It could be expressed as a classic interrogation room. There was a metal table that didn’t budge as well as metal chairs which likewise did not move. It was impossible to stand up directly from a sitting position due to the fixed position of the chairs. Trying to do so would make the person hit their knees on the table. It would hurt quite a bit if someone tried standing up abruptly. It was positioned such that you could only slide out sideways to stand up properly. Maru wondered if it was like this in a real interrogation room.
“You’re a murderer who knows nothing. A pure murderer. You were raised on an island and you don’t have any rejection towards killing. You were raised that way and you lived your life that way. Oh, and you can’t talk. The only thing you can say is stuff like uh, ah, oh, and stuff like that. Do you get what kind of character it is?”
“Yes.”
Maru spoke as he put his hands on the cold surface of the table. The staff put him in handcuffs. He thought that it was just a plastic prop, but it was actually metallic. A sharp metallic ring could be heard as it brushed against itself between his palms.
“I want you to express violent emotions. Just like a wild dog or something.”
“Yes, sir.”
While the producer went and talked to Joohyun, Maru took off his handcuffs and picked up his script. He glanced at the script to see what kind of emotions his character was supposed to express before practicing a bit with his lips. Since he had no lines, he had to find ways of expressing himself using something other than words. His actions had to be exaggerated, and his voice sharp. He tried moving around sideways a little and analyzed what kind of emotions he was going to express according to the script.
“Let’s get ready.”
The producer spoke as he walked in front of the monitor. The lights on the ceiling turned off. The light stand fixed on the metallic table turned on and there were reflectors installed on both sides of the set.
“Even if it’s a bit uncomfortable, endure it for a while.”
“It doesn’t feel that uncomfortable. Actually, it’s quite comfortable.”
Maru lifted his cuffed hands as he spoke. Joohyun, who sat opposite him, smiled back.
“Then let’s do this.”
Joohyun tapped on the table twice before leaving the interrogation room. Maru looked at the grey wall in front of him as he took in a deep breath. The back of his head prickled a little.
“Well then, Miss Joohyun, enter.”
The studio became quiet with a single ‘cue’ sound. Maru slowed down his breathing and lowered his head as he waited. Eventually, a creaking sound could be heard before the iron door opened. Joohyun, wearing an expressionless face, sighed in a low voice as she came in. She sat down on the chair and lifted the file she carried in with her. The sound of rustling paper created a strange sense of tension.
“You can’t talk, huh. Is it that you can’t, or is it that you won’t?”
Joohyun put the file upside down on the table quietly.
“Actually, I don’t mind. Whether you can talk or not has nothing to do with me. Maybe it's because I’m trashy, but I can read other trashy people’s minds. So I don’t need words to speak with you.”
Joohyun pushed the file away from her lightly. The file slid across the table and stopped in front of Maru. Maru looked at the yellow file cover before grabbing the file and twisting it apart. The handcuffs hurt him a little, but he didn’t mind. He then thrashed the messy file against the ground. Joohyun looked at the file once before speaking.
“Han Sunggoo, Choi Jaechul, Kin Jintaek. You might not be able to speak, but you can understand, right? These names. They aren’t that unfamiliar to you, are they? They shouldn’t be. That’s because you killed them all. For Han Sunggoo, you stabbed him with a kitchen knife six times. Cleanly in the chest too. As for Choi Jaechul, he died by strangulation. You used his necktie, didn’t you? Lastly, it’s Kim Jintaek. For him, you used a hammer. It’s quite curious. Usually, murderers have a weapon they stick to or a method of killing for that matter. But you just kill. With no form, no aesthetics, no nothing. You just kill.”
Maru slowly raised his head. The camera that shot his face entered his vision. The camera shot him from above. He had to be aware of the camera, but not notice it. He tensed the inner part of his cheekbones, where the nasolabial folds were. His upper lips rolled upwards and trembled.
Since he created the form of the expression, what was left for him now was to pour his emotions into it. He was a child who had nothing with him. He was a child that had no sense of guilt since killing people was akin to breathing to him. A kid who could only vent his frustration by running around wildly like a wild dog was tied up and imprisoned in a place full of metal.
He wasn’t afraid of punishment. He did not know such a thing. He was only annoyed at the reality that he could not do as he wished to. He was anxious. His hands were twitching. He wanted to leave this uncomfortable place this instant and run around wildly.
Clang clang clang. The handcuffs and the metallic table bashed and created a loud noise. He was a child that could not speak. His only form of expression was action. He hit the table according to a certain rhythm. He didn’t do it strongly though, since this was just a warning.
Joohyun stood back up again. She was Bangjoo’s big sister as well as an actress that was high above him. He knew that fact, but the rage he brought up did not dissipate.
He bared his teeth at Joohyun who approached him. He did not restrain his shaking body and gave it free rein. Joohyun faintly smiled back at him as well. She was also a fierce wild dog.
“You must have killed them. Yes, you did. But why? Because you like killing? No. Those three people have nothing in common. They even live in different places, and their ages are drastically far apart. It’s not from resentment, and it’s not like you have sadistic tendencies. Then what could it be? Just why did you kill those three people? You know, I don’t think of you as a crazy murderer. I can smell the scent of a pro from you. You killed those three too cleanly as though it was your job. What is it? Just who the hell are you? No, who the hell’s behind you?”
She approached a step closer. A shadow was cast over her face since she was facing her back against the light stand. Maru had a look at that shadow. In that darkness, Joohyun’s eyes glistened with lunacy. He got goosebumps on his skin. If he met such eyes in a normal situation, he would’ve turned his head away subconsciously. Those eyes were supposed to be avoided. The wave of emotions that assaulted him from in front of him shook Maru’s body.
At this rate, he would be pushed back. If it was impossible to return one hundred percent of Joohyun’s acting, then he had to not break the flow of the scene at least. Maru stopped thinking and brought out more primitive emotions.
Until now, he had never brought out emotions without restraint when shooting for a drama. Even when he was expressing something violent, another ‘self’ was always watching his acting self. That self was the controller of his emotions, and the director that directed everything going on in his heart. Even when his acting self was angry, annoyed, or crying, that self always gave orders so that the acting self could maintain a certain level of sanity. Maru adjusted the level of his emotions that way. Maintaining the depth of emotions he could control. That was an acting philosophy that Maru treated as more important than anything else.
And right now, Maru’s other self turned a blind eye. This was just pushing work onto his acting self. The observing self could not counter Joohyun’s acting. Matching her was something only possible if he was on the same level. Matching Joohyun’s acting and her emotions was still too hard, at least for now.
That was why he gave up on one part. Since his polished emotions were worse than Joohyun’s acting, he had to push onto her his raw, unpolished emotions.
There was only one time that Maru acted recklessly like this.
-I’ll receive anything you throw at me so go ahead and show me all you got.
Elder Moonjoong. He was someone that beautifully matched him even if he pushed onto him his raw emotions. Joohyun also seemed capable of filling what he lacked.
With this being the case, he didn’t need to be focused on his lacking acting skills and could change his direction so that his opposing actor could be highlighted even more.
The script flashed past his mind. Despite his rationale’s negligence, his mind thankfully still remembered the script. What was left now was to explode with his emotions.
Maru could no longer see how his facial muscles were moving. He only hoped that the boiling rage showed up on his face. All he felt was that his facial skin was being twisted.
Just then, Joohyun, who was right in front of his face, smiled as though she was happy. She wasn’t someone that tossed emotions back and forth with him according to an agreement just now. She received the emotions protruding from Maru and heightened the flow of the scene.
The more violent Maru became, the more proficient of a hunter Joohyun became as well. Her eyes seemed to say thus: Go wild even more.
“Aaaaaaargh!”
He reached out with his cuffed hands and grabbed Joohyun by the neck. Every finger joint was tense. Joohyun’s mouth opened wide as she was being strangled. She also bared her teeth and smiled.
Joohyun axed the bend in Maru’s arm with her elbow. Along with a loud thud, Maru’s arm fell on the table. With no time to feel the pain, Maru twisted his body immediately. His knees crashed against the fixed metal table numerous times and created a loud noise. He grabbed Joohyun’s collars and shook them wildly, while Joohyun grabbed Maru by the hair. Maru pulled hard, and Joohyun did the same.
The two faces closed in on each other to the point that a fist could not fit between the two. Maru looked at her with a shaky breath, while she also shut her mouth tightly and looked down at Maru.
Maru kept pulling on her collars. A ripping sound could be heard somewhere, but it didn’t matter to him. For a brief moment, the thought that he should stop flashed past in his mind, but the strength in his hands became stronger. A wave of uncontrollable anger was directed at Joohyun. The thought that he couldn’t end things like this filled his head.
Just as a low gurgling sound could be heard behind his twisted lips, Joohyun pushed his head onto the table.
The desk closed in on him. Just before his forehead met the table, he felt Joohyun softening her strength. It seemed that she was perfectly controlling herself even during this violent act.
However, Maru did not stop. There was a loud thud. A sharp pain rang in his head, and at the same time, his immersion broke.
“Cut!”
Maru loosened his entire body when he heard the cut signal. He put his face against the table and did not move. No, he couldn’t move. He felt that he had to stay like this for a bit.
His mind felt complex, and his heart did not calm down. He felt that he might get angry at Joohyun if he looked at her now. He needed some time to calm down his rampant emotions.
Just as he was calming his breathing as he looked down at the set, a hand was placed on his head.
“That was some good drive.”
Joohyun patted Maru’s head. Maru made a powerless smile and raised his head up. He saw Joohyun smiling in front of him. She didn’t look messy at all. It seemed that the emotions she showed just now had been taken back in already. The disappearance of the female detective that was pressuring her assassin was quite swift.
“I think that’s the bottom of my emotions.”
Maru thought back to the acting methodology that Joohyun talked about before as he spoke.
“You’re still far from it.”
Joohyun tapped Maru’s cheeks with the back of her hands as she spoke.
“Hey, hey! Han-whoever-it-was! Is your head okay?”
The producer ran up to him and asked. Thinking that this producer was really bad at remembering names, Maru replied,
“I’m fine.”
