Chapter 28

Villain Only Acting 028

Leaving a Bitter Taste (2)

"I'm sorry. The script wasn't delivered on time. Everyone was busy. I'll make sure to give the assistants a stern warning. Please look at me."

"No, it's fine."

PD Song Jeong-woo came to find Jung Se-hoon with the additional script in hand.

"Since I don't have a manager, things like this happen often. It's my problem, so please don't say anything to others."

"Wow, Mr. Se-hoon, how can you be so angelic in appearance, acting, and heart?"

"My character isn't an angel, though."

"Just saying you're perfect."

They sat across from each other at an outdoor table, and Jung Se-hoon opened the script he had been given.

"I've read it all."

"Already? That's fast. It seems like you just flipped through it."

PD Song Jeong-woo observed Jung Se-hoon's calm eyes and asked directly.

"What do you think of Yoo Jeong-a as a woman?"

"She's very beautiful."

"Isn't she the type that male fans would want to be like? She's a natural-born top star. Actors who have kiss scenes with her can't sleep the night before from excitement."

"..."

"How about you, Mr. Se-hoon? How do you picture the kiss scene with Yoo Jeong-a in your head?"

"Um, I'm not sure."

"I'm going to give you detailed direction anyway. I just wanted to know what you felt after reading it once."

PD Song Jeong-woo didn't take his eyes off Jung Se-hoon's mouth.

"At first, I thought it would disrupt the flow of the drama. But after reading the script, it doesn't seem so."

"So, what do you think now? After reading the script?"

"I understand the emotional line the writer is trying to capture."

PD Song Jeong-woo's face brightened as if he had expected this.

The soldier's memories came back vividly.

For three years, he had not formed any romantic relationships. He didn't even have the opportunity.

While babies are born even during war, it's a distant story from the battlefield where countless people die every day.

'I've never analyzed a script before.'

Previously, he could grasp the situation from the script, but he couldn't understand the characters' emotions.

The changes in the background that appeared when the camera rolled naturally guided him to the right emotions.

What he did wasn't acting; it was becoming the real thing.

Now, it's different.

"I can almost see the expression the writer had while writing in front of the laptop."

"Mr. Kim would have loved to hear that. Make sure to say it to him in person later. But, I feel like even if I give you direction, it might just be nagging. Anyway."

PD Song Jeong-woo leaned forward and asked.

"What do you think this scene symbolizes?"

"Rape."

The PD's face lit up at the confident answer.

***

The scenes that needed to be shot before sunset were progressing smoothly.

Yoo Jeong-a, Jung Se-hoon, and Lee Min-soo sat on folding chairs, calmly waiting and watching the group action scene.

Yoo Jeong-a, sitting a couple of meters away with her arms crossed, asked.

"Did you take good care of it?"

"Yes."

"Were you surprised earlier? Or did you think it was too much trouble?"

"No. I thought it was basic courtesy to prepare for the other person. Thank you for teaching me."

Yoo Jeong-a turned slightly and chuckled.

"Still, I thought it might be too much to ask you to choose the type right away."

"There's no harm in being specific."

"Actually, my thought is this: since we're shooting a kiss scene anyway, it's better to leave a good memory for both of us. That way, we can meet on set again with good feelings in the future."

A hint of white teeth showed between her smiles, filled with sincerity.

"Actually, there are a few actors I avoid when shooting romantic dramas because of this."

"I'm lucky then. If I couldn't appear in Yoo Jeong-a's projects, my acting career would have been limited."

"Try your best now. We've chosen scents we both like."

***

"It's about time..."

PD Song Jeong-woo checked the time and the position of the moon.

"Good. Let's do it now. Lighting, move a little to the left."

"Yes, PD."

"Microphone, be careful not to block the moon."

"Understood."

After a test shot to check the angles and colors without the actors, PD Song Jeong-woo called the two actors.

"Actors, please get ready."

After giving a brief direction and some precautions, PD Song Jeong-woo moved behind the camera.

Standing behind the director of photography, he said.

"Director Jang, you need to capture this properly."

"Don't worry. I've been holding a camera for years. I'll make sure it meets your expectations."

Everyone was waiting for the commands to fall from his mouth.

As a producer, he felt the weight of the moment, but it was also an exhilarating and thrilling experience.

"Action!"

***

Scene #52.

Prosecutor Hwang Seon-hye trembled like a wet baby bird.

Lee Jin-wook, with bloodshot eyes, approached with a terrifyingly distorted face.

-I told you to just watch. You would get what you wanted on your own. But to interfere like this?

He never imagined Lee Jin-wook would be this enraged over such a minor issue.

He realized the trigger for his anger was completely different from that of an ordinary person.

-Or is it? Was it the prosecutor's fault, or was it her impatience that caused this? Yes, that's right.

Should he punish that mouth? Yes, he should tear it apart so it can't chatter freely.

Bound behind a pillar, she couldn't escape or resist.

Lee Jin-wook's face drew closer.

His teeth parted, ready to devour her lips.

Not a sweet kiss, but the sharp fangs of a beast ready to tear her lips apart.

The moment his upper and lower teeth clamped down on her lips, 'Yoo Jeong-a' felt a sharp, tingling sensation in her head.

The rough left paw of a beast, mimicking a human, clutched her neck.

It seemed to prevent her from struggling before it tore her throat and drank her blood.

The lighting, camera, director, and crew were all out of her consciousness.

The fear of being torn apart by sharp fangs and having her blood drained was overwhelming.

'Hwang Seon-hye' forgot her lines.

[Lee Jin-wook slowly and painfully bites Hwang Seon-hye's lips, making them bleed, then steps back to admire his work with satisfaction.]

Overwhelmed by fear, she bit Lee Jin-wook's lips without realizing it.

The soldier followed the direction given by PD Song Jeong-woo.

'This is a rape in the form of a kiss. It's not a casual encounter between a man and a woman, but a documentary of a beast tearing apart a rabbit. Lee Jin-wook, a meticulous serial killer who sets strict rules to avoid getting caught, wouldn't be attracted to Hwang Seon-hye, right? No.'

Don't see her as a person or a woman.

Thoroughly plunder her as prey.

That was the feeling he was supposed to convey.

It was an easy command and order.

'You already know, don't you? Lee Jin-wook doesn't see anyone as his equal.'

The soldier was the perfect setting for this.

On the battlefield, enemy soldiers and civilians were not people but numbers, resources, spoils of war, and sometimes trash.

The tragic remains left by fallen comrades gave him a calloused feeling that allowed him to see the enemy as non-human.

'To him, people are no different from livestock that will eventually end up in a butcher's shop.'

He recalled memories of plundering, trampling, and disposing.

As the camera rolled, the scenery around him changed.

In the dense jungle of a remote island, the soldier captured an enemy who had killed countless allies.

It was time to mock and ridicule the prisoner.

But an unfamiliar pain returned. Hot liquid flowed from his mouth.

The soldier fell back, bowed his head, and spat out the saliva.

He lifted his head and stared intently at the prey that dared to resist.

Her feeble resistance only fueled his desire to trample her further.

As the soldier licked the blood on his lips and smiled, the moonlight between the leaves emphasized the flush on his face.

It was an NG, but no one thought it was an NG.

The director of photography adjusted his nerves delicately to capture every moment without missing a single shot.

The pressure was so intense that even the slightest shake would make him feel like he was being sucked into the scene.

Despite holding a camera for decades, he had never felt this sensation on set.

Was this how it felt to enhance his senses with drugs and hold a camera?

Lee Min-soo was wide-eyed and motionless, while Kim Sang-hee covered her mouth with both hands, trembling with excitement.

Jung Su-ryeon couldn't believe this was her brother.

She didn't even think of him as Lee Jin-wook.

It was as if something else had taken over her brother's body.

If even she, watching from the sidelines, felt this way, how must Yoo Jeong-a, who was receiving it all alone, feel?

'This is why I couldn't get even a small role and struggled. This is talent... Wait, but the script wasn't like that, right?'

Jung Su-ryeon, the only