Chapter 25: The Gentle Airy Caress

The air conditioning vent in the audition room was positioned directly above Kang Jae-hoon’s neck, the cold air irritating the sunburned skin on the back of his neck.

Kim Eun-sook pushed her iPad to the corner of the table; the monitor screen was frozen on the exact moment he had rolled his eyes and foamed at the mouth.

"Explain."

Kim Eun-sook tapped her fingernails against the screen, the sharp clicking sound echoing against the tempered glass protector.

Kang Jae-hoon swallowed hard three times before bowing at a ninety-degree angle and speaking: "It was an improvisation assignment... to relieve pressure while waiting for my turn."

The executive producer gave a sudden, sharp scoff: "Did Hwang Jung-min teach you to pull stunts in an audition room?"

At that moment, Kang Jae-hoon realized that his actions would directly reflect on Hwang Jung-min’s reputation. With that thought, he bent his waist even lower. "I apologize. Everything was my own doing."

"Fine. Proceed with your self-introduction."

"Yes."

Kang Jae-hoon stood up. "Hello, everyone. My name is Kang Jae-hoon, a 2009 graduate of the Seoul Institute of the Arts, Department of Acting. I have participated in..."

His basic profile was already lying before the casting directors; the introduction was merely a symbolic formality.

Once he finished, the casting director pulled a sheet of paper from a folder and slid it toward him. "You have three minutes to prepare."

Kang Jae-hoon thanked the staff member who handed him the script. This scene was the rooftop argument between Yoon Chan-young and Lee Bo-na. The female lead, Cha Eun-sang, was the source of the conflict—the plot required Lee Bo-na to throw a tantrum and Yoon Chan-young to soothe her.

Kang Jae-hoon scanned the script three times. The dialogue was much shorter than he had imagined—only three lines in total. In Kim Eun-sook’s writing, Yoon Chan-young was a gentle, accommodating boyfriend, while Lee Bo-na was haughty and adorable.

At the thought of "haughty," the image of Lee Sung-kyung instantly flashed through his mind.

"Hey."
"Promotional giveaway."
"Shut up!"

With a character archetype now firmly in mind, the structure of his performance fell into place naturally.

Three minutes later, Kang Jae-hoon raised his hand to signal he was ready. The executive director picked up the lines for Lee Bo-na to act opposite him: "Yoon Chan-young! Why are you going out to eat with Cha Eun-sang again? You are my boyfriend!"

Kang Jae-hoon used the prop chair as the spot where Lee Bo-na was stomping her feet. He bent down to pick up a nonexistent schoolbag. "Bo-na, Eun-sang is my friend."

He paused mid-gesture while brushing off dust, his knuckles curling and then relaxing. "And she just transferred..."

"A friend?" The executive director suddenly raised his voice. "Does a friend need to go to school, eat, and go home together every day? Do you like her?"

The air went silent for two seconds.

Kang Jae-hoon swallowed a sigh that hadn't been marked in the script, his right hand hovering twenty-five centimeters above the prop chair. It was the perfect height to reach the top of Lee Sung-kyung’s head.

"Bo-na..." The drawn-out tail of his voice was like melting caramel, and his hovering palm finally descended. "Do you know..."

His fingertips curled slightly as they passed through the air, as if truly touching soft hair. "...that you look like a bristling little kitten when you’re jealous?"

"W-what is this!"

The executive director’s line stalled for half a second. Kang Jae-hoon had already turned his head to the right in advance, as if he had predicted Lee Bo-na’s reaction. His hovering hand slid downward, precisely grasping the nonexistent wrist at a height of 1.2 meters.

"Let’s go." He switched to a bright, cheerful tone, shaking the empty wrist. "I’ll take you to get strawberry ice cream. And I’ll explain a hundred times over—I only like you."

The last half-sentence was crushed into the corners of his upturned lips, his dimples creating gentle ripples of warmth.

The air conditioner in the audition room suddenly switched to ventilation mode. Amidst the humming, there was the sound of the executive producer flipping through Kang Jae-hoon’s resume again. The casting director drew three circles in the "Gentleness Rating" column with a ballpoint pen.

Screenwriter Kim Eun-sook clicked her mechanical pencil, extending the lead and then pressing it back in. "Was the head-patting improvised?"

"Yes. I felt it would soften the sharpness of the argument and better suit the image of Yoon Chan-young as written by the writer-nim."

"And the drawn-out tone?" Kim Eun-sook continued.

"It was designed to balance Bo-na’s impatience with a tone of helplessness, to keep the character from appearing cowardly."

After Kang Jae-hoon finished speaking, the four of them whispered among themselves. The casting PD searched through the folder again, pulled out another sheet, and handed it to him. "Try this."

Kang Jae-hoon took the script and scanned it. This was a scene for the male lead’s brother, Kim Won—a confrontation with his father, Kim Nam-yoon, in the office.

Kang Jae-hoon’s understanding of the *chaebol* world was limited to snippets from media reports. He had zero acting experience or reference material for this. This segment of the script primarily showcased Kim Won’s forbearance—the suppression of anger.

There were many archetypes for this emotion, such as Lee Jae-yong, the "King of Patience" of Samsung, who endured until he developed appendicitis while in prison.

*Ahem.*

Back to the matter at hand. Modern *chaebols* were not much different from princes and noble families of the past. Kang Jae-hoon could easily draw inspiration from a crown prince who was mistrusted by his father and coveted by his brother.

Like Crown Prince Sado, Yi Sun.

With that in mind, probing the psychology of Kim Won did not seem difficult at all.

A moment later, Kang Jae-hoon signaled that he was ready. The executive PD lowered his voice, mimicking an elderly man to play opposite him: "Because of your emotional decision-making, the profit margin for this quarter has dropped by 0.3%."

Kang Jae-hoon looked down at the "father" in the empty space, his right hand holding a ballpoint pen hovering five centimeters above the table. "...Did you investigate my private account?"

The pen spun half a turn between his fingers before coming to a sudden stop. "You even monitor the expenses for the medicine I buy for my mother?"

As the words fell, Kang Jae-hoon’s index finger pressed against the cap of the pen, the muscles in his forearm suddenly tensed. A crisp "snap" exploded in sync with the executive PD’s line: "A machine doesn’t need emotions."

The broken pen casing rolled onto the figures for "Operating Costs." Kang Jae-hoon dragged the broken pen across the report as if dissecting a cold corpse. When he lifted his eyelids, the cold air from the AC happened to blow his bangs aside, revealing a forehead tanned to a wheat color.

"Understood."

He chewed the line between his teeth, his tongue pressing against his palate to produce a sharp, airy sound.

*Scratch.*

He jammed the broken pen into the paper.

The executive PD did not immediately provide the final prompt line. Kang Jae-hoon waited for two seconds, then a cold laugh hummed from his nasal cavity: "So... I am the machine you sired, aren't I?"

After the performance ended, the executive PD held the broken ballpoint pen up to the light to examine it. "Was breaking the pen also improvised?"

"Uh... the ink cartridge was too brittle." Kang Jae-hoon scratched his head. "If I had used a Pilot pen, would it have better matched the *chaebol* level of consumption?"

The casting director suddenly burst out laughing, only to be glared at by the producer.

"Why choose to physically destroy the prop?"

"A broken pen fits Kim Won’s restraint better than throwing files." Kang Jae-hoon glanced at the executive PD as he tossed the broken pieces into the trash can. "It’s a loss of control when restraint reaches its limit."

The producer frowned as he stared at the sunburn on Kang Jae-hoon’s neck—a *chaebol* heir wouldn't have a laborer’s tan line.

"Hmm... thank you for the audition. You may go now." Kim Eun-sook looked up at him. "You will be notified of the results within three days."

"Yes."

Kang Jae-hoon bowed and took his leave.