Chapter 403 (1/2)

“Did you call for me?”

“Yeah. Uhm, can I ask you for a favor?”

Producer Changsung looked at Giwoo for some reason as he asked Maru. Giwoo smiled in embarrassment.

“I want you to do some acting.”

“I’m not in this scene though.”

“Not as the 2nd beggar, but as Han Myung-hoe.”

“As Han Myung-hoe?”

Maru realized why producer Changsung was giving glimpses at Giwoo. Maru looked at Giwoo as well.

“Please. I just can’t get a grasp on it,” Giwoo spoke in a small voice.

“Producer. I don’t think anything will change just because I’m the one doing it.”

It wasn’t that Maru was feeling pressured. It was just that Giwoo, who played the role of Han Myung-hoe, was right in front of him. He felt like he was eating out of another’s plate.

“Why don’t you just try it once?”

“Elder.”

Maru looked at the elder who said to him that it was okay. From looking at how things were going, it seemed that Moonjoong mentioned him first. While Maru felt thankful that Moonjoong was saying good things about him, he would only receive jealous stares if things kept going on like this. The producer was one thing, but he was worried about his relationship with Giwoo.

“If you can’t, I guess producer Han needs to do some hard coaching.”

Moonjoong spoke with pity.

“Uhm, Mr. Maru.”

“Yes.”

“I asked the producer to ask you since sir Moonjoong told me that it would help a lot to watch your acting. The producer told me the general direction of the scene, but I can’t get a grasp on it. Rather than doing fixed acting, I want to try to solve it, and the producer wants that as well. Please help me out just this once.”

Giwoo scratched his head as he smiled. It didn’t look like a childish smile.

“I know that it’s too much to ask of you, but I want to see it anyway. Although sir Moonjoong taught me, it’ll be better for me if there’s someone around my age that I can refer to.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

Acting was an actor’s pride. It was really not easy to make such requests on set like this, but Giwoo seemed to be worried more about the fact that he wasn’t able to show a satisfactory act than his own embarrassment.

“Please. I want to see it.”

The person in question gave permission. Maru made a bitter smile before looking at producer Changsung.

“What do I need to do?”

“The cut where Han Myung-hoe exchanges a conversation with senior. The lines are…”

“I remember them from watching.”

“That’s good. Let’s try it out for now, and if I still don’t get a satisfactory picture, I will go into the details. Giwoo, you’re okay with that too, aren’t you?”

“It’s because of my desire to get a good picture, so you don’t need to feel sorry. Well, then senior. Please.”

In this dark place where there were no lights, he had to show a short skit without a camera rolling. Maru stood in front of Moonjoong.

“This is the first time we are acting together after the movie, huh.”

“Yes.”

“Then, I’ll have to ask you to take care of me.”

“Please don’t say such a thing. You’re giving me pressure.”

Maru looked at Giwoo who stood next to him. Giwoo nodded his head. Maru also replied as he pulled in his chin.

“Then I’ll start.”

“Yes.”

Maru straightened his chest and his waist. When he was playing the beggar role, he had shrunk his body back even while he wasn’t on camera. It was to create a contrast to Gaeguk, who was bold despite having a status that wasn’t welcomed by anyone.

However, the role he had to play right now was not the 2nd beggar, but Han Myung-hoe. He was a greedy child who dreamed of becoming successful from young so that he would never get abandoned again. It wouldn’t make sense to show a shy attitude.

Maru looked at Moonjoong and calmed his breathing. Various emotions were surfacing on Moonjoong’s face. The gentleness of one who took in someone who his brother had abandoned flashed by before anger overtook it when seeing that very boy hang out with a group of beggars.

“The reason I permitted you to stay when you came to ask me for shelter was because I saw the light in you. I believed that your extraordinary talents would make our family rise again. Yet, you’re here hanging out with a beggar. Aren’t you embarrassed?”

There was a hint of worry in that scolding tone. The tone of words didn’t one-sidedly lash at the other and instead, induced the listener to think. It was possible to figure out that hint from Moonjoong’s expression and tone of words. The form of the emotion was clear enough to be transferred to the viewers who would be watching through a screen. Maru inwardly exclaimed and prepared his next line.

If the producer had a specific request, he would follow, but right now, it was up to him. He had to dig deep into the character with just the text and express the character as much as possible.

Han Myung-hoe. He was someone who walked on the line between a heroic vassal and a disloyal subordinate. However, that evaluation was given to him by the later generations. In his time, he was very powerful and well-known. Whether it was a disloyal subordinate or a heroic vassal, the ones that climbed up to the top were not ordinary. He became a gatekeeper only in his 30s after failing the national exams many times, but he became a meritorious vassal after displaying his stunning intellect in the coup of 1453.

What he was acting now was the younger days of such a person. He shouldn’t be such an obedient guy.

Maru looked back at Moonjoong in the eyes. He predicted that the young Han Myung-hoe was bold enough to go against the adult of his family that took him in. However, he also thought that Han Myung-hoe should have some nervousness because of the fear that he might be thrown out to the streets again along with his little brother if he went against the will of the man in front of him.

He wondered how he should express the two clashing emotions. Under the condition that the camera was shooting his entire body, he had two options.

His face and his body.

Expressions were direct. It would give the other party raw emotions. On the other hand, the body was subtle. If a smiling man was shaking his legs, then he was trying to cover up his nervousness by showing a leisurely front.

How was he supposed to express the mental disparity of standing up for his friend Gaeguk and the wish to look good in front of Han Sang-jil? Maru decided to follow the textbook. He loosened his fist and clasped his hands to show that he was compromising, he showed his attitude by not avoiding Moonjoong’s gaze, and he showed his fear with his slightly shaky voice.