The Face Genius Actor

Episode 115 

After the meeting with the reporter.

Kang Tae-nam starts to have more reasons to suspect Yoon Se-rang.

More people than before have pointed to Yoon Se-rang as the culprit.

Also, perhaps due to the reporter spreading rumors, there’s talk in the area that Han Ho-hoon was killed by a classmate.

Eventually, this story reaches the police chief.

The police chief calls Kang Tae-nam and gives him separate instructions.

“I hear you’re pursuing another suspect in the Han Ho-hoon case?”

To the police chief’s question, Kang Tae-nam emphasizes that there isn’t enough evidence yet to specify a suspect.

But the police chief pressures Kang Tae-nam with an attitude of indifference.

“You must know that our police station’s reputation has hit rock bottom. Yesterday, Seoul was bothering us, saying they would dispatch personnel.”

“…Was that so?”

“Yes. So, you need to put in a bit more effort. Everyone around is suspecting that student. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right?”

Kang Tae-nam starts to refute by mentioning the principle of presumption of innocence but stops.

This is because he too was increasingly thinking that Yoon Se-rang might be the culprit.

After all, he was the first to think Yoon Se-rang might be the culprit.

After some consideration, Kang Tae-nam changes his words and requests additional personnel for the investigation.

‘This was today’s morning filming quota.’

And this scene was the turning point of “I Am Not a Villain”.

As Kang Tae-nam also starts to specify Yoon Se-rang as the culprit, the movie enters a new phase.

Now the movie will approach the truth more quickly, but it feels uncertain what kind of ending it will reach.

The filming was progressing well as intended by me and Director Choi Seo-young.

“Standby! Cue!”

* * *

“We’ve secured CCTV footage of the suspected perpetrator!”

As one detective raises his voice like this, we all snap to attention and move to check the evidence.

Indeed, the CCTV captures a suspicious man dumping a body at the fishing spot.

However, the quality isn’t good enough to identify facial features.

Still, this is enough to secure the overall body size and gait of the suspect.

“The height seems to be around 170cm, not very tall. By the way, doesn’t that black padding the suspect is wearing look like something students often wear?”

“You’re right. Is it a brand popular among students in this area?”

“Indeed… Then, couldn’t we identify the suspect by checking the gait of all students who have this padding?”

“That sounds good…”

“Wait a minute!”

But I feel a strange sense of dissonance from the appearance of the suspect in the CCTV.

The auditory and visual hallucinations that have appeared and disappeared before my eyes several times.

They were so different from the appearance of the suspect in the CCTV.

‘It feels strangely different. But how can I explain this? Is this even something that can be persuaded?’

I haven’t met the child everyone is suspecting yet either.

I’m just getting a feeling from the auditory and visual hallucinations.

As my thoughts deepen like this.

A detective who went out for witness interviews rushes in shouting.

“We’re in big trouble! The media outlets have started releasing articles all at once!”

Just like we all checked the CCTV together, we take out our phones to check the internet articles.

As the previous detective said, the internet is already rife with news that Han Ho-hoon’s murder suspect is a classmate.

There are even malicious articles mixed in saying that the police aren’t catching the culprit even though they’ve identified the suspect.

Once again, people are pointing fingers at the police’s incompetence.

‘This is bad.’

This is different in impact from just rumors spreading in the area.

The entire police force’s prestige will be damaged because of this issue.

Naturally, the pressure from above will only increase.

Sure enough, the police chief opens his office door abruptly and gives direct orders.

“Don’t just stay inside, everyone get out there now! Quickly check the gaits of Han Ho-hoon’s classmates first!”

“Yes, sir!”

The situation is so urgent that we can no longer look at the CCTV.

I also move outside the police station with the other detectives.

As I pass through the main gate of the police station, I suddenly feel another auditory and visual hallucination coming.

As if the season has changed, the atmosphere around becomes warm.

Across the street, a child calls out to someone with a bright voice.

As if cheering for someone, they raise their voice with both hands cupped around their mouth.

But I can only see the mouth moving, not hear the voice.

I hesitate for a moment, then come to my senses and run to check the child’s face.

And as always, just before I can confirm the face, the child’s figure disappears.

‘Who are you? Are you really the culprit?’

I mutter this internally, but of course, there’s no answer.

“Cut! Okay!”

* * *

For several days, we increased the pace of filming.

Thanks to the new function of the method mask, there was no problem in increasing the speed.

Also, it was easier to increase the speed because we had already filmed all the scenes that needed friendly appearances at the beginning.

We didn’t need to waste time matching schedules with actors.

As the movie gradually approached its end, Kang Tae-nam secured a few more new pieces of evidence in the meantime.

We filmed scenes related to this.

First, unidentified fingerprints were secured at the crime scene.

This meant that the suspect was likely to be a minor.

Because you must register your fingerprints to get an ID card.

Also, during the autopsy of Han Ho-hoon’s body, it was confirmed that no defensive wounds were found.

If Han Ho-hoon didn’t make any effort to defend himself, there was a high possibility that the suspect was someone he knew.

Once again, we had taken a step closer to the hypothesis that the culprit was likely one of the students.

All that remained was to identify the suspect and compare them with the evidence.

However, this task didn’t unfold as easily as expected.

Even after checking the gait of every student at Myungsung High School, no one similar could be found.

The result was the same even when the investigation expanded beyond second-year students to the entire school.

‘Just when the investigation hit its final wall, Kang Tae-nam finally hears Yoon Se-rang’s name.’

This was supposed to be the final scene of our movie that we had to film today.

Director Choi Seo-young and I had postponed filming this last scene until the final day.

We didn’t want to shoot the pivotal scene of this movie prematurely.

Also, it seemed that filming in the order of the movie’s flow would allow Kang Tae-nam to fully embody the emotions.

This was the biggest advantage of filming a movie in chronological order.

As the set was being busily prepared for the final shoot, Director Choi Seo-young spoke up.

“Finally, it’s the last shoot.”

“Indeed. The end has finally come. By the way, what was our editing schedule again?”

“We’ll rest for two days and then focus solely on editing for two months. I’m not sure if we can finish within that time, though.”

“Without weekends?”

“Yes, without weekends. We’ll probably take a break once a month.”

Director Choi Seo-young sighed as if this was just the beginning.

The editing schedule, which required giving up weekends, certainly didn’t seem easy.

I was about to suggest to Director Choi that she should work while taking some rest, but I stopped myself.

I knew all too well that she wasn’t the type of person who would listen to such advice.

Director Choi Seo-young was someone who found the greatest joy in working.

I could easily grasp this fact while filming together.

As I quietly watched Director Choi sighing, I spoke up.

“Would it be okay if I visit the editing room frequently?”

Director Choi nodded without hesitating twice and replied.

“Well, I don’t mind. You have almost all the stake in this movie anyway. But don’t you have a tight schedule?”

“It’s not exactly leisurely, but I still want to visit the editing room often. It would be even better if I could learn editing techniques in the process.”

“Oh…”

Director Choi seemed to have sensed something from my words.

“Could it be that you…”

“Yes, that’s right. I have ambitions in that direction too. It’s just an ambition for now, though.”

That’s right.

In fact, I wanted to direct my own movie someday.

But this wasn’t as simple as writing a script or screenplay.

Writing scripts or screenplays was relatively easy for me to approach.

As an actor, I had read and analyzed numerous works.

So when I wanted to participate in a work as a producer, I wrote the screenplay for “I Am Not a Villain.”

However, directing wasn’t something you could easily approach just by having the ability to analyze works.

You needed to know how to handle everything related to filmmaking – shooting, editing, props, music, and so on.

Especially editing was almost an unknown territory for me.

It was rare for actors to be involved in editing.

So I wanted to take this opportunity to learn about editing.

I had already started studying related topics, but I wanted to observe the actual editing process up close.

Watching the editing process of “I Am Not a Villain” would be a great help in improving my skills.

“To think that you’re even considering directing… Your passion is truly amazing! Feel free to come to the editing room anytime. My skills may be lacking, but I’m sure you’ll learn something if we edit together.”

Hearing Director Choi’s words, I felt relieved.

I had been worried that she might be displeased by my proposal.

Editing was the director’s prerogative.

In some cases, a separate editing director might be appointed, but ultimately, Director Choi had the final say in this matter.

For this reason, depending on how one looked at it, I could have been seen as infringing on her authority.

Even though I was the lead actor, investor, and writer of this work, it wasn’t right to carelessly infringe on the director’s authority.

If this aspect hadn’t been properly respected from the beginning, the two of us wouldn’t have been able to bring “I Am Not a Villain” to its completion.

‘A heart that trusts each other.’

I was convinced that our work stemmed from this sentiment.

That’s why I was cautious about bringing this up to Director Choi.

I was so relieved that the conversation went well.

“Thank you for allowing me so willingly, Director.”

“No need to thank me. It’s rather a pleasure for me. Working with you, who personally wrote ‘I Am Not a Villain,’ will surely enhance the quality of the editing. More importantly, it looks like the set preparation is complete now.”

“Yes, it does.”

“Shall we start the final shoot then?”

“Yes, let’s begin.”

Director Choi got up, dusting off her seat, and I also moved towards where the camera was set up.

“We’ll now begin the final shoot of ‘I Am Not a Villain.’ Everyone, please standby! Cue!”

At last, the final shooting of “I Am Not a Villain” began.