༺ Shall we do this? ༻
“Let’s start?”
Yoomyeong nodded in response to Seunghyo’s question.
Seunghyo counted down silently from three, two, one, and immersed himself in his character.
To Eunseong, a lord who lamented a bygone era.
“Your Majesty, please order a deployment to the border with Sumyeong Kingdom. The longer we delay, the greater the danger to our innocent people will be. I, Eunsong, will personally lead the fight and elevate our kingdom’s dignity!”
Baek Seunghyo hesitated.
Was his approach wrong?
He had tried his best to portray Kwon Do-jun, and he had also played Eunseong to the best of his ability.
Since it was clear that his own colors as Baek Seunghyo were already imprinted in the character, he hadn’t thought of acting as Eunseong on top of acting as Kwon Do-jun.
But on that day, he became restless after witnessing Shin Yoomyeong’s acting.
If it was judged solely by Wolgong’s acting, then it was undoubtedly inferior. However, it was so firmly imbued with Tak Gyu-min’s character that he couldn’t help but wonder how Yoomyeong could act like that.
So he asked for Shin Yoomyeong’s ‘Wolgong,’ wondering how different it would be.
And Yoomyeong spoke his lines, which were powerful from the beginning, in a soft and calm manner.
“Your Majesty. Our kingdom is barely recovering from the aftermath of the war with Geoncheok Kingdom that ended in June. Our beautiful territory, with harvest just around the corner, will be stained with blood again.”
Each word of criticism was carefully worded, and harsh but persuasive.
Then, there was a small sigh between the sentences.
With that sigh, his tone of speech changed.
“Now is not the time to play war games, Your Majesty. I beseech your wise judgment.”
A shallow hint of mockery was present in the phrase ‘war games.’
It was undoubtedly a provocation, a subtle rhetorical move aimed at stimulating Eunseong’s emotions by belittling his enthusiasm and manipulating the young monarch’s mind.
Even though Eunseong knew it was a provocation, anger welled up within him.
“Sumyeong Kingdom has always been like this, pretending to be a brotherly kingdom while stabbing us in the back at our most vulnerable point. How dare you suggest making peace with such treacherous people, Wolgong? Moreover, the region they’ve invaded this time is rich in mines. Do you really not understand what they will demand as the price for peace?”
Ultimately, he couldn’t hold back his emotions and directed his words towards his rival in the opposite side and not the throne.
The elders in the court would disapprove of his reckless behavior inside the palace.
Even though he knew that the slightest mistake in a tense confrontation would tip the balance of power, Eunseong, a fiery and fierce warrior, couldn’t help himself.
Why couldn’t Wolgong see it all so clearly when he was that intelligent? Why couldn’t he see that they might lose more than they could ever save for the sake of a momentary peace?
“Our people will go to war on flimsy ships and fall easily to the sword, and the border trade that is slowly revitalizing will cease for at least a year. Repeated tribulations will bring bark to their tables instead of rice, and young children will cry for their parents.”
As befitting a top diplomat, he smoothly spoke as if his mouth was oiled.
Each word painted a vivid picture that the audience imagined the situations in their minds as they listened.
The sight of a skeletal warrior moving stones to build a defensive wall only to be pierced by arrows flying from a distance, soaking the ramparts with blood,
The elderly sucking bitter water from tree bark before soaking it again for the next day,
And a young baby who lost his parents in a single day and cried for days on end before starving to death.
“I am no less angry at Sumyeong Kingdom than anyone else, but there is a right time for war.”
Wolgong’s words were filled with regret, and a single tear fell from one of his eyes.
From Eunseong’s perspective, who knew his persuasion tactics all too well, even that tear was a calculated abomination.
However, it was a tear filled with sincerity from the perspective of everyone else.
That was Shin Yoomyeong’s Wolgong.
A brilliant strategist whose sharp mind was concealed beneath a smooth tongue, making it impossible to discern his true intentions.
In contrast to ‘Tak Gyu-min’s Wolgong’ from the previous performance, there was no trace of it in Shin Yoomyeong’s portrayal, and Baek Seunghyo became uneasy.
He paused for a moment, not continuing with the dialogue.
And then,
“Wol.”
He called him by his nickname.
It was an unscripted ad-lib.
*
“Yes, Lord Eunseong.”
Yoomyeong responded to his ad-lib without any sign of surprise.
He spoke in a calm tone as if completely immersed in his role.
His words carried a subtle boldness that only two people sharing secrets could understand, as well as a distance that reminded each other of their positions.
“What were you thinking? Didn’t you know that it could bring destruction to our kingdom?”
“Ever since our childhood days, this might be the first and last time that I can be this honest with you, Lord Eunseong. Now that I had become criminal.”
The one who was taken aback by Wolgong’s words was not Eunseong, but Baek Seunghyo.
In an instant, Yoomyeong transported time and space and brought the setting to a prison in the future.
Suppressing his surprise in order to not break the scene, Baek Seunghyo managed to hold it together and asked him.
“Alright. I want to know your thoughts before dawn tomorrow. Why would someone as intelligent you…?”
“Our kingdom had to perish.”
“…What?”
Wolgong made his declaration without hesitation, leaving both Seunghyo and Eunseong genuinely surprised.
“A kingdom exists for its people. A kingdom that cannot protect its people loses its meaning of existence. This kingdom should have been destroyed long ago.”
“What kind of traitorous words are those?!”
Eunseong’s anger boiled and exploded unknowingly.
“Traitorous words… you’re right. Isn’t that what I was charged of, anyway?”
“Wolgong.”
“Still, even if it’s considered rebellion against the kingdom, it’s not rebellion against this land. I just took a kingdom that couldn’t protect its people and gave it to a kingdom who could. What is a kingdom? It’s just a system for protecting the people.”
For the first time, Wolgong’s voice rose.
It was no longer the smooth tone as if oiled but a hard-edged voice that spoke sincerely.
It was also something Eunseong hadn’t heard from him since they had played together when they were ten years old.
“After a lifetime of speaking calculated words for a purpose, speaking my mind feels refreshing.”
The traitor, who had gone too far ahead of his time, laughed triumphantly.
“I wanted to be honest with you at least once, Seong. Aren’t you my only friend?”
Thud—
The sound of a door closing could be heard somewhere, snapping Seunghyo back to reality.
His hands were trembling.
“How did that Wolgong… come out like that?”
“How? Well…”
“How did the situation, the lines, and your ad-libs come out right away? You haven’t even analyzed the script for a long time, and there are only a few pages outside of the main script for this play. But how…?”
“If it’s about <Rivalry of Fate>, I’ve thought about it several times. How did this story start and how will it end? I thought this kind of ending would be good.”
“…Why?”
Why did he think about a role that had nothing to do with his, the work that another character was acting in, and even the beginning and end of a movie that didn’t even appear in the drama?
“Well… because it’s fun. Both Eunseong and Wolgong are attractive roles.”
Yoomyeong replied casually, leaving Seunghyo puzzled.
Seunghyo genuinely loved acting.
But wasn’t work… work? Despite his hectic schedule, did Yoomyeong just come up with ideas for someone else’s role for the sake of ‘fun?’
Baek Seunghyo lost his desire to ask more questions.
And in the room they had left,
A head popped out through the sliding door between the practice room and the gym.
‘That person is the actor that Director Moon brought.’
Having dozed off on one of the fitness equipment in the gym, he nibbled on a piece of bread while running a hand through his disheveled hair.
His eyes gleamed as if he had found an interesting toy.
*
“Good job.”
The week after the drama’s finale, Yoomyeong was summoned by Director Moon Yu-seok to his office.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Why don’t you take a vacation somewhere?”
“Well… I need to work on my next project.”
Yu-seok shook his head at Yoomyeong’s words.
“You should take a break.”
“I don’t mind. I can’t wait to do my next work.”
“You can’t be fine after running for months without a break. I don’t want to turn you into a workaholic actor. Rest for a couple of months and then look for your next project. There are plenty of scripts waiting anyway.”
“Plenty? Where are the scripts that came in?”
“No, you can’t see them. You need to take a vacation first.”
It was a strange conversation.
The roles were reversed, with the actor wanting to work and the management advising him to rest.
“Director Moon, I really don’t mind…”
Yoomyeong felt anxious.
He wasn’t sure how much time he had left.
Miho had been unusually quiet these days, which made him even more uneasy. He wanted to act in good productions quickly.
“Still, it’s not a good idea. How about just taking a month off? It’s not that long. You can spend time with your family and watch some movies you’ve missed. Remember that having some free time can actually improve your acting.”
Yoomyeong reluctantly nodded in response to Yu-seok’s stubborn insistence.
“I know you’re enthusiastic about work, but what about money? If you want to make money, we have plenty of offers for commercials.”
Yu-seok put a stack of A4 papers on the table. The documents were titled “Proposals.”
“Should I do… all of these?”
“Are you crazy? It’s not like your image as a rising star would suddenly vanish. This is just bragging rights. It’s a way to show off how popular you are.”
Yoomyeong looked at Yu-seok with a puzzled expression.
It seemed like Director Moon’s attitude toward him had changed a bit since the last time they met. Perhaps he was being more honest now.
“As for money… well, it’s nice to have, but my last appearance fee alone is already a lot of money I never even thought about having.”
Yoomyeong had received his final appearance fee just the day before.
Thanks to Yu-seok’s excellent negotiation skills, it was already a substantial amount.
For someone who used to receive a few tens of thousands of won as payment for waiting on set as an extra for 14 hours a day, it was an unimaginable sum.
Also, the appearance fee that Director Ki told him would be low due to Ballerina High being a passion project had unexpectedly turned into a substantial amount of money.
Since it was an independent film, the production budget wasn’t too high. The break-even point was 220,000 viewers or something similar… but it had already surpassed one million views.
“Oh, by the way, Director Ki said that there might be some overseas screening rights and that he’d also calculate your share.”
“He doesn’t have to do that…”
Yu-seok chuckled.
“Did you replace your desire for money with a desire for acting? Why don’t other people have desires like this? Anyway, that’s my opinion. Since doing commercials can also boost your popularity, let’s do one or two with high brand value and appearance fees. However, I’ll pick ones that are known as ’15 seconds of art,’ the ones that require good acting.”
Commercials were often referred to as ‘15 seconds of art.’
Of course, there were only a limited number of commercials that could actually be called that.
It was a term used to describe advertisements that had a storyline and required acting, rather than those with a strong ‘product ad’ nature.
Yoomyeong had no intention of rejecting such an offer as an actor.
“Please handle it as you see fit. Thank you.”
Smiling at Yoomyeong’s polite response, Yu-seok suddenly made an unexpected offer.
“Is there anything you want?”
“…?”
“I never had the intention of making money through this hobby, but I am now. Also, seeing you grow faster than I expected makes me feel proud as your sponsor. If you want something, just tell me. I’ll do it if it’s within my capabilities.”
Yu-seok added an explanation as Yoomyeong tilted his head.
“Whether it’s something you want to have, something you want to try, or even someone who’s been bothering you and someone want to get rid of… I can take care of it.”
He chuckled mischievously.
Yoomyeong was about to shake his head when he suddenly thought of something.
“Can I… bring someone in?”
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