Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The First Table Read

The day of the table read.

By the time Geonwoo reached the practice room, it was already noisy inside.

Familiar voices leaked through the door.

"Honestly, I was annoyed at first."

It was Kang Taejun, who played Minjae.

Geonwoo paused with his hand on the doorknob.

"The shoot got delayed, I received a new script, and Minjae's entire emotional arc changed."

Someone laughed and asked,

"So are you still annoyed?"

Taejun answered immediately.

"No. Once I started reading it, I couldn't stay annoyed. Minjae became way too interesting."

A faint smile appeared on Geonwoo's lips.

From the sound of it, the other actors were also discussing the revised script.

"Did you read the funeral-hall scene?"

"Of course. Minjae's entrance timing there is really good."

"The old script wasn't bad either, but doesn't this feel like a completely different movie?"

Fortunately, all the actors seemed convinced by the rewritten script.

Geonwoo opened the door.

Everyone inside turned toward him at once.

Han Yura, who played Seorin, was the first to look up.

The script in front of her was filled with underlines and handwritten notes.

"You're here, sunbae?"

"Yeah. Everyone came early."

"With the script changing this much, how could we arrive late?"

Yura's tone was calm.

But her eyes were much sharper than usual.

Geonwoo walked in and asked,

"What do you think of the new script?"

"It's really good."

"What part?"

Yura thought briefly.

"Seorin isn't just someone who lost her younger brother anymore. She's someone who keeps enduring until she finally breaks."

She continued.

"Before, I could only see the sadness. But now I can see how long she's forcing herself to endure. So when she finally collapses emotionally, it hurts more."

Exactly.

That was one of the things Geonwoo had cared about most during the rewrite.

Seorin shouldn't be broken from the beginning.

She needed to be someone desperately trying not to break.

The longer she endured, the more powerful the moment of collapse would become.

Yura had understood that.

As expected.

Han Yura had been a good actress even in Geonwoo's previous life.

She simply never found a project that properly showed what she could do.

She was quiet, but extremely good at understanding a character's emotional arc.

At that moment, Taejun, sitting beside her, raised his hand.

"Can I say something too?"

Geonwoo chuckled.

"Go ahead."

Taejun lifted the script.

"First, I admit it."

"Admit what?"

"That you were right to rewrite everything."

He leaned back against his chair.

"Honestly, I was annoyed at first. My schedule changed, filming got pushed back, and I had to rebuild Minjae's emotions from scratch."

Then he shrugged.

"But after reading it, I had to admit it."

Taejun opened one of the pages.

There were folded marks all over it.

Geonwoo had expected his script to be clean, but there were surprisingly many small markings around Minjae's scenes.

"I'm an actor, so obviously I check my role first."

Taejun smiled shamelessly.

"The old Minjae was just a coward. He was easy to act. Hide a little, look guilty a little. That was enough."

He pointed at a line in the script.

"But the new Minjae refuses to admit that he's a coward all the way to the end."

A grin appeared on Taejun's face.

"This is going to be hard to act properly."

"So you don't like it?"

"No."

Taejun immediately shook his head.

"That's why I like it."

Kang Taejun.

In Geonwoo's previous life, he had become a highly successful actor.

Even as a rookie, he instinctively knew when a role came alive on the page.

He also had a strange ability to capture the camera's attention.

But he had strong opinions and often clashed with directors.

That led to several controversies over his attitude, and people began calling him arrogant.

Even so, he was talented enough that Geonwoo had always wanted to cast him in one of his films.

He was different even as a rookie.

And Geonwoo could already see the beginnings of it now.

The stronger script had changed Taejun's attitude toward the movie.

Geonwoo nodded once.

"Then I can expect a good reading from you today."

Taejun smiled.

"I admit the script is good."

Then he folded it shut.

"Now the question is whether we can actually film it this well."

The room became quiet for a moment.

Geonwoo looked at him, then smiled.

"That's why we're doing the table read."

"What?"

"It's partly to see how well the actors work together, but it's also for me, as the director, to figure out how to bring out everyone's emotions."

Geonwoo met his eyes.

"I want to make this movie properly. So show me your best acting today."

Taejun's eyes changed slightly.

Geonwoo didn't miss it.

An actor who trusted his own ability and challenged the director wasn't easy to handle.

But if handled well, he would always deliver.

Just then, the practice-room door opened.

Hyeonsu looked outside and spoke.

"Our new Seoyun is here."

Everyone looked toward the door.

Dogyeom, who had been cast as Seoyun two days earlier, stood there.

He was holding the script tightly in both hands.

His mother stood behind him, but she didn't enter. She only bowed lightly from outside the door.

When all the unfamiliar eyes turned toward him at once, Dogyeom's shoulders shrank slightly.

But he didn't freeze as badly as he had during the audition.

Hyeonsu clapped once.

"Everyone, let me introduce him. This is Lee Dogyeom, who has newly joined us as Seoyun."

Dogyeom quickly bowed.

"Hello. I'm Lee Dogyeom. Please take care of me."

Taejun spoke first.

"Hi! I'm Kang Taejun."

Dogyeom looked up.

"Hello."

Taejun smiled.

"You're really nervous, aren't you?"

Dogyeom hesitated, then nodded slightly.

"Yes."

"That's fine. It's better to admit you're nervous than pretend you aren't."

Meanwhile, Yura quietly watched Dogyeom.

Then she spoke.

"So you're Seoyun."

Dogyeom nodded again.

"Yes."

Yura smiled faintly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Han Yura. I'm your noona in the movie."

Dogyeom's eyes widened slightly.

Yura continued,

"If you're comfortable with it, you can just call me noona."

Dogyeom hesitated before quietly answering,

"Okay, noona."

Geonwoo stood.

"Now that Dogyeom's here, let's start the reading."

Everyone opened their scripts and sat in the seats marked with their names.

Geonwoo looked around and spoke.

"Before we do the full table read, let's briefly run through a Seorin and Seoyun scene first."

Hyeonsu looked surprised.

"Right away?"

"Yeah. Dogyeom said this is his first proper table read. Let's use a short scene as a warm-up."

Yura flipped through her script.

"Should we do the siblings' last conversation?"

"Good. Let's use that."

Dogyeom tightened his grip on the script.

Geonwoo looked at him.

"Dogyeom."

"Yes."

"Don't get too nervous. Just do what we practiced yesterday. Okay?"

Dogyeom nodded.

"Okay."

Yura and Dogyeom looked at each other.

As Geonwoo watched them, the scene was already appearing in his mind.

The old room.

The stacked moving boxes.

The marks left by picture frames on the wall.

The child holding the camcorder against his chest.

Just as Geonwoo had taught him, Dogyeom didn't immediately speak.

He looked at Yura first.

Yura lifted her eyes from the script and looked back.

"Noona."

Her gaze softened slightly.

Dogyeom didn't immediately continue.

He waited until his noona seemed ready to listen.

Then he spoke.

"If this neighborhood disappears..."

His fingertips tightened slightly.

"Our house disappears too, right?"

At that moment, Yura paused very slightly.

She hadn't forgotten her line.

Her prepared performance hadn't fallen apart either.

It was the opposite.

Dogyeom's eyes had affected her emotions.

Yura had probably planned to answer indifferently, like an exhausted older sister.

But Dogyeom's performance pulled guilt from somewhere inside her.

"Probably."

It sounded like an answer that swallowed down an apology.

Geonwoo quietly smiled.

Their emotional expressions became more detailed the moment they started acting together.

Yura and Dogyeom continued the siblings' final conversation.

Dogyeom didn't have many lines.

But his presence lingered.

And because of that lingering feeling, Seorin's emotions built more deeply.

Their chemistry was much better than expected.

A little later, the short reading ended.

A few quiet breaths escaped around the room.

"The new Seoyun is better than I expected."

"Their rhythm was good just now."

"His emotion is good."

Dogyeom's face turned red as he held his script tightly.

Yura spoke first.

"You did well."

Dogyeom looked up.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

She smiled.

"Your emotion was good, so I could get immersed immediately. And you matched my rhythm well."

A small smile appeared on Dogyeom's face.

Taejun immediately joined in.

"Wow, if Han Yura praises you that quickly, you really did well."

Dogyeom looked at him.

Taejun grinned playfully.

"Dogyeom, you're off to a good start."

"Thank you."

Geonwoo quietly watched them.

I'm glad I brought Dogyeom in.

Technically, he still had a lot to learn.

But no one understood and expressed Seoyun's emotions better than him.

After that, the full table read began.

I wrote the script myself, but hearing it in the actors' voices really does bring it to life.

This time, it was the first meeting between Yura and Minjae after the incident.

The mood in the room changed the moment Taejun, playing Minjae, began reading.

"I didn't know. I really didn't know your brother would be there that night..."

It sounded like an excuse.

But it wasn't simply an excuse meant to escape responsibility.

It was something Minjae himself wanted to believe.

Words he clung to because admitting his own fault was too frightening.

Geonwoo looked at Taejun.

He understood the core of the rewritten character perfectly. Casting Taejun as Minjae really was the right choice.

Geonwoo wrote a brief note beside the script.

[Minjae: Taejun's interpretation is good.]

Before long, they reached the final scene.

Dogyeom's voice came in again.

This time, it was Seoyun's voice from a camcorder recording after his death.

"Noona."

Everyone in the room naturally looked toward Dogyeom.

He kept his eyes on the script and read carefully.

"When we watch this later, it'll probably be funny. By then, our house will already be gone, right?"

Yura's hand stopped on top of her script.

Dogyeom read the final line.

A short silence filled the room.

Hyeonsu, the assistant director, slowly checked the final page.

"That's the end."

Only then did everyone breathe again.

Taejun spoke first.

"Wow. Just reading it is exhausting."

Yura quietly closed her script.

"That's because the emotional tension never gives you a break."

Then the actress playing the supermarket owner slowly closed her own script.

"Honestly, I originally came just to help out some juniors."

Several actors looked toward her.

She smiled awkwardly.

"But I guess I need to take this seriously."

The actor playing the neighborhood association head nodded too.

"The adult residents are much more important than I expected."

Geonwoo looked at him.

"You're exactly right, sunbae. Those scenes are extremely important."

"Director, unlike the old script, we aren't just here to create atmosphere anymore. We have more lines, and the neighborhood residents are deeper characters. It's been a while since I've had a role this interesting."

Geonwoo smiled.

The actors playing the neighborhood residents were all senior alumni from the university's acting department.

They had been acting for years, mostly on stage.

Whenever younger students made films, they occasionally volunteered their time because they wanted opportunities to do screen acting.

The actor playing the detective spoke quietly.

"This won't be easy to shoot."

Hyeonsu asked,

"Why?"

"Because it'll be hard to balance the mood. Push too hard and we'll look like obvious villains. Hold back too much and there won't be any tension."

Geonwoo smiled.

"Exactly, sunbae. So I'm counting on you."

"Of course. If I get to act in a script this interesting, I'll give it everything I've got."

A movie wasn't something one person made alone.

A good script wasn't enough.

Even if Geonwoo had returned to the past and gained special abilities, that didn't change.

Only when everyone on set looked in the same direction could a movie truly be completed.

Geonwoo closed the script.

"Great work, everyone. Let's take a ten-minute break, then do the whole reading one more time."

Everyone in the room groaned at once.

"Again?"

"Wow. Director, you're ruthless."

Geonwoo smiled.

"I knew you'd say that, so I reserved a pork belly restaurant nearby. Let's do it one more time, then go eat something good."

Hyeonsu looked startled and whispered to Geonwoo.

"Hyung, what money are you using for a team dinner? Did you forget? We rewrote the script and restarted filming from the beginning. Our budget is already tight."

"Don't worry. I've saved a decent amount from my part-time jobs."

"You're paying yourself? It'll cost a lot."

"I want to pay today."

Geonwoo looked at the actors.

Everyone looked tired, but their eyes were alive.

"I'm just really grateful they're taking my script this seriously."

Hyeonsu watched him for a moment, then smiled.

"You're impossible."