Chapter 17 : I’m a Living Actor (17)

“I’m sorry, but could we talk for a moment?”

The moment our eyes met, Seo Sangwoo hurriedly spoke.

His expression was so serious that I found myself tense without realizing it.

‘What could this be about?’

He was waiting for me after the shoot had ended and I had stepped away briefly—did he really have something to say?

Nothing seemed particularly wrong today…

‘Could it be…’

Was it about the lines we rehearsed earlier?

I thought we had done well, but maybe that was just my perspective.

Various thoughts flashed through my mind, but I forced a smile, imitating Yoo Chaemin’s genuine smile that I had practiced hard.

“Yes. It’s okay. What’s the matter?”

When I asked, Seo Sangwoo’s face clouded over.

He looked hesitant as he met my gaze, then nodded slightly as if making up his mind.

“I wanted to tell you earlier.”

“Earlier…?”

I wondered what he meant, then it hit me—right before the shoot, Sangwoo called me over saying he had something to say.

“Oh, yes. Um… shall we move over there to talk?”

The staff were busy leaving for the day, but just in case, I steered us toward a corner out of sight.

Sangwoo followed silently.

“Yes. Please go ahead.”

He took a small breath before his voice came.

“…I’m sorry.”

“…?”

“I was trapped by prejudice and behaved in a way I shouldn’t have.”

He bowed deeply as soon as he finished speaking.

I stared blankly at the back of his head.

“I also sincerely apologize for deliberately causing an NG during the first shoot.”

It was a straightforward and sincere apology.

His voice and expression showed genuine remorse.

There was no sign that he was forced to say it.

‘Oh…’

It was truly unexpected.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected nor even thought he would apologize.

I thought some degree of prejudice against Yoo Chaemin was inevitable—something I would have to change myself going forward.

If I had been treated unfairly to an extreme, I would have protested.

Thankfully, Sangwoo’s strange behavior only lasted the first day of filming.

‘If it had continued beyond that, it would be a different story.’

I could feel him glancing at me here and there.

Trying to stop my thoughts from spiraling, I bowed lightly.

“Thank you for apologizing first.”

I felt like I should say more, but nothing came to mind.

Since Sangwoo had apologized for his mistake and I was willing to accept it, the conversation could have ended there.

‘But I still have to keep working with him.’

“The first shoot was a bit awkward, but hearing you say that, I think I can forget about what happened back then.”

Sangwoo’s expression softened.

He looked touched.

“Well… I just hope we can come together with good intentions and finish this project well.”

That sounded like a good way to wrap things up.

“Well then…”

Before I could finish, Sangwoo’s voice cut in.

“Shall we do a script study together?”

“…What?”

Wait, how did it turn into that?

“When we rehearsed lines earlier, I really liked it. Since we have ongoing shoots, it might be hard every time, but I thought it would be good to find time to do it even a little…”

His face flushed slightly, already imagining the scenario.

It was very different from the stiff demeanor he usually had on set.

Suddenly, I felt how much he truly loved acting.

Maybe rehearsing lines together triggered something deep inside him.

Script study, huh?

It’s a great idea.

Sitting down with a fellow actor, discussing how to perform and sharing opinions.

‘If I refuse here, it’ll be much harder to change Sangwoo’s impression of me.’

I wasn’t planning to get close to him, but this was an opportunity.

I nodded and smiled brightly.

“Yes. Let’s schedule it.”

Sangwoo’s face lit up, blooming with happiness.

From that day on, my usually quiet phone—now mine—began to buzz incessantly with messages from Seo Sangwoo.

[Seo Sangwoo: What time will you be at the set tomorrow?]

[Seo Sangwoo: (Photo) What kind of feeling should I give for this part?]

I had notifications off, but I made sure to reply promptly so as not to cause misunderstandings.

More importantly, all his messages were relevant topics—I couldn’t just brush them off.

Discussing the script over text made me restless, so I ended up calling him.

Still not satisfied, when we met the next day on set, we found a corner and rehearsed lines together.

It got to the point where I thought we might not need to schedule separate script studies.

But with Sangwoo’s passionate insistence, that day finally arrived.

‘It’s hot.’

The weather had definitely grown muggy.

The faint memory of spring was already fading.

Feeling sweat bead on the nape of my neck, I stepped into a café.

The rush of cool air was a relief.

Someone raised their hand from inside as if recognizing me beneath my pulled-down hat.

It was Seo Sangwoo, who had arrived early.

I could see others sneak glances at his fully exposed face.

“You came early. Have you been waiting long?”

“No! I just got here too. And besides, Chaemin wasn’t late either.”

He tried to say my name casually but faltered, lowering his voice.

I laughed lightly and sat down.

He spoke quietly, a bit embarrassed.

“I guess we should have met at my place instead of a café.”

No, definitely not.

I was shocked when his apartment was even suggested as a meeting place.

While it would have been ideal for privacy, I didn’t want to go to the home of someone I wasn’t close to.

We could still study the script in a café.

The café was predictably moderately noisy.

As long as we didn’t raise our voices, it should be fine.

“Shall I order drinks?”

I quickly changed the subject.

“I’ll get them. You never know.”

He winked as he said that.

“……”

It was probably a habit, but I never quite knew how to respond when he did that.

I hurriedly gathered myself and answered.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll have an iced Americano.”

“Got it!”

Sangwoo laughed brightly, clearly amused by my reaction.

Not long after, he returned with two drinks.

In front of me was an iced Americano filled with ice cubes.

His was an iced Caramel Macchiato topped with white milk foam and caramel drizzle.

‘Isn’t that too sweet?’

I personally couldn’t drink something so sugary.

Noticing my gaze lingering on the Caramel Macchiato, Sangwoo smiled wryly.

“It doesn’t suit me, does it? I get a lot of flak for liking sweet drinks despite my rugged build.”

“No need to get flak for that…”

“Right? But people can be weird. They criticize you just because you like sweets…”

He muttered lightly.

“Well… some people just force their image of how others should be.”

“Exactly! Like it’s a huge problem if you don’t act a certain way.”

He must have dealt with that pretty harshly.

I found it surprising that he still liked people despite it all.

“Ignore those people. When you start your real acting career, you’ll meet a lot of them.”

Especially in this industry, where image is everything for actors and singers, it’s unavoidable.

At my words, Sangwoo’s eyes sparkled briefly.

At first, I didn’t know what that was, but now I think I understand.

He looked at me like I was a ‘trustworthy senior in the entertainment world.’

“Yeah, I guess so. To be honest, I still can’t really imagine it.”

“It’ll be beyond your imagination. Both in good ways and bad.”

“Haha…”

He chuckled softly and took a sip of his coffee. He wiped milk foam from the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

‘He definitely has an incredibly unwrinkled personality.’

He seemed like someone who had grown up loved in a harmonious family.

I didn’t know him well, so it was just a figurative impression.

And in this industry, even someone like him could be easily broken if not careful.

“But there will be people who like your taste because it’s a charming twist.”

The words slipped out before I could stop myself.

Sangwoo’s eyes widened, then he smiled broadly.

“Thank you!”

“No, it’s nothing special.”

Let’s stop with the preachy talk here.

I pulled out the script from my bag.

Sangwoo’s eyes lit up as he brought his own script from the side.

“Actually, I’ve thought that the character Lee Hyuk is typical and flat. Unlike Yeoreum or Jihwarang who grow and change significantly, he’s more like a kid who only loses things.”

Sangwoo suddenly got serious and got straight to the point.

I was taken aback at first, but now I was used to this side of him.

“I know that as an actor, I’m supposed to portray the character richly. But when I look at the script and try to act, I don’t know what to do. No matter what I do, it doesn’t really change Lee Hyuk.”

Knowing something in your head and actually doing it are different.

It’s a common truth, but every time I faced moments like that in life, it felt confusing and strange.

‘I definitely had these struggles too.’

“I’ve asked the teacher and sought advice here and there, but in the end, I still don’t know what to do. Thinking too much makes it hard to focus on acting.”

“What kind of advice did you get?”

“They said I can’t empathize with Lee Hyuk, so that’s why.”

That was true. From the expression on Sangwoo’s face as he talked about Lee Hyuk, it was clear he couldn’t fully accept the character.

“Your personality is quite different from Sangwoo’s.”

“Honestly, I wonder why he acts that way. Towards the end, he just picks the worst choices and does things that make people hate him.”

Things that make people hate him.’ I mulled over those words silently.