episode_0017

Until the day of the audition, Mirae Yejin did not show any acting scenes.

Does that mean you can get a role without necessarily showing it?

Since you’ve been spreading the word so much, are you telling me to try it myself this time?

Are you saying that I should just accept it and take care of it when the time comes?

Time continued to pass without reaching a conclusion.

Of course, I didn’t neglect to use my imagination to create situations with lines.

Audition day —

“You’re Hajin. I wanted to meet you.”

Hong Jeong-woo, who had arrived first, smiled brightly and grabbed my hand.

He was a handsome young man with a face that resembled his father’s, who was a handsome man with thick hair, and an image of a rich young man.

The outstanding looks of the 30-year-old handsome actor who melted the hearts of countless female fans were already perfected at a young age.

“Director. He’s really handsome.”

“What did I say? I said you’re not the best anymore.”

“That’s right. You shouldn’t act well with that face.”

And then he smiles brightly.

It wasn’t jealousy or envy or anything like that, it was just curiosity to meet someone of a similar type.

I never heard that he had any personality problems in his past life, but in fact, all I did was say hello to him as we passed by on set.

This is the first time in my life, past or present, that I’ve had a proper conversation.

“Hello, Jungwoo hyung. I think Jungwoo hyung is more handsome.”

“Right? I don’t know what you’ll be like when you’re 10, but I think I look a little better now.”

He wraps his arms around my neck with a smile and pats my head.

He is a more cheerful person than you might think.

“Whether we win or lose, let’s be friends from now on.”

“Yes.”

This guy really thinks today’s audition is a duel.

*****

Two people from the investment company and director Kim Si-woon sat next to each other, and the lead actor Choi Min-ho sat a little further away.

“That’s Hajin. Wow, what kind of 6-year-old looks like that?”

“You look exactly like you did when you were little because you’re playing the piano with that face. Is that what I was saying?”

“That’s right. I need to lose more weight to get that face shape.”

“Don’t talk like it’s all done. Jungwoo is here too.”

“Oops, I blinked.”

The script of Hong Jeong-woo, who was sitting next to me, caught my eye.

There wasn’t a single spot that wasn’t wrinkled, no matter how many times I looked at it, and there were post-it notes stuck here and there.

Suddenly, I wondered why he was trying to get this role even by auditioning.

If it’s someone like Hong Jeong-woo, there’ll be a line of movies asking him to appear in it.

“Why do you want to take on this role?”

“Actually, I came to see you.”

“Yes?”

“I happened to see the script at my agency. I liked the fact that Minho was a child actor, and I wanted to appear in Director Kim Si-woon’s movie. But he said he had a child actor in mind.”

Hong Jeong-woo continued speaking while looking at Director Kim.

“If the director has an actor in mind, then there’s nothing we can do about it. But listening to the director, it felt a bit strange. He’s 6 years old and only appeared in children’s programs. He’s not even an actor.”

So I asked Director Kim why he chose that kid.

‘When I saw him playing the piano, it matched the picture I had drawn. I watched a children’s program and his acting skills were so great that it was a shame. In the audition video I saw a while ago, his actor aura was definitely visible. It was so good that I wanted to try it out.’

I saw that commercial audition video.

“I thought about what I did when I was 6. At that time, I only did what the PD or director told me to do and didn’t think about acting at all. But you were already acknowledged by the director at that age.”

The hand holding the script gained strength.

“I just started to think that I want to act well, and then I heard about you. So I wanted to see your acting, which was already recognized at the age when I started acting. I was curious about what the director saw in you.”

Honestly, I was surprised.

I brought the passion for acting that I had developed while rolling around in my 20s into my current life, but Hong Jeong-woo learned it ‘on his own’ when he was only 10 years old.

You might ask what he was doing back then, but I thought that maybe he had also regressed.

What kind of child actor thinks so seriously about acting at the age of 10?

“So show me. Your acting that gave the director confidence.”

I couldn’t help but nod at the serious look in his eyes.

*****

“Who wants to go first?”

“I wish Hajin would do it first. You’ve seen my acting a lot.”

“Is that so? Hajin, can you do it now?”

“Yes, Director.”

I sat at the piano in front of the judges.

I stared blankly at the keyboard and recalled the scenes I had pictured while reading the script.

Then my eyes brightened and a dazzling light enveloped me.

.

.

.

Today, I played the keyboard again, suffering the abuse of a lesson.

The genius talent that everyone blessed was a curse to me.

“Haa~”

An empty room,

The white and black keys look like chains.

It wraps itself around my neck and eats away at my sleep.

He raised his head, shaking his numb fingers.

The empty space beyond the piano ripples.

‘what?’

The body glows faintly in the swaying space.

It has arms, it has legs… and it even has a head on top.

He was a kid my age.

I don’t know if it’s a man or a woman.

Her eyes were infinitely red, and her skin was frighteningly pale.

I moved my butt to the end of the chair to get away from it.

I lost my balance and rolled on the floor with the overturned chair.

I hit my knee, but there was no time to feel pain.

Because it was coming.

[I can see it.]

“Uh, uh… uh… .”

My voice wasn’t coming out properly.

I was so scared.

[Don’t be afraid. I don’t have the power to harm you.]

“Hey, are you a ghost…?”

[I don’t know what humans call it. It’s just a being that has passed death.]

Then he looks me up and down.

It was creepy and gave me goosebumps.

[Poor thing, I ended up seeing something I shouldn’t have seen.]

“Are you… pitiful?”

[Seeing a being that has passed away means that you too will pass away.]

“I’m dying? Me?”

It nodded silently.

When I was beaten by my mom for practicing without sincerity and locked in my room, I really wanted to die.

I’ve thought many times that if I commit suicide, I won’t have any more troubles.

[It’s not suicide.]

Did you read my mind?

“Don’t commit suicide. It means it was that hard.”

“That’s not it, you saw a murdered being, so you will die by the hands of another person. If you were a person who committed suicide, you wouldn’t be able to see me.”

I was so shocked that I couldn’t breathe.

I’m being murdered?

“Who is killing me? When will I die?”

[I don’t know.]

Then he brings his face towards me.

My whole body was trembling.

Even though the room was filled with cold air, I broke out in a cold sweat.

[You, you are too precious to pass away like me.]

Put your fingers on your head and think deeply about something.

[Are you still practicing at this time?]

“I’m here because I didn’t get to practice today.”

[Then, don’t fill up your practice time tomorrow and stay here. I’ll come at the same time.]

It slowly disappears before my eyes.

What if I just leave?

Why do you want me to come back?

As I was staring blankly at the place where the child had disappeared, light enveloped me again.

.

.

.

When I came to, I was sitting next to the overturned chair, shivering.

The foresight happened just in time for me to act.

‘The future… no. It overlaps with real time.’

Because the surroundings were strangely quiet, I turned my head to the judges’ seats.

Two people from the production company, director Kim, and actor Choi Min-ho were frozen in place.

Anyone who sees it would think that even Medusa has passed by.

When I turned my head to the other side, Hong Jeong-woo was biting his lip with a dumbfounded expression.

He had been holding the script so tightly that it was crumpled to the point where it was difficult to tell what it was.

None of the reactions were normal.

‘This, no way… .’

It wasn’t a performance in a space surrounded by light.

Apparently, I was locked in a room, playing the piano in pain, and met a ghost.

I was terrified and trembled all over when I heard the ominous prophecy that I would die.

But everyone here was watching that smoke.

Director Kim Si-woon ran over, grabbed my shoulder, and shook me.

“Hajin, you… What did you see over there? Did you see a ghost? How can you talk so naturally? Did you look into my head? How can you act out my thoughts by ripping them all off!”

“Brother, the kid is surprised. Why are you so excited?”

Actor Minho Choi said this to me after he criticized Director Kim.

“Hajin, are you okay? I saw your face earlier, like you couldn’t get out of the smoke.”

I think it’s method acting.

I really got into that scene.

My body was shaking so much that I could hardly stand.

I was barely able to sit down, gasping for breath, when Hong Jeong-woo sat down next to me.

“Take a deep breath and spit it out again… Yeah. I also often have a hard time breathing when I act emotionally.”

It’s not that I’m immersed in my emotions through method acting.

I can’t get over the aftereffects of meeting a ghost in a locked room.

‘Is it a side effect, or is it because he’s still young?’

“It was hard for me to watch too. Watching you act made me suffocate. Are you really 6 years old? What kind of 6-year-old acting is that… Haa, I’m speechless.”

It is an expression that combines anger and coolness.

“There was one person I really wanted to surpass before I became an adult, and now there are two of them, including you. I can’t have any more, haha.”

“Who is that?”

“Han So-ra.”

Wherever you go, you can’t miss out on a genius child actor.

I spoke to Director Kim Si-woon, who was still sitting on the floor with a blank expression.

“Director, I’m giving up on the audition today.”