Chapter 39

Two days later, Zhang Chengyuan received a notification from the production team of "Autumn Tale." The next day, he was driven early in the morning by Park Byung-yeol to a village in Gangwon Province, where the production team was located, to report in.

At this time, the busy director Yoon Seok-ho had already forgotten about Zhang Chengyuan, who was supposed to play a small role in the drama. It wasn't until just before Zhang Chengyuan's scenes were about to be filmed that a conscientious crew member reminded the director. Director Yoon then recalled that he had impulsively invited a handsome young actor to play the role of Choi Hyung, the biological brother of the young Eun-hee. Thus, the production team notified Zhang Chengyuan to come quickly, which allowed him not to miss the opportunity to meet Moon Geun-young again and also avoided the awkward situation of Director Yoon being accused of breaking his promise.

After getting out of the car, no one came to greet Zhang Chengyuan, so he and Park Byung-yeol had to find the relevant person in charge on their own. Park Byung-yeol was a bit angry, but Zhang Chengyuan didn't mind. After all, he was just a newly debuted actor, and it was too much to expect others to take him seriously. However, Zhang Chengyuan was not one to undervalue himself; he was confident that one day he would make everyone look at him with new eyes.

In fact, if he wanted to make people look at him with new eyes, it wouldn't be difficult. As long as he showed some real skills and won a few medals for South Korea in the Asian Games, it would be a piece of cake. However, Zhang Chengyuan always considered himself a Chinese citizen and never thought of bringing glory to South Korea. He also didn't want to be studied because of showing superhuman abilities. Therefore, he decided to start from scratch as an ordinary young artist.

Zhang Chengyuan and Park Byung-yeol wandered around the production site for more than half an hour, and after some effort, they finally found an assistant director in charge of actor affairs. After explaining their purpose, the assistant director picked a script from a pile and handed it to Zhang Chengyuan, waving him to go practice on the side and not to interfere with his work. He promised to send someone to notify Zhang Chengyuan when it was time to film.

Zhang Chengyuan took the one-page script without any urgency or annoyance, stepped aside, and read it carefully. After a few minutes, he casually put the script in his pocket and started chatting with Park Byung-yeol while watching the shooting scene in the distance with interest.

It wasn't that he wasn't serious about his work, but his role was so minor, with only two scenes and very simple content. With his memory, he only needed to read it a couple of times to remember everything. At this moment, Zhang Chengyuan was a bit regretful for taking on this role, as it was not only minor but also lacked any distinctive features, and he feared it wouldn't leave much of an impression on the audience. However, the thought of being able to act with the young Moon Geun-young made him not mind.

He waited until around 3 PM before it was his turn to film. It wasn't until twenty minutes before the shooting that he met the adorable Moon Geun-young. Moon Geun-young had no idea that Zhang Chengyuan would be there and that he would play her biological brother in the drama. She was extremely surprised and excited to see him, asking him about his purpose in coming.

Due to the time constraints, Zhang Chengyuan briefly explained, and the two began rehearsing. Also participating in the rehearsal was Kim Hae-sook, who played the role of Choi Eun-hee's mother. Kim Hae-sook, a senior actress who debuted in 1974, was in her mid-40s, with an ordinary appearance but a kind demeanor. She was slightly overweight, giving the impression of an ordinary mother.

Kim Hae-sook was a bit surprised when she saw Zhang Chengyuan. After a moment of thought, she asked, "Aren't you the one who played the tiger-fighting youth Zhang Lie in 'Medicine Man'? I also played a role in that drama." Although it was a question, her tone was very certain.

However, Zhang Chengyuan had no memory of her. After careful thought, he couldn't recall ever having met Kim Hae-sook and awkwardly said, "Senior, I'm sorry! I don't remember meeting you."

Kim Hae-sook laughed and said, "It's fine that you don't remember. We've never met. I recognized you from your performance on TV. You did a great job, and I was very impressed." Her eyes twinkled, seemingly appreciating Zhang Chengyuan's straightforward character.

Moon Geun-young chimed in, "Indeed, he was great, so cool! I've never seen a young hero as masculine, cold, and kind as Chengyuan." She smiled brightly.

Zhang Chengyuan couldn't help but feel a bit amused by her mixing up the character in the drama with the real him.

After a few more words, the three began rehearsing their scenes.

The scene was about Choi Eun-hee having a meal with her biological mother and brother. According to the script, Choi Eun-hee had just returned to her biological mother's side and was still unfamiliar and even a bit afraid of her new family. At the same time, she was trying her best to fit into this new family, but her biological mother and brother seemed to dislike her.

In this scene, the script did not provide any dialogue, only requiring the actors to use simple body movements, subtle expressions, and rich eye emotions to portray the estranged relationship between Choi Eun-hee and her new family. This was a significant test of the actors' skills.

After the three had rehearsed seriously twice, Director Yoon Seok-ho, who had just finished the previous scene, was eager to start filming the meal scene. He might have thought that although the scene was a bit challenging, it would be no problem for the experienced Kim Hae-sook and the young but extremely talented Moon Geun-young. As for Zhang Chengyuan, the director didn't care much about his performance because the role was too minor. If he did well, the audience might praise him but quickly forget; if he did poorly, the director could simply edit out most of his scenes.

The formal shooting began: Zhang Chengyuan, playing the brother, wolfed down his food, drooling and wiping his mouth with his sleeve, behaving extremely rudely. Moon Geun-young, playing the young Choi Eun-hee, watched in shock, unable to believe that her biological brother could be so different from the previous Joon-hyuk and unable to understand how he could enjoy such poorly cooked food as if he were a refugee who hadn't eaten for three days.

Suddenly, Zhang Chengyuan turned and gave her a cold stare, scaring Moon Geun-young into lowering her head to avoid his gaze. Zhang Chengyuan's eyes were extremely cold, showing no warmth, as if he saw the young Choi Eun-hee as a complete stranger, or even less than a stranger, not worth his attention.

With just this look, Zhang Chengyuan vividly portrayed the selfish and heartless side of Choi Hyung, and the experienced director quickly instructed the cameraman to give Zhang Chengyuan a close-up.

Moon Geun-young, with her head down, looked at the poor food in front of her for a long time, seemingly remembering the delicious meals her previous mother had cooked. She couldn't muster any appetite and secretly glanced at her biological mother, who was looking at her with a complex expression. Although she didn't scold her, Moon Geun-young could see that her mother was a bit sad. She quickly forced a smile and started eating, pretending to enjoy it as if it were a feast, though it was clear she was putting on a brave face.

With the director's "CUT," the three passed the scene on the first try, all performing excellently, especially Moon Geun-young, whose performance received the most praise. In this scene, Moon Geun-young's eyes, expressions, movements, and subtle emotional changes were smooth, quick, and natural, earning great admiration. Zhang Chengyuan even felt that this young girl's acting skills were more refined than his, and he wondered how she had developed such skills, perhaps naturally.

After this scene, they immediately moved on to the next: Choi Eun-hee's brother, Choi Hyung, was caught stealing money from home and was chased out by his mother. As he ran out the door, he knocked Moon Geun-young to the ground but ignored her and ran away.

This scene was simpler but didn't pass on the first try. It took three attempts to get it right.

The first failure was because Zhang Chengyuan, fearing he might hurt Moon Geun-young, instinctively dodged, making her fall look unnatural. The second failure was because Zhang Chengyuan ran too fast and smoothly, and Kim Hae-sook couldn't keep up, nor could the camera. Due to these two mistakes, the scene had to be shot three times.

Fortunately, this was still within the director's tolerance, so he didn't scold Zhang Chengyuan. However, Moon Geun-young's agent was upset that she had to fall twice and cursed Zhang Chengyuan in his heart, regardless of the fact that he was Moon Geun-young's favorite idol.

After the scene, Zhang Chengyuan felt guilty and quickly apologized to Moon Geun-young. Moon Geun-young, however, was not at all bothered and comforted him, saying, "It was just an accident, Chengyuan. You don't need to worry, and I'm not hurt."

This made Zhang Chengyuan even more impressed by Moon Geun-young's kindness and understanding, and he felt even more fond of her.