Chapter 17
Finally.
Seo-yeon flipped through the calendar, overwhelmed with emotion.
“I’m seven years old now!”
Joo Seo-yeon, age 7.
In her first year of kindergarten.
To be honest, nothing much changed just because she turned seven.
Maybe she felt her body growing a bit faster?
Next year, she would be starting elementary school.
And then…
“Hmm…”
There were many things weighing on her mind.
Truthfully, most of it revolved around acting.
Now that she was seriously practicing, her shortcomings became glaringly obvious.
She also realized that emotional acting was definitely no easy feat.
“Some things just end up as a mere imitation of emotions…”
Actors don’t always pour their hearts into every scene.
Even for herself, merely mimicking emotions felt sufficient.
At least in that aspect, she believed she was on par with adult actors.
“Considering my age, I mean…”
After all, emotional acting stems from one’s life experiences.
It’s only natural that younger actors struggle with emotional performances due to their lack of experience.
However, she had that part filled in from her past life.
Slap!
She looked in the mirror, cupping her face with both hands.
“My facial expressions are relatively natural.”
Yet, as she studied acting more, she noticed other areas falling behind.
Minor movements, managing her gaze, and delivering lines.
Fortunately, her vocal projection, thanks to relentless practice, was a solid 4 out of 5.
“I need time.”
Of course, with the filming of Tae-sun Dal looming, there was no time to learn something new.
What she could do now was maximize her strengths.
Back then, playing the role of a virtual YouTuber was all well and good, but now things were different.
“Who am I? The Great Actress Joo Seo-yeon!”
Regardless, she had no desire to squander her innate talent.
After all, it was a gift she had obtained from her previous life.
“Huff…”
Taking a deep breath, she pulled her hands away from her face.
A quick glance at her palm revealed a few assorted scrapes.
Her reflection showed her eyes, bloodshot and red.
Whether it was just her feelings or something else, they appeared more vivid than usual.
Almost as if they changed with her emotions.
“…Is that really the case?”
At any rate, it didn’t feel like her emotions were dramatically fluctuating.
Anyway, her body held many peculiarities by now, so she accepted it.
Such as her strange strength and unusual eyes.
“Alright.”
Having calmed her mind a bit, it was time to practice once more.
For Joo Seo-yeon’s first genuine emotional performance as a seven-year-old.
*
In Arongdaro Kindergarten, there were two shining stars.
One was Lee Ji-yeon.
A spirited child who diligently appeared in commercials.
Her personality was also quite fierce, commanding authority among the other kids.
Only one person dared defy her:
“Seo-yeon is so quiet.”
Hyun-young, the teacher of the Flower Class, looked at Seo-yeon with envy.
If only her own students were as well-behaved as Seo-yeon.
“Quiet… that’s true?”
Mina, the teacher of the Sunshine Class that Seo-yeon belonged to, replied with an ambiguous smile.
This was the second star famous in the kindergarten.
To be honest, it felt a bit bad to say this about Lee Ji-yeon, but there was a significant difference.
Especially after the audition for Tae-sun Dal, some people even peeked into the kindergarten just to catch a glimpse of Seo-yeon.
Although that was in the past, Mina felt a chill inside.
What if a dangerous incident occurred during those times…?
“She’s quiet, but… should I say she’s a peculiar kid?”
While she did socialize well with the other kids, it wasn’t quite the same.
It felt less like playing with peers and more like she was “playing for them.”
She even looked after the other children well, which left the teachers feeling somewhat conflicted.
“By the way, when is the drama airing again?”
The day for Seo-yeon’s appearance in The Moon Hidden by the Sun was drawing nearer.
As Hyun-young checked the calendar for confirmation, her eyes fell upon a date marked in red below.
“Oh, right! The art festival is coming up soon, isn’t it?”
“That’s right! Hehe.”
“…Why are you laughing?”
“Hehe!”
Hyun-young frowned at Mina’s mischievous smile.
The art festival was quite the battlefield for kindergarten teachers.
Of course, the “battle” simply meant giving snacks to the winning class.
But that was a children’s matter.
For kindergarten teachers, it was a bit different.
Winning teachers received two whole days off!
However, if they forced the kids to do something or made unreasonable demands, they could end up being reprimanded.
The fierce struggles among the teachers unfolded under the strict scrutiny of the kindergarten director.
That was the art festival at Arongdaro Kindergarten.
“I’m planning to take a trip to Jeju Island this time.”
“…We’ll see about that.”
However, as they say, you should watch your words.
It’s said there’s no scary person out there who tells you to “wait and see.”
Mina had two stars in her class.
In terms of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was like having both Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong in one place.
For reference, Pang Tong was Lee Ji-yeon.
“The world of competition is a harsh one, Teacher Hyun-young.”
If she just prepared a light play, she felt confident to easily crush the competition.
After all, it was none other than the leading child actress of Tae-sun Dal!
Joo Seo-yeon was in her class.
“Seo-yeon, your teacher is looking at you with strange eyes again.”
“What do you mean ‘strange eyes?’ What are ‘strange eyes’?”
“Strange is strange, right?”
At Lee Ji-yeon’s whispers, Seo-yeon glanced at Mina.
In fact, Seo-yeon could roughly guess why Mina looked at her that way.
“…Hmm.”
Sorry to say, but Seo-yeon really didn’t have any plans to participate in the art festival.
First and foremost, her priority was the Moon Hidden by the Sun, and it felt a bit odd for her or Ji-yeon to join in the festival activities.
“No, I’m going to be a princess at the art festival!”
“…Do what you want.”
“Even if you tell me not to, I’ll do it.”
Clearly, Ji-yeon was all set to participate.
“But why can’t I remember what this overly eager kid ended up doing later?”
Whenever Seo-yeon looked at Ji-yeon, such thoughts would occasionally cross her mind.
Ji-yeon was quite ambitious for an actress.
Now, she was all about shooting commercials, but she was also consistently preparing to audition for dramas.
With her evident talent, she should have definitely landed a few child roles…
“By the way, which agency are you signed with?”
“Me?”
At Seo-yeon’s question, Ji-yeon looked at her with wary eyes.
Were they questioning her territory?
“…I’m just curious.”
“Hmm, well then.”
Following up, Ji-yeon disclosed her agency’s name.
“Eunha Entertainment.”
After hearing that, Seo-yeon could roughly piece together why Ji-yeon had not been seen on television since then.
*
Filming for The Moon Hidden by the Sun progressed seamlessly.
It was as if they had never stuttered due to Seo-yeon’s issues; they were already charging towards the final scene of Episode 2.
In reality, this meant there were fewer than ten shoots left until Episode 3.
“It feels like we’ve been filming non-stop for a while… and Seo-yeon doesn’t show any signs of fatigue?”
“Exactly. I thought we’d slow it down a bit.”
The staff chatted as they watched Seo-yeon, who had just completed her scene.
Despite filming multiple episodes back-to-back, her face was as lively as ever.
In fact, Park Jeong-woo, who was filming alongside her, looked more worn out.
Even though Seo-yeon had filmed more scenes than him.
“Director, shouldn’t we take a breather? It feels like we’re filming too quickly lately?”
Director Gong Jeong-tae nodded at the camera operator’s comment.
Honestly, he too felt they had been pushing for a lot of Seo-yeon-centered scenes recently.
“However, the trouble is that the main party wants to do it this way.”
“Well, that’s true.”
About two weeks ago, Seo-yeon quietly approached Gong Jeong-tae, nervously bringing up a comment.
“Um, Director.”
“Yes, go ahead, Seo-yeon.”
“If it’s okay with everyone else…”
Seo-yeon spoke with an apologetic expression, relaying a particular wish.
Roughly summarized, she wanted to quickly catch up on the episodes they had delayed.
It was a commendable sentiment, but at the same time, it crossed a line.
It was quite rare for a young actor to propose such a thing to a director.
But since Seo-yeon wasn’t one to make unnecessary requests, Gong Jeong-tae decided to hear her out.
Then, Seo-yeon began explaining calmly.
“Looking at the script, there are two scenes that seem to have heavier emotional arcs.”
“You mean S#24 and S#32?”
“Yes.”
Listening to Seo-yeon speak clearly, Gong Jeong-tae couldn’t help but reconsider if she was really just seven years old.
He didn’t have any children of his own yet, but comparing her to the cousins he saw during the holidays was like comparing heaven and earth.
“In terms of behavior and vocabulary, she’s on a different level.”
Regardless, he could grasp roughly why Seo-yeon made that request.
“Seo-yeon, do you mean…”
“That’s a secret. So I might need to take a break before those scenes…”
She seemed aware she had made a rather bold request, looking quite sheepish.
Especially since one of those scenes involved working with Jeong Eun-sun.
After all, there had been a significant issue before, and Gong Jeong-tae was undeniably hesitant.
“Since then, though she hasn’t said anything…”
Although, perhaps once he recognized Seo-yeon’s improving performances, he might have thought things were okay.
Despite his face showing lingering discomfort, he hadn’t voiced any objections.
“People from the past have it tough, huh?”
In recent years, child actors had been treated better, yet complaints had surfaced for a while.
Young actors were often exploited or subjected to harsh words in filming studios and theatres.
So, it became common practice to employ monitors or supervisors specifically to manage child actors.
Of course, it didn’t mean that Jeong Eun-sun was like that, but he knew she wasn’t the best at handling kids due to her rather sharp demeanor.
“Still…”
Naturally, it would be right to reject Seo-yeon’s suggestion.
To be honest, it wasn’t necessary to force an acting performance. Her acting alone was more than enough.
However, considering that this girl went so far as to make such a request, he was curious about what kind of performance she had in mind.
“Then let’s see it first before making a decision.”
“Huh?”
“In other words, you want to perform for acting purposes, right? Therefore, we need to see how that performance goes before discussing it.”
Ultimately, scheduling all filming was in his hands.
Be it Seo-yeon’s request or any other, making a decision would place all the responsibility back on him.
Despite this, he wanted to witness Seo-yeon’s acting for himself.
“…Got it.”
As soon as Gong Jeong-tae finished speaking, Seo-yeon deeply exhaled and closed her eyes.
It would take some time to gather her emotions.
And then…
“…Hah.”
Once Seo-yeon finished her performance,
Gong Jeong-tae couldn’t help but accept it wholeheartedly.
This was worth exploring.
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