Chapter 11: The Actor from the Screen

Without hesitation or preference, I immediately turned on Gatflix.

The documentary category was different from the drama category that usually resembled General 017.

Unlike dramas, which are made as series with multiple episodes per work, documentaries were formatted like a movie—concluded in a single installment.

These days, documentaries even stretch into 5-part or 10-part series, so this was quite an unusual format.

What caught my eye even more were the titles of the updated works.

“What? They’re all people’s names?”

Indeed. The titles were simply names like “Hyun Ji Won,” “Oh Hee Rim,” “Koo Bon Young,” “Choi Dae Il,” and “Cheon Na Young.”

I hoped to recognize some of them, but they were all completely unfamiliar.

“But can you watch them without viewing rights?”

No matter how many times I clicked on the thumbnails, there was no response.

That was when it happened.

Documentary category grand opening!  
* An Yoo Seok “Viewing Rights Giveaway”

》 Receive Viewing Rights

This time, instead of a single viewing right, it seemed they were giving access to an entire work.

The cover showed only the face of a person presumed to be An Yoo Seok, but I had no idea who he was or what he did.

Though I had no clue what the content was about or what to expect, there had to be a reason why Gotflix suddenly updated documentaries after a long silence.

Without hesitation, I pressed the [Yes] button.

*…

“Writer, didn’t you sleep well last night?”

Hong Dae Pyo asked worriedly, noticing my rough skin and weary appearance.

The night before, exhausted to the bone, I had watched the < An Yoo Seok > documentary on Gatflix and had only fallen asleep late at dawn.

Surprisingly, the < An Yoo Seok > documentary told a touching true story about an unknown actor who grew up in a facility, struggled to keep acting, was cast as the lead in a drama on the brink of failure, won the Best New Actor Award at the Black Dragon Film Festival that year, and even reunited with his mother who abandoned him as a child...

It was a very ordinary documentary structure.

Whether An Yoo Seok was an actual actor or just the character’s name, he didn’t exist in the adult entertainment world, so even knowing about some unknown actor’s future was of no practical use.

“If that’s the case, they should at least give drama viewing rights!”

I was starting to think it was time to work on a new project, but Gatflix had been dead silent, so even if I wanted to watch another drama, I couldn’t.

Unlike General 017, this wasn’t a system where paying money guaranteed access. It would be nice if they gave viewing rights as a quest reward or something.

I poked around, turned this way and that, even tried reversing the clicks, but no alerts popped up, no instructions or guidance appeared.

I was left drooling over the flashy thumbnails in the drama category like a rice cake craving syrup.

“Let’s start the auditions.”

I barely swallowed the unbearable sigh and covered my mouth.

“Huh? Who’s this?”

Then I quickly flipped to the first resume of the second day’s first participant.

“Hello. I’m An Yoo Seok, an actor.”

Right there, standing in front of me, was An Yoo Seok from the documentary < An Yoo Seok > I had watched to death the night before.

“No way. I thought the actors on Gatflix didn’t exist in reality.”

Wearing jeans and thick-rimmed glasses, the nameless male actor in his late twenties was An Yoo Seok.

His resume showed some relatively known works, but mostly bit parts like police officers, convenience store clerks, classmates, with just a line or two in each.

That face was definitely the same as the one in the Gatflix documentary 

[An Yoo Seok]

But not a single actor from the Twin Love drama was active in reality.

“Could it be that the characters in the documentary actually exist in real life?”

Before I could sort out my confused thoughts, An Yoo Seok’s acting began.

He started with fairly steady breathing and delivered his lines.

“So, you won’t know until you say it yourself. Are you going to keep hiding forever?”

Though his appearance was awkward, his playful but earnest acting caught Director Kim Gam Dok’s attention.

“Hmm… An Yoo Seok, shall we go over the last line one more time?”

This was the first time in two days that Director Kim Seung Pyo requested a line encore.

An Yoo Seok cleared his throat and performed the line again.

“You won’t know until you say it yourself. Are you going to keep hiding forever?”

This time his tone was even more stable and emotional than before.

“An Yoo Seok, considering the last line, you could have done it in a serious tone. Why did you keep it light?”

“I thought the character Oh Song Taek wouldn’t speak like a sermon.”

“Not like a sermon?”

“Yes. Even when he has to give harsh words, he would always smile and speak lightly as if joking.”

Kim Gam Dok’s persistent questions, whether an interrogation or curiosity, continued.

“If you sugarcoat harsh words too much, wouldn’t the meaning lose weight?”

“Giving advice with facts can hurt the other person’s feelings regardless of intention. But Oh Song Taek isn’t a character who offends others when giving advice. He’s a cheerful neighborhood guy who never loses his smile and wit, no matter the situation. That’s how I see Oh Song Taek.”

Despite Kim Gam Dok’s pressure, An Yoo Seok confidently answered without flinching.

“Understood. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Well, thank you!”

After finishing his prepared acting, An Yoo Seok bowed respectfully at the waist and carefully exited.

After he left, Director Kim silently twirled his pen and nodded to himself.

Then he turned his gaze toward Hong Dae Pyo, Jo Gamdok, and me.

“Let’s cast An Yoo Seok as Oh Song Taek.”

An Yoo Seok’s interpretation of Oh Song Taek was a perfect 100 out of 100.

However, the people from A-Edge Studio, who had to consider the investors’ opinions during production, had a different view.

“Director, it’s true that An Yoo Seok gave a good performance, but it’s only the second day of auditions. Let’s watch other actors next week before deciding.”

“New faces are risky. If we cast actors who are more familiar to the public, we can get decent acting like this.”

The directing team, including Kim Gam Dok, disagreed with these production-side opinions.

“Although An Yoo Seok is unknown, actors who can truly grasp the character are rare in this industry.”

“His mask is fine, and his tone is stable. It can even be refreshing.”

With two opposing opinions, Director Kim Seung Pyo quietly observed the situation and then turned to me.

“What do you think, writer?”

Since the opinions were divided, they wanted to hear the original author’s thoughts.

An Yoo Seok’s acting was perfect, and having watched the Gatflix documentary, my stance was obvious.

“I… like actor An Yoo Seok.”

After a long meeting, An Yoo Seok’s casting was confirmed.

Thanks to Director Kim Seung Pyo’s active push and my support as the original author, it was possible.

Still, I couldn’t stop absentmindedly fiddling with An Yoo Seok’s profile documents.

It felt like ‘Oh Song Taek’ alone wasn’t enough.

“You can’t put him in the lead role either.”

Because of the twin setting of Twin Love, one male actor had to play two leading male roles.

Usually in dramas, there’s a main male lead and a sub-male lead, so I felt it was a shame not to recommend An Yoo Seok as the sub-male lead too.

Currently, An Yoo Seok was a rough diamond about to break out.

I had an urge to polish that rough diamond somehow.

That was when Hong Dae Pyo’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Then let’s finish casting Oh Song Taek here. Everyone, let’s go eat.”

*…

Late evening after the auditions.

We came to a steamed chicken restaurant near the production company for the team dinner.

Kim Seung Pyo asked me as I just poked at the chicken breast.

“Writer, is something bothering you?”

“No, I’m just a bit tired.”

I couldn’t explain the situation properly and vaguely brushed it off.

I couldn’t say I had already seen An Yoo Seok grow into a great actor through Gotflix.

No matter how I thought about it, there seemed to be no role worthy of awarding An Yoo Seok the protagonist’s friend.

“Gatflix must have had a reason for showing that An Yoo Seok documentary.”

What if An Yoo Seok plays the twin lead?

No, that’s impossible.

The current male lead of Twin Love is Park Tae Won.

There was no way An Yoo Seok could become the protagonist alongside such a big actor.

Not only them, but even I couldn’t accept it.

“This might not even be the right work.”

Right. An Yoo Seok hadn’t even been cast in this work yet, so no point making a fuss.

If Twin Love does well, we can actively recommend An Yoo Seok for the next project.

Thinking like that eased the nagging feeling.

I picked up my chopsticks again to eat in peace, when my phone vibrated.

Writer, are you available to talk?

A message came. Who was “5”? The profile was a basic blue default without being saved.

It’s Hyun Ji Won.

With a bowing rabbit emoticon, a series of messages came as if knocking on my door.

“Can you take a call for a moment?”

Looking for Hyun Ji Won’s number in front of the restaurant, I realized I hadn’t saved it.

Just as I was wondering whether to send a voice note, an unsaved number called.

Writer, this is Hyun Ji Won.

“Ah, yes.”

I have some questions about the last episode of the script.

“Really? What part?”

I’d like to meet and talk in person.

What? Was the script bad? Hesitating, I was slow to answer.

It’s late today, so shall I come to the studio tomorrow?

“Ah, not the studio, but to the production company or your agency.”

I was a little tired of Hyun Ji Won constantly showing up at the studio at all hours.

I didn’t want to endure a barrage of questions from dawn to late at night again.

The studio was... my precious sanctuary!

Hmm... I want to meet just the two of us.

Though Hyun Ji Won wanted to meet alone, I was reluctant.

“Last time, Um Ahn Yi was worried because you stayed late. Please, come together, okay?”

Ah! Then we can meet there. I’ll send you the address. Is that okay?

Hyun Ji Won seemed excited, regardless of my answer.

“Uh-huh, well, I’ll keep that in mind for now.”

Okay~ then see you tomorrow, writer! Hehe.

The call ended with a rather lively voice.

Hearing that, I felt it probably wasn’t something serious, but I still wondered why she wanted to meet just the two of us.

Rumble—

After a day of nerves, my stomach was growling.

I didn’t know. I’d find out tomorrow.

Picking up my chopsticks to fill the hungry stomach, I saw Hong Dae Pyo pay the bill and come out.

“Shall we go?”

Ah. Hungry.