Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 13

After half a day of reading scenes aloud, Siwoo now knew who was who.

Playing Fu Yao and Mu Qing was actor Giwon Choi. Giwon was an actor that had gained popularity through romance dramas and films. He was known for his collection of "I'm cold to the rest of the world but passionately devoted to you" type roles. His tint of feminine aesthetic was balanced out by his sharp features and lean but strong, tall figure.

Sitting next to Giwon was Dohyun Shin playing Feng Xin and Nan Feng. Unlike Giwon, Dohyun was an actor that only played roles in Korean Period dramas. It was to the point where people barely recognized him out of his wigs and hanboks. He had a squarer face and a set of big, expressive eyes that screamed justice.

Sitting at the other very end of the table was Sohan Jin, who had bumped into Siwoo earlier that day. And when it was finally Sohan's turn to read his line, Siwoo wasn't too surprised that he was playing Shi Qingxuan. Shi Qingxuan was exactly the type of role that Sohan was known for playing. And honestly, there wasn't another actor that Siwoo could think of that could pull off Shi Qingxuan's up beat and airy attitude. But Siwoo also wondered how Sohan would act out the end of Shi Qingxuan's story. He had never seen the actor play anything deeper than a college student losing his first love to the main character after a baseball game.

Siwoo carefully glanced to his right at Haejun who was flipping through his script. Playing Hua Cheng was this monster of a man, who was nowhere on the same level as anyone else here. Siwoo couldn't wrap his head around why someone like Haejun had decided to act in a drama like this. Sure, it was the Netflix adaptation of a very popular web novel... but still... It wasn't anything like what Haejun usually starred in.

Thankfully, Siwoo didn't have a lot of lines in the scenes that had been chosen by Jinho, so he had the time to practice a bit every time under his breath before it was his turn. Still, he had messed up a couple of times and stumbled over his words. And every time, he had unconsciously glanced at Haejun to check his reaction before correcting himself. But Haejun hadn't said a single thing to him the whole time. If anything, he turned his face away from Siwoo whenever he slipped up. Which was honestly, worse than saying something in Siwoo's opinion.

Not a single actor here did their roles injustice. If I was a fan of the book, I would have been really happy with the casting, thought Siwoo. But then he remembered that he was the one playing Xie Lian. Aside from whether he could pull off the role, he also felt uneasy about the day people would find out that he was going to be starring in the drama and what their reaction would be. Other than the small amount of time he was live with his members for the music shows, Siwoo purposefully stayed away from going on TV or bringing attention to himself. For the past year and a half, he had done his best to keep a low profile, so the other members could function somehow. While the other three did their best to find programs or shows to bring some kind of income back to the group, Siwoo had worked part-time jobs to help.

He knew just what it felt like to be forced into the public's attention for the worst reasons. He wished some miracle happened and people would all be delighted about his casting... that everyone just woke up one day and forgot about what had happened and were excited to find out about his new endeavor like they used to be. He closed his eyes. He knew something like that was never going to happen... if anything, only the total opposite scenario was waiting for him. And when the next wave of hateful attention arrived, he was going to have to hold his breath and endure every bit of it to make it out of the other side... like he had done every time.

After a few more hours, the table reading finally came to an end and Siwoo relaxed a bit into his seat. Jinho finished up his notes and dismissed the session. "Since it's rare to have the whole cast in one place, I'm going to be buying dinner for everyone," he announced. The room cheered. Everyone was hungry and exhausted.

Siwoo packed up his things and walked out of the building. It was already late into the night, and the summer air felt a bit heavy. The group of actors behind him were talking about how they should carpool to the restaurant. He wasn't going to be joining them because he had to go back to the hospital and trade places with his mom. But he still wondered what they were going to eat. Something nice and warm would be nice, he thought. It had been a while since he had eaten a proper meal.

Everyone started leaving one by one, a few of the actors glancing curiously at Siwoo before they got into their cars. Siwoo did his best to stay focused on his phone to avoid any awkward eye contact when a figure stepped out of the group and made their way towards him. Surprised, Siwoo looked up to see Dohyun in front of him.

"Do you have a ride?" he asked. His big and serious eyes looked Siwoo square in the face.

"I actually have to be somewhere, so I can't go," Siwoo smiled. Dohyun looked a bit unsure of what to say at first, but politely nodded and said good night. Siwoo watched the actor walk back and get into a van. He didn't mind going to the hospital instead of the after-party. But he knew that he was missing out on a great chance to befriend the rest of the cast. Of course, it wasn't guaranteed that joining everyone for dinner would be that helpful... and maybe everyone preferred him not being there. But at least he would have had the chance to offer to pour the drinks or pass out the food or the chopsticks and spoons to try and improve their impression of him.

Siwoo patiently waited for his van after everyone had left. All four members of CLOUDS shared one, so sometimes it took a while for the ride to arrive when they had separate schedules like today. Although, it had been a while since Siwoo had any sort of schedule by himself.

Expecting to be standing there for a while, Siwoo took out the script to an episode he hadn't read over yet and began studying. The scene took place in the gambling den. It was Xie Lian's first time seeing Hua Cheng's true form.

Siwoo tried to imagine what the scene would look like. He thought of the donghua and dramas he had referenced while reading the book. It was supposed to be a very intimate moment, where Hua Cheng shows his affection by letting him win. Siwoo reminded himself that Xie Lian in that moment of time was still not in love with Hua Cheng in any way. When acting out the scene, he would have to be surprised than anything at the odd act of generosity. He would actually have to express so many emotions at the same time. He had to be embarrassed at his horrifyingly bad luck, surprised at seeing Hua Cheng's true form for the first time but still happy to see him in general, a bit shaken by the physical touch, and also a bit weary and cautious because the other officials were with him in the supreme's lair.

Raising his hand in front of him, Siwoo imagined a piece of bread in it. Focused on each and every word, Siwoo murmured his lines until he unconsciously read one out loud.

'It's cold... and might be a bit hard to chew,' he said.

'It's okay. I don't mind,' a voice answered from behind him. Siwoo dropped his imaginary bread and spun around to see who had said the next line. Haejun was standing by the door, the city lights glowing around his clean-cut face.