It was a slightly belated realization, but Seoyeon felt burdened by taking on the lead role in
Of course, that didn't mean she disliked it.
It was simply because she had realized at the previous meeting what being pre-cast actually meant.
'Come to think of it, I've mostly done auditions.'
Even
It had a strong variety show character, and while there was plenty of room for 'acting' to介入, it was definitely an audition.
The cast members of each episode were scored, and there were eliminations.
It was just that Seoyeon had a very strong advantage in this audition.
The GH Group had surely anticipated this, and it was clear they had deliberately prepared such an audition.
The average viewership was around 6 percent.
Considering it was a cable variety show, it was recording quite respectable numbers.
On top of that, with clips circulating massively on Shorts, it had gained recognition beyond what the viewership ratings alone would suggest.
If the movie opened with this momentum, it would definitely enjoy a huge promotional effect.
'But still, that was at least formally an audition.'
Even if they believed in Seoyeon's abilities, it wasn't a hundred percent certain.
In the end, you never know what variables might arise in an audition.
But
Without even an audition.
So she could somewhat understand if other actors had complaints.
While recognition could be considered an important ability for an actor, it could feel like unfairness to younger actors.
So she had to do well.
If she was pre-cast and couldn't meet expectations, there would definitely be talk.
'At least, the senior actors are looking favorably upon me.'
The middle-aged actors who were present there.
The ones who would play the 'parents,' effectively the other protagonists of the work.
They tended to view Seoyeon favorably.
Whenever they met, they would tell her they had watched
But even that favorable impression would eventually crumble if she couldn't properly demonstrate it on set.
"Mmm."
Seoyeon crossed her arms and sighed.
Currently, she was alone in a practice room provided by Nova Entertainment, reading the script and practicing her acting.
She had thought about asking Jiyeon for help, but Jiyeon was busy with her own
On top of that, she also regularly streamed for Lamiel.
'The protagonist of the drama Sky Garden, Lee Yoo-ju, is quite a pessimistic character.'
She had a near-perfect curriculum left behind by her older brother.
The family was an ordinary middle-class household.
But her older brother had achieved a perfect score on the CSAT and was the valedictorian of Baekyeon University, a fictional university known as the best in Seoul.
What made that possible was that her father had once been a highly successful college admissions coordinator.
However, after students he took on consecutively failed their CSATs, he had lost his standing.
Therefore, his son's admission as valedictorian was his pride.
This time, he expected Lee Yoo-ju to follow the same path as his son.
Because of that, Lee Yoo-ju was the ultimate master of self-management, to the point where she could be called a college admissions coordinator herself.
She was also someone who had perfectly memorized the admissions plan.
By the way, it should have been enough to just approach Lee Yoo-ju's father, but that was impossible.
Because they had a history of rejecting her father in the past—Lee Yoo-ju's father had refused them.
So the parents were aiming to build a connection with Lee Yoo-ju.
'...College admissions coordinator?'
From Seoyeon's perspective, these settings were difficult elements to empathize with.
Originally, she didn't have much connection to studying either.
Seoyeon's parents were the type who were satisfied as long as she studied diligently like a student.
Seoyeon had never even had private tutoring.
Well, that was also because Seoyeon had a path as an actress...
'Even if I didn't, I don't think I would have gone this far. Wait, it's actually real?'
Seoyeon looked up the term 'college admissions coordinator' on her smartphone and tilted her head.
Was there really someone who managed a student's private life so thoroughly, like in this script?
Not only the student's stress, but also the student's advantages.
And managing everything so they could receive good evaluations on their school records.
'Is this what rich people do?'
When she casually asked Writer Min Se-hee.
"Of course, there are some exaggerated parts."
"Just 'some'?"
"W-well, honestly, truly rich people could probably do things with money, right?"
Hmm, that was certainly true.
"But there are definitely those who buy honor. You can think of this drama as focusing more on that aspect."
It was exaggerated, but it wasn't a completely fabricated story.
She said she had done her own research and completed the script.
But even so, Seoyeon found it difficult to immerse herself in the script of
Is it really like that?
It felt like filming a story from imagination.
Maybe it was similar to a historical drama.
In that most of the feelings had to be conjured through imagination.
But the difference was, with historical dramas, she could still immerse herself through history and other historical dramas to some extent.
'Private education, and the lives of the upper class.'
Moreover, she was the middle-class 'Lee Yoo-ju.'
Pessimistic, and someone who knew nothing but studying.
'Now I understand why they asked if she was a top student.'
There was only one person she could refer to.
Gil Da-hyun, the class president of Seoyeon's class.
'Though I'll need a bit more intense emotion.'
The emotion she had to express as Lee Yoo-ju was among the most difficult emotions Seoyeon had ever expressed.
Pessimistic tendencies.
Unlike Seoyeon, who liked others' attention and praise, Lee Yoo-ju disliked such attention and praise.
They were all just people trying to get close to her.
And disgust toward those who held expectations she never asked for.
Yes, disgust.
The emotion that was the root of that pessimistic tendency.
Seoyeon had never truly disliked anyone.
Even toward the 'Summer Girl' who had bullied Cha Na-hee, she was angry but didn't feel disgust.
'If I knew a bit more about what that emotion is...'
But it was also an emotion she didn't really want to know.
It was a rather unpleasant emotion, wasn't it?
But separate from that.
She was curious about the depiction of the upper class in
Was it really like that?
Or was it a bit exaggerated?
That curiosity.
If she knew that, she could refer to it more in her acting.
Thinking that far, Seoyeon contacted someone who could tell her about it.
Someone who recently had a weakness held by her.
"What's the upper class like?"
Jo Seo-hee rushed over at Seoyeon's call.
The limousine she usually rode was nowhere to be seen.
A bicycle.
She had ridden her bicycle so hard that she was drenched in sweat.
"..."
At the sight that didn't look upper class at all, Seoyeon stared at Jo Seo-hee.
That gaze contained something like, 'This kind of kills the mood.'
At that gaze, Jo Seo-hee snorted and crossed her arms.
"This is thirty million won."
"?"
"This bicycle."
Seoyeon's eyes widened.
Wait, how can a bicycle be that expensive?
'What's the difference from a neighborhood Samcheonri bicycle?'
Just looking at the appearance, she couldn't tell.
Anyway, after hearing the price of the bicycle, Jo Seo-hee sitting on the saddle suddenly looked wealthy and upper class.
"Ahem! So what's the matter?"
She had heard roughly over the phone, but Jo Seo-hee spoke while watching Seoyeon's reaction.
Even though she tried to hide it, Jo Seo-hee was currently quite wary of Seoyeon's mood.
Glancing over and over.
Diligently examining whether she was in a good mood or not.
'I really can't tell her mood just from her face.'
Seoyeon was mostly expressionless.
She barely reacted to most words.
Even when contacted, replies mostly came back as emojis.
Especially after episode 5 of
'I-I don't regret betraying, but.'
It felt like a thought she'd had before, but she meant it.
Perhaps because the double betrayal was so shocking, it seemed like Jo Seo-hee herself was getting an image of a traitor.
'It's an image from variety shows, though.'
She didn't worry much about that part.
But Seoyeon was different.
Lee Ji-yeon had said.
"She's really thoroughly sulking right now."
"S-she is?"
"You can tell from the emojis, can't you?"
Is that so?
But looking at them continuously, she felt like she could tell.
Most of them were indifferent emojis.
So she was definitely sulking.
Because of that, there were various things she had prepared with Lee Ji-yeon.
"Is there something you want to ask?"
Rushing over at Seoyeon's call was also for that reason.
To restore the dropped favorability!
"The upper class."
"Huh?"
"It's about the drama I'm going to film."
Seoyeon finally revealed the details.
It seemed the drama she was going to film dealt partly with the life of the upper class.
'...That sounds fun?'
Just hearing about it, it sounded like it would be really fun.
This almost went to cable variety shows?
'Come to think of it, Sunbae Jung-woo said that.'
That Writer Min Se-hee was timid, but a very talented writer.
As expected from the son of a great actor.
His eye for people was certainly sharp.
"...Hmm."
Jo Seo-hee pondered Seoyeon's request.
Honestly, showing her wasn't difficult.
But how to show her was the concern.
To be honest, Jo Seo-hee didn't really get involved with that side much.
From the beginning, they didn't really like having their faces known, so they viewed Jo Seo-hee, who worked as an actress, as if she was something curious.
To put it mildly, they treated her like a celebrity, but they were the type who had no intention of doing so themselves.
"Alright."
Eventually, Jo Seo-hee nodded.
Because there happened to be one perfect opportunity.
***
And so, Seoyeon ended up going to a party hosted by the upper class.
A birthday party, so to speak.
According to Jo Seo-hee, it was the birthday party of a certain corporate heiress.
Jo Seo-hee had been invited to it, and she had gotten permission asking if Seoyeon could come along.
"But they didn't reject it?"
"Why would they reject that?"
Jo Seo-hee smirked.
Inside the large limousine, she rested her chin on her hand and touched the hem of her white dress.
"These things are called birthday parties, but they're basically showrooms for displaying connections. If a rising actress like you comes, they'll be dying to invite you somehow."
Is that so?
While thinking that, Seoyeon ran her fingers over the black dress she was wearing.
She thought it was a somewhat flashy dress for a high school student to wear.
Of course, Seoyeon didn't have much resistance to wearing skirts.
She seemed to recall hearing that skirts were even used as battle attire in Scotland.
And there were definitely convenient aspects when doing things like kicking.
More precisely, if she wore pants, they would often tear when kicking... roughly for that reason.
"But the dress code is annoying. Usually they just specify it moderately."
At Jo Seo-hee's grumbling, Seoyeon was inwardly surprised.
So such things really existed.
Wearing this dress, she had thought it was just because it was a party, but according to Jo Seo-hee, at these parties, the host usually specified a dress code.
For instance, there were costume parties.
And there were cases where they simply specified colors like white clothes, black clothes, and so on.
Today it was formal suits and dresses.
"It's full of pretentiousness. I know that kid too. She's only a high schooler now, but she's totally flaunting herself."
Seo-hee tapped the white fan she held against her palm.
'She brought a fan.'
No wonder she really looked like a villainess.
With her hair piled up, she had an appearance that could subdue most people with just her face.
Though that probably wasn't much different for Seoyeon herself.
"Let's go."
Like that, Seoyeon followed behind Jo Seo-hee and went inside.
It was a famous, glamorous hotel in Seoul.
A place renowned especially for its delicious food.
'An entire hotel.'
They rented the entire hall for a party.
Honestly, it was a scale Seoyeon couldn't really imagine.
Entering the hall, a definitely glamorous crowd was visible.
Naturally, Seoyeon didn't know most of them.
People dressed up as flamboyantly as celebrities.
Among them, real celebrities were mixed in as well.
They widened their eyes at the sudden appearance of Jo Seo-hee and Seoyeon.
"Jo Seo-hee?"
"Next to her, isn't that Joo Seo-yeon?"
"Was Min-young really friends with Jo Seo-hee?"
Such small whispers reached Seoyeon's ears.
Words that an ordinary person wouldn't have been able to hear, but Seoyeon's ears caught even those sensitively.
However, their actions were not wanting to watch from afar, but rather coming closer each holding a smartphone.
Jo Seo-hee had told Seoyeon before coming here.
"Be careful. Don't let them take photos of you casually."
"Yes?"
"When they see you, everyone will want to take photos. To post on Insta and places like that. To show that they know someone like this~"
Well, this wasn't specifically a characteristic of the upper class.
She told Seoyeon it was simply a trait of those who were confident in themselves.
Those who wanted to show off.
"Think of yourself as a walking jewel."
Jo Seo-hee said so and organized the dress on Seoyeon.
"Each and every one of them is carrying a jewelry box. They want to put you in that box."
The methods varied for each person.
But in the end, the meaning of a jewel was to show it to others.
So they would try to approach Seoyeon somehow.
"My, what brings you here?"
Of course, for the most part, when Jo Seo-hee spoke while fully opening her fan.
Most of them slunk away.
Jo Seo-hee, who was wealthy herself and an actress, was the apex predator here.
Seoyeon could clearly see that.
Everyone wanted to approach Jo Seo-hee, but couldn't bring themselves to do so.
"Stay by my side."
Jo Seo-hee said softly to Seoyeon with the fan covering her mouth.
Seoyeon quietly nodded at Jo Seo-hee's words.
'Anyway.'
It was a bit bewildering, but Seoyeon wasn't greatly nervous.
Just the impression that upper class parties were like this?
More than that.
'There are a lot of celebrities too.'
Seoyeon's eyes narrowed.
Her gaze landed on a group of men gathered in one spot.
They were all laughing and chatting.
Among them, there was one person Seoyeon knew.
'Row, was it?'
The leader and eldest of Just X.
And otherwise known as the idol who does drugs.
"I'm opening a club this time. Please come a lot. You all know, right?"
At his appearance, Seoyeon frowned.