Rebirth: King to Superstar

Joon-won and Hea-Jung both gave a nod as the director continued, "Alright then, the scene starts off with the store owner behind the counter minding his own business as he watches some videos on his phone with earphones plugged in. He doesn't notice the police officer coming into the shop, calling out for him as he just says to get the goods she wants and come when she is ready. The police officer, who is young and fiery, slams the counter in anger. You guys with me?" He asks them again as they respond with a small nod.

"Following that she shows her badge and asks to take with him somewhere private. Then after they move behind the store into the owner's office. She then questions about the incident and if he caught a glimpse of what happened that night. Now the store owner who had really witnessed the kidnapping gets shaken up but tells him he didn't. Now, this is the base of the shoot today. Let's try to get this down in only a couple of takes? Got it?" 

This time it was Joon-won who had a small doubt and asked, "Director, I have a small doubt in this part of the script. I couldn't understand the writer's intention even after reading it a few times." Hea-Jung was a bit surprised by Joon-won actually opened his mouth and asking something while the director simply raised an eyebrow and motioned him to continue.

After seeing that the director was actually cool with him asking a question, Joon-won continued, "Director, I want to understand why the store owner kept his mouth shut. Because in my script there weren't any scenes with the bad guys threatening or bribing him into not speaking? He is also clearly not working for the villain in the movie. So why does he just remain silent even after seeing the kidnapping happen from the store and even go as far as even lying to a police officer?" Joon-won wanted to have a better understanding of his first role even though it was relatively small and so he wanted to know everything instead of just being a robot and acting out the role.

The director didn't answer immediately and Hea-Jung turned towards the director, waiting for an answer. Her role was pretty crystal clear, so she didn't have any doubts. After a few seconds, the director finally opened his mouth.

"Joon-won now imagine you are a small-time software employee living from paycheck to paycheck, just scraping by every month. Now you see the company CEO harassing a girl. Will you call him out?" And Joon-won shook his head. That was dumb stuff, that would only get him into more trouble and he instantly realized that it's the same with the shop owner who didn't want any troubles in his already tough life. 

The director noticed Joon-won's realization and so continued, "Looks like you realized it. The shopkeeper would also not want any trouble. So he had to just ignore what happened and continue on with his life. Got it?" 

Joon-won only nodded while Hea-Jung had a huge smile as she patted him and said to the director, "You don't need to worry director, me and my junior got this scene in the bag. Don't be surprised if it doesn't take over 3 tries to land it." 

The director raised an eyebrow at hearing her boast but just ignored it. He didn't want to get into a battle of words with her at the moment, and from the last few months, he already noticed whatever she said would always happen. Just like now, she would make a claim that would seem unlikely, but strangely, it always ended up happening. At first, he thought it was luck, but as it continued to happen; he didn't know what to even think of the phenomenon. So the best course of action was just to remain silent. He instead turned towards Joon-won, who even asked him a surprising question. The director was honestly taken back a little at how much detail the guy went into for the small role.

"Hey kid, ignore her antics. Do you think you can do it? I'm not trying to keep any pressure on you, but this is your only chance for the role. We only got an hour or so to complete this scene and it's an hour because you're new to the business and it's your first time. We take only 30 minutes for the entire thing. If you aren't satisfactory and not up to the mark, even the contract you signed this morning would be nullified, it's written in the contract too and you would receive the money as soon as I make a call from here that you would continue. Hea-Jung demanded an absurd amount of money for a small role, it's generally quite less than that, so show your worth. I would like you to keep that in mind while you act." 

Joon-won nodded and replied, "Yes, director. I'll keep that in mind and don't worry, in an hour you'll be glad that you only paid that amount for my skill." He was confident in himself more than ever and since this chance fell into his hands without much effort due to Hea-Jung he had to prove that it was not all for nothing.

The director raised an eyebrow once again, but just nodded and continued. 

"Now, with all of that said, moving on, did you practice enough for the scene? I hope you used the entire day properly and got it down. I want the nervousness shown in the character at the moment to look at least a bit of genuine and not fake. That's an important part of the latter part of the film and so I hope you do it well. The entire scene rides on your body's actions more than your dialogues. Also, since it's your first time acting in a film, my advice to you is to ignore the cameras. It might be hard with all the lights, sound, and other stuff, but ignore it. How you are captured depends on me and the guy behind the camera. So just do your part and the result would be satisfactory." Making Joon-won nod once again.

Seeing him nod with confidence once again, the director nodded and shouted towards the rest of the crew, "Alright guys, get ready. Let's start in 5 minutes." Making a lot of people move faster. He continued to talk with the cinematographer as Joon-won and Hea-Jung went to the side.

Hea-Jung patted Joon-won on the back and said, "I never expected the director to give you any advice at all. Color me surprised. I guess he is doing his job as a director, even with the bet. You know what, I actually think he can only give that one advice because he gave the same advice when it was time for my first scene to shoot. Yes, this makes more sense." Joon-won just looked at her and thought about how the girl never gives up undermining the people she didn't like. 

So he just shrugged and closed his eyes once again. He was too excited at the moment and felt like the 5 minutes were much more than his century life span. He simply took deep breaths while remembering all the hard work he put in during both his lives. In a way, he felt it was all up to this moment. Joon-won never thought he would feel first-time jitters after his first time acting, but this new episode of his life is bringing it back. 

"Alright let's go now Joon-won. The director asked up to get into the set and be ready for the signal." Hea-Jung suddenly said, making him snap back and open his eyes in surprise. It was the first time she actually used his name to call him. He looked at her and also noticed her serious expression as all the laziness vanished around her. She was also deadly serious. Joon-won nodded and walked towards the store. He went through the people and finally got in front of the store. There was no one around him, as the crew had to stay behind a certain line a few meters away from the door. Hea-Jung was also behind the line as she had to walk towards the door after a while. He went in and calmly took his seat behind the counter, waiting for it all to start. 

Joon-won had no expression on his face as he slowly looked around the store once again before looking outside. Everyone was still walking around, but it was comparatively less, as it seemed like everyone was ready to shoot. He could feel many eyes constantly on him, watching him every moment. Even though he is used to it, the live audience felt a bit of discomfort. After another deep breath, he looked at the director, who also had his eyes on him, and gave the final nod, signaling he was ready. The director nodded back before shouting.

"Alright let's get ready, it's time to shoot." 

The assistant director walked in front of the camera with a clapperboard and said the magical words, " Cameras rolling, scene ###, Take-1." And everything went silent as now literally all eyes were on Joon-won.