Superstar 849

At that moment, Director Wilma blinked in surprise—then smiled and said,

“It’s fine, Hailey. Not bad at all.”

Seojun, sitting off to the side, also nodded. Considering she had been worried just moments ago about not being able to immerse herself in the role, she did well.

Of course, Hailey Rosie herself didn’t seem to think so.

“Hoo…”

At Wilma’s decision to reshoot, Hailey let out a light breath and stared again—no, glared—at the green ball hanging from a stick held by a staff member.

‘That’s a wolf. That’s a wolf.’

She chanted it like a mantra, recalling the wolfdogs and young wolves she had seen a few weeks ago.

‘That’s a wolf… except it’s not.’

Failure.

Instead of merging the real image of a living wolfdog with the green ball, she only saw the stark difference between them.

Still, she had to do it.

Hailey told herself it wasn’t that hard.

‘Love scenes aren’t done with real love either.’

Just like with portraying love, fear, or anger—this too was about expressing imagined emotions.

Sure, it was easier when acting with a scene partner who gave her cues. But this was no different.

Like she had imagined “Molly” being there in earlier scenes, she just had to pretend there was a wolf in front of her.

A huge wolf—so huge that Claire Manning would’ve had to crane her neck to look up at it.

And Claire probably would’ve instinctively stepped back at the unexpected size.

Even if Theo and Molly had explained things, seeing a predator in an unprotected space was another story.

‘Most people are scared of unleashed dogs.’

And this wasn’t just a big dog—it was a wolf larger than herself.

She’d probably faint if it were real.

Her thoughts wandered briefly, but that helped.

‘It’s a scary creature I’ve never seen before—but it’s Theo.’

Their time together had been short, but Claire Manning knew very well that Theo Rayfield wouldn’t harm her.

‘Alright.’

Hailey closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them wide.

That thing in front of her was a wolf. It was Theo.

“Ready,”

Wilma’s voice called out softly when she saw Hailey open her eyes.

At that cue, all tension left Hailey’s face.

“Action!”

Claire looked at the wolf before her.

She flinched slightly at its massive size, but relaxed again upon seeing the familiar yellow eyes. She reached out toward the wolf’s snout—

“Cut! NG!”

Another NG.

Hailey’s hand, stretched toward the green ball, had visibly trembled.

“It’s natural to hesitate when touching a creature you’ve never seen before, so it wasn’t bad…”

“‘Wasn’t bad’ still means it wasn’t good.”

Hailey sighed, and both Wilma and Seojun laughed.

“You’re doing well, Hailey. You were more immersed than before. You’ll do even better next time.”

“Exactly. First takes are always tough. We’ve got plenty of time, so don’t stress.”

“…Okay.”

Hailey nodded. While reaching for the chroma key ball earlier, she had kept repeating internally, ‘It’s a wolf. It’s a wolf. It’s a wolf!’.

Even though she’d accidentally thought ‘Is this really a wolf…?’ at the end, it hadn’t seemed to matter.

But it did.

“NG…!”

The sixth NG cue dropped, and Seojun realized:

‘She’s caught in it.’

When an actor loses immersion and can’t get it back—it’s called being “caught.”

Even with known lines, they stumble. Even with practiced emotions, they can’t feel them. The harder they try, the worse it gets.

The actor becomes more self-conscious, which leads to tension, which leads to further disconnection.

Wilma and the staff noticed it too.

“Let’s take a break!”

Seojun nodded. A short reset could help.

As staff moved around, Hailey slumped her shoulders and stepped down from the set.

“Haah… sorry, Jun. I’m making you wait.”

Thinking they’d go straight into the next scene—the one where Claire meets the wolf—Seojun was already in full costume.

“It’s alright. We’ve still got time.”

He had to catch Jack’s game later, but the shoot came first.

‘Besides, Jack would hate it if I left filming for his sake.’

Hailey’s eyes glistened at Seojun’s kind smile.

“Okay. Focus.”

She took the book Eclipse and wolf photos from her anxious manager and began flipping through them.

Seojun couldn’t help but smile.

Her copy of Eclipse was so worn-out from use, with sticky notes everywhere.

He loved actors—but even more, he admired hardworking ones.

“Should I try drawing eyes on the ball? Like this?”

Hailey held the green chroma key ball in both hands, dead serious.

…She was trying, but maybe in the wrong direction.

“Wouldn’t that make it harder to focus?”

“…Probably.”

Hailey sighed and returned to the wolf photos. She had several, all from different angles.

“Jun, is there any way to get into it better?”

She looked at Seojun, who had acted with the most CG in superhero films.

She’d only seen those sets on YouTube, but she knew—CG made up everything in those movies.

“Your character Jay’s partner was CG too, right? But you acted like they were real.”

Hmm. He hadn’t expected those names to come up.

Seojun smiled at her admiration for actors like Evan Block and Richelle Hill, then said,

“Well, since you’ve imagined what it looks like already—why don’t we try thinking of it another way?”

“Another way?”

“Remember the time we saw those wolfdogs?”

“Of course. I’ll never forget it.”

Hailey nodded.

“You were really startled when they emerged from the grass, right?”

“I was. Even before they showed up, I felt tense. Something was different.”

“The sounds of bugs and birds suddenly stopped, too.”

“…Did they?”

Who paid attention to bug and bird sounds?

But thinking back, it had gotten very quiet.

“Didn’t the air feel different too?”

“…Maybe. I think there was a smell.”

As Seojun guided her memory, the scene reformed in Hailey’s mind.

“How did you feel when the wolfdogs looked at you?”

Hailey recalled those piercing stares.

There had been other actors present, and it was only for a moment—but she remembered.

“I got chills. Goosebumps.”

Even without direct eye contact, just sensing those slick yellow eyes on her sent a chill down her spine.

As Hailey focused intensely on visualizing the “wolf,” Wilma gave a proud thumbs-up from a distance.

Seojun continued.

“You touched the younger wolf, right? What did it feel like?”

“Since it lived outside, the fur was a bit coarse. But softer than I expected.”

She remembered that well. It had been her first time touching a wolf, so she had focused deeply.

“Great. Now look at the photos again.”

Almost hypnotized, Hailey turned to the photo Seojun pointed at.

It was the same frontal shot as before.

But it looked completely different now.

“Even with feet that big, I didn’t hear them walking. The claws looked sharp, but the tail was fluffy. I remember the belly rising and falling as it breathed. And the ears twitched at every sound.”

“Exactly. You remember.”

She saw the wolf now.

From its pointed ears to the barely visible tip of its tail—she saw life in it.

The scent of the wolf filled the wind. The surrounding animals silenced themselves.

With every breath, the rough fur swayed.

Those piercing yellow eyes stared straight ahead.

In Hailey’s mind, the wolf came alive—visually, aurally, through scent, through touch, through instinct—every sense but taste formed a full being.

“Now look at this.”

Seojun held out the green chroma key ball.

“Try overlaying that image onto this. It might be tough—there’s nothing similar—but give it a shot.”

Hailey smiled softly at his kind tone and looked at the ball again.

Just minutes ago, she had hated the sight of it. Now, it felt different.

‘Just like Jun said—it doesn’t resemble it at all…’

“…But I think I can do it.”

At her small but confident voice, Seojun smiled. Behind them, Wilma and the assistant director spun their hands, signaling readiness.

They didn’t need to prep anything.

Hailey, now refreshed, stepped back onto the set, replaying Seojun’s words in her head.

She added sound, scent, atmosphere, and touch to what had only been visual before.

‘Ah…’

She realized the difference between her and Seojun’s acting.

How he could immerse himself so naturally.

‘I’ve been relying only on what I see. But Jun uses all his senses.’

Even instinct. Even intuition.

She might’ve just uncovered the secret behind the acting genius that was Seojun Lee.

Of course, knowing and mastering it were two different things.

‘But now I know how to approach it.’

Hailey turned to look at Seojun, standing beside Wilma at the monitor.

When she locked eyes with him, he looked momentarily surprised—then smiled as if to cheer her on.

She smiled back, and her gaze lingered on the wolf ears on Seojun’s head.

Ah.

They looked so natural she hadn’t even noticed them.

When she laughed, Seojun tilted his head. His wolf ears shifted to the side too, like they were moving on their own.

Some staff chuckled behind her—and Hailey smiled again.

“Ready,”

Wilma’s voice brought her back into focus.

“Action!”

In an instant—

The world in front of her changed.