After Story 210

His wife, looking at the actor in front of her as she said her line, turned around. She then looked straight at the audience seats and started speaking,

“I’m fed up with all this. Whether it’s me doing this to you, or you doing this to me, I think we’ve dated for too long.”

Maru crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He really wanted to see his wife’s acting from the place closest to the stage, but there was not a single empty seat.

“You’re going on about that again?” the male actor, Joonsoo, said.

His expression had changed in the span of a week. He had grown up from emotions that were just for show and had become one with the role he was playing.

“What, you don’t want to even talk to me anymore?” his wife said to Joonsoo.

The vexation in her eyes contained a hint of wanting the other party to understand her. The longing for the good times and the frustration towards the current situation were clas.h.i.+ng.

Even without any lines, the emotions of the woman on the stage could be felt clearly.

Maru had a glance at the audience seats. Some of the couples were tapping on the other’s arm, as though what was happening on stage was not entirely unrelated to them.

“Let’s stop this and go get something to eat. You said you wanted to eat pasta last time.”

“Am I a woman who’ll be fine as long as I’m fed? Why do you always say we should eat?” his wife snorted in ridicule.

Maru thought as he looked at his wife acting: I can take grumbling from a woman like her all day.

Joonsoo took large strides forward and grabbed her hand. She tried and tried to push him off, however, she didn’t do it with force. She only did it to show her complaint, as though she was pus.h.i.+ng a stroller.

“I want to eat something spicy,” Joonsoo said.

“I’m still mad.” She shook her head.

When Joonsoo dragged her along, she started moving. Even though she kept saying no, that she wasn’t in the mood to eat, and that he should stop, she followed Joonsoo very obediently.

They exchanged lines as they moved from left to right, then right to left. More than half of them were improvised lines.

Maru knew from watching their practice that Haneul and Joonsoo had been holding hands for hours for that scene.

At first, Joonsoo was taken aback and then embarra.s.sed, before giving up and starting to joke around with her. His wife had managed to resolve the process of communicating with another actor in a short and precise way.

They fought over something trivial, got over it over something trivial, and laughed over something trivial as they walked around the stage.

Their conversation eventually managed to make the audience laugh as well.

Maru forgot everything and looked at his wife joyfully acting on stage. Every single step and every single hand gesture of hers had delicacy. Even the level of perfection was below her.

His wife always praised his acting and said that she wanted to stand on the same stage as him. Whenever she said so, Maru always felt nervous without her knowing.

From his perspective, his wife was no ordinary person.

Even when compared to the crystallization of talent like Hong Geunsoo and Yang Ganghwan, she was only slightly behind. She was someone who would be called a genius by ordinary standards.

When his wife looked at him in admiration, he would smile leisurely at first but then throw himself into studying acting without end. Only then would he be able to keep up with his wife.

Haneul and Joonsoo stepped out to the side of the stage. Jungah, who came on stage while looking at her phone, turned around to the audience.

“There’s an interesting research study that was conducted. To group A, the researchers told couples who were angry at each other to talk it out, and to group B, to just give each other a hug without saying anything. They took a survey of both groups afterward. Which group do you think became more generous to the other?”

Group A, group B — answers came from the audience. There were more people who said group B.

“That’s right, it was group B. Rather than words, you can transmit more meaning through skin contact. In that sense, why don’t you try holding hands with the friend or lover next to you? Don’t be embarra.s.sed. It’s only for a while.”

Jungah then went back to looking at her phone and walked toward the left of the stage. Just then, she collided with Joohwan, who stepped out from behind the curtain.

Jungah dropped her phone and Joohwan lowered his body. Two hands reached out to one phone and made contact. It was like a stereotypical romance drama plot.

Jungah winked at the audience before grabbing Joohwan’s hand tightly. She even locked her fingers with him.

“What are you doing?”

Joohwan turned grave and shook her hand off. Jungah said to the audience,

“But like this, skin contact can create disharmony in a relations.h.i.+p without any bond. That’s why you can’t just start grabbing anyone’s hand, okay?”

“Hey, who are you talking to?” Joohwan said as he looked around.

The skit that made use of breaking the 4th wall made the audience laugh.

Jungah indifferently picked up her phone and left the stage. Joohwan, who was watching, spoke,

“Is she a pervert?”

“Who is?”

Sinhye, who came out from the other side, came out and the next act started.

The comedic skits they inserted midway had good responses, and above all, the sync between actors had become a lot better than when they were practicing.

All of them must have felt something after seeing Haneul’s act. Maru was proud that they didn’t ignore that stimulus but used it to improve themselves.

* * *

The woman announced her breakup to the man who clung to her. It might be an act that could easily become messy with excessive emotions, but both of the young actors did it smoothly.

“Plays these days are still fun,” said his wife.

Junmin nodded in agreement. He had only come here to check Han Haneul’s acting, but the play’s overall degree of completion was pretty good, which made him enjoy it. He even thought that he wanted to introduce this place to the ma.s.ses who complained that there weren’t good young actors these days.

If they deviated slightly away from the TV or went to places just a little farther than the usual movie theaters, there were so many young actors s.h.i.+ning brightly like this.

However, he couldn’t exactly blame the public. He knew well that it wasn’t a problem that just lay with the demand. It was ridiculous for the suppliers to ask the consumers to look for creative products when they unified all the products they had on display.

“They’re all good, but that person is the most impressive.”

Junmin looked at the stage as he listened to his wife’s words. Han Haneul was coming out from behind the curtain.

The audience seats changed in atmosphere whenever Haneul came on stage. Everyone stopped talking about whatever trivial thing it was with others and focused on the stage, even going as far as to stifle their breathing.

Just looking at the mouth of the young man sitting next to him was enough for him to tell just how different Haneul’s presence was. This young man’s mouth was semi-gaping when looking at other actors, but whenever Haneul came out, his mouth widened to the point of being able to see his lower row of teeth. His subconscious thought to keep his mouth closed was dedicated to his eyes at those times. He was the prime example of watching pa.s.sionately. No, many of the people here were probably just like this young man here.

Han Haneul’s acting was just that provocative. She was giving them a pleasant threat to keep looking at her and keep focusing on her. It was different from being arrogant. Arrogance was standing out while ruining the flow, a type of act that made people frown and eventually look away.

Han Haneul’s acting was not like that. She invested sufficient energy into the stage but still managed to show off her acting skills. She wasn’t like a pointy rock that jutted out and was more like a heavy, st.u.r.dy foundation stone.

“You want to break up?”

In an early act, Haneul complained and got the boy to sympathize with her, but the situation changed. The man did not hide his fatigue. It seemed he came to the conclusion that it was meaningless to continue the relations.h.i.+p.

“Yes. Just like you said, let’s put an end to it.”

“Hey.”

Haneul was taken aback but did not put down her high-and-mighty att.i.tude. If you just do a little more for me, I’ll be better, so why are you doing this to me? — she seemed to mean with her words.

“You wanted to stop. I’m doing what you wanted.”

“Are you really going to be like this?”

Haneul laughed as though she found it absurd before carefully looking at the man’s face. Her att.i.tude changed little by little. She turned from a woman with too much pride and ego to a woman who would feel unease without love.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I just thought it’ll be better to do as you say. You said every day that we should break up and that we should stop. So I’m just doing what you said.”

“Hey, don’t do this.”

Haneul’s proud face became a lot more nervous. She didn’t seem to have any intentions of hiding her unease as she approached the man with a smile. The fluctuation in emotions was big, but there was no sense of disparity at all.

Just like a ball thrown in the air would draw a parabola and fall down, it was hard to find a contradiction in Haneul’s change both logically and emotionally. The way she imbued understanding and sympathy into the audience was absolutely perfect.

Junmin had to rethink the a.s.sessment he had before he watched the play.

Her camera acting was charming. However, her stage acting was even more so.

“Wait, let’s talk a little.”

Having been exhausted by the emotional labor, the man looked at Haneul as though he was fed up with everything. Any long-time pair of lovers would know how that would feel.

Junmin was reminded of when he was young. However, he had to postpone getting immersed in his old memories. Haneul’s acting grabbed his mind before it could go on a trip back in time.

“Hey, Kang Jungmin. Hey!”

Becoming desperate, Haneul grabbed the man’s arm and started explaining herself. Not only was she crying, but she was also talking extremely fast. An actor with bad p.r.o.nunciation would’ve mangled every single word, making it sound like some murmurs. However, Haneul transmitted all the lines to the audience properly, other than when she intentionally mangled the p.r.o.nunciations. She was an actress who had a frighteningly deep understanding of the basics of stage acting.

“Don’t… go. I told you. If you really go like this, it’ll be over between us. I mean it!”

Despite her coercion, the man left the stage. Haneul, who was looking at the side of the stage in bitterness, sat down on the spot. Then she started crying. She started crying like a little child.

Other actors walked around the stage and glanced at her, some laughing, and some murmuring while taking photos.

“Kang Jungmin, come back!”

After crying her heart out, Haneul wiped her eyes and stood up. Her makeup was a total mess. The area around her eyes had turned black, and her red lipstick had spread all the way to her cheek.

Haneul pouted and looked at the audience seats while huffing and puffing.

“What are you looking at… was I in the wrong?”

The audience replied yes. Haneul covered her upper lip with her lower lip. She froze stiff like a kid undergoing punishment before running off to the right of the stage.

“Jungmin!”

As spiteful as the character was, it was hard to dislike her. As it was a character often appearing in dramas, there was the risk of the character feeling flat, but Haneul’s acting imbued a sense of vitality.

“Her acting. It’s elegant,” said his wife.

He agreed with her. The character was petty and threw tantrums while crying, but Haneul, the one who played the character, was elegant.

“She’s a good actress,” Junmin said as he tapped on his thigh.

It had been a while since he felt so much unease. He felt like he could only rest easy if he had her sign the contract.

If anyone here had any relation to the entertainment business, they would probably contact their company without hesitation, saying that they found a talent that they must get no matter what at this small theater.

In that sense, Junmin thought that he was lucky. He may have found her late, but his actions were quicker.

He thought about the contract he left back in the car and looked towards the exit, when…

“That fellow. He…”

He discovered Na Baekhoon, watching the stage like he was emotionally touched, with his hands clasped. Someone who had their desires fulfilled would make a foolish expression like that.

“You want to marry me?”

Other actors came on stage. Junmin focused on the stage again. It would be a pity to miss this, so he had to watch until the end.