Chapter 108:
Chapter 108
The oral interview.
It was the pinnacle of the entrance exam pyramid, the university that everyone dreamed of.
There was a common saying that if you got into Korea University, you would be set for life and celebrated by your whole village.
No wonder, it was the most coveted university in Korea, the so-called exam powerhouse.
Young-guk had no connection to Korea University in his previous life, not even a speck of dust. But now, he could see its emblem in front of his eyes.
“Young-guk, calm down and breathe slowly. You just have to do as well as you usually do. I brought some herbal pills for you. Do you want one?”
“I’m fine. I think you should take them, Hyung. You look more nervous than me, as if you were the one taking the oral interview.”
“Am I being too anxious? I can’t help it, coming to Korea University makes me tense.”
Just like the spring flowers made people’s hearts flutter, Korea University’s campus was enough to make the applicants’ chests throb.
The parents were no different.
They prayed for a good harvest in the exam, the result of their children’s hard work and sweat.
Manager Lee Bong-chun, who always treated Young-guk like a younger brother, was no exception.
“I’ll be back.”
Young-guk wondered if he was feeling sorry for the short farewell, or if he was still uneasy. He kept staring at his back through the car window.
With the help of the assistant, Young-guk arrived at the waiting room, where many students had already arrived.
They were all prodigies in Korea, applying for the Law Department of Korea University.
To avoid attracting attention, he wore a hat and a scarf.
Of course, the assistant knew that he was coming, so he glanced at him from time to time.
The waiting room was silent, as if he had submerged himself in the sea.
Everyone was reading their prepared reports for the oral interview, without any distraction.
Sometimes, they would peek at Young-guk, who was wearing a hat and meditating, but not for long.
When the interviewees’ numbers were called, they all looked like soldiers going to the battlefield, ready for anything.
No one knew who would be the winner or the loser.
Soon enough.
“Number 21, please enter the interview room.”
Young-guk’s number was called.
He took off his hat and scarf before entering the interview room.
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. But there was no trace of tension on his face, as if it was a habit.
The only sound that echoed in the hallway was the door opening.
“Hello, I’m Jang Young-guk, the number 21 applicant.”
There were three professors sitting in the interview room, which was about seven square meters.
They all had stern eyes.
To add to the pressure, there was not even a single window in the interview room.
It was like an interrogation room, where the oral interview took place.
“Read the text on the desk and tell us your personal opinion on it.”
It was the interview paper, the topic of the oral interview.
The text was in English.
It was about judicial justice.
The first question was to point out the problems of the Korean judicial system from the perspective of a prospective law student.
The second question was to suggest solutions and directions for the future of the legal profession.
How should Young-guk explain this?
If he was an ordinary applicant, it might have been easier to answer. But he had seen the landscape of his past life.
Of course, he had lived as an actor, but the legal profession was also close to him.
After all, celebrities were always involved in legal disputes over trivial matters.
As the white-haired professor blinked once, a fleeting moment passed. Young-guk made up his mind. Instead of giving a vague answer, he decided to speak bluntly.
“There is no solution, because there is a lack of self-reflection.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means that it is impossible to establish judicial justice by addressing the problems of the Korean legal profession. It is like a disease that has spread throughout the legal profession. There is nepotism, unfair sentencing, and even poor accessibility to the system. I know that the law is based on common sense and judgment. It is a discipline that should guarantee the interests of the people, but who has ever spoken of the law comfortably, from the past to the present in Korea?”
“Your words are flawed, you make it sound like only the rich can use the law conveniently, but in reality, there are many lawyers who serve the marginalized, such as human rights lawyers and public defenders. What do you think of them?”
“Of course, your words are not wrong, either. But I want to ask you back. Why do you define the legal profession’s initial intention as service?”
The debate continued.
One of the professors on the left and right narrowed his eyes, while the other one twitched his cheek, exchanging words with Young-guk endlessly. Only the white-haired professor in the middle looked at him with interest.
“Keep talking.”
The people wanted primal justice.
Fair and square.
That was why Young-guk had to rethink his interview logic, even from the perspective of a prospective law student.
Judicial justice was all about trust.
Trust in the judiciary did not come from the pen of the legal profession, but from the mouth of the people.
After all, if the legal community had truly upheld the virtue of the judiciary based on basic common sense, who would complain?
The saying that one was innocent until proven guilty was not without reason.
How much time had passed?
The interview time (10 minutes) was almost over.
“Let’s end the oral interview of the 21st candidate, Jang Young-guk.”
At that moment, among the three old professors, the white-haired old professor sitting in the middle smiled and called out to Young-guk, who was leaving the interview room.
“Jang Young-guk, the candidate. No, the interview is over, so I can call you Jang Young-guk, the actor, right?”
“Yes?”
The other old professors, who had pretended not to know that Young-guk was an actor, also smiled faintly.
They forgot the heated debate they had just had, as if they were enjoying a refreshing sauna.
“You, no matter how I look at it, you’d be perfect for the role of a legal professional.”
***
Just like the Yeouido Financial District, the broadcasting industry was also very sensitive to rumors.
As the saying went, the birds hear the day talk and the mice hear the night talk. Young-guk’s entrance exam was no exception.
The results were still a week away, but the rumors were already spreading.
A reporter had blabbed while drunk at a drinking party, but luckily, thanks to the embargo, no articles were published.
“What? Korea University Law School?”
Actress Cha Hye-jin’s eyes widened.
“That’s right. The rumor has already spread all over the broadcasting station. Jang Young-guk applied to Korea University Law School. It’s amazing. At that age, he won the Best Actor Award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and even entered Korea University Law School! These days, among the Gangnam moms, there’s a saying. ‘Just be half like Jang Young-guk.’ That’s how popular he is.”
The stylist chattered excitedly.
On the set, the young actor Jang Young-guk was always the talk of the town.
His appearance at the script reading was also amazing, but his performance on the set was incomparable.
He acted as if he was possessed by two characters, Yi-yung and Yi-gyeol.
As a result, the other actors had to grit their teeth and devote themselves to acting.
‘By the way.’
Cha Hye-jin’s cheeks sagged.
She had already finished her makeup and was waiting for the standby.
Normally, by now, her co-star, Jang Young-guk, would have come to the waiting room and greeted her, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of coming to the waiting room.
‘Is he cocky because he’s famous?’
The drama set was like the army, where the hierarchy was clear.
It was natural for the hoobae to come and greet the sunbae.
Especially since this was the scene where Jang Nok-su and Yeonsan-gun met for the first time.
She had wanted to have a conversation and build rapport with him, but her dream was shattered.
Knock, knock.
A knock came from beyond the waiting room.
Well, then.
“Come in.”
Cha Hye-jin crossed her legs with a haughty expression. But the person who opened the door and came in was not the person she had been waiting for.
It was PD Yoo Myung-han.
At that sight, Cha Hye-jin’s face showed a hint of disappointment, but she quickly erased it like a true actress.
“Cha, for this scene, we’re going to do an inside work, so don’t panic even if the angle turns to the back, and keep showing your true face. Okay?”
“Okay, but Director, is Jang busy right now?”
“I saw him reading the script earlier, why? And we just did a rehearsal.”
“It’s not that, but he didn’t even say hello to me after the rehearsal, so I wondered if something was wrong. He was friendly at the script reading, but today he seems different.”
“Ah.”
PD Yoo Myung-han waved his hand.
“It’s a habit, a habit. You don’t usually talk to a co-star before an emotional scene. It interferes with the feelings. I forgot to tell you in advance. But he’s not that rude. He’ll probably bow his head and greet you as soon as the shooting is over. So don’t be offended.”
“I’m not that old-fashioned, so don’t worry.”
Cha Hye-jin smirked.
Sensitive actors sometimes avoided having personal conversations with their counterparts in scenes that required emotions.
It was understandable since it was the first meeting between Jang Nok-su and Yeonsan-gun. But she was not the only actor.
Something flashed through Cha Hye-jin’s mind.
“Director, can I try one ad-lib in this scene?”
***
Jang Nok-su (張綠水).
A woman who was called a gisaeng of Joseon.
There were different opinions about the first meeting between Jang Nok-su and Yeonsan-gun.
The most likely story was that Yeonsan-gun heard rumors about Jang Nok-su’s skills, who was a slave of Je An-daegun, and later picked her as Yi Yungg-chung (興淸). But the scene they were shooting today was an earlier story that was passed down as a wild history.
Flap.
The red hem of a beautiful hanbok fluttered in the wind.
The skirt was voluminous, but the jacket was thin and had a graceful pattern.
Jang Nok-su, who wrapped a janggo around her shoulder and danced, captivated the eyes of the viewers. Especially since she was none other than Jang Nok-su.
Thump.
The staff on the set couldn’t take their eyes off Jang Nok-su’s dance.
Men and women alike were mesmerized by her beauty. Her red lips and sharp eyes were bewitching.
It was safe to say that she was no less beautiful than Jang Nok-su recorded in the official history.
If you looked at the official history, Jang Nok-su was a woman who had a plain appearance but a youthful face and a gisaeng-like speech and behavior. But the actor who played Jang Nok-su, Cha Hye-jin, was the most beautiful woman in Korea today.
Yeonsan-gun, who disguised himself as a nobleman and visited the gisaeng house, faced Jang Nok-su’s dance.
She was a slave of Je An-daegun, but Je An-daegun, who valued skills, recognized Jang Nok-su’s talent and sent her to the best gisaeng house in Joseon to learn music and dance. Yeonsan-gun, Yi-yung, couldn’t take his eyes off her dance, which stood out from the others.
“Can you call that girl for me?”
In the backyard of the gisaeng house, Yeonsan-gun, Yi-yung, who was watching Jang Nok-su dancing alone, asked. But the manager, who didn’t know his identity as a nobleman, begged him with his head bowed.
“Sir, that girl is only practicing her dance in the garden, she is not a gisaeng who works here.”
“If she is not a gisaeng who dances with a janggo in the gisaeng house, then is she a lady of a noble family? If she is not a young gisaeng who hasn’t raised her head yet, her dance is too exquisite.”
“Sir, that is not the case. Actually, she is a slave of Je An-daegun. She used to learn dance from a dancer at our gisaeng house academy from time to time. Today is the day that she came to visit, sir.”
“Je An-daegun…”
The enemy of King Ye-jong and Yeonsan-gun’s uncle. He should have inherited the throne after the death of the eldest son, In Seongdae-gun. But he had to give up the throne to Seong-jong because he was young. After that, he lived a life like a wastrel and showed childish behavior, and was even called a foolish prince by the people.
But Yeonsan-gun knew well that it was all a strategy to survive. He also pretended not to know his mother’s death in order to survive.
“Call that girl.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you hear him say to call her? Hurry up!”
As Kwak-san, who was guarding Yeonsan-gun’s side, shouted, the manager didn’t know what to do. He looked like he would draw his sword if he didn’t listen. It was then.
Clack.
Jang Nok-su stopped dancing and approached Yi-yung. Then she bowed slightly and moved her red lips.
“I greet you, Your Highness.”
At the word ‘Your Highness’, the manager’s face turned pale. On the other hand, Yi-yung’s face showed an interested expression.
“Do you know me?”
“I have seen you talking with Daegun at his residence, sir.”
“Then, can you show me the janggo dance once more, right here, for my sake?”
Jang Nok-su’s eyes curved mischievously, like a red flower that refused to bow its head. But the janggo that hung slanted on her shoulder did not move at all.
“Your Majesty, I beg your pardon, but I cannot perform the dance you desire at this moment.”
According to the original script, Jang Nok-su should have performed a dance to seduce Yeonsan-gun right now.
PD Yoo Myung-han watched the filming scene with a dry lip. It was the ad-lib that Actress Cha Hye-jin had suggested.
She argued that Jang Nok-su, known as the greatest courtesan of her time, would not be scared by a single word from Yeonsan-gun and follow his orders obediently.
On the other hand, he was curious about how Young-guk would react.
So he didn’t give any hints. If there was an NG, he could just cut the editing point and reshoot. But then.
Swoosh.
Yeonsan-gun Yi-yung drew his sword and pressed it against Jang Nok-su’s neck.
His movement was so fast that everyone on the set was astonished. It was a fake sword, but it looked like he was really going to cut off Jang Nok-su’s neck.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Actress Cha Hye-jin tried to calm her startled mind.
Her cherry-red lips, slightly parted, trembled as a proof of her shock.
She had expected her partner to be flustered when she improvised a line that was not in the script.
But to her surprise, he did not show any sign of panic. Instead, he responded as if it was part of the original script. Cha Hye-jin was speechless, and then he burst into a loud laughter, looking up at the sky.
“You are bold, indeed. I have never seen anyone as daring as you in my life. When the time comes, go to the mansion where your master lives. Show me your dance then. Seeing you like this, I have no interest in watching your dance anymore.”
As he withdrew his sword, a thin trickle of blood ran down from Jang Nok-su’s red lips.
Cha Hye-jin had bitten her lip without realizing it, so startled she was.
At that moment, PD Yoo Myung-han who was watching the whole scene through the camera shouted “Cut!” with a triumphant cry in his heart.
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