Chapter 25

Children generally have a tendency to try to meet their parents’ expectations.

This was no different for an event such as the current school play, especially for children assigned important roles, who were even more eager to do so.

Basically, my role as the “Magic Mirror” wasn’t very long.

As Snow White grows, the child playing the role of the Queen speaks to the Magic Mirror three times.

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”

Originally, the mirror would have answered, “The beautiful queen,” but as Snow White grows, the answer changes.

The fairest is Snow White.

Upon hearing this answer for the third time, the queen smashes the mirror.

This should have concluded my performance as a Vtuber for the first time.

“How dare you!!”

Immediately after hearing the reply, “The fairest is Snow White,” the child playing the Queen fiercely threw a punch with all their might. This was, by the way, a scene that Min-a Teacher had specifically requested be added.

Since a typical Snow White story might be dull, the teacher made some arrangements… Anyhow, just as the teacher hoped, our young queen struck the mirror made of aluminum foil with great vigor.

Really, with a lot of energy.

“…”

This mirror was made by piercing a round hole in a cardboard, then covering it with aluminum foil. If struck by a punch with sufficient force, even by a seven-year-old, the foil would be easily pierced.

If I hadn’t instinctively tilted my head to avoid, I could’ve been hit directly by the Queen’s punch.

“How to fix this…”

I evaluated quickly. Here, the Magic Mirror was supposed to let out a cry of pain and meet its end. It wasn’t clear if the Magic Mirror was supposed to break originally, but at least this was how the Magic Mirror in Room Sunshine met its end.

Not replying properly to such an intense performance from the Queen would be rude, to say the least.

I increased the emotional acting to an appropriate level, adjusting it from the calm performance I’d been doing.

Thus,

“AAHHHH!”

With a splendid shriek, Sooyeon Joo slumped dramatically. The grand portrayal of death silenced the previously noisy area.

Great, this way everyone’s gaze would focus on us two.

At this moment, if the Queen followed up with dialogues to set the mood, it would create a very eerie atmosphere. After all, a child’s scream is one of the easiest ways to induce fear.

In the currently ominous background music, even ordinary lines would transform into the Queen’s charisma!

……

……

“..Hmm?”

Clearly, it was now the Queen’s dialogue turn, but it remained silent. I peeked up with eyes I had pretended to close, and saw the child frozen in the pose of having pierced through the mirror.

“Hey, Seoyeon?”

Min-a Teacher quietly came onto the stage corner, crouched down, and asked.

“Are you alive?”

“Yes.”

“Did we not practice this way?”

By asking that, I felt embarrassed because I didn’t have an excuse. It seemed somewhat like blaming someone else to say that it was because of the Queen’s intense performance.

“I have a stage temperament…”

“Well, that does happen.”

Apparently, my death act was too realistic, so Min-a Teacher came to check. I realized I had overdone it. This was the moment of Sooyeon Joo’s first acting failure.

“I was startled.”

“For a moment, I thought something serious had happened because it was too realistic.”

Fortunately, the audience’s reaction was positive. They thought the lack of dialogue was an emotional acting choice of the Queen’s, well matched with the ominous background music.

“Phew!”

Realizing this, Min-a Teacher dragged me backstage along with the cardboard mirror.

Thanks to that, the child playing the Queen who had briefly widened her eyes continued the performance.

“Good grief, I was startled.”

Thus, the drama progressed without other significant problems. The child playing the Queen drove Snow White away, and the children playing Dwarves did their roles well.

“Clearly, kids who have experience acting are different from those who don’t.”

Jiyeon is a child actress who hasn’t done any special films other than commercials. However, compared to other children, she exudes a clear presence.

Normally, she acts like a chatterbox kid, but now she was properly embodying the role of Snow White. Her lines were delivered clearly, and at the moment, it was hard to understand why Jiyeon quietly disappeared later in her career.

That must be due to the significant scars she had at her agency.

“Teacher.”

While watching the performance.

A child playing a soldier approached Min-a Teacher with a furrowed brow.

“Did something happen?”

Out of curiosity, I glanced away from the stage briefly to look at them.

“The prince’s pants color is weird…”

came the most horrifying reply.

***

Young Jiyeon’s first performance on stage.

Since she had only filmed commercials so far, although it was the school play stage, Jiyeon did her best.

Even though they weren’t clearly visible, she knew that her mom was watching.

“Why can’t everyone act properly?”

Such complaints rose, but it was natural. After all, how many children at this age actually learn to act properly?

Rather, this level was pretty good.

Still, I felt there was room for improvement.

At least the child playing the Queen could have done a better job.

“Seoyeon should have been assigned a different role.”

Even if she had played the role of the Dwarves, it would have been better than this. Everyone was watching the children’s antics with a smile, but Jiyeon wanted to show something greater.

That’s how she felt.

So, Snow White eating the poisonous apple and collapsing.

A transparent plastic coffin prepared for the scene.

Lying down in that, Jiyeon slightly opened her closed eyes and glanced at the side of the stage.

“Watch the prince mess this up.”

The prince, selected by a lottery among the boys, was unenthusiastic and hadn’t properly memorized his lines, which was disappointing.

Hence, the prince only appeared mid-story and was supposed to say a few words at the end, and he must at least do this well.

While thinking that, amid the Dwarf’s crying performance and the dramatic background music,

Heavy footsteps were heard.

For some reason, the audience stirred.

“What’s going on?”

Jiyeon half-opened her eyes to see what had happened but couldn’t see well. What had the prince done?

While thinking that, the footsteps grew louder.

“Why are you crying so sadly?”

The prince said to the weeping Dwarves.

The clear voice of a young boy.

“Huh?”

Jiyeon almost widened her eyes.

It was a familiar voice. Specifically, a lower tone compared to the voice of the magic mirror from just before, like a proper boy’s voice.

And as far as Jiyeon knew, only one person could produce such a sound, none other than Seoyeon Joo, who always bragged about her voice exercises unnecessarily.

“Hey, isn’t that Seoyeon?”

“Oh, it does seem like her… But Seoyeon was definitely assigned the role of the mirror, right?”

Yong-bin looked at the stage intently, narrowing his eyes. He had noticed some commotion backstage earlier. What happened there?

“Watching our daughter’s performance live like this is new.”

He had seen her acting during the soy milk commercial, but this type of dramatic performance was a first.

And his impression?

It was surprising.

The reaction around him was the same.

Parents, hoping that their child would stand out the most in their performances, might not have appreciated this situation.

The popular child, who gained attention through yesterday’s drama teaser video, was now taking center stage all at once.

Nevertheless,

“Snow White?”

My attention was caught.

Just, continually.

“Dear, kind princess, how could such misfortune happen to you?”

The prince’s face slightly frowned as the Dwarves narrated the events.

The long black hair tied in a single braid at the back, black pants, and relatively plain shirt were attire not exactly befitting a prince.

Only the crown atop his head indicated his royal status.

Still, his every movement exuded grace.

Even though the actor playing the prince was definitely a girl,

His or rather her steps and movements were perfectly masculine,

As if they had experience living as a male.

Eventually, the prince lifted Snow White lying in the coffin with both hands at once.

“Oi, what are you doing, Seoyeon.”

Jiyeon whispered.

Looking around with half-closed eyes, beside her was the prince with neatly swept-back black hair. Yes, it was none other than Seoyeon, dressed as a boy.

“Just because bowing didn’t feel right in posture.”

From then on, the play Min-a Teacher set up culminated in a passionate kissing scene. Not a real kiss, but due to the size of the glass coffin, it was hard for small bodies to pose properly.

“Are you really…”

“What’s wrong?”

With a grin, Seoyeon smiled regally.

That’s expected.

Because she was a prince now.

“Isn’t acting properly exactly what I was asked to do?”

At that moment, when Jiyeon was about to say, “No, this is a bit different,”

The prince turned, holding Snow White in her arms.

“In particular.”

Facing away from people, positioning their heads in a way no one could properly see.

Then, the prince tilted their head.

“The finish should be stylish.”

Of course, there was no actual kiss or peck. Still, the audience might have perceived it that way, intended or not.

While the audience gasped in admiration, Seoyeon, right in front, stared at the wide-open surprised eyes of Jiyeon.

“Debut performance, right?”

Well, at this point,

It was a quite dazzling finale.

***

Anyway, in this way, Jiyeon’s spectacular debut in the theater concluded successfully.

All the children involved were satisfied.

Teacher Min-a, successfully securing her vacation, was even teary-eyed in delight.

…Except for one thing: The male child playing the prince who, due to nervousness, had an embarrassing accident.

Because of this, I, capable of improvisation, had to be rushed to the stage.

In other words, all the lines I said as the prince were ad-libs.

“Still, at the end, I reappeared with the wooden costume.”

Naturally, Snow White came alive again with the prince’s kiss.

After the climactic battle with the Queen, the play ended in a happy ending.

Even though I had to deal with people’s questions for a while after it was over, it also became a good memory.

“But, Mom…”

“Hmm?”

Sitting in the back seat of the car, I sighed deeply.

“Do I really have to participate?”

“After all, Jeong-woo and our daughter are the main characters in this premiere, right?”

Eventually, the premiere was approaching.

Frankly, participation in the previous event was already burdensome to me, so I was determined to avoid it this time.

However, isn’t that how social life works?

We can’t just do what we want.

“After all, if I want to work as an actor later, there’s no reason to make a bad impression on PDs…”

I heard the drama director also got involved.

It didn’t look good to drop out when even such important figures were paying attention.

Plus,

“Mom’s looking forward to it too.”

Looking at Mom’s smiling face driving… somehow, it seemed alright.

Since this kind of event where I participate will likely not happen for a while.

---