"Is there a line like that in the script?" the man next to Haruki asked.

Haruki shook his head, appearing to be in awe. He knew that June was a great actor based on what he had seen in King of Kings. However, even then, it appeared like he was acting.

The June he was seeing now felt genuinely evil—like he wasn't acting at all. Haruki pursed his lips, wanting to take back what he had said just moments ago.

There was no wonder that June was a hundred times better at acting than him.

The other applicants also felt strange. At one point, it really did feel like June wasn't acting. More so than that, he added some impromptu lines here and there based on what he felt during the scene.

"That was strangely good."

"Yeah, it was different from most of our interpretations."

"He said his lines calmly instead of angrily."

"I don't know how to feel about it, though. It seems very good in its own light. However, isn't Yian an angry character?"

June stood back up, waiting for the comments of the panel about his acting.

Last night, he wondered how he could act out the particular scene. Since they were only given one part of the script, it was hard to gauge Yian's character. At first, he also thought of portraying him as a petty character with a lot of anger embedded in his heart.

However, as June read Yian's character description, he felt like he was a much deeper character. His family was killed by the male lead's clan, and he made a pact to take everything away from the male lead. It was a pretty cliche antagonist plot, which was why most people tried portraying him in such an angry light.

Yet, June wanted to show the panel that Yian wasn't an ordinary villain.

Hana also didn't expect his interpretation of the character. At first, she really wanted June to be the main villain of the movie since she knew his talent for acting out cold and cunning characters.

However, the Yian he portrayed just now was on another level. It almost seemed like he was the main character of the movie.

"So, what do you guys think?" Hana asked the panel, wanting to know their opinion, too.

"Undoubtedly, he's the best actor in this room right now," Hanlim said with a pleasant smile. "I thought he wouldn't be able to show the ugly side of the character because of his perfect looks, but he managed to pull it off."

"I agree," Hana said. "It was honestly a refreshing take after all of those angry interpretations. It made me feel like Yian has a much deeper character than what I've read."

"Moreover, it makes me more curious about Yian's real character. I still haven't read the entire script, so I'm unsure how this would end, but it would be great to play around the dynamics of the villain's relationship with the main leads," she continued.

"What do you think, Miss Risa?" Hana asked.

Risa pursed her lips and kept reading through the script—the small description and dialogue that she provided for all of the applicants.

It was only a short description, but it was honestly impressive that June was able to read through Yian's character with what he was given. Moreover, the lines he added were perfect to the scene, making her question how she wrote the latter part of her story and if she could incorporate such lines into it.

The applicants started murmuring since it was taking too long for the panel to discuss what they thought about June's acting.

Just then, without any warning, Director Bong picked up the microphone and spoke, his voice booming in the large room.

"The lines you said just now," he said. "Those are not from the original script."

June pursed his lips and nodded.

Director Bong scoffed, surprising most of the applicants.

"That is unprofessional behavior," he started off.

Lin Zhi lifted his head, feeling a surge of hope in his heart.

"The script is there for a reason," Director Bong said. "The fact that you're the only actor in this room who changed it to your liking speaks a lot of your character."

"You have disrespected not only the entire movie production but also Miss Risa over here."

Risa pursed her lips and was about to say something, but Director Bong continued speaking, cutting her off.

"Moreover, your portrayal of the character is completely different from what I imagined. Yian is a villain—he's supposed to be unlikeable. People don't like a likable enemy because it makes it harder to empathize with the main leads."

June frowned in confusion.

Everything that was coming out of Director Bong's mouth was utter bullshit.

He had such a 1900s mindset, not even knowing that people love to see unexpected twists in different characters these days.

It was no wonder that he hadn't achieved a great-performing movie for the past ten years.

If this was the director's mindset, then June wondered if he wanted to become a part of the production after all.

Hana pursed her lips in disappointment, also not agreeing with Director Bong's words. Not only were his statements filled with flaws, but the way they said them also felt like he was disrespecting June as a person.

The room was silent as they let Director Bong's words sink into their minds.

Surprisingly, June wasn't offended. How could he be offended when Director Bong's wig was moving around on his head as he spoke?

What stuck out to him was the proud look on Lin Zhi's face.

He was staring at Director Bong with sparkling eyes, and that was when June realized that something was wrong.

June had been observing the two of them since the start of the auditions, and they had been exchanging weird glances here and there—almost like they knew each other beforehand.

June scoffed and shook his head as he walked back to his seat.

It was strange that Director Bong was able to afford such a huge house with his hit-or-miss types of movies.

However, June now understood where Director Bong might be getting this amount of money.

It was money exchanged under the table.