However, the stunt actors playing Rosalyn’s bodyguards were the ones who found the sudden request for an action scene to be absurd.
It was only natural.
Action acting generally requires a considerable amount of time to practice and coordinate movements.
Otherwise, the scene wouldn’t come out clean, and there’s always the possibility of an accident.
‘Clearly, she’s a bit strong but action acting isn’t the same. How could a girl like her even be capable…?’
The bodyguards tasked with Rosalyn’s protection were Caucasian actors brought in from Japan.
It was only natural that they would take being pushed back by the small Seoyeon as a simple accident or a lapse in their own vigilance.
“And I believe actress Sooyeon Joo can considerably shorten that time.”
Unsurprisingly, the Korean staff who had watched Hyper Action Star nodded in agreement, whereas the Japanese staff looked somewhat perplexed.
While Seoyeon had indeed crawled around in variety shows, she hadn’t demonstrated any particular action skills.
“And, Ms. Jiyeon.”
Following instructions to roughly sketch out the scene, Director Baek Min called out to Jiyeon.
“Ad-libs are fine, but please try to stick more closely to the script.”
“Aah, yes.”
“It’s not that you shouldn’t ad-lib at all, but if you keep doing it like that, what’s the point of a script?”
Director Baek’s tone wasn’t particularly sharp, but Jiyeon felt reprimanded and had no choice but to lower her head.
Because his words were a hundred percent correct.
At least this time, the tone was slightly different, but the lines themselves followed the script closely enough to pass.
If she had ad-libbed all her lines this time as well, she might have received a stern reprimand.
‘I need to be more careful.’
With that thought, Jiyeon sighed and gazed in the direction where Stella stood.
“But, there wasn’t another way.”
Facing Stella’s performance then, Jiyeon had no choice.
It was like the feeling she had when witnessing a truly powerful performance from Seoyeon, where she was frozen in place without realizing it.
Jiyeon had never used so much ad-libbing in other dramas.
‘I need to find a way to properly digest the script…’
While Jiyeon was immersed in these thoughts about her acting, Stella announced:
“Let’s move down this corridor and sh**t the scene in a long take format.”
Since Stella could speak both Japanese and English fluently, she was the best person to communicate the Korean directions.
“Let’s try it once. Hmm, is that really okay?”
The stunt actors grew concerned upon hearing Stella’s cheerful tone.
“Please convey to that young girl that reckless action could lead to injury.”
The rather polite request from the Caucasian actor made Stella tilt her head in surprise.
“Ah, maybe you don’t watch YouTube?”
“What?”
“Haha, never mind. Hmm, maybe it’s faster to experience it directly than to watch a video, but weren’t you thrown by Seoyeon just a little while ago?”
“Thrown? No, we were pushed over strongly. My legs got tangled up badly.”
The actor said this with a touch of wounded pride.
Stella, familiar with the tendencies of American men, understood that the actor’s ego was significantly bruised.
“Look at my stature. There’s no way I’d be thrown by a girl like that. Sure, the strength was more than expected, tangling my legs, but that’s all.”
It was evident that this actor had a considerable amount of experience as a stunt performer.
It also seemed unreasonable to him that he would have been thrown by a small Oriental girl.
While it wasn’t explicitly stated in his words, his gaze and expression told the story.
Stella could clearly perceive this underlying thought.
Having experienced such looks since childhood, Stella placed her forefinger on her lips and smiled faintly.
“This is what real racial discrimination looks like.”
With a small chuckle, Stella thought silently. But if this macho actor wished so, then so be it.
“Seoyeon.”
“Yes?”
“The action actor says they’re fine, so could you try your best?”
“Really?”
“Yes, yes, so please work hard. It seems there are expectations.”
Seoyeon nodded at Stella’s kind translation, grateful that the actors hadn’t refused after her slight overexertion earlier.
‘She’s been training?’
The musculature wasn’t from gym workouts but likely from martial arts practice.
Seoyeon nodded at the striking physique of the stunt actor, feeling inspired to take up martial arts herself.
‘I’ll look into it later.’
“First, if you enter this way, I’ll dodge like this…”
Seoyeon began to coordinate her movements roughly with the actors, which seemed too simplistic to the stunt actors who frowned at the lack of detail.
With no action director and an additional action scene requested, it was fundamentally absurd.
“Roughly like this? Let’s try it once.”
Seoyeon, running out of further explanations, said this after her energetic but vague explanation.
How could they know where to dodge and counterattack when only the basic movements were mapped out?
“Let’s just try it once as it’s practice.”
Stella translated Seoyeon’s words.
The white actor at the front grimaced, mistaking Seoyeon’s casual attitude toward action as underestimating the gravity of stunt acting.
“Alright, let’s try it then. If action were so easy, it’d be pretty good for us too.”
Upon hearing those words from the Caucasian actor:
“He says it’d be great if acting was this easy.”
“Is that so?”
It’s not exactly easy.
While executing the action, the character’s emotions within the story also need expression.
‘Did I not explain enough?’
She had been a bit lax.
But Seoyeon, despite her physical capability, was already a product of long-term action training at Korea’s top action actor school, the ‘Cheonghong Action School.’
In short, she could pull it off with casual effort.
“Then, let’s go.”
It was merely practice after all.
But it being practice didn’t mean Seoyeon was going to take it easy. She decided to fully commit herself.
Taking a deep breath, standing at the corridor’s entrance, and facing the actress playing the role of Yeon Seonye, who blocked her path—seeing Rosalyn’s bodyguards—
Seoyeon slowly closed her eyes.
Immersed deep within the role of ‘Kasugayama Yuina,’ she had already engaged in method acting.
Thus, reconnecting with the character’s emotion was easy.
Just needing to reconnect the broken emotions.
Therefore, slowly…
Seoyeon opened her eyes.
Her fiery crimson irises gleamed faintly in the dimly lit corridor, sparkling with a mysterious light in the shadows.
“!!!”
The stunt actors who saw this moment froze in place.
The presence now was completely different from the earlier moment when Seoyeon had simply entered pushing the door open.
Back then, her demeanor seemed like something missing emotion, whereas now, anyone would recognize her as Kasugayama Yuina.
‘Is acting necessary here?’
Unconsciously falling into the genuine mindset of being one of Rosalyn’s bodyguards, even though their interaction was supposed to be simple choreography, they hesitated about whether they needed to act their roles.
Clearly, the girl’s acting wasn’t ordinary.
Even for actors who had been active in Japan for a long time, they had never witnessed such an acting display.
One step.
Another step.
As Yuina approached them, the actors, being professionals, managed to follow the set movements despite their initial bewilderment.
Seoyeon’s instructions had been straightforward.
Which direction to move, how to attack at first, how to proceed afterward, and so on.
Each actor had such details outlined clearly, including how she was supposed to evade and counterattack.
But could they carry that out as easily as talked about?
As the first bodyguard extended his hand toward Yuina, it swung wildly through the air.
Yuina easily dodged and swept her leg past him, knocking him down effortlessly.
Next, another attacker came rushing in, wielding a small stick.
A kn*fe.
She expertly blocked the move with her equivalent sponge weapon, spinning her body around and striking the opponent’s side with her elbow.
Even though force was not intended, the shock was enough to leave the person breathless as they were hurled to the ground.
Another bodyguard attempted an assault, swinging his foam bokken (practice wooden sword).
Again, Yuina dodged with ease, and after some fluid movements, the actor was airborne before realizing what happened.
“Huh?”
The actor, lying on the floor, didn’t have time to execute a proper landing and could only dizzily gaze up at Seoyeon.
Arriving in front of Rosalyn’s door, Seoyeon wore a peculiarly dissatisfied expression.
“This isn’t right.”
The fallen actors looked up at Seoyeon.
Her recent action performance—
Each movement followed the planned route, yet their bodies were sore.
Despite it seemingly looking like mere rough movements, what exactly had just happened?
“Looks like we will have to do this a few more times.”
Though they didn’t understand Korean, the actors could roughly guess what she said by her expression and tone.
“Apparently, she plans to repeat until satisfied? Oh my God…”
Watching the terrified faces of the actors, Stella chuckled slightly.
“Hmm? Wait, didn’t this scene end with me getting slapped by Yuina?”
A sudden chill ran down Stella’s spine.
Stella was well aware of the downside of emotion-heavy performances like Seoyeon’s. When one dives too deeply into their role emotionally, their movements become infused with genuine emotion.
For example, actions like slapping someone’s face.
Briefly, a punching bag appeared in Stella’s mind.
“Uh… Director, would it be possible to change the last scene if it’s okay with you?”
“Not possible.”
With the firm refusal, Stella tensed up, something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
“Thank you all for your hard work today!”
The filming ended late at night. Most of the delay was due to the time spent coordinating the action choreography, but it was still impressive to have completed filming with action scenes in just one day.
“Watching Sooyeon Joo’s action performance today made me want to see her proper action work.”
“Isn’t that showcased in Mine?*”
“Isn’t it set for OTT release sometime next year?”
“Right. Fortunately, it isn’t a movie because GH Group will sharpen their blades and prepare.”
“Come on, our movies are on par with any now. Stella herself is a big part of that.”
“True. For such an expensive actor… Hmm, she really worked hard today.”
Stella had already received her fair share of slaps—five or more.
Fortunately, Seoyeon seemed to know the meaning of hitting and had decent control over her strength.
Thus, Stella’s cheeks didn’t get flung away like a baseball hit by a bat.
Still, being slapped was being slapped.
“Umm… Did she intentionally cause NGs every time?”
“Not exactly… sorry.”
By the way, the apology came from Jiyeon. It was she—not Seoyeon or Stella—who’d been the cause of the NGs in those scenes.
Still, the scenes themselves turned out well in the end.
Stella’s slightly swollen cheek was now covered with a cold ice pack.
What a way to make an appearance for the cameo!
“Hehe, not everything went smoothly. I wanted to do what Seoyeon does in her dramas, but it failed.”
Regardless, Stella found it a bit enjoyable. This was her first time engaging in a ‘slap’ acting scene.
“So, are we heading back now?”
Seoyeon asked Stella. She was somewhat concerned after striking her several times, regardless of how gentle it felt.
“Oh, obviously. Are you feeling nostalgic or something?”
“No, not at all.”
“Haha, that’s too much.”
While laughing, Stella briefly glanced at Seohui Jo, who seemed to have something on her mind for a while.
“Anticipating the movie scene from today when it finally airs. I did enjoy it.”
“That… I agree. I learned a lot.”
“Good to hear it.”
Stella briefly glanced at Seoyeon. The more she looked at her, the more similarities she saw between them. Simultaneously, a difference emerged.
Still, in the present moment, Seoyeon’s presence was undeniable. Although the other actors were somewhat distinguishable after such an ‘acting’ session, their images weren’t as vivid.
“Through further interactions today, I had something I wanted to ask, but I’ll save that for later.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hmm, nah. Anyway, I’ll head off now. My dad’s waiting, so… sure, unless you have something to tell me.”
Only then did Seoyeon realize that Seohui was gazing at Stella.
Why was she looking at Stella like that?
“Just a few questions I want to ask.”
And with that, Seohui left alongside Stella, who was casually waving her hand.
What exactly did she want to ask?
Even Jiyeon seemed curious.
“Seoyeon, did you hear something from Seohui Jo?”
“Nothing at all.”
“From halfway through today’s filming, I felt like there was something there.”
“Indeed, Seohui was quieter during this sh**t.”
“…I’m still not used to you speaking casually to Seohui Jo.”
“I’m still being respectful! I’m just calling her by her name for convenience.”
While chatting like this, they looked in the direction where Stella and Seohui disappeared.
There was definitely something cryptically significant happening.
“Oh, Miss Seoyeon.”
In the middle of their conversation, Director Baek Min approached them. Bending down quickly,
“No need, it’s fine. Miss Jiyeon did well today too. Remember, improvisation is your strong suit, Jiyeon, but sticking to the script is essential moving forward.”
“Yes, understood!”
“And… Miss Seoyeon, we’ve almost wrapped up filming your scenes.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Only the bl**d fight scene with Mr. Lee Sang-soo remains.”
At that, Lee Sang-soo, who’d been standing at a distance, flinched. His anxiety grew after witnessing today’s action scene.
“So, during the remaining filming in Japan, it’ll mostly feature Miss Jiyeon and Miss Seohui. Seoyeon, you may take some rest but, knowing surroundings, I doubt you’ll be left idle.”
The purpose of this Japan location shooting was to capture the snow-covered landscapes.
Additionally, Japan perfectly matched the atmosphere of ‘Michiko’s Mansion.’
Therefore, all the events taking place in Michiko’s mansion are planned to be captured in Japan.
Since Seoyeon’s role, ‘Yuina,’ doesn’t enter Michiko’s mansion, there isn’t much left for her to sh**t.
“Miss Jiyeon also needs to prepare seriously. Important scenes lie ahead.”
“Important scenes?”
Seoyeon asked while mentally reviewing the script, considering the scenes between Jiyeon and Jo Seohui that were yet to be shot.
“It’s the kiss scene.”
Upon hearing those words, countless universes seemed to unfold behind Seoyeon.
Suddenly, her consciousness was sucked into a black hole.
