Chapter 16

Proofreader: TT

t/n: happy april fools! dw this is just a regular chapter lolol i don’t have any good ideas

I went down to the basement where the class was, listening to the manager’s concerns that my skin had become dull, maybe it was because I didn’t sleep well. On one side, the manager, who explained that he was a famous lecturer and told me to learn well, grabbed me before entering and offered me something with a shy smile. It turned out to be a voice recorder a little longer than his fingers.

“Originally, it’s for you to hear what your own voice sounds like, but I thought it would be helpful to record the class and listen to it.”

After I said thank you and accepted it, he briefly explained how it works. After talking for a while in front of the half-open door, I was finally able to go inside. It was still before class, so a few people were gathered and talking, but as soon as I entered, they all looked at me. I put the recorder the manager had given me in my pocket and approached them. There are four men in all. The first person who spoke to me had bright yellow hair.

“Ah, I heard there was a newbie coming in today. Is that you? You will take classes with us in the future. I recently came in too. I look forward to your acquaintance.”

As he held out his hand, the man standing next to him with his arms crossed snorted.

“You said you were cast by Manager Lee? Looks like you don’t have any money, you won’t be able to survive even a month in that state.”

Looking at my shabby clothes, the ugliest of the four asked the man standing next to me, for everyone to hear everything.

“Don’t you think the standard here is too low? Where do these kind of dudes crawl from, the hell?”

Then, a sharp-looking man next to him opened his mouth to me with a grin.

“You really have no money? Going out in a rough style? It doesn’t work well these days.”

He said coldly and pointed to the last man standing next to him without a word.

“He is a prime example. Haven’t debuted in 4 years already. Too old to do anything, so he only takes classes here. Because he doesn’t have the money or backing.”

As I turned my eyes to the last man, the good-looking man made eye contact with me. He was not offended by the openly demeaning remarks, but just held out his hand with a bitter smile.

“You have chosen a difficult path. You are welcome though.”

I bowed my head slightly to the four as I greeted them.

“I look forward to your acquaintance. I am looking forward to the class we will take together.”

The four people responded differently to the calm greeting. Interest, irritation, indifference, vigilance. I remembered the mixed reactions well in my mind. Then, as I was looking at each person silently, I heard the instructor entering the practice room. My first formal class had begun.

The recorder the manager gave me was quite useful. Today was a four-hour vocal and pronunciation class, and hearing my voice directly helped me put what I had learned into practice as it gave me a clear idea of ​​where I needed to correct myself. During the three breaks in the middle of class, I tried to replenish my hydration and listen to my voice and fix it right away. And after a rather long class, the instructor who was packing his bag called on me. Perhaps because it was my first time, the instructor gave me advice on things to fix, and I nodded my head trying to remember them.

“I heard that you never learned acting, but your pronunciation is pretty good. Voice is loud.”

The reason my voice was so loud was probably because of my yelling during fights in the past. I thought there was no need to explain this, so I just nodded at the instructor’s praise. After he left, I went to get my bag to get out of there, but I couldn’t find the jacket I had taken off.

All of a sudden, I was the only one left in the practice room, so I grabbed my bag and looked around. Obviously I put my clothes in the bag. Besides, there was the recorder given by the manager inside the jacket. I looked around the practice room again, wondering if I just hadn’t seen it, when someone came up with a face through the open doorway. When the striking yellow hair saw me, he stretched out his upper body and called me with his hand. As I got closer, he asked in a serious voice.

“Have you lost anything?”

“I have.”

In response, he bit his lower lip and said, ‘Ah…’ and dragged me to the bathroom. Inside, the man with the good appearance who had only been taking classes for four years was looking at the last toilet with the door open with grave eyes. He looked at me as I entered, and took a step back, pointing inside. I shifted my feet and walked forward to where he was pointing at.

The first thing I saw in the small bathroom was my coat hanging over the lid of the toilet. There, in black letters, was written, ‘Fuck off, you bum’. But what bothered me more than that was the thing that was inside the toilet with yellow piss. The missing recorder was inside. If it wasn’t for that one thing, I would have just ignored and looked past the childish elementary school students-like pranks. If only the manager wasn’t the one who gave me the recorder.

I know how burdensome it was for him to buy this little device. We’ve been living together for the past week and I had seen him fill up three meals a day with ramen. He might have been skipping meals when I wasn’t looking. He doesn’t take care of himself to such an extent that Hansoo’s worries that he might collapse from malnutrition might come true and Hansoo had been giving him this and that. That’s why I realized. That the little recorder must have been a huge amount like hundreds of millions of dollars for him.

“He ignored you because you had no money, and then he did this childishly…”

“I really don’t know what he’s doing.”

The good-looking man and the yellow-haired man who was biting his tongue revealed who the culprit was. It was probably the ugliest guy. I walked forward and without hesitation put my hand into the toilet. The yellow-haired man who was watching from behind was groaning and gagged, but regardless, I took out the recorder from among the yellow urine. As I turned around, the two men who looked at me with astonished eyes quickly veered out of the way and backed away.

“Hey, what are you going to do about it?”

What else.

“I should fix it.”

After answering, I washed my hands and recorder in the sink. They both said the culprit was the ugly dude, but I could tell from the expression on that guy’s face when he mentioned my manager. It was the look that he knew my manager was insignificant and that he triumphed. In other words, I was not the kind of person who bothered him. If it wasn’t him, then there’s only one thing I should be concerned about.

It’s probably someone related to Myeongshin. I lifted my eyes and looked in the mirror. Through the reflection, I saw the two people looking at me with surprise. Which of you two is it? The bastard who threw my recorder in the toilet.

“Incredible.”

As I was leaving the bathroom, I stopped at the exclamation I heard. Even though I washed it with water, the blondie didn’t come close and looked at me with curious eyes, wondering if I was still dirty.

“If it were me, I would get pissed and go crazy, but you don’t look angry at all. Jimin hyung thinks so too, right?”

When he asked the good-looking man standing next to him, he nodded. Likewise, there was a sense of wonder in his eyes.

“You seem to have a very chill personality. I really like it. How about we go out together? I was just about to have a drink with Hyeongseok.”

“Yes, let’s go together.”

I looked at the two of them slowly, then shook my head.

“Next time. The manager is waiting for me today.”

I thought the answer was no big deal, but their expressions changed strangely. The yellow haired man named Hyeongseok spoke up.

“Wow… there really is a manager. Oh, it’s the first time it’s happened, so it’s rare for a newbie who starts taking classes like this to have a manager. Of course there are, but in those cases, it’s usually either because they look so remarkably good that the company pushes them entirely, or if they hire a manager at their own expense.”

The meaning behind it was clear. I didn’t look like either of those cases. They stared at me with curious eyes, as if waiting for my confirmation. I looked at the two of them in turn and opened my mouth slowly.

“Then it must be the third case.”

“The third?”

“Even if they don’t have looks or strength, potential can be seen.”

These words may have seemed to them as ignorant novice conceits. A smile passed through their eyes, but it disappeared immediately after my next words.

“Isn’t that the most basic way to choose?”

For a moment, a bitterness flashed in the good looking man’s eyes.

“But, this is a place where just the basics don’t work.”

Then he tilted his head to the side and raised at the corners of his lips.

“Would you like to have a drink for real later? I know a very nice place. It’s a place only big names go to, but somehow I had the opportunity to go there a few times.”

The blond next to him whispered softly as if surprised.

“Hyung, are you going to take him there?”

“Mhm, it’s okay. We go there for free.”

The yellow hair mumbled ‘But…’, then glanced at me and voiced a little dissatisfaction. In a small voice that I can still hear.

“You were told not to bring anyone.”

Then the man with a good appearance opened his mouth.

“Isn’t it okay if it’s someone who shows potential even without looks or backing?”

With that look, he turned to me.

“You’re coming, right? How about the day after tomorrow? Or are you busy to the extent that the manager still has to wait for you that day?”

It was a half-provocative question. I nodded to him, who was having fun, unlike the anxious blondie.

“The day after tomorrow is fine.”

And as I was about to turn around, the good-looking man asked.

“Aren’t you wondering why I didn’t ask if you have time tomorrow?”

“No.”

I gave a quick answer and was about to turn around again, but he burst into laughter with a bewildered face.

“Haha, you have an interesting personality. It’s because tomorrow, Taemin-ssi has something to look out for.”

Turning my head away from my half-twisted body again, he shrugged again.

“I don’t know if you know, but I learn various exercises as part of the physical exercise class. Tomorrow’s lesson will be a bit rough…”

He shook his head with a face as if he didn’t want to say anything up to this point.

“Come and see tomorrow. If I told you in advance, you would only be afraid.”

Although the external tone of speech contained concern, the laughing eyes told me that the words were perfunctory. In addition, the yellow haired man next to him turned his head to the side, and a smile that could not be hidden was spilling from his lips. I nodded in response to the advice and turned around again. The touch of the wet recorder in my hand felt like a piece of cool iron.

Once or twice every two or three months, while Hansoo was explaining about my classmates, I got a call from a place where I only worked part-time on weekends.

“Wah~ you got the worst people in your class. He’s notorious for his annoying way of speaking in the company. Was it because his father was the president of some credit union? So he had a lot of money and spent money as soon as he came to the agency to appear on public TV a few times. But I heard that he was learning from the basics because he couldn’t do that with just money anymore because he sucked at acting. I’ve only seen him from afar, but he thinks he’s a top star because he’s appeared in a supporting role a few times. He was complaining that he didn’t want to learn vocalization again, but that didn’t work for Director Yoon, who came a few months ago. It was a huge deal back then. If you don’t follow the company’s policy or are deemed unprofitable, the contract will be relentlessly terminated…”

Hansoo stopped talking for a long time and tilted his head.

“Then the strange thing is, I thought I would be the first to be laid off, but they didn’t say anything. Why was that?”

Before going up to the theater stage, his pale powdered face swayed from side to side like a roly poly. Well, there must be a reason. The reason for this would probably be known in Hansoo’s play, which would be seen shortly. However, the ignorant boy still nodded curiously and continued to explain.

“Anyway, I heard that he was very proud to belong to this company, and that he began to practice the basics against his will some months ago, crying. And, ah, yes. I heard there’s someone who’s really good at acting in that class, but I can’t remember who it was…”

While Hansoo tilted his head again, the manager who was meeting with the theater officials approached.

“What are you talking about?”

“Boss, who was that? I heard that there was a person in hyung’s class who was good at acting.”

“Oh, right. It’s apparently worth admiring once you see it… Who was it?”

Just like Hansoo, the manager started to tilt his head like a roly poly. They shook their heads so hard that I didn’t have the chance to say I wasn’t curious at all. Fortunately, at that time, I got a call from a part-time job.

I looked at the number that popped up and answered ‘hello’. The person on the other end asked if I was free a week later on the weekend. I was about to say no right away, but I ended up hanging up the phone with the answer that I would think about it, remembering the recorder I still had in my pocket. This job was very tough but the pay was very good.

As soon as I hung up the phone, Hansoo moved backstage in time for the start of the play. The manager led me to the edge of the narrow auditorium with less than 100 seats, whispering.

“I can’t remember who’s the one good at acting among the people in class with you, but if you look at Hansoo now, you’ll see that it doesn’t matter. It’s worth it, so take a look. Well, even a stingy company, who only cares about profits, knows that, so they won’t let go.”

I felt dissatisfied with the word ‘stingy’, but it had a different meaning for me. The blur of the problem that had been vaguely buried by that word had been removed at once. Something and one person came to my mind. It was the face of the madman, who introduced himself as the shareholder of Dream.

Yes, now I get it. Why did I feel icky about getting his help? I didn’t believe it in the first place that he would help me simply because he was interested in me. I just couldn’t find any other reason, so I put that ridiculous rationale as the reason why, but now I found out what I had overlooked in the manager’s words.

A stingy company that only cares about profits. Myeongshin, whom I was trying to destroy, was a rising star, making profits for the company. On the other hand, I was just a lowly rookie with no backing or good looks. So there was absolutely no reason for the madman shareholder to help me. Even if there was a nonsensical hypothesis that he was charmed at first sight, his priority was clear from that time he was searching for profitable movies until late at night.

In the end, that guy had other reasons. A reason why he’s using me under the guise of helping me to bring down Myeongshin. That motherfucker.

When I opened my eyes to the suddenly darkened interior, there was silence as if there was no one in the audience. On the stage in front of me, a white light framed a round circle. A man with a mean smile on his lips walked into the circle and gave a monologue. Hansoo’s low, gloomy voice began to take over the interior.

The manager was right. Hansoo’s performance was worthwhile. Even if I didn’t have the proper attitude of an actor, it was a performance with great power to draw something out from within. During his acting, he transformed to such an extent that I couldn’t really remember him at all. Later, after the play was over, when he went out to say hello to the other actors, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s Hansoo.’ I was in awe of it.

To be honest, I don’t remember much about the play. It wasn’t fun, but it was also because I focused on Hansoo’s acting. I took in the expressions, voices, and emotions that I would normally overlook without thinking, like a cup that was overflowing with my head. It’s funny for me, who had only been in this field for a few days, to say this, but it seemed to me that I had seen a little bit of what I had to do as Hansoo turned into a different person, lowered his voice, and changed his expression. It was faint, but I felt like I’ve got a direction for acting.

However, when the manager later asked how he felt, I only said ‘I liked it’. He wanted me to be more enlightened, but I couldn’t be honest. I didn’t want him to have high expectations of me, and I also didn’t have expectations of myself with this kind of sentimentality. As proof of that, when the play was over and I got some cold fresh air, my mind was already filled with other thoughts.

Why was that crazy bastard trying to bring down Myeongshin? It was clear that he didn’t have a grudge like me. When he spoke of Myeongshin, he didn’t show his emotions. Rather, it was an attitude that he didn’t care what Myeongshin did.

Wasn’t this strange? Wasn’t Myeongshin a good product?