Chapter Thirty-Six: The Trial of the Mirror

  Not long after Wen Gen and her grandmother left, the first young male lead was chosen, a handsome little guy with a charming smile. After the selection of the child actor was completed, it was immediately followed by the selection of the second female lead, which took about an hour or so to select a suitable actor, and then came the selection of the second male lead.

  Eight actors participated in the audition for the role of Han Tae-sik. Among them were young and relatively unknown actors like Jang Sung-won, as well as veteran actors who had been active in the industry for nearly thirty years. The candidates went through the interview process two by two, following the order arranged by the staff, while those waiting for their turn stood outside. Perhaps due to the competitive relationship or perhaps because they were not in the mood to make friends at that moment, everyone was focused on their own affairs and didn't pay much attention to others.

  In the same group as Zhang Chengyuan, he is also a handsome guy with good looks and temperament. Except for Zhang Chengyuan, no one else on the scene can surpass him or even be mentioned in the same breath. Zhang Chengyuan thought to himself that this person was probably his biggest competitor in this audition, and could even be said to be his only competitor.

  It's no wonder that the crew would put this person and Zhang Chengyuan in the same group, obviously wanting to let the two actors with the best conditions compete on the same stage, and then decide the final winner.

  Zhang Chengyuan was thinking to himself while unintentionally checking out the handsome guy. The handsome guy felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at, composed himself, and politely asked, "Hello, is there something I can help you with?"

  Zhang Chengyuan realized his mistake and hastily apologized, "I was rude just now. Hello senior, I just thought you looked familiar." To be honest, Zhang Chengyuan rarely watched TV or read newspapers, and was quite ignorant, so he had never seen this handsome guy before. Zhang Chengyuan said this only to find an excuse for his own rude behavior, and also implied that the other person was famous.

  "You look quite familiar too, like the one who shot a ramen commercial with Jang Dong-geon." The handsome guy looked pleased and replied.

  "That's right, I'm Zhang Chengyuan, and I just debuted last year."

  "My name is Won Bin, real name Kim Do-jin. I debuted in '97. You look like you're a few years younger than me, so just call me Do-jin hyung from now on."

  ……

  Men are sometimes very strange, they can call each other brothers after just a few words and even become good friends immediately. Yuan Bin and Zhang Chengyuan are in this situation now. The two of them chatted happily, before they knew it, a lot of time had passed, and soon it was their turn to go in for the interview.

  Under the reminder of the staff, the two stopped talking and smiled at each other, then began to adjust their emotions and prepare for the next audition. At this time, both of them had an idea in their hearts that they wanted to compete with each other fairly and squarely, as for who would win or lose, and what the outcome would be, neither of them was particularly concerned about it.

  As they entered the room, there were several middle-aged people sitting inside, both men and women. It was likely that they were the backbone members of the crew, including the director, producer, screenwriter, etc. Yuan Bin and Zhang Chengyuan stood side by side, bowing their heads in unison to greet them, then stood still, waiting quietly for the director's questions. The two men were handsome and elegant, with excellent temperament, making it almost impossible to distinguish between them. However, Zhang Chengyuan was slightly taller than Yuan Bin, about half a head higher, which made him stand out even more.

  When they saw the two, the director and screenwriter were secretly applauding in their hearts. They immediately forgot about the other people who had auditioned before, thinking that if they only looked at appearance, either of them could play the role of Han Tae-sik, the second male lead. Next, it's a matter of who has better acting skills or who is more suitable for the role of Han Tae-sik.

  The director said: "Let's start with the first scene given in the script. Yuan Bin, you're older, so you go first."

  The first scene in the script tells the story of: The male lead Yoon Jun-hee and the female lead Choi Eun-hee eloping, while the second male lead Han Tae-sik, who is supposed to be Choi Eun-hee's boyfriend, searches for them everywhere but can't find them. He gets drunk alone in his room, overcome with emotion, calls Choi Eun-hee but she doesn't answer, and ends up talking to himself, nursing his sorrow.

  Yuan Bin walked into the house and sat down beside a tea table, facing everyone. He closed his eyes for a moment to gather his emotions, then suddenly opened them again, his gaze seeming to be drunk but not quite. He raised his hand as if making a phone call and said, "Enxi, hurry back, I'm still waiting for you." His voice was intermittent and sorrowful, immediately moving the emotions of those around him, unknowingly bringing on a wave of sadness.

  Right after that, Yuan Bin was stunned for a while, his expression couldn't hide the pain, and the tears hidden in his starry eyes almost fell, paired with his handsome face, it could definitely move most women to tears.

  Slowly, Won Bin's expression changed, as if mixed with some anger in his sorrow, and suddenly he said angrily: "Ah! Choi Eun-hee, you'd better come back to me quickly. You don't want to live anymore, do you? I really want to kill you!" His voice was a little higher, and it was clear that he was just venting his anger, but from his tone and expression, it could be seen that he couldn't bear to blame or abandon Choi Eun-hee.

  "Eun-hee, Eun-hee..." He kept calling out her name, his emotions growing stronger, a mix of sadness and longing, yearning for Choi Eun-hee to return to his side immediately.

  "Hey! Speak up, I have something to tell you...... What I want to say isn't finished yet, I...I haven't finished speaking. I love you, Eun-hee!" He seemed to be really drunk, his words becoming more and more incoherent, except for the last sentence which was extremely clear and touching. As soon as he finished speaking, Won Bin's body immediately collapsed onto the coffee table.

  The room was silent for a long time, and the director finally applauded and cheered: "Great, great, it's really wonderful! Unexpectedly wonderful, this role is handed over to..." Before he finished speaking, the screenwriter gently pushed him and swept his eyes across Zhang Chengyuan. The director suddenly remembered that there was another actor who had yet to audition on the scene, and hurriedly coughed a few times, changing the subject: "Hmm, Yuanbin, you can rest first, Chengyuan, now it's your turn to perform, you perform the second scene."

  The second scene tells that when Choi Eun-hee got cancer, Han Tae-suk told her five things that made her reluctant to leave the world in order to strengthen her will to live, and asked her to survive. When Choi Eun-hee said that there was one more good thing that could make her survive, which was Han Tae-suk, he was deeply moved and said that he was very satisfied now.

  After watching Won Bin's performance, Jang Sung-won knew he would definitely lose this time. Because when he was exploring the character before, he couldn't deeply understand what kind of emotions Han Tae-sik, the second male lead, had in these two scenes. After seeing the deep emotions that Won Bin had accumulated during his performance, he suddenly realized that this was the true appearance of love between men and women, but he had never experienced the taste of love before, nor had he carefully observed how lovers interacted with each other in life, so now it's very difficult for him to express the inner world of Han Tae-sik's deep emotions.

  After knowing the reason, Zhang Chengyuan's mood suddenly cleared up, and he felt a little regretful: this audition was destined to fail without comparison. However, he has always been someone who doesn't give up halfway, so at this time, although he knew he would definitely lose, he still wanted to try once. Moreover, no matter what, this audition could also be considered an opportunity to hone his acting skills.

  Zhang Chengyuan sat down on a chair, turned his body to the side, as if Cui Enxi was sitting next to him, and he wanted to talk to her. He calmed himself down, opened his mouth, and began to recite the lines: "We should think about the good aspects..." The lines were firmly etched in his memory, and he recited them very smoothly, occasionally pausing for a moment, with his tone rising and falling to match the emotional fluctuations in the dialogue. Up to this point, he performed extremely well, almost perfectly, showcasing his excellent skills in reciting lines.

  The subsequent performance was somewhat disappointing, and compared to Yuan Bin's rich and emotional interpretation, it was much inferior.

  "...Now you have to listen to me...You must live...You can't lose, you have to live..." Tears welled up in his eyes, but unfortunately, his gaze didn't quite match the tone, as if it was more about reluctance and confusion rather than deep love.

  He paused for a moment, as if waiting for Choi Eun-hee to finish speaking. Jang Sung-won's face was filled with emotion, his upper body leaning forward, and he hugged the imaginary Choi Eun-hee in front of him. "Thank you... I'm already satisfied, it's enough like this... I'm really satisfied," he said, tears streaming down his face.

  At first glance, Zhang Chengyuan's performance is quite good, with rich imagination and emotions, and tears come easily, without any hesitation. However, the feeling he gives people is not like he is comforting or encouraging his deeply loved woman, but rather like he is bidding farewell to a close relative. And because he portrays this feeling too deeply and vividly, it makes people feel even more awkward.

  The director and screenwriter exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously.

  The director asked after taking another look at Zhang Chengyuan's personal data: "Zhang Chengyuan, you're only 19 years old this year, shouldn't you not have had a romantic relationship yet?"

  Zhang Chengyuan nodded: "Yes."

  Director: "Maybe that's why you can't bring out your strength. In fact, your acting skills are excellent, if it weren't for playing the role of Han Tae-sik who is so infatuated, you would definitely be able to handle it. As a senior, I give you some advice. Love is almost the main theme of every TV series, for your future career path, it's best to go and have a romance first, the deeper the better, this will help improve your acting skills greatly."

  Zhang Chengyuan bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, senior. I will go and do it." In fact, he had already realized his own shortcomings, so there was no need for the director's reminder, and he would have done so anyway.

  Next, the role of Han Tae-sik was confirmed to be played by Won Bin. Just as Jang Sung-won was about to leave the room, the director suddenly stopped him and asked, "We have a small role that hasn't been cast yet, do you have any interest?"