Episode 186. A Salaryman’s Woes (2)
The path to becoming an actor is never easy.
So it was for Gu Jahan. After setting his mind on acting, he had talked his parents into letting him attend an acting academy, and though he had been too late to enter a theater and film department, he joined an agency and worked his way up from supporting roles to lead roles.
But for some, it is far too easy.
“Did you hear there are two idol debutants?”
“Oh, come on, Jah-an! Seomyeong is a good actor!”
“But the other one is a complete newbie. Aren’t they from the same agency? Feels like a package deal.”
He had even considered calling off his appearance. Still, this was his first opportunity at a lead role—he couldn’t very well throw it away over something like this.
Thankfully, they weren’t too much of a nuisance on set. Other than the rookie idol named Kim Iwol being a bit too visible, it was nothing noteworthy. Youngsters always wanted to stand out wherever they were—it wasn’t hard to understand.
At least, that was until the lead actor, Ha Seomyeong, started openly pushing for Kim Iwol.
It all began with a slight argument between him and Ha Seomyeong.
“Jah-an, about the dialogue in this part……”
“Let’s just handle it ourselves. We’re only exchanging lines.”
“Excuse me?”
What was there to gain from rehearsing with a non-professional? Gu Jahan had no intention of losing anything or wasting his time.
When Gu Jahan refused to play along, Ha Seomyeong found an alternative.
“Iwol, how about adding a bit more dialogue here?”
“You mean an ad-lib? Considering the next plot development……”
They seemed to get along just fine by themselves. The set wasn’t a playground. It was simply laughable.
No matter what they did on set, the sequences that could fit into one episode were fixed, so it would all be cut in editing anyway.
So he decided to tune them out. Or rather, he had intended to.
“Yeong-han, no……. I’m sorry. Let’s go again.”
But it was a failure. The atmosphere on set was so chaotic that not even a short line came out right. With no proper discipline in place, the whole thing was a mess.
“It’s Yeong-hwan, sunbae-nim.”
Kim Iwol said quietly. Annoyed by an attitude that seemed to lecture others over nothing, Gu Jahan pretended not to hear and waited for his manager to bring him the script.
Unaware of Gu Jahan’s complicated inner thoughts, the kind of people found everywhere who loved to gossip talked about him as they pleased.
“Gu Jahan’s nose is ridiculously high in the air, seriously…….”
“Doesn’t he know he only got this role after all the first-priority actors on the casting board passed and it rolled down to him?”
“Why wouldn’t he know? He’s like that even though he knows. He’s riding on his height, too; if not for that, a male lead role would’ve been out of the question. Doesn’t the fact that it took him ages after debut to finally land a lead tell you everything?”
Gu Jahan let the staff’s sharp words roll off him lightly.
“People who aren’t anything special.”
It was simply a matter of hiring a few more staff members.
But actors were different. The losses incurred to fill a void left by an actor were enormous. They were people whose worth was on a completely different level from the start.
Unaware that the person in question could hear everything, the staff continued their conversation excitedly.
“Those idols are the same. If they just filmed their parts quietly, it’d be over soon, but they keep dragging out the shoot.”
“Who’s worse—the ten-year veteran Gu Jahan who keeps causing NGs, or Ha Seomyeong’s side?”
“Fuck, they’re all the same.”
Those kinds of people didn’t hesitate to badmouth anyone, anywhere. Their habit of loving to talk about others never changed.
Pathetic lives. Rather than calling them out and berating them, Gu Jahan chose to simply ignore them.
Had it been about a month since shooting began like that?
“Wow…… how does Gu Jahan not improve at all after filming that amount of lines for a whole month?”
“He’s a slow starter, apparently. Who knows when he’ll actually start.”
“Fuck, looks like he’ll start at the wrap party.”
Gu Jahan was once again faced with a situation where people were talking behind his back.
Just as Gu Jahan had expected, they were the same. They loved tearing others down and had loose lips.
Yet something had changed.
“Do you think that Kim Iwol kid will keep acting?”
“Wouldn’t he? He does well without trying to stand out. He works hard.”
“He doesn’t have a stuck-up bone in his body.”
“It’s just a rumor, but apparently he’s very respectful by nature. Diligent.”
“How much can you trust rumors in this industry?”
“At least here, they’re worth believing. Unlike someone who doesn’t even mess up his lines.”
“True, it’s impressive that he’s never caused an NG. The kid knows how to use his head, so even the assistant director doesn’t curse at him once.”
He didn’t want praise from people like that. Praise only felt good when it came from someone worth giving it.
But he couldn’t help feeling suspicious.
Why? For that same month, neither he nor Kim Iwol had changed in the slightest.
Why was the evaluation of that guy alone growing more generous?
That was probably when it started. When Kim Iwol began to get on his nerves in earnest.
* * *
Gu Jahan wanted to see the bottom of Kim Iwol.
From the standpoint of an actor who had to give an honest performance, he intended to confront the face beneath that mask of utter pretense and say, “This is your true self. I know everything.”
Perhaps because he was an idol, Kim Iwol didn’t rattle easily. No matter what was thrown at him, he wore a smiling face.
And he was only in his early twenties at that. He must be like that because he had grown up receiving nothing but praise from his fans, never hearing a harsh word.
He seemed like a flower raised in a greenhouse—it was laughable.
Gu Jahan sneered.
“You’ll be rolling over and showing your belly in front of the director soon. That’s exactly what my dog does. Do you know what I mean, Iwol? Maybe you’ll get a few extra lines for it.”
For an instant, Kim Iwol’s pupils darkened ever so slightly.
Truly just a moment, for a split second.
“Did he just…….”
Almost at the same time Gu Jahan sensed something was off, Kim Iwol smiled awkwardly.
It was a flawless smile, devoid of even a hint of mockery.
“Well. I wouldn’t know about that.”
Kim Iwol flicked the wet hem of his pants with his hand. Then he bowed politely and left.
Why was that? He felt as though he had seen himself in Kim Iwol.
To be precise, it was the way he had looked at the staff cursing him behind his back and thought, “People who aren’t anything special.”
Looking down on people like that? Who the hell does he think he is?
It was a clear insult. As a senior, Gu Jahan had every right to call out Kim Iwol’s attitude.
Gu Jahan hurriedly chased after Kim Iwol.
But the moment he tried to follow Kim Iwol around the corner, he had to hide behind the wall because of a voice he heard.
“Director, did you have a good meal?”
“Yeah.”
Whether he was the lighting director or the sound director—anyway, Kim Iwol had apparently run into a department director.
“Hey, Iwol.”
“Yes, Director.”
The director called out to Kim Iwol again.
Right, as if Kim Iwol only did image work on the main PD and the assistant directors.
The way he acted as if anyone who didn’t grab Kim Iwol and praise him would be in big trouble was truly a sight to behold…….
“Tell them to go hard on that tone-down or whatever. Do I have to be stressed because of you alone?”
“Are you referring to my skin tone? I was told the current level is sufficient, but should it be darker?”
“Sufficient my ass. You need to look like a goddamn human for the picture to be pretty. What are you, a corpse? Go see a doctor.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I’m not going to leak this to the press like your PD, right? I’m not saying this because I hate you?”
“…….”
For a moment, Gu Jahan’s mind went blank.
He had thought he was the only one strict with Kim Iwol on this set.
Everyone else was strangely lenient with Kim Iwol, so he had thought he should say something to keep him from taking this industry lightly.
“I bet you’ll roll over and show your belly in front of the director soon.”
“You’re not a corpse. Go see a doctor.”
What was the difference between what I said and what that person said?
And…….
“Thank you for your concern. I’ll relay your words to the makeup staff.”
“I’m glad it isn’t that you’ve lost anything important.”
……Why did Kim Iwol look so used to situations like this?
Gu Jahan’s steps headed toward the corner.
Rounding it, he saw the director walking over with a nonchalant expression, and Kim Iwol slowly straightening his back from a bow.
Even though the director had his back to him, no emotion resembling anger could be seen on Kim Iwol’s face.
The lines of Seon Guan, which Ha Seomyeong had performed not long ago, came to mind.
He couldn’t remember them exactly. What was it again?
So, definitely…….
“Fuck. How embarrassing.”
Gu Jahan immediately called his manager.
“Hey, are you in the car right now? Are the scripts from the previous episodes of ‘In My Office’ there?”
Fortunately, all the scripts were in the car. They were a mess from being crammed in the back seat, but he could read the part he was looking for without any trouble.
Guan: (Exploding) Someone like the Team Leader wouldn’t understand the hearts of ordinary employees like us. When a superior sighs, it’s not that we can’t hear it—we pretend not to. When we take a huge beating and still look fine, it’s not that young people these days have no sense of responsibility and feel no impact—we’re pretending to be fine! (Shouting as if frustrated.) Because we can’t act however we want at work, because that’s the adult world!
Beneath Ji Seongin’s dry line, Seon Guan shouted again.
Guan: It’s not that I’m enduring this because I’m stupid, and it’s not that I don’t speak up because I lack courage. I’m enduring it even though it’s dirty and mean. No one has the right to look down on that. (Smiling bitterly) For the record, I’m also mustering up a lot of courage to say this right now. Because when you really need to raise your voice, you have to.
Through this line, Ji Seongin came to see Seon Guan in a different light.
Then what about himself?
“Acting is a sublime art of showing the most human side of oneself through the most mechanical means.”
For Gu Jahan, who had leaped into the acting world unable to forget his great senior’s words, the role of the arrogant team leader named Ji Seongin.
For Ha Seomyeong, who was bold, proactive, and never hesitant to raise her voice, the role of Seon Guan.
And if the role given to Kim Iwol was the taciturn youngest member who was good at office politics in a promising team at a major corporation.
Had he been cast as Ji Seongin because he was lead actor material, or simply because his arrogance made him a suitable means to portray the character named Ji Seongin?
Conversely, were Kim Iwol’s social skills a means of survival, or simply part of his natural disposition?
Or was it the most unobtrusive, human-like demeanor he had cultivated to blend into human society…….
Kim Iwol’s wet pant leg flickered before his eyes. And those deep pupils.
He was ashamed.
Assistant Manager Kim hates idols.