Chapter 27

27. Are you here for the audition?

"Hey! Big brother!"

On the way home from school, a group of girls had started to wait for Woo Jin-hyuk at the school gate for a while now.

Every time, different girls in different school uniforms.

Jin-hyuk's striking appearance had created a local fanbase that was impossible to miss wherever he went. After the festival, the visits from girls became more frequent.

As soon as Jin-hyuk stepped out of the school gate, a few girls rushed over. One of them offered him a gift.

"Big brother, please take this!"

A school uniform with the Myeongjin Girls' High School logo. There was no way Jin-hyuk, a first-year, could be their "big brother." Someone suddenly poked his head out from behind Jin-hyuk.

"Big brother? No, this guy is a first-year."

It was Do Min-woo. Min-woo grinned at the girl.

"Ah! What do we do? We're first-years too!"

"Is that your friend?"

"Huh? Yeah."

"What do we do? You're so cute!"

Do Min-woo's expression relaxed into a wide grin.

I'm going to lose it.

Jin-hyuk didn't want to hurt the young girls' feelings.

But he wasn't smooth enough to accept such gifts so readily.

"I'll have to decline the gift. Thank you for your kindness."

Politely refusing was the best he could do.

"Ah!"

Contrary to Jin-hyuk's intention, the girls screamed again, hearts clearly visible in their eyes.

"Hey, Jin-hyuk, why are you so stiff? The person giving it has put in effort."

"Is your name Jin-hyuk?"

"Yeah, Woo Jin-hyuk."

"Ah! It's Woo Jin-hyuk!"

The girls were as lively as audience members. While Do Min-woo was talking, Jin-hyuk slipped away.

"Then, I'll go first."

"Uh, uh, wait!"

Before they could stop him, Jin-hyuk was already far away.

"Ah, damn. Understand. That guy is just a bit shy. Hahaha!"

The girls looked at Jin-hyuk, who disappeared behind Do Min-woo, with disappointed expressions. As he watched them, Do Min-woo's eyes sparkled.

"Hey! Do Min-woo, you have cleaning duty today. What if you just leave?"

The club president, Kim Min-young, glared at Do Min-woo.

"Huh? Cleaning?"

"Come on, hurry up! Just go!"

Do Min-woo tilted his head, then started to move towards Min-young.

"Hey, see you next time."

He smiled at the girls.

"Hey! Do Min-woo!"

"I know, I know. I'm going."

Do Min-woo hurried over to Kim Min-young.

"Haha, our president is really angry."

"..."

"Hey, calm down. You could forget, right? I mean, I forgot it was Thursday today. Haha..."

Suddenly, Do Min-woo stopped.

"Hey, Kim Min-young."

"What?"

"Today is Wednesday, right?"

"What?"

"I have cleaning duty on Thursdays. Today is Wednesday, right?"

"Is it?"

"Yes!"

"Ah... Sorry, I made a mistake. I thought it was Thursday."

Kim Min-young smiled at Do Min-woo.

***

"Hey! Hey! Student!"

A hurried voice came from behind Woo Jin-hyuk. Jin-hyuk stopped and turned around.

"Student, why are you walking so fast? Huh. Huh."

"..."

"Ah, I'm not a weirdo."

The man handed Jin-hyuk a business card.

"You might not have heard of it, but there's a CMI Acting Academy past the bus stop at the intersection. Have you heard of CM Entertainment? The girl group NUNO? It's their agency. They run the academy."

The principal rattled off his sales pitch in one breath.

Jin-hyuk had heard of the CMI Acting Academy. Recently, a few students from SH had transferred there, but he didn't know the details.

"The moment I saw you, I thought you had incredible potential."

"I already attend an acting academy."

"Where?"

"SH..."

"Ah."

The man, who was the principal, looked more relieved than disappointed.

"SH Acting Academy is good. I know Director Yeon Sung-hun. He's a great acting teacher."

"..."

"But to be honest, if you want to seriously pursue acting, it won't work there. If you want to major in acting, you need the right exam strategies. But they just teach acting."

Principal Oh Tae-ho had already dropped the formal tone. He had dealt with naive students many times before.

He was confident he could persuade the prey in front of him.

"Even if you want to debut, connections and sales skills are crucial in this industry."

He needed a decisive blow.

"Know Gang Jung-won? Jung-won went through our acting academy and is now signed with CM Entertainment. And..."

"..."

"Last year, the actress Yeo So-yeon from the hit drama 'High School' is preparing for her college entrance exam at our academy. Of course, she'll pass through the special admission process, but it's just formal."

A top male actor and a new female actor from an idol group. This was the end of the pitch.

"You have potential. Believe me, I can see it. Can I have your parents' contact information? I'll explain it to them."

That's it. He's hooked, Oh Tae-ho thought.

"No, I don't plan to change academies."

Jin-hyuk firmly declined.

He could tell immediately. This type of person. In the field, it was best not to deal with such people to extend one's life.

Of course, he had no intention of giving up the happy times he spent with Yeon Sung-hun and Yeon Se-rin.

"Hey, that's good. Good. You have principles. But changing academies doesn't mean you lack principles, right? Succeeding as an actor might be the real principle. Director Yeon Sung-hun would be happy about that, too, right?"

Woo Jin-hyuk didn't respond. He turned around and walked away in the cold wind.

'Ha, look at this. He has character.'

Principal Oh Tae-ho slightly sneered but didn't show it. He put a smile back on his face and slipped a business card into Woo Jin-hyuk's pocket.

"Sure, sure. Even if you don't think about it now, if you change your mind, give me a call."

Woo Jin-hyuk disappeared without looking back.

'He's a desirable one, but...'

Principal Oh Tae-ho licked his lips. Just because students were easy to manipulate didn't mean he was blind. He had been in this industry for years.

'Just pretending to be tough. A young nobody.'

But Oh Tae-ho was confident. There was a high chance this kid would come eventually.

Whether for exams or debuts, SH couldn't compare.

While he had indeed manipulated many students, it also meant that many students achieved results in exams and debuts.

People don't care how many fail. No matter how many sacrifices there are, what matters is how many succeed.

People firmly believe they will be among the successful ones.

And.

How long can SH Acting Academy stay in business?

Principal Oh Tae-ho's lips twisted.

***

"Mr. Kim, are you joking?"

"What? What are you talking about, Principal?"

Principal Oh Tae-ho's expression twisted even more.

"One student? One student! Last month, you only brought in one student! Is the academy digging for dirt to make a living?"

"Ah, well, it's just... it's harder to find promising students than I thought..."

"Promising?"

Principal Oh Tae-ho looked exasperated.

"You're talking about potential. What potential? You're making excuses. How likely do you think it is that you'll be fired this month?"

"What?"

"I can't believe this. Who are you to judge a student's potential? Potential is something you have to nurture. Just bring them in! Don't judge!"

"..."

"Bring in any student who shows even a little interest! Make uninterested students interested! What?"

"..."

"How good is business these days? Everyone wants to be an entertainer. Just a little flattery and most will be interested. Parents are so positive. Damn, in my time, just mentioning 'entertainment' made parents look like they'd seen a ghost. I've been grabbed by the collar more than once. Ah..."

That was the problem. The students were still young. A little praise and they all dreamed of becoming entertainers.

But no one told them how difficult and narrow this path was.

This industry could consume a lot of money and time and leave nothing behind. It wasn't a place to encourage people to step into lightly.

Of course, Mr. Kim Jong-ho wasn't completely unaware of the atmosphere when he joined the academy.

A commercial academy. But he wasn't a salesperson; he was an acting teacher. He thought he could just teach acting well.

"Why don't you like sales? Do you want to be a fancy teacher who talks about acting philosophy and leads a group of promising students?"

If he did his job well, just teaching acting diligently, there would be no problem. Now, thinking about it, it was the naive thinking of someone who didn't understand the world.

"Damn, if you want to do art, go to Daehak-ro. This is a business place. Business! Understand? Business that puts food on your table, Mr. Kim!"

He had heard all sorts of humiliating remarks in the theater world, but no matter how many times he heard them, they still stung.

"I'm sorry. I'll work harder."

He had to endure. He needed to eat. Struggling financially was already a familiar part of his life. He had often gone hungry in the theater world.

Mr. Kim Jong-ho wanted to teach students. That was why he wanted to stay here, no matter how much humiliation he had to endure.

"Damn, don't just work hard. Play around if you want, but bring results. Understand?"

"Yes, I'll work harder."

"Hah. Damn. Always 'work harder'... Get out of here."

That didn't mean he would resort to sugar-coated sales tactics.

If he ran around more, he might find more promising students. Mr. Kim Jong-ho resolved to do just that.

***

"Phew! I'm so nervous."

On the way to the audition venue, Yeon Se-rin trembled beside Woo Jin-hyuk.

"Can I do it? Can I do it? Ah–."

Se-rin's gaze suddenly stopped in front of Jin-hyuk.

"Tell me. Quickly."

"What?"

"You can do it. Yeon Se-rin. Like this."

Se-rin grabbed Jin-hyuk's hand.

"Jin-hyuk, please. Please. Tell me."

Oh, come on.

Jin-hyuk smiled.

"You'll do great. Don't worry."

"Phew."

Se-rin let out a sigh of relief.

"What. I feel a bit better... Ah, I'm nervous again!"

After repeating this a few times, they were able to get off the subway.

"Exit 3, right?"

Finding the audition venue was easy. 'Grim Production,' where the audition was held, was right next to the subway exit.

As Jin-hyuk and Se-rin entered the lobby, someone inside was surprised to see Jin-hyuk.

"Huh?"

The person who was surprised was Min Seo-yeon.

"You... What are you doing here?"

"More like, what are you doing here?"

Seo-yeon's gaze moved from Jin-hyuk to Se-rin. Jin-hyuk's gaze followed Seo-yeon's.

"Acting class friend."

"..."

"Yeon Se-rin. Se-rin, this is a classmate. Min Seo-yeon."

The word "friend" seemed awkward, and Seo-yeon's lips curled.

"Hi, Seo-yeon! Oh?"

Se-rin, who was giving a bright greeting, widened her eyes.

"Hey, hey, are you Chunhyang, Chunhyang?"

Seo-yeon's gaze turned to Se-rin.

"Ah. What."

"It's you! Wow! It's really amazing. It feels like seeing a celebrity! You were so cool in that play!"

Se-rin was using her natural charm, but Seo-yeon, looking back and forth between Se-rin and Jin-hyuk, had a somewhat bashful expression.

"Are you here for the audition?"

"Ah, well, just. Yeah."

Seo-yeon answered awkwardly. Jin-hyuk said,

"That's great. We're here for the audition too. Let's go together."

As the three of them turned to go deeper into the lobby, they noticed a group of people watching them.

"Hey!"

One of them called out.

"Long time no see! Are you here for the audition?"

It was Principal Oh Tae-ho of CMI. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Yeon Se-rin and Min Seo-yeon.

"Are your girlfriends from SH Acting Academy too?"

Before Jin-hyuk's group could answer, Oh Tae-ho's gaze moved behind Jin-hyuk, and a bright business smile appeared on his face.

"Wow! Who is this? Director Han Yu-kyung! Long time no see."

As Oh Tae-ho approached Director Han Yu-kyung, he glanced at Jin-hyuk's group.

A triumphant smile appeared on Oh Tae-ho's lips.