Peninsula: From a supporting actor to the best actor in Chungmuro

Chapter 205 Jin Zhuge Offers a Plan

September 10th.

At that time, the filming of "Descendants of the Sun" in Seoul was nearing its end, and they were currently working diligently to catch up on the final hospital scenes.

This hospital scene...felt a bit like a forced, dramatic attempt to create conflict.

Yin Mingzhu contracted the deadly infectious disease M3 and was on the verge of death.

The only hope for survival—the antidote vaccine—was stolen by the villains en route to the hospital.

The other party offered a condition: to use his diamonds as a bargaining chip in exchange for the vaccine.

Fortunately.

Yoo Si-jin and Seo Dae-young took the diamonds to make a deal. Their opponent seemed to still have some "professional ethics." The diamonds were delivered safely, and the vaccines arrived as promised.

When Yin Mingzhu was on the verge of death, a vaccine was injected into her body, pulling her back from the brink of death...

however!
The mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole is behind.

When Yoo Si-jin and Seo Dae-young risked their lives to rescue Yoon Myung-joo and went deep into the enemy's den to exchange vaccines.

The area behind is empty.

The innocent victim, Kang Mo-yeon, is kidnapped in the hospital by the villain's henchmen who have infiltrated the area...

This series of crises, designed to advance the romance between the male and female leads and highlight the male lead's moments of glory, contains logical flaws and overly contrived coincidences, which even the seasoned screenwriter Kim Eun-sook herself was well aware of.

After its broadcast, it will inevitably face sharp criticism from viewers who question whether it is "torture for the sake of torture, conflict for the sake of conflict."

then.

The "buffer" meant to balance the plot and neutralize potential audience dissatisfaction unsurprisingly fell on the shoulders of the bickering couple, Kang Jae-hoon and Kim Ji-won.

This scene depicts Xu Darong exchanging heartfelt words with the isolated Yin Mingzhu via radio.

Without visual interference, sound becomes the only medium.

The actors need to convey, through their voices, the enduring love forged in despair. Every pause, every breath, every nuance of the dialogue must be perfectly executed to create a vivid image.

and so.

They chose the simplest, yet most effective, method—

First, sit together and rehearse.

Remember the other person's reaction to their lines, every fleeting emotion that crossed their eyes. Embed these tiny fragments of feeling into your own being. That way, when the walkie-talkie actually connects, you can "see" their expression even across vast distances.

Rehearsals begin.

No need for further preparation.

When Kang Jae-hoon uttered his first line—"Have you been eating properly?"—a torrent of sour tears welled up deep in his nose.

Xu Darong's forbearance, panic, and forced composure had long permeated his very being.

This is not acting.

It's as if the floodgates of the soul have been pried open.

Kim Ji-won's response followed immediately:

"I miss you."

Those three seemingly casual words instantly overwhelmed Kang Jae-hoon's pent-up bitterness. Hot tears welled up in his eyes without warning, splashing onto the script pages and leaving a small, dark, damp stain.

This tear became the fuse.

The moment Kim Ji-won looked up, she was met with his overwhelming dishevelment. Seo Dae-young's despair, seeping through Kang Jae-hoon's red-rimmed eyes, crashed over her like a tsunami. Her character, Yoon Myung-joo, was currently hanging on the brink of life and death!

The script says she will recover, but every second of rehearsal right now is what the character thinks is her last goodbye!
"I……"

Kim Ji-won opened her mouth, but before she could even utter the second syllable, her defenses crumbled.

Tears streamed down her deliberately pale, sickly face, shattering Yoon Myung-joo's stubbornness and breaking down Kim Ji-won's barrier as an actress.

Rehearsals shouldn't be like this.

But when Kim Ji-won's trembling voice repeated the line "I miss you" as she crashed into him, Seo Dae-young's fear was no longer just the printed words on the script.

It took on a physical form.

It is the helplessness of watching your loved one slide into the abyss without being able to hold on.

Kim Eun-sook's writing style has been tempered by fire.

There isn't a single explicit word of love in this scene, yet every word and phrase is a desperate chapter filled with the profound love of separation by life and death.

……

The last syllable dissipated into the deathly silence.

The command to end rehearsal was on the tip of their tongues, but no one could utter it.

Under the bright lights on set, only suppressed sobs and rapid breathing could be heard.

Kang Jae-hoon lifted his blurry, tear-filled eyes, only to find that the visual impact was far more devastating than the dialogue—

The blue and white stripes of the hospital gown were soaked with tears, some dark and some light. Her disheveled hair clung to her wet cheeks, and her carefully applied pale makeup was completely ruined, revealing her real skin underneath, flushed red from immense grief.

The string called "professionalism" snapped.

It wasn't Xu Darong who rushed towards Yin Mingzhu.

Instead, Kang Jae-hoon pulled Kim Ji-won into his arms.

This embrace went beyond the boundaries of their roles.

It is the actor's instinctive release of their immense emotional needs and demands for security when they are swept up in the torrent of the other person's real emotions in the abyss of despair.

behind the monitor.

Director Li Yingfu's gaze was fixed heavily on the two figures embracing each other tightly.

There was no call to stop.

No sound was heard.

He simply raised his hand very slowly, and silently pointed his index finger downwards.

The assistant carrying the camera understood immediately, and the camera quietly zoomed in, greedily capturing this raw "reality" that overflowed the script.

next to.

Holding a box full of tissues, the makeup team leader hesitated, wondering whether she should step forward to save the two lead actors' completely ruined makeup, and also to salvage their hospital gowns that were almost crumpled from tears and hugs...

He glanced at the silent camera filming over there, then at the two people whispering sweet nothings to each other.

Finally, he silently withdrew his hand from handing over the paper and muttered:

"Oh dear... this clothing... I'm afraid it needs to be ironed again..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The torrent of emotions accumulated during rehearsals found the perfect outlet during the actual filming.

In the monitor.

Kang Jae-hoon's Adam's apple bobbed above the collar of his training uniform, his voice sounding as if squeezed from the deepest part of his chest. Each syllable was rough like sandpaper, but when he uttered the three words "Yoon Myung-joo," a thin crack suddenly appeared, revealing a trembling tenderness.

Kim Ji-won's response drifted from the hospital bed. The once proud military doctor's voice was now incredibly soft, her weak, reproachful tone laced with a coquettish nasal tone as words like "idiot Dae-young" and "fool" rolled from her pale lips.

Scenes without physical contact actually resulted in the most intimate performances.

The hissing sound of electricity became the best medium, carrying those unspeakable fears and longings.

Xu Darong's every whisper felt like a gentle caress on her tense back, while Yin Mingzhu's every complaint felt like a kiss on his anxious heart. Worry and love intertwined in the radio waves, more naked than any physical contact.

The moment the director yelled "cut".

Kang Jae-hoon was able to rely on his more instinctive acting skills and willpower to barely keep the out-of-control emotions at the point where the character Seo Dae-young was on the verge of collapse, rather than letting them completely engulf the actor himself. However...

On the other side, Kim Ji-won was still curled up in the hospital bed, her knees pressed against her chest, as if trying to curl herself into a small cocoon. Tears kept overflowing from her reddened eyes, leaving dark dots on her hospital gown.

Women are inherently more emotional beings, and coupled with their immersive acting style, they often find it difficult to detach themselves from the role the moment the director yells "cut."

When Kang Jae-hoon composed himself to check on his partner's condition—

The scene that came into view was far more heartbreaking than the rehearsal.

He walked to the bedside, looked at the constantly trembling blue and white stripes, and remained silent for about two or three seconds.

There was no gentle comfort.

There was no hugging or patting.

Instead, he used an almost obnoxious and irritating tone, with a somewhat inappropriate and blunt observation:

"Stop crying, you've made your eyes uneven."

Hear the words.

Kim Ji-won raised her tearful eyes and kicked the unromantic jerk without hesitation.

—When he lost control, who was it that immediately became his human body pillow so he could cling to her tightly?! While she was being torn to pieces by her role, he was here making jokes and rubbing salt into her wounds!
Jiang Zai Xun was kicked and staggered, but the smile on his face deepened.

After that kick, Kim Ji-won's strange emotions suddenly deflated, and the boundary between the on-screen and off-screen worlds finally became clear again.

……

This hard-fought battle, which had exhausted all the emotional fuel, has finally come to an end.

A rest area in a corner of the film set.

Two folding chairs were placed side by side.

Kang Jae-hoon and Kim Ji-won each held a sheet of notices for the next few days in their hands.

The papers rustled silently as they were turned, the cold printed text proclaiming: Kang Jae-hoon's journey on the Seoul film set had only one scene left—a scene where Seo Dae-young and Yoo Si-jin enthusiastically went to support a popular girl group's performance, only to be "precisely bombed" by Yoon Myung-joo and Kang Mo-yeon, who were watching the live broadcast on TV.

What followed was a four-day free and empty vacation.

Followed by.

The film crew's itinerary of flying to Greece on the 15th is clearly visible.

however.

What's giving Kang Jae-hoon a headache is that his damn birthday happens to fall right in the middle of his work break!
Is he trying to use the excuse of a seamless work schedule to Greece after filming wraps up to escape?

Daydream.

It can be found out with a simple check.

don't go?

Whom to accompany? How to accompany? Accompanying either party will turn the other party into raging lava.

Like choosing a path along the Sanzu River.

The only breathing space is that Bae Suzy is currently under the spotlight of Milan Fashion Week, which has reduced the upcoming battleground from a three-way contest to a hellish two-way choice.

As Kim Ji-won's gaze swept over him sideways, she caught the barely perceptible wrinkle between his brows. The notice slip rustled softly between her fingers, the turning pages like fluttering butterfly wings, deliberately stirring the stagnant air.

"Your birthday is the day after tomorrow, right?"

Her voice held a mischievous hook, each syllable tugging at his taut nerves.

Kang Jae-hoon's silence was more weighty than any answer.

Kim Ji-won deliberately rolled the notice into a tube and tapped it lightly against her palm, enjoying his rare embarrassment. At this moment, even the slightly red beads of sweat on the back of his neck became a wonderful sight.

"What are you going to do?"

The voice just fell.

The flattery came unexpectedly.

Kang Jae-hoon jumped up and naturally walked around to the back of Kim Ji-won's seat.

These hands, which can express the most restrained deep affection in front of the camera, have now become the most attentive massage claws.

The pressure on her shoulders and neck was a probing, ingratiating touch; the warm fingertips sank into her skin, rubbing away the soreness accumulated during rehearsals.

"Could you... give me some advice?"

His sincere tone and humble posture were completely different from the Kang Jae-hoon who had just stabbed him in the hospital bed and called him "uneven-eyed"!
The speed at which his face changes is astonishing.

Kim Ji-won: "...?"

She almost laughed out of anger!
How can there be such shameless people in this world?!

One moment he was being sarcastic and criticizing her for crying so much her eyes were swollen, and the next he could nonchalantly and shamelessly seek guidance from a "relationship counselor"?!
Shouldn't she charge a fee?!

Counted by the minute!

"How's the force?"

The comfortable sensation on her neck made Kim Ji-won let out a half-sigh of enjoyment through her nose, then she was startled by her own cowardly reaction.

"This matter..."

She drew out the last syllable, feeling the appeasing pause on her shoulder:
"It's actually quite simple..."

"...What plan should we devise?"

Jiang Zai Xun's tone was exactly like that of a doomed lord facing imminent destruction, waiting for his strategist to speak.

Kim Ji-won had never seen her usually composed partner so subservient and obsequious. The slight schadenfreude she felt was largely washed away by this unexpected massage service, strangely giving rise to a bizarre sense of satisfaction—"absurdly addictive, but undeniably enjoyable"—

A strange sense of inflated ego, as if she had "controlled the power to kill scumbags," fluttered like a little devil in her heart.

Kim Ji-won, enjoying this "bribe," slowly offered a solution:
"One celebrates their lunar birthday, and the other celebrates their solar birthday. Wouldn't it be better if they were different?"

Jiang Zaixun paused, then smiled wryly, "But...they all know I only use the Gregorian calendar!"

"Duh, then we'll time it perfectly! One after midnight, the other after 11 PM. Got it?"

Kim Ji-won's suggestion was like a sharp pair of scissors, cleanly and decisively cutting through the previously tangled birthday dilemma.

Kang Jae-hoon's hand, which was massaging his shoulder, suddenly stopped.

His fingertips still lingered on the taut skin of her nape, the warmth of his palm seeping through the thin fabric of her costume. From this angle, one could see the slight upturn of her lips and the delicate shadows cast by her eyelashes on her cheeks.

One is past midnight, the other is past midnight.

The time difference tactic perfectly avoided the overlap of physical space, yet precisely hit the psychological defenses of the two female protagonists—Yoona wanted a sense of ritual, while Lee Sung-kyung wanted a sense of security.

Kim Ji-won tilted her head, reading Kang Jae-hoon's sudden enlightenment from his relaxed knuckles.

She squinted, suddenly finding the scene absurdly amusing—

An actor who can portray a crazy tycoon so convincingly is now racking his brains over the most cliché birthday arrangements.

In the distance, the stagehands began moving props for the next scene.

The clanging of the steel frames startled the two, each lost in their own thoughts. Kang Jae-hoon folded the notice and stuffed it into his pocket. As he left, he casually ruffled Kim Ji-won's hair, as if rewarding a strategist who had offered his advice.

This movement is so natural.

So naturally that they all forgot—

The strategist who came up with the idea could have been the most dangerous arsonist.

[PS: I've had some personal issues these past few days, so the word count for updates has been slightly reduced. I'll try my best to return to the usual 6K updates by the day after tomorrow.]

[In addition, the prizes for the monthly pass giveaway have been roughly decided. Viewers can leave comments in the comment section to decide the final prizes.]

(End of this chapter)