Chapter: 90
Seoyeon honestly had a lot on her mind about the character Jo Ha-rin.
Dream Future fundamentally pairs couples two by two.
Kim Si-hwan and Song So-ha.
Park Min-yul and Jo Ha-rin.
Ha Yu-seong and Jin Hye-min.
That’s the structural setup.
Among these, Jo Ha-rin had a particularly complicated narrative, which was simply unrequited love for Kim Si-hwan.
Unrequited love, huh?
For Seoyeon, it was honestly difficult to even imagine that kind of feeling.
She still struggled with emotional exchanges with others.
The fact that she couldn’t make solid friendships might also be due to that.
Just like love, friendship too.
She couldn’t quite pin down a proper definition for it.
The only connection she labeled as friendship was the long-standing bond with Lee Ji-yeon.
But unrequited love…
Seoyeon found herself lost in thought, staring at the TV in the dim living room.
It felt like a familiar sight now, filming Dream Future.
When free time arose, Seoyeon would often watch dating or romance dramas.
Despite the bouncy personality of Dream Future, as the site’s intro stated, it was not a gag drama.
Honestly, it was a youth romance drama tailored to the mental growth of the characters.
The plot progressed through an idol audition, focusing on six idols participating in it.
Well, I have no clue about any of this.
Finding common ground.
In the past, she hadn’t understood the importance of that, but now she did.
To enter the realm of empathy, not just emotional imitation, one must deeply empathize with the role.
In other words, if the role was one she couldn’t relate to, it felt impossible to step into the methods at all.
Jo Ha-rin doesn’t need to deeply immerse herself in her role.
She was originally a lighthearted and cheerful character.
If it were purely a matter of acting, Seoyeon had plenty of confidence in herself.
Her performance during the previous ‘web promotion’ had even garnered praise.
During the first shooting, everyone raised their thumbs up.
Naturally, it stood out even more when compared to the idol’s acting skills.
But something nagged at Seoyeon’s heart.
Even though she joined the drama merely to improve her image.
So,
Park Jung-woo stirred his iced Americano with a straw and said, “Have you ever dated?”
“Yeah.”
Staring blankly at her, Park Jung-woo was taken aback.
‘No way!’
They were in a cafe near the filming site, managing to keep themselves camouflaged enough that no one recognized them.
‘Does he even realize how dangerous that question is?’
If he didn’t know her situation, he might have been misunderstood.
Especially since Park Jung-woo’s character in Dream Future was the very person Jo Ha-rin had an unrequited crush on.
So this question had the potential to land him in hot water.
‘He’s clearly not familiar with this type of conversation.’
Seoyeon occasionally had an oddly naïve side to her.
To Jung-woo, it had become apparent as he observed her up close, and this behavior shared a common thread.
The specific emotions one feels when entangled with others.
Anger, jealousy, or love like now.
Seoyeon sometimes acted like she was completely ignorant of such feelings.
But when it came to anger and jealousy, she might not be the best judge, yet with love, Jung-woo had nothing to say.
Well,
“There’s none.”
“Pardon?”
“Do you even know how busy I’ve been living?”
He had never even properly attended school.
From an early age, he’d been a child actor.
A continuous cycle of ads, dramas, and movie shoots.
So he genuinely had little experience interacting with people.
Although there were occasionally other actors around.
Naturally, there had been some approaches from young actresses or idols, but none like Park Jung-woo.
“Well, that makes sense.”
“Ha.”
He figured out what Seoyeon wanted to ask him.
After all, among the few people she knew, Jung-woo was the only senior actor with more acting experience than her.
The others were mostly unavailable.
As he watched Seoyeon lost deep in thought, Jung-woo responded, “Well, even if it’s a stretch for me, there’s someone I can ask for you.”
He could perfectly see what kind of troubles she was grappling with.
As far as Jung-woo knew, there wasn’t another actor her age as serious about acting as Seoyeon.
She might deny this if he said it point-blank.
‘Is it her competitive nature, or something else?’
Sometimes, when Jung-woo looked at Seoyeon, her approach to acting felt like an exploration.
With every new role.
Every new scene.
Every take felt like she was uncovering something unknown.
Though he didn’t really know what that was.
In that case, he could only introduce her to someone insightful.
“Who is it?”
“Someone you know.”
With that, Park Jung-woo contacted someone and headed out without hesitation.
After finishing today’s filming, they arrived at the broadcasting station.
When they went upstairs to the second floor, they found a set.
They seemed to be filming some kind of advertisement.
And there, Seoyeon could meet her.
“Actor Jeong Eun-seon.”
At Seoyeon’s call, a woman turned around.
An esteemed actress, her wrinkles more pronounced than when Seoyeon had seen her ten years ago.
*
“It’s been a while.”
Jeong Eun-seon lowered her head gently, taking in the grown Seoyeon.
In a waiting room specially arranged by the staff, Seoyeon and Jeong Eun-seon faced one another.
Honestly, seeing Jeong Eun-seon after such a long time filled Seoyeon with a sense of fluttering in her heart, unlike before.
Nervous.
An emotion she hadn’t felt much in the past.
But after going through puberty and countless emotional experiences, it came rushing back.
“You’ve actually aged into a more age-appropriate face now.”
“Is that so?”
Seoyeon wasn’t quite sure.
Lee Ji-yeon had said something similar before.
“It’s like you’re aging backward.”
She extended that sentiment, saying Seoyeon used to seem a lot more mature.
Back in middle school, and even now as a high schooler.
The older Ji-yeon, who used to care for Seoyeon, was now the one being looked after.
“But honestly, I think that’s good.”
Seoyeon was aware of that fact.
So when she asked if it was bothersome, Ji-yeon replied that that was a good sign.
“In the past, you seemed a bit like a doll. But I think you’ve definitely improved since middle school.”
It was right in the heart of her turbulent teenage years.
To put it simply, it was Seoyeon’s stormy phase.
Swaying on a small sailboat across the ocean of emotions.
…Which led to plenty of mishaps, to be fair.
“But more than that,”
Ji-yeon hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Right now, your thoughts seem crystal clear.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It is.”
Given their relationship of ten years, it was only natural for Ji-yeon to say that.
‘I see.’
Seoyeon understood what Ji-yeon was getting at.
Perhaps her childhood doll-like demeanor stemmed from influences from her past life.
The emotions of someone unfamiliar, twisting the face of ordinary human Joo Seoyeon.
Additionally, because her kind parents embraced that Seoyeon with genuine love, she didn’t need to resort to “emotional imitation” like in her past life.
If she hadn’t pursued acting, she might have stayed wearing that mask longer.
But through acting, Seoyeon gradually realized that she was an ordinary human.
Understanding emotions.
And during her adolescence, she went along with those feelings.
There were certainly parts that remained unchanged, but when combined, it formed the current Joo Seoyeon.
She was someone whose bluntness had diminished, but once swept away by emotions, she would charge forth exhilarated.
Seoyeon liked this version of her quite a bit.
“I’ve heard you’ve been worrying about your acting lately.”
“Excuse me?”
“Actor Park Jung-woo mentioned it.”
How did they know about her worries regarding acting?
Seoyeon hadn’t really asked about her performance in Dream Future.
She had only intended to test the waters a bit.
After all, Park Jung-woo had done love scenes before.
She had already watched the youth drama he starred in.
A drama revolving around youthful first loves.
Park Jung-woo’s performance in middle school had stirred significant buzz for various reasons.
In fact, it left Seoyeon quite impressed when she watched it, so she wanted to ask him directly.
If experiencing love allowed him to act that well.
“I saw Dream Future as a drama requiring profound emotional performances.”
Jeong Eun-seon quietly replied to Seoyeon’s worries.
“On the surface…”
“Is that so?”
To others, Dream Future might seem just a silly drama.
A show with random dances and songs, after all.
But within, Jo Ha-rin’s turmoil was undoubtably woven in.
Acting.
Drama.
“Just as before, I wouldn’t say it’s about getting lost in emotional acting.”
“…….”
“I think it’s something you’d want to pursue earnestly.”
Seoyeon desired to deeply connect with Jo Ha-rin.
“I’ll say this first, there’s no need to rush.”
“Really?”
“Of course, I haven’t seen much of your acting so far.”
After all, none of the dramas or movies Seoyeon shot had been seen by the public yet.
“However, from what I’ve observed, you seem quite ambitious.”
“That’s…”
“I understand wanting to push yourself, but there’s no need to rush it.”
Jeong Eun-seon sincerely believed that.
Even ten years later, Seoyeon was still young.
“Regarding love acting, if you truly experience it, you’ll be able to understand it deeply. But it doesn’t have to be precisely like that.”
“What does ‘not exactly like that’ mean?”
“Just because love can take many forms doesn’t mean it’s always beautiful, or that it conforms to one shape.”
Let’s say you fell for someone.
But if that person doesn’t match or approaches you with bad intentions, the beginning may have been love, but the ending could be bleak.
“Experience doesn’t necessarily guarantee help. It may assist with understanding but it’s not everything.”
Seoyeon met Jeong Eun-seon’s gaze with eyes that seemed to ask, “Then what do I do?”
“In your childhood, you showcased superb emotional acting as well. Even without methods, it was enough.”
From there, all she needed to do was add a little of her own thoughts.
She could embellish it in her ideal form.
Just like how Jung-woo’s performances were, Jeong Eun-seon said.
“If you ever want to understand other emotions, a time will come.”
Like the feelings of love Seoyeon was currently yearning for.
Jeong Eun-seon smiled gently at Seoyeon.
Ten years later, at this utterly youthful girl.
“Seoyeon, you’re still young, so if you portray those imaginations through your acting…”
That would be more than sufficient, she said.
Even if it were strange feelings.
Even if Seoyeon believed she couldn’t comprehend them.
As long as she was human, understanding was bound to come naturally.
*
– Is Dream Future premiering with a live broadcast simultaneously?
– Apparently so???
– Is it more like a variety show emotion?
– You can tell from the commercials, lol.
In the first episode of Dream Future.
Scenes that had previously aired through the web promotion had already gathered considerable attention online.
Ma Yeon-woo’s first acting challenge.
Not to mention, the recent buzz surrounding actors like Park Jung-woo and Joo Seoyeon.
It was undoubtedly a hot topic.
But whether it reflected genuine interest was another question.
– Usually, previews are all you get.
– Honestly, you don’t watch dramas to see gags.
– It’s not a sitcom or anything.
Simply curious about what might come next.
Wondering how those hilarious scenes from the trailer would play out in reality.
In fact, the early part of Episode 1 felt much like the trailer.
Evoking emotions reminiscent of early ’90s dramas.
– Wait, this isn’t bad?
With the individual stories of Kim Si-hwan and Song So-ha participating in auditions, viewers were pulled in.
Yet, the feeling was vastly different from raw filming because of the solid editing.
– Park Jung-woo is undeniably solid.
– You can relate better since they aren’t busting out into dance and song.
– Hmm… but this is kinda boring.
The expected scenes failing to materialize led to some ambiguous reactions surfacing.
Mixed responses of love and dislike flowed through.
As the main leads’ stories wrapped up.
It was time for the other four lead actors.
The first sequence.
Seoyeon’s face flashed across the TV screen.
Arriving late to the audition, Jo Ha-rin unexpectedly encounters Kim Si-hwan.
And with that, Jo Ha-rin’s performance began.
– Huh?
The reactions from the audience began to shift.
This wasn’t just simple comedic relief anymore.
It was shaping up to be a proper drama.
You may also like Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy
