I Will Live As An Actor - Chapter 83:

Chapter 83

Acting in front of a live audience is a different story from filming for a broadcast.

Countless eyes watch every word, gesture, and minor movement of the actors.

That’s why most rookie actors feel like they’re on a blank canvas when they first step on the stage.

They often say they see white in front of their eyes, and according to those who have experienced it, it’s not an exaggeration but close to reality.

Just like now.

‘He’s shaking right now.’

The first one to notice Yeon-su’s trembling was Lee Chang-hoon, the leader of the Kim Sang-ok role.

He was introducing Kang Hee-soo (Yeon-su), a new independence fighter from the Shinheung Military Academy in Manchuria.

“Kang Hee-soo is the most famous female independence fighter from the Shinheung Military Academy. She’s the one who will infiltrate the enemy lines and carry out the operation. From now on, she’ll be with us, the Gyeongseong Righteous Army, sharing joys and sorrows, and risking our lives. So get to know each other and say hello.”

“Leader, isn’t the place for the operation the banquet hall of the Gyeongseong Hall? It’ll be hard to get in if we don’t have a solid identity.”

“Don’t worry about that. There, Kang Hee-soo will be the daughter of a noble family from Miryang. If you see her with her long braided hair, white skin like jade, and pretty dress, who would think that she’s a righteous army member? Right, Hee-soo?”

This was a conversation that took place at the Yegwan, which could be called the meeting place of the righteous army.

The actors exchanged dialogue and now it was Kang Hee-soo’s turn. But Kang Hee-soo didn’t open her mouth.

The actors’ faces showed signs of tension.

It might not be visible to the audience, but they could see that Kang Hee-soo’s fingers were slightly shaking in front of them.

‘Did he forget his lines?’

Lee Chang-hoon blamed himself inwardly. The truth was, he didn’t pay much attention to Yeon-su as the leader. Any rookie actor would be nervous on such a big stage. If this went on, it would be a matter of time before the audience noticed something was wrong. All the actors were tense at that moment.

“Hey, I knew this would happen.”

A man entered the room where the righteous army was gathered.

He was dressed like a modern boy, Baek Moo-yeol. He took off his fedora and walked naturally.

The actors looked at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t acting.

This wasn’t the scene where Baek Moo-yeol appeared. Baek Moo-yeol looked at Kim Sang-ok, who was sitting in the seat of honor, and explained.

“Brother, how can you not call me on a day like this? I’m offended. I’m the one who runs this Yegwan, you know. Let me see, I heard there’s a new recruit who came from Manchuria today.”

Baek Moo-yeol looked at Kang Hee-soo, who was sitting next to Kim Sang-ok, and opened his eyes wide.

“That girl?”

“What, are you surprised because she’s too beautiful?”

“Well, that’s not wrong, but that’s not it. I’ve seen her near my Gyeongseong Hall. She was walking with Misaki and stared at my face as if she was piercing through it. I couldn’t forget that contemptuous look. But, I never thought she was a comrade. Nice to meet you, I’m Baek Moo-yeol, the face and the signboard of the Gyeongseong Righteous Army, and the best playboy in Joseon.”

Baek Moo-yeol smiled and offered a handshake to Kang Hee-soo.

Kang Hee-soo was still frozen. But that looked natural, as if she didn’t like Baek Moo-yeol.

Eventually, when Kang Hee-soo didn’t accept his greeting, Baek Moo-yeol asked with a sheepish expression.

“Is that girl mute?”

***

‘That was a close call.’

Behind the stage, the playwright Jung Yong-dae had a serious expression.

He watched the stage situation without missing a second, and sweat ran down his spine.

The truth was, he didn’t like Yeon-su’s acting from the start of the stage.

He wasn’t like this when he did the run-through, but maybe it was because there were a lot of audience members on the big stage.

‘He stuttered his lines, and now he forgot them.’

The stage was different from the drama filming. The actors’ appearance was visible without a single straw, and Yeon-su’s acting was not good enough for a stage actor. He had too high expectations after seeing his acting in England. It was rare to cast a rookie actor who had never been on the stage as the lead role.

“Is it okay that the script has been changed a bit?”

The stage director Sung Ji-hoon came up and asked Jung Yong-dae.

Jung Yong-dae nodded briefly. It was a blessing in disguise.

Look at the stage, even Lee Chang-hoon, who had been through all kinds of things on the stage, had his back soaked with sweat.

It meant how urgent the situation was.

‘He almost ruined the play.’

***

Everyone closed their eyes and prayed for the situation to pass smoothly as Yeon-su froze and stumbled on stage. But their prayers were in vain, as Yeon-su forgot his lines as well.

In such a situation, the experienced Lee Chang-hoon and the other actors tried to salvage the scene somehow, but there was nothing they could do. It was a disaster. Then.

-I’ll make an entrance now.

A sudden voice came from behind the stage.

It was Young-guk, who was preparing for the next act.

He had already changed into his costume and spoke with confidence.

Even the playwright Jung Yong-dae didn’t know what to do at that moment.

Young-guk noticed the urgency of the situation and stepped onto the stage.

Jung Yong-dae and Sung Ji-hoon, who were behind the stage, watched him closely.

How was he going to handle this mess?

But Young-guk acted as if he had prepared for this, and improvised his lines.

Very naturally.

Lee Chang-hoon, who was startled by Young-guk’s sudden appearance at first, quickly caught on and responded with his own improvisation.

***

During the brief intermission when the stage was rearranged, the backstage was filled with a cold atmosphere.

The actors who came down from the stage all looked relieved. But Yeon-su was the only one who hung his head and looked gloomy.

But no one said anything to Yeon-su. It wasn’t like his acting skills would improve by scolding him right now, and besides, he might make more mistakes later.

“Yeon-su, hurry up.”

It was time to fix his makeup and costume. During the short time it took to set up the stage, the actors had to move without rest backstage.

Young-guk nudged Yeon-su, and he finally snapped out of it. He bit his lip and went into the changing room.

“Thank you, Young-guk.”

Lee Chang-hoon, the director, approached Young-guk and thanked him.

“No, thank you, sir. You handled it well.”

Lee Chang-hoon looked at Young-guk with a curious expression.

There were many new actors in the world, but he wondered if there was anyone as quick-witted as Young-guk.

He had seen him improvise occasionally when the other actors made mistakes during the run-throughs for the past month, but he didn’t expect him to do it so skillfully in the actual performance.

After all, there was a saying that it took at least ten years of experience in the theater to become good at improvising.

“We can’t make any more mistakes until the end of the play…”

Lee Chang-hoon said with a worried look. Young-guk felt the same way.

The more inexperienced the actors were, the more likely they were to make mistakes on the stage.

Especially when there were so many audience members, it would be a lie to say they weren’t nervous.

Soon, the signal for the stage to be ready was given, and the actors prepared to go on stage. Young-guk went over to Yeon-su, who was still tense, and said to him.

“Yeon-su, if you can’t remember your lines or you think you’re going to make a mistake, just improvise like I did earlier. Anything is fine.”

Yeon-su looked determined not to make any more mistakes. But he still seemed nervous, as his hand shook slightly.

Young-guk held his hand and added.

“I’ll back you up.”

***

Gyeongseong Hall.

The stage was now a banquet hall.

There were many people filling the stage.

They were all dressed in Western suits or kimonos.

Baek Mu-yeol escorted Kang Hee-soo and explained to him.

“You’re a country bumpkin who came up from Miryang. You want to expand your business under Japan’s rule, so you followed your foster father’s suggestion and joined this social club in Gyeongseong. So try to avoid eye contact as much as possible, and show a humble smile once in a while.”

Baek Mu-yeol was a notorious playboy in Gyeongseong. How could he miss this social club?

Especially when it was attended by the children of high-ranking officials from the Governor-General’s Office.

Kang Hee-soo entered the Gyeongseong Hall with Baek Mu-yeol’s escort. He hid a gun under his wide skirt.

“You, I heard you have a fiancée, but you don’t mind coming to this social club with another woman? Don’t they find it strange?”

Kang Hee-soo asked Baek Mu-yeol, who answered calmly.

“I’m not the best playboy in Joseon for nothing. They probably think I’m a horny dog who messes with Japanese women too, like you said. My family doesn’t care about me, and the Japanese are easy to manipulate, so there’s no one like me.”

***

“Aren’t you afraid of other people’s eyes?”

Kang Heesoo asked in a small voice.

It all started with a misunderstanding.

He thought he was just a Japanese dog when he saw him walking affectionately with a Japanese woman on the streets of Gyeongseong.

But he felt ashamed of himself when he realized that everything he did was as a member of the righteous army.

He showed him that fighting with guns and knives was not the only way to fight for independence.

At that moment, Baek Muyeol smiled faintly.

“No matter how my name falls to the ground and rolls in the mud, no matter how I get stoned by the Koreans. If only spring can come back to Joseon, what do I have to fear? Enough with the idle talk, let’s get to the operation.”

“Who is the raccoon?”

Among the crowd of people enjoying the banquet, Kang Heesoo asked Baek Muyeol cautiously.

Raccoon was a code name for the assassination target. Baek Muyeol gestured to a man with his eyes.

“That’s him, according to the documents we obtained, he’s the one who manages the spies in Gyeongseong. Even the governor-general’s office doesn’t know his identity except for the high-ranking officials. It’s our main mission today to kidnap him. But guns are forbidden. Unfortunately, we can’t use the guns on our legs. There are probably agents under the governor-general’s office around.”

“How are you going to kidnap him without using guns?”

“That’s what you have to do from now on, you seem to have a very useful face, don’t you know that?”

The situation progressed rapidly. Kang Heesoo lured the raccoon easily as Baek Muyeol said and led him to a warehouse in a corner of the hall.

Baek Muyeol, who had been hiding in advance, knocked out the raccoon and hid him in a wooden crate.

Now the crate was moved by the righteous army members disguised as warehouse keepers and the two of them casually left the banquet hall. But then.

-There’s no better place to enjoy a secret meeting.

-No, where are you going?

-Well, come here. There’s no one to see here.

The door opened with a murmur outside the warehouse.

Baek Muyeol and Kang Heesoo both opened their eyes wide and panicked.

They didn’t expect anyone to come to the deserted warehouse.

According to the script, they were supposed to avoid the eyes of the people who came in hugging each other.

A scene where a couple who came to enjoy a secret meeting met another couple who were already enjoying it. But what happened?

‘Ah.’

Kang Heesoo stumbled and fell forward.

This was a serious mistake that was not in the script. But then Baek Muyeol caught the falling Kang Heesoo with his whole body and naturally they overlapped on the warehouse floor.

The moment Baek Muyeol’s sturdy shoulder covered Kang Heesoo’s face, the people who had entered the wrong room saw them and closed the door in surprise.

Of course, the audience sitting in the seats were also surprised.