༺ A Front Row Seat ༻
“What did you say?”
“Wasn’t this all orchestrated by Mother anyway?”
“What…? What are you talking about…?”
While Yoomyeong was admiring Seon-ha, Seon-ha was even more astonished.
She had always thought of him as a talented junior.
Seon-ha, a drama enthusiast, had watched ‘Showbiz Studies’ with great dedication.
She laughed and cried with Bohyung’s character, mesmerized by his versatile and captivating performances. However…
‘Up close, it’s just incredible…!’
What would be the best seat to view a performance?
In a play, would it be the front row, where you could feel the actor’s breath? In a cinema, would it be the middle-back seats, where the entire screen was in view?
No, not quite.
Seon-ha thought that the best ‘front row seat’ to watch an actor’s acting was being the actor acting opposite them. She wouldn’t just feel their breath; it’d be like feeling their very presence on her face.
The thrill of watching a good actor turn the tension she gave into something mesmerizing right before her eyes was indescribable.
It was the luxury of experiencing that overwhelming vitality and immersion from just a meter away. Today, she was feeling it fully.
The way he breathed as he received his lines, and the way his facial muscles seemed to come alive with each word.
And the tension that came from knowing that the scene would fall flat if she weren’t able to match his intensity.
However, it was not yet time to draw her sword.
A little more. A bit more tension must build.
She feigned ignorance, dismissing his momentum.
“Bang-won… What are you trying to say…?”
Swoosh—
As Lady Kang turned to face Bang-won directly, the camera pivoted to match her movement, still showing her side profile.
There was a look of disbelief. A tear glistened in her beautiful eyes.
“Mogeun (*Lee Saek’s pen name) asked Father to accompany him to Ming, fearing Father might dethrone King Chang during his absence. Mother must have persuaded Father to send me instead.”
“Why would I do such a thing…?!”
“Maybe it’s because I earned too much credit during the Wihwado Retreat. Or perhaps you found me bothersome as Father’s favorite ‘chess piece’.”
“What are you talking about…?”
Bang-won’s actions during the Wihwado Retreat were impressively agile. He anticipated Lee Seong-gye’s moves, and although Lee Seong-Gye sent orders to evacuate his family, Bang-won had already departed northeast with the Lee family in tow by the time they arrived.
Lee Seong-Gye was pleased to see that his son, Bang-won, the only one to pass the state examination, was quick to assess the situation. From then on, Bang-won rose in stature within the Lee family. This started to irk Lady Kang, who harbored ambitions for her own children.
“If I’m sent with the Ming envoys, I’ll be out of Father’s sight, reducing his attention on me.”
“…”
“Or perhaps you thought it wouldn’t be too bad if Mogeun harmed me.”
“Bang-won!!”
She closed her eyes tightly, as if she had heard something terrible.
The pressure caused tears to stream down, dripping off her chin.
“I may not have given birth to you, but I’ve always thought of you as my own child. I never meant to boast about raising you, but how can you misunderstand me so cruelly?”
“I’m the one who’s hurt. I was the one who evacuated Mother and my siblings during the retreat. If not for that, then we might not be able to face each other like this.”
“Yes, you even begged for food in the villages to feed your hungry siblings. How could I think such things about you?”
“Exactly. That was unforgivably cruel…”
“…”
“But you are capable of that, aren’t you, Mother?”
It was an assertion and not a speculation.
There was no hint of conjecture in his matter-of-fact tone.
As his mocking words hit her, she wiped her tearful eyes with her long sleeve.
And when her face was revealed again…
“How long have you known?”
Her expression had completely changed.
Her gentle and beautiful face remained, but her eyes were chillingly cold, reminiscent of a snake.
*
Finally, the camera captured her face head-on.
She looked at Bang-won with crystal-clear eyes.
Her expressionless face, showing no sign of shame despite being exposed, was eerily unsettling.
“The mouse that hears the night’s whispers told me about Mother’s plan to send me in Father’s place.”
Bang-won confessed to having a mouse (a secret agent who reports on the enemy).
“I was shocked. To think that I’ve been deceived by you for so long…”
“And what do you propose we do about it? Your Father won’t believe a word you say.”
She tilted her head, already pondering her next move. She could eliminate him during the Ming Dynasty mission, or perhaps fabricate a situation to tarnish Bang-won’s reputation in Lee Seong-Gye’s eyes…
But surprisingly, Bang-won’s response was calm.
“At first, I was hurt. I even deluded myself into thinking that someone had replaced the mother I knew. Feeling betrayed, I thought about telling Father.”
She just stared at him despite his bitter and hurt tone, unresponsive.
“But the more I thought about it, the more I realized what the wise thing to do would be. Our goals are ultimately the same, aren’t they? The success of our great cause.”
“The success of our great cause…”
She repeated the words to herself, realizing his intentions.
‘We’re in the same boat’ – even those in hostile relations could join hands if their interests aligned.
In other words, he was proposing a strategic alliance.
“My brothers are foolish, and your children are still young. Father is brave but not a strategist, and he worries too much about public opinion. The only person I can trust to make sound judgments is you.”
“…”
“If you accept this alliance, then I’ll let this matter slide.”
The grand goal was to become the master of a new dynasty. The struggle for who would be the next ruler was a problem for later.
In these perilous times, with enemies inside and out, one of the strongest adversaries extended a hand.
They had to first achieve their goal before they could worry about who reaped the fruits.
‘In truth, Bang-won is the only one whose judgment I can trust, too.’
Confined within the inner quarters and with no real power except to influence Lee Seong-Gye, Lady Kang found Bang-won’s proposal appealing.
‘He’s worryingly smart, but he’s still green. It won’t be too late to dispose of him after achieving our great cause.’
With this quick calculation, she extended her hand.
“Let’s get along well, my son.”
“Yes, Mother.”
With these hypocritical titles, their alliance was formed.
*
“Cut—!”
“Great work, everyone.”
“Phew…”
Yoomyeong was deeply impressed.
He had always heard that reactions were key in acting, but performing with her made him truly feel what that meant. The power of her reactions as she attentively listened to every line he threw and responded genuinely made the scenes feel real.
He was about to express his admiration for her acting, but she beat him to it.
“Seon—”
“Yoomyeong!!”
“Huh?”
“Wow… you’re no joke. Phew… I’m supposed to leave the audience breathless, but you almost took my breath away.”
“…?”
“You’re really good at both ‘speaking’ and ‘listening’. I felt like I truly became Lady Kang while I was acting with you.”
“Uh…”
“I knew it since our workshop. Shin Yoomyeong is the best!”
She had said everything he wanted to say.
“That’s what I was going to say…”
“Ah… Really? Is this what my theater colleagues mean when they say it’s comfortable acting with me? It’s easy to concentrate…”
“I felt the same.”
“Really? We’re both pretty amazing, huh?”
Yoomyeong chuckled at her genuinely surprised expression. Just then, Director Son approached them.
“Ms. Lee Seon-ha, that was excellent!”
“Thank you, Director.”
“People from theater can sometimes overact on camera, but you didn’t do that at all.”
“I tend to act plainly on stage, too. And I practiced a lot.”
“I see. Maybe you’re more suited for the camera than the stage?”
“Maybe? I should have gotten used to the camera earlier!”
Lee Seon-ha joked brightly in response to the director’s praise.
“Yoomyeong, you must be tired of it, but…”
“Yes??”
“I’m sure you’re tired of hearing praise, but you really did great.”
“Hahaha, Director, you’re too much…”
Yoomyeong waved his hand, laughing.
“It’s okay as it is now, but I have a feeling that one more take could make it even better. Shall we take a short break before we go again?”
“Let’s go right away!”
“No pressure.”
A scene of sharp confrontation.
Despite its intensity, the scene was enjoyable due to the good chemistry with their co-actor.
Yoomyeong and Seon-ha readily agree to another take.
*
Yoomyeong still had one more scene left after finishing the shoot with Seon-ha.
Although it seemed that Bang-won had revealed his true intentions in allying with Lady Kang, it was all a facade. It was filled with half-truths, a clever mix of sincerity and lies to deceive her.
After finishing his conversation with Lady Kang, he entered his room and summoned his personal vassal—someone who wasn’t a follower of Lee Seong-Gye, but one who served Bang-won himself. The most trusted, and yet, not entirely.
“Si-heon.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Prepare for the diplomatic trip to MIng.”
“So you are going, after all.”
“Don’t be mistaken,” Bang-won spoke coldly.
“It’s my own decision to go to Ming. I just pretended to fall for Mother’s trickery since I had to go anyway.”
Although he was officially a diplomatic envoy, he was a hostage in reality.
Si-heon, who thought that Bang-won was going due to Lady Kang’s scheme, became puzzled.
“What do you hope to gain in Ming?”
“I need to understand the intentions of the capricious old Emperor of Ming.”
“What…?”
“Whether he sincerely recognizes King Chang, how much he intends to interfere in Goryeo’s affairs, and whether Ming would become our enemy should our great cause succeed.”
Bang-won’s foresight always went beyond the immediate; he planned not just one step but several steps ahead, preparing for various contingencies.
“The immediate enemies might be the powerful families and the remaining loyalists of Goryeo, but the greater future threat will be Ming. It’s wise to stay out of the attention of an overwhelming enemy or to step into the shadows.”
Bang-won’s eyes gleamed with determination.
“If only Mogeun goes, then who knows how that sly old man might influence the Emperor of Ming. That’s why someone loyal to Father must be in the delegation—to read the Emperor’s intentions and to keep Mogeun in check.”
“So that’s… your plan.”
“Yes. Who else but me could do it? There might be others, but I’m the only one within our faction who could manage it.”
The statement ‘There might be others’ referred to his teacher, Jeong Mong-ju.
This implied that only he was capable of matching his teacher’s abilities. Although he was confident, he didn’t sound arrogant.
“Of course. There’s no one else but you, Young Master.”
“Right. By going, I’m merely incurring a debt to Mother and planting a small misunderstanding.”
There was no spy.
The conclusion that Lady Kang was the reason why Lee Seong-Gye recommended Bang-won for the diplomatic mission was entirely derived from Bang-won’s insight. And Lady Kang, perfectly deceived, now harbored the misunderstanding that Bang-won would never have discovered her true nature had it not been for the spy.
If she hadn’t misunderstood, she might have tried to eliminate Bang-won first, as he would be a significant obstacle in her son’s path.
His sarcastic tone,
The look of betrayal,
And the naive offer of suggesting they join hands—it was all calculated acting.
Bang-won allowed himself a faint smile, satisfied that everything was playing out in the palm of his hand.
“Okay—Excellent!”
The director gave a thumbs up.
“Shooting’s over. Let’s start packing up, everyone!”
<The Late Goryeo Dynasty & the Early Joseon Dynasty> team wrapped up the scenes in Mungyeong.
Their next location scheduled was in China.
After a few more local shoots, the critical ‘tea conversations scenes’ would be shot at a dedicated set being built in Yongin.
“Take a full day’s rest, and I’ll see you at the airport the day after tomorrow!”
The assistant director, with dark circles under his eyes, shouted out.
The rest was meant for the actors; the staff would be leaving tomorrow to prepare for the overseas shoot. The hectic schedule was expected to continue due to the cost of filming abroad.
However, Yoomyeong was looking forward to it.
They would be acting out the diplomatic interplay between Jeong Mong-ju and Lee Bang-won on the vast lands of China.
Yoomyeong’s chest swelled with rising ambition, eagerly anticipating the start of his first overseas location shoot.
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