Aura of a Genius Actor

After Hugo threw that outlandish assignment at Yu Myeong, Yu Myeong said he wanted a little time to practice on his own before heading to one of the smaller rehearsal rooms.

Miho darted in right behind him.

{So, what are you gonna do, meow?}

"Blending emotions itself isn't the problem."

Expanding a single emotion into two, then three, then four, until every positive emotion coexisted in a single expression.

For most actors, it would have been an absurd assignment.

Yu Myeong, however, believed that much was within his reach.

"I've done this before."

From a simple smile of joy,

to a smile overflowing with the joy of love,

then adding charm to that joy and love,

until it blossomed into pure exhilaration that embraced them all.

When Assistant Manager Park Ju Won's cynical smile transformed into a genuine one in the Hyunseong Motors commercial.

When Bohyeong's love for Hana deepened little by little in Entertainment Studies.

Yu Myeong had spent years performing roles built around subtle facial changes that carried enormous emotional weight.

"The difficult parts are two things. First, these emotions have no roots... they're pure emotions. And..."

Emotions normally had causes.

That was especially true in a carefully structured story.

This time, however, the emotions flashed by so quickly there was no time to build immersion. Yet the audience still had to believe every one of them.

"The emotions can't simply change. They have to accumulate."

It wasn't about erasing one expression and replacing it with another.

It was about layering each new expression onto the last.

How could he make that progression feel completely natural?

{You've done that before too, meow.}

"...Yeah."

{Want me to help?}

Immediately after returning to the past, when he had played Fred in Method Acting Studies, Yu Myeong had struggled with portraying the seamless transition from a boy's expression into that of an adult.

Miho had helped him then.

She captured the starting and ending expressions, then showed him every subtle expression that existed between them.

Thanks to that, he had successfully performed the "Turning Transition" sequence.

"No. I'll do it myself this time. Besides, the director's here."

{Think you can?}

"I kept practicing the Turning Transition whenever I thought of it after that."

A strange expression crossed Miho's face.

The twenty three year old actor who had eagerly seized the helping hand she once offered had become a twenty seven year old man determined to push it away and solve the problem himself.

Yu Myeong stood before the mirror.

He first formed an expression containing only joy, then one blending joy and love together, committing the movement of every facial muscle to memory.

After that, he began breaking the transition into tiny intermediate stages, practicing each one separately.

"Again! It's leaning too heavily toward joy!"

"Again! This time the sense of awe is too weak. All four emotions need to blend together in balance!"

Priya and Marta watched the practice with dazed expressions.

After returning from his private practice session, Yu Myeong reproduced the expression combining two emotions almost immediately.

But once the blend expanded to three emotions, then four, Hugo's corrections began piling up.

From their perspective, however, they couldn't understand how Hugo could tell one emotion was outweighing another.

Yu Myeong, on the other hand, seemed to understand every criticism perfectly, making minute adjustments to his expression each time.

It was acting instruction on an entirely different level.

Just watching it made the others feel intimidated.

"Whew... You're keeping up far better than I expected, but there are still things to refine. Develop those tonight and we'll look at them again tomorrow. Priya, you're next!"

In truth, Hugo was struggling to hide how shocked he was.

He had expected Yu Myeong to exceed expectations from the beginning.

What he hadn't expected was for Yu Myeong to match his demands at such an astonishing pace.

He had become so accustomed to hiding his own surprise that even his acting had improved.

He couldn't allow himself to be impressed.

A director's job was to expect more than an actor believed possible and keep pulling them higher.

He was fighting not to become satisfied too easily.

Watching him, Miho let out an admiring sigh.

{He's definitely insane, meow.}

"Haha..."

{Even when you're already performing at nearly the highest level a human can reach, he's still able to demand something beyond that. Only someone with an imagination that abnormal could do it.}

"I... I guess so."

{He's exactly the kind of opponent you need.}

Honestly, Yu Myeong didn't think Hugo's demands were unreasonable.

Miho had given him far more difficult assignments before.

He had also witnessed Miho accomplish them effortlessly many times.

Still, he agreed with one thing she said.

Right now, what he needed wasn't someone who praised him.

He needed a director who expected more than he currently possessed.

The difficult assignment Hugo had given him was genuinely enjoyable.

"No, Marta. I want malice so vivid it's almost a primary color. Make it uglier. More naked."

After Priya finished, Hugo spent a long time correcting Marta.

Priya's portrayal of "goodness" was already so polished that there was very little to fix.

Unexpectedly, it was Marta who was struggling.

"Hmm... She doesn't have enough time to immerse herself, so the emotions aren't coming through clearly. Maybe she simply doesn't have enough experience yet..."

Yu Myeong remembered Equivalent Exchange Between Salvation and Curse, a film that would not be shot for another three years.

In that movie, Marta had portrayed both the immaculate nun and the corruption brought on by the curse brilliantly.

Perhaps...

She simply wasn't there yet.

Thus ended the second day of rehearsals.

"How's practice going? Everything okay with your group?"

"We were all pretty guarded at first, but Antoine really brought everyone together. He's been taking good care of me too."

By the time group rehearsals and individual practice were over, it was deep into the night.

Yu Myeong lay in bed talking with Kai, who occupied the neighboring bed.

He had felt it from the moment they first met.

Antoine possessed the kind of leadership that naturally eased tensions and united people.

It was reassuring to hear he was looking after Kai as well.

"What kind of play is your group preparing? Did Director George write it himself?"

"Yeah. It's a gangster story. Hehe."

Casting the gentle, innocent Kai alongside the famously courteous Antoine in a gangster production...

Yu Myeong found himself looking forward to seeing what kind of performance they would create.

"How are things with your group?"

"Why?"

"Well... everyone's talking about Hartroit in the news. Priya must be having a hard time..."

Ever since Priya's identity had become public, the internet had been flooded with stories about her.

The God Named fan community had exploded in size.

Posts praising her upbringing and character filled every corner of the web, insisting that someone like her deserved to win.

To the other contestants, that was unlikely to be pleasant.

"At least on the surface, she's handling it well. Her acting's still solid too."

"That's good. I'm relieved. She's the same age as me, but her mental strength is incredible. I'm jealous."

Kai smiled in relief.

He had probably been worried about Priya, who had always been kind to him.

He's a good kid.

Smiling back, Yu Myeong got out of bed.

"Huh? It's late. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get some water."

He headed downstairs.

The Actors House dining room and living room were on the second floor.

Careful not to wake anyone, he left the lights off and relied only on the faint glow filtering through the windows.

It was the night of the new moon.

No moonlight reached the ground.

Only the dim starlight guided his steps.

It's a quiet night.

He poured himself a glass of cold water from the refrigerator and sank onto the sofa.

Then...

A strange sound pierced the silence.

Shhk—

Shhk—

It was an incredibly faint, perfectly regular sound.

Sharp.

Metallic.

So quiet that it seemed audible only because even his heartbeat had settled.

Where's that coming from?

Straining his ears, Yu Myeong followed it.

Besides the dining and living rooms, the second floor also contained a small fitness room and two rehearsal rooms.

The farther he walked down the hallway, the louder the sound became.

Shhk—

It sounded like a paper knife slicing open an envelope.

Who on earth would be—

Click.

The sound stopped.

Yu Myeong froze.

The door to Rehearsal Room Two at the end of the corridor opened.

Someone emerged carrying an armful of paper.

Someone he knew well.

"Wha—"

Just as Yu Myeong tried to speak, the person walked straight past him.

Their eyes were completely unfocused.

There wasn't the slightest sign they recognized him.

Barefoot, they padded silently down the hallway, stopped beside the large trash bin in the living room, dumped a pile of finely shredded paper into it, and disappeared.

The expression on their face as they threw the scraps away burned itself into Yu Myeong's memory.

...Sleepwalking?

He had never actually met a sleepwalker before.

But the symptoms matched exactly what he had seen in television dramas and documentaries.

Only after the person had completely disappeared did Yu Myeong retrieve the pile of shredded paper from the trash.

No... this is...

They were pieces of a newspaper.

An article exposing the true identity of "Priscilla Hartroit."

A brightly smiling photograph of Priya, apparently captured from one of her previous appearances, had been ripped into countless tiny fragments and crumpled together.

Hugo's play was fifteen minutes long, divided into three acts.

The following day, he arrived with the second and third acts completed.

"Read it."

Flap.

Flap.

The three actors turned the pages.

Wow...

Yu Myeong couldn't hide his admiration.

Hugo immediately caught the look on his face.

"So? Do you like it?"

"Very much. I think it's going to be fascinating. What impressed me most is that Pandora doesn't open the jar because she can't resist her curiosity. She opens it by her own choice."

"Haha. Exactly!"

Hugo's shoulders bounced with satisfaction.

Marta had innocently asked, "So if you make all those weird noises while writing, this is the kind of script you end up with?"

Both Marta, for describing it that way, and Hugo, for accepting it as sincere praise, were remarkable eccentrics.

Yet while everyone else exchanged compliments and impressions of the script...

Priya never let go of hers.

Yu Myeong had been watching her out of the corner of his eye for some time now.

The farther she read into the script, the darker her expression became.

"Priya, are you okay?"

"Huh? You don't look so good. Why? Don't you like the script?"

"No... it's just... I've never played a role like this before..."

She seemed worried about the twist involving the Angel in Acts Two and Three.

"Hm? You've never played a villain?"

"No..."

"Not once?"

"...No."

"That's unusual. It's okay. Your fundamentals are solid. I'll guide you through the parts you're not used to."

Her appearance certainly suited kindhearted roles.

Even so, it was surprising she'd never portrayed a villain.

"And this scene..."

"What? Oh, the slap?"

Hugo asked enthusiastically.

As though saying, Isn't it great? Isn't it fun?

The script contained two moments where Pandora was slapped.

Once by the Angel.

Once by the Devil.

Yu Myeong had also paused when he first read it.

Then he realized it would instantly seize the audience's attention during the performance and thought nothing more of it.

But Priya's reaction was strange.

"I... I don't think I can hit someone..."

Her voice trembled.

What was wrong?

Refusing to slap another actor in a play was hardly something a director would normally tolerate.

Yet Hugo must have sensed something unusual in her voice, because he softened his tone.

"Priya, I know you're a kind person. But this is acting. The scene needs it."

"Couldn't we do it without actually—"

"Hmm... Are you planning to keep choosing roles based on what you're personally comfortable doing?"

His voice dropped slightly.

Priya stiffened at once.

"If you only want to smile sweetly and play nice people, you should have chosen a different profession."

"..."

"Doing something bad in a performance doesn't make you a bad person. You have to separate the two, Priya. The script stays exactly as it is."

Yu Myeong carefully watched her lower her head.

Rehearsals began again that day.

They started by revisiting Act One.

Marta's Devil had improved dramatically overnight.

"Think of someone you hate enough to want dead. Good. Now erase the person and leave only the hatred. Stay focused so you don't lose that emotion!"

She improves fast. She really is talented...

"Excellent! So much better, Marta!"

Hugo shouted excitedly.

Act One went smoothly.

Yu Myeong had worried because Priya had seemed unsettled, but once again she portrayed the Angel's bright kindness flawlessly.

The problems began in Act Two.

"No, Pandora. You'll regret it."

"Why? What's inside it?"

Smack!

The Angel was supposed to smile while slapping Pandora.

Instead, Priya squeezed her eyes shut and barely brushed Yu Myeong's cheek.

"Again! Don't close your eyes!"

Hugo roared.

Priya's hand trembled violently.

"Look at the next line!"

"You've never known pain. Or jealousy. Or sickness. Or death. You know nothing."

"What are those?"

"If Pandora is supposed to know nothing about pain, then the audience has to think, Ouch... that must have hurt. It needs that much force!"

"...I'll try again."

No matter how many times they repeated the scene, it never improved.

Finally, Hugo sighed, told her to keep practicing, and skipped ahead.

The next scene proved even worse.

When Pandora finally opened the jar,

the Devil was meant to smile triumphantly,

while the Angel twisted her face into an expression of utter ugliness—

so hideous no one would believe she was an angel.

Priya couldn't make that expression at all.

"Priya..."

Hugo shouted himself hoarse.

He made her imagine every possible image, forced her to dig up every ugly part hidden within herself.

In the end, his voice gave out.

"This can't continue."

"..."

"I'm not the one in trouble. You are... if you intend to make a living as an actor."

A single tear slipped from Priya's eye.

Yu Myeong remembered what Miho had once said.

Kyler Unshaw probably wanted Marta to win. But what he got was Priya... and she had a critical flaw.

Come to think of it... in Kyler Unshaw's next project, where she played the lead, the protagonist was also the villain.

Priya's flaw.

She couldn't play villains.