小火星

Hong Hye-yeon, who was watching Kang Woojin, who was a few steps away from the white van, frowned. He was laughing in front of the van. Hong Hye-yeon’s face became more serious.

“···What’s up with him? What is he doing?”

Her outfit made her seriousness even more pronounced. She was dressed as the detective ‘Jung Hyun-hee’. The sound of Woojin’s voice wasn’t clear from inside the van. It was muffled.

“Haha… I shouldn’t, but it keeps coming…”

Indeed, it was a frivolous laugh that you could never see from the usual Kang Woojin.

Thanks to that.

-Thud!

Hong Hye-yeon quickly moved her body as she threw away the pink eye mask that she had on her forehead.

-Swoosh.

Hong Hye-yeon, who opened the van’s door, rushed towards Kang Woojin.

“Woojin!”

At this moment, Kang Woojin abruptly stopped his giggling. No, he was taken aback. Given the situation, it was highly likely that Hong Hye-yeon had seen Kang Woojin without the persona. So Woojin froze. Despite Hong Hye-yeon’s call, he just stared blankly at the van’s window.

However,

“Kang Woojin!”

Unable to hold back, Hong Hye-yeon, who was standing right behind Woojin, grabbed Kang Woojin’s shoulder and turned him around. Then, Hong Hye-yeon’s face came into Woojin’s view. Her face, with tied long hair, was very serious. Kang Woojin immediately felt awkward. No, this was a crisis.

“……”

“……”

A moment of silence. Neither Kang Woojin nor Hong Hye-yeon said anything, just staring at each other. Then, Kang Woojin broke the silence. He was cautious and his tone was low.

“···How long have you been here?”

“From the beginning.”

For a moment, Kang Woojin’s stern face twitched slightly. Then, he let out a slightly weak sigh.

“Sigh…”

A mixture of resignation and despair. That’s when it happened.

-Swoosh!

Suddenly, Hong Hye-yeon grabbed both of Kang Woojin’s shoulders and shook him violently.

“You shouldn’t do that!”

Kang Woojin’s shook aimlessly. But Hong Hye-yeon did not stop, and suddenly she pressed her face right up to Woojin’s nose. It was close. Too close? Unconsciously, Woojin instinctively pulled his face back.

However, Hong Hye-yeon looked seriously into Kang Woojin’s eyes. 1 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds.

Then.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Once again, Hong Hye-yeon vigorously shook Kang Woojin’s shoulders.

At that moment.

“What’s going on?! What happened?!!”

From afar, Choi Sung-gun came running. Behind him was the bulky Jang Su-hwan. As if things couldn’t get worse, more people gathered. At this time, Choi Sung-gun, who had gotten to know Kang Woojin and Hong Hye-yeon’s personalities, said.

“Hey, hey! Hold on!”

He quickly ran over and separated Woojin and Hong Hye-yeon.

“Are you two fighting?!”

A strange misunderstanding arose. Regardless, Hong Hye-yeon grabbed Choi Sung-gun’s shoulder and pointed at Kang Woojin.

“No! Right now, Woojin was.”

“What about Woojin?! What?!”

“Woojin was laughing to himself! Giggling.”

“······What? Woojin laughed?”

“I’ve never seen him laugh, have you, Brother?”

Choi Sung-gun also took it a bit seriously.

“Woojin giggling? Alone?”

Soon, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the indifferent Kang Woojin. And Hong Hye-yeon spoke again. Still serious.

“He was giggling and talking to himself earlier. It was completely different from the usual Woojin.”

She, who had been mumbling suddenly shouted at Kang Woojin.

“Snap out of it! Don’t let yourself be consumed by Park Dae-ri. You’re not a psychopath or a sociopath, Woojin!”

Huh? Kang Woojin was momentarily stunned. But Hong Hye-yeon didn’t stop talking.

“Of course, Woojin’s laugh just now was a bit more contrived than Park Dae-ri’s… but that was even more terrifying. The filming is over, right? You’re too immersed? Can’t you snap out of it?”

Choi Sung-gun also looked closely at Kang Woojin’s face, with concern.

“Really? Is that so? Is it tough for you? Should I make a reservation with a psychiatrist? It’s okay, there are quite a few actors who see psychiatrists.”

“…No.”

“Method actors need to be even more careful! So, let’s go.”

At this moment, Kang Woojin’s mind was spinning quickly. Because a situation had arisen where he had to go to a psychiatrist, where he had never thought he would have to go in his life. He racked his brain to find an answer, any answer, to disrupt the current situation and avoid going to the psychiatrist.

Then.

‘Ah.’

Suddenly, something came to mind. Woojin immediately and cynically muttered the excuse he had just thought of.

“No, that wasn’t Park Dae-ri just now.”

Hong Hye-yeon, quickly responded, narrowing her eyebrows.

“…Not? Then what?”

“I was trying out a character from the ‘Island of the Missing’ scenario.”

“‘Island of the Missing’? What’s that?”

“It’s Director Kwon Ki-taek’s script.”

Soon, Choi Sung-gun reacted with an ‘Aha’ reaction and looked at Hong Hye-yeon.

“So that’s what it was? You startled me. I hadn’t told you anything because it’s not confirmed yet, but ‘Island of the Missing’ is Director Kwon Ki-taek’s next project.”

“…Woojin got the script for Director Kwon Ki-taek’s next project?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Really? Doesn’t Director Kwon give it out only after auditioning all the actors? And I haven’t heard any news about his next project.”

“Woojin has been auditioned. And it seems like Director Kwon’s next work is still confidential.”

“So only Woojin has received the script now?”

At the question, Choi Sung-gun glanced at the silent Woojin and answered.

“Well, the film company has circulated it to a few actors, but seeing how quiet it is, it seems like only Woojin has received it.”

Hong Hye-yeon, with her eyes widened, turned her gaze to Kang Woojin.

“…Are you joining Director Kwon Ki-taek right after shooting PD Song Man-woo’s work?”

“There’s nothing confirmed yet.”

“So you’re saying that right after finishing shooting for Park Dae-ri, you started practicing for Director Kwon Ki-taek’s character? Without any rest?”

“I wouldn’t say practice, I just tried it out because I was bored.”

“What kind of character is it?”

“Dual personality. I can’t say more than that.”

“Oh, so that’s why the laughter was more contrived than Park Dae-ri’s…”

This place was already an ‘Island of Misunderstandings’ rather than ‘Island of the Missing’. Anyway, Woojin, feeling a deep relief inside, composed his voice and said.

“I appreciate your concern, even if it’s based on a misunderstanding.”

He made up his mind.

‘Ah- shit, I must not be careless from now on.’

Later.

After the ‘Island of Misunderstandings’ was more or less sorted out, Hong Hye-yeon, for some reason, returned to the set to practice her lines after a brief greeting to Woojin. On the other hand, many actors saw Kang Woojin off on his way home.

Including Ryu Jung-min and all the actors who were present for today’s shoot.

“Woojin, I heard you made it to the ‘Mise-en-scene Film Festival’ finals? Congratulations.”

“The festival has gotten a lot of attention this time with the change in sponsorship, right? I was invited too, I’ll go if I can. It looks like they invited a lot of domestic and foreign master directors.”

“Usually, many actors attend the ‘Mise-en-scene Film Festival’, right? The awards ceremony is on May 7th? Oh, then if our drama premieres on the 15th, it might coincide with Woojin’s event?”

“If you win an award and make headlines, of course, it should be linked, right? If the film festival goes well, and our drama’s ratings blow up, this year’s rising star is definitely Woo-jin.”

The actors were generally interested in Kang Woojin’s participation in the ‘Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival’. Of course, they didn’t know yet that Hong Hye-yeon was appearing in ‘Exorcism’. It was a secret. Among them, the usually outspoken Jang Tae-san casually threw out a comment, looking at Woojin.

“But they’ve added a new actor’s award at the ‘Mise-en-scene Film Festival’ this time, right? I heard that Park Jung-hyuk is also participating? Haha, if it goes well- you and Park Jung-hyuk might end up competing for the award? In that case, I’m rooting for Woojin.”

This lively farewell ended after 30 minutes, and the van that Woojin got in was quiet. The stylist, Han Ye-jung, who had worked hard with him, was dozing off. Usually noisy road manager Jang Su-hwan was also quietly driving. Choi Sung-gun in the passenger seat was silently looking at his phone.

And then.

‘Something feels strange. This feeling.’

Kang Woojin was simply looking out the darkened window with a grim face. He no longer needed to go to the filming set of ‘Profiler Hanryang’, where he had gotten used to hellish conditions. Except for the first broadcast party, he would have no occasion to see the whole cast or crew.

‘The feeling of leaving behind comrades with whom you’ve struggled, like being discharged from the military? I guess I need to get used to the feeling of parting as an actor.’

Yes, being discharged from the military. Woo-Jin’s current feeling was similar to that of the day he was discharged. That’s it.

“Woojin.”

Choi Sung-gun, who opened the diary in the passenger seat, turned around and asked.

“You’re really okay, right? If you need a psychiatrist, just tell me.”

‘No, I absolutely won’t go,’ Woojin thought to himself and replied in a firm voice.

“Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine.”

Nodding, Choi Sung-gun began to tell Kang Woojin about this week’s schedule.

“You’ve worked hard filming. From tomorrow until the 30th, we will be doing post-production work for ‘Profiler Hanryang’, including profile modifications and so on. Let’s rest a little on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Regarding the ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’, roughly – you can start preparing from May 4.”

Kang Woojin replied softly after calculating the dates in his head.

“Yes, CEO.”

Finally, Kang Woojin got his first day off.

A few days later.

April ended, and the sun of May rose. Today was Saturday, May 2nd. Of course, it was just another weekend morning, but the film industry was a bit different.

『’Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’ grandly opened on April 30/Photo』

The aggressively promoted ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’ had begun two days ago. The short film festival opened on the 30th and would continue screening for six days, with the closing ceremony and awards on the seventh day.

And then,

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to COEX¹.”

Kang Woojin appeared at the ongoing ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’. The venue was CCV COEX. It was a super-large movie theater and the current time was 9:30 in the morning.

“Wow, there’s quite a lot of people.”

Kang Woojin was slightly surprised at the larger than expected crowd this early in the morning. Surely not all these people had come for the ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’. Anyway, Woojin checked the time.

‘It starts at 10 AM, right?’

The funny thing was that Kang Woo-Jin’s appearance was a bit strange. Wearing a black jacket and jeans was fine, but he wore a black hat and mask, as if he were a celebrity. Well, he was an actor, but he hadn’t officially debuted yet. Despite this, the reason Woojin dressed like this was because of Choi Sung-gun’s advice.

‘Huh? You’re going to go watch ‘Exorcism’ personally? Ah, it’ll be fine. Watching it on a test screening and on a large screen will feel different. Going is good, but cover your face, got it?’

Thinking about it, it made sense. If people recognized Kang Woojin while watching ‘Exorcism’ with many people around, it would become a little troublesome. It was good to be cautious on his private holiday.

“Just covering my face will do. There’s no one who would recognize me anyway.”

Kang Woojin entered the inside of the gigantic COEX. Should he go first to the movie theater for now? As he wondered, he noticed the festival sign right at the entrance.

Soon, Woo-Jin arrived at the CCV COEX movie theater.

The ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’ was indeed held in a specially prepared separate hall, not in the regular screening zone. From the entrance, the festive atmosphere was palpable, with staff in festival clothing, signposts with promotional images, and so on.

Above all,

‘Huh- What? How many people have come?’

There were quite a lot of people who came to enjoy the film festival from the first time slot. The lobby was almost packed, with roughly over a hundred people. Some reporters were taking pictures here and there, and some BJs or YouTubers with phones on selfie sticks were also noticeable.

Therefore, Kang Woojin was a little nervous.

‘It’s really happening.’

By the way, the ‘Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival’ screening was not just here. About 30 short films were screened, with 10 each screened all day in rotation, changing daily. There were three venues in total and today was the first day that ‘Exorcism’ was being screened.

Anyway,

-Swish.

Kang Woojin, momentarily hesitated, then picked up the festival pamphlet displayed on the pillar. Various pieces of information were written on it. The Movie screening schedule, and schedule for festival-related things were included.

Among them, Kang Woo-Jin focused on the screening schedule.

‘Exorcism, let’s see – ah, it’s the first time slot at 10 o’clock.’

Since it’s a short film festival, even if you watch all 10 films, it’s a little over 3 hours. Among them, ‘Exorcism’ was screened first, probably because its running time was long. Therefore, Woojin, after getting the pre-reserved ticket issued,

‘Is this the right place?’

He opened the door of the special screening room as written on the sign. The inside was quite similar to a regular screening room, but larger. Since it was still before the starting time, the lights were on, and there were quite a few people already there. It was almost time, so about 80% of the roughly 500 seats were filled.

There was a diverse age range.

Individuals, couples, groups of friends, and elderly people. It was so crowded that you could hear the buzz of conversation. However, no one paid any attention to Kang Woojin. Just a few people were glancing at him. Perhaps because he was wearing a mask. Of course, Woojin didn’t care either and found his assigned seat to sit down.

It was a seat at the end, near the entrance.

At the same time, Kang Woojin, who had turned his phone on silent, took a small, deep breath. The thought of seeing himself on the large screen made him feel anxious and awkward.

‘Phew- I’ve only ever seen top actors’ faces, but I never imagined my face would be on that big screen.’

He was nervous. It was a different feeling from the test screening, as Choi Sung-gun had said. Additionally,

“The reaction will be real-time since the audience is here, right?”

There were hundreds of viewers who would see his acting and face. Slowly, Woojin’s heart began to beat faster.

Just then,

“We’re at the right place.”

“Oh- Right?”

“Shut up and find our seats.”

Kang Woojin heard male voices near the entrance. The problem was,

“Huh?”

The voice was very familiar to Woojin. Thanks to this, Kang Woojin naturally turned his head to the left. There he saw three men, and as soon as he saw them, Woojin quickly ducked his head down.

The reason was simple.

‘Why are those crazy guys here!!’

The men were Kang Woojin’s close friends. Starting from the dashing Kim Dae-young, to Lee Kyung-sung and Na Hyeong-gu. Including Woojin, they were the original gang of four. That’s why Woojin desperately hid his face.

For some reason, it seemed like he should.

Fortunately, his friends didn’t seem to notice Kang Woojin as they passed right by him while talking to each other. Kim Dae-young was leading the group. As he walked down the steps, he spoke quietly to his friends,

“Ah, our seats are way at the front.”

The response came quickly from the chubby Lee Kyung-sung, holding popcorn.

“Hey, won’t our necks hurt watching the movie from here?”

Na Hyeong-gu, who was looking like a playboy, agreed.

“We are definitely going to have a sore neck.”

Though complaining, the three sat down in the frontmost seats, and Kim Dae-young, after silencing his phone, explained why.

“Ah, these were the only three seats together.”

Soon, Lee Kyung-sung, chewing popcorn, brought up Woojin.

“Since Kang Woojin doesn’t even show up on weekends, he must have a girlfriend now.”

“Leave him be. He has always been somewhat popular among us.”

“Yeah, but hiding it is kind of annoying.”

“If he tells us, you and Hyeong-gu will bug him to introduce her, that’s probably why he did it.”

At that moment.

-Swooosh.

The lighting in the theater gradually dimmed. At the same time, the previously noisy interior instantly became quiet. It was a sign that the movie was about to start. Because of this, the trio stopped talking for now.

-♬♪

On the large screen in front, a promotional video for the ‘Mise-en-scène Film Festival’ was played with a cheerful sound effect. The video was not long. About 5 minutes?

Then, all the lights in the screening room turned off completely, and the movie title appeared on the big screen with a grey mist.

-‘Exorcism’

5 seconds later, the title disappeared, and the sound of a window opening filled the quiet screening room. ‘Exorcism’ had begun.

-Creak.

Kim Dae-young and his friends were focused on the screen, watching intently. The same was true for the 500 or so audience members. At that moment, a scene was projected onto the previously dark screen.

Kim Ryu-jin, who had opened an old worn-out window with ‘Exorcism’ written on it, appeared.

[“Huu-“]

Kim Ryu-jin, with dull eyes and a soulless face, exhaled a long puff of cigarette smoke.

And then.

[“Should I go see the client?”]

He then snuffed out the cigarette on the window frame.

At this moment,

“······?”

“?!”

“???”

Kim Dae-young, Lee Kyung-sung, and Na Hyeong-gu all opened their mouths in shock. Naturally, their gazes were fixed on the screen. Kim Dae-young blinked continuously, and Lee Kyung-sung froze with a handful of popcorn in his hand. Na Hyeong-gu furrowed his brows and tilted his head.

Why?

Because their close friend Kang Woojin was moving around on that big screen. What? What on earth was going on? This wasn’t just a surprise, it was as if they’d seen a ghost. It wasn’t just a resemblance, it was undoubtedly Kang Woojin.

Soon.

– Swoosh.

The trio, who had been staring at the screen, simultaneously looked down, their eyes widening with shock as they looked at each other. They glanced back and forth, mouths agape from astonishment. Their expressions were similar.

Is this real?

Then, the trio of Woojin’s close friends turned their gaze back to the big screen, where Kim Ryu-jin was still visible. Then, almost simultaneously, they exploded inwardly. Or maybe they were enraged.

‘F*ck!! Why are you there?!!!’

‘That bastard! Why is he pretending to be an actor there??!’

‘What the hell is this… is this a dream?!!’

Woojin’s close friends had directly witnessed his first debut.

*****

TL Notes:

1) COEX: Convention and Exhibition Center

*****