Life, Once Again!

Chapter 869. Sequence 13

"It's natural that you don't have anything like this. Even I don't do things like this. This isn't just a load of gibberish text, it's nearly the whole life of a person, so it must have taken a lot of time for him to make this."

Hyunjin asked if she could read it for a bit. Eunbin gave her permission. She pulled the laptop to her side and read the detailed background of Bigfoot that Maru had come up with. Not to mention trivial family history or growth, there was even an introduction to his personality and habits.

"That's a lot."

"It just shows Maru's personality. We talked about many things the previous time he visited my house. What I was impressed with the most about him was the way he dissolved himself into the character. Usually, actors say that they get assimilated with the character and get led by the character's emotions, right? It is to the point that some people even get mental diseases because of it. But in Maru's case, rather than falling for the character itself, he chooses to analyze the character meticulously and give the character an endless number of choices. Why did this character here act like this? What would have happened if that character did something else instead? Apparently, he keeps pondering questions like that even while acting. I still can't believe that you can split your mind into two and have one of them focus on acting while the other one observes, but he says he does that, so I can only believe him. Apparently, he has two minds or something."

"If that's possible, then it is quite amazing."

She had her hands full with acting, so it was impossible for her to check if she was doing well. She had her hands tied up by just expressing the character that entered her.

"Apparently, the reason he came up with every single detail like this is so he can smoothly come up with choices. I guess he can act like that because he has the effort to back it up. Of course, you were really good as well. Even I didn't know that the character known as Yoomin had such a charm."

"I feel like you're nagging me by saying that my acting was terrible until last week," Hyunjin said while squinting.

Eunbin smiled awkwardly, saying that that wasn't the case. As Hyunjin didn't bring up that topic to nitpick, she quickly said that it was a joke. She knew it herself. She felt firsthand that her acting had changed.

"Looks like that's enough chitchat, so let's get to the constructive things then, shall we? Anything's fine, so let us both dig into this Yoomin together. Maybe we'll come up with amazing ideas. First up, what kind of girl is the character known as Yoomin in your mind, Miss Hyunjin?"

Eunbin placed her hands on the laptop keyboard. Hyunjin was reminded of an investigator writing up reports of an incident. The gleaming eyes, the tense fingers – she knew she had to speak truthfully here without trying to justify herself.

"Honestly speaking, I thought that she was an uninteresting character when I first received the script."

"That makes my heart hurt, but sure. This kind of work cannot be done without empty formalities. Why did you think that Yoomin is an uninteresting character?"

"First up, she's the stereotypical villainess character. Not only that, she is one that turns to good. For me personally, it was too boring to see that instead of the character being someone who would try to drag down the protagonist to hell with her until the end, she is someone that changes for the better."

"To stand up for the character as the writer, I didn't really have a choice about Yoomin, as she plays a key role in solving a conflict. If everyone's evil, the incidents that occur cannot be resolved after all."

When Hyunjin looked at her without saying anything, Eunbin made a dejected expression and continued,

"I'm just making excuses. Like you said, Miss Hyunjin, she could have been more evil. As for resolving an incident, I can solve that by raising the skill of the protagonist. But I'm of the mind that characters have their limits, even if it's the main character. Not only that, I believe that all people have good in their hearts somewhere. Those ideologies of mine are reflected in my writing. In that sense, Yoomin is the ideal villainous character for me."

"Now that I think about it, there was a character similar to Yoomin in your previous work too, wasn't there?"

"You watched my other works? There are only a few short mini-series works at best."

"I found out on my way here. I searched your name in the car, and I happened to come across a title that I watched with interest before. Oh, did I phrase that too badly? Maybe I should have said that I was deeply impressed and it remained in my memory?"

"It's too late for that. But still, that's rather curious. I've never seen actors who have seen my mini-series works. Anyhow, as you said, the characters I write for each drama are pretty similar. That might come off as a drawback, but personally, I think it's an advantage. I'm of the mind that moving your feet everywhere when you can't even do one thing properly will bring you to ruin."

"I agree with that wholeheartedly. That's why I hear a lot that my acting doesn't change."

"That's a compliment. It's a good thing that your skills never rust."

"It's been a long time since I was flattered like that."

"You know? We seem to get along pretty well, don't we?"

When Eunbin smiled, a cat appeared out of nowhere and curled itself up on top of the laptop. Eunbin picked up the cat which seemed to think that the keyboard was her bed and placed it on her lap.

"I referred to this one a lot when I first came up with the character Yoomin."

"You mean your cat?"

"Yes. She never comes when I tell her to, but when I don't give her any attention, she would come over and act cute because she wants interest. She might look coquettish at a glance, but she yearns for affection. Isn't that similar to Yoomin?"

Hyunjin nodded as she looked at the cat going on top of the keyboard again. Like she said, in the drama, Yoomin turned hostile against Lee Heewon who intrudes in her property, but she would approach him instead when Heewon distanced himself from her. Such encounters eventually changed her and made her become one of Heewon's close aides.

"I don't think I'll have any more chances after this, but will Yoomin be single throughout the whole drama?"

"Probably, I think? There's too much of a temperament difference for her to hook up with the protagonist, and I don't want that to happen either."

"Like a real cat, I see."

After enjoying Eunbin's caressing, the cat left the table as though she had enough.

"I've always wanted to try acting as a character who loves wholeheartedly. But wait, does that even help?"

"Right now, anything's fine. Yoomin's wholehearted in a way, though, isn't she? Towards her own position."

"I want to love a person. It seems like writers and directors alike always think of someone thirsty for power when they see me. The roles I get offered are all similar too. Do you think the same, writer?"

Eunbin nodded.

"You don't actually look like you're thirsty for power. I'm sure it's because of the roles you've been playing until now. You were good at expressing those kinds of characters too."

"It makes me feel bitter because I feel like it's the same all the time. But I don't have the courage to change things up either. After all, I'm afraid of becoming an actress that doesn't sell."

"I'm also afraid of becoming a writer that doesn't sell. But still, your acting changed a lot last time. The character's nature hadn't changed at all, but the emotions became plentiful. I was surprised while I was watching. Until last week, you were just a stereotypical villainess, but this week, your character was really spiteful. It's not just abstract hate that formed because of the plot, but a result of the expression skills of the one acting. Thanks to that, the nature of the character was emphasized, and the story gained power."

"That was because I was really absorbed. Maru really has the power to lead other people's acting. It's to the point that I can't believe he's a junior of mine. Until now, I just progressively went through the same steps when I acted Yoomin, but when I was with Maru, I boldly ignored all the procedures and improvised on the spot, just like when I first started learning to act."

"Improvisations can only come about with enough foundation and experience. From what I hear, you seem to be thinking that it was entirely thanks to Maru, but I don't think that's true. It's because it was you that Yoomin stood out, Miss Hyunjin."

"You say something similar to Maru."

"Because that's the truth. In my eyes, I think you can have more confidence. I'm sure you won't like someone that's not an actor giving you advice, but I was convinced after watching the drama last night: Oh, this actress can definitely do more."

The bombardment of praises made her face flush. Hyunjin just smiled without saying anything. She couldn't remember the last time she had been complimented for her acting, and not only that, by the writer of the work she was appearing in.

"Do you think Yoomin should have more confidence?" Eunbin said as though talking to herself.

"Isn't she already full of confidence as she is? I think it reached the point of recklessness a little while ago."

"The authoritarianism that stems from the background that is her father is one of the things that support her. I felt like it would be okay to make her into a character who can stand on her own."

"Doesn't she become like that towards the end of the drama? From the look of things, it looks like she'll turn her back on her father."

"I'm saying that we should pull the trigger forward a little. From how her character changes thanks to the main protagonist, to her changing because of her contact with another character. Like you said, we should break her away from the stereotypical villainess character. We won't change her from a villainess to an angel; it'll be from a villainess to a loveable villainess. She'll lose more and more character towards the end, so even if we change her character now, the main plot will not be affected that much."

"That makes me feel bitter. So she's a character that's bound to be abandoned, huh?"

Eunbin avoided her gaze and said that they should change it starting now. Then, she seemed to have a flash of inspiration as she started typing.

"You're quite open to other people's opinions. You're quite liberal."

"You mean I don't have my own opinion?"

"Absolutely not."

"If started writing by myself from the very beginning, perhaps I may have become one of those writers filled with pride and doesn't listen to others. I do hear that I'm quite frustrating to get through when I'm quite reckless. But I started off as a writer for an entertainment program. When we held production discussions, I came up with absurd ideas, accepted some, and created games. That became a good experience for me. I managed to get myself a thin pair of ears, so I was able to go anywhere I wanted. That's why I'm saying that talking with you helps me a lot, Miss Hyunjin."

Eunbin pressed the enter key with her pinky finger before taking her hands off the keyboard. She didn't look completely satisfied, but she did look like she had solved a big problem.

"Any progress?"

Maru shook his hands and entered the kitchen. Hyunjin looked back at the living room. What was originally a mess became spotlessly clean. She wondered if this place was always so wide.

"Come sit down. I have a general idea on how to tie Bigfoot and Yoomin together to create a story."