“Seo-yeon, Mom brought some fruit…”
Knocking on her daughter’s door and carefully opening it, Min Suah trailed off.
That was because Seo-yeon was face down on her desk.
Dead?
It was a sight that made such a thought pop into her head.
But just moments ago, she must have been watching a video; the monitor displayed a YouTube video that had just finished playing.
Ah, Seo-yeon is watching something weird again.
Thinking that, Suah placed the fruit next to her slumped daughter and disappeared.
It wasn’t the first time Seo-yeon was into something strange.
Who is it…?
Seo-yeon groggily got up and munched on the apple on the plate.
As the sweet sugar flowed through her, she felt her head clear up.
Of course, her insides were boiling.
Jealousy!
Seo-yeon didn’t realize it yet, but this burning feeling inside her was jealousy!
Without even being aware, she chewed on the apple, and that feeling was jealousy!
A person who can teach Ji-yeon about modeling or equipment…
Nothing reasonable came to mind.
Among Ji-yeon’s acquaintances, who could possibly do that?
Was there anyone besides me?
It was clear that when Ji-yeon visited Seo-yeon’s home before, she had no clue about Vtubers.
Since then, had she asked someone and gained an interest?
“Ugh.”
She couldn’t rewind the video.
That sorcerer.
No, the sorcerer seemed to already be a Vtuber, so couldn’t she just search it up?
Seo-yeon knew a bit about domestic Vtubers, but she wasn’t fully informed.
There were still unknowns.
Like that blue sorcerer.
30,000 subscribers and about 1,000 average viewers.
For an individual, that was quite a good level.
Why didn’t she know?
More importantly, this wasn’t what mattered. Where’s that red pill?
None…
She understood that the Vtuber had been active for over a year, but she didn’t have any other notable information.
Listening to their voice, it seemed the person had learned vocalization properly.
Vocalization?
Having thought that much, Seo-yeon hit upon a possibility.
If it was someone close to Lee Ji-yeon with good vocalization, it narrowed the pool significantly.
It had to be someone from the voice acting academy…
Vwooo!
Just then, Seo-yeon’s phone rang.
She hastily picked it up.
“What is it, Joo Seo-yeon? Did you call me?”
The prickly voice of Lee Ji-yeon came through.
Seo-yeon compared the reflections of Ramiel and Ji-yeon on her monitor.
Can’t I just ask?
Right. There’s no need to complicate things.
Thinking that, Seo-yeon casually tried to ask, but…
…
Was it okay to ask something like this carelessly? After all, it was asking about the red pill openly.
And even if Ramiel and Ji-yeon were the same person for Seo-yeon, hearing it directly felt like a different problem.
“Ah, midterm exams… because of the range of topics.”
“You’re not studying, though.”
…
Seo-yeon couldn’t reply to Ji-yeon’s words.
She couldn’t dare argue back.
*
The next day.
If it were up to her, she would dive into the voice acting academy immediately, but unfortunately, she couldn’t.
That was because Seo-yeon found it hard to make time due to the filming.
On top of that, today was a morning shoot, and with no school, she couldn’t even ask Ji-yeon.
“Seo-yeon, you look a bit tired.”
“I’m fine.”
“Really? Still, it’s an important role, so you need to manage your condition well. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Seo-yeon nodded at actor Kim Dae-heon’s words.
She couldn’t honestly say she barely slept because she was frustrated after watching Vtuber broadcasts yesterday.
Condition management…
He was right about that.
Seo-yeon’s role was Cha Seo-ah, the main villain of the movie.
Since she had significant screen time, if Seo-yeon missed filming, the number of scenes they could shoot would drastically decrease.
A few times would be okay, but if frequent problems arose, it would delay the release.
It’s different from when I was a child actor.
The sense of responsibility and the amount of screen time required were different.
Seo-yeon tried to gather her thoughts.
Then the shooting began.
I can almost consider Cha Seo-ah as myself.
Director Bae Jin-hwan felt a bit disappointed during the previous shoot.
Seo-yeon’s Cha Seo-ah performance, to be honest, had no faults.
But there was just a tiny bit.
He felt like one more thing needed to be added.
To put it simply, the motive for murder.
And the emotions that accompanied Cha Seo-ah were ambiguous.
Of course, being ambiguous had its own charm, prompting the audience to speculate.
Cha Seo-ah’s motive for crime.
And her feelings about murder.
However, Bae Jin-hwan thought it would be better if Seo-yeon could express those a bit clearer.
Is that too much to ask from a teenage actor?
It made him feel a bit greedy.
Asking an already competent actor to do even better?
To put it honestly, it could ruin a performance that was already well done.
But.
Even so, let’s see her performance today and give it a shot.
What does a director do?
In the end, it’s about guiding and demanding a performance to capture the desired scene from the actors.
If something is bothering him, he ought to say it.
And surely…
With Seo-yeon’s potential, she should be able to pull it off quickly.
Bae Jin-hwan had that belief.
“Today’s scene is a revised one. Did you hear? Cha Seo-ah’s settings have changed a bit?”
“Oh, yes. The convenience store part-timer, right?”
That was said by Jung Si-hyun, the actress playing the victim Han Ye-hwa.
Today was her first appearance in the scene.
Originally, it was a moment where they randomly crossed paths on the street, but the revised scene shifted to her meeting Seo-yeon at the convenience store.
“Scene number 34.”
It was set the day after a chase with the detectives.
In other words, it was after the fourth victim had appeared.
Police cars lined the street.
And the busy police officers ran around.
Contrasting with that, a happy Han Ye-hwa was shown, hinting at the next victim.
The victim and essentially the heroine of this movie, Han Ye-hwa.
Her first scene debut.
“This scene is all about atmosphere. Si-hyun and Seo-yeon need to convey contrasting vibes.”
Before filming began, Bae Jin-hwan gave a brief direction.
An outline of camera movements.
And the emotional lines required.
For Si-hyun, it was a comparatively simple act.
Han Ye-hwa was an ordinary person who couldn’t imagine she would be caught in the ongoing murder case.
All she had to do was act as a happy woman, filled with excitement over a promise with her lover.
The key was Seo-yeon.
Cha Seo-ah had to face her with a smiling face, creating a tension in the atmosphere.
The somber emotions of Cha Seo-ah had to be starkly contrasted with the happiness of Han Ye-hwa.
As impactful and clear as possible.
“Alright! Let’s start.”
With a clap, everyone began to move to their designated spots.
Cameras and sounds were checked.
The actors also moved to their places for filming.
Si-hyun took to the street.
Seo-yeon went to the convenience store counter.
I can’t believe I’m playing a part-timer at a convenience store…
Thinking that, Seo-yeon touched the uniform she was wearing with her fingers.
Who would have thought she would wear the uniform from the convenience store she often visited?
Cha Seo-ah’s feelings…
To be honest, playing a customer service role didn’t suit Cha Seo-ah.
After all, Cha Seo-ah had a condition that didn’t let her properly express emotions, so she couldn’t work in customer service at all.
She just couldn’t.
But it seemed that some accuracy issues were sacrificed for the sake of the dramatic fun.
Or perhaps I could think of it as pretending like me.
A performance of hiding or having seemingly overcome her illness.
But in reality, she hadn’t changed at all.
Cha Seo-ah’s acting felt more awkward and crude than her past self.
So, Cha Seo-ah mostly didn’t show expressions.
She hadn’t deeply contemplated her emotions.
No matter how she expressed it, it would only provoke discomfort in others.
And then…
The door of the convenience store opened.
Today was an ordinary day.
At least, it was for Cha Seo-ah.
Despite having a myriad of events last night, her body was only a little stiff, but that was okay.
It just meant she had exercised a bit harder.
Thinking that, she looked at the customer who had just entered.
“Yeah, oh… bro. I’m fine, no problem.”
A woman was on the phone with a bright face, holding her phone in one hand.
With brown hair and an overall cute impression, she looked like she was born to be loved by others.
“…?”
Although there were other customers in the convenience store, Cha Seo-ah’s eyes slowly followed behind her.
The woman with a bright face.
“Happy smile, Han Ye-hwa.”
Gradually, Cha Seo-ah’s eyelids began to twitch.
Inability to find the right emotions made her lips twitch as if having a spasm.
Because she couldn’t judge what she was feeling at that moment.
Even with other customers present, it was as if Cha Seo-ah’s pupils moved slowly, enchanted.
The camera zoomed in, capturing exactly what Cha Seo-ah was looking at.
“What’s going on?”
Bae Jin-hwan couldn’t help but open his mouth as he watched the scene unfold.
And no wonder, the emotions clearly reflected in Seo-yeon’s eyes.
Jealousy.
That intense flame was clearly felt.
It wasn’t just Bae Jin-hwan.
Others on the staff felt the same.
The tension contrasting with the cheerful Han Ye-hwa was palpable.
Especially the camera operator, who was zooming in, felt this emotion vividly.
Seo-yeon, who had always synced well with Cha Seo-ah, suddenly felt this tension.
With the added layer of Cha Seo-ah’s motive for crime.
As jealousy towards happy humans surged, it felt like something capable of belittling the tension they had felt from Cha Seo-ah so far.
As if she were standing before the real thing…
“…!”
Perhaps because of that.
At the moment Han Ye-hwa, played by Si-hyun, turned around to the counter after finishing her call, her body jolted.
Reacting instinctively to the unexpectedly intense acting.
“It’s inevitable that this will happen.”
As a human, one cannot help but respond like that.
If unprepared, she would feel the tension radiating from Cha Seo-ah.
And an unsettling feeling that was human yet also not human would prompt such a reaction.
This wasn’t a mistake.
It was perfectly natural.
But from a filming standpoint, it was an NG, and Bae Jin-hwan was about to shout “cut” at that moment.
“…The weather is nice today, right?”
Han Ye-hwa said, smiling at the Cha Seo-ah looking at her.
“Hmm?”
“You seem a bit tired. I think if anyone were working on such a nice day, they would feel that way.”
Especially in spring, it tends to be even more so.
Han Ye-hwa said that.
The afternoon on a pleasant day has a way of making one feel drowsy.
Han Ye-hwa offered a glass jar placed on the counter to Cha Seo-ah.
It was the vitamin drink she had just purchased.
“Drink this and stay strong.”
Han Ye-hwa said that with a warm smile.
Cha Seo-ah absentmindedly took it, watching Han Ye-hwa’s back as she left the convenience store.
She continued to gaze at her until another customer called out to her.
Without knowing…
“Cut!!”
As the scene wrapped up, Bae Jin-hwan shouted.
He thought it was an NG, but never would he have guessed Si-hyun would naturally ad-lib there.
“Was that line not originally there?”
“No.”
“Today Si-hyun’s acting shines.”
It was natural acting.
For a moment, the brief tremor had shown off Han Ye-hwa’s character.
“Seo-yeon.”
“Yes?”
Before praising Si-hyun’s ad-lib, Bae Jin-hwan called Seo-yeon first.
“Did you do some special training?”
“Huh?”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you a bit today, but it seems it’s no longer necessary. You perfectly expressed Cha Seo-ah’s emotions.”
To which Seo-yeon responded, “…?”
Was that really the case? She felt it was just like her usual acting.
But suddenly…
“Ah.”
Seo-yeon realized what she had inadvertently thought of while performing this time.
Jealousy.
A feeling that resembled that.
“Ah, yes. I-I did some, um, special training.”
She couldn’t bring herself to explain what the trigger was.
Seo-yeon had enough sense to hold back that much.
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