Life, Once Again!

That was a message from Bada. Maru felt like he could almost hear the grumbling in her voice. He was about to send her a reply saying ‘good work’ but erased it. Instead, he asked when her next one was.

-I dunno. I’ll have to look into it a little more.

That was the end of the report. It wasn’t like his sister was someone who would report to him about every single detail. He didn’t ask in detail either.

Not making it was only natural. There should be people who had been preparing ever since they were in primary school, so it was nearly impossible for his sister to pass an audition after preparing for just a few months. It would be a different story if she had some kind of charm that made up for the lack of proficiency, but otherwise, she would be pushed around here and there, and if she managed to hold on at the stage where she starts thinking ‘maybe this isn’t the thing for me?’ Bada should become an actor.

At that point, she should look back in retrospect at whether it was a product she wanted to become or an artist.

“I heard that ‘Infiltration’ just got released.”

“Let’s go watch it. Anything with Jang Hyunsoo in it is good.”

“Rather than Jang Hyunsoo, I want to see Kim Jihye.”

“Kim Jihye’s acting is awesome too.”

The students next to him in the bus talked about some movies before getting off the bus. He could see a movie theater outside the window. Domestic movies created with the dream of hitting a jackpot jumped into the war of screens yet again today.

Maru thought of the young director working with him. Yoonseok had turned silent three days ago, which probably indicated that he didn’t even have any time or energy to send any texts.

Ultimately, a film was the art of editing. He would have to keep musing and pondering about what cuts to keep and what to throw away amidst the videos that he took over the course of two days. There was no room for a third person to butt in in that process. It was entirely the director’s job.

In the beginning, he was picturing that the film would run for about 20 minutes, but halfway through, he changed his mind and the running time was now about 10 minutes. That change in decision should make his musings more difficult and a lot deeper. Thinking about how Yoonseok should be putting together pieces of a fragmented puzzle, Maru couldn’t help but laugh. That would be quite a challenge.

-This stop is Star Plaza. Next stop….

He pulled his shoulder strap and stood at the exit of the bus. A child standing next to him kept shaking his mother’s arm and pointed at the TV station.

Maru got off and turned right at the shopping mall. He saw the TV station at the end of the long park. Promotions about its signature entertainment program were plastered on the wall. Next to the left leg of the statue of a super famous celebrity that everyone knew was the entrance to RBS. Maru looked at the blue dollarbird logo of the TV station as he walked inside. Some students who seemed to be here on field research were being guided inside.

He bought some coffee in the lounge. There were about 40 minutes until the appointed time. He looked at the drama posters placed throughout as he walked before stopping in front of a sign that said ‘under construction.’ It was a brand store that was supposed to open next year. It mentioned that it was going to sell merchandise based on dramas and entertainment programs.

That was a place he was familiar with. His own merch would often be here. There was once a controversy about him because figurines of him were sold that didn’t look like him at all. Along with an apology, the production of it stopped, but later, it was traded at a premium. Even now, he found that rather ridiculous.

He thought about his previous life and had a look at the programs being aired. There were things that he had never seen before, and some of them were things he had seen frequently in his previous life. Since he was at it, he also looked up dramas produced by RBS. However, the ones called masterpieces in his previous life had all drank in defeat. Even a drama that was called a masterpiece in every single life was evaluated as a terrible piece and was shunned by the masses. He had a look at the members involved. Half of them were people he knew, and half of them, he knew nothing about.

“This is why I can’t gamble.”

God was rather nasty. Despite his plentiful experiences and knowledge, not a single thing was set in stone, so he had to be cautious in his decisions. Statistics based on his previous lives should be helpful, but not that much. They were just previous lives now.

Maru threw the empty paper cup in the trash. It was almost time for the appointment. He went to the bathroom to rinse his mouth and check over his clothes again. Then he read the text message that director Lee Jihoon sent him.

Thursday, 1st floor of RBS. Producer Cha Myungjoon.

He came out to the lounge and waited. Not long later, he got a call.

-Is this Mr. Han Maru I’m talking to?

“Yes. That’s me.”

-Where are you right now?

“I’m in front of the café in the lounge.”

-Oh, I see you.

Maru saw a man in a dress shirt approach him. The employee ID card around his neck swayed side to side. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. From his clean clothing and styled hair, it indicated that he had not started the shoot yet.

Director Cha approached and reached his hand out. “I’m Cha Myungjoon.”

Maru shook hands. “I’m Han Maru, sir.”

“You’re a lot younger than what senior told me. How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-two.”

“You’re at a good age. I’m thirty-five. I’m sorry I asked your age right off the bat. I’ve seen so many actors with young-looking faces, so I often end up asking. How long did it take for you to come?”

“About an hour.”

“Did you drive your car? If you did, then I’ll give you a parking ticket.”

“I’d be in trouble if I drove at this age. I took the bus.”

Director Cha smiled and told him to follow. They walked past the information desk and got on the elevator. It was staff-only.

“Senior doesn’t really recommend others. In fact, he’s someone who usually hates things like that. But not too long ago, he told me that you’re worth meeting. I’m not sure about anyone else, but I thought that I wouldn’t lose out even if I listened to his offer.”

The elevator stopped on the 4th floor.

“Let’s go.”

Director Cha greeted another employee passing by before continuing, “Have you appeared in any other works before?”

“I shot a short film.”

“Really? Anything on the TV broadcasting side?”

“None.”

“Do you belong to a theater troupe, or perhaps an acting school?”

“I’m by myself for now.”

“I see. Do you know how drama castings work, Mr. Han?”

“Roughly.”

“Tell me.”

“Once the scripts for episodes 1 and 2 are finalized, the director and the writer first pick out actors they prefer. If the contract with said actors goes through, they attach those actors to the profile and look for the rest of the lead actors. Once the lead actors are decided, they either look for supporting cast members from officially casted actors from the TV station, get recommendations from acquaintances, or send a request to acting schools. The casting director then has a look at the people who apply. Or, they could just go bold and hold a public audition. I think that’s about the gist of it.”

Director Cha nodded. “You know quite well. Then you must know that the opportunity given to you isn’t that common.”

“I do. That’s why I plan to grab it.”

“I like that confidence. I hope you can grab it. That way, senior will get some face.”

Director Cha stood in front of the door. It was a room with walls made of glass so that the inside could be seen. Inside were three men and two women standing there with nervous expressions.

“Don’t you think the world runs on connections if skills and image are on a similar level? The people inside also came here through other lines of recommendations. It’s a private audition, so to speak. It’s a level higher than public auditions where you have to compete against hundreds or even thousands of people, so try your best.”

Director Cha opened the door and went inside. Maru also followed him in. People’s gazes fell on him for a moment before scattering. The scattered gazes then gathered on director Cha’s face.

“Thank you everyone for coming. Have some of this while you wait. I’ll bring the script.” Director Cha left.

Maru grabbed the drink on the table.

“You are not going to drink?” Maru said to the people who were right up against the wall like they were being punished. Most of them said that they didn’t need it.

A woman then came over and snatched a bottle. She spat out a deep, shaking breath before opening the bottle and downing the drink in one gulp.

“Don’t get nervous, don’t get nervous…,” the woman muttered before standing against the wall again.

Maru had a look at the participants as he drank. He observed the men more closely than the women. They were the people he had to compete against. Out of three of them, one of them was good-looking and his proportions were right as well.

Maru looked at that person. There was a point where an exceptional appearance had an adverse effect, and it was in auditions for supporting characters and minor characters. Unless one of the lead characters was a model or a young, handsome actor, that man would not make it today.

The other two men had different atmospheres about them as well. One felt rough, and one felt neat. Although in the case of lead and supporting characters, their image would be decided ahead of plan, but in the case of minor actors, there were cases where the role was changed to fit the actor. Unless it was a totally different image, what decided the casting was ultimately connections.

If there was a niece or a nephew of a chief producer in this place, then that person would be selected. If the son or daughter of the president was here, then it would be that person.

Maru looked at the handsome-looking fellow.

Is it you? — he inwardly chuckled as he thought about such things.

“Gee, I’m sweating because I ran.” Director Cha returned. In his hands were some A4 papers.

“Take these for now.”

A sheet of paper was placed on his palms. Despite being a thin paper that would be blown away if he blew on it, the weight was considerable.

An audition was truly an audition. No matter how many times he experienced it, he couldn’t help but feel nervous at a time like this.

“I’m sure you all came here without knowing what the drama is. That’s good though. We’ll be able to see how you improvise. First, allow me to tell you that we’re planning to pick one man and one woman. Of course, I’m not saying that we’ll give you those roles. If we think that you’re the right person, we’ll pick you right away, but even if that doesn’t happen, we may be able to use you for other roles, so do your best.”

Director Cha sat down. He looked at the camera screen and adjusted the settings for a while.

Meanwhile, Maru had a look at the script.

Officer Park Uijung. It was a role with a name.

If it was a character that would be tossed aside after one episode, then he wouldn’t have a name in the script.

Reading just a few lines, Maru could tell that it was a character who acted quite audacious. As he looked at the lines he exchanged with his senior officer, his eyes fell on the bottom of the paper.

(Looking at the chasing Taesoo in fear)

That direction caught his attention.

“For the men, as you can see, it’s quite an interesting character. And also, it’s a character that must die well. I can’t guarantee since the entire picture isn’t out yet, but from my gut feeling, it should be a character that receives quite a lot of attention. There are a lot of young men who want this role other than you. If you do well here, then you’ll get that role, otherwise, I’ll try putting you in other roles. If none of the roles fit you, then as unfortunate as it is, we’ll have to try again next time.”

It was a character that often appeared in detective dramas: a bright and optimistic new guy who gets sacrificed to the killer; it was a cliché, so to speak, that was used to trigger other events. Just as the director said, it was a character that should be funny but died properly when supposed to.

“Read for about 10 minutes. We’ll start after that. We have quite a bit of time today,” said director Cha as he looked at his time on his phone.