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Episode 9
A few days later, at actress Sung Hyesim’s home.
“Perfect. The time frame was short, but you’ve mastered it already.”
“The hint you gave me last time was a big help.”
“There are mountains of juniors who wouldn’t get it even with a hint. Being able to absorb it like that is a talent in itself.”
I had just finished showing Actress Sung Hyesim the ad-lib development assignment she had given me.
“Ms. Sae-i. Have you thought about joining an agency?”
“An agency?”
“One that would bring scripts to you and take care of you, Ms. Sae-i
An agency. Although I hadn’t formally signed a contract yet, I was in a situation where I needed to land a role first to join Wave Actors.
As I hesitated to answer, Actress Sung Hyesim handed me a business card.
[Haedam ENT | CEO Song Woo-seok]
“It’s our CEO’s card, for what it’s worth.”
She added with a slight smile.
“I’m not telling you to come. If it’s you, Ms. Sae, agencies would be lining up to hand you their cards starting from your first script reading.”
“Then why this…?”
“Just… showing my intention to be at the front of that line, perhaps?”
Her face grew serious. She seemed to be contemplating what to say.
“Hmm… Ms. Sae let me say this first. In the entertainment industry, you shouldn’t trust anyone.”
“Even you, actor?”
“Yes, you should. Don’t take even the offers I give you lightly.”
To me, who hadn’t even filmed a debut project yet, she explained points I should be cautious about. As if she believed I was destined to walk a solid path.
“An agency can protect you, Ms. Sae, but conversely, it can also attack you. You need to remember that.”
I had been worried she might pressure me to join her own agency immediately, but instead, she advised me not to trust even Haedam ENT.
Feeling reassured, a smile naturally spread across my face. As I took the card and put it in my wallet, I whispered,
“Still… I want to trust you, actor”
“Ah, you’re really something….”
Looking at me as if she couldn’t win, she suddenly started gathering her things.
“You have plenty of time today, right?”
“I kept it free. But why…?”
After picking up my bag for me too, she jerked her chin toward the door. A signal to leave.
“You said you were going for the audition for <Your Blue Name>, right? It’s today.”
……What?
Before I could even step back, my hand was grabbed.
And so, in the speeding car.
Not even knowing where we were headed, I repeatedly mulled over the script, already worn thin from analysis.
Director Woo Byung-hwa of KDS’s anticipated project, <Your Blue Name>, was anxious.
That ‘box office cheat code’, Sung Hyesim, had set a condition for appearing. She requested that the person she recommended be allowed to audition for the female lead role of ‘Doyeon’.
If it was just an audition and not a demand to be cast, he could easily accommodate it.
However, the role of ‘Doyeon’ had already been narrowed down to final candidates while Hyesim was deliberating her own participation. The production team suggested to Hyesim that the person audition for Doyeon’s younger, school-aged version.
Sung Hyesim accepted this first. Saying it would match the age of the person she was recommending, and that the final choice would be left to ‘that kid’.
But… there was one problem.
“Is Writer Choi here?”
“She seems like she’d rather die than come. Probably because Doyeon’s audition has been such a hassle.”
The problem was the firm opinion of this prickly writer, Choi Ki-jeong, a star writer who had hit it big since her debut work.
“What do we do if she keeps rejecting everyone, saying she’s not satisfied?”
“Right now, there’s no actor in the pool who fits my Doyeon. Especially for the younger version. As for the actor we’re seeing today… well, I think we should give up our expectations first….”
“Should we just pick a reasonably famous child actor and go with it? The role’s not that big anyway.”
“It’s pointless if we can’t show Doyeon. The younger version has to grab viewers in the first episode, after all.”
They had already auditioned top-tier child actors for Doyeon’s younger role, more than ten fingers could count.
Could the person Sung Hyesim recommended really satisfy Writer Choi’s taste?
Director Woo doubted it. When even child actors who had been acting since kindergarten had been rejected, it was impossible for an unknown rookie to pull it off.
‘The name of the friend she said was auditioning today was….’
Jusei. That was the name.
‘Sorry in advance. She must have been hopeful.’
Writer Choi, sitting next to him checking the script with a stern face, seemed particularly hateful today. Director Woo glanced at her sideways.
Ding-dong. The wind chime on the door rang softly. As Sung Hyesim entered, Director Woo and Writer Choi politely rose from their seats.
“Were you waiting long? We were late because we had to change the kid’s clothes.”
Sung Hyesim bowed her head slightly.
‘Changed clothes?’
Director Woo chuckled, seeing through the obvious tactic. Several actors had already come wearing school uniforms since Doyeon was a student.
Soon, another person walked in behind Sung Hyesim. Simultaneously, the gazes of Director Woo and Writer Choi shot toward them.
‘That’s the girl. Her face isn’t bad…?’
Fair, smooth skin, clear eyes. Plus, makeup so subtle it seemed like bare skin. In a word, even her neat and refined aura….
It was a face that truly suited Doyeon. Thinking that maybe this time would be different, Director Woo’s heart began to race.
With the director and writer—the core of the project—before her, Sae-i took off her outerwear. Director Woo guessed she’d be wearing a school uniform underneath, like most other actors.
“Huh?”
However, Sae-i’s attire was not a school uniform.
She was wearing a worn-out, printed short-sleeve T-shirt. The neckline was slightly stretched and loose, and the gym shorts she wore underneath were rolled up twice.
While Sae-i introduced herself and greeted them, Director Woo checked Writer Choi’s reaction. She was staring at Sae-i without moving a muscle.
“It’s a student role. Why aren’t you wearing a school uniform?”
“The uniform only appears briefly at the beginning. After moving to the countryside, the school has a free dress code for a long time.”
Unfazed by Writer Choi’s question, Sae-i continued.
“Rather than wearing a uniform just because she’s a student, I wanted to embody a look that fits the script!”
“You know that if you can’t express it through acting, it’s useless, right?”
Seeing Sae-i remain unperturbed even by the aggressive remark, Director Woo stroked his chin.
“We’ll skip the free performance. Did you memorize the script? I want to assign a scene.”
“You can give it to me right away!”
A powerful voice. Her clenched fists also showed her enthusiasm.
“The scene with the mom is too obvious, right? Let’s do Scene 35. The first meeting of young Doyeon and Yoo Hajin.”
The school days of Doyeon, the female lead, and Hajin, the male lead of <Your Blue Name>.
After her brother’s death, Doyeon, who moves with her mother (who has lost her senses) to her grandmother’s house in the countryside, meets Hajin, a local boy, there.
Here, the saying “a dragon rises from a stream” was for Hajin. He was a prodigy from the countryside.
Doyeon is reminded of the mother who drove her brother to his death by the rural adults who have high expectations for Hajin. Thus, she instinctively avoids him.
However, Hajin is very interested in Doyeon. Enough to secretly blush when they become classmates as new neighbors.
Their first meeting happens on a rainy day, in front of Doyeon’s house. Finally, Sae-i changed her expression and posture in an instant.
As if expressing eyes automatically closing against falling raindrops, Sae-i’s eyelids trembled intermittently even while delivering her lines.
“Hey, you… why do you keep snooping around?”
Her chronically slumped shoulders, her pallid complexion. Her pale impression stood in contrast to the lush green scenery of the country house.
“What. Because of the rumors that my mom’s crazy? Is that why you came to gawk?”
The girl before them was no longer the passionate Jusei
“Ah, I can’t even stand the sight of you, so just get lost, seriously! Why won’t you leave us alone, why…! Are we zoo monkeys or something? Just because there was a death, because she’s out of her mind, because the mother who got her son killed is cursed, you come anytime mumbling nonsense…!”
Her voice trembled endlessly. Like washing away stains in the pouring rain, the girl poured out all the resentment piled inside her to Hajin.
Yet, ironically, that anger-filled appearance becomes Hajin’s intense first love.
“…Who do you think wanted to come to this pathetic town?!”
A child who had to leave behind all her connections from where she used to live.
“I… I hate it here too. It’s not just you who hates us.”
Closing her quivering, tender lips, Sae-i finished her performance.
Having watched all of this, Director Woo was convinced. There could be no more perfect young Doyeon in this world.
“That’s it.”
Writer Choi closed the script. It signified she had made a decision.
“I’ve decided. Ms. Jusei you might find this embarrassing, but….”
“…Please, go ahead.”
“For Doyeon younger role, if it’s not you, Ms. Sae-i, I was prepared to scrap the project.”
Fortunately, Director Woo wasn’t the only one who recognized Joo Sae-i’s ‘young Do-yeon’.
“Will you join us?”
Writer Choi extended her hand to Sae-i.
It was the moment she landed her first role.
