Life, Once Again!

“How do you feel now that you did that?” Maru asked Sinhye.

“The way I did my acting was no different from usual. I was just going to do what I had in my mind, but I suddenly had this urge when I start acting. Any other time, I would’ve held myself back, but I did as you said and went with the flow and….”

Sinhye stopped and looked at the floor of the stage. She seemed to be looking back at her own acting in retrospect.

“Jungah, how was it in your eyes?” Sinhye asked Jungah.

“It wasn’t polished, but that was the feeling I wanted. It was easier to see that the character was fuming inside.”

“Right?”

Sinhye looked at Maru.

“How did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything. It was you who did it, Miss Sinhye.”

“But that’s strange. This is the first time I acted with you, without practice even, but the results are too good to be true. I didn’t do anything differently either.”

“That’s because you already prepared sufficiently. You just needed an outlet, a target that could receive the emotions you have accumulated.”

“But this never happened when I was practicing with that guy despite doing it so many times. Yet, it worked out the moment I did it with you. Are you sure you didn’t cast some type of magic?” Sinhye pointed at Joohwan.

Joohwan was listening to him like a student listening to a great lecture. It seemed that gloominess didn’t last that long.

The junior, who was sitting in the audience seats, was using all of his senses in order to take everything that he lacked.

“Park Joohwan.”

“Yes.”

“Come up.”

“Can I?”

“Come up now.”

Maru had Joohwan stand next to him. He was originally not going to deal with him if this guy was just being arrogant and putting his faith in his meager talent. There were numerous people who flopped after being blinded by their talents after all.

However, Joohwan was not like that. He looked like he truly didn’t know what was wrong. This kind of person was rather rare. He was like a child who only rode on highways and didn’t know the feeling of driving down squiggly alleyway roads. Joohwan probably didn’t know the word ‘setback’ as it was not a part of his life. He might have had a few hurdles but never a trial that he could not overcome because of his lack of ability.

“I heard that you’re from the same high school as Miss Jungah, right? You were in the acting club too.”

“Yes.”

“Did you join the acting club because you were interested in acting from the beginning?”

“No. I didn’t have any interest. I’ve never watched a play before.”

“Then why did you join?”

“Because Jungah asked me to join together. And also, it was quite fun when I did it. I put aside my studies and focused on acting for a while.”

Basically, this guy went to America following a friend and lived the American dream instead of the friend. Maru looked at Jungah. He needed more explanation.

“Miss Jungah, how was Joohwan during high school?”

Joohan replied without hesitation,

“He was the same as he is now. He easily learned acting and soon became the center of the acting club and started playing the lead character. That lasted all the way until the end of high school.”

Maru nodded and looked at Joohwan.

“How were your grades in high school?”

“I joined the acting club in 2nd year. I topped my year all throughout first year.”

“What about after you joined the acting club?”

“I was around the 10th percentile. I thought I shouldn’t just let go of it entirely so I studied from time to time.”

“10th percentile despite studying from time to time, huh.”

“Anyone can do that if they focus.”

The people listening to Joohwan’s words all frowned. Sinhye pretended to vomit saying that he was putting on an arrogant air.

“Let me ask one more thing. Have you ever encountered something so hard that you thought that it was impossible or was too hard and you couldn’t do it?”

“There were many times when it was hard.”

“How about impossible?”

“None. Hard means hard, it’s not the distinction between possible and impossible.”

“If you were in high school, you should’ve been worried about your future on top of the CSATs. Have you ever had any second thoughts when you joined the acting club? You know, things like detriments that your fall in grades will bring, or fears about enrolling into college.”

“I’ve thought about that as well. I thought that my enjoyment was the top priority, but I couldn’t just ignore reality. When I estimated, I believed that I would be able to get into the college I wanted if I prepared for CSATs starting from the summer vacation of my 3rd year.”

There was not a hint of shame in his words. He wasn’t boasting either. He was just stating the truth as it was, like pointing at a red apple and saying that it was red.

This was something he was just born with. He would’ve done well in anything, even if it wasn’t acting. In fact, if he chose to go with studying, a field that had a clearer standard of assessment, he might have had more things in his hands now. For example, things like enrolling in a prestigious university and/or a full scholarship.

Maru let out a laugh mixed with a sigh.

“And you took the CSATs?”

Joohwan looked to the side. He was looking at Jungah. For the first time since he started speaking, he seemed to be cautious about what he was saying.

“I’m pretty sure Joohwan didn’t take them. He came to this college with me through pre-selection. There was no need for him to take it.”

“It doesn’t look like that’s what he wants to say though.”

Maru looked at Joohwan. Joohwan hesitated before speaking,

“I didn’t take it during my 3rd year of high school. As Jungah said, I already had a college to go to and there was no need for me to take it. It was cold too. It was last year when I took it. I just tried it to see if my studies hadn’t completely died yet.”

“The result?”

“Well, it turns out staying away from studies has a big effect. Everyone told me I was a prodigy or something, but I was nothing without practice.”

“What were your grades like?”

“I was in the 80th percentile for the languages section.”

Sinhye, who was listening, chuckled.

“Last year’s CSATs were pretty tough. But isn’t the 80th percentile going a little too far? For someone who used to be pretty good too.”

Joohwan nodded. He seemed to be very disappointed in himself.

“I was off by one question when marking the answers. When I was preparing hard for CSATs, I was dividing up the allocated time into seconds, but I made such a mistake after having played around for just a year. I was really lacking for sure.”

Sinhye narrowed her eyes.

“80th percentile because you marked the wrong answers? What about the other subjects then?”

“Straight As.”

“Arrogant prick. You should’ve gone to one of those top universities. Why did you bother coming to a backwater college like this one?”

“Jungah said she was going here. I also came here because it was close to my house. This is the only college around this area that has a theater department.”

Jungah smiled awkwardly after Joohwan’s words.

“I was never good at studying. I was only able to get into a rather good high school because of a special case, and I was never good enough in practical exams, so I didn’t have any other choice than going here.”

“This place is a good college too.”

“Like hell it is. Also, just shut up. You’re making me ashamed.”

“Being bad at studying is nothing to be ashamed about, is it?”

Jungah shook her head and turned silent. She just gave up on talking since it was tiring to do so.

“I wonder if I should call you lucky or unlucky,” Maru said as he looked at Joohwan.

It must be a blessing that his pride was never hurt. He also had the talent to boot, so he shouldn’t have run into problems either. It was only now that he ran into a wall. A wall that was high and sturdy and could not be overcome with his abilities alone.

He had Joohwan and Sinhye face each other.

“First, we should resolve the problem between these two and the rest should get better soon enough. If you remember what I said before, I’m sure you all now know what mindset you must have when you go on stage.”

The actors on stage all nodded simultaneously.

“I am aware that you are all amateurs. I am an amateur too. However, everyone here must be striving to become professionals. If so, then you should get used to having an attitude like a pro. This is especially true if you’re acting on stage with the audience in front of you, compared to when you’re in front of a camera.”

Maru walked to the edge of the stage. One more step and he would have to jump downstage.

“A staged play does not have a rebroadcast. That’s why you have to be tense the whole time. Everyone makes mistakes. There might not be anyone who does something out of their mind like what Joohwan did, but there are plenty of cases when people forget their lines or mix up their movement lines. When that happens, you can’t stand still like an idiot. If you haven’t decided on a countermeasure beforehand, you have to respond dynamically depending on the situation,” he said to the actors.

It had been a while since he last taught students. He was originally going to say a few words of advice before leaving, but he found himself doing his best.

Would these people have any idea that he once was paid millions of won per hour to hold lectures like this?

“Reciting lines and moving along lines is something anyone can do. We are still too young to act out of momentum. You can do something like that when you get older. Right now, you should respond sensitively to each and every small thing. Look at not just your partnering actor, but the stage as well. Look at the stage with a fresh pair of eyes all the time. Forming a force of habit can be left to when you’re about to retire.”

Maru called the actors over.

“Well, I believe that you have gotten yourselves together. If you’re going to act like you’re in a daze even after I told you all this, then I won’t say anymore. I guess those people just have their own ways.”

“We’ve woken up now. I’m sure everyone here has. Right?” Sinhye said as she looked around at everyone. She looked like she was going to pounce at them if they said anything unnecessary.

“I won’t give you any direct instructions. Not only am I not qualified to do so, there’s not enough time either. Instead, I will stop you throughout your practice for three runs and show you some alternatives. Either you can choose the version you are attracted to and practice it, add your own elements to it to revise it, or do pretty much whatever you want. It’s entirely fine even if you choose to ignore it. There is no answer to acting. What you think is right is right.”

“But there are acts that clearly look like an answer. Doesn’t that mean there is a right answer in acting?” a girl asked as she raised her hand.

“Let me give you a simple example. We ask actors Hong Geunsoo and Park Joohwan to do the same act. Who would do better?”

Everyone responded Hong Geunsoo. Joohwan looked at the floor with an awkward expression.

“Then we ask Hong Geunsoo and Yang Ganghwan to do the same. Who would do better now?”

This time, the opinions were split.

“I hope this answers that question. There is no right method of acting. If there’s something close to an answer, it should come down to the actor doing it.”

Maru called Sinhye and Joohwan over.

“The two of you will hold hands throughout the three runs. Lock your fingers together.”

Sinhye freaked out and shook her head. She shook her head so vigorously that her cheeks waved.

Joohwan walked over to Sinhye before grabbing her hand.

“You’re asking me to do this, so I’ll do it for now.”

“Hey!”

“I don’t feel good about this either. But I want to do well in acting. Don’t you?”

“Who says I don’t? I was about to grab you first, but you made a big fuss about it, you know?”

Even while acting like two archenemies, the two grabbed hands.

“Miss Sinhye, please let everything out like when you were acting with me. Joohwan, don’t be busy minding your own acting, and look at Miss Sinhye until the end.”

“But senior, what do we do about scenes where we have to appear separately?” Joohwan asked, raising the locked hand into the air.

“Keep going around together. Look at each other’s acting from right next to them. It’s a childish method, but there’s nothing that’s more efficient.”

Maru clapped once and walked down the stage.

“Then let’s start immediately. Get yourselves together and let’s just do three runs.”