Chapter 26

26. Auditions, Their Different Reasons

"Really? How does the writer know our kids?"

Yeon Seong-hoon was taken aback. How did writer Han Yoo-kyung know about Sae-rin and Jin-hyuk?

- Oh, well...

Writer Han Yoo-kyung carefully explained the whole story and then said,

- So... Could you send those kids to the audition?

"Of course. It's only natural. I should be the one to thank you."

Hearing Yeon Seong-hoon's positive response, Han Yoo-kyung's voice rose a tone higher with delight.

- You really raised your daughter well.

"Thank you for your kind words."

- Yes. Now, let us enjoy your well-raised daughter as well. Hehe.

Writer Han Yoo-kyung laughed happily and asked excitedly,

- By the way, didn't you say that actor Yeon called Jin-hyuk a genius actor?

"Ah, yes, I did."

Yeon Seong-hoon smiled with pride.

- But, he's only been acting for a little over two months. How impressive must he be for our actor Yeon to call him a genius? I'm really curious.

"Ah, that's..."

Yeon Seong-hoon's lips curled up.

"See for yourself at the audition."

***

Tears welled up in Yeon Sae-rin's large eyes, as if they were about to burst.

"How, how can you do this to me! I, I still believed in you. I thought you had some sincerity towards me. But, you, you!"

A tear dropped from Sae-rin's eyes. Jin-hyuk was surprised. Lately, Sae-rin had definitely changed.

Jin-hyuk responded sincerely to the changed Sae-rin.

"So?"

"What?"

"So, if you believed in me, what do you want me to do?"

Jin-hyuk's eyes, which seemed bored, looked at Sae-rin.

Sae-rin bit her lip tightly. Her eyes and lips trembled.

Suddenly, Jin-hyuk's lips curled up in a cold smile, almost imperceptibly.

If the camera hadn't caught it, even someone standing next to him might not have noticed this fleeting moment.

But Sae-rin, who was completely focused on Woo Jin-hyuk, lost her composure at that cold smile.

"You, you are the worst person ever!"

"Ha ha ha! This is funny. This is so funny. Hahaha!"

Suddenly, Jin-hyuk's playful laughter turned serious.

"Get lost now. If you're done talking."

"... You're a bad kid."

The stifling atmosphere between the two. Yeon Seong-hoon had been watching their acting from the beginning.

But Jin-hyuk and Sae-rin, absorbed in their acting, didn't seem to notice Yeon Seong-hoon entering the practice room.

"Huh? Dad?"

Only after the emotional storm passed did Sae-rin realize her father was there.

When Sae-rin stopped acting, Woo Jin-hyuk's gaze, which had been on her, turned to Seong-hoon. Jin-hyuk stood up and greeted him.

"No, no. Don't mind me. Keep going."

As Seong-hoon quietly took a seat in the corner, Sae-rin and Jin-hyuk resumed their practice.

Yeon Seong-hoon watched their practice, losing track of time. He had a contented look, even letting a few points that usually needed correction slide.

"Dad, we're done."

"Huh?"

"We're done."

"Oh, oh. You're already done?"

Seong-hoon, who had been lost in thought, quickly tried to hide his awkward smile.

"Hey, what's going on with you two!"

Excitement showed on Seong-hoon's face.

"What do you mean?"

"You met writer Han Yoo-kyung, right?"

"Ah! Really, did she contact you?"

Yeon Sae-rin's expression brightened.

"What? Why didn't you tell Dad, Sae-rin?"

"Well, the writer said she would contact you. I told her, but if you didn't receive the call, it would be awkward."

Seong-hoon continued with a look that said, "Why worry about that?"

"Anyway, she told me to send you two to an audition and gave me the date. It's the 'High School 2' audition."

"Really?!"

Seong-hoon, trying to contain his excitement, relayed the news. Sae-rin's eyes widened, and she jumped up and down, while Jin-hyuk looked at her calmly.

'She's going to fall again.'

With the eyes of an older brother watching his younger sister.

"Hehe. I understand Sae-rin's excitement. Jin-hyuk, are you okay with the audition?"

Woo Jin-hyuk replied calmly.

"It sounds interesting."

"It sounds interesting... Is that all?"

Jin-hyuk shrugged.

"Son. Why are you so calm? Anyway, starting tomorrow, both of you should practice the audition script."

Yeon Seong-hoon smiled brightly, patted Sae-rin and Jin-hyuk on the shoulder, and left the practice room.

"Yay! Yes! Yes!"

"Are you that happy?"

Jin-hyuk asked Sae-rin with a light laugh.

"Well, actually, I'm really, really happy. I was a huge fan of 'High School.' If, if I get cast, I might faint."

Sae-rin grabbed Jin-hyuk's hand and shook it.

"Hey, Jin-hyuk. I'm really grateful."

"There's no need to thank me."

Sae-rin shook her head vigorously.

"No, it's because of you. Thanks to you, acting has become enjoyable. Honestly, until now... I didn't hate it, but it wasn't particularly great either."

Jin-hyuk had noticed this too. Sae-rin had changed a bit since they first read lines together.

"It's not that I love it, but... Dad really likes it, and he says I have talent in this field."

Actually, he had a different kind of talent.

But Sae-rin didn't seem to realize it yet.

"But now, I really like it. I made up my mind recently. I'm going to try my best at acting from now on."

Sae-rin's determined expression.

"And right after I made that decision, this big opportunity came up! It must be fate!"

Suddenly, a foreboding thought crossed Jin-hyuk's mind.

Is my future really changing because of me? Or is the story in this world different from the one I know?

This was the first time Jin-hyuk seriously considered the variable of himself being thrown into this world or the reality of a new world.

"Jin-hyuk, I won't waver anymore."

Unfortunately, at this moment, Jin-hyuk was thinking about how to sway Sae-rin to sing.

Whether the future or the world had changed, one thing remained unchanged.

Jin-hyuk would do what he wanted to do,

and he wanted to hear singer Yeon Sae-rin's song in this world.

***

It was a clear autumn day. The colorful fallen leaves. Min Seo-yeon's heart was mixed with various emotions as she looked at them.

Seo-yeon had been sitting motionless by the window for a long time.

The view of the yard outside the second-floor window hadn't changed, but Seo-yeon was staring at it as if she were observing something.

"Seo-yeon!"

The silence was broken. Seo-yeon's brows furrowed.

"Ah, Mom. Don't you knock?"

"Oh, ah. Sorry."

Seo-yeon's mother, Yoon Sung-hee, hesitated for a moment, then carefully closed the door and approached Seo-yeon.

"Is that really true?"

"What is?"

"You asked Hyun-woo to help you with a drama audition."

"What, do you think Hyun-woo is lying and came to check?"

"No, that's not it. I'm just surprised."

"Surprised about what..."

Min Seo-yeon propped her chin, as if she found it troublesome to answer.

Seo-yeon had always loved acting. Ever since she was a little girl.

Her pretty appearance had always made her stand out among her peers. Add to that, her acting skills were far from ordinary. Not to mention, she loved acting.

At the acting school, everyone was amazed, calling her a genius. And her debut work at the age of six received a lot of attention.

But that was as far as it went for Seo-yeon's acting career.

The acting she loved so much had become a wound for Min Seo-yeon, one that would hurt if touched.

"When I heard you did a play at school, I thought it was unusual. Are you planning to surprise Mom now?"

But there were things like that. Things you couldn't give up even if you knew they would hurt, things you clung to awkwardly, things that brought both tears and laughter.

That was why Seo-yeon secretly joined the drama club in middle school.

And now...

"It's just... I'm tired of just going to school and coming back. It's meaningless."

She said something different from what she was thinking. Seo-yeon's mother couldn't have missed it. Acting was not meaningless to Seo-yeon.

Seo-yeon's mother, Yoon Sung-hee, smiled a little sadly.

"I understand. I didn't have any big expectations. I just want to support whatever you do, Seo-yeon..."

"Please leave, Mom."

Her mother, who couldn't finish her sentence, looked at Seo-yeon for a moment.

"Okay, I'll go."

As Yoon Sung-hee turned to leave, her eyes caught a picture frame Seo-yeon had hung.

'When did she hang that?'

She hadn't seen it until recently. But since she didn't often enter Seo-yeon's room, she wasn't sure. It might have been there all along.

A strange picture.

That was the first picture Seo-yeon had drawn after that incident, a very peculiar one.

"That..."

Seo-yeon's eyes followed her mother's gaze to the picture frame.

"No, it's fine. If you like it, that's all that matters."

Seo-yeon's mother shook her head and walked away.

Click.

Seo-yeon's door closed gently. Staring at the closed door, Seo-yeon turned to the notebook on her desk.

Propping her chin in one hand, she picked up a pen and slowly wrote.

- 16 and 1/4 years old.

- What is it? Confused. First time. Strange.

- Woo Jin-h

The pen stopped. Seo-yeon erased what she had written and, after a moment, wrote again.

- Magistrate Byun. Stupid fool.

Then, for some reason, she laughed to herself for a while.

Whoosh.

A breeze blew, and the leaves outside the window fell in unpredictable curves, piling up in a colorful heap.

***

"Hey, come in. You must be tired."

"What's there to be tired about? Where's Jin-hyuk?"

"What would he be doing? Studying in his room, I guess. He must be really focused. He didn't even hear you come in."

Woo Bong-soo stopped his wife from going to Jin-hyuk's room.

"Leave him. Leave him. He's studying."

A smile appeared on Woo Bong-soo's tired face. His son was his recent joy in life.

"But, aren't you working overtime too often?"

"That's true."

"Are you going to the office tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"You didn't even have a day off last weekend..."

"Well, that's how it is in the company."

He smiled at his worried wife and sat down at the dining table, quickly eating the fruit that had been cut.

"Wow, this is delicious."

"Is it? These days, companies are all the same. Which company calls people in on their days off these days..."

Just as Jin-hyuk's mother frowned, Jin-hyuk opened the door and came out.

"Ah, Dad's here."

"Right. Did you work hard studying?"

"Work hard? It's interesting."

"Hehe. I used to say, 'Who finds studying interesting in this world?' But it turns out we have one in our house. Hehehe."

Woo Bong-soo laughed happily. Jin-hyuk, holding a glass of water, looked at his father and said,

"I decided to try out for a drama audition."

"Drama audition?"

Jin-hyuk's mother tilted her head in confusion.

"Does that mean you're trying out for a drama role?"

"If I pass."

"Really? Jin-hyuk, you haven't been acting for long. Can anyone try out for auditions regardless of experience?"

Jin-hyuk hadn't even told his parents about the school festival play because he was planning a revenge plot. His parents, who knew nothing about his acting, and even less about the entertainment industry, were clueless.

"I'm just going to try it out. For the experience."

"Oh, I thought our son was going to appear in a drama. Hehe."

"Come on, dear, that's wishful thinking. How much acting could a kid who's been studying so hard have learned to appear in a drama?"

"Tsk. Who's being wishful? I just thought Jin-hyuk said he was trying out for a drama, so maybe he was going to appear in one."

His mother smiled at Jin-hyuk.

"Still, our son is as good-looking as the actors in dramas."

"That's true. Hehehe."

"Hehehe."

Woo Bong-soo laughed happily, and Jin-hyuk's mother joined in.

"..."

Of course, when Jin-hyuk said "for the experience," he didn't mean he was going to take it lightly. He was the type who, once he decided to do something, wouldn't do it half-heartedly.

But seeing his parents' bright smiles, he felt a sudden urge.

He really wanted to pass this audition.