Chapter 139

If an actor cannot immerse themselves in their role, what should they do?

Acting is a comprehensive art.

It requires balancing the external and internal aspects, along with the application of an actor’s skills, to deliver a good performance.

Art, much like any other form, cannot be accurately expressed through a single element.

Thus, not understanding a role can be a fatal flaw.

“Today’s the first filming. Everyone, take it easy and let’s proceed smoothly!”

Director Kim Ilsu spoke casually, but internally, he felt uneasy.

He had heard about the reorganization in the Drama Department, after all.

“If I fall behind here, it won’t look good.”

There could be adverse impacts on “[Sky Garden]” or even on his own career.

So he had to pull out all the stops and ensure the drama’s completion with the highest quality.

After all, KMB wasn’t the only broadcasting company around.

“Today’s scene revolves around Yoo-ju who visits ‘[Sky Garden]’. Young actors, it’s time to give it your all.”

The story begins from the perspective of adults discussing Yoo-ju.

Her background and what needs to be obtained from her.

There will also be glimpses into the schemes of the adults targeting her, and how the young ones get entangled.

“Yoo-ju is the protagonist, but the other children must also play their parts well.”

In a way, it’s similar to “[Dream Future].” Each character holds a leading presence.

Though not to the extent of “[Dream Future]” where every role is purely leading, as that could lead to a lack of focus.

So, the spotlight is primarily on three characters.

Among the students: Yoo-ju and Min-hyeok, the eldest son of the Lee Hyuk-soo family.

Among the adults: Gil Soo-jin, the matriarch of the Lee Hyuk-soo household.

Primarily, the narrative revolves around these three as the series unfolds.

Today marks Episode 1.

It’s crucial that these three characters anchor the storyline to engage the audience.

“Great. We’re good to go.”

Kim Hyun-seok, who plays Min-hyeok, the eldest son of Lee Hyuk-soo, took a deep breath to steady his nerves.

While confident in his acting skills, the tension was still palpable, a fact he couldn’t deny.

He exhaled deeply and glanced at the other actors.

Young actors were abundant today, naturally so, as the starting location was a school.

“Though I’ve heard rumors about one person who doesn’t seem nervous at all.”

Kim Hyun-seok subtly eyed Seoyeon.

The atmosphere around her was peculiar—unlike her usual self.

Unlike the other young, tense actors, she appeared remarkably calm.

It grated on him, but he refrained from voicing it, as the presence of the coin in his pocket weighed heavily on his mind.

“Alright, let’s begin!”

The sound of cameras moving and adjusting filled the air, creating a palpable tension as the scene was set.

Min Se-hee clasped her hands tightly, almost as if in prayer.

Indeed, Min Se-hee felt desperate.

“Please, let it come out the way I envisioned it.”

There were instances where the script and the actual drama felt different.

This wasn’t the actors’ fault but rather the writer’s problem—failing to consider how the written word translated into a visual scene.

Everyone loved the script when they read it, and Director Kim Ilsu had promised to bring it to life faithfully.

Despite that,

“I’m still anxious.”

Min Se-hee needed to steel her resolve. This was something Park Jung-woo often reminded her.

Though the script wasn’t completed yet, Min Se-hee was already shaken, just for the first episode, with filming for Episodes 1-4 already underway.

“Action!”

The shout from the director, followed by a slate strike, marked the official start of the filming.

***

“Sky Garden,” a haven for the upper class with its picturesque beauty and seemingly harmonious families.

These families would gather periodically, exchange various pieces of information, and strengthen their social ties.

But this was only the surface.

In reality, they scrutinized each other, fueled by a competitive spirit.

As they maintained their amicable appearances, the key figures of “[Sky Garden]” were introduced.

Through the perspective of Gil Soo-jin, the mistress of the Lee Hyuk-soo household.

Then, a moment of tranquility followed the harmonious scene.

With calmness, Gil Soo-jin spoke: “I’ve heard some information.”

At her words, her husband, Lee Hyuk-soo, glanced up, his eyes steady and serene.

“Yoo-ju.”

“And who’s that?”

“She’s the younger sister of last year’s top medical student from Baekyeon University.”

“You’re scary, dear. How do you even know her name?”

“Her father’s a college admissions coordinator. He was boastful enough.”

College admissions coordinator.

Upon hearing this, Lee Hyuk-soo’s eyes narrowed.

He, too, had realized something.

“Oh, that guy. I remember him now. Didn’t you attend an event recently?”

“Yes. I thought he was washed up, but apparently, he had some tricks up his sleeve.”

The top medical student from Baekyeon University.

The son of a long-forgotten college admissions coordinator had attended that event.

Isn’t it the ultimate form of advertising?

Even with low income and without proper support, there he was.

“All the parents at that event had their eyes trained on him, wanting to uncover his methods. Excitedly, he talked about nothing but his child the whole time.”

This year, his daughter was entering Taeyang High School, he proclaimed, confident that she’d walk the same path as his son.

“He’s thoroughly familiar with the portfolio of the top medical student. She’s a carbon copy.”

“Does that really work?”

“Didn’t his son succeed brilliantly? Flawless.”

Reports called him a picture-perfect student: no grade ever fell; every bonus point was secured. From volunteer work to becoming the student council president.

He showcased it all as the top student at Baekyeon University.

“Min-seo has been briefed to befriend her as closely as possible, keeping in mind she’s a girl.”

The twins.

For the slightly deficient daughter, this was a crucial step.

“If a child lacks, it’s the parents’ job to step in, isn’t it?”

Thus, they needed to secure her no matter what.

The family background was secondary.

After all, she treasured her children above all else.

And so the scene transitioned to the school.

“Yoo-ju, right?”

A boy muttered under his breath. Lee Min-hyeok, the eldest son of Lee Hyuk-soo and the brother of Min-seo.

He surveyed the students attending the entrance ceremony today, wondering who among them was Yoo-ju.

“How are we supposed to find her without a photo?”

Min-seo, the twin sister, grumbled irritably. She, unlike Min-hyeok, was the designated person tasked with befriending her.

How could that even happen when no one knew what she looked like?

What if they were in different classes?

Should she approach her directly?

“She’ll be unmistakable,” Min-hyeok replied.

“Does that even make sense? Why should we care about someone with parents who are just failed admissions coordinators?”

“They’re not failed. His son got into Baekyeon Medical, didn’t he?”

“That’s true, but… Hmm, I don’t really care about medical schools anyway…”

Min-seo shrank back at Min-hyeok’s cold stare. Unlike Min-hyeok, she wasn’t academically gifted and thus received more attention from Gil Soo-jin.

“Do you want to lead a failed life?” Min-hyeok shot back.

Min-seo grumbled under her breath, resentfully observing her brother.

To her, Min-hyeok was still a child who needed to grow up.

She hadn’t even considered her own desires—what kind of life was this?

Success awaited her; why would she need to take another path?

It was an overfed worry.

Why complicate things when her parents had already paved the way?

“Your only job is to befriend her. She’s from a modest family, so she’ll likely spill everything.”

“But they’re not impoverished, right?”

“I heard they even sold their home.”

“Is that true? Then, how did she get into Taeyang High School?”

“Through her merits.”

As they conversed, another group of students entered the auditorium where the entrance ceremony was about to take place.

As the empty seats filled, a quiet murmur spread across the room.

“What’s going on?”

Following the curious gaze of others, Min-hyeok and Min-seo found their eyes naturally drawn ahead.

What they saw—was the cause of the disturbance.

“!!”

There was a dark-skinned girl.

No, this wasn’t merely about her skin color.

It was her presence.

She absorbed the light like a void, emanating an eerie, calm darkness.

Just as they’d been told, she was unmistakable.

Among the students from the middling classes—or perhaps even below—the girl stood out.

At every step she took, an air of extraordinariness followed her.

“Ah.”

Min-hyeok—or rather the actor playing Min-hyeok, Kim Hyun-seok—was momentarily at a loss for words.

Even though he had a line, it wouldn’t come out.

Likewise, it was probably challenging for Min-seo’s counterpart to deliver her lines as well.

Rather than reciting lines, what unfolded felt real.

Despite being surrounded by students and actors, she exuded an undeniable presence.

Any viewer would instantly know: this is the leading role.

Their eyes met.

At that moment, the previously calm Yoo-ju’s expression changed.

A twisted smile formed at the edges of her lips—a sneer filled with contempt that pierced through Kim Hyun-seok like an arrow.

“Do you not have a line?”

Kim Hyun-seok could only mutter in response, completely forgetting his lines.

“Cut! Cut! Let’s do it again. Again!”

At Director Kim Ilsu’s call, the actors snapped out of their daze, feeling the breath they had unintentionally held.

“Is she really a high schooler?”

“And I heard she has a very pleasant personality.”

“Still, maybe she’s not all that friendly?”

These thoughts spread among the actors as they eyed Seoyeon.

She exuded an atmosphere entirely different from the pleasant demeanor mentioned earlier.

Her mocking smile lingered.

Whenever her sharp gaze turned toward them, it felt almost daunting.

Completely different from the script read-through.

“What is she like?”

“Is she doing the method acting?”

The actors murmured among themselves, but no one dared to voice their thoughts aloud, having been thoroughly overshadowed by her presence.

…

Seoyeon sensed their thoughts.

Other thoughts tried to intrude, but she suppressed them.

“Now I need to hold onto this emotion.”

Yoo-ju.

In order to familiarize herself with this character distinct from herself,

Seoyeon recalled the words of the class president, Gil Da-hyun.

“If you can’t fully understand something, just memorize the solution process.”

Da-hyun smiled as she said it.

“You have a good memory, Seoyeon. Memorize the formulas, and you’ll be able to act naturally without even thinking about it.”

Memorization.

That was it.

In fact, Seoyeon had done this once before.

At her return to acting, participating in the play and portraying the stalker “Hong Jeong-hee.”

Though she tried to understand the emotions, she fully adopted her own interpretation by imitating another actor, Ji-woo Pyo, then infusing it with her own style.

Put simply, she followed Pyo Ji-woo’s method like a solution to a problem.

‘This one’s the same.’

There was no need to overcomplicate things.

Just that it was harder this time.

So Seoyeon studied relevant movies or dramas, absorbing them into memory.

She carried that emotion with her all the way to the filming set.

Fully memorizing Yoo-ju’s sharp gaze, crooked lips, the air of contempt—Seoyeon could see how it subdued the other actors around her.

Witnessing this, Kim Hyun-seok clenched his teeth.

The clarity of the previous scene didn’t need explaining.

“She must’ve been overlooked.”

Luckily she hadn’t ended up in the same shot.

Thinking back, the actors who were in the same scene with Seoyeon earlier that day…

How many would anyone watching on TV remember?

Probably none.

All focus would be on Yoo-ju.

It was truly a shocking debut scene.

“And there were flubs, too.”

Kim Hyun-seok nervously bit his lower lip.

He felt like the coin in his pocket—crumpled and rendered useless.

Seoyeon’s gaze seemed to mock him, in fact, it was mocking him.

As if to say, “So much noise, and that’s all?”

For that reason, the filming ended hours later due to Kim Hyun-seok’s numerous flubs.

That evening…

After finishing the filming, Seoyeon lay in bed reflecting.

“She was over-the-top.”

The negative effects of maintaining an emotion from home were too strong.

She remembered her earlier demeanor, spreading ridicule and disdain everywhere.

“…”

Though the acting felt satisfactory, she felt embarrassed reflecting on it.

Especially when thinking about Kim Hyun-sek.

Every time she remembered his pitiful trembling during the flubs, Seoyeon felt herself shiver.

She had smirked at him at every failure—it was too much, really.

She tossed her blanket.

“Mom, where’s the cover?”

“Did it burst?”

“Yes, yes.”

Seoyeon gathered the burst stuffing, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

***

In the midst of filming Episode 1 of “[Sky Garden]” and waiting for “[Hyper Action Star]”,

Seoyeon had some downtime in her schedule.

“Interview?”

“Hmm, is your schedule okay?”

It was a message from Cha Na-hee about something related to “[Dream Future].”

“It’s getting exported to Japan, and they plan to conduct interviews along with it.”

Though it wasn’t with Japanese journalists but rather domestic.

“It’s more like a communication activity with fans.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Really? By the way…”

Curious if there was something else besides the interview, she leaned in.

“One of the PDs I know is interested in you, Seoyeon. It’s for a variety show.”

Variety!

Seoyeon suddenly became interested.

Since she enjoyed activity-filled shooting where learning various things was part of the fun.

“Do you like observation variety shows?”

At this, Seoyeon stiffened.

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