Free Web NovelThe next day, Yoomyeong overslept.
It was understandable, considering he had stayed up until dawn dealing with an unexpected guest.
After eating at a restaurant contracted by the film crew, Yoomyeong sat on a park bench, basking in the late May sunlight.
Tomorrow was the script rehearsal for his first shoot as Lee Bang-won.
Unfortunately, Hansung was not around.
Yoomyeong could rehearse his lines alone while imagining his co-star, but it lacked the dynamism of a real exchange. As he read through the script, an idea suddenly came to him.
“Miho.”
“What?”
“Can you help me practice my lines?”
“Practice? Hmm...”
Miho tilted his head playfully, but his large ears twitched noticeably. Yoomyeong could tell what he was thinking just by watching them. Strangely enough, his ears always betrayed his true feelings.
“Please help me. It’s hard to immerse myself when I practice alone.”
“If you insist, then I suppose I’ll help you, kyung.”
Miho quickly hopped onto the bench beside him, and Yoomyeong showed him the script.
“Here, let’s start from Scene 30.”
“The tea conversation between Bang-won and Mong-ju?”
“Yes.”
The script of <The Late Goryeo Dynasty & the Early Joseon Dynasty> alternated between the present and flashbacks.
Its backbone was the conversation between Jeong Mong-ju and Lee Bang-won.
Jeong Mong-ju reunited with his former student Lee Bang-won while visiting Lee Seong-gye, and Bang-won invited him for tea. Mong-ju, who had intended to seek him out anyway, gladly accepted the invitation.
The two then shared a meaningful conversation in a secluded pavilion within the garden.
As their conversation unfolded, the film interwove scenes from the past.
“The tea conversation scenes are the hardest. They’re the climax. I have to gradually reveal Bang-won’s respect for his teacher, his caution toward an adversary, his greed for talent, and his complete control over the situation.”
“Are you filming this part tomorrow?”
“No, it’s the final section. The filming is being done in chronological order.”
Director Son had decided to shoot in chronological order except for scenes involving overseas locations, such as the Ming palace, or cameo appearances that needed to be filmed all at once.
The idea was that following the timeline naturally brought out the characters’ changing emotions.
“Then why are you practicing this scene?”
“Because the tea conversation scenes showcase Lee Bang-won’s character the best. I want to fully grasp this part. I feel like if I get this right, it’ll help me portray his younger self better... Is that wrong?”
Yoomyeong explained his reasoning and sought Miho’s opinion, the greatest acting expert he knew.
“No, it’s a good idea. Let’s start.”
“Alright.”
“It was in this room that I first met you, Master. Do you remember?”
“How could I forget?”
“Your teachings remain vivid in my mind. Be firm in purpose, unwavering in gaze, and decisive in action. In politics, one uses whatever means are necessary to achieve one’s goals, even if those means are imperfect.”
“...”
“You did the same in reality. After returning from Japan, it seems you finally made peace with yourself, considering you now even share drinks with those you once despised.”
“I regret telling you that.”
Miho read his lines without moving his lips. The voice seemed to resonate from another space entirely, vibrating through the air itself. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Although Miho’s voice retained its own tone, it conveyed Jeong Mong-ju’s character so vividly that Yoomyeong absorbed every word, savoring them.
Despite initially agreeing only reluctantly, Miho took the role seriously, as though it were his own work, and diligently acted opposite Yoomyeong.
Everyone except Hansung, who was still filming, had wrapped up early that day.
The three gathered in Bae Geohyeong’s hotel room and opened a bottle of soju. It was a much-needed break after more than a month of intense filming.
“The director seems even more sensitive this time...”
Min Gyeong Guk, who played Jeong Do-jeon, muttered tiredly.
“He’s probably thinking about retirement, so he wants to pour everything into this project. But you’re doing well despite the pressure, actor Min.”
Bae Geohyeong reassured him with a pat on the back.
“You perform better under pressure, hyung. That’s why Director Son keeps pushing you. Look at me. No matter how much he pushes, I stay the same, so he doesn’t pressure me as much.”
Kim Jin Beom joked with a laugh.
All three had known one another for over ten years.
They had worked on projects together and frequently attended the same actors’ gatherings. More importantly, they were connected through the name “Son Chi-wook Faction,” a title that held special meaning for them. It represented the shared experience of enduring extreme pressure.
“Wow... I was as stressed today as I was when I debuted in the director’s film twenty years ago. My mental energy is completely drained.”
“Drink up. Alcohol is the best remedy on days like this.”
Bae Geohyeong poured him another glass.
After downing it in one gulp, Min Gyeong Guk suddenly remembered something.
“Come to think of it, tomorrow is our youngest member’s debut shoot. Do you think he’ll cry?”
“He won’t. He’s young, but he’s tougher than he looks. Did you see his eyes during the reading?”
Kim Jin Beom chuckled and joined in.
“He might not cry, but I bet he’ll mess up at least once. Everyone gets shocked the first time they experience Director Son’s style.”
“You’re talking about yourself, right? I heard rumors you ran away during your first shoot with Director Son.”
“Ah, hyung! That’s not just a rumor... Well, it’s true. I nearly died back then.”
Bae Geohyeong was forty-five, while Min Gyeong Guk was forty-two. Kim Jin Beom was forty, the same age as Yoon Hansung. Though all of them were established actors, Kim Jin Beom, being the youngest there, grinned slyly as he continued.
“But that young actor is seriously impressive. How many times did he appear as an extra again? Fifteen, excluding the last one?”
“That sounds right. But why does it matter?”
“I heard Director Son praised him during the last one, but I missed it because I was in the restroom.”
“Director Son really knows how to push and pull. He keeps people on edge.”
“Haha.”
Jin Beom’s eyes gleamed mischievously as he made a suggestion. ƒreewebɳovel.com
“How about we bet on how many takes the youngest will need to get an OK on his first shoot tomorrow?”
“Come on, that’s...”
“I say eight takes!”
Min Gyeong Guk, who had needed an average of six takes for today’s scene, answered immediately.
“I’ll go with five. He’s talented, and since it’s his first day, maybe the director will go a little easier on him.”
That was Kim Jin Beom’s prediction.
And Bae Geohyeong, though initially reluctant, finally joined in.
“I’ll bet on ten takes...”
“Ahem. Well, expectations for Lee Bang-won are high.”
The bet reflected both sympathy for the hardships the rookie actor would face under Director Son’s directing style and a bit of mischievous satisfaction, as if saying, “Now you’ll understand what we went through.”
They agreed that whoever guessed furthest from the actual number would buy soju at their next gathering before returning to their respective rooms.
Of course, none of their guesses turned out to be correct.
The crew crowded around the set built to represent ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Sungkyunkwan, the royal academy.
Hansung easily spotted Yoomyeong among the crowd.
“Hm?”
Lately, Yoomyeong stood out more than usual. Hansung did not even need to search for him.
He was already in makeup, dressed in a white hanbok and wearing a scholar’s headpiece adorned with two feathers on either side.
He was sixteen-year-old Lee Bang-won.
Although Yoomyeong possessed the physique of an adult, traces of youthful arrogance still lingered on his face, and the makeup captured it perfectly.
The story so far went like this:
At Lee Seong-gye’s request, Jeong Mong-ju had taught Lee Bang-won from the ages of twelve to fourteen. Delighted by his intelligence and by qualities both similar to and more flexible than his own, Mong-ju hoped to cultivate him as his greatest student.
However, in 1380, after sensing Lee Seong-gye’s ambitions during the Jeonju clan council following the Battle of Hwangsanbeol, Mong-ju used an excuse to stop tutoring Lee Bang-won. He realized that continuing to nurture him would ultimately support Lee Seong-gye.
Young Bang-won, unaware of the reason, felt abandoned by his teacher.
In 1382, at the age of sixteen, he passed the state examination and entered Sungkyunkwan.
The first scene scheduled for shooting that day was Scene 38.
Two years later, Bang-won encountered the teacher who had deeply influenced his youth during a special lecture at Sungkyunkwan.
“We’ll begin with the scene of Jeong Mong-ju’s lecture. Actors, please take your positions~”
Actors dressed like Yoomyeong in white hanbok outer robes and scholar headgear hurried into place.
Unlike modern schools, the academy contained scholars both very young and very old.
Among them, Bang-won was one of the youngest, but his eyes carried a determination and composure unmatched by anyone else there.
Dressed in official robes, Hansung sat before the students.
Director Son came over to give him a few directing notes before approaching Yoomyeong as well.
“From Bang-won’s perspective, the teacher he trusted and respected most abandoned him without explanation. Over the past two years, he must have gone through countless thoughts. Was there something wrong with him? Should he have visited his teacher? Had he done something wrong? Those thoughts helped shape his personality, giving him a broad view of situations and a cold temperament that leaves no lingering attachment.”
“Yes, Director.”
Yoomyeong listened carefully and nodded.
“The Sungkyunkwan scene, which marks the rookie actor’s first appearance, should convey both longing for and betrayal by a mentor, while still concealing those emotions. It’s the quality of a sharp young politician. Let’s start with the agreed movements first, see what the rookie actor prepared, and then adjust the direction from there.”
“Understood.”
“Alright, let’s go! Everyone, stand by.”
The noisy set quickly fell silent.
“Action!”
The lecture took place in a pavilion bathed in languid sunlight.
The lecturer was a renowned figure in Eastern Neo-Confucianism, celebrated for his academic achievements and diplomatic accomplishments extending as far as Ming and Japan.
Amid the admiring gazes of the students, only one pair of eyes observed the figure at the front with detached scrutiny.
Dressed in blue robes, Jeong Mong-ju delivered a graceful lecture on the Interpretations on Great Learning, walking slowly across the pavilion floor where light and shadow intertwined.
“The monarch may embody Heaven’s Way, but this is not simply because he is monarch, nor because only he is capable of doing so. As a human being, the monarch must continuously cultivate himself and strive to understand Heaven’s will. Therefore, if the monarch lacks cultivation or finds it difficult to govern alone, a stable system supported by ministers and officials becomes necessary.”
Government should not be ruled solely according to the whims of a single king.
Instead, officials administered the state, overseers vigilantly monitored them, and the king merely served as the final authority of approval.
Through this lecture, Jeong Mong-ju was conveying to the nation’s future the ideal world envisioned by both himself and Jeong Do-jeon.
Yet his gaze repeatedly drifted toward one particular student.
As expected, a hand rose from that direction.
“Please ask your question.”
The student stood and bowed respectfully, showing proper deference to his teacher before calmly offering a counterargument.
“However, would not good policies be lost amid majority rule or endless unresolved debates if the system revolves solely around officials? To respond flexibly to rapidly changing political situations, would not a system led by capable rulers alongside a stable administrative structure be more ideal?”
The confident voice challenged the greatest scholar of that era.
And Bang-won’s and Mong-ju’s gazes collided sharply.
