Chapter 61: Star Maker (7)
In the end, Si-woo Film issued an apology, took down the uploaded web drama, and began reshooting.
“Haa… that shitbag Lee Seung-hyuk…”
Because of Lee Seung-hyuk, the entire team had to redo the shoot, and the team members were even angrier than Kim Si-woo himself.
That was how his new nickname was born:
“Dung Seung-hyuk.”
(Meaning: “He spreads crap onto others.”)
“Writer-nim, should we file for damages?”
“Of course. Do you know how much money we wasted on that bastard? Let’s squeeze as much as we can out of him.”
“Yes, Writer-nim. I’ll contact the lawyer.”
But at the end of that path… an unpleasant reality awaited.
***
Not long after Seung-hyuk was kicked out and the reshoot was completed, Shim Ji-young suddenly walked into Si-woo’s YouTube office.
“Si-woo-ah! Big sis is here!”
She pushed the door open boldly, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
“You’re here? But… is it just me, or do you look younger than the last time I saw you?”
“Well, I am a big-time actress now.”
Her recent movie had been a huge hit, and Ji-young felt like she had finally shaken off the ropes that bound her all her life. Maybe that was why she was glowing.
“So, where’s that kid?”
“Ah, this way. Come with me.”
Si-woo took her to the practice room. The Si-woo Film staff stared at her, unable to hide their awe.
“This is my second time seeing her, and I still can’t get used to her aura.”
“No kidding…”
“A real professional actor is different after all.”
While the team whispered in admiration, Si-woo knocked on the practice room door.
Knock, knock.
The door opened, and a slightly messy-looking Hong Soo-yeon peeked out.
“Oh? Ajusshi. And… isn’t that actress Shim Ji-young?”
Even someone like Soo-yeon—who barely knew celebrities because she’d spent her childhood working part-time—knew who Shim Ji-young was.
“Oh my? You’re even prettier in person. But do you… get called ‘ajusshi’?”
“Well… yeah. Anyway, this is Hong Soo-yeon, the actress I brought from Busan. And this is—though you already know—actress Shim Ji-young. Go ahead and greet each other.”
“H-hello… I’m Hong Soo-yeon.”
“Hello, I’m Shim Ji-young. I know it’s rude since we just met, but may I take a look at your notes?”
“Huh? Y-yes! Of course! Please, take your time.”
Meeting a “real” actress for the first time, Soo-yeon looked both excited and nervous.
She quickly handed over her acting notes, and Ji-young stared at them with a deep, serious expression.
“Hm… hmm…”
While Ji-young examined the notes, Soo-yeon stood awkwardly beside her, glancing nervously.
“Sit.”
“Y-yes…”
Feeling bad, Si-woo pulled a chair over for her.
About fifteen minutes later, Ji-young returned the notebook with a meaningful look.
“Could you show me some acting? Right now.”
“Huh? R-right now?”
Soo-yeon turned to Si-woo with a “What do I do?” expression.
Seeing this, Si-woo suddenly had an idea and spoke to Ji-young.
“Noona, while you’re here, why not watch all my kids act?”
“What? Ugh, that’s so much work…”
“Wow… so the great actress won’t even do a favor for her little brother. Got it. I understand.”
“A-ah! Fine! I’ll do it! Go call them!”
“Yes.”
While Si-woo thought this would help everyone, Soo-yeon looked increasingly distressed.
…Uh, this isn’t what I wanted…
A few moments later, all the actors lined up in front of Shim Ji-young.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Shim Ji-young. It must be tough working under my talented little brother here. I was just going to drop by for a moment, but since Si-woo asked me, I’ll be watching your acting. So please continue following Si-woo well.”
Her words carried many layers.
Originally, she only came to see Si-woo, but because he asked, someone of her level was taking the time to evaluate them.
In other words:
“Si-woo is too good to be stuck here. So listen to him.”
Because she was Si-woo’s “big sister,” her underlying message was basically:
“Don’t get cocky. Listen to him. And don’t forget your place.”
Her tone was friendly, but her intentions were… aggressive.
Of course, she was the only one who truly understood that.
Then, Shim Ji-young began her intense one-on-one acting evaluation session.
The order was set:
Start with the actors who would only have minor roles in the movie,
And finish with Hong Soo-yeon.
“Okay, please come up one by one and show me the scene you prepared.”
“Yes!”
An actor bravely stepped forward, took a deep breath, and tried to get into character.
But acting in front of a famous actress—without the buffers of cameras—was far more nerve-racking than being on set. The actor’s voice shook noticeably.
At least, they didn’t mess up the lines.
Shim Ji-young seemed to have expected this. She didn’t scold them harshly.
“If you hadn’t been so nervous, this would’ve been better. But that’s something you can overcome with time. Anyway… before we move on, there’s something I need to tell everyone.”
She addressed not just the actor, but the entire line of actors.
“I know you all want to succeed as actors. I was the same at your age. But listen carefully: acting isn’t about showing off, it’s about showing naturally.
Of course, depending on the role, acting may change,
But most minor roles should melt naturally into the background and the situation.”
She looked around at them seriously.
“But what you performed was main character acting.
It felt like you were screaming, ‘Look at me!’ to the camera and the viewers.
That distracts from the actual main characters, and directors and audiences don’t like that.”
She continued:
“If you do that, no one will think, ‘Let’s cast this person as a supporting role next time.’ Understand?”
All the actors nodded vigorously.
“Good. Then let’s start again from the second person.”
“Yes!”
One by one, each actor received Ji-young’s personalized guidance and left for the practice rooms.
Until only one actor remained—
Hong Soo-yeon.
“Ajusshi…”
“Don’t worry. She looks scary, but she won’t literally eat you.”
“N-no… that’s not what I meant…”
She had hoped for encouragement, but Si-woo gave her something else entirely.
“Alright! Let’s watch our last actress. Before we begin… let me check the script.”
Maybe because of what Si-woo had told her beforehand, Shim Ji-young read only Soo-yeon’s script before watching her performance.
“Then… I’ll start.”
Soo-yeon began reciting her lines for the upcoming web drama.
The acting started with her forcefully shaking off the male lead’s grip on her wrist.
“Let go of me!”
Swish!
She flung her arm sharply, shouting.
“You told me not to bleed here! That’s why I’m trying to go somewhere else!”
Even without a partner actor to respond to her lines, Soo-yeon continued with the scene exactly as she had prepared.
The performance flowed all the way to the final scene: the moment she confronts the son of her parents’ friend.
In other words—a confrontation scene with the male lead.
“W-wait… you… you’re…?”
Pointing a finger, she stumbled through the line on purpose, then finished the scene.
“Haa… thank you for watching.”
As Soo-yeon bowed politely, Shim Ji-young stared at her strangely.
It was the same look she had earlier when she read Soo-yeon’s notes.
“…Haa.”
Ji-young let out a long sigh.
Thinking she had made a terrible mistake, Soo-yeon’s face went pale with worry.
But instead of criticizing, Ji-young held up the script.
“Um… Soo-yeon? How long did it take you to memorize this?”
“Huh? Oh… memorizing took about two hours. I’ve been polishing it and practicing ever since.”
“Two hours? Hmm…”
Hearing this, Shim Ji-young began thinking deeply.
When Ji-young thought about it, she asked herself:
- “Could I perform this entire 15-minute script at her level… after memorizing it in just 2 hours?”
Her conclusion was obvious— Of course she could do it faster.
But could she do it exactly as the sticky notes instructed, within 2 hours?
…She wasn’t confident.
She didn’t need to follow her own sticky notes as perfectly as Soo-yeon did—that wasn’t necessary for good acting.
But the fact that Soo-yeon did it proved just how much raw talent she had.
Yet the thing Ji-young misunderstood was this:
Those 2 hours Soo-yeon spent weren’t for practicing her acting.
They were for memorizing the entire script:
Her own lines
The other character’s lines
All movements
All cues
All gestures
And even timing down to the second
Her acting wasn’t fully catching up to what she’d memorized,
But her memory and attention to detail were absurd.
Ji-young took so long thinking that Si-woo eventually spoke up.
“Noona?”
“Oh—ah… she did well. Very clean acting. With a bit more emotional training, she’ll become a really good actress.”
It was the first compliment Ji-young gave all day.
“Thank you!”
“Alright, keep practicing hard. And you—come talk with me for a moment.”
“…Okay.”
Ji-young grabbed Si-woo by the wrist and pulled him out of the room.
Watching the two leave, Soo-yeon felt something bitter stirring in her chest.
***
Inside Si-woo’s office, Ji-young’s eyes sparkled as if she’d discovered a gemstone.
“Where the heck did you find that girl?”
“What? Why are you so excited?”
“I’ve never seen anyone act like her. She followed every sticky note exactly. Not even one mistake. The blinking, the breathing, the eye movements, even the angle she shook her arm off. I couldn’t believe what I was watching.”
“Well, the fact that you noticed all that is impressive too.”
To Si-woo, Ji-young was just as exceptional.
“How long has she been acting properly?”
“Maybe… two weeks?”
“Two weeks?”
At that point, even Ji-young had to admit it:
Hong Soo-yeon was a genius.
As she praised Soo-yeon’s talent, she also explained that with proper professional training, she would grow even faster.
“But no wonder she looked familiar… she’s a bit like Se-yeon.”
“Right? That’s why she went viral as the ‘Jung Se-yeon look-alike actress’ on SNS.”
“To be honest, I’d love to steal her for our company, but you already picked her up first. A pity. Oh right—your new movie, Gangster Detective, people are saying the production is already going big.”
“We haven’t even done the script reading yet.”
“Do you still not know how fast rumors spread in this industry?”
They talked about the now-infamous Gangster Detective.
Then suddenly, Ji-young jumped to her feet with fiery enthusiasm.
“So this time… we’re rivals!”
“…Rivals?”
“Yup! I picked my next project too. So prepare yourself. This time, I’m going to succeed without you or Director Park Woong-deok.”
“I’ll cheer for you.”
At that, Ji-young deflated like a popped balloon and sat back down.
“What’s with that reaction…? That’s it? You’re not even gonna say something cocky? Like, I don’t know, ‘Let’s see you try’? Something annoying like that?”
“You want me to say that?”
“No! Forget it. That’s exactly the kind of response I expected from you anyway. Anyway, just know this—I’m not giving up first place so easily this time.”
Up to this point, Si-woo wholeheartedly supported Ji-young.
At least until…
***
One month later, a small theater.
“Your film is opening on the same day as the youngest 10-million-viewer writer Kim Si-woo’s movie. What do you think? Confident you’ll win?”
“Writers write, but acting is done by actors. Without good actors, a script is worthless. Kim Si-woo? Isn’t he just a mass-produced writer? Someone who only succeeds because of his actors and directors. But I am a genius actor. Isn’t the outcome obvious?”
The man’s interview went viral online, and it quickly reached Si-woo’s ears.
“How did he know? He’s right. I am just a mass-produced writer carried by actors and directors.”
Then he smirked.
“But if he loses to a writer like that… That makes him a trash-tier actor, doesn’t it?”