小火星

Kang Woo-jin, who easily showed acting possessed by the gods, was garbage in his current monologue performance. It’s as if he’s changed 180 degrees in a day.

PD Song Manwoo found the reason in Kang Woojin’s eyes.

‘He’s expressing dissatisfaction… through his acting.’

He interrupted Kang Woojin’s acting and immediately asked,

“Mr. Woojin, may I ask why you’re showing us an act of not being able to act?”

It was then that the exclamation points appeared in the eyes of the people around PD Song Man-woo. Hong Hye-yeon and the others. They realized it too.

“!!”

“Ah.”

Ah, so it was an act of not being able to act! Expressions of that sort. They seemed a bit relieved. On the other hand, Kang Woojin maintained an emotionless expression as per the concept at this moment.

But he felt differently inside.

‘An act of not being able to act? How do you do that?’

When I asked to be sent home, PD Song Manwoo started speaking nonsense. I blatantly showed a terrible performance, but he said I was acting poorly. But it didn’t seem like a joke. The face of Song Manwoo looking at Woojin now was quite serious.

Kang Woojin quickly regained his composure. Once he sorted out the situation, the answer was quite simple.

‘Um- Somehow that gentleman with goatee seems to be misunderstanding something.’

Their misunderstanding must have started from the ‘Super Actor’ preliminary round yesterday. It started there and rolled up to here. Kang Woojin noticed these misunderstandings when he saw his acting video.

‘Because they see me as a crazy skilled actor, that’s why they come to such a conclusion.’

Somehow the snowball of misunderstanding seems to have grown quite a bit. However, correcting it was a bit bothersome. And pointless. So, there was only one answer.

Control the current situation.

The misunderstanding was their delusion and only Kang Woo-jin knew it. Oh well, let’s see how far it goes. If it turns out to be a concept at some point, we’ll deal with it then. Woo-jin cooled down his feelings as much as possible. It would be okay to be a little arrogant.

Then he picked an appropriate line. Soon, a rather cold and composed voice came from Kang Woojin’s mouth.

“Because you told me to act without any explanation.”

PD Song Manwoo, slightly surprised, responded immediately.

“Ah. That’s…”

When he started making excuses, Woojin felt like he could overdo it a bit more. He rode the momentum of bluffing.

So he overdid it.

-Thud.

Kang Woojin suddenly stood up from his seat.

“I’m not exactly pleased. With the treatment.”

Everyone, including PD Song Manwoo and top actress Hong Hye-yeon, looked up at him. With eyes wide open like startled rabbits. They were flustered. Especially, PD Song Manwoo’s reaction was big.

“Wait, wait, calm down first.”

Following Woo-jin, PD Song Man-woo stood up and reached out his hand.

“I’m sorry, I- I was too hasty. Let’s sit down first.”

“……”

“I’ll explain everything, so please sit down and listen.”

Woojin, with an indifferent face, silently looked at PD Song Manwoo. Counting the seconds inside. One, two, three, four, five. After that, Kang Woojin gently sat back down on the chair.

Soon, PD Song Manwoo, who exhaled a sigh of relief.

-Swoosh.

He scratched his head while looking around at the people nearby. Then, he turned his gaze back to Kang Woo-jin across from him.

“First of all, I apologize again. I didn’t mean to belittle you, Woo-jin… I did that because I wanted to show everyone your acting as soon as possible.”

“I understand.”

“Um- Then, I’ll start with the prepared questions.”

PD Song Manwoo threw a question at the indifferent Kang Woojin. His tone of voice was serious.

“In the ‘SuperActor’ interview, you said you learned acting by yourself. How long have you been doing it alone?”

Everyone in the meeting room, including Hong Hye-yeon, focused their gaze on Kang Woojin. At this point, Woojin was slightly contemplating. What should he answer? 5 years? Or maybe 10? Then, he chose somewhere in between.

‘No, let’s just keep it vague.’

Kang Woojin, who chose the middle ground, muttered it lowly.

“Well, it’s been quite a while.”

“……”

An answer that was neither here nor there. But Song Manwoo PD, who was glaring at Woojin, began to make his own judgement.

‘I don’t know why he’s revealing himself now, but…’

‘He’s the type to show off such high-level acting without long-term analysis. He must have a firm pile of data in his brain and body. It must have been close to 10 years. Maybe even more.’

Of course, Hong Hye-yeon, sitting to the right of PD Song Man-woo, with her long hair down, felt the same way. She was paying attention to the aura that Kang Woo-jin was emitting now.

‘But where did he get such high composure and strong self-esteem? That act of poor acting just now was really a top actor-level audacity.’

Normally, an actor’s self-esteem grows as they build their career. It becomes solid as they consistently throw their acting onto TV or screen, repeating this and receiving evaluations from directors and eventually the viewers.

That was the source of an actor’s confidence.

But Kang Woojin, as he is now, already had top actor-level audacity without such a process. At least in Hong Hye-yeon’s eyes.

‘He’s been doing it alone so far… Is it just his nature?’

At that moment, Song Man-woo PD, who had been nodding slowly, threw another question at Woo-jin.

“Then where did you do this self-study? A small theater group? Even if you learn acting by yourself, you still need correction. There are things in acting that you can’t achieve by yourself.”

That was accurate. Acting fundamentally required showing others to improve. Evaluating oneself a hundred times had no meaning. But Kang Woojin had no in-depth understanding of this.

Therefore, Kang Woo-jin’s choice was,

“……”

A stern silence. Then, PD Song Man-woo naturally continued the conversation.

“It’s not a small theater group. Even if it were a small theater group, if there were an actor like Woo-jin, it would have surfaced quickly.”

“……”

“Various directors and casters wouldn’t have left you alone. Then, it must be overseas. Did you study acting overseas?”

Overseas all of a sudden? Woo-jin was baffled inside. Of course, until a few days ago, he had considered working in Australia. But PD Song Man-woo’s remark just now was clearly wrong.

‘How- It seems like the scale is getting a bit bigger.’

Is this okay? While Woojin’s life was spiraling out of control, Hong Hye-yeon from the other side interjected.

“Is there something you can’t talk about? If so, you don’t have to answer.”

Sold. Kang Woo-jin chose a situation that didn’t exist that he couldn’t talk about.

“I’ll do that.”

The situation is turning strange. Woo-jin felt like he was rowing hard across an uncrossable river. On the other hand, PD Song Man-woo was certain.

‘Unable to speak of it- If he’s ready to appear on ‘Super Actor’, it can’t be a crime. Anyway, what’s important now is that the guy is in front of me.’

He couldn’t let that huge monster slip away. PD Song Man-woo suddenly leaned toward Woo-jin. A slight smile spread at the corners of his mouth.

“To be honest.”

He pointed to two men sitting a bit far from him.

“Over there is the studio director and the casting director.”

Next, to his left, a middle-aged woman with long permed hair who had been silently observing the situation.

“This is writer Park Eun-mi. You know her, right?”

Kang Woo-jin knew writer Park Eun-mi. He knew her not because she was famous, but because he found out about her when he searched for PD Song Man-woo yesterday. Because he didn’t watch TV at all. Anyway, Woo-jin nodded his head when he looked at writer Park Eun-mi.

“Yes.”

Then, PD Song Man-woo’s hand went straight to the seat on the right. Hong Hye-yeon, a top actress recognized by everyone.

“There’s nothing to say about Hong-star here.”

Soon, PD Song Man-woo, who was introducing the people gathered around, confidently spoke to Kang Woo-jin.

“We’re preparing a new drama.”

Woo-jin knew this too. He had briefly heard about it from his friend Kim Dae-young. What was it? He said something about a gathering of big shots. However, it was none of Kang Woo-jin’s business. So what?

The shock came from PD Song Man-woo’s mouth.

“We want to include Kang Woojin in that new work.”

“…Join?”

“Yes, join. In other words, we want to cast you as an actor.”

“Ah.”

Woojin, who gave a short response, didn’t show much reaction. He seemed calm on the outside. But it wasn’t that there was no change in emotion.

‘······What???!’

He was so shocked that he couldn’t react at all.

‘What is this goatee guy talking about? Is he, is he serious??’

It was such a shock that Kang Woo-jin, who had been maintaining his composure so far, was about to collapse in an instant. He barely held onto it when,

-Swish.

Writer Park Eunmi on the other side moved for the first time. She handed over a stack of papers she had brought to Woojin. Then she said to Woojin.

“This is the first part of the new script, it’s the first time it’s been released outside.”

She calmly requested,

“Can you show us any role acting here?”

At the same time, in a mid-sized food company,

Men and women employees appeared in a fairly large break room, perhaps taking a short break during work. There were about five people. A mug was placed in front of everyone.

Among them,

“No, wow – Hong Hye-yeon is really pretty.”

Kim Dae-young was among them, praising top actress Hong Hye-yeon, whom he had seen in the ‘SuperActor’ preliminaries, like crazy.

“Her beauty is insane. Ah, how should I say it? It feels like you get sucked in when you look at her? Her eyes are really big. Big enough to see myself reflected in them.”

“Ey- That’s an exaggeration.”

“He’s talking nonsense. Ah- It really takes your breath away when you see her in person.”

“Anyway, from what I heard, you got dropped from the preliminaries because of poop, right?”

“Ah! No! I was a little nervous and forgot my lines.”

“Your friend did you a big favor. If it wasn’t for him, you would’ve only pooped and gone home from there, right?”

Kim Dae-young, who was being teased by the staff, suddenly had a bitter expression.

“Anyway. I wonder who’s going to date or marry Hong Hye-yeon? I’m so jealous.”

“At least a top actor, right? Or a chaebol.”

“Right? I’m really jealous. Anyway, I’m going to keep the autograph I received for life. I’ll also pass it down to my children.”

“You have to get married first for that, right?”

“Ah- Damn it.”

At that moment.

-♬♪

Kim Dae-young’s cell phone in his pocket rang. It was a call, and when Kim Dae-young checked the caller, he left the break room and took the call in the hallway.

“Hey, bro.”

The person on the other end was a close friend from the theater club where Kim Dae-young belonged. Soon, a man’s voice was heard over the phone.

“Dae-young, are you busy? Can you talk?”

“Yes, I can talk.”

“Have you finished reading the script I gave you? ‘Exorcism\'”

Kim Daeyoung, who was reminded of the short film scenario he had passed on to Kang Woojin, answered right away.

“Ah, yes, I’ve read it all.”

“Really? Then you should give it back, man. I need to read it again.”

“Hahaha, okay okay. I’ll bring it over this weekend. But why do you need to read the script again?”

A satisfactory answer came from the other end of the phone.

“Ah, I heard ‘Exorcism’ is somehow getting produced. I was thinking of going if there’s an audition.”

Soon, Kim Daeyoung replied with a slight admiration.

“Wow, I can’t believe it, they are really going into production for that?”

Back to the Seablue Studio meeting room.

The atmosphere became a bit quiet. Everyone’s gaze, starting from PD Song Manwoo, was still fixed on Kang Woojin. Kang Woojin, on the other hand, was silent, looking at the stack of papers that was just handed to him. It was the script for Park Eunmi’s new work. Fortunately, the shock had somewhat subsided.

But he still couldn’t understand the casting part.

Time. Yes, he needed time. Then he noticed it. There was a black swirling pattern next to the script handed over by Park Eunmi. For now, he had to poke that. Without saying anything, Woojin accepted the script.

And pretended to first check the cover.

-Swoosh.

The script that they called a new work was a bundle of papers, not a book script, and the title and number of episodes were simply written on the cover.

-‘Profiler Hanryang’

-Part 1.

Regardless, that wasn’t what mattered right now. Kang Woojin slightly lowered the script he had received. Then he gently poked the edge of the black square next to the script with his index finger.

Immediately, he felt a chilly sensation throughout his body.

Then, as expected, Woojin was sucked into the void. In no time, an endlessly dark space spread out in his field of vision. At the same time, Kang Woojin, who had found peace of mind, exhaled sharply.

“Ugh, I’m going crazy. What just happened??”

He never thought this crazy space would be so comforting. Anyway, it was Kang Woojin, who could now think freely without worrying about time.

“Casting? They want to cast me as an actor? In a new drama where Hong Hye-yeon is the lead actress??”

And the director is the influential Song Manwoo PD and the ultra-star writer Park Eunmi. Kang Woojin, who was suddenly scouted onto such a tremendous stage.

It was an unexpected turn of events.

Well, let’s try to organize things a bit. Kang Woojin in the void tried to calm himself and crossed his arms.

“The reason they want to cast me. All they’ve seen of me is ‘Super Actor’, right? Then… it means my acting was more impressive than I thought?”

The experience gained in this void seems to be dozens of times more significant than I thought. Otherwise, things couldn’t progress at such a high speed.

“Whew- okay, for now…”

Woojin, who then unfolded his arms, turned and walked toward the white squares lined up. Of course, a white square was just added.

He confirmed the characters written on that fifth white square.

-[5/Script (Title: Profiler Hanryang Part 1), Grade A]

-[*This is a drama script with a very high degree of completion. 100% reading is possible.]

He muttered to himself as he focused on one of the characters.

“Grade A, huh?”

About 30 seconds later.

Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t 30 seconds for Kang Woojin, who had this void. It was 30 seconds for the people who were looking at Kang Woojin checking the script cover, like PD Song Manwoo, writer Park Eunmi, and others, excluding Woojin.

Among them.

‘Why is he looking at the title so deeply?’

It was when writer Park Eunmi narrowed her brow slightly.

-Swoosh.

Kang Woojin, who had been motionless, slightly paused, then slowly lifted his head. Then, he locked eyes with Park Eunmi. At the same time, writer Park Eunmi smiled slightly.

“You understood all the situations, right? According to the PD, you showed your acting after seeing a minute of the script during the ‘Super Actor’ preliminaries? You don’t have to do that this time. We can wait, be it 10 minutes or 30 minutes.”

Park Eunmi is a person who would do anything if it can increase the quality of her work.

“You don’t need to feel pressured. You can act out a few lines from any role in the play. I just want to hear your tone.”

In fact, she already had a role in mind that she wanted Kang Woojin to show. But she hid it for now. The plan was to lighten the dense atmosphere.

Because Kang Woojin seemed to be in a slightly sensitive state right now.

Then Kang Woojin nodded indifferently. Then slowly lowered his gaze to the ‘Profiler Hanryang’ script in his hand.

His low voice came out then.

“I will read for a moment.”

-Flip, flip.

Woojin started reading the script. However, his reading was very brief. About 5 minutes? As he roughly flipped through dozens of pages of the script, Woojin raised his head again.

Then he calmly said to everyone looking at him.

“I will do the role of ‘Park Dae-ri’.”

Soon.

“!!!”

“······Park Dae-ri??”

PD Song Manwoo and writer Park Eunmi were surprised with their eyes wide open. The role of ‘Park Dae-ri’ was exactly what PD Song Manwoo and writer Park Eunmi wanted.

“Yes, the role of ‘Park Dae-ri’.”

Because it was a role that had sociopath material added to it.

*****