Life, Once Again!

The camera that was following a student pointed at a college library. Through a timelapse, the scenery in front of the library soon changed from day to night. The students walking by disappeared and only the library was left, with its lights all turned on.

Maru’s voice followed up like a precisely cut film.

-This place has 30,000 visitors every day. It is now 10 p.m. Even the most crowded rooms have turned quiet. Miss Hyegyung, a librarian, is leaving the materials room after putting back the books.

The scene changed to an interview with the librarian.

Jaehyun looked at the screen before moving his eyes to Maru, who was in the soundproof booth.

The recording, which he started just to listen to Maru’s voice, was nearing 20 minutes. During these 20 minutes, Maru had not made a single mistake. Even if they read the script like a textbook, people would screw up and miss the timing from time to time, but Maru didn’t even look flustered as though he was a machine.

-Miss Hyegyung’s job is over for the day, but she does not leave the library. It takes 20 minutes to get home by bus. The place she could rest in ease is only 20 minutes away, yet she takes her bag and goes to the 4th floor, the reading room. Unlike the quiet materials room, the reading room is crowded and she has difficulty finding a spot even at this time of night.

The video changed to a montage before it ended with a woman walking to an empty spot.

-Miss Hyegyung has managed to find a seat after a long time. Her body is exhausted, but she doesn’t have any time to rest. She has to solve questions on her English mock exams. If working as a librarian is a method to get by, the English exam is preparation for the upcoming war.

“Let’s stop here for now.”

Jaehyun carried a water bottle into the booth.

“Please wait a little while drinking this. If you want to go to the bathroom, it’s right in front of the room. Do you smoke?”

“No, I quit smoking.”

“That’s good. I need to quit smoking too.”

Jaehyun left the dubbing room with his junior.

“How was he?”

“What can I say? I can’t find any flaws. Is this really his first time? His skills definitely don’t make it seem so. No, I’d believe it if you told me he’s a writer who planned this program with us. His timing when starting the lines is nigh artistic. He never slipped up his tone either. He’s very accurately and stably saying everything with the tone you’ve asked him to make.”

“My words exactly. Speaking is something he might be born with, but that stability shouldn’t be something he should be able to gain in just a day or two.”

“Maybe he’s a genius in multiple fields.”

“No way.”

The junior looked at the door to the dubbing room and spoke,

“I think we’ve seen enough stability, so should we ask him to use some techniques? From the way things are looking, I think he’ll be good at putting in emotions as well.”

“He said he’s okay with time too, so I guess why not.”

They went back into the dubbing room. Jaehyun saw Maru reading the script. He looked like he would read away for an eternity if he didn’t speak out to him.

“Mr. Maru. This time, try reading without removing emotions. You can decide for yourself what emotions and tones you want to use depending on the situation.”

Jaehyun put on the headphones. He thought that perhaps this might be the most fitting voice for the documentary.

However, the narration wasn’t something that could be done with just a good voice. This was especially true in the case of documentaries, where voiceovers played an important role.

If the video was transmitting clear information, the voice would represent the emotions of the producer that created it. He used just as much time creating a narration script on deciding the subject, shooting, and editing.

How much of the emotions in the script would Maru be able to convey?

He rewound the video. It was the entrance to the library.

“You ready?”

-Yes, I am.

“Then let’s start.”

* * *

Maru slightly leaned forward, bent his back, and placed his left elbow on the table. He held the script in his right hand so that it was on the same level as the monitor in front of him. It might come off as an arrogant pose at first, but he couldn’t help it.

Just like how baseball pitchers could only throw their strongest balls in the right posture, he had an easier time getting into the emotions in a crooked posture.

He always recorded his voice in this posture whenever he did narrations.

The producer’s signal fell and the video started moving. He could see the library. He looked at the script from the corner of his eyes.

Before he uttered the first line, he let out a faint breath first. His words were carried along with his breathing.

-This place has 30,000 visitors every day. It is now 10 p.m. Even the most crowded rooms have turned quiet.

Although he continued his words here, he paused slightly this time. He watched the video that changed frame by frame before continuing right as Hyegyung was caught on camera.

-Miss Hyegyung, a librarian, is leaving the materials room after putting back the books.

Plainly and slowly. On top of that, he had to watch out for the accent of his words so that the ones watching could focus on Miss Hyegyung. It was inefficient to pour emotions into every single line. In fact, that would only increase the emotional fatigue of the viewers.

The documentary that producer Nam created was overall very heavy. It couldn’t be helped since the topic itself was nothing close to light.

As such, he had to pull out as much strength as possible whenever he could describe the scene indifferently.

-Miss Hyegyung’s job is over for the day, but she does not leave the library.

Hyegyung got her luggage. There was some rustling sound. Maru focused on that sound. Forced emotions would act as poison here. He had to synchronize himself with the situation first and then imbue his voice with the emotions that naturally stemmed from it.

He could change the tone of his emotions after plenty of discussions with the producer, but currently, the producer had given him full control. It was entirely up to him to decide on the emotions of every moment, and also to control the volume and the speed of his voice.

He was deeply able to sympathize with Hyegyung’s situation. He had also spent numerous years in his twenties. For most of those lives, he was being pushed around by life. Just like Hyegyung and numerous other college students in the library.

-It takes 20 minutes to get home by bus. The place she could rest in ease is only 20 minutes away, yet she takes her bag and goes to the 4th floor, the reading room. Unlike the quiet materials room, the reading room is crowded and she has difficulty finding a spot even at this time of night.

Passion Pay — this was a term yet to be coined in the current era. However, it would be a serious issue that even the news would talk about in a few years\' time.

It was 2009 and this documentary had caught onto a hint of that passion pay.

The people watching this documentary would think of many things as they watch Hyegyung walk toward the reading room with a single bag behind her back. The adult generation, the sufferings of their youths; the youths, the reality that they would soon face, or are facing.

He could use a biased voice to discuss the pitiful reality that Hyegyung was in. It was an easy job for him to create a totally different result with the same script.

After all, the form of the words did not matter, the nuance did.

Where should he place the focus of the narration? He decided to go with encouragement. Encourage Hyegyung, as well as those just entering society.

It might become slightly biased, but this was not the official recording. It was a practice run where he could freely reflect his opinions.

He went slightly closer to the pop filter. He wetted his slightly dry lips and got ready to speak.

-Miss Gijeong’s day starts at six in the morning. She wants to sleep some more, but she cannot afford to do so. A week ago, her neighbor and friend left the Gosiwon. Not because she passed, but because of a different reason.

Gijeong’s interview followed up. Maru put the script down and wrote on that part of the script where he should pause and where he should proceed quickly.

Knowing it in his mind was primary, and reading the marks with his eyes was secondary. The only way to reduce mistakes was to keep going over them.

He took his eyes off the script and looked at Gijeong. She was someone he had never seen before, but there were many things he sympathized with.

The youths in their 20s watching this documentary would probably nod in agreement. This wasn’t about a specific social class, but us, the general population.

Gijeong’s voice was filled with more hope than Hyegyung.

Maru decided to change the tone here. The narrator of the documentary was not a statue. Their voice would change depending on the people appearing, and according to the scenery.

After Gijeong, who expressed that she was uneasy but still was confident to challenge new heights, was Jungtae, 29 years old. He was a man who could no longer take his hands off studying for civil service exams.

-Mr. Jungtae knows too. He knows that studying isn’t the only path forward. However, he cannot leave the Gosiwon.

Maru focused his ears on Jungtae’s voice. Someone who has given up on despairing. The man who might once have had eyes that sparkled brighter than everyone continued the interview with a face filled with resignation.

Maru pulled the chair back slightly and let out a sigh to relieve his frustration. Who could, who would dare tell that man to try harder? The inside of his mouth felt dry and disgusting like he had swallowed a handful of sand.

Synchronizing with the views of the character was just as hard as releasing all pent-up emotions.

It was very possible for Maru to narrate without any consumption of emotions. He had learned that trick a long time ago. He could pretend to be depressed, pretend to focus, pretend to sympathize. It was easy for him to disguise a pretense as real.

99 people out of 100 would not notice it. However, while it might be difficult, he didn’t want to become a ‘fake’. That sensitive one person would look into the truth behind that pretense and click their tongue. That wasn’t something he could accept. He wanted to become a perfectionist regarding work.

-He sets out for his first day of work with a heart filled with expectation. The streets he saw every day seem different today. His new suit is a little stuffy, but that’s okay. The commute is a little long, but that’s okay. His salary is quite low because he’s an intern, but that’s okay. Everything would be resolved as long as he becomes an official employee. But… is he really okay?

He let out a deep breath and pulled his head back. Just then, the sound of the video came to a complete stop. The video had stopped as well.

He turned around to look outside the booth. Producer Nam was stroking his chin. The junior producer next to him was looking inside the booth with their arms crossed.

Maru took out the earphones. Both of them looked like they had something to say.

He wanted to go to the bathroom as well, so he opened the door to the booth and left.

“What is it?” the junior producer asked.

“I was going to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh, the bathroom. Come straight back here after that. Don’t wander off elsewhere.”

Producer Nam stood up from his seat.

“Mr. Maru.”

“Yes.”

“Have you really never worked on dubbing like this before?”

“I’ve spoken into my phone by myself as practice, but this is my first time doing it in a proper environment.”

“I see, that’s how it is.”

“What is it?”

“You’re strangely good. It’s surprising.”

Of course he had to be good. He had dubbed thousands of episodes. If he couldn’t do well, would humans be animals of learning?

Maru smiled and left the dubbing room.

* * *

“Do we even need to get samples from other actors? The samples we got from professional voice actors weren’t this good.”

“Are you sure?”

“You disagree, senior?”

“Well….”

Jaehyun scratched his head. He had been won over already. As documentaries were free from capital and advertisements, the authority of using human resources was up to the producer, meaning, he could use Maru as long as he had him stamp the contract.

“Grab him while he gives you that feel. Also, you should listen to Sinhye from now on. She’s very helpful to her dad’s work.”

Jaehyun couldn’t help but laugh at his junior’s words.