* * *
“What, Myeong Jeha?”
‘You never said anything like that.’
But it seed Myeong Jeha’s analysis had hit the mark. Director Jang was wearing a how-did-you-know-that expression.
“Ah, well... directors usually have all sorts of scenes playing in their heads. I’ll— refine it nicely and show you.”
The fluster lasted only a mont. Like the seasoned adult he was, Director Jang smoothly changed the subject.
“Haha! I heard Jeha-ssi is your fan—guess it’s true? You just really wanted to see him that badly, huh?”
Director Jang laughed as he patted Myeong Jeha on the shoulder.
‘...Feels like there’s more to this?’
Just as I thought, Myeong Jeha looked at Director Jang and said,
“You were planning to include the scene where Yeoreum receives the spirit descent, right?”
Director Jang froze on the spot.
“I could tell from the intro section. In , the impact of using a gut ritual as a dium would be imnse. The way the instrunt sounds gradually layer in shows the progression of the ritual itself, but....”
The status window above Myeong Jeha’s head sparkled brightly.
Analysis: S
“The child who will beco the saetani is the offering. After that, the talisman is used to summon the god, the jing is struck to designate the target of the curse, the screen drops together as if the god has descended. The shadow of the curse moves.”
Only then did I realize how organically the intro scenes were connected. Myeong Jeha’s background knowledge was razor-sharp.
“And when the god possesses her, the bell in the shaman’s hand shakes like mad... you planned to speed up the bell sound at the very end, didn’t you?”
So Seoryeong in the finale wasn’t just venting her rage and stopping there.
A direction on par with a famous scene from a top-tier film had been prepared.
‘If you just show the divine power that overwhelms Yeomga outright, then this....’
To explain just how hard it is for a general programming channel to break 10% viewership—on TVM, only twenty works managed it over ten years.
‘And the most recent among them... was that drama with three consecutive series.’
Even series dramas considered runaway hits on general programming barely reached 8%. The highest rating was 11%.
‘And that was a work praised for creating an unprecedented syndro....’
I had to surpass that.
I looked quietly at Director Jang. He awkwardly t my gaze, then turned away and scratched the back of his head.
“The thing about dramas is— was fully pre-produced, but... will have to go live from the midpoint. By around episode 11, the set will probably be complete chaos.”
If you factored in editing ti, the shooting schedule might be tight. Co to think of it, I rembered how live-broadcast productions sotis had editing mistakes.
‘Like the caraman getting caught in the corner of the fra, subtitles not being removed during broadcast, wire lines showing....’
The mont it’s exposed that the drama in front of viewers isn’t complete in quality—
Even a few seconds of error is enough for viewers to turn away from the work entirely.
“Pulling out the best possible script is a director’s ability, but guiding the story so the actor can fully imrse themselves—that’s also a director’s ability.”
When Director Jang laid out the reality, it finally hit . A long run I’d never handled before, a completely new character unlike anything I’d analyzed so far, vocalization I needed to study more deeply....
‘There’s too much to handle in such a short ti.’
Could I do it? My first ti as a drama lead, and I wanted to do well....
“So in short, you’re saying you can’t trust Han Yeoreum?”
That was when Dok Gomin, who’d been sprawled on the sofa, spoke up.
“No, it’s just that if you put too much burden only on the lead—”
“Right. Sa thing. I was wondering what you were going to say... got all worked up for nothing.”
Dok Gomin stretched lazily, as if Director Jang’s worries were boring.
“I thought maybe you’d found a rival director after that So Yesol or whatever, but... not much competition, huh. Hey, Han Yeoreum. Seems like this director doesn’t know what a muse is. Mm-hm. Typical middle-aged guys these days.”
At that, Director Jang’s previously gentle voice rose a notch.
“No! You can’t talk like that! Beyond being a muse, our team is family—family!”
“Family, my ass. Either way, you’re saying she’s not a muse. Yeah, yeah. At this rate, you won’t be able to make anything decent with Han Yeoreum anyway... I’m leaving.”
Just as Dok Gomin was about to get off the sofa, the back of her collar was grabbed again. This ti, it was Director Jang.
“Student. I don’t think you understand—this set isn’t a place that runs just because I want it to. There are countless people’s livelihoods on the line. If it were up to , I’d just—”
“Then just do it.”
* * *
Seriously, an impossible old man.
With her brows furrowed, Dok Gomin launched into a long lecture about the butterfly effect caused by gambling everything on a single scene.
‘I don’t care about that crap.’
I rembered filming . That mont when my face was soaked through with rain and tears.
‘Han Yeoreum is a genius.’
But it would take an enormous amount of ti for the public to realize that. Plenty of celebrities blow up off a single work, but that doesn’t an everyone watches that work.
‘You need at least several hits in a row.’
The ti it takes to beco familiar to the eyes, ears, and mouths of the public was far too long and tedious.
Even at this very mont, people desperate to rise were probably dissecting Han Yeoreum in every possible way.
‘Do you know how many people started taking photos like Han Yeoreum’s pictorial....’
That iconic profile photo of Han Yeoreum had beco half public property. People reproducing that style had exploded in number.
Blue lighting, refreshing sunlight. That could no longer be Han Yeoreum’s profile photo alone.
‘...Other actors started shooting like that too.’
After that, other actors also adopted the fresh, breezy concept, so the public stopped rembering it as “Han Yeoreum-style.”
Even Do Gyeoul shot photos against a blue background.
No matter how much Han Yeoreum was rising, the entertainnt industry was overflowing with actors who could crush her with even greater fa.
A world where only bigger, heavier, more dazzling nas are placed on the scale.
“Not confident?”
“No! It’s not like everything works out just because I say I’m confident!”
For sothing truly associated with Han Yeoreum’s na to be recognized, the work itself had to support it.
A rely ‘decent’ project wasn’t enough. Like Pi Chaewon, the character had to be unmistakably etched into people’s minds.
‘The public isn’t a genius like , so they can’t acknowledge Han Yeoreum right away.’
I think I understood why Myeong Jeha had brought Dok Gomin here. This stupid old man was a director I disliked in a different sense.
“No matter what... I have a duty to protect Yeoreum-ssi to the very end.”
Director Jang spoke calmly again, as if he’d settled himself.
“I know what it feels like for a rookie with no manager and no car to show up at the set hours early. I’m soone who’s been watching Yeoreum-ssi since then.”
It was an excessively realistic story. A perspective only a director could have.
“You have to go on location, and add CG on top of that—the costs are enormous. On set, every minute and every second is money. If the actor keeps making NGs, what do you think happens to the atmosphere?”
Not a bad excuse. In any case, Dok Gomin gave him a few extra points for cherishing Han Yeoreum.
‘Still minus five hundred billion points, though. Yeah, yeah.’
For reference, Director So was only minus one hundred million points.
“Even if no one says it outright, the actor can’t help but feel it. On set, endless variables explode even within a carefully planned schedule.”
Dok Gomin looked at Han Yeoreum sitting still with the script in her hands, then turned to et Director Jang’s eyes, which were full of worry.
“Don’t underestimate the pressure of the set. If the drama’s doing well, it’s intense; if it’s not doing well, it’s intense in a different way. And the work we’re up against is SBC’s anticipated title.... Ugh, I don’t know why I’m even saying all this, but anyway!”
This is exactly why team workers are the worst.
From setting the composition to positioning the lights, to the subject’s angle and the instant the shutter is pressed—Dok Gomin, an autocratic photographer who calculates everything alone, was an action-oriented type.
“I can’t, with all that pressure, force Yeoreum-ssi to et my own desires. That’s my duty and my code. So, student....”
“What if it’s not you forcing her, but Han Yeoreum herself wants to do it?”
Dok Gomin pointed at the computer.
“The final episode script. You have the completed version, right?”
“Uh, yeah, I do....”
“Print that out and give thirty minutes. Whether it’s your greed or not—Han Yeoreum will decide.”
Seeing Yeoreum stare at her with wide eyes, Dok Gomin smiled smugly.
Then she shouted to Yeoreum,
“You can do it!”
There was no question mark at the end of Dok Gomin’s words. There was an exclamation point.
* * *
“The final episode script....”
With Dok Gomin dragging Director Jang and Myeong Jeha out, I was left alone in the studio.
“Can I do it. .”
Could I portray Seoryeong while carrying all that cost, all those expectations, under that crushing pressure?
‘...Sixteen episodes.’
It felt like I was standing on a razor-thin line.
‘Should I say I can’t do it, even now. The original script isn’t bad, anyway.’
Just as I felt like retreating step by step—
Seoryeong (staring down Yeomga standing atop the blade) You bastard Yeomga! A shaless wretch the likes of which heaven has never seen twice! I will question you for every sin you’ve committed while wearing human skin!
The mont I read through the final episode script—
The set unfolded vividly before my eyes. Yeomga standing atop a blue-steel blade, wearing a mask. Seoryeong facing her.
My fist clenched on its own.
Seoryeong The sin of trying to overturn fate! The sin of seizing the nation and manipulating it at your whim! The sin of throwing the people into the jaws of starving tigers!
Seoryeong (briefly drawing a breath) The sin of deceiving... innocent children... and letting them starve to death!
I think I understood why the sin Seoryeong wanted to question most was placed last.
I could feel Seoryeong’s stubborn refusal to show herself crying. Her desire not to reveal a weak face.
I could feel Seoryeong’s hidden, unspoken truth.
“...It’s love and hate.”
Before she learned that Yeomga had tried to exploit her divine power, the two of them had been family.
At least, to Seoryeong, Yeomga was her entire world.
“...No matter how filthy the ending was, rembering the monts when you were kind....”
A single pathetic mory with a guardian—only those who know understand what that ans to a child.
My gut burned hot. I spoke Seoryeong’s lines out loud.
“How dare you, how dare you... how dare you!”
I widened the space in my mouth and tightened my core. A voice like it was scraping from the inside rang out desperately. My head spun from suddenly using head voice.
Seoryeong’s heart poured straight into .
The betrayal of Yeomga, whom she believed was family; the guardian Jeongan she t afterward; her plain but warm affection; and yet the self who must soday die for revenge; the ti she deliberately kept her distance; Jeongan’s cold corpse; regret and fury at never opening her heart; and the childhood mories that surged up the instant she faced ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Yeomga....
‘I get why Director Jang tried so hard not to include this scene....’
The lines that followed were of a difficulty level hard for a rookie to digest.
Because she had to return Yeomga’s curse ritual in full.
Seoryeong You are my irreconcilable enemy! This body is not my body, this life is not a life! This body may not be yours, but this life ends in death throes!
This land will not permit you,
By my command, you will perish at once!
It felt as if Seoryeong was slowly being overlaid on top of ....
Seoryeong (staring at Yeomga) The blood tears in your eyes will never dry,
In your hands, pus and blood will congeal and rot,
Your remaining life will fall into hell, and I will set right the law of this land....
The speed of my murmuring mouth increased. Lines I’d never spoken before flowed without a hitch.
‘It can work.’
Seoryeong (collapsing, vomiting blood) Guilty souls will hound you, dragging you away at last, and this sin will reach your life!
‘I can really... beco Seoryeong... properly.’
I no longer felt the responsibility I’d have to shoulder on set, the pressure of carrying a sixteen-episode drama, or the anxiety over whether my Seoryeong was truly right.
Seoryeong Eternal darkness, your life severed at this very mont. Eternal darkness, your life severed at this very mont. Eternal darkness, your life severed at this very mont....
Emotion crashed over .
Click—.
The gears that had never quite shed snapped into place, and began to turn, slowly.
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