In This Life, I Want an Oscar, Not a Husband - Chapter 9

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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This life, I choose The Oscars over a husband.
Chapter 9

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A moment later.
Je-gal Se-yeon watched Seo Kyung-bin’s performance through the camera lens.
This scene depicted the male and female leads meeting for the first time.
Hyun-woo was a friend of the landlord, promised a monthly rent of just 100,000 won if he could only manage to drive out the troublesome tenant plaguing the apartment.
– You look intimidating enough. Just use force.
Standing before the door, Hyun-woo gave a casual response to his friend’s call.
“Force? Come on, I’m an intellectual.”
Je-gal Se-yeon watched Hyun-woo’s performance through the camera and allowed herself a subtle smile.
I knew it.
Seo Kyung-bin was a newcomer who had burst onto the Independent Film Industry like a comet, and he was genuinely perfect for these languid, handsome roles.
‘With that face and acting ability, independent film directors must be drooling over him despite his newcomer status.’
The pity was that his face lacked the romantic aura needed for television dramas—
‘But with that kind of acting, commercial films should come calling soon.’
“Everything can be resolved through words. What’s with all the—”
It was the moment Hyun-woo grabbed the doorknob and pulled.
From inside the door, something that had apparently been leaning against it tumbled down with a thud.
More precisely, a woman fell backward and found herself staring up at Hyun-woo.
The woman’s face, viewed upside down, was smeared with what looked like blood—actually spicy seafood noodle broth.
Her eyes were wide and round.
Cute yet grotesque.
The woman muttered.
“Yong-mok…?”
The name of her ex-lover.
The moment Hyun-woo saw Soo-in, he shrieked in horror.
“Ahhhhh! Aaaah! Aaaaaaaaa!”
But Soo-in paid no mind whatsoever, casually slurping up the strand of noodle broth protruding from between her lips.
Stifled laughter rippled through the crew.
Hearing that sound, Je-gal Se-yeon felt goosebumps erupt across her entire body.
Ah, I can feel it.
This is the kind of moment that will make audiences burst into laughter in the theater!
I’d experienced this same sensation before, working as a script supervisor on other commercial films.
The production company had wanted to cut the scene, but she felt a chill on set and insisted vehemently that it had to stay.
In the end, that scene became the film’s signature moment—so iconic that comedians on variety shows began imitating it after the film’s release.
And then—
“Cut!”
The moment Je-gal Se-yeon called it, something materialized before Soo-in’s—no, Ha Eun-rae’s eyes.

[Updating Wiki for 【Cohabiting with a Ghost】…]
[Would you like to search the updated Wiki for 【Cohabiting with a Ghost】?]

Sitting in her chair with chow mein broth still clinging to her, Ha Eun-rae silently affirmed the question.

【Cohabiting with a Ghost】
Awards: Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation Section Selection
Audience Count: 20,000
Cannes Film Festival: An international film festival held in Cannes, France, one of the world’s three major international film festivals

…!
Cannes Film Festival? 20,000 viewers for an independent film?
Ha Eun-rae’s eyes widened as a handkerchief was suddenly thrust toward her.
When she looked up, she found Park Seo-woo holding it.
“You worked hard.”
And simultaneously—

[Congratulations! You’ve achieved ‘First Audience Milestone of 10,000’ and received 1 ‘Search Ticket’!]
[Would you like to use your ‘Search Ticket’?]

A ‘Search Ticket’ had arrived.

* * *

Park Seo-woo couldn’t tear his eyes away from Ha Eun-rae’s performance.
The premise itself was contrived—a character who genuinely believed she was a ghost.
Yet Ha Eun-rae didn’t merely inhabit the role; she infused it with such verisimilitude that you could almost believe a woman like that existed somewhere in the world.
More than anything, her acting was inventive.
She constructed the character in ways no one else would have conceived, and she embodied it without hesitation.
So fearlessly that it made the audience uneasy.
Yet simultaneously, her performance was so compelling it transcended that unease.
The thought of her talent gracing someone else’s film was almost unbearable.
“Eun-rae. This scene is fantastic. I want to capture it from another angle, but can you hold this state while we reset?”
“Of course.”
Ha Eun-rae smiled at the Director and returned the handkerchief to Park Seo-woo.
“I shouldn’t wipe it now, I think.”
“Ah, right.”
Park Seo-woo tucked the handkerchief away again.
He turned back toward the Cinematographer and reviewed the shot list without complaint.
“Man, she’s the real deal.”
While the Cinematographer repositioned the equipment, he spoke quietly to Park Seo-woo.
This Cinematographer had shot several dramas for OTT before entering the Film Academy.
In truth, the Film Academy—despite its name—was filled with people who’d accumulated practical experience first.
So when someone like this Cinematographer, who’d seen it all, called Ha Eun-rae “the real deal” after she’d acted for the first time in her life, it meant something.
“She doesn’t have a Talent Agency yet?”
“What does she need an agency for when she’s working with a lead actor?”
“…There’s a twelve-year gap between us. Should I call her ‘actress’ then? How presumptuous of you.”
The Cinematographer, who was on equal footing with him, smacked his shoulder in exasperation.
Despite the sheer bulk of the man hoisting camera equipment, Park Seo-woo’s body didn’t budge an inch.
“You look frail, but you’re solid. Still boxing? Huh?”
“Are you looking to get knocked down again?”
“This bastard.”
The Cinematographer, who’d tasted defeat in a sparring match with Park Seo-woo, furrowed his brow.
Their connection had begun at the Boxing Gym.
Park Seo-woo at nineteen.
The Cinematographer had never forgotten him from those days.
He’d heard Park Seo-woo had trained in boxing for several years, but there was a weight difference of over twenty kilograms between them.
So naturally, he’d assumed victory would be his…

“Ugh… what?”

The result was a knockout in the first round.
Nineteen-year-old Park Seo-woo showed no fear of being hit, slipping inside in an instant and bringing him down with a flurry of strikes.
It was impressive.
The way he showed no fear of his opponent’s attacks.

“Are you aspiring to be a professional boxer?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then what?”
“I want to be a film director.”
“What?”
“I want to become a director.”

That was the beginning of their connection.
Every time I felt it, Park Seo-woo was truly an incomprehensible person.
The Cinematographer quietly observed Park Seo-woo’s profile as he examined the storyboard.

“What if we shoot this scene one more time? I think it would be better to include more close-up shots.”

I recalled what Park Seo-woo had said during the incense-blowing scene.
This monster of a kid, who could visualize an entire film in his head just from looking at a storyboard, had surely already figured out exactly how and in what way to incorporate close-up shots into the editing.
‘I was shocked when I saw what we’d filmed at the Film Club.’
Not to mention the screenplay.
I was even astonished when I saw the photographs he’d taken.
How could a twenty-year-old take photographs like that?
He writes screenplays well, understands how to work with the camera, and now he’s mastered editing through storyboards too.
At this rate, his acceptance to the Film Academy in the future is practically guaranteed.
Though I suspect Park Seo-woo’s ambitions don’t end there.
When he showed me the scenario Park Seo-woo had written and suggested we start production immediately, what did he say?

“I need to refine it more.”
“Are you planning to submit it somewhere? Just for YouTube….”
“I prefer perfection.”

Anyway, geniuses are simply incomprehensible.
And Ha Eun-rae was an actress he recognized at a glance.
Of course, after seeing Ha Eun-rae’s performance now, there wouldn’t be a single person who failed to recognize her.
“Either way, that actress’s agency is going to strike gold. Once this releases, there’ll be chaos everywhere. Right? Just showing the rough cut to the professors would bring in casting calls from all over. Those people don’t sit idle when they spot talent like this.”
He was right.
Everyone in film keeps their eyes peeled, hunting for ‘the goods’.
Sometimes ‘the goods’ is a screenplay, sometimes a director.
But the most valuable ‘goods’ of all is ultimately fresh talent.
A new actor.
Find one gem like that, and it’s literally hitting the jackpot.
It was right then that he thought this.
“Hyun-woo. Remember that short film you mentioned making before? My screenplay.”
Park Seo-woo said something unexpected.
“I’m going to revise it today. Let’s shoot it. Us.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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