episode_0019

“Mom! That guy over there… is TTN Boy.”

“Oh my god, they’re the ones that were in the commercial.”

I came to the mart with my mom and was suddenly surrounded by people and couldn’t go anywhere.

Even in kindergarten, there were people who pretended to know me, but it wasn’t to this extent.

Thanks to that, I barely managed to escape to the parking lot under the protection of the mart security guards.

“I’ll just talk for a bit and then I’ll go. Oh, and some pictures too.”

“Well, I said no. Can’t you see I’m in class?”

Reporters came all the way to the kindergarten, wondering how they knew.

A notice prohibiting interviews was posted at the kindergarten’s main gate, and teachers took turns chasing away suspicious people.

“Hajin, is it true that your legs appear and disappear? I heard that Taehoon really has legs like that when he goes to America.”

“Aren’t you scared of the water draining? I cried when it came out.”

Even kindergarten children follow me around because they are so curious about something.

“Hajin is in all the TTN commercials. I was surprised while watching it on TV.”

“Even if you put it together with Han Sora, it doesn’t look bad at all. They just go together so well.”

The same was true for teachers.

“Hajin, you shouldn’t go out to the playground alone. I’m so worried, Mom.”

As my mother’s fear of fame grew, I was forced into a semi-observant mode.

.

.

.

“Dad just got mad. He asked Hajin why she hugged him so tightly.”

He continues to lose points to director Han Jae-ryong, who is a doting father.

I have to appear in that guy’s movie later.

“So I locked the door and went inside and said I wasn’t going to eat dinner, and my dad said he was sorry.”

If I just hold on to Sora, I think I can appear.

“The director loves you so much that’s why he’s doing that. Don’t say anything too much.”

“But I don’t like it when Dad says bad things to Hajin.”

I guess that’s why they say raising a daughter is useless.

She’s 6 years old and she’s already taking other guys’ side.

While he was enjoying this fame, movie appearances continued to come in steadily.

However, the problem of being immersed in emotional acting has not yet been resolved.

*****

“I’m going to Cannes Lions, but I’m not betting.”

“What, you really have no confidence?”

“Who are you kidding? What kind of bet are you making with that advertisement? Betting.”

“Hahahaha, since you admit it, next year’s gold, silver, and bronze are mine!”

“Go and do your best. I already got my award.”

“Received a prize?”

“The CEO of Osung Techwin saw your advertisement and called Joo Se-hee and got really mad. How could you get mad at someone like that?”

They said that the atmosphere of the PR team was like a funeral home because they got a lot of criticism even though the advertisement was well-made.

“The ten-year-old congestion has definitely gone down. That’s why I should have used it when Hajin told me to.”

“Thanks to you, I was able to take this picture. You are a benefactor to me, hehehe.”

“I think you forgot what I introduced you to.”

“So you’re buying it now. Do you know how much this liquor costs?”

“It’s expensive, but it tastes good.”

He picks up his glass and pours it all into his mouth.

“Ask Director Kim Si-woon to buy you a drink too. That guy is totally fucked up.”

“Why is Director Kim Si-woon here?”

“Haven’t you heard? Hajin is appearing in director Kim Si-woon’s film.”

“What? Hajin is filming a movie directed by Kim Si-woon?”

“Yes. There will be a ton of articles coming out soon. This time, the advertisements are really going crazy, so the production company is going crazy. I like it.”

“I don’t really care. I know you’re good at making movies, but you just keep cutting and poking. Isn’t that a bit much for Hajin?”

“Well, I only remember the scene where blood was flowing out.”

“Why Director Kim Si-woon? If you had told me, I would have introduced you to a decent director.”

“Let’s talk when we meet later. I don’t think that’s the only thing we’ll film.”

As Director Lee Joo-young said, a few days later, news of Director Kim Si-woon’s new film filled the internet and print.

Before the afterglow of the TTN commercial had even faded, the news of my movie appearance really heated up the entertainment industry.

[Chungmuro’s promising director Kim Si-woon to return with a horror film next year]

[What is the content of Director Kim Si-woon’s new film ‘Confession of a Pianist’?]

[Acting expert Choi Min-ho confirmed to appear in director Kim Si-woon’s new film]

[TTN Boy’s first film is director Kim Si-woon’s new work?]

[Big hit advertisement → Who is the TTN boy who became a hot topic by entering the film industry?]

“Script reading?”

“Yeah. I’m having a private meeting with a few people, and I’d like you to come.”

weird.

Director Kim is still refining the script.

Only about half of the actors who will appear have been decided.

But you’re going to do a script reading?

“Isn’t it a bit too early? The roles aren’t even all decided yet.”

“The main character’s childhood role has been decided. Since there’s a senior who wants to see your acting, I’m going to start first.”

That was the main point.

“Who wants to see my acting?”

“Actor Jeong Dong-ho.”

‘Jung Dong-ho? Why is that guy… me?’

Although they had no contact in their previous lives, they are actors who are famous for their leading and supporting roles.

He had a talent for teaching acting and ran an acting academy for quite some time.

There are quite a few actors who became stars through this person’s hands.

“He’s like a mentor to me, and I’ve been getting a lot of help from him. When I told him about your acting, he said he wanted to see it once. Can you come?”

He nodded.

Since I have to appear in a movie, script reading is a must.

On the day of the script reading —

The location was a conference room in a film studio building.

All that was left were a few actors whose roles had been decided, a director, a script, and an assistant director.

Once the final script is out, cameras will come in to shoot a promotional making-of video, but there’s nothing like that now.

It was a rather quiet place where I could focus solely on the script.

“You’re Hajin. Do you often hear people say you’re handsome?”

“Yes.”

“Then listen again. You’re really handsome.”

Actor Jeong Dong-ho said with a cheerful smile.

He is the one who gathered everyone here today for the script reading.

“Director Kim, isn’t he just handsome? Where did you find a guy like him?”

“It was my senior’s daughter’s birthday. I went out to eat and she brought me this because she thought it was perfect.”

“You’re such a shame to be a child actor. How can you look like this when you were young?”

“What’s wrong with my face? No matter where I go, I can’t help but be called a handsome man.”

Even privately, the tiki-taka between the two is quite good.

I didn’t think it was my place, so I sat quietly and waited for the reading to begin.

“Director Kim showed me the audition video from last time. The acting was, well, indescribable, but he said he wanted to meet me because he had something to say at the end.”

“What part is it?”

“Yeah. You couldn’t get out of the role after you finished acting, right?”

You figured it out.

I guess it was obvious even through the camera.

“You can do that when you’re so absorbed in a role, but you shouldn’t be doing that at your age. You said you were 6, right?”

“Yes.”

“Your body can’t handle it. When I watched the video, your legs kept shaking. Were you scared?”

“… I saw a ghost.”

“Oh my. This kid just got out of a horror movie.”

Actor Jeong Dong-ho said it was a metaphor, but I actually experienced it.

I saw a ghost in my room and was told I would be murdered.

At first, there were no cases of emotions being buried because of foresight.

All you had to do was leave a few days and imitate the smoke you saw in the light or in your dreams.

Up until this point, it was the realm of ‘imitation’ where emotions were not assimilated.

But the last audition was a completely different situation.

Acting became reality, not just seeing it in advance and following it.

He had to play a boy who could see ghosts, but he ended up becoming a boy who could see ghosts.

Since I have a role and I am the role, my acting has to be perfect.

There’s no way I’d be awkward playing myself.

“He didn’t seem to be acting. He was just a scared boy. He was consumed by the role, so even after the acting was over, he couldn’t escape being a scared boy.”

As expected from a master of acting to many actors, his diagnosis was accurate.

“It takes a long time for adult actors to shake off such feelings, and the aftereffects are not small. But a 6-year-old acting like that? That won’t do. It’ll hurt.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Just don’t get into the role. When I watch you act, you can just imitate, so why do you want to get into it more? Just imitate.”

I want to do that.

I want to separate the role from reality and just do ‘acting’.

But since the last audition, when I tried to act, I was just dragged into it.

A world described in a script is created, and within it, people speak and act according to the script.

It’s my body, but I’m giving all control to the role.

If this gets worse, I might not be able to return to reality.

Director Kim Si-woon handed me a few pages of script.

“This is the part after the scene you acted out in the last audition. The ghost said to meet in two days, right? This time, there’s even a fingerprint, so read it first.”

Actor Jeong Dong-ho wanted to see my acting in person.

In particular, he asked me to act out the scene where I talk to a ghost while immersed in the role.

So Director Kim gave me the next scene script.

You can’t get immersed when you only look at the words.

I don’t know how to do it this way so that I don’t get lost in the role.

How to focus on acting while separating myself from the role.

As I was reading with those thoughts in my mind, I suddenly found myself on the last page.

I looked around at the people waiting for my performance, catching my breath.

“I’ll try it now.”

The moment I concentrated, a bright light surrounded me.

It’s the same phenomenon as during the audition.

Now I can be sure.

‘The vision of the future is trying to trap me in smoke.’