Chapter 4
“Thanks to you, Eun-rae, I think I’ll be able to make the story a little better. Now that I think about it, the character I was more attached to was Su-in. I think the problem was that I was too fixated on figuring out how the male lead would fall for the female lead from his perspective.”
All I’d wanted was to add Jegal Se-yeon’s work to the beginning of my filmography, but now she was talking about rewriting the entire thing?
And on top of that—
“I want to tell the story from Su-in’s perspective throughout. Your lines might increase a little. Would that be all right with you?”
It looked like I was going to push the male lead aside and become the sole protagonist.
The reward was far greater than I’d expected, and I hesitated for a moment.
But this was the time to act like a rookie.
I bent at the waist at an angle of 120 degrees and said,
“Leave it to me! I’ll do my very best!”
And the moment I raised my head after saying that—
Something shimmered before my eyes.
At the same time, something strange… appeared.
[Editing the wiki for Living with a Ghost…….]
[Would you like to search the revised wiki for Living with a Ghost?]
What was this?
I tilted my head in confusion, then lost my balance. The sudden turn of events had made my feet tangle together.
Just as I was about to fall awkwardly—
Someone grabbed me firmly by the shoulder.
I lifted my head and looked at the person.
“……!”
I remembered.
“You look better when you’re filmed from an angle of 75 degrees below, Eun-rae. The angle in that opening scene was a bit of a shame.”
Seventy-five degrees.
I remembered who had said that.
Standing before me was a man who looked even more like an actor than the actors themselves.
With one hand gripping my shoulder, he leaned close to my ear and spoke in a low voice.
“……I enjoyed watching your performance.”
At that moment, goosebumps spread across my entire body.
You’re lying.
In my previous life, Park Seo-woo had never once said those words to me.
Park Seo-woo removed his hand from my shoulder and extended it toward me as if offering a handshake. I stood there, dumbfounded, staring at him.
“I’m Park Seo-woo, a member of the filming crew.”
Park Seo-woo.
That Park Seo-woo, the Oscar-winning director.
The monstrous filmmaker of this industry who had never once made a movie that flopped.
A greedy man who swept up awards at every international film festival he entered, never sacrificing either commercial success or artistic merit.
And a man so handsome that he looked more like an actor than an actual actor. At every film premiere, there were countless stories from fans who claimed they’d ended up taking pictures of Park Seo-woo instead of the actors they’d come to see.
This man was working as a cinematographer on a film academy graduation project twelve years ago……?
As far as I knew, Park Seo-woo was a graduate of one of those prestigious universities. He’d won a film festival award with a short film he made for his university film club, then gradually worked his way up through independent films and commercial movies until he reached his current position—or rather, the position he would hold in the future.
And in my previous life, I’d called him this:
An insufferable asshole.
“I watched your work. At 39 minutes and 25 seconds, your eye acting was good, but I think you got the tone wrong at the beginning of the line.”
A lunatic who launched straight into critiquing my acting before even offering a proper greeting.
Whether I appeared in a B-grade movie or a morning drama with abysmal ratings, he watched every single thing I did and tore my acting apart down to the tiniest detail.
How the hell did he remember the exact minute and second of a two-hour movie? How could he recall which episode of a twenty-episode drama I’d appeared in and exactly how I’d acted in it?
He was supposedly a graduate of S University. Did he have a camera installed in his brain or something?
What infuriated me even more was that, although he was somewhat taciturn with other actors, he never went around evaluating their acting like that.
Why was I the only one he did this to……?!
Because of that, I’d even gone out of my way to avoid him whenever possible.
Yet no matter how much I tried to stay out of his way, Park Seo-woo always approached me first at award ceremonies or private gatherings.
And then, as if it were a greeting, he’d critique my acting.
“You look better when you’re filmed from an angle of 75 degrees below, Eun-rae. The angle in that opening scene was a bit of a shame.”
……Should I just kill him?
And yet, whenever I returned home, I’d practice the very thing Park Seo-woo had pointed out.
He might have had a rotten personality, but his talent was undeniable.
And I wasn’t the kind of actor who would throw away feedback from a talented director for nothing.
No matter how infuriating it was.
It was at a completely unexpected time that Park Seo-woo offered me a script.
Four years ago.
That was when I’d been removed from the lead role in a movie after the controversy over my family’s debts erupted.
[Ha Eun-rae bows her head and apologizes amid family debt controversy…… Replaced as lead in Minor.]
For several days, I’d turned off my phone and stayed home playing video games.
I even started eating cup noodles, something I’d never touched before, and drank as much cola as I wanted.
Then came the day I snapped out of it after discovering I’d gained two whole kilograms.
When I turned my phone back on, I found a flood of messages from my agency’s CEO.
[Eun-rae, I’ll find you an even better project..]
[You’re resting at home, right?]
All useless messages.
But one of them caught my eye.
[Eun-rae! I got you a project with Park Seo-woo! He said he wrote the script with you in mind! Park Seo-woo, the guy who won an award at the Toronto Film Festival! I read it first, and it’s perfect for you!]
Park Seo-woo?
On top of that, there was a message from an unfamiliar number among the messages from my agency’s CEO.
[I got your number from the CEO and am contacting you directly. I’m director Park Seo-woo. I sincerely hope we can work together on this project.]
That was the first and last time I remembered Park Seo-woo treating me politely.
And I’d kicked his courteous offer right back in his face.
A project that would go on to win an Oscar, no less.
All because of a piece of trash like Kim Do-woon.
I frowned as I recalled those memories.
I’d thought that was where my connection with Park Seo-woo ended.
At least, until I met him again long after I’d gotten married.
“How could someone like her ever be a suitable match for Do-woon? Just recently, that woman who calls herself our in-law came looking for money again! And I have so many girls I’ve already picked out for our Do-woon……”
It was the anniversary of Bee Entertainment’s founding.
My mother-in-law was drunk in the hotel’s VIP lounge, badmouthing me to anyone who would listen.
I’d stood there awkwardly, listening to every word, before eventually slipping away.
That was when I ran into Park Seo-woo in the hallway.
“Honestly, this is why you should never let people marry outside their station. There are actors who were raised properly, but look at her. I insult her right to her face, and she just stands there taking it. No pride whatsoever. All she does is watch everyone’s mood and try to please them.”
He’d heard it.
When I realized Park Seo-woo had heard every last bit of the verbal abuse coming from the VIP lounge, my face flushed red.
I wanted to run away on the spot.
Of all people, I hadn’t wanted that obnoxious director who constantly criticized my acting to discover the miserable reality of my life.
I was about to pretend I hadn’t seen him and walk straight past when Park Seo-woo spoke.
“Don’t you regret it?”
I turned around and saw Park Seo-woo’s contorted expression.
His face, which usually seemed so composed and angular, bore an unusually visible trace of emotion.
Why?
“Have you never thought about going back and changing things? Is your family…… really that important to you?”
Did he mean that I didn’t regret turning down his project?
Well, I supposed he must be enjoying this. An actress who’d once rejected him was now stuck in such a miserable marriage.
I was looking up at Park Seo-woo, lost in memories of my past, when something strange appeared before my eyes.
[Editing the wiki for Park Seo-woo…….]
[Would you like to search the revised wiki for Park Seo-woo?]
I’d watched plenty of fantasy movies in my time.
There was a name for something like this, wasn’t there?
A mysterious ability gained after regressing into the past.
And the whole point of having an ability was to make use of it.
Yes.
At my answer, a wiki window opened.
Beneath Park Seo-woo’s handsome profile picture from twelve years in the future, the usual wiki information appeared, such as his birthday and family clan. Then the page began scrolling down rapidly.
Interviews and Quotes
Q. Is there an actor who left a particularly strong impression on you, or someone you’d like to work with in the future?
A. I’ve worked with so many wonderful actors that it’s difficult to single out just one. Still, there is someone I hope to work with someday. When I was a student, I happened to get the chance to watch an audition video, and I haven’t been able to forget that person’s eyes ever since. That’s why I write every script with that person in mind. I wonder if they’ll ever realize it. (NEW!)
Only the revised section glowed and shimmered.
And through the translucent window, Park Seo-woo was looking at me.
“I enjoyed watching your performance. Your eyes were especially wonderful.”
It was the first time I’d ever heard a compliment…… from Park Seo-woo.
