LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 139
Chapter 139
“Didn’t sleep?”
I couldn’t see well in the dark, but the voice alone sounded awkward.
“You woke up, so I woke up too. Do you need to go to the bathroom?”
“Ah…, yes.”
Lee Yeon-jae hesitated as he answered.
Was he going to do a number two?
“I’m going back to sleep. Don’t mind me and do your business.”
Thinking I might have embarrassed him, I lay back down.
When I deliberately turned my back, Lee Yeon-jae went into the bathroom.
A white light from the bathroom slipped out from under the door.
‘Damn it.’
I really tried to sleep so he wouldn’t feel embarrassed, but I could only sleep in complete darkness.
‘I should’ve brought my eye mask.’
Regret hit me now, but waiting until Lee Yeon-jae came out would solve the problem.
At first, I didn’t think much of it for the first 10 minutes.
Even after 30 minutes, I thought he might be constipated.
But as it approached almost an hour, I started to get worried.
‘Could he have fallen asleep in there?’
It was absurd, but thinking of his face sleeping so deeply that he wouldn’t notice being carried away….
‘It doesn’t seem impossible.’
So I knocked on the door to check.
“Yeon-jae, is everything okay?”
After a few seconds of silence, the door suddenly opened.
As my eyes blinked a few times at the sudden rush of light, I saw Lee Yeon-jae’s forehead beaded with sweat.
“…You didn’t sleep?”
“No. I couldn’t sleep. Were you working out in there?”
In the bathroom? At this hour?
‘I knew he was unique, but he’s really something else.’
I couldn’t hide the look of bewilderment on my face, and Lee Yeon-jae scratched his neck as he answered.
“No, I was practicing my acting.”
“Practicing acting?”
“Yeah. I usually wake up at dawn to practice for about two hours.”
“Ah…, does practicing in the bathroom help you focus better?”
I asked cautiously, just in case, but got a look of sheer disdain.
Wasn’t he being too obvious about it?
“What are you talking about? I did it in the bathroom so I wouldn’t wake you up.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to disturb your sleep, so I practiced in the bathroom.”
Only then did I understand why he carefully got up from the bed.
Watching Lee Yeon-jae roughly wipe off his sweat, I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’m already awake anyway. Come out and do it comfortably.”
“I need to practice for another hour.”
“That’s fine. Can I watch?”
Lee Yeon-jae answered indifferently that it was okay.
He turned on the light in the master bedroom.
In the pitch-black dawn, the first thing that caught my eye in the bright light that seemed to illuminate only our room was his dark eyes.
“I’ll be quiet and won’t disturb you.”
Worried I might make a noise, I didn’t even lift the blanket and quietly sat on the bed.
But it seemed my concern was unnecessary.
“Don’t do this…. I won’t tell father. Okay?”
Tears welled up in Lee Yeon-jae’s eyes as he muttered into the air.
The voice that had been fine until just moments ago was now hoarse, as if he had been crying for hours.
The occasional raspy sound enhanced the character’s precarious atmosphere as if it might break at any moment.
“You’ll regret it. Please don’t do this.”
“…”
“Please. Mother…. Come back home. Please, don’t leave.”
Of course, I couldn’t hear the other character’s lines.
But somehow, I could clearly visualize the harsh attitude of the counterpart, thanks to Lee Yeon-jae’s gaze, his quivering fingertips, and his precarious steps.
After finishing the scene, Lee Yeon-jae suddenly closed his eyes.
Then, a few seconds later, he returned to his original position and repeated the same scene.
Although the lines were the same, this time, the tone was completely different.
“You’ll regret it. Please don’t do this.”
His voice, now dry, lacked any hope.
Desperation was gone, replaced by a sense of despair about the impending future.
Despite the indifferent tone, his empty eyes made him look even more precarious than before.
‘…He’s really a genius.’
I got goosebumps.
Seo Ji-oh watched Lee Yeon-jae’s performance for an hour, forgetting even to blink.
Only after Lee Yeon-jae turned off the beeping alarm on his wristwatch did Seo Ji-oh snap back to reality.
“Practice is over.”
“…”
I looked at Lee Yeon-jae, who had returned to his usual indifferent gaze.
When I came to my senses, the question had already popped out.
“How can I act like you?”
“Eh?”
Dawn was slowly breaking.
The subtle light creeping in from outside cast a wave-like glow on Lee Yeon-jae’s face.
He answered dryly, as if wondering why I would ask such a question.
“Practice.”
“Not that answer.”
“Then what?”
“Of course I need to practice. But to act like you, how do I practice?”
Watching Lee Yeon-jae’s acting for an hour, I realized.
The one-on-one acting lessons I’d received so far were completely useless.
Of course, technical skills could be sufficiently improved through practice.
But Lee Yeon-jae’s acting was more than just technically excellent.
It felt as if the character was truly coming to life in front of me. Realism, vividness.
‘What kind of mindset do you need to immerse yourself so deeply like that?’
I desperately wanted to know the answer.
Seo Ji-oh furrowed his brows unconsciously.
Whether or not he knew my anxious mind, Lee Yeon-jae stared at me for a moment and then spoke.
“When you play a character, act with the desire to truly become that character.”
“That’s obvious—”
“It’s not as obvious as you think. We’ll take on various roles, right? It could be a spoiled rich kid or a thug who grew up on the streets.”
“…”
“You might have to play a homeless person digging through food waste, or a student who gets looks from everyone around them that say they’d be better off dead.”
His voice was calm and detached, as if talking about someone else’s affairs.
While talking matter-of-factly, Lee Yeon-jae looked at Seo Ji-oh.
His unwavering dark eyes met mine.
“No matter what the character, practice with the desire for that to be your real life.”
“Can you do that?”
Without hesitation, he immediately answered, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Yes.”
“…”
“I…”
Lee Yeon-jae’s gaze turned outside the window.
Despite facing the sunlight directly, his eyes remained dark.
They were eyes that someone who had been trapped in darkness for a long time might have.
“As long as it’s not me.”
“…”
His words, uttered without the slightest hesitation, were chilling.
And somehow, they sounded sad.
* * *
“Seo Ji-oh.”
“…”
“Ji-oh.”
“Yes?”
Seo Ji-oh seemed absent-minded today.
I wondered why and then realized it was because he hadn’t gotten enough sleep because of me. I felt a bit guilty.
“Shall we skip the last movie and rest over there?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“You don’t look fine at all. We have plenty of time anyway.”
There were more people at the film festival than I expected.
From casual visitors to people who looked like staff, and even uniformed booth operators.
We bought chicken skewers from a food stall.
“Here, eat this.”
“What about you?”
“I’m hesitant to take off my mask.”
It might seem like an excessive celebrity complex, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious.
‘There are more people looking at Seo Ji-oh than I thought.’
As an aspiring actor, Seo Ji-oh had a decent appearance by societal standards.
Maybe that’s why I felt people’s eyes on us as we walked.
“Just take a bite. Come on.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“You can put the mask back on right away.”
I said it’s fine. Geez.
Even though I refused several times, Seo Ji-oh kept pushing the skewer towards me.
I felt he wouldn’t stop until I took a bite, so I quickly lowered my mask and took a bite.
At the same time, someone spoke to us.
“Excuse me….”
I quickly put my mask back on.
Simultaneously, I glared at Seo Ji-oh, who naturally covered me with his back.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Well, we have this experience booth here. It’s free, so feel free to visit us. It’s near the cinema building over there!”
“Oh, thank you. Haha.”
Seo Ji-oh politely accepted the flyer and laughed.
He might as well laugh out loud.
“Yeon-jae, you’re not upset they didn’t recognize you, are you?”
“…”
I sighed instead of hitting him as he sarcastically looked at me with a mocking gaze.
“Since we have time, do you want to check it out?”
“What kind of experience is it?”
“They said you can act on a small stage. They also have masks. Wow. Sounds fun. Shall we go?”
What if we draw attention?
But after overreacting earlier, it felt too awkward to say that.
So, I quietly followed Seo Ji-oh.
“Hello. We came after receiving a flyer.”
“Yes. Welcome~!”
The booth was bustling. There were so many people.
“Mom, I want to try on this mask!”
“If you’ve chosen a mask, please let us know! We’ll give you the script that matches the mask~.”
There were more kids than adults.
Avoiding the children fighting over who gets to wear the cooler mask, I headed to a corner.
The masks seemed to be inspired by traditional fairy tales.
When I picked up a mask with long mustaches, a person who seemed to be a staff member approached.
“That’s a mask from ‘Heungbu and Nolbu.’ You know the story, right?”
“Yes. Do I act alone?”
“No! Actually, we’re actors. I’m an actor too! We’ll play the other roles for you. You can read the script if you want.”
So it’s an acting experience.
I wondered why there was an acting experience at a film festival, but then I heard a staff member sweet-talking a parent nearby.
“If you want, we can record a video with a movie camera. We can send the video to your email!”
“Is that free too?”
“We can do it for just 10,000 won. Ma’am!”
The staff’s voice was extremely polite.
Getting a high-quality video of their kids acting cutely for 10,000 won didn’t seem too bad.
‘I don’t need a video, though.’
Holding the mask with dangling mustaches, I looked at the staff member.
“Can I just act without recording?”
“Of course! Then you don’t have to pay anything.”
For a moment, a look of regret flashed across the staff’s face but quickly disappeared.
Actors are actors, I guess. I swallowed my laughter and nodded.
“I’ll do ‘Heungbu and Nolbu.’ Seo Ji-oh, did you pick one?”
“I’ll just watch you.”
Hey, didn’t you say it looked fun….
Thinking I shouldn’t do it if he wasn’t, I was about to put down the mask when a script was suddenly handed to me.
“Read the lines highlighted with a highlighter. Let’s get on stage right away.”
Before I could refuse, I was dragged by the staff’s hand and led behind the stage.
When asked to take off my mask, I flinched for a moment.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t do it.”
“Oh~! Don’t be shy. It won’t take even five minutes. There aren’t many lines either.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll do all the ridiculous stuff. Trust us!”
Watching the staff smile even brighter, as if asking me to trust him, I sighed.
‘I don’t care anymore.’
Quietly, I took off my hat and slowly removed my mask.
As soon as I made eye contact with the staff, his face quickly stiffened, having been smiling brightly just a moment ago.
“…Lee Yeon—!”
“Shh.”
As I hastily brought my finger to my lips, the staff quickly covered his mouth.