Chapter 5

If it were only the two of them, this summer would definitely be filled with emptiness, loneliness, and coldness. Fortunately, it seemed that Lee Ji-hyun and Jeon Bo-ra had a very good relationship with Yoon Ji-hui, which allowed Yoon Hyun to not only work hard every day but also occasionally enjoy the view.

Yoon Hyun wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but one day, Yoon Ji-hui "casually" revealed that the two girls were born in 1986, yet never mentioned that her younger brother was actually born in 1987.

Therefore, Lee Ji-hyun still called Yoon Hyun "OPPA," and Jeon Bo-ra still called him "Uncle."

Although Yoon Hyun knew that this older sister and younger girl combination were actually older than him, the thought of calling a girl who looked like a middle schooler "NUNA" made all his body hair stand on end, so he pretended to know nothing.

However, Yoon Hyun still felt a bit guilty about keeping this secret from the two girls.

As the performance department of CCM, which had a relatively large number of employees, the competition within the company was always intense. According to Yoon Ji-hui, compared to the trainees in the performance department, the singers and other departments were like living in a honey jar. Even Jeon Bo-ra, whose parents and grandparents were all veterans in the entertainment industry, had to go to auditions for each drama. The best part was that the so-called "child stars" among the trainees might sometimes trigger a bit of familiarity in the interviewers when they went for auditions...

As Yoon Hyun often used to say online in his previous life, a famous quote by a certain socialite: "Fame should be achieved early." For these young girls with dreams of becoming stars, by the time they reached twenty, if they hadn’t become famous, it would be too late. Plus, with so many TV dramas, movies, MVs, and even one-act plays to shoot, the two girls were almost always on the go to auditions. After Yoon Hyun accompanied them on a particularly boring day, he developed a deep admiration for these two girls who were a year older than him, and became their part-time driver...

This morning, Yoon Hyun got up as usual, made a simple breakfast of fried eggs, toast, and milk, then dragged his sister, who was rolling around in bed, out of bed. After she ate breakfast, he drove her to the company, then went to her house to pick up Lee Ji-hyun and Jeon Bo-ra and take them to their audition location for the day.

"OPPA Yoon Hyun, thank you for the trouble again today!" Lee Ji-hyun said with a smile as soon as she got in the car.

"You say that every day, can't you think of something new?" Yoon Hyun replied with a smile.

"We're going to SBS this morning, Uncle!" Jeon Bo-ra said with a grin. "This way, every day will be a bit different, how about that?"

"Um... let's just exchange pleasantries!" Yoon Hyun was a bit at a loss with Jeon Bo-ra's smile.

"Then let's skip the pleasantries, Uncle, let's go! GO! GO! GO!" Jeon Bo-ra was extremely proud of her ability to thoroughly tease Yoon Hyun.

"Are we classmates, yet the gap in our personalities is so big?" Yoon Hyun said with a hint of sarcasm, starting the car. "Which SBS, by the way?"

"Uh, let me check." Jeon Bo-ra took out her phone and made a call to confirm, a bit embarrassed.

"Mu-dong." Jeon Bo-ra said to Yoon Hyun after hanging up.

"Bo-ra, why are you so gentle and reserved when talking to others, but so fierce with me?" Yoon Hyun was a bit annoyed by the contrast between Jeon Bo-ra's gentle tone on the phone and her high-pitched voice when talking to him.

"Isn't it because you are special to us, Bo-ra?" Lee Ji-hyun seized the opportunity to strike.

"Ji-hyun, you've learned to be naughty too." Yoon Hyun said with a smile. "You used to always defend her."

"You defending me doesn't make me believe it, so I might as well say what you want to believe, right, OPPA?" Lee Ji-hyun said with a teasing tone, but the last "OPPA" was said in a coquettish voice, making Yoon Hyun's hand on the steering wheel tremble... Lee Ji-hyun's voice was already very soft.

Yoon Hyun's action did not escape Lee Ji-hyun's eyes, and the car was filled with the laughter of the two girls and Yoon Hyun's slightly embarrassed and reluctant roar.

After parking the car in the parking lot, the three of them entered the SBS building in Mu-dong.

This was probably the twentieth or so time Yoon Hyun had accompanied the two girls to auditions, so he was quite familiar with the process. First, they went to the waiting room where there was a dedicated area for those who hadn't received the script but had a dream of acting, providing basic information about the characters in the drama for the actors to choose from.

Actually, if you had a decent agency, the company would get the relevant information in advance and then announce it internally. The information displayed here was purely for those newbies who had no connections, and for most newbies, such an opportunity was as rare as winning the lottery.

Of course, Jeon Bo-ra and Lee Ji-hyun didn't need to familiarize themselves with the roles at this stage. They had already prepared quite well at home the night before, both aiming for the same role, the second female lead. As for the first female lead? They didn't have the confidence to think they could get such a role.

"Prague Lovers?" Yoon Hyun wandered around aimlessly outside and casually glanced at the information about the drama being auditioned. "Why does it sound so familiar?"

"Have you heard of Paris Lovers?" Just as Yoon Hyun was trying to recall, a female voice sounded behind him.

Yoon Hyun turned around quickly and saw a tall, slim girl looking at him.

"Hello!" The girl bowed and said, "Are you a manager for a senior?"

Yoon Hyun looked at the girl, finding her familiar but couldn't remember where he had seen her. He returned the bow and said, "Sorry, I'm not a manager. I'm just here to accompany my friends to the audition today."

"Oh, I'm sorry for disturbing you, senior." A hint of disappointment was visible on the girl's face.

"Are you here for the audition too?" Yoon Hyun felt a bit touched by the disappointment on the cute girl's face.

"Yes! I'm auditioning for the first female lead, Yoon Jae-hee!" The disappointment on the girl's face instantly turned into a passionate determination.

"Fighting!" Yoon Hyun encouraged her. "My friends are auditioning for the second female lead. They don't have the courage to directly challenge the first female lead."

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, senior. My name is Lim Yoon-a, and I'm a trainee at S.M. Entertainment." The girl seemed to remember something and introduced herself.

"Oh! Lim Yoon-a, nice to meet you! I'm Yoon Hyun." Yoon Hyun introduced himself politely. "S.M. is a big company..." As he said this, a flash of recognition crossed his mind, and he instantly knew why the girl looked familiar. It was a memory from his previous life.

In his previous life, the otaku Soo-bin, though not particularly interested in the entertainment industry and often critical of Korean dramas, was still familiar with some of the Korean pop culture phenomena, including "Spark," "Nobody," "Gangnam Style," and "Gee," which he had once called one of the two "maliciously cute" hit songs. Knowing the song, he naturally knew about the legendary girl group, Girls' Generation. Soo-bin's memory of the nine girls' acting abilities wasn't high, but he gave them full marks for their persistence and intelligence. And the girl in front of him seemed to be one of those nine girls.

And apparently, she was the one with the highest beauty rating.

With his previous life's memory, Yoon Hyun deliberately looked into Lim Yoon-a's eyes. They were indeed very beautiful.

However, Lim Yoon-a naturally didn't know all the information that flashed through Yoon Hyun's mind in that instant. She continued, "Although it's a big company, the main focus is on music."

"Have you never thought about debuting as a singer?" A sense of historical influence over history suddenly emerged in Yoon Hyun's mind.

"Singing... I just don't have the talent for it..." Lim Yoon-a smiled a bit bitterly, then quickly changed to a bright smile, "But I like acting more!"

"You could debut as part of a group, like Shinhwa and TVXQ! You're so beautiful, it shouldn't be a problem." Yoon Hyun tried to recall the limited information he had about the girl, but unfortunately, Soo-bin's favorite in Girls' Generation was a short girl with a childlike face, known as the "OST goddess."

"The company does have such plans..." Lim Yoon-a nodded, then quickly interrupted herself, looking at Yoon Hyun.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in these things." Yoon Hyun understood Lim Yoon-a's caution and explained with a hint of frustration. "And I don't understand why you came to talk to me. Can you tell me?"

Lim Yoon-a shook her head, "I've seen you at auditions twenty times now. Since you never go in for the audition, I thought you were a professional manager, so I wanted to talk to you and maybe get your help in the future."

"Do you audition for every drama?" Yoon Hyun thought about it; he had only been to about twenty auditions, so this girl must have been there every time.

"Yes! I can't miss any opportunity!" Lim Yoon-a nodded seriously.

"Do you have time to prepare? With so many dramas..." Yoon Hyun was a bit speechless.

"Yes! I review the roles for the next day's auditions before going to bed every night."

"Aren't you a trainee? Don't you need to practice?"

"After dinner, before going back to the dorm, I have a good plan!"

As they chatted, a commotion arose nearby. A woman wearing large sunglasses walked into the audition room, flanked by two people. Yoon Hyun glanced at her, not paying much attention, but when he looked at Lim Yoon-a, he noticed her face had turned pale.

"What's wrong?" Yoon Hyun asked with concern.

"That's senior Jun Do-yeon." Lim Yoon-a sounded a bit deflated.

"Who is she? A famous actor?" Yoon Hyun wasn't familiar with the name.

"..." Lim Yoon-a looked at Yoon Hyun, a bit speechless, "I finally believe you are just a driver. You don't even know senior Jun Do-yeon."

"Relax." Yoon Hyun also realized something, "She might not be here for the first female lead." As he said this, he felt his words were a bit hollow and laughed awkwardly.

Lim Yoon-a nodded and clenched her fist, saying, "Fighting!"

Soon, Jun Do-yeon came out of the audition room and left. Then it was Lim Yoon-a's turn.

"Yoon-a, do your best!" Yoon Hyun made an encouraging gesture.

"OPPA, you were chatting with that girl so happily." Lee Ji-hyun had come out of the audition room at some point.

"Oh, hehe, just a girl I see every time I come with you for auditions." Yoon Hyun felt a bit awkward at Lee Ji-hyun's half-smiling, half-teasing expression.

"But, OPPA, since you always come with us, why don't you try it too? What if you get selected?"

"Me? I don't have the talent for acting. Being a student is good enough for me."

"Ah, I know you are a top student at Seoul National University! You just look down on us poor people who can't study well." Lee Ji-hyun, though not knowing Yoon Hyun's exact age, had been proud of his sister's mention of his studies at Seoul National University in front of the two girls.

"Actually, I envy you." Yoon Hyun looked at Lee Ji-hyun's somewhat wistful face and said half in comfort, "Experiencing other people's lives through their scripts, feeling your own emotions, and enjoying the process, it's a beautiful feeling."

"OPPA, please don't say such emotional and philosophical things." Lee Ji-hyun said with a serious face, "It doesn't match your style at all!"

"What style? OPPA is Gangnam Style!" Yoon Hyun proudly made the horse-riding pose.

"What is this!" Lee Ji-hyun burst out laughing at Yoon Hyun's antics.

Yoon Hyun then realized that "Gangnam Style" was still many years away from being released. Driven by the impulse to plagiarize from various web novels he had read in his previous life, he suddenly wanted to write the song.

Of course, it was just an impulse. The reality was that he couldn't even read sheet music...

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