth when someone beat me to it.
It was Sung-ah.
She brushed past Team Lead Kwak and said but a single line.
“Don’t pick a fight you can’t win. Just go. I’m heading to the practice room with Hyuk.”
Well, shucks. There was no chance to deal with him.
Maybe next time, on set, we would run into each other again.
Just wait and see!
“Let’s go, oppa.”
“Sure. But give me a minute. The seniors are still giving Hee-yeon advice.”
Sung-ah let out a sigh and called out toward the seniors.
“Sunbae-nim! Sir! I’ve been coaching her plenty well, you know. Nit-picking the little things will go on forever. You have to feel it out on set.”
Sung-hyun grinned. “Better to tell her now than not. What’s the harm? You got beef with Hee-yeon too?”
“Don’t lump me in with that.”
“Hahaha! Just kidding. You did teach her well, though.”
Sung-ah looked at Hee-yeon and nodded. “She’s talented. More than anything, she’s a good kid, so it’s rewarding to help her.”
Excuse me. I was the one who helped her.
Hee-yeon and Sung-ah both.
Who said she got to claim credit?
—