Become a Star

Seeing how Woo-Jin was blaming himself, trying to recall what he could have possibly done wrong, like what rookies normally do, Director Moon let him be and said to Kang Hee-Joo harshly, “Ara! Come here and take a look at your facial expression.”

Director Moon looked stern when he beckoned Kang Hee-Joo over. He turned the screen around and showed her the scene they had just shot. Ara should have been repulsed by A due to the fear and pain that he put her through, but on the screen, her expression had turned from that into a blissful one in an instant, as she was caught closing her eyes slowly.

“Oh my!” Kang Hee-Joo exclaimed. There was no need to say more. As a veteran actor, she realized her mistake and felt ashamed. She covered her red face as she organized her emotions, before getting into character once again and resuming shooting. However, recognizing the problem and fixing it seemed difficult even for a veteran actor.

“Ah, why don’t we just remove the kissing scene?” One of the staff members stated his opinion in a weak voice after the continuous bad takes, but it was immediately dismissed.

“Why should we remove such a great scene?! I’m not going to do that,” Director Moon insisted.

The kissing scene was originally supposed to be done with the male lead, Park Min, but he had been replaced with A. However, the atmosphere was driving them insane. It was clearly a violent and repulsive scene, but A’s forceful kiss was so sexy that it made one shudder just by looking at it. It was stimulating. Looking at Kang Hee-Joo, who had failed to empathize and was completely immersed in her kiss with Woo-Jin at some point, it was clear that not only did his kiss look sexy, he was actually good at kissing in reality.

“What a lucky guy,” mumbled one of the staff members, feeling gloomy. Even if it was only because of the bad takes, he was not sure whether or not he was envious of Chae Woo-Jin for being able to kiss a beautiful actress that many times, or whether he was simply envious of Woo-Jin’s great kissing skills, which could elicit such a facial expression from her.

“At this rate, our movie might become R-rated,” someone said. The staff members who were present at the scene thought that the kissing scene was more sexually charged than most bed scenes.

Even though the remark had been muttered softly, Director Moon snorted when he heard it. He proudly declared, “We can’t receive a PG rating anyway. Let’s give up on it! It’ll make us feel more at ease if we just forget about it!”

Originally, ever since the planning stage, they had planned to give up on getting a PG rating. They had not been expecting it in the first place, because the setting of the movie itself was a story that swept through the dark side of society, but their main concern was what rating they would end up getting.

“Loosen Ara’s shirt a little more, and A is too well-mannered! I’m telling you to fondle with your hands in a lewd manner like A would.” Director Moon smiled insidiously as he pretended to rub something.

Seeing how Director Moon was personally showing that he had given up on getting a PG rating, the staff followed suit and did what they had to do. They fixed Kang Hee-Joo’s smeared lipstick and loosened her shirt, which barely showed her skin, such that her shoulders were almost exposed. Woo-Jin’s pupils dilated upon seeing that. He was very flustered.

Kang Hee-Joo smiled and spoke to Woo-Jin for the first time. “A, I mean, Mr. Woo-Jin.” As she was 32 years old, she spoke informally to Woo-Jin.

“Ah, yes...” Woo-Jin began.

“Two of my movies prior to this film flopped, one after another. Do you know what that means?”

“...”

“No matter how popular you were in the past, if your movie flopped twice or thrice, your value will decrease exponentially, and especially so if you’re an actress over 30. I really need to succeed this time. So don’t hesitate to treat Ara the way A would. You can touch my bare breasts.”

Not knowing how to react to her serious declaration, Woo-Jin innocently blinked rapidly. Kang Hee-Joo laughed dispiritedly, because he was so different from the man she had been kissing passionately and forcefully a short while ago.

“I was a little flustered because you were really good at kissing, but don’t worry. I won’t mess up anymore.”

A wave of desperation had come over Kang Hee-Joo, causing her to be aware of reality. In truth, it had been difficult for her to accept the fact that she had to do a kissing scene with a rookie, who was not only playing a supporting role, but had also only started acting a month ago. Since her popularity was declining, she had wondered if they were looking down on her. Nevertheless, she had grudgingly accepted it because the previous performance of the male lead, Park Min, was so disappointing that she was afraid of being dragged down as a result.

Director Moon’s arbitrary, abrupt script revisions, which resulted in many reshoots, were well-known in the film industry. But above all, the fact that the results always ended in great success drew more attention than anything else. Additionally, since the process was dramatic, it had always become a topic of discussion. Since it was the first time Kang Hee-Joo worked with him, she didn’t trust him at first, but eventually decided to, and see where it would lead.

Chae Woo-Jin had shown results that exceeded expectations, to the extent that it was a pity he was not the male lead. A month ago, Kang Hee-Joo had felt that he was rather good at acting considering this was his first time, but he had not had such an overwhelming presence as he had now. She did not know what had happened in that month, but Chae Woo-Jin had now appeared in front of her as a ‘real actor’. His overwhelming presence was similar to that of older veterans with 40 to 50 years of experience, reminiscent of an experienced actor whose every small movement was meaningfully executed.

That was what Chae Woo-Jin was doing. He portrayed a sexy but vile A, with a languid smile and a deep look in his eyes. He showed that he was truly in love with Ara with all his words and actions. For example, his hand supported her so her head would not hit the wall when he pushed her against it. While he grabbed her by the chin and forced himself on her, he gently stroked her wound when she bit his hand. His small gestures, like the time he subconsciously swept Ara’s tangled hair with his fingers, made her heart flutter. That was why she did not resist what he did to her.

It was rather thrilling, because the courtship of a man who loved a woman managed to convince those who saw it to accept his love. Also, at some point, even Kang Hee-Joo, the actress who played Ara in the movie, had been persuaded. Thus, at that moment, she was determined not to lose. The look in Kang Hee-Joo’s eyes changed when she thought about how she was lagging behind in her acting, despite the fact that she absolutely did not pale in comparison when it came to her career or experience. Even if everyone in the entire world fell for A, Ara had to be the one to reject him.

Kang Hee-Joo’s determination was revealed in the next shooting. Ara was certainly afraid, and she shuddered in disgust when A kissed her violently. Ara bit A’s tongue out of fear that she was going to be devoured, and with that, their breathtaking kissing scene was finally over.

“It hurts a lot.”

A spat out the blood that was pooling in his mouth and took a jackknife out from his pocket with a satisfied look on his face. The knife folded spun beautifully on the tip of his finger. The moment it stopped, it made a bright sound, and a blade emerged. The blade of the knife, which seemed to be able to cut anything it touched lightly, slowly descended from the corner of Ara’s eyes and hovered around her collarbone.

“Do you know where to stab someone to kill them?” A asked.

“...” Ara said nothing.

“I’m well aware of those places,” A continued. As his vile eyes glistened, A surprisingly kissed her once again, softly and sweetly. It was different from his previous kiss. Afraid of the menacing blade, Ara was left defenseless in a way. Hence, kissing her was easier than before.

However, the look in A’s eyes was the coldest it had ever been, though she was unable to see them. The seemingly sweet kiss was nothing more than camouflage to hide the inner feelings of a cold beast. He said, “You’ll remember the taste of my blood today for the rest of your life.”

He had kissed her with his bleeding tongue, and so, there was blood on the sides of Ara’s mouth too. After he was done kissing her, Ara stared blankly in response to the unfamiliar sound of his kind gesture of wiping the blood off for her. Before she knew it, a broken rope was shaking in her hand. He had cut the rope that bound her hands behind her back with the jackknife when he kissed her the second time around.

“What…” Ara began.

Before she could say anything more, A grabbed Ara and took her to the window, opening it before asking, “Do you see them? The emergency stairs on the outside of the building across the street. Jump over there.”

There was only enough space for two or three people to squeeze through the cluster of buildings. If they jumped down skilfully, they could escape to the building on the other side. However, that was only possible for someone like A.

“How can I make it to the other side? I can’t do it!” Ara shook her head.

Suddenly, the locked office door made a rattling sound. “Big brother! The boss is looking for you,” came a voice.

A had thought that he had a little more time, but his boss made a move earlier than expected. He frowned, but then smiled sinisterly immediately after, complaining, “Don’t you guys even know how to knock?”

“Heh heh heh, it’s just us though, so there’s no need to knock. Come on, open the door. The boss told us to hurry up and take care of it by today,” the subordinate said. The wicked laughter that erupted after that explicitly showed that he did not knock intentionally. Perhaps it was because the boss was rushing him, coupled with the disappointment of missing a good show, he shook the doorknob more than he needed to.

“What do you want to do? I’m fine with opening the door right now,” A said.

Ara looked at the rattling door and looked out of the window. She did not seem to have the courage to jump out. Even though the choice was apparent, A saw her hesitating, and so he clicked his tongue quietly and held on to the windowsill. A’s actions were light and nimble as he jumped out of the window. It was very easy for him to get to the emergency stairs on the opposite building. Thereafter, he opened his arms, signaling her to go over. Upon seeing that, Ara bit her lower lip and climbed onto the windowsill.

At this time, the subordinates sensed something amiss and started to kick the door down. Just when the door flew right open, Ara’s body flew up, and by a hair’s breadth, A grabbed her with both hands and pulled her into his arms. From then on, the pair began to make their way out of the building and start their escape.

There was a lot of freedom in the movie’s use of space, as it was being shot in a neighborhood that was about to be demolished due to redevelopment. This was because, if there were scenes where actors had to run through buildings or between them, they could always clear out the interior of an empty building whenever they had to. The only problem was the lack of time.

After they filmed the scene where they ran through the alleys, the sun was starting to set. It was time for them to shoot the brawl scene where A fought against the other loan sharks who had been his subordinates. The set was prepared in advance inside the building next to the converted warehouse, so they could start shooting immediately.

“All of you know you have to pull an all-nighter today, right?” the assistant director asked.

Before Park Min returned, they had to finish up the ‘loan shark sequence’. In response to the assistant director’s question, one of the staff members next to him asked in a timid voice, “Park Min must be tired from filming a commercial. Can’t we simply ask him to rest for a few days?”

“I already suggested it to him. Of course I did! But he said that he would come here right away as soon as he got off the plane.”

“That man… I mean, the male lead is usually very complacent, so why is he suddenly so diligent when he doesn’t have to be?”

“That’s because everybody is well-aware of Director Moon’s way of doing things. He must be feeling uneasy or something. He probably can’t stand the fact that he has fewer scenes now. He could not question Director Moon directly, which is why he’s in a hurry to rush back.”

For actors, securing the number of scenes was a matter of survival. It was like war. If Park Min had already known Director Moon’s way of doing things in the first place and still left the battlefield because of a commercial, he had to be prepared to pay a price for that. An inexperienced manager who failed to adjust his schedule would have put him in the position of a soldier who was in danger due to choosing the wrong weapon.

“It’s all because of luck.”

It was also about good luck for people like A, or rather Chae Woo-Jin, who could seize the opportunity given to him, allowing him to rehearse with stunt actors under the guidance of the choreographer. Perhaps Park Min was not unlucky; Chae Woo-Jin was simply luckier than him.

Some said that Chae Woo-Jin’s great looks and outstanding acting skills allowed him to seize the opportunity that was given to him. However, without luck, there would be no such opportunities in life. The action scene with the chase began shooting only after they had thoroughly practiced, just in case.