By Zephyria 
“Coming out after the audition, Lee A-gon’s face was vague as always. Park Hae-jun, who had been nervously shaking his legs, hurried over when he saw Lee A-gon.
“How was it?”
“It was okay.”
“Don’t just say that, tell me more details. How was it?”
“They said my acting was good. And…”
“And?” Park Hae-jun swallowed hard.
“They want to see more of my acting, so they asked me to come back once more this week.”
“Really? They didn’t say you weren’t handsome enough this time?”
“No, they didn’t say that this time.”
Ah, that’s a relief.
Park Hae-jun’s hand went to his chest. Honestly, he had thought it wouldn’t work out, so this was truly fortunate. It was a miracle that Lee A-gon met this production company’s standard of handsomeness.
“I’ll buy you meat, let’s go.”
“Today too?”
“Yes, from now on, the day you come back from an audition is meat day.”
“Great, hyung.”
Lee A-gon, taller than Park Hae-jun, clung to his arm and burst into laughter.
After the second audition, Lee A-gon was cast in the supporting role. He would play Kim Jae-hyun, the female lead’s first love, in the working title “Reaching Love.”
It seemed they might achieve Secretary Yang’s condition for success earlier than expected.
∞ ∞ ∞
Being selected at an audition didn’t guarantee actually getting the role.
Actors were cut even during script readings, or even after filming had begun. If the director suddenly said, “Wait, now that I look at you, you’re not handsome. You’re out,” they would have to pack up and leave.
Park Hae-jun prayed they wouldn’t notice Lee A-gon’s lack of good looks until at least midway through filming. He applied face masks to Lee A-gon daily, gave him massages, and even splurged on good skincare products, but there was only so much he could do. No matter how much effort he put in, Lee A-gon’s appearance remained the same, and that scared Park Hae-jun.
“Hyung, it’s okay. They said I was handsome.”
“Yes, that’s fortunate. But I don’t know when they’ll notice and cut you.”
Anxious, Park Hae-jun bit his fingernails. His anxiety kept growing at the thought of being discovered at any moment.
“I’ll be careful. I’ll try not to be found out.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
Park Hae-jun coldly shook his head. As long as he walked around with his face, it would be impossible. Eventually, they would realize. He just hoped that moment would come after the middle of filming when it would be too late to replace the actor.
The filming dates approached rapidly. Now that they had found the actor for the female lead’s first love, which had been troubling them until the end, there was no reason to delay further.
“Reaching Love” was a fantasy romance melodrama. Science fiction was supposedly the least popular genre among Koreans, with fantasy being the second least, and this film was not only fantasy but also female-led.
A female-led film from a production company whose previous works hadn’t performed well.
And the film was titled “Reaching Love.” Even for a working title, wasn’t that too simplistic?
In commercial films, the title often indicated the subject matter. Like how “The Host” featured a monster, “National Team” was about the national team, and “Roaring Currents” told the story of the Battle of Eum-yeongnyang. If you couldn’t immediately grasp the subject matter, you should be making art films, not commercial ones. Something like “The Day a Pig Fell into a Well.”
Of course, Park Hae-jun, as the manager of an unknown rookie, couldn’t dictate the film’s title. Fortunately, it was just a working title, so he could only hope a better one would emerge by the time of release.
In this film where Lee A-gon had been miraculously cast after four attempts, he would play Kim Jae-hyun, the first love of the protagonist Lee Yun-hee, a dying man. He was cast as someone who deeply loves the female protagonist but dies young from an incurable disease.
The story follows Lee Yun-hee, a rational woman who doesn’t believe in reincarnation despite her shaman mother’s beliefs. After Kim Jae-hyun’s death, Lee Yun-hee is stalked, receiving anonymous photos and calls. One day, a white butterfly enters her home. Later, her professor breaks in and attempts to assault her. Mysteriously, the butterfly catches fire and attacks the professor, giving Lee Yun-hee a chance to escape.
Finally, the fire on the butterfly’s body is extinguished and the professor’s face is revealed. Lee Yun-hee steps down from the bed with a pale face, trembling.
On one side of the unconscious professor’s face, a butterfly-shaped burn mark is seared into his skin. Lee Yun-hee collapses to the floor.
“Even if I’m born as a lowly creature without eyes or feet, I will come to you, noona, and protect you. Please wait for me.”
While recalling Kim Jae-hyun’s voice…
Kim Jae-hyun, who Lee A-gon would play, was a character who dies early on and then appears in the female protagonist’s memories through flashbacks throughout the story.
The director wanted to film all of Lee A-gon’s scenes at once. The first scene to be shot was their first meeting.
“Scene 3, Cut 2. Actor, please come in.”
“Actor, please stand here.”
“All standby.”
“Speed.”
“Scene 3. Cut 1 Take 1!”
“Roll.”
“Mark.”
Snap!
The production assistant who clapped the slate stepped back.
The director shouted, “Action!”
Water from the sprinkler truck poured down like rain. The actress Ji Eun-young, playing Lee Yun-hee, tries to cover her head with her hands, but cannot block the pouring rain.
Lee Yun-hee stomps her feet anxiously. Oh no, these are borrowed clothes. Of all days, it had to be the day she came back from her graduate school interview. The silk two-piece suit she borrowed from a friend was getting soaked.
Flustered, she spots a vendor selling umbrellas in a spot sheltered from the rain and approaches him. As Lee Yun-hee takes money out of her wallet, she makes a face of sudden realization. There was only 4,000 won in her wallet. The vendor selling umbrellas from his stand obviously didn’t accept card payments.
Just then, a man appears and stands next to Lee Yun-hee. She glances at him briefly and then steps aside.
“Excuse me,” the man says in a small voice. “If you don’t mind, would you like to combine our money and share an umbrella to the subway station?”
“How much do you have?” Lee Yun-hee asks halfheartedly.
The man, wearing his hat pulled down low, whispers, “4,000 won.”
The cheapest vinyl umbrella the vendor was selling cost 8,000 won. Combined, they could afford one. Lee Yun-hee nods and takes out 4,000 won from her wallet.
The man also takes out his wallet. But it’s a coin purse.
Lee Yun-hee asks, “…What are you doing?”
“Taking out money,” he answers in a slightly slow voice. The man begins taking coins out of his wallet. 100 won, 200 won, 300 won… making jingling sounds.
“Haven’t you counted it all yet?”
“If I had run to the station at this hour, I would have arrived by now.” Lee Yun-hee mutters.
“I’ve counted it all. Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, aah-!”
The man’s hasty counting causes his hand to slip. Dozens of coins spill onto the ground.
“Oh no.” The man murmurs helplessly and kneels down.
He bends his long back and starts picking up the coins. Unable to run away since this happened because of her, Lee Yun-hee also kneels and helps collect the coins.
The rain-soaked coins plus the 4,000 won were handed over. The umbrella vendor was about to give them an umbrella but stops and calls to the two:
“Students, you’re 500 won short.”
“What?”