Chapter 136

Chapter 136

He was… different . There was nothing else they could say about it . The man spoke the same lines from the same characters, but he looked so very different compared to everyone else . The club members all looked at Ganghwan dumbly . The man was showing them the difference between a pro and an amateur .

“Did I overdo it?”

Ganghwan smiled after doing a short performance of all twelve characters . The man’s arrogant comment was even sounding a bit like words from a wiseman after such a shocking performance . Now that Maru thought about it, he’d never actually seen Ganghwan act . Ganghwan was acting in an adult play at the time since Maru joined him . They practiced together a lot, but they’ve never worked together on the same stage . Maru had to wonder what it would feel like to exchange lines with someone that skilled . He couldn’t even imagine it right now .

“Starting off from the basics, we need to focus on accents . I’m not telling you to follow me . You need to go develop one yourself . There are tricks, though . ”

The club members flocked around Ganghwan at a flick of his hands . Miso was watching him intently from afar, her eyes filled with respect . Not respect as a friend, but as an actor .

“Acting out a character much older than you is actually very difficult . If you want to act out a character seventy years older than you, you need just that much experience to do well . That’s not easy . For us pros, we go to the scenes itself in order to get experience, but that’s not an option for you guys . So the only thing you guys can do is take tips and tricks and do your best with those . ”

“What would those tips be?”

Soyeon and Taejoon widened their eyes in surprise . Ganghwan told the two of them to just focus more on their bodies than their lines .

“If you try to make yourself sound old, all you’d really be doing is ruining your projection . Not only that, you might end up damaging your throat as well . Most people mistakenly think that old people have a very lethargic, airy voice . In this industry, it’s almost like a promise between the actor and the audience as well . The actor’s basically telling the audience that he’s acting an old character, so the audience needs to understand that as a fact . ”

Ganghwan looked over the club members .

“Does any one of you live with your grandparents?”

No one raised their hands .

“Well, it’s pretty hard to see people living with their extended families nowadays, so I guess it’s understandable . It must be hard for you to see what old people are actually like . That’s why you act out your roles based on the stereotypes of old people you see in society . ”

Maru thought for a second . When he entered his forties, the only times he went to see his parents were during holidays . His parents were over their seventies by that point . They weren’t incredibly old, but they were getting there for sure .

“This is a strange case, but this is easier for you if you think of yourselves as voice actors . Your voices can’t change by an incredible amount especially after you pa.s.s p.u.b.erty . There are even old men whose voices don’t change at all from their younger years . What should you do, then? In the end, it all just comes down to the details . ”

Ganghwan brought over a chair .

“The old lady in front of the shop is always described to be sitting outside her store . She often says her lines from her chair, right?”

“Yes . She stands up too, but she often says her lines from the chair . ”

“The age range of the character is?”

“Late 70s . ”

“Health?”

“Not that bad, since she can still come outside . She’s not that lethargic either since she can hold her own in an argument still . ”

“Good . If you’re aware of all the details, then the rest of it should be pretty easy . Just convince yourself that you’re actually old . When you get back home, try to find videos on actual old people talking . ”

“Yes . ”

“One of the first things that happens as you age is that your skin starts stretching . Studying how that would affect the rest of your body would be most useful here . But since this is a bit rushed, just follow me first . ”

Ganghwan put on a slight frown as he stretched his jaws and cheeks downwards, making him look a little bit depressed . Soyeon followed suit, albeit with a little bit of confusion .

“If you age like this, the overall muscles in your face lose energy like this . Open your mouth here . You’ll notice you can’t open it as much . ”

“Yes, you’re right . ”

“The reason why old people have bad enunciations is because their muscles don’t work so well anymore . But it’d be horrible if an actor had bad enunciation . You’ll have to put in the practice to make yourself maintain that ‘old person vibe’ while managing to keep clear enunciation . But you definitely don’t have the time for that right now, so save it for the next nationals . ”

“Thank you . ”

“As for your gestures . . . ”

Ganghwan was very different here from his usual self in his amateur cla.s.ses . Back there, he only showed the actors the directions they could take for improvement . Now, he was actively pointing out places where each student could improve . If he focused on the theory for the amateur acting cla.s.s, over here he focused a lot on the practical information .

“Name?”

Ganghwan’s next target was Geunseok .

“I’m Hong Geunseok . ”

“Ah right, Geunsoo’s brother . I don’t have much to tell you . Good job . I think you have a very decent grasp of what your character is like . ”

“Thank you . ”

“As expected of Geunsoo’s brother . Good job, good job . ”

Ganghwan gave the boy a thumbs up . Geunseok put on a very comforted smile .

“Alright, next . . . ”

Ganghwan moved onto the next person .

* * *

Ganghwan and Miso stepped outside the auditorium . By the time they finished another run, it was already 9pm .

“You planning on keeping them around for a bit longer?”

“I have to . The prelims are in two days . ”

“Don’t pressure them too much, they’re just kids . You get way too rough sometimes, you have to be softer with them . ”

“If I was soft too, wouldn’t I be way too perfect?”

Ganghwan firmly shook his head . This woman didn’t have any humility . Then again, that was the source of her charm .

“How’s your work going on that side?”

“My kids are elites, so they’re all doing very well . ”

“Elites, huh . ”

The two of them walked into a restaurant nearby . They ordered some food before sitting down . The lady at the store told them it’d take around 15 minutes .

“Are you paying all of them for their food?”

“What, would I be making them pay then?”

“Dang, Miso . You must be earning a lot of money . ”

“h.e.l.l yeah I do . ”

“Why don’t you invest a bit of money into my play, then? I promise we’ll make good returns . ”

“Go find someone else . I’m too young to be investing any money right now . Plus, I don’t have that much money to begin with . Why don’t you just go to senior Junmin?”

“I’d rather die before asking him . I don’t want to become even more indebted to him when I’m already knee deep inside . I don’t want money ruining our relations.h.i.+p . ”

“ . . . Oh? So you’re fine if our relations.h.i.+p gets ruined?”

“You just realized? You, me, and Geunsoo . We’re terrible, terrible friends . ”

“You’re not wrong . Ugh . ”

Ganghwan watched Miso as she flopped down on a table in front of her . It’s been a while since he last saw her this tired .

“Something wrong?”

“It’s just the acting club . Everything else is fine . Hah . . . ”

She sighed loudly enough to make her hair start moving on her desk . Looking at that, Ganghwan started twisting her hair with a grin .

“Hey!”

“You surprised me . ”

Miso stood back up with a ma.s.sive frown .

“This is why you don’t have a girlfriend . ”

“Hey, don’t hit me where it hurts like that . It’s not like you have a boyfriend either . ”

“Me? I do . ”

“ . . . Hah! That’s the funniest joke I heard all year . You? A guy? Are you sure he’s not involved in some pyramid scheme?”

“You want to get beat up?”

Ganghwan stepped away from her into the kitchen for a bit . In the meantime, the lady from the store came back with bags of kimbap and stir fried pork .

“Do you need chopsticks?”

“Yes, can we have fourteen?”

The two of them stepped outside, each one holding a bag of food in their hands .

“Are you actually dating someone, though?”

“I do . ”

“Who? Someone I know? Which actor is it?”

“ . . . No, he isn’t related to this industry at all . Well, wait, I guess he kind of is . ”

“Who is it?”

“Ugh, why do you want to know so badly?”

“Why? I’m curious! I want to know who would date someone with a terrible personality like you . ”

“Do you actually have a death wish?”

Ganghwan didn’t stop teasing her, despite all the threats . Miso said some terrifying things, but Ganghwan could tell she was actually embarra.s.sed . He’s never seen that side of her before, he couldn’t stop teasing her here .

“ . . . He’s a school teacher . ”

“Really? I suppose it is the mission of teachers to rescue lost little lambs . Where does he work?”

“Woosung high . ”

“Really? This one? Wait, so you met him through the club? So it’s been like a year, huh?”

Finding love from your high school… Love really was a strange thing .

“It’s been more than ten years . ”

“What?”

“I had a crush on him for a full decade . I’ve only managed to get somewhere with it recently . ”

Miso’s face was as red as a beet . Ten years, though? What was up with that?

“He’s the person who made the acting club with me while I was still here . He was really cute back then . Not that he isn’t cute now . ”

“Hold on . ”

“What?”

“So you’re dating a teacher you had a crush on while you were in high school?”

“Yeah . ”

“Hahaha, don’t joke with me . Are you the heroine of some romance novel? You should at least make your stories believable . ”

“Do I look like I’m lying?”

Miso frowned annoyedly . Ganghwan’s face stiffened . A teacher who dates his student?

“Really?”

“Yeah . ”

“Really really?”

“Yeah yeah!”

“ . . . Ha . Haha . Life is meaningless . Ugh . ”

Ganghwan sighed deeply in defeat .

* * *

“Thank you for the hard work,” Maru said .

“Hard work? Nah . It was fun . It was like I was back in high school again . The kids in Myungdong all know what they’re doing, so it’s no fun teaching them . ”

“Does that include me?”

“Nah, of course not . ”

Ganghwan got in his car with a grin . Maru was thankful that the man managed to take out his time for something like this . He’s learned a lot from just this one day .

“Miso taught you well . ”

“She’s pa.s.sionate, if nothing else . ”

“Individually, you all have something to be desired, but you guys have a really nice vibe going when you’re all together . You might actually manage to win something . But! Your role is critical in making that happen . ”

“Please don’t pressure me like that . I’m just an extra . ”

“A very important extra . Oh, also, try to get on good terms with Geunseok . ”

“Geunseok?”

“Yeah . The kid knows what he’s doing . He definitely studied a lot in his own time as well . He’ll make a great partner . ”

“Well, sure . ”

He probably couldn’t get close to Geunseok anymore, though . Maru swallowed his thoughts as he smiled . Ganghwan told Maru to do well in the prelims .

“You aren’t coming to see us?”

“I can’t blatantly favor you when there’s so many other kids I’m teaching involved . ”

“But we’re kind of in a master-disciple relations.h.i.+p, aren’t we?”

“Still, it’s a no . Plus, I’m going to be busy . ”

“Are you going into a project?”

“Probably . And… it’s nothing . I’ll tell you some other time . But definitely be alert for something . ”

Ganghwan was saying some mysterious words . Did his business have something to do with Maru as well? For now, Maru just nodded . He’d probably have to prepare for something .

“Ah, also . ”

“?”

“Do you happen to know any cute female teachers?”

Maru smiled and told the man to get a move on, Ganghwan shrugged before leaving in his car .

“Maru! Let’s go!”

11pm . It was minutes from before the last bus of the day left . Maru walked towards his friends alongside his bike . It took quite some effort to get Miso away from him, but he managed to get his bike today .

“Hah,” Dojin sighed .

“What’s up?”

“Let’s work hard . ”

“Well, that came out of nowhere . ”

“You two really need to work hard . Especially since that’s your dreams now . I… Just need to get along for the ride . ”

Dojin was smiling a little awkwardly . Maru pat the boy’s back . Daemyung, too, awkwardly pat Dojin .

“Don’t forget me if you become famous . “

“Don’t dream too much about the high life, since it’s not going to happen . ”

“In any case, at least mention my name if you get on TV . ”

“Any time, friend . ”

Daemyung said ‘me too’ under his breath as well .

“Let’s work hard . ”

“Yeah . ”

“Definitely . ”

Work hard . The phrase warmed up Maru’s chest ever so slightly .