After finishing several script readings, the time for serious stage rehearsals had finally come.
Currently, I was deeply engrossed in script analysis, but it was clear that I’d be busier in the future.
Therefore, I didn’t want to miss this chance if I could help it.
“Am I coming in?”
“Yep.”
As I prepared some tea while glancing sideways at Lee Ji-yeon, who was taking off her shoes, I realized that although we often hung out at school, she hadn’t been to my house that many times. Most of the time, we met outside, and I actually visited Ji-yeon’s house more.
‘Good.’
I had hesitated until now, but after watching the announcement for the new Seven Live Season 3 cast, I made up my mind. At least, I should say something once. Who knows if she might show some interest?
‘I don’t expect much since it might interfere with acting duties…’
Still, just a little bit, occasionally, it should be fine, right?
“…You look really uncomfortable.”
“How rude.”
With a slight furrow of my brow, Ji-yeon started kneading my face with both hands.
“It’s just that your expression doesn’t change, but somehow I feel a vibe. You’re not thinking about something weird again, are you?”
“Weird thoughts? What do you mean?”
“You sometimes have really outlandish ideas.”
Anyone overhearing might misunderstand it greatly. Despite my appearance, I was just a perfectly normal high school girl… Well, I was, right?
“Oh, Ji-yeon’s here!”
“Hello.”
“Ugh, seriously, what would you do without Ji-yeon, Seo-yeon?”
My mom said that while hurriedly getting dressed, claiming she was going to buy some fruits. It seemed like she was planning to cut up some fruit while we were playing.
“Your mom.”
“Yep.”
“I think she’s gotten a little bustier.”
“…No way.”
“And she looks just the same as when I last saw her. My mom would be sad if she saw this.”
“Your mom is still young too, right?”
Ji-yeon’s mom also looked quite young, as far as appearances went.
“My mom put in a lot of effort. I should ask her later how she manages her skin care.”
Even though she said that, my mom never really did any skin care. It was just the occasional mask pack before bed, maybe?
She did look incredibly young, though.
“So, what are we doing now? Want to watch a movie like usual?”
Ji-yeon said that while gesturing to the big TV. When we were alone, we usually watched movies or dramas together. It wasn’t just for fun but also a chance to analyze the actors’ performances and discuss or practice. Ji-yeon was serious about acting in her own way, so whenever she had the chance, she would ask me about it.
Even if she currently had more acting experience than I did.
“Today…”
I casually turned on YouTube first.
“…”
And then my finger froze.
I originally planned to smoothly say, “Hey, have you seen this new thing?” and sneak a Vtuber video into the mix. Then Ji-yeon would react and we could naturally…
Naturally…
……
Hmm.
‘This is tougher than I thought.’
I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I could feel Ji-yeon’s gaze, staring blankly at me.
This is strange, right? If I suddenly show her a Vtuber video now, it would be weird, wouldn’t it?
‘Get it together, Joo Seo-yeon. Are Vtubers embarrassing?’
Maybe just a bit… for the first time… I felt that way.
But it made sense because Ji-yeon was a true socialite, completely disconnected from things like animation. I had no idea how she would react now, so I couldn’t easily move my fingers.
Would my simple wish of her being a bit interested come to an end here?
“Joo Seo-yeon.”
“Uh, yeah?”
“…Why does your algorithm have so many weird things?”
The YouTube screen was naturally logged in under my ID, so it was obvious that the things I often watched were showing up.
And, of course, there were Vtuber-related videos among them.
“That’s that Vtuber thing.”
I flinched.
I couldn’t bring myself to admit it and just trembled. But how did she find out?
If she knew, wouldn’t she be able to bring it up more casually?
As I opened my mouth, pondering that, Ji-yeon voiced one of the three scariest lines I could hear from a friend.
“Do you watch that stuff?”
I shut my mouth.
Then while I was just trembling in place, Ji-yeon gasped in realization.
“Did I say something wrong? I was just asking out of pure curiosity.”
“…Really?”
“What’s up with your reaction? It’s weird.”
Ji-yeon burst into laughter.
“Anyway, if there’s not much to watch, you can watch what you want to see.”
After hesitating for a moment, I slowly nodded.
Watching Ji-yeon type something into the YouTube search bar, I soon closed my eyes tightly.
‘I failed…’
Well, when I think about it, it was pretty much given.
*
“Mm.”
Ji-yeon glanced over at her while switching channels, watching Seo-yeon with her eyes tightly closed, chewing on her bottom lip.
It was an expression exceedingly rare for Seo-yeon, who usually didn’t show much change.
Ji-yeon chuckled at Seo-yeon’s face and took a peek at her YouTube search history.
Either way, Ji-yeon had been curious about Seo-yeon’s recent interests.
Then, she narrowed her eyes at most of the searches being related to theater.
‘Looks like she’s serious about acting after all.’
It was hard to understand why Seo-yeon chose that play for her comeback.
Even if she asked, the only response would be something vague like, “I have to do this for the next project.”
‘Well, since it’s Joo Seo-yeon, she’ll know what to do.’
Ji-yeon didn’t pay too much mind. They would find out when they saw the play later.
So, then.
‘Vtubers?’
Here and there, various videos appeared on Seo-yeon’s algorithm.
‘Hmm.’
It seemed like something connected.
Ji-yeon knew it from the information circulating among her friends whom she met at the voice acting academy.
‘This is also a job that relies on your voice.’
It seemed like an area where lacking talent could lead to rapid failure, so she had no interest in it.
But seeing Seo-yeon react like this, …it was a bit amusing.
Ji-yeon knew that Seo-yeon often flinched at her own voice.
Now, she looked completely deflated, likely because she had failed at whatever she was trying to do.
Most likely, it was something related to Vtubers.
“Joo Seo-yeon.”
“…Yeah?”
Seeing Seo-yeon looking oddly gloomy, Ji-yeon couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It’s nothing.”
It was just that something amusing came to mind.
*
Days passed just like that.
The stage rehearsals officially began.
Seo-yeon had tried to gather a lot of information ahead of time, but indeed, it felt an entirely different world from dramas.
A small theater with 600 seats.
At first, it didn’t feel that big upon hearing the number, but once on stage, it felt much larger than expected.
‘This is my first time acting in front of so many people… oh wait, that’s not true.’
Thinking back, wasn’t there Snow White?
Seo-yeon thought to herself, standing still on stage and gazing out at the seats.
“What’s the matter, scared?”
As she stood there, she heard a voice laced with amusement.
Turning to look, she saw Sim Cheong-seok grinning at her.
“Nope.”
“Of course.”
He chuckled and smiled at her.
With his sharp features, Sim Cheong-seok’s smile gave off a wild, beast-like feeling.
When you just look at him, he seemed completely the wrong fit for the role of ‘Baesung-hak’.
‘But his acting is for real.’
His performances on this stage had definitely been impressive.
He was hailed as the rising star of the theater.
‘It makes sense that he can land a role in an OTT drama all at once.’
He hadn’t even appeared in small dramas before yet was one of the main leads in a major OTT drama.
In some respects, it was even more than the role of ‘Yeonhwa’ he took in the past ‘The Moon That Hid the Sun’.
At least she got to audition, but Sim Cheong-seok didn’t even get that.
“Naturally, just a heads-up.”
He wiped the smile from his face and spoke to me in a languid tone.
“If you can’t adapt properly to the stage, your performance will fall flat. I’ve seen it so many times, actors who soared in readings but bombed on stage.”
He said that and then seemed to recall something, adding, “Of course, I’m not talking about you. You definitely feel different.”
…Different?
As I narrowed my eyes at that odd phrase, he continued.
“Let me give you a tip: Perform as if it’s just practice.”
“Practice-like?”
“Drama can be re-shot, but theater cannot. So it means to relax and perform.”
He stepped closer to me.
“If you try to act with too much effort, you might actually mess up.”
“But isn’t that usual? To give it your all and act as hard as possible?”
“Well, sure, that’s the norm.”
He lowered himself to look down at me.
“If you can.”
This is.
He’s asking me to.
Seo-yeon stared back at him.
Looking into his eyes, she tried to read his intentions behind those words.
Was it a provocation?
Or just curiosity?
There was an emotion she couldn’t grasp.
Seo-yeon surprisingly wasn’t very influenced by her own feelings, but she was sensitive to others’ emotions.
Of course, this had more to do with collecting ‘information’ from experiences rather than anything else.
“The role of Hong Jeong-hee is very important.”
He spoke while looking down at Seo-yeon.
“Because she’s the villain?”
“That’s right. An insipid villain is worse than none.”
Sim Cheong-seok shrugged as he said that.
“As long as the reading goes well, I don’t think that’ll be a problem. And.”
He glanced at the other actors arriving on stage and then leaned in closer, whispering to Seo-yeon.
“I want to act properly at least once.”
Want to act properly?
When Seo-yeon looked at him as if asking what he meant, he just offered a faint smile before drifting away.
…He was really someone I could understand yet not understand.
*
Yeonhwa High School.
A private high school with approximately 800 students enrolled.
Many students excelled in the arts and sports, but academically they were slightly below average.
Still, it was a school that managed to hold its own.
“Recently we received a request to shoot at our school.”
“Shooting?”
This came up suddenly during a staff meeting.
Shooting? Are they filming a drama or something?
Looking at the principal with that thought in mind, he cleared his throat and continued.
“It’s for a program called ‘Looking Back on the Past’.”
Did that exist?
Most of the staff had never heard of it before.
Thus, it was a relatively unknown and unpopular show…
“Ah, I know that. It’s a variety show that airs on Sundays at 5 PM, right?”
Since its broadcast time was during the weekend prime time, many people were familiar with it.
Hearing that response, the principal breathed a sigh of relief.
So it has some level of recognition.
“If we play this right, we can promote our school! I heard they’re coming to reenact a drama they aired previously, right? That’s what they’re doing.”
“Yes, yes, I believe it’s a concept where students shoot older variety shows or dramas.”
But the teachers who knew about the show showed vague expressions.
‘Will that actually contribute to promotion?’
Honestly, it didn’t sound particularly interesting.
It was occasionally amusing if a student performed exceptionally well or if it was a complete disaster… but still, who knew.
“Ahem! Fortunately, they said a guest actor would join our shoot as well, to help with the acting.”
“Guest actor?”
Since such a variety show wouldn’t likely feature very famous actors, I casually remarked as much.
“They said it’s actor Park Jung-woo. You all know him, right?”
“Wow, really?”
“Park Jung-woo is coming to our school?”
The title of “son of a major actor” had long been put down.
Now, Park Jung-woo was the top actor that young people in their 20s and teens wanted to meet the most in Korea.
He firmly secured that position.
“So, the theater club… the person in charge is Teacher Song Da-yeon, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“They’ve requested to select about ten students to participate in the filming. Is that doable?”
“Of course!”
Teacher Song Da-yeon felt confident.
After all, the drama club had Lee Ji-yeon, who was currently active in cable dramas.
Even if it was ceremonial, she was undoubtedly a member.
‘If it’s Ji-yeon, she’ll definitely want to take part.’
At least, the girl was full of ambition when it came to acting.
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