ALL NOVEL Chapter 139
If an actor can’t immerse themselves in their role, what should be done?
Acting is a comprehensive art.
It requires a balance between appearance and inner self, infused with the actor’s skills to deliver a good performance.
In fact, as is often the case with art, no single aspect can express it correctly.
So, not understanding the role becomes a critical flaw.
“Today is the first shoot, right? Everyone, let’s not get nervous and just roll with it!”
Director Kim Il-soo spoke casually, but he felt uneasy inside.
He had heard about the restructuring in the drama department.
“If I mess up here, it won’t bode well.”
It could lead to something disastrous for Sky Garden or even create issues for Kim Il-soo’s own career.
So, it was time to rally.
He needed to produce a drama of complete quality.
Well, it’s not like KMB is the only broadcasting company out there, right?
“Today’s scene is about the character Lee Yoo-joo visiting Sky Garden. The young actors really need to step up.”
The beginning starts from the adult’s perspective.
An explanation about the character Lee Yoo-joo.
And what must be gained from her.
Those adults scheming around her and the children entangled in it must also be showcased.
“While Lee Yoo-joo is the protagonist, the other kids need to play their part as well.”
In a way, it’s similar to Dream Future.
Each role held a leading presence.
Of course, it’s not entirely lead roles like in Dream Future.
To avoid chaos, the focus will primarily be on three.
The students are Lee Yoo-joo, Lee Min-hyeok (the firstborn of the Lee family), and the adult character Gil Soo-jin, the matriarch of the Lee family.
The narrative will largely flow around these three.
What we’ll shoot today is episode 1.
Naturally, the story must revolve around these three, creating a flow that allows immersion in their characters.
“Alright. This is good.”
Kim Hyun-seok, taking on the role of Lee Min-hyeok, wiped his anxious chest clean.
He had confidence in his acting, but despite that, feeling nervous was inevitable.
He took a deep breath and scanned the other actors.
There were particularly many young actors today.
It was only natural.
Since the first appearance of Lee Yoo-joo is at school.
Naturally, the student roles would have to be played by several actors.
“I’ve heard that he doesn’t get nervous easily.”
He glanced at Joo Seo-yeon.
She had a strangely different vibe today compared to usual.
Unlike the other nervous young actors, her face was unusually calm.
That didn’t sit well with him, but he couldn’t say anything.
The coin still in Kim Hyun-seok’s pocket felt ever so present.
“Alright, then. Let’s get started with the shooting.”
The sound of cameras moving around filled the air.
Everyone aligning their okay signs made the atmosphere electric before shooting began.
Watching, Min Se-hee clasped her hands fervently.
That scene looked a bit like praying.
Truly, Min Se-hee felt that desperately.
“Please, it has to turn out like I imagined.”
Sometimes the feel between the script and the actual drama can be different.
It wasn’t the actors’ fault but solely the writer’s issue.
It was their own fault for not considering how the scene would translate from text to performance.
When everyone read the script, they praised how fun it was.
Director Kim Il-soo also expressed confidence in bringing the script to life but
“I’m still anxious.”
He had to steel himself.
That was something Park Jung-woo often told Min Se-hee.
Even though the script wasn’t fully completed yet, he felt shaky since the first episode.
The drama would start airing once it got to filming episode 4.
“Alright! Action!!”
With the director’s shout and a clapperboard snap, filming officially began.
*
Sky Garden, where the upper class gathers.
Beautiful scenes like a picture and a cozy, harmonious family.
They regularly met, exchanging various information while building camaraderie.
But that was merely superficial.
In truth, they kept a keen eye on each other, filled with competitive spirit.
Displaying facade-like cordiality, the main characters of Sky Garden are introduced.
Through the eyes of Gil Soo-jin, the matriarch of the Lee family.
As the cheerful scene came to an abrupt halt,
In the silence, Gil Soo-jin calmly opened her mouth.
“I have some information I’ve heard this time.”
At those words, her husband Lee Hyuk-soo’s gaze shifted.
Without a word, his eyes stayed quiet.
“Lee Yoo-joo.”
“Who’s that?”
“She’s the top student of the prestigious Baekyeon Medical School last year, that girl’s younger sister.”
“You’re terrifying, how do you know her name?”
“Her father’s an entrance exam coordinator. He boasted about it like it was nothing.”
An entrance exam coordinator.
At hearing that title, Lee Hyuk-soo’s eyes narrowed.
He had his own memories surfacing.
“Oh, that guy. I remember, wasn’t it some event you attended recently?”
“Exactly, I thought he was washed up but managed to prepare such a surprise show.”
The top student of Baekyeon Medical School.
The son of a once-prominent entrance exam coordinator ended up there.
Could there be a more foolproof publicity tool than that?
Furthermore, the business aspect hadn’t been thriving, so he likely couldn’t provide proper backup.
“All the parents present were out to target that man. They wanted to know his secrets. So he was proudly boasting about his kid.”
This time, his daughter would be entering Taeyang High School.
He had allegedly told her everything she needed to know to walk the same path as her brother.
“The kid is one who has perfectly memorized the portfolio of the top student of Baekyeon Medical School.”
“Can that really happen?”
“After all, her brother did, and he did it perfectly.”
He was said to have excelled in academics with no stone unturned.
Whether grades or extra points, he hadn’t missed a single opportunity.
From community service to being student council president—
All of it resulted in him being the top student of Baekyeon Medical School.
“I told Min-seo. Since she’s a girl, to get as close as she can.”
Both twins.
This was especially necessary for the daughter who wasn’t as strong academically.
“If the daughter is lacking, the parents have to pass on the plan, right?”
They must catch the girl at all costs.
The shortcomings of their home didn’t matter.
Their children were her most precious treasures.
And so it transitioned to the school.
“Lee Yoo-joo, huh.”
A male student murmured.
Lee Min-hyeok, the firstborn of the Lee family, scanned the students attending the entrance ceremony with his sister.
Which of them could be Lee Yoo-joo?
“How am I supposed to find her without a picture?”
Min-seo, the twin sister, grumbled.
Unlike Min-hyeok, who was told to get close, she couldn’t face that.
But how can you get close without even knowing what she looks like?
Especially if they’re in different classes?
Should he approach her directly?
“I was told they would know her at first glance.”
“Does that even make sense? Why should I care about someone like that? Isn’t her dad the washed-up entrance exam coordinator?”
“Well, he’s not washed up anymore since his son became a top student at Baekyeon Medical School.”
“That’s true, but still. Hmph, I’m not that interested in medical school… Ah, fine.”
Min-hyeok’s cold gaze made Min-seo flinch.
Unlike Min-hyeok, who excelled in studies, Min-seo had her shortcomings.
That’s why Gil Soo-jin was more attentive.
“Do you want to end up as a failure? Do you?”
“I’m a kid!”
She muttered, glancing around as Min-seo continued to grumble.
To Min-hyeok, his younger sister merely seemed childish.
Things they wished to do.
He had never even thought about such things.
A successful life was waiting for him, so why bother with any other paths?
Such thinking seemed too easy.
Why worry when he only needed to walk the path laid out by his parents?
“You just need to get close. Since she’s from a poor family, she’ll spill everything without hesitation.”
“You’re exaggerating, aren’t you?”
“I’ve heard they might’ve even lost their house.”
“Really? Then how did she get into Taeyang High?”
“By grades.”
At that moment, a group of high school students entered the auditorium where the entrance ceremony was taking place.
A buzz started as the students filled the vacant seats.
“What’s happening?”
They felt a strange stir among the people.
Following the commotion, the eyes of the two siblings naturally shifted.
What caught their gaze?
The source of this stir.
“!!”
There stood a girl in all black.
Yes, she was completely black.
It wasn’t just about her appearance.
It was her presence.
She seemed to absorb the light around her.
An eerie calmness enveloped her, a person of shadows standing there.
He had heard that they would know her at first glance.
Indeed, it was impossible not to recognize her.
A girl unlikely from the middle class— perhaps not even that.
But each step she took resonated with excellence.
“Ah.”
Lee Min-hyeok—
No, the actor playing Lee Min-hyeok, Kim Hyun-seok, found himself at a loss for words in that moment.
He felt as though he had lines to say, but they wouldn’t come out easily.
The same went for the actress playing Min-seo beside him.
She was supposed to chatter away with enthusiasm, yet she remained utterly speechless.
The surrounding buzz was far from mere acting.
Even among many students and actors, she exuded a palpable presence.
Anyone watching this scene on television would have to feel it.
“Now, that’s a lead.”
At that moment, her gaze met Lee Yoo-joo’s.
The serene expression on Lee Yoo-joo transformed right then.
Her eyes widened, and a twisted smile curled her lips.
It was a mocking smirk.
The hatred contained in her gaze shot through Kim Hyun-seok like an arrow.
“Aren’t you going to say your lines?”
“Ah.”
He blankly replied to her taunting remark.
He was supposed to deliver his lines, but nothing came to mind.
“Cut! Cut! Cut! Let’s do it again!”
Director Kim Il-soo’s shout snapped the actors back to reality.
Each exhaled breaths they had been holding rushed out.
“Is that really a high school student?”
“More importantly, I heard she was super nice.”
“Isn’t she kind of wild?”
They cast glances at Joo Seo-yeon, each pondering such thoughts.
Her twisted expression was filled with dissatisfaction.
The sneer at her lips refused to fade.
When her piercing glare fell on them, they involuntarily looked down.
The atmosphere was a complete contrast to the script reading earlier.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Is she trying some method acting or something?”
They all grumbled silently, but no one dared to speak out loud.
Having been completely overwhelmed by the scene, they could only shrink away.
‘…….’
Seo-yeon read the actors’ thoughts.
For a moment, other thoughts flickered in her mind, but she forcibly pushed them down.
“I need to maintain my emotion right now.”
To become accustomed to someone different than herself.
Seo-yeon remembered the words of Gil Da-hyun, her class president.
“If you find it difficult to understand, just memorize the process exactly.”
Da-hyun had said so while smiling.
“You’re good at memorization, Seo-yeon. If you memorize the formula perfectly, you can do it naturally without even trying.”
Memorization.
Surely, that was right.
Seo-yeon had done something similar once before.
When she first decided to return.
Participating in a play, the stalker “Hong Jeong-hee.”
She tried hard to understand the emotions but couldn’t fully grasp them, so she imitated Pyo Ji-woo’s performance, adding her twists to create her own version of Hong Jeong-hee.
To put it simply, she followed the method Pyo Ji-woo had used to solve the problem.
“This time will be no different.”
There’s no need to overthink it.
It just didn’t feel as easy as then.
Seo-yeon watched films or dramas to imprint them visually in her memory.
And she arrived in the filming space, having captured the emotion perfectly.
Mastering the character of Lee Yoo-joo.
With sharp eyes.
A twisted smile.
The atmosphere filled with disdain made the surrounding actors shrink back.
Seeing that, Kim Hyun-seok gritted his teeth.
He could already predict how the previous scene had turned out.
“She probably didn’t even see me as an actor.”
At least he was glad he hadn’t been framed in the shot.
That’s how he felt.
The surrounding actors who had just shared a scene with Seo-yeon likely wouldn’t be remembered by anyone if they were seen on TV.
They wouldn’t even know they existed.
Everyone would focus entirely on Lee Yoo-joo.
What a shocking first appearance scene it had been.
“And I messed up, too.”
Kim Hyun-seok gnawed at his lower lip.
He felt like a coin in his pocket.
A completely folded, useless coin.
Seo-yeon’s gaze felt like it was mockingly scrutinizing him.
In fact, she was actually sneering.
As if to say, “Is that all you’ve got?”
That sense.
Was it that?
Filming wrapped up several hours later because of all the NGs Kim Hyun-seok had made.
And so, that evening.
“……”
After returning from filming, Seo-yeon lay on her bed and thought.
“I went overboard.”
Gathering her emotions from home had far too severe side effects.
She recalled her own image, spreading laughter and disdain around her.
“……”
Her acting had achieved the results she wanted.
But now, it felt embarrassing—to say the least.
Especially when thinking of Kim Hyun-seok.
Imagining him trembling pathetically after making several NGs made Seo-yeon shudder.
That laugh on her face each time came rushing back.
This was, too much.
Seo-yeon kicked her blanket.
And then—
“Daughter, where did your blanket go?”
“It, it tore.”
“Oh my, it tore?”
“Yes, yes.”
Seo-yeon gathered the stuffing from the torn blanket.
Her face was flushed with embarrassment.
*
In any case, while filming the first episode of Sky Garden was in full swing.
With some time left until the next shoot of Hyper Action Star.
Seo-yeon was in a rare void of schedule.
“An interview?”
“Yeah, is your schedule okay?”
It was a message from Cha Na-hee.
It was related to Dream Future.
“They say Dream Future is being exported to Japan, so they want to do an interview as well.”
However, it wasn’t exactly an interview with a Japanese journalist.
It was, after all, a domestic interview.
“It’ll be done in the feeling of communicating with fans.”
“I’m okay with that.”
“Really? Oh, and by the way.”
Was there something else aside from the interview?
Eagerly, she leaned in to listen.
“I know a producer who’s interested in Seo-yeon. He’s a variety show producer.”
Variety show!
Seo-yeon felt excitement bloom.
Anyway, she loved being on variety shows.
Most of the activities were active, and there was a lot to learn.
“Do you like observational variety shows, by any chance?”
At those words, Seo-yeon couldn’t help but stiffen.