Chapter: 73
“…….”
Seoyeon looked around like a puppy that had just done something wrong, darting her eyes nervously.
With her gaze fixed sideways, she was clearly trying to escape reality, which made Ji-yeon sigh.
“You…”
She had predicted this.
It was probably because she didn’t like the ghost act from practice.
So, she must have watched some movies and practiced separately.
‘The Exorcist.’
Apparently, that was the movie she referenced.
Watching her crawl down the stairs backward made even Ji-yeon feel a shiver run down her spine.
But shouldn’t a ghost crawl down a bit more slowly?
She moved down too fast, almost like a gigantic insect than a ghost.
Of course, that was scary in its own right, though.
“Did you know?”
“?”
“What you just did is what’s really known as a ghost act.”
“I-I didn’t know that.”
Seoyeon hesitantly replied, realizing that ever since meeting Ji-yeon, she had been a bit lukewarm in her performance, but the ghost house had been a huge hit.
Seoyeon’s fiery acting had become the talk of the town.
“I didn’t think you’d crawl around like that, but you practically treated it like a nightmare or a real ghost!”
How could a person crawl down backward?
Or move that fast in such a pose?
With such logical reasoning, the boys who were chased by the ghost thought they had genuinely witnessed a spirit.
Probably, the old school would become a temporary thrill-seeking spot for students.
Hearing Ji-yeon’s words, Seoyeon reflected on herself.
Honestly, she recognized that she had taken it a bit too far.
‘I reacted too vividly.’
Seoyeon silently apologized to those boys.
It was no surprise; not many students had made it to the second floor, let alone responded so dramatically.
Who would have thought that her excitement would lead to it being a bad move?
‘What a pity.’
Honestly, she wanted to do it a bit more.
She hesitated to wait alone, but scaring the students was just plain fun.
Now she understood why creatures chased after people in games.
Seoyeon could now empathize with the mindset of creatures a little.
“Joo Seoyeon, you’re going to seriously hurt someone. What if a boy gets startled and swings at you when you leap out like that?”
“I’ll win, of course.”
“……”
Ji-yeon was leftspeechless.
Sure, winning might be nice, but was that really something an actress should say?
Watching Seoyeon ramble about defending against a roundhouse kick while her head was upside down was just absurd.
“So…”
She decided to turn the conversation, sensing it might lead to more banter about how to fight and win.
“Have you made any friends?”
“……Um.”
Seoyeon paused mid-sentence as they talked about grappling moves.
Her eyes shifted ahead.
Currently, the two were sitting on a bench in the playground.
It was the closing ceremony for their school festival.
The Yeonhwa High School festival lasted two days, during which Seoyeon had worked hard on her ghost act.
‘Hmm.’
Seoyeon pondered.
Had she made any friends? She wasn’t quite sure.
“A bit.”
“What? Only half a friend? That sounds sketchy.”
Ji-yeon said with a playful smirk.
Seoyeon sulked in response.
“I joined the class group chat.”
“Good job!”
“The others will join soon enough.”
Seoyeon said confidently.
However, the schoolgirls who had witnessed Seoyeon crawl on all fours seemed to be avoiding her now.
Even though rumors spread, there were indeed witnesses.
“Joo Seoyeon.”
Ji-yeon spoke up.
“You turn 18 in two months, right?”
“Uh? Yeah.”
“Got it.”
At Seoyeon’s reply, Ji-yeon looked silently toward the playground.
Watching her, Seoyeon tilted her head in confusion.
What could she possibly be thinking?
Seoyeon then looked toward the playground as well.
Soon, colorful fireworks launched into the sky.
Fireworks.
It felt like school had prepared something pretty special this time.
A peaceful school life.
‘Now that I think about it…’
Seoyeon suddenly realized something.
Watching the school festival with friends was something her past self could never have imagined.
What kind of feelings does one experience in such moments?
It felt pleasant, yet there was a tingling sensation in her heart.
In her past life.
And an emotion that Chae Seo-ah was not permitted to feel.
‘…….’
She learned what fear looked like while acting as a ghost.
And she was reminded of the emotions that flowed from inside Chae Seo-ah.
The jealousy towards those who possessed what she could not.
‘A simple madness.’
That was the essence of the character Chae Seo-ah.
She was a villain.
She didn’t know emotions and was a victim of abuse.
Sure, she could use that as an excuse, but countless murders would never be justified.
And so, through this performance, Seoyeon aimed to express Chae Seo-ah’s fear.
‘I could add one more thing.’
Watching the fireworks burst in the sky, Seoyeon thought about the emotions she had missed out on as an ordinary girl.
Perhaps Chae Seo-ah wouldn’t have committed such acts just out of simple jealousy.
Seoyeon felt a vague notion of this.
“Lee Ji-yeon.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have time this weekend?”
She probably meant to meet up.
That might have sounded like a regular question, but it felt unusual.
“…….”
The expression on Seoyeon’s face while gazing at the blooming fireworks was one Ji-yeon had never seen before.
But it wasn’t the typical vacant look you’d expect from her either.
“Sure.”
Ji-yeon nodded.
She didn’t even ask why, though.
*
The highlights of The Chaser had been completely filmed.
The remaining scenes about Chae Seo-ah focused on her daily life.
And the moments depicting Chae Seo-ah as she killed other victims.
It was about showcasing her sides as a person driven by fear.
She needed to reveal why she committed such crimes.
The scenes where she experienced jealousy towards others and how she abandoned her humanity needed to be shown to the audience.
Originally, Seoyeon planned to depict the past version of herself as it was.
What if she had faced abuse?
What if she had been unable to convey the expressions of others?
She thought it would suffice to present that scenario.
However…
‘Acting is my role.’
The past was still crystal clear in her mind.
How she thought and acted back then.
Yet, Joo Seoyeon had real emotions now, and she couldn’t quite recall how she viewed the world at that time.
That was something she had never even recognized.
She felt like understanding that emotion was key to grasping Chae Seo-ah’s motivations.
What emotions had she felt towards others back then?
‘Where are we…’
The weekend was approaching.
She heard filming was scheduled for tomorrow, so Seoyeon and Ji-yeon had to head down south.
Daejeon.
Surely, they didn’t come to buy bread from Seongsimdang.
‘The expression is quite bizarre here.’
She vaguely heard that she wanted to prepare one last thing for the filming tomorrow.
What on earth did that have to do with coming to Daejeon?
‘How can I possibly know what she’s thinking?’
There was always something strange about Seoyeon since childhood.
Now, she was so used to it that it didn’t even phase her.
Even if she acted oddly, Seoyeon always had her reasons.
‘She probably doesn’t have much experience being out of town.’
Ji-yeon followed along the path Seoyeon was walking.
Daejeon.
It was a city about an hour and a half away by train from Seoul.
Not far, yet not exactly close either.
Naturally, Seoyeon, who had lived in Seoul her entire life, rarely came down this way.
However, her steps were familiar.
As if she had lived here long enough.
She moved effortlessly.
“Joo Seoyeon, who are you meeting?”
Finally, since she couldn’t help but ask, Seoyeon simply replied,
“No one.”
That was all she said.
They kept walking, and Seoyeon naturally wandered here and there.
A slightly worn-down shopping district.
Old signs lined the alley.
And an elementary school that looked like it had seen better days.
In contrast, a neat middle school stood nearby.
“Where’s the high school?”
“That’s too far.”
That was a strange remark.
Their final destination was an apartment complex in a slightly remote area.
Yet, it appeared somewhat tidily maintained.
After wandering around, the sky was growing dark.
Cars returning from work were lined up.
And then…
A heartwarming family came into view.
A girl with a bright smile, as if she had just come back from play, walked hand-in-hand with a jovial woman.
Ji-yeon couldn’t help but smile softly at that sight.
“…….”
But Seoyeon quietly stared at the scene.
For some reason, her eyes held a complicated mix of feelings.
‘Why?’
Was it just an unfamiliar person?
If she knew them, why didn’t she say anything?
In that moment, Seoyeon muttered quietly,
“I see.”
It wasn’t anything special.
Just those words, and she slowly turned away.
“I wanted to refer to it for acting.”
“Huh?”
“The motivation for Chae Seo-ah. ”
Ji-yeon was puzzled by Seoyeon’s comment.
Wasn’t she already doing an incredible job?
“I think I get it.”
When Ji-yeon said that, Seoyeon smiled.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
It was a clean smile that bore no shadows of the brief hesitation that had passed.
Seeing Seoyeon like that made Ji-yeon finally feel relieved.
Thus, the pair returned to Seoul.
And the next day,
Filming for The Chaser, which had been delayed, began.
*
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“You too, Seoyeon. Is it finally over for Chae Seo-ah?”
After a month,
filming for The Chaser had reached its final stages.
All the remaining scenes related to Chae Seo-ah had been filmed.
“Yup, it’s done.”
With a relieved expression, Seoyeon wiped the sweat from her forehead, causing Director Bae Jin-hwan to fall deep in thought.
‘Her acting has improved.’
The previous Chae Seo-ah was eerily like watching herself.
He didn’t regret casting Seoyeon in this role, as her acting was outstanding.
Especially, it shone during the highlight scenes.
He believed that the connections in between those scenes were adequately handled.
“To be honest…”
Director Bae Jin-hwan grinned.
“Every scene is great, making the editing quite the challenge. The staff is practically in tears!”
“Is that so?”
“Of course! Where did Seoyeon learn to act like this? Chae Seo-ah is highly impressive!”
In a thriller film, the villain plays a crucial role.
They must instill fear in the audience to draw them into the story.
If the audience can’t accept the motive behind the crime, their immersion is disrupted.
From that perspective, Chae Seo-ah’s motives for her actions are very intricate.
Just simple jealousy?
If that’s all it seemed, it would honestly come off as a little vague.
‘Is that all it takes?’
If that impression formed, the film would fail.
However, Seoyeon adeptly conveyed why Chae Seo-ah committed those terrible acts through her acting.
“Such deep emotional acting… considering your age, it’s beyond belief.”
“Really?”
She flinched slightly at the mention of age.
After all, she was a high school girl!
While Seoyeon pondered that,
“Filming is almost wrapped up. We should start promoting soon.”
“Promotion?”
“Yes, as we’ll have to appear on broadcasts and such. Seoyeon, have you thought about anything? I think it’s important to consider your options first.”
Movie promotion.
That involved appearing on various variety shows or events to expose themselves to the public.
Having done something similar during The Sun Hidden by the Moon, Seoyeon was familiar with it.
Of course, as a child actor, her experiences were quite limited.
‘Now that I’m playing a villain, it’ll be way more frequent than last time, right?’
Yet, when it came to promotion, Seoyeon couldn’t think of anything specific.
She didn’t have all the ins and outs figured out after all.
“If you don’t have anything in mind, I’ll let the promotion team know separately.”
“Okay, please take care of that.”
“They’ll probably have other actors joining as well, so don’t worry too much.”
Seoyeon nodded at Director Bae Jin-hwan’s words.
She figured it would just be an interview broadcast or a similar promotional event she’d been on before.
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