Chapter: 52
“……Hello, Seo-hee. It’s been a while.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to… see you, Sunbae.”
A strange tension hung between the two.
Park Jung-woo and Jo Seo-hee.
They stood facing each other, eyes filled with caution.
‘What the heck is he doing here?’
‘Why on earth is she here?’
They wore smiles, but the awkwardness was palpable.
An awkward atmosphere one wouldn’t expect from young, critically acclaimed actors.
And in between them stood the one affected by all this.
‘How did it come to this?’
Joo Seoyeon slowly retraced the moments after the play.
About an hour ago…
“Thank you all for your hard work today!”
After the performance, especially after a successful show, everyone was overflowing with excitement.
Reflecting on their performances in front of a multitude of audience members.
And recalling the spectacular scenes…
“Seoyeon, you were amazing! You really brought the scene to life!”
The first to speak was Lee Hye-jin, Song Min-seo’s actress counterpart.
It was only fitting since she had saved the stage from potential disaster without Seoyeon.
“It’s because Hye-jin acted so well.”
“Oh, stop flattering me.”
“Did you see the audience’s reaction?? It’s been a long time since the first show got such a good reaction. Truly.”
Seoyeon mentally replayed the day’s performance multiple times.
It was a stage that met the grand expectations set for it — a satisfaction that was indescribable.
“We should have a get-together! It might be a bit early, but let’s go!”
The enthusiastic suggestion came from Jo Do-yul.
He was loudly claiming he’d cover everything.
“But doesn’t Seoyeon have school tomorrow? And isn’t the director supposed to stay behind?”
“……”
Shim Cheong-seok’s concisely delivered reminder shut everyone up.
He wasn’t wrong, of course.
‘Come to think of it…’
Seoyeon was still a high school student.
If they brought out drinks at the gathering, it could turn into a controversy.
But she couldn’t just skip out.
After all, who was the superstar of this play?
The one who saved the day was Joo Seoyeon herself.
No Seoyeon, no celebration!
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about school. I already got permission.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, as long as I meet the minimum attendance requirements, I’m all good.”
With Seoyeon’s calm declaration, everyone buzzed around, eager to leave.
Seoyeon felt a bit smug about it.
‘Nailed it today.’
She was different from her younger self.
Back then, it always felt like everyone was tiptoeing around her.
She knew her own shortcomings, so aside from her last performance, she was never fully content.
However, this performance left her feeling completely fulfilled.
She had a new “Joo Seoyeon highlight reel” to mentally review before bed.
She figured she’d sleep like a rock tonight.
Though her expression didn’t reveal it, she secretly felt giddy inside.
As her mother, Min Sua, had said,
Seoyeon enjoyed being elevated by others.
Today was the peak of that experience.
Her face, typically expressionless, showed the faintest glow of excitement.
That was all well and good, but…
“It’s a bit funny to ask about a situation that’s already arrived, but is the meat restaurant okay?”
“Yeah.”
Seoyeon, who had been watching the actors fill up their seats at the meat restaurant since the morning, suddenly realized she hadn’t washed her hands after the performance.
For the record, Jo Do-yul stayed back for the next performance.
He seemed to have entrusted the actors to Shim Cheong-seok.
In truth, though Shim Cheong-seok wasn’t significantly older or more experienced, since the performance, he had taken on a leader’s role among the actors.
“Oh, can I step out to wash my hands for a moment?”
“Of course. Just go out and to the right.”
As Shim Cheong-seok answered while listening to the orders from the other actors,
Seoyeon glanced at the enthusiastic cast members and went out feeling light-hearted.
And then…
“……”
She spotted two familiar figures standing at the entrance of the restaurant.
‘Oh.’
Those were familiar faces to Seoyeon.
First, the man.
He was wearing oversized sunglasses, a hat, and a black mask on his face, dressed casually.
But that handsome face and striking features were all too familiar to her.
Park Jung-woo.
The person she had just acted with on a variety show not long ago.
And…
“Hmm.”
A woman gazing at the man with a slight snort.
She was in a school uniform just like Seoyeon.
Seoyeon clearly remembered that it was the uniform of a prestigious performing arts high school in Seoul.
The woman, with a masked face and glasses, had her identity plastered right behind her.
Jo Seo-hee.
The girl she had met during the audition for The Sun Hidden by the Moon in her childhood.
“…Huh?”
“Hmm?”
Realizing that they both just spotted Seoyeon, they moved their heads simultaneously.
And both flinched.
It seemed they were just now aware of how they appeared.
An awkward silence followed.
None of them could muster the courage to speak, as they scanned each other.
“That’s awkward.”
The first to break the silence was Jo Seo-hee.
“I just wanted to see the play today and maybe chat a little.”
Seo-hee’s face was serious, surprisingly void of humor.
It was clear she wasn’t joking.
“…Chat?”
“Yeah.”
Seoyeon looked at the Seo-hee she hadn’t seen in ages.
The last time she laid eyes on her was when they were kids.
Frankly, she was quite amazed.
Seo-hee had grown into a beautiful woman without a trace of her past transformation.
‘She’s pretty.’
In an overall sense, she resembled a cat.
Similar but different from Seoyeon.
While Seoyeon was a lazy cat, this one was a sharp, alert feline with its claws out.
A cat that didn’t seem likely to be friendly.
One wrong word, and she might just swat for real.
Of course, Seoyeon’s fist was stronger, so she could take any challenge thrown her way.
“But…”
Seoyeon asked curiously.
“We, um…”
They weren’t that friendly, so a chat felt unwarranted,
Though the words almost spilled out, she chose not to vocalize them.
‘Oh, let’s just talk about parachutes?’
That was practically the only communication they shared.
They’d seen so many ads together that fostered more of an internal familiarity, but Seoyeon had never expected to be approached like this.
No, rather, Seoyeon genuinely wanted to ask Seo-hee —
Why did she really come here?
“Oh.”
Though Seoyeon didn’t voice her thoughts, Seo-hee likely understood her intent.
This caused an awkward pause as Seo-hee struggled to find words.
“Pfft.”
Park Jung-woo snickered, loosening his crossed arms.
“Seo-hee, this is a bit troubling. Just strolling up to a celebrity without being close is kind of… odd.”
“……”
“Hmm, I’ve acted in dramas with you, and we’ve recently worked together on a variety show. So it’s basically appropriate professionalism and friendship that brings me here.”
“……”
Upon hearing Park Jung-woo’s statement, Seo-hee grit her teeth and shot him a glare.
But Jung-woo just shrugged.
With his small stature and the fact he was three years younger than Seo-hee, she felt as if he was an unconvincing adversary.
‘Is that so?’
Seoyeon began wondering how close Jung-woo and Seo-hee actually were.
Well, Seoyeon had indeed seen them together quite a bit.
It was a bit surprising to think he would have come to see the play too.
“…Hmm, hm.”
Seo-hee regained her composure and smiled brightly.
“But just a suggestion from a junior, you should be a bit more careful. If a male actor casually approaches a female actor… You know what I mean?”
“……”
“And I came to express my gratitude toward Seoyeon, who is a very important person to me. Yes, that’s it.”
At this, Seoyeon felt an unexpected curiosity rise.
Jung-woo’s intentions were somewhat clear, but Seo-hee caught Seoyeon off guard.
“A person you’re grateful for?”
“Yeah. Ten years ago, during the audition for The Sun Hidden by the Moon.”
Seo-hee reminisced about that time.
“When I lost the role of the Princess Yeonhwa to you, it served as quite a significant lesson for me.”
She was speaking genuinely.
Seo-hee thought that back then, she had been cocky at a young age.
Of course, she was still overflowing with confidence, but there was a clear distinction between that and arrogance.
“That’s why I really wanted to meet you. I wanted to thank you for returning.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Oh, and this time I…”
As Seo-hee was about to continue smoothly, Jung-woo’s brow twitched.
He seemed to have a pretty good idea of what was about to be said.
“Wait…”
Just then, Shim Cheong-seok, who had come looking for Seoyeon, spotted Jung-woo and Seo-hee.
With sleepy eyes and a dull expression, he looked back and forth between them.
“What’s going on? Is this a hidden camera?”
It was an assertion that fit the surprisingly odd gathering.
*
With Shim Cheong-seok’s sudden appearance, Park Jung-woo and Jo Seo-hee jumped, then bolted away.
Given their personalities, one would expect them to engage naturally, but evidently, that wasn’t the case.
While Shim Cheong-seok stared at the scene, he asked Seoyeon.
“Are they friends?”
“……Yeah, sort of.”
“Hmm.”
Should he call them friends?
As for Jung-woo, it made sense, but Seo-hee caught him off guard.
He had no idea she was keeping such a close eye on Seoyeon.
The reason for her sudden interest escaped him.
‘Is that all I got from this? Only those reactions after seeing two top-tier actors?’
His internal monologue amused him a bit.
As he scratched his head, he began to understand why he faced tough situations while filming dramas in the future.
He caught a glimpse of that reality.
“Thank you all for your hard work today!”
“Let’s give it our all for the remaining performances!”
Thus wrapped up what was a successful gathering.
The next day, at school, Seoyeon shared the experience with Lee Ji-yeon.
“Oh, by the way, I also saw the performance.”
“Really?”
In that case, they might as well go grab a bite together, she thought.
But she got a different response.
“Bringing someone into that occasion would just be rude. I’m sure they understood that, which is why they didn’t include me.”
“Really?”
They were pretty considerate people?
Honestly, it was hard to tell, but judging by what Ji-yeon said, perhaps that was the case.
‘By the way…’
Seoyeon noticed something odd about the atmosphere while sitting on the bench where she usually spent her lunch break with Ji-yeon.
Since filming the variety show and being busy with the play and not attending school, she was feeling this shift for the first time.
“It’s quite a commotion, huh?”
Ji-yeon seemed to catch on to Seoyeon’s thoughts.
“Everyone’s asking me why I didn’t tell them anything. Did I hide something? They just couldn’t figure things out for themselves.”
“Um, is that so?”
“Not what’s worth that much fuss. Are you thinking of following the same path as those older guys?”
Ji-yeon said incredulously, referring to you-know-who: Seoyeon’s father.
Then she pointed out the crowd of eyes peeking from the surrounding school building.
“There, there, and there.”
On the teacher’s building.
And through classroom windows.
Using the vending machine, students sneaked glances while side-eyeing.
Each time Ji-yeon pointed, students jumped and fled in a panic, which added a bit of humor to the scene.
The aftermath of the variety show filming had surely made quite the impact.
‘Still no friends yet, huh?’
But wouldn’t it be nice if someone could come forward?
Today, the only conversation she had was with her smartphone while rearranging its charging cables.
Oh, except for Ji-yeon, of course.
“And…”
Once the students were out of sight, Ji-yeon remarked.
“It’s about time you find an agency. What’s your plan?”
“What do you mean, what’s my plan?”
“You’ve said for ages that you wanted to go to that one.”
Indeed, Seoyeon had a place in mind.
The agency where Kim Jung-ha, an actor she had shot commercials with, was signed.
It was the perfect time, considering Jung-ha was set to rise shortly, and word was travel-worthy now that the agency’s reputation wasn’t exactly stellar.
Seoyeon wouldn’t have issues getting in there.
But…
“…Is there even a spot available at your agency?”
“Why ask obvious questions? If you decide to join, they’d probably create a position just for you.”
Ji-yeon’s agency, Nova Entertainment.
She had moved there after Eunha Entertainment, making quite a name for herself since.
While it wasn’t a giant agency in every sense, it had a solid reputation that held its ground.
Considering everything, Nova Entertainment was indeed the best choice.
‘Sounds great, let’s do it.’
Just as Seoyeon decided this, a sudden buzz rocked her smartphone.
“Who’s calling?”
“Oh, that’s…”
Looking at the screen, the caller’s name appeared.
Jo Do-yul.
The director of Eyes Closed.
Seoyeon was slightly taken aback, then calmly picked up the call.
“Hello, this is Joo Seoyeon.”
“Oh, Seoyeon. It’s lunchtime, right? I’m sorry for the sudden call.”
“It’s fine. What’s up?”
Today, she had free time until about four o’clock, so there was no rush.
“Actually, I know a director who’s been searching for someone like you…”
When he got this far, Seoyeon realized.
‘Is it finally happening?’
“Are you interested in acting in a film?”
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