Chapter 913. Crank Up 3

When he came to, ‘Wednesday Nights’ was a thing. They had decided to meet up in this apartment every other Wednesday evening and play around to their heart’s content. If there was a small problem, it was that the owner of this apartment had no say in this. Though, seeing the three of them singing ‘Wednesday Nights’ so passionately, it didn’t seem like anything would work on them.

“I’ll clean up afterwards.”

“And cook.”

“Just trust this noona.”

They were no different from politicians right before an election. They were blurting out policies that they could not fulfill, not like they had any desire to fulfill them. Maru brought some omija tea to the three people sitting side by side on the sofa while patting their stomachs. The three were better off staying still rather than awkwardly trying to help. He put the pot he cooked the seafood stew in under some hot water while washing the rest. He thought about the reason he had to wash dishes at 2 a.m., but he couldn’t think of any plausible reasons. If there was one, it was that he had sinned for being born later than them.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

Maru pointed at the clock hung right above the TV. It would only take these people 30 minutes to get home if they took a taxi, yet they didn’t show any signs of leaving at all.

“Don’t worry, we won’t sleep here.”

“Did you book a nearby hotel or something?”

“We just told you, yet you forgot already? We’re moving here. The house above this one and the house below this one are both empty, so we can get some sleep there.”

“I had totally forgotten about that because the reality was too terrible.”

“Three great seniors are going to be living near you, and you call it a terrible reality? Not a blessing? You got yourself an environment that many other actors can only dream of. You should learn to be thankful,” Suyeon said while opening both of her hands.

Theater, film, drama. Having seniors who had made a name for themselves in each of those industries might be a fantastic environment for some. That ‘some’ did not include Han Maru, or so he desperately hoped. He didn’t want to be the modern version of a slave.

“How are the preparations for the film going?” Geunsoo asked.

“You’re doing a film?”

Ganghwan looked like this was the first time he heard about it. The same went for Suyeon. It seemed that only Geunsoo knew about it because he was close to the film industry, or maybe he heard from the president himself.

“I haven’t even prepared anything. I have yet to receive my script.”

“It’s a project where director Park Joongjin is in charge of both the production and creating the scenario. I’m sure he wants to produce a good result even if it takes some time. No date set on when you can receive the script?”

“He told me that he already edited the script once, but he also said that he needed to edit more ever since we went to Suncheon Bay together. I don’t think it will take that long.”

“Sounds like director Park cherishes you a lot. From what I hear, it is very rare for director Park to go experience hunting with an actor before he shoots.”

“Maybe he found me unreliable and wanted to teach me something.”

Geunsoo smiled, saying that Maru should be wrong.

“What’s the genre?”

“I guess you can call it the story of a man. To borrow the words of the director, it’s old-fashioned. A man who looks after dog cages encounters a change due to a certain event. I guess you can summarize it like that.”

“Everything becomes old-fashioned if reduced to one line. A growing conspiracy behind a police officer’s exposé, the lives of two men who loved one woman, what would happen if a person right before his death goes crazy - you can summarize the recently released titles like that, but the masterpieces and the bad pieces are separated according to how they unfold. Of course, since it’s director Park Joongjin’s work, it’ll be a masterpiece for sure.”

Ganghwan, who was listening, chimed in,

“How probable do you think the chance of a home-run hitter hitting another home-run is in the next round? Don’t think optimistically and try your utmost best. If you play the lead role of a film by a director who hits a home run every single round, the public’s arrow of blame will go to you if it doesn’t do well. Well, not that I’m that knowledgeable about the film industry. But it shouldn’t be that different from theater production, is it?”

“Even if you didn’t tell me that, I already have a mountainload of worries. Popularity is one thing, but the director’s personality is extraordinary too. I had a nightmare a few nights ago where I had to do a hundred takes for a single scene. The director kept indifferently clapping the slate in front of me, and when I woke up, I found that my shirt was drenched with cold sweat.”

The three of them on the sofa nodded all at once. It was probably a common fear among all people who acted for a living.

“Since we’re talking about this, why don’t you three pay up?”

“Pay up?”

“Show me your acting. It’s fine even if it’s just a gist.”

“We’re all expensive people, you know? Don’t you think a single pot of seafood stew is cheap?”

Suyeon crossed her arms. Maru knew that she wasn’t just bragging. It was true that they were expensive since they were all paid hundreds of millions to act.

“If you don’t want to, then I guess I can’t help it. But instead, I’ll lock the front door every Wednesday. I will not pick up any calls after 10 p.m. unless it’s related to work.”

“You’re coming out strong.”

Suyeon grabbed the hands of the men on either side of her and stood up. With this ‘Wednesday Nights’ was official. Maru was now in a position where he had to set up a drinking occasion every fortnight, but it was quite a cheap price to pay if he could get advice from these three. Though, they would still listen to his request even if he just asked.

Maru sat down on the sofa, from which the three seniors stood up. It felt rather weird. Three people, who were capable enough to be called ‘famed actors’, were standing in front of him. He was now in a position where he could instruct them to act, and from up close too.

“Looking at your eyes, it looks like the respect that had been hidden from you for years has come back to you. Geez, where can you find a junior like this? And the seniors too?”

Suyeon chuckled before asking him to elaborate. Maru described the dog cage he saw that day in as much detail as possible. He also showed them the photos he took so that the three actors could form a character in their heads.

“We just have to show you a general idea, right?”

Geunsoo walked towards the kitchen after looking at the photos. The boundary that connected the kitchen to the living room became a makeshift stage. It hadn’t even been two minutes since he finished explaining and showed them the photo, but it seemed that Guensoo had formed an outline of the character already. Maru sent the two dogs sitting underneath the dining table into his bedroom before saying that he could start.

“It is somewhat embarrassing to do it like this.”

Unlike his words though, his expressions changed in an instant. His eyes were filled with boredom. He scratched his belly like someone who just walked out of bed and slowly walked to the living room. His cloudy eyes looked around. He seemed to have entered the greenhouse. He yawned and grabbed the remote control, which was supposed to be the rod. He poked around indifferently, without the slightest bit of hesitation. For a moment, his eyes flashed with glee. With the eyes of someone who had found a bowl of leftover food after starving for days, he insistently stared at the TV stand and pushed the rod back and forth. Maru could picture a frantic dog yelping and falling on the ground. He could also see the rod that kept poking at the collapsed dog. Geunsoo moved his hands as though the movement of the rod had nothing to do with the dog’s death before eventually dusting his hands and standing up.

“Did you say I can’t kill the dog?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. That was enough.”

Geunsoo sat down on the sofa, saying that he was done. Despite only a few lines of explanation and a few photos, he managed to come up with a plausible character in a very short period of time. It wasn’t that his acting was awkward either.

“When I see that oppa act, I sometimes feel that the world is so unfair,” Suyeon said.

To compare, Geunsoo was analogous to Lee Heewon. Questions shouldn’t be asked to him. He was the type of person to ask back with ‘how do you not understand’ when asked about something. He was prime evidence of the fact that a competent senior doesn’t always equal a senior who’s great at teaching. Maru just had to extract what he could from his act.

Following that, Suyeon showed her act. Her character was rather easily upset. She swore from the get go. ‘Fuck’ was nothing more than conjunction. Holding the rod, Suyeon swore a lot but did not use the rod so easily. In fact, she carefully reached out with the remote control with a fear-stricken expression. When she walked past the sofa, she got startled and even took a step back. People could not get used to doing everything – this seemed to be Suyeon’s idea. The character she showed went through a conflict at every moment. It was far from the plain lunacy that Maru wanted, but an interesting interpretation nonetheless. The startled expressions were something worth using as well. After all, constantly putting on a heavy expression didn’t mean good acting. He would probably be able to make use of it once he started the shoot later.

“The one after me will fulfill all the criteria, so I tried changing it up.”

‘The one after me’ that Suyeon talked about had fallen into thought behind her at the dining table. Geunsoo softly said that he might need more time. Ganghwan stood up when another ten minutes had passed. He didn’t say that he would begin. Maru could tell that he started acting the moment he stood up.

“Yeah, I told you. Right.”

He was on the phone as he walked towards the TV and picked up the rod. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling, his mouth was busy talking to his phone, and his hand was holding the rod. He was at the epitome of proficiency. He swung around the remote control, and every once in a while, he would give a glance down and stab hard with his hand. It was a move that subdued the dogs without any big movements. The topic over the phone was about money. It seemed like someone who borrowed money had not paid back in time. He then brought the water bottle they decided to use as the kettle before tilting it slightly. He was venting his anger on the dog. Maru rather liked the fact that he was pouring water indifferently while on the phone. It was a plot device that showed that the character had become so used to his job that he could do it alongside other tasks. After emptying the water bottle, Ganghwan scoffed before turning around. He looked like he had finished a small task.

“I hate improvisations like this the most. Even when I was learning.”

“It’s people like that who always grumble the most. I’m sure he’s doing it on purpose despite knowing that what he did was the best one,” Suyeon said with a frown.

Maru immediately grabbed Ganghwan and asked him questions. It was clear that both Geunsoo and Ganghwan were incredibly good at acting, but there were differences in their ability to teach. That was also why Ganghwan was in charge of teaching back at the amateur acting class.

“I’m not sure what that director wants from you, but rather than preparing something new, you better polish what you have been doing now. If I’m the director, that’s the kind of thing I’d be expecting from you. In my opinion, a good actor is not someone who suddenly shows something incredible one day, but someone who perfectly shows what he or she has refined over a course of a long time.”

“I think director Park wants that from me too.”

He threw a few more short questions and learned about how to create situations. Just then, he realized that he could no longer see Geunsoo and Suyeon. He tried opening the door to the bedroom. Suyeon was on the bed, and Geunsoo was on the floor. They each had a dog in their arms.

“Don’t those two know any shame?” Ganghwan said.

“You aren’t one to speak,” Maru retorted with a smile.