A Thousand Faces (Soon to be Published)

Chapter 10

Rehearsal room.

Seated on the floor, Junwoo was in the midst of re-reading the scripts he had already gone through.

"Are you planning to spend your whole life just staring at those?"

Before they knew it, Mansik was there, having come in unnoticed.

He held a heavy paper bag in one hand.

Junwoo blinked.

"Where did you come from? Didn't see you around all morning."

Mansik wordlessly turned the paper bag upside down. Books tumbled out in a steady stream.

"This is..."

Junwoo's eyes widened in surprise.

"I guess this is enough for now?"

Even as he said that, Mansik scratched his head and looked displeased.

Understanding Theater, Basic Theater Theory, Introduction to Theater, Glossary of Stage Arts Terms, Directing Techniques, Playwriting Theory, Ancient Roman Theater and Comedy, and not to mention, classical books and scripts in their original languages.

There was only one bookstore in this rural area, and it was located in the city center.

To have gone all the way there on such a hot day.

It looked like he had bought up everything related to theater in that tiny bookstore.

He was always hanging around the theater, so he wondered where Junwoo had gone.

The words he casually uttered yesterday had lingered in Mansik's mind all day.

Unaware of that, Junwoo felt a bit embarrassed reading the script here so nonchalantly.

Junwoo picked up one of the thick books spread out before him.

"Hmm. Even if it's not fun, it will help. You must have been frustrated at some point in the past."

Mansik said it, but he thought it might be a pointless suggestion.

In reality, he wasn't sure if all these theories were really necessary for Junwoo.

He feared that trying to confine Junwoo's genius instincts within a framework might backfire.

Is this the right thing to do? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't find anything else he could do for him.

In the end, he had selected only those works that he considered masterpieces, thinking that his teachings, which went beyond the conventional routes in this field, were meaningless.

He was afraid that if he explained what theater is or what directing is, it would make the boy's mind too narrow. On the other hand, he was worried that the boy, who had just started to enjoy acting, would lose interest in the pile of theoretical books in front of him.

It didn't take even five minutes for him to realize that it was an unnecessary concern.

"It's interesting,"

Junwoo said as his gaze fixed on the theory book.

The guy spoke with a slow nod, and his eyes were shining.

"Well, it does help a bit, doesn't it?"

"It's my first time studying, but it's surprisingly fun."

Fun. Mansik felt like the conversation was a bit off.

"Is it really your first time encountering something like this? How can you act like that without knowing anything properly?"

"Just because actors are the only ones who can act well?"