Chapter 182

“Dahyun, today’s a day off. Do you want to go to Minine Park?”

First of all, it was a coincidence.

Jildahyun, the class president of Seoyeon’s class, had never been to places like amusement parks.

Ever since she was young, because of her parents’ poor financial situation, she never had the chance to go to amusement parks. Later on, as her family’s finances improved, it naturally didn’t happen.

So, when she heard her friends suggesting going to the amusement park, she initially felt confused.

“Amusement parks? Isn’t that just for kids?”

“Are you serious? Haven’t you ever been to an amusement park?”

“No.”

“What? Of course you haven’t. Let’s go today!”

“But what about studying?”

“Did you do well on the last exam?”

Upon this, her friends avoided her gaze.

But, don’t exams need to be balanced with stress relief?

“I heard an entertainer is coming to Minine Park today.”

“An entertainer?”

“They’re staging a Harara play at Minine Park, but it appears the audience hasn’t been too excited.”

Dahyun had heard of Harara before—her younger sisters liked the anime.

Even though her younger siblings had toys and related products from Harara because of their advantages which she lacked.

“But if you’re talking about entertainers, we see them every day at school, right?”

“No!!! It’s different!!”

Sure, everyone knew Seoyeon from the same class was a remarkable actress and an entertainer. Honestly, it was astonishing how she just naturally sat in her seat every day without fanfare.

Still, meeting a celebrity from the same class in an external setting evokes a different feeling entirely.

“Class president, you may not realize this, but all of this is part of gaining social experience. Later in life, we may no longer be able to enjoy such leisure.”

Though said seriously, her friend’s words felt eerily adult-like coming from a child.

“…Alright, I get it.”

Having never been before, there was at least a minor spark of curiosity.

“Oh, you’re going? Should I invite the others?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She thought it would indeed be worthwhile. Although Dahyun considered her hobbies to be confined to watching movies or dramas, as her friends suggested, it could be a good experience.

***

Joh Seohui felt her side poked repeatedly, but she adjusted her posture as a seasoned professional.

Ever since she was young, she had thought Seoyeon’s presence was obnoxious because she had come in through nepotism, without true talent. Even now, though she treated Seoyeon like a friend, this underlying sentiment remained.

Anyway.

Even though it was children’s theater, Joh Seohui had no intention of treating it lightly.

If anything, Seohui felt this demanded the best performance.

Childhood memories last a long time.

So, it was important to leave a good impression for lasting memories.

“If you perform the same way as before, that’s unacceptable.”

With some concern, Seohui warned Seoyeon like this. Instantly recognizing the reference to “Showts,” Seoyeon’s eyes widened but quickly realized what it implied.

‘You saw it too?’

Well, if someone was already famous, it would be strange if they hadn’t at least heard about it. Lately, there were peers in her class who wanted to bring up the topic.

Still, she couldn’t quite raise it herself. After all, the image of Seoyeon from the video differed greatly from Seoyeon in school.

Instead of humor, there was a sense of dissonance.

“You should know too.”

In a play, when an actor seems embarrassed, it makes the audience uncomfortable as well. Part of the job of being an actor is drawing out empathy from others.

They create characters that make fiction feel real.

That is the essence of being an actor, and therefore must completely immerse themselves in their roles on stage, regardless of if they use the method approach or not.

“That’s why I’m worried you’ll get too embarrassed like you did on Showts.”

Certainly, some actors cannot perform certain types of roles due to personal limitations. While Seohui teased, she wondered if Seoyeon might be similarly weak in this regard.

“I’ve committed to this, so it won’t be an issue.”

Seohui’s concern wasn’t lost on Seoyeon. Probably her behavior on Showts had been noticed.

In fact, even Park Dong-hwan, who would be sharing the stage with her this time, looked slightly worried.

She had already received the script earlier and had practiced diligently between shoots.

‘The Harara of that time and the Harara of now are different.’

Still, as an older sister, she wanted to show her younger sister an exemplary image! While Zero-ro’s role had been claimed by Seohui, if Seoyeon could excel in the role of Harara, wouldn’t her sister come to prefer Harara instead?

‘Besides, the smaller the stage, the more careful one must be.’

Especially on a stage watched by both children and their parents.

Parents are perceptive. If they perceive the performance as negative, they will quickly defend their children’s experience.

In such a scenario, an unsatisfactory performance would surely bring criticism.

“Big sister! Can I stay with Manager Shin Yu-kyung?”

“…Manager?”

Seoyeon noticed Manager Shin Yu-kyung standing quietly behind her, with a serene smile on her face. But she also saw her trembling lips.

“Su-yeon, you should call her ‘big sister’ rather than ‘manager.'”

“But she’s older than you.”

“Uh… but there are a lot of people older than us.”

“Ah, okay, got it.”

Su-yeon looked at Yu-kyung innocently, as if asking if it was really okay to call her ‘big sister.’

Yu-kyung flinched visibly under this inquiry.

Although in her late twenties, she wasn’t terribly out of place to be called ‘big sister’ from Su-yeon’s perspective.

She hovered in that ambiguous age bracket.

‘While I was gone, did Manager Shin Yu-kyung say something to Su-yeon?’

A slight worry crept in.

How strong her resentment about being called ‘auntie’ must have been, Seoyeon could scarcely imagine.

“Let’s start with a light rehearsal. We still have about four hours before the show begins.”

They had arrived early to adjust and rehearse.

Su-yeon was meant to spend that time playing at the amusement park with her manager.

Seoyeon and Joh Seohui planned to sync their performance rhythm for the upcoming play.

“Zero-ro! Aren’t you getting tired yet, doing such evil deeds?”

The rehearsal began, and Park Dong-hwan, caught between the two actresses, marveled.

‘Honestly, I thought this would be a terrible fit.’

He wasn’t the only one who must have thought so. Other actors present likely shared this sentiment.

After all, there were six of them performing in this children’s play, which was also featuring Seoyeon and Seohui.

Four of those actors had been with the “Harara” play before.

There had been murmurs of discontent when they learned two celebrities had joined the cast due to poor initial performance results.

However, the grumbles subsided significantly once people learned Seoyeon Joo and Seohui Jo would be participating.

‘So I guess the rumors about Seohui Jo being from the Newlike Group family are true.’

‘The same surname does imply that.’

‘Though they’re the same age, it seems they get along well. They must have met on “Hyper Action Star”.’

They assumed it must be because they were the same age.

Nevertheless.

‘They both have strong presences, I wonder if it will be a good fit for the “Harara” play.’

Zero-ro would always be easy to cast, but Harara seemed harder to imagine.

It seemed that was the consensus.

Honestly, looking at both of them, this might be challenging.

One of them gave an icy impression, while the other seemed like the epitome of a high-class noblewoman.

Neither seemed to fit the vibrant Harara.

However, once Seoyeon took Harara’s magic wand in hand and the play started, all doubts vanished.

“Ouch! You shouldn’t just throw cars around!”

“No, it wouldn’t just hurt. Look, you were just run over by that car!”

Harara’s dialogue with Zero-ro followed. When Seoyeon, holding the magic wand, delivered her lines, she perfectly fit the playful and upbeat Harara from the animation.

Most importantly, it was evident that Seoyeon was trying to imitate the voice of the original animation voice actress as closely as possible.

“Miss Seoyeon, have you worked as a voice actress as well?”

“Excuse me? No, I studied it.”

“Ah, these days actors also take on voice acting roles, huh?”

After the rehearsal, other actors gathered and asked Seoyeon. Everyone had been initially concerned about Harara’s role, but those worries disappeared as soon as they saw her perform.

As expected, Seohui never faced the same skepticism since she was perfect for Zero-ro.

‘Apparently, my demeanor is softer compared to Seohui’s.’

Seohui drew fewer inquiries. Instead, as others approached Seoyeon, Seohui seemed to hesitate and move awkwardly nearby, hesitant to interrupt the attention Seoyeon was receiving.

‘Anyway.’

It wasn’t that Seoyeon had learned voice acting specifically for acting purposes, but here it was proving useful.

This illustrated the benefits of learning a wide variety of skills.

‘Jiyeon’s better suited for voice acting than I am.’

At some point, she should coax Jiyeon into starring in the Harara play as well.

It was a wonderful thought.

This way, Seoyeon wouldn’t have to worry about being mocked like she had during Showts.

***

“Wow, Dahyun, there’s an incredible crowd.”

“It’s children’s theater, so it’s not just kids here, right?”

“Why are there so many uncles?”

“Look, there’s even an uncle wearing a Harara t-shirt. So funny.”

Dahyun’s friends, some wearing rabbit ears and mouse ears on their heads, were loudly chatting, clearly not tired even after riding on many attractions.

‘Still, this spot offers a great view.’

As she thought this and sat down, a man dressed as a penguin appeared on stage.

Dahyun stared intently, wondering who he was until one of her friends, Minji, spoke up.

“That penguin is Harara’s mascot.”

“…That?”

“It’s just the costume; in the animation, it’s cute. In the play, they’ll be waving a penguin-shaped board.”

Upon Minji’s explanation, Dahyun looked at her curiously.

Why does she know all this?

Has she been watching Harara?

“Children, are you ready to have fun with Harara today?!”

At the penguin’s call, the children responded loudly with ‘Yes!’. Dahyun smiled warmly watching them.

Incidentally, the Harara t-shirt clad ‘uncles’ also joined in the chorus, which was a bit embarrassing.

‘Still, the kids are adorable.’

Dahyun liked children. As she stared at them, she noticed something peculiar in the crowd.

“Hmm? Isn’t that Seoyeon’s younger sister?”

After the “Golden Duckling” incident, Seoyeon’s younger sister had become extremely popular. Wasn’t her name Joo Su-yeon?

Next to Su-yeon wasn’t Seoyeon or her mother, but another unknown woman.

“Who is that?”

Amid her curiosity, the bright surroundings dimmed, and the play officially began.

“Mm-hmm… What should I do? If I fail again, the Demon King will be furious.”

As a spotlight illuminated, the stage revealed a girl in a black outfit muttering to herself, starting the play. When she turned around, gasps of amazement came from the front row audience who recognized her.

“It’s Seohui Jo, she’s playing the role of Zero-ro.”

“Seohui Jo? Really?”

“They only said entertainers were coming. Why didn’t they specify?”

“They mentioned that the first performance would be a surprise.”

It was announced that the names wouldn’t be revealed until after the first performance.

Certainly, the event was meant to spark interest and hype during the premiere.

Events often accompany first performances, and they used this occasion to generate publicity.

“Harara’s punches hurt the most. Why do I have to carry this magic wand around?”

The murmuring was cute but carried an oddly noble tone.

Dahyun internally marveled at this aspect.

She had already watched Seohui’s films several times, but seeing her on a stage was quite different.

An entirely new experience.

She was glad she had decided to come to the amusement park.

“Oh, right, this is the way to go. This time, it’s going to be harder!”

Clenching her fists tightly, the flame near Zero-ro extinguished.

The stage lights gradually brightened, revealing a girl on stage with a small penguin figure on her shoulder.

At that moment.

“Exh.”

“Are you serious?”

Suddenly, Dahyun’s friends, who were at a loss for words, muttered their surprise softly. After all, seeing a classmate suddenly appear on stage, anyone would be startled.

“Seoyeon Joo?”

Could Seoyeon really be playing Harara?

Dahyun couldn’t picture it at all.

“Uh… I should have hit Zero-ro even harder yesterday.”

But that image quickly shattered because Joo Seoyeon, or rather, Harara, spoke with a voice completely different from what Dahyun knew.

The sharp, measured features and tight-lipped demeanor were now replaced by big, wide eyes and a soft, beaming smile.

There was a lively young girl standing on the stage.

“Right~?”

Harara spun around, as if seeking approval from the audience of children, glancing across the stage. In that moment, her eyes met exactly with Dahyun’s.

It was a fleeting moment.

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