Chapter 9 · 10 min
Chapter 9
Audition
___________
“I’m ready.”
‘This is...!’
Noh Seojun was startled when he saw Mina return from the bathroom.
‘What on earth did she do in there...?!’
She was different.
Her basic presence alone was different from the young actors he had seen before.
“...Please begin.”
After barely managing to regain his composure and giving the cue to start, Seojun.
Stared intently at Mina, who had closed her eyes and was concentrating, without even blinking.
Flinch!
“I-Is someone there?!”
Mina—no, Hayoung—heard someone groaning in Car 15, where she had thought she was alone.
She looked in that direction and shouted.
“I-If someone’s there, please answer...!”
Even though Hayoung shouted and asked several times, no answer came.
In the end, Hayoung gripped the emergency escape hammer her father had given her and carefully approached the source of the sound.
Step... step...
Hayoung walked forward with her body lowered and both hands tightly clenched.
But in reality, there was nothing in front of her, and her hands were empty, without even a hammer.
And yet, to the people watching Hayoung, they could see it.
The hammer trembling in Hayoung’s tightly clenched hands.
The eerie sense that something unknown was lurking ahead.
‘N-No way...’
And Dohwa, watching Mina act, felt something like despair begin to take over her body.
‘Someone can actually act like that...?’
She hadn’t known.
That this kind of acting even existed.
She couldn’t do it.
Something that ridiculous.
“Aaaaaah!”
Thud!
Hayoung, who had been moving toward the sound.
Discovered a zombie with no lower body when she arrived and screamed loudly as she fell backward.
“P-Please save me! Please! Please, save me!”
As though the strength had left her legs.
She crawled backward along the path she had come, trembling so violently all over that it was painful to watch.
“Mom...! Dad...!”
And finally, when she reached the end.
Bang! Bang!
“Over here! Is anyone there?! Please! Please, somebody answer me!”
Hayoung pounded on the door with all her strength.
Bang! Bang!
“Pleeease!”
This time too, there was no actual door in front of her.
Her small hands were only striking empty air.
And yet everyone could hear the thunderous pounding as though the door might break apart.
And they could feel it.
“H-Ha...! Hahahahaha!”
The despair of finally realizing that no one was coming to help.
“Right... Life was always like this...”
Hayoung laughed once, then forced her trembling legs back up.
And turned around to head toward the zombie again.
Thud!
She collapsed several times on the way, but her actions never changed.
Rustle...
She picked up the hammer she had dropped on the floor while fleeing earlier.
“I won’t expect anything anymore.”
Still trembling all over, Hayoung gathered every bit of her strength and brought the hammer down on the zombie.
Again and again, until she was too exhausted to swing it anymore.
Eventually, after silently striking down with the hammer over and over, Hayoung quietly stared at the corpse that no longer moved.
“Phew...”
How much time had passed?
When Mina exhaled, the pressure that had filled the space disappeared.
“Haa...!”
And only then was Dohwa finally able to breathe again.
“Phew... Phew... Phew...”
The people around her were no different from Dohwa.
They had become so immersed in Mina’s acting that they had been unable to breathe, much less blink.
‘Is this... what a genius is...?’
Dohwa had been confident.
That at least among people her age, there was no one who could surpass her in acting.
But she realized that confidence had been nothing more than arrogance.
“Ah... This... is really exhausting...”
And watching Mina return to normal after only a few breaths following an act like that, Dohwa swore for the first time in her life.
“Crazy bitch...”
Mina, who actually heard the insult, only looked confused because she had no idea why.
__________
“Ugh... I’m exhausted...”
With all the strength drained from my body, I sprawled out completely in the car on the way home.
“You really are okay, right?”
“Yeah, I just got too immersed.”
“...Don’t overdo it, okay?”
“Mom, do you know how expensive this body of mine is? I wouldn’t do something li—”
“Enough, you’re fine.”
Ignoring Mom muttering that she had worried for nothing, I thought about the audition results.
‘They said they’d contact the final successful applicant separately within a week, right?’
“Hmm, at this level, won’t they pick me?”
‘I think I did well enough to play it at my funeral.’
Honestly, I felt like I did well, but because I had been so immersed, I had no idea how it looked to other people.
Still, there was such a thing as intuition, and there were things you could see.
‘Judging from those expressions, I must have done incredibly well.’
Mom had also showered my acting with praise.
“Daughter.”
“What?”
“Are you going to become an actor?”
“Hmm... I’m not really sure?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Today had given me a chance to rethink acting.
And now that I had tried acting with complete immersion, I also felt a strong attraction to it.
But as for whether I wanted to become an actor.
‘I’m not really sure about that...’
“If you ever want to, just tell me.”
“I might not.”
“Then don’t tell me.”
“Huh, what’s that supposed to mean?”
It was a completely pointless conversation whose meaning I couldn’t even understand.
But even though I had shown remarkable talent, Mom wasn’t forcing that path on me.
I could clearly feel that she simply wanted me to do what I wanted.
“Hehehe.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Just because I’m happy.”
“You’re silly.”
The sunset outside the window looked especially beautiful today.
___________
Before I knew it, a full week had passed since my audition.
“Oh, I got a text from Director Noh Seojun.”
“Really? What does it say?”
“It says I passed.”
The message from Director Noh Seojun was long, congratulating me on passing and covering various things like the filming schedule.
“Our daughter, that worked out well, huh?”
“Well, I did think I’d get it.”
Life gets difficult if you’re surprised by every obvious thing.
“Still, it does feel good.”
I had just been starting to become interested in acting, too.
“Top actors must be different somehow, right?”
‘I want to see.’
What kind of acting they do.
How they act.
“But do you know who the other actors are?”
“No, that wasn’t in the message.”
‘Of course I know.’
While saying something different from what I was thinking to Mom, I recalled the cast lineup.
“Still, wouldn’t it be basically all-star level?”
What else could you call such a luxurious cast besides all-star?
“Hmm... Don’t get your hopes up too much.”
“And if I’m in it to begin with, that makes it all-star.”
“Geez, you’ve already caught celebrity disease properly.”
____________
Maybe because I was looking forward to it?
Time passed more slowly than expected, and only now had the day of the script reading finally arrived.
“Mina.”
“Yeah?”
As always, I was going together with Mom.
Right before we left, Mom grabbed my shoulders and spoke firmly with a serious expression.
“Please, just stay still today.”
“Huh? When have I ever caused trouble for you to say something like that.”
I felt wronged.
‘Have I ever really done anything you could call trouble?’
No matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing like that.
There had only been little incidents.
“When you filmed the commercial last time, what did you do while wandering around by yourself?”
“What do you mean? I greeted the staff and my new mom.”
“...How can you say something like that without even blinking?”
“I’m good at acting.”
“I told you not to use it for things like this! Now I don’t even get that vague feeling of uncertainty like before!”
‘Hmm, that makes me proud.’
Separate from Mom’s false accusations.
My acting had improved a lot lately.
Before, the emphasis had been on feeling natural, but now there was strength even within that naturalness?
I had been working that kind of acting into my everyday life.
‘Of course, on Mom.’
If I had to find someone who could judge the condition of my acting.
The most accurate person would be my mom, who had unknowingly played opposite me countless times.
‘Well, she was the one being acted against regardless of her intentions.’
But what did that matter.
What mattered was that it worked.
“...Let’s just get in the car.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After driving for a while.
“Oh, here it is.”
“Oh! This conference room is really nice!”
We arrived at the conference room where the script reading would take place.
“Ah, Actress Ryu Mina. Welcome.”
When I entered the conference room, Director Noh Seojun greeted me warmly.
‘Actress...’
Being called an actress bothered me a little.
But how could other people know feelings even I didn’t fully understand myself?
Since I had even auditioned, they would naturally assume I wanted to become an actor.
So I shook off the uncomfortable feeling and simply greeted him brightly.
“Hello! Director!”
“Was the trip here comfortable?”
After exchanging those simple greetings, there was still some time left before the reading.
The conversation ended with the director telling me to relax and rest.
“Mom.”
“No.”
“No, greeting people is fine. I’ll keep seeing them, so I should make a good first impression.”
“Hmm... Right. You should greet people.”
After successfully persuading Mom, I wandered around.
Greeting all kinds of people, including audio staff, prop staff, extras, and supporting actors.
“Oh! That person!”
Then I spotted the male lead playing my dad in this movie.
“It’s Actor Kim Jinho!”
“Hm?”
Actor Kim Jinho turned around when he heard me call his name, and looking at his handsome face felt so surreal that I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Wow!”
‘To think the day would come when I’d meet someone this famous!’
I should get his autograph later.
“Ah, are you Actress Ryu Mina?”
“Yes! You’re Actor Kim Jinho, right?! Ah, and you can speak casually to me!”
“Alright, then I’ll speak casually.”
“Can I call you mister too?!”
“Sure, call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”
After we finished introducing ourselves and sorting out how we would address each other.
We passed the time talking about various things until it was time to begin the script reading.
____________
‘Ryu Mina, huh...’
Kim Jinho sat together with everyone for the script reading.
And fixed his gaze on Mina, who would be playing his daughter this time.
‘It was the first time I’d ever seen Director Noh praise someone that much.’
Having asked Seojun about Mina beforehand, Jinho recalled Seojun’s evaluation.
‘If Actress Ryu Mina continues like this, she could surpass even Actor Kim Jinho within three years.’
It wasn’t even ordinary praise. It was practically lavish praise.
‘She definitely did feel different from the child actors I’ve seen until now.’
When he had spoken with her earlier, she had seemed far more mature than her peers, to the point that it was hard to believe she was ten years old.
‘But Mina’s mother looks pretty worried.’
Was it because she was still her child no matter how mature her personality was, or because she really was still young?
Jinho noticed Miyoung remaining tense and focused, never taking her eyes off Mina.
“Alright, before we begin in earnest, shall we briefly introduce ourselves?”
‘Damn... I’m definitely going first.’
Knowing Seojun’s personality, Jinho already knew what would come after those words and prepared his introduction in advance.
“Let’s start with the protagonist?”
‘As expected...’
“Hello. I’m actor Kim Jinho, and I’ll be playing the protagonist, Seo Woojin, in Train to Seoul.”
Clap clap clap!
“So handsome!”
“Wow, if Jinho is the protagonist this time, that’s reassuring!”
“Thank you.”
The moment he finished his greeting and sat back down.
“Wow! So handsome! Remarry me!”
‘R-Remarry...?’
Jinho, who was still unmarried, heard the word remarry rather than marry, and before he could even consciously react, his head automatically turned toward the source of the voice.
‘Mina...?’
There, he saw Mina wearing the expression of a cat caught doing something wrong.
And Miyoung glaring fiercely at her.
“N-No... His role is divorced, so remarrying is correct...”
“That’s not the problem...!”
‘...Maybe she’s different from what I thought.’
A little—no, a lot.