Director Pharrell grinned when he saw the two Lloyds entering the audition hall. There was no need to ask any questions –– he had already come to a conclusion. However, he tried his best to maintain his composure and spoke casually.
{Have you taken a good look at the script today?}
With a slight smile on his face, Director Pharrell talked about the script that had been given to Woo-Jin and Edwin while they were getting their makeup done. He was also curious about the actors’ reactions to what happened the day before.
However, both of them had a blank look on their faces as they responded with a simple ‘yes’ to his question. Pharrell was slightly disappointed - their reaction seemed to suggest it didn’t matter to them whether they were judged based on the script or improvisation like yesterday.
{Today, we’ll be judging based on the scripts that were distributed earlier. However, Ian will be acting alongside you as Albert, so it won’t be a one-man performance.}
Woo-Jin and Edwin didn’t care how they conducted the auditions, but it seemed like they weren’t expecting Ian to act with them because for the first time, they showed a proper reaction. Both of them were slightly excited about acting alongside Ian. Even if they were to fail the audition today, the fact that they have experience acting with Ian would be a great asset to them.
{We will now decide on the order.}
There were only two candidates, so the order was quickly decided via a simple game of rock paper scissors. Woo-Jin threw out ‘scissors’ while Edwin threw out ‘paper’, thus beating him. Up until now, Woo-Jin had been the last to perform during the auditions, but this time, in the final round, he was first.
Naturally, Edwin was second. He went to sit in a chair that was placed near the judges. He had given off a cold and solemn aura to begin with and dressing him as Lloyd only made that aura stronger. Even when he wasn’t doing anything, it felt as though his body was exuding cold air.
There was nothing awkward about him sitting next to the judges, given the current circumstances. Before the audition commenced, the production team had asked Woo-Jin and Edwin if they would like to watch the other person’s performance. It gave them the opportunity to watch their opponent’s performance so they wouldn’t have any doubts about the outcome. And naturally, Woo-Jin and Edwin wanted to watch each other’s performances.
Dressed as Albert, Ian sat on a chair, showing his side profile to the judges. There was a horrendous painting reminiscent of hell in front of him. Woo-Jin stood between Albert and the painting, facing the judges. He tapped on the floor with the tip of his shoe. Woo-Jin couldn’t maintain his balance properly, so he was standing there unsteadily. His performance started the moment he opened his mouth.
***
{What do you think?}
Even while Lloyd was looking at the floor with his head lowered, he glanced at Albert’s facial expression. Like a child who was showing his parent a report card with bad grades, Lloyd seemed anxious, but he still had a mischievous look in his eyes. He looked so adorable that he looked younger than his actual age.
{Even though I can’t see it, I always get good vibes from your paintings, so it puts me in a good mood.}
Albert stretched out his right hand and gestured as though he was caressing the painting that was out of reach. Seeing how Albert looked proud and happy, Lloyd made a face that was difficult to describe. Hearing the compliment made him happy, but Albert’s words felt empty at the same time. Lloyd’s lips wobble as though he was about to cry at any given moment. He then turned his head around and muttered.
{You’re lying.}
It seemed as though Albert had heard what he said; he responded earnestly.
{I didn’t entirely lose my sight. I can see a little here and there.}
Albert lifted his head and moved his face around looking for the direction of the light. Even then, he could only see a little light. It wasn’t a miracle where he could make out the shapes of objects.
{What did you draw this time around?}
{The sea –– fish swimming in the blue sea with rolling waves, and birds flying in the sky. It looks so peaceful that it looks like your boring everyday landscape.}
Lloyd described the corpses rolling around in the sea of blood, and crows flying above them as the image of a peaceful sea.
{I can tell it’s beautiful just by imagining it. You must have felt at peace, right?}
After hearing Albert’s words, Lloyd took a brief look at his painting. The painting was entirely painted in red; it was painted with the color stolen from the blood of his models. Out of all the colors a human possessed, Lloyd liked the red color from blood the most. This was because it had a wide range of shades, ranging from clear and transparent shades of red, to dark red and murky black.
Their souls were trapped in the bodies floating within the red sea, clamoring for help –– a noise that could only be heard by Lloyd. It was so noisy that Lloyd looked annoyed for a moment.
{No. I painted it because I wanted to find peace.}
However, unlike his facial expression, Lloyd’s voice was calm and gentle. Having lived with Albert, he learned how to hide his feelings even while expressing them freely.
{The world is too noisy.}
The cries of the souls were still audible, so Lloyd covered his ears with both hands. Even though Albert couldn’t see the painting, he could instantly sense Lloyd’s uneasiness via his small action.
{Are your eyes hurting? You’re wearing sunglasses, right?}
It seemed as though Albert had mistaken his act of covering his ears for him touching his eyes. Albinos tended to have poor eyesight, so they could easily go blind if they were careless. Thus, they had to take extra care of their eyes. Fortunately, Lloyd had good eyesight, but it was better to be safe than sorry, so Albert always nagged and prepared a pair of sunglasses for him.
{If I paint while wearing sunglasses, the colors will turn out weird.}
{Even if you don’t wear them while painting, you have to keep them on at other times. By the way, did you hurt yourself? Why do you smell like blood?}
As Lloyd was absentmindedly covering his ears, he flinched and lifted his arm to sniff it. Even then, the only thing he could smell was the strong smell of oil paint.
In truth, Lloyd had gotten so used to the stench of blood that no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t distinguish the smell of paint and blood. If he did indeed smell like blood, it might have been because of the painting he had completed the night before.
Lloyd got down on one knee before Albert and looked up to his father. The gentleman was usually indifferent and only concerned himself with paintings, but he was very sensitive and quick-witted at times. His unwelcomed concern during troubled times always made Lloyd tremble with anxiety.
{Yes, I hurt myself. I bled a lot yesterday because I hurt myself, but I guess I’m still bleeding.}
Lloyd examined Albert’s face; his eyes were shrouded in fear that his father might have noticed something. At the same time, he looked at Albert with a sharp gaze, on the off chance the latter might have sensed something amiss.
The murderer that was as fragile as a butterfly was trembling with anxiety, but his eyes were burning brightly, unable to hide his cruel nature. Unless Albert was really blind, anyone who looked into with the eyes of a murderer thoroughly examining them would be stricken with fear.
{Hang on!}
Ian couldn’t tolerate Woo-Jin’s gaze any longer and jumped out of his seat. Even though he had continued to act as a blind man who couldn’t see in front of him and sat still with an unfocused gaze, it didn’t mean he really blind. He could still see, after all, he was just pretending to be blind. Although he forcefully blurred his vision, he couldn’t avoid Woo-Jin’s gaze when it was staring right into his eyes. And it felt as though his gaze was piercing through his soul, so Ian was so scared that he stopped breathing.
{I’m sorry. I feel suffocated all of a sudden…}
Ian couldn’t possibly tell everyone that he avoided Woo-Jin’s gaze because he was scared. He kept hitting his chest that was perfectly fine.
{Are you okay? Should I pat you on the back?}
As soon as Woo-Jin approached Ian to pat him on the back out of concern, Ian flinched and backed away. He continued opening and clenching his fist to hide that it was trembling, but seeing how his entire body was shaking, it was pointless.
The other people should have been startled by Ian’s abnormal behavior, but they just looked at Ian and Woo-Jin quietly. Edwin and the other judges completely understood how Ian felt since they were a few meters away from Woo-Jin and yet their bodies had stiffened up because of his acting.
Even though Lloyd’s voice was infinitely submissive and fragile, his eyes and face were filled with madness and cruelty that couldn’t be described. As such, the weight of Lloyd’s gloomy emotions came onto him very strongly.
It wasn’t just cold or cruel. While he was exuding a rational and intellectual aura, he revealed Lloyd’s anxiety and weakness while expressing his wild emotions, without any filter, with just one glance. It seemed as though one would know how pitiful yet terrifying an unstable person could be just by looking at him.
***
{His acting isn’t that great.}
Ilya looked at the flustered Ian and mocked his acting skills. He was unhappy that Ian abruptly stood up in the midst of acting, thereby ruining Woo-Jin’s audition, but Ian seemed to have backed off because of his inability to keep up with Woo-Jin due to his poor acting skills.
{I don’t think it has anything to do with poor acting skills. I think it was inevitable because Mr. Essery’s eyes are fine in real life. Regardless of how much he tries to act like a blind man, he can’t help the fact that he’s not actually blind.}
However, Selena disagreed with Ilya. Ian Essery was an actor who had won the Best Actor Award at Cannes, as well as the Oscars. Rather than saying he was swept away by Choi Woo-Jin’s acting and was unable to handle it, Selena viewed it as Ian feeling terrified by what he had seen. Any ordinary person couldn’t help but react in such a manner.
Even though viewing the footage on the monitor was slightly less impactful, Selena’s body shivered as though it was submerged in the winter sea. Even though she was used to her father’s intimidating stares, Choi Woo-Jin’s eyes at that moment were too much for Selena to handle.
Although Giorgio was a caring father, he was essentially at the top of the food chain. Choi Woo-Jin’s Lloyd was similar to her father; he had the eyes of another predator –– they were the eyes of a crazy beast, and it reminded her of the eyes of a lion that was trapped within a cage she saw in the zoo once.
The oppressed lion was locked up in a cage and had suppressed his instincts. All that was left was its ferocity, and its status as the king of the jungle was nowhere to be seen. Longing for affection, the lion’s eyes that were fixated on its keeper were tragic, with its cruel nature hidden within them.
Selena had unintentionally looked straight into those eyes and had nightmares for several days after. Thus, she understood how Ian felt.
{But as an actor, you have to overcome that. Saying he can’t help what he sees because he’s just acting as a blind person is nothing but an excuse.}
{Pretending to be blind is just acting. If Choi Woo-Jin were in his shoes, it wouldn’t be any different anyway.}
{In that case, shall we make a bet?}
{Make a bet?}
{If Choi Woo-Jin reacts in the same way Ian did when roles are reversed, then what you said is true.}
The crux was whether or not Ian could recreate the same look Choi Woo-Jin had in his eyes. If he couldn’t do that, it would mean that his acting skills were lacking. However, Ilya felt that an actor as successful as him would be able to closely mimic Choi Woo-Jin. Regardless of how much he hated Ian, Ilya knew how good he was at acting.
{He’s an actor who’s capable enough to closely mimic another person’s acting after seeing it once.}
It was uncertain whether it was a compliment or mockery; Ilya looked at Selena as though he was insinuating something. Selena hesitated for a moment. Ilya smiled slightly as she briefly pondered over what the bet could mean.
{There’s no need to read too much into it. I’m only suggesting it because it seems fun.}
{What do you want to bet on?}
However, Selena couldn’t take anything involving Ilya lightly. Ilya’s thoughts were always complicated and nothing was ever easy with him. She had to know if this bet was an adventure to throw Choi Woo-Jin another curveball, or if Ilya wanted to get something from her via this bet.
{If you win, I’ll give you the password to that place.}
Ilya bet something unexpected after pondering for a moment. He was referring to the password for the safe house. Selena was subconsciously surprised because she thought Ilya knew about her bet with her father with regards to the password.
{Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? And I have nothing to bet.}
If Ilya was betting the password to the safe house, she had to bet something equally big. But unfortunately, Selena didn’t have anything like that. Ilya didn’t want money, and neither did he covet fame or power.
However, Ilya felt the same way.
{There’s nothing worth betting between us, but you’ve always been curious about the password to that place. If I have to reveal it someday, I’d rather tell you the password than your father. Instead, if you lose, you have to buy me a delicious meal.}
He couldn’t keep the password a secret forever. It was a pity nobody currently had access to the place, and Ilya didn’t want it to be torn down by the professionals. He didn’t know when that day would come, but when the day he had to reveal the password arrived, it would be his gift to Selena.
However, the bet itself was meaningful right now. There was nothing he wanted via the bet –– he merely wanted to make things difficult for Ian and see how good Woo-Jin’s acting skills were.
As soon as Selena nodded her head slightly, Ilya grabbed the microphone that was connected to the earpiece inside Director Pharrell’s ear.
***
After receiving the difficult task from Ilya and being put on the spot, Director Pharrell sighed. He wondered if Ilya wanted to torture people by creating difficult obstacles every time. Nonetheless, he reluctantly stopped Ian and Woo-Jin from proceeding with their performance.
{This time around, let’s swap the roles of both parties.}
Ian paused after hearing the unprecedented suggestion, wondering if it was because he had made a mistake. Director Pharrell tapped on the earpiece in his ear to let him know it was Ilya’s suggestion.
{It may not be easy to convey the feelings fully because of how you’re currently dressed, but please swap your roles and start over from scratch. Instead, Ian, please reenact Choi’s acting earlier on.}
Director Pharrell didn’t say anything else to Woo-Jin. In other words, he meant to tell him to show them his own acting, regardless of what the role was, and that regardless of the role he played, he would ultimately be judged on that, and just because the role had changed, it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Dressed as Lloyd, Woo-Jin momentarily adjusted his white hair while looking at Ian. Looking at the strands of gray hair among his black hair, as well as his wrinkled face, it seemed a little hard to think of Ian as Lloyd. The same applied to Ian, so when their gazes met, they laughed awkwardly.
However, the two actors soon sorted out their emotions and started acting again in their new roles.
