The L&K office was chaos. Phones rang endlessly. Managers shouted over one another. Organizers and the PR staff hustled between desks like contestants on a game show. I stood near the round table, scripts stacked like small towers. It was just another day.
"Valis, here again?"Jake, my manager, glanced up from his paperwork.
I nodded. "Anything new?"
"Scripts? Yeah, those over there. New projects for the first half of the year. Quite a few."
He pointed to the stack.Romances, comedies, thrillers, historical dramas, and musicals, all waiting for actors to breathe life into them.
I asked, "Can I take a look?""Sure. They won't wear out just from reading," he said.
I walked to the scripts. Even though I would most likely not get a single role here, reading them felt like stepping onto a set. It gave me motivation, a fleeting sense of being the lead, even if I never would be.
Then I heard a familiar voice complaining across the office.
"Again? Romance? I said I want a thriller! Something challenging!"
Moon, one of L&K's star actors. Talented, arrogant, and perpetually frustrated. Two films flopped, yet scripts kept coming to him.
"Moon, trust me! This one is perfect for you. After this, you'll get a thriller, I promise," his manager pleaded.
I kept watching. Some actors wanted roles but couldn't get them. Others could demand anything. Valen belonged to the latter category.
Our eyes met for a moment. His gaze seemed to say:Why are you here?
I looked away. There was no point letting him see jealousy or frustration on my face; that would only make look more smug the next time
I placed my script down—but then, something strange happened.
[Would you like to absorb the script?]
My fingers froze.
It spoke to me.The script I held, Youth Train, felt alive only to me
[The drama Youth Train is absorbable.][Would you like to absorb it?]
I sank into my chair.
"What's wrong?" Jaeik asked.
"Nothing. Hyung… Can I take this script to the practice room?" I asked.
"Youth Train? Sure. Just don't leak it anywhere. Mark would lose it."
I grabbed the script and walked quickly to the practice room.
[Would you like to absorb the script?]
The voice followed me. I touched another script.
[The drama The Prince of the Well is absorbable.][The movie The Villainess Lives is absorbable.][The movie The Lord of Vengeance is absorbable.]
Every script whispered to me.I wasn't imagining it.
[If you absorb the script, you will be fully immersed in the role.]
I swallowed hard.
"…Absorb," I whispered.
The book opened with a flash of light.Information flooded my mind—characters, events, emotions, even the smallest details the author had written. Everything became part of me.
When it ended, I gasped.The script had disappeared, but I knew the whole story.
Lines flowed naturally from my lips:
"You think being friends with Geon made me blind? Nobody touched me. I rode motorcycles, drank, smoked… girls followed me. That was my world. But you know what?"
The more I spoke, the more electrifying it felt. My voice, expressions, and every nuance matched the character perfectly.
"This… this is real," I thought.
If asked to play any character in Youth Train, I could do it better than anyone. I had no doubts.
And one thing became clear:I could succeed.