Descent of the Demon Master

Chapter 197: Making An Appearance (2)

Jang Hak-Seon silently stared at the trailer's door. He didn't bother to open it, opting to light up a cigarette instead. He thought soothing his inner turmoil first before stepping inside the warzone would be a good idea. Indeed, he feared entering the trailer in his current mindset could make him quit this industry for good.

'...No, it's not over yet!'

A drowning man would obviously latch onto basically anything. If there were nothing substantial to grab onto, they would even resort to clutching at the actual straws. Criticizing such a person for being foolish was the same as telling them to drown.

Jang Hak-Seon pulled open the trailer door with a determined look.

“...!”

His heart ached at the sight of Choi Yeon-Ha and her disheveled hair. She was an actress, someone constantly worried about how she looked to other people regardless of the occasion or location. Yet, someone like her looked that badly out of sorts? It could only mean the level of stress she was under was too great, and she had no mental leeway to worry about her appearance.

'I hope that doesn't lead to hair loss...'

Jang Hak-Seon groaned, suddenly getting worried about Choi Yeon-Ha's health while studying her beet-red face.

“...How did it go?” Jang Hak-Seon cautiously asked, even though he had already guessed the correct answer from a small camera dangling next to Choi Yeon-Ha's figure. How could he not ask, though?

She yelled again, “This thing isn't a cursed item, you know...! I make sure to turn the camera on without you noticing it, so how can you stumble your line as soon as I go near the on button?!”

Kang Jin-Ho replied flatly, “But Miss Choi, I thought I wasn't doing anything differently.”

“What?! Really?! Is that what you really think?!” Choi Yeon-Ha nearly flew off her handle.

“P-please calm down, Miss Choi!” Jang Hak-Seon hurriedly intervened, then groaned inwardly while trying to bring sanity back to Choi Yeon-Ha's mind. Even if she was enraged, she should still think about her public image.

She won the best actress gong during last year's Grand Bell Awards, so her credentials were impeccable. Yet, someone like her still failed to resolve this issue after trying to 'fix' it for the past four hours! At this rate, one should just admit that this situation was hopeless.

Jang Hak-Seon sighed and asked again, “...Do we need to give up?”

Choi Yeon-Ha couldn't immediately reply. She fidgeted before clenching her fists. “I-it might be different when we're actually on set!”

'Sure, that's a possibility,' Jang Hak-Seon inwardly mused. 'But if we go by that logic... Out of all the athletes who failed to pass the regional preliminaries, some could have been potential Olympic gold medalists, no?'

However, they weren't talking about sports like archery, now were they? Jang Hak-Seon squeezed his eyes shut. It felt like he was jumping into the fire with oil on his back, even though he knew what kind of fate awaited him.

“...Well, let's give it a go, then.” Jang Hak-Seon slowly nodded, having already given himself to despair.

***

A little while later...

“We. Should. Break. Up.”

“Cuuuuuut!”

And then, a little later, again...

“We. Should. Break. Up.”

“Cuuuuuuuuuuut!”

“We. Should! Break. Up.”

“Haaaah?! Cutcutcutcut!” Jang Hak-Seon had screamed 'Cut!' so many times his voice threatened to quit on him. “What the f*cking hell?! It's just one bloody line, so why?!”

The assistant director hurriedly grabbed Jang Hak-Seon and pulled the PD back. “PD, sir! Please get a hold of yourself! Remember that he's not a professional actor but a regular person!”

“Argh! Arrrrrrgh!” Jang Hak-Seon began pounding his chest in sheer frustration, knowing he shouldn't curse loudly anymore.

“...How long are we supposed to do this?” Even the clearly-exhausted director of photography began pecking away at Jang Hak-Seon. “It's already two in the morning, PD Jang. In other words, we've been shooting the exact same scene for six hours after sunset. There's a limit to looking at a handsome face, you know? I can now see his face even after closing my eyes. At this rate, I might open my eyes to a brand new world, PD Jang.”

“Please calm down there and stop that scary-sounding declaration.” Jang Hak-Seon groaned and grabbed his hair.

'I... I need to calm down!'

From the get-go, this was not Kang Jin-Ho's fault. No, Jang Hak-Seon and Co were simply getting their just desserts for trying to exploit someone not even remotely interested in acting. That was all.

“...You think I'm gonna throw in my towel from just this?!” Instead of calming down, Jang Hak-Seon lost his mind even more and jumped up from the PD's chair, ready to go berserk.

The assistant director hurriedly clung to him. “PD, sir! Please get a hold of yourself! This isn't going to work! Even if we power through the night, we are not getting this scene!”

“Listen here, goddammit! We have invested too much time in this to give up now! And, and! Giving up now won't improve our situation, anyway! So! Just one more try! One more, and it's gonna work out! I can feel it!”

“That's what all the gambling addicts on their way to ruining their lives say!”

“Everything will be fine as long as we succeed, right?!”

The filming location soon turned into a scene of pandemonium filled with unsettled murmurs and a heavy atmosphere. Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly observed this sight before suddenly turning around and leisurely walking toward the far corner of the set.

Jang Hak-Seon urgently asked, “W-where are you going, Mister Kang?”

Kang Jin-Ho replied flatly, “To the bathroom.”

“Oh...” Jang Hak-Seon sighed inwardly.

'Still, I should be grateful, in a way...'

It was already frustrating and tiring to just watch from the sideline, so how bad would it be for the person in question? Every time a scene had to be reshot, the crew members were visibly sighing and groaning in despair. That had to have placed quite a burden on Kang Jin-Ho's shoulders as well.

“Okay, see you later,” said Jang Hak-Seon. And when Kang Jin-Ho disappeared out of view in the direction of the toilets, he slumped down on the ground in exhaustion and despair. “I'm at my wit's end...”

Just what was he supposed to do here?

***

Kang Jin-Ho emerged from the bathroom after relieving himself and found Kang Eun-Yeong waiting for him. She handed him a cup of warm coffee. “Here.”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly accepted it and took a sip.

Kang Eun-Yeong leaned closer and asked in a worried voice, “...Are you okay? You must be having a hard time, oppa.”

“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head slightly. “Hard time, you say?”

“Yeah, you must be. I mean... You've been repeating the same line for so many hours by now. I'm really sorry. Because I was being so stubborn, you have to do this…”

“Why do you think I'm having a hard time, though?”

“...Eh?” Kang Eun-Yeong blinked her eyes in confusion.

Meanwhile, Kang Jin-Ho asked back as if he couldn't understand it. “All I'm doing is standing on one spot and saying one line, so what could be hard about that?”

.

“...Oppa, you’re saying that not to make me worry, right?”

“Not make you worry?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head while even cocking his eyebrow, too.

That was when Kang Eun-Yeong's expression crumpled slightly. This dude, he... he was being serious. She shared the same bloodline as Kang Jin-Ho, so she could tell he wasn't lying. “Oppa, doesn't this bother you?”

“What does?”

“You keep messing up the scene, and that's keeping everyone here, you know?!”

Kang Jin-Ho smirked at that. “I wasn't the one forcing someone unwilling. You know they made me do this when I said no so many times. In that case, why should I care?”

He was being serious. This dude was being genuinely serious right now! Kang Eun-Yeong shuddered grandly while staring at her older brother's face. Even those with the mentality of solid steel wouldn't be this thick-skinned, so she was curious about just what Kang Jin-Ho's mind was made out of!

“Holy cow! You really do boast a robust mentality, don't you, d-e-a-r?orabeoni?!”

“Thanks for the praise.” Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders.

Kang Eun-Yeong narrowed her eyes, looking much more serious now. “Oppa, you... are not doing this deliberately, right?”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression also became a little more serious then. “Was it really that weird?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm. Even though I don't think I'm doing it any differently...?”

'This... This has to be a mental illness...!'

Kang Eun-Yeong could only frown at her oppa's reply. He had to be suffering from one of those well-known incurable conditions called 'camera-shy'.

'That's such a waste, though.'

Honestly speaking, Kang Eun-Yeong was in favor of Kang Jin-Ho debuting as an actor. This was not in response to how much he had helped her along in her own career. Rather, she simply wanted to let more people learn about her older brother. Unfortunately, though... Someone suffering from such extreme camera shyness would never survive in the entertainment industry.

Both half-relieved and half-rueful about the missed opportunity, Kang Eun-Yeong headed to the filming location with Kang Jin-Ho. She patted him on the shoulder and tried to lighten the mood. “Weeeell, you can treat this as a nice little life experience, Oppa. When would you ever get another chance to act opposite Senior Choi Yeon-Ha, right? I mean, you’ve been basically renting her for the whole day! I thought you were deliberately messing up your line just for that chance, you know?”

“...Tsk.” Kang Jin-Ho only tutted back at her.

***

They returned to the set and found all the crew members waiting for Kang Jin-Ho's arrival with solemn expressions. It seemed that PD Jang Hak-Seon's unreasonable stubbornness about powering through this shoot had won over logic, and they were prepared to carry on... Even if they would have to spend the whole night here until sunrise tomorrow morning!

No crew member would possess the necessary clout to oppose the PD exercising their authority on the first few days of the shoot. Offering their opinions could only happen after they had earned the right during the filming process. However, they were still trying to film the first episode. Saying one wrong thing and ending up on the PD's bad books meant you were done.

Every crew member here had been shut down with the warning. “Anyone not interested in making this show with me can get the eff out!”

'Why can't you use that gutsiness of yours to change the actor instead?!'

The director of photography groaned inwardly. And his groan only got deeper while staring at Kang Jin-Ho standing over the position mark.

After his return, they shot several more takes. However, Kang Jin-Ho's acting showed no signs of improvement, leaving PD Jang and the director of photography slumped lifelessly on their chairs. But then...!

“...Hmm? The filming is still going on?” A man kitted out in a black business suit suddenly waltzed right into the set.

“What the hell?” Jang Hak-Seon, already pissed off to the high heavens, jumped up and began yelling at the top of his voice when a stranger dared to intrude on his closed set. “What the f*ck?! Who let the general public come in here?! What is up with this bullsh*t level of security management?! This is why the filming has gone straight to the goddamn dogs!”

The assistant director behind Jang Hak-Seon also urgently waved his hands, prompting the FDs to rush toward the intruder and push him away.

“Hold on,” said the unknown man in a confident manner. He politely stopped the FDs, then pointed at Kang Jin-Ho. “I'm that gentleman's manager.”

“...Huh?” Jang Hak-Seon's expression crumpled to resemble a monster. Kang Jin-Ho was not affiliated with a talent agency. Hell, he was acting for the first time in his life today, so where would he suddenly find himself a manager?! “Drag that punk outside, now!”

“Ehhhei!” The man in the black business suit, Jo Gyu-Min, smirked while presenting his business card. “I'm Jo Gyu-Min, a director of Code Entertainment.”

“...Did you say Code?” Jang Hak-Seon muttered while narrowing his eyes. The FDs checked the business card and nodded back at their PD. In other words, that business card was a genuine article.

'He's from Code?'

Jang Hak-Seon rubbed his chin. Code was Kang Eun-Yeong's management company, wasn't it? Although Code's standing in the world of acting wasn't as prominent, it was still a mega-agency with almost no equal in the entirety of the entertainment industry. Even Jang Hak-Seon shouldn't disparage and belittle a director from such an agency.

Jo Gyu-Min glanced at the FDs moving aside, then asked Kang Jin-Ho directly, “What have you been doing here until now, Mister Jin-Ho?”

***

The explanation of what happened so far left Jo Gyu-Min chuckling hollowly. “Wow. Just how rubbish was your acting for this to happen...?”

Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth shut; he couldn't say anything.

Jo Gyu-Min continued, “You know, I always thought you were capable of doing practically everything under the sun. To think you had this kind of weakness, though. Actually, I'm glad about this, Mister Jin-Ho. A person who sucks this bad at acting can't be a good liar now, don't you agree?”

Kang Jin-Ho chose not to correct Jo Gyu-Min's misunderstanding since he wasn't a terrible actor; he was just terrible at acting in front of a camera. There was a clear difference between the two, after all.

Jo Gyu-Min shrugged his shoulders. “Aside from all that. I thought something big had happened down here, you know. It turned out to be a false alarm, though.”

“...A false alarm?” Jang Hak-Seon began grinding his teeth. Couldn't this director from Code not see all these people getting tortured by this so-called false alarm?!

Just before Jang Hak-Seon could raise his voice, Jo Gyu-Min addressed the PD first, “Can you show me all the footage that had been shot so far?”

“...Obviously not.” Jang Hak-Seon curtly refused.

“Don't be like that. Please show me. I assure you, I can solve this problem right away.”

‘What the hell? Maybe, this guy is a con man?!’

Jang Hak-Seon's eyebrow cocked as his irritation level shot even higher.

Before he could start yelling in anger, though, Kang Jin-Ho cut him off this time. “PD Jang, this man is trustworthy. If he says he can do it, then he really can do it.”

“...Urgh.” Jang Hak-Seon roughly massaged the bridge of his nose. Since Kang Jin-Ho said that, it seemed that this situation had taken on another dimension.

'Fine. Fine! It's a straw, so let's grab it!'

Jang Hak-Seon glanced at the other production crew members, then looked back at Jo Gyu-Min while making a defeated face. “Alright. Come this way.”

“Ah, before that...” Jo Gyu-Min raised his hand and stopped Jang Hak-Seon. “Can you tell me what the line Mister Jin-Ho was supposed to recite? But, in the desired tone and speed?”

“...?” Jang Hak-Seon wondered what this was all about but still humored Jo Gyu-Min's request and told the latter about the line in question. The line was repeated several times, and eventually, Jo Gyu-Min nodded away and began focusing on the filmed footage being played on the monitor.

About ten minutes later, Jo Gyu-Min suddenly raised his hand. “This one! Let's use this one!”

He was pointing at the monitor showing a clapperboard with the words 'TAKE 152' written on it.

“What the hell?! Are you messing with me?!” Jang Hak-Seon cried out as if he could no longer hold himself back. “What the hell do you even mean we'll use this one?! Can't you hear him recite the line like an elementary school student reading off a Hangul textbook?! I've already had it up to here, yet you wanna kid around and waste my time?!”

However, Jo Gyu-Min remained utterly unfazed even after receiving the PD's fury. In fact, he even smirked nonchalantly back at Jang Hak-Seon. “Honestly, I don't understand why you can't see it, PD Jang. The atmosphere created is absolutely stunning, is it not? And look at the face of our actor! He’s practically shining like a halo, isn’t he?!”

“What the freaking hell?! Sure, he's got a great face, but what about his acting? Are you deaf? Is that why you can't hear him talk?!”

“I’m disappointed to hear you say that, PD Jang.” Jo Gyu-Min sighed theatrically. “If you're worried about the dialogue, you can always dub it over later, can't you? Don't you have voice actors on standby or something?”

“...D-dub it over?!” Jang Hak-Seon's eyes powerfully shook just then.

Almost at the same time, the sound director muttered to no one in particular, his words perfectly encapsulated what Jang Hak-Seon felt at this very moment. “Holy sh*t. Why… why haven't we thought of that before? This guy... Maybe he's a genius?”

1. “FD” is an abbreviation of 'floor director'. It's not exactly the same as the 'floor manager' of Western TV productions, however. In Korea, FDs are seen more as stagehands or assistants to assistant directors.