At first, nothing much happened.
They simply sipped the canned beer Jiyeon brought while having a conversation.
Since the three of them were actors filming the same movie anyway, most of the conversation revolved around movies and dramas, hardly typical of students.
'Wait, isn't it typical for students?'
At least when it comes to talking about movies and dramas.
Of course, unlike other female students discussing movies and dramas, their side of the conversation was a bit more professional.
Thinking so, Seoyeon listened attentively to Lee Jiyeon and Jo Seohee's conversation.
It wasn't that she didn't have anything to say, but Seoyeon's knowledge was jumbled with future knowledge.
Therefore, she couldn't know what problems might arise if she accidentally brought up the future.
A light remark could unexpectedly become a huge variable.
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Well, considering how things had been going as they pleased so far, she wondered if it even mattered.
"Come to think of it, Seoyeon."
Jo Seohee cautiously spoke to Seoyeon.
Because Seoyeon hadn't really participated in the conversation until now, Seohee was worried she might be bored.
"Haven't you met Row since then?"
"No, I haven't. Ah, but he did contact me."
"...He contacted you?"
Jo Seohee's gaze darkened as she said that.
Having only seen Seohee's usual fluttery demeanor, Seoyeon flinched momentarily at that gaze.
'No, she really is a villainess.'
She looked like she was about to say, "Chop that commoner wench's head off right this instant."
Perhaps because she happened to be wearing quite a flimsy pajama set, it looked even more so.
'No wonder everyone subtly avoids her when we walk around together.'
Seoyeon sighed inwardly.
With Lee Jiyeon and Jo Seohee looking like that, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was somehow losing out.
She herself was just a little expressionless, but the other side made people cower, didn't she?
The strange thing was, despite that, both of them had quite a lot of acquaintances.
Lee Jiyeon had a lot of friends.
In Jo Seohee's case, her network was at an exceptionally outstanding level.
'Enough for even Row to show interest.'
Row, who operated
Seohee, who was entangled with various networks from top to bottom, was inevitably an important figure to him.
Especially in Seohee's case, she wasn't simply a figure in the entertainment industry; she also knew a massive number of people in the business world.
Just by capturing Jo Seohee alone,
Therefore, Row had no choice but to be eager.
[Seoyeon, could you let me meet Seohee just once? She absolutely won't take my calls.]
The message Seoyeon received was roughly like that.
A quite friendly tone.
Seeing that, Seoyeon clicked her tongue.
Of course, she didn't reply.
'I don't know if it's because of Jo Seohee or because I'm an actor riding the recent trend, but he's certainly trying hard to win me over.'
The funny thing was, both Jo Seohee and Seoyeon were minors, so they couldn't enter clubs in the first place.
At first, he seduced them by saying things like, "Even if you're minors, if you dress up and come, I'll pretend not to know and quietly give you a seat," but later he changed his tune to, "Ah, of course, after graduation is fine too!"
He probably sensed that Seoyeon and Seohee were avoiding it.
'And of all people, Jiwoo unni too.'
Naturally, Seoyeon contacted Pyo Jiwoo afterwards.
Asking if she had been meeting Row recently.
[Eh? Ah, no?]
To that, Pyo Jiwoo firmly denied it.
Of course, her oddly halting tone indicated she had something to hide.
Since she was hiding it herself, Seoyeon thought about bringing up Row's story as if talking about a different subject, but...
'As expected, I can't do that.'
Anyway, there were no revealed problems with
Slandering them in this state would only be baseless criticism.
'I don't even know how Jiwoo unni would react in the first place.'
If it was just a fling like Row said, maybe, but if they were already lovers, it wouldn't even register with Pyo Jiwoo.
She wasn't a woman who would recklessly storm into a club and stab her cheating lover for nothing.
She was that blind, and once she went on a rampage, she was uncontrollable.
At the very least, they needed to catch some evidence...
'But can Jiwoo unni break through Shine Moon?'
The club they went to before was also a fairly well-known, famous club.
The number of guards was thirty.
A bit larger compared to Shine Moon.
But
'Roughly a little more than thirty? I should probably consider them similar.'
Then wouldn't Pyo Jiwoo, armed with a sword, be able to break through?
Seoyeon became purely a little curious.
Just how many guards a sword-wielding Pyo Jiwoo could break through.
Of course, such a thing shouldn't happen, but she was still a bit curious.
Just how strong would 'Swordmaster Pyo', who once became an issue on the internet, be?
"Seoyeon?"
"Ah, yeah. What?"
Seoyeon hastily answered Seohee, who was looking at her with strange eyes.
At her words, Jo Seohee's eyes widened.
"Huh, you just spoke casually?"
"Ah, accidentally."
"Can't you just keep doing it?"
"Formal speech is still more comfortable for me."
Somehow, formal speech was more comfortable for Seohee.
Maybe it was because of her young lady image.
Her actions also had a strangely older vibe.
If she counted her past life, she was definitely the older one, so it was quite strange.
'Well, the mind ultimately has no choice but to chase hormones.'
Seoyeon knew that mental issues were beyond human control.
This was truly a matter purely dependent on the physical body.
Because she knew just how massive the changes caused by mental illness or hormonal abnormalities could be.
Commonly with depression, actions that make you wonder, 'Why would they do that?' are mostly because of hormones.
You don't know this unless you experience it.
Seoyeon didn't particularly have depression, but in her past life, exactly once.
Something similar came over her because of medication; it was probably when she got tired of taking her medicine and skipped it for a bit.
At that time, what it felt like was literally feeling that living had no meaning.
You truly can't do anything.
After that, she made sure to take her medicine regularly, but it was truly scary.
Therefore, Seoyeon generally tended to let it be even when she acted differently from her past.
At least it was better than the past when she couldn't fully feel emotions, right?
'Why does she keep drifting into thought while talking?'
Seohee watched such a Seoyeon and chewed her lip.
Anyway, just now, even though it was a sudden call, Seoyeon had spoken casually to Seohee.
It was something that normally couldn't happen.
Because even when Seoyeon was flustered until now, she had never made a slip of the tongue.
'Could it be because of this?'
Seohee glanced at the alcohol-free beer Lee Jiyeon brought.
Of course, alcohol-free beer has no alcohol.
Even if it did, it was at the 0.01 level.
So even if the three of them drank it eagerly while chatting, there was no particular reaction.
'But what if that 0.01 took effect?'
Seohee made a truly perfect deduction and nodded.
Come to think of it, there were beer cans her father bought at home.
Even the chairman of a massive conglomerate drinks beer.
Of course, Seohee's father didn't particularly enjoy getting drunk, so he mostly drank beer with almost no alcohol.
"It looks like we've finished the beer, should I go get more?"
"Huh? Ah, right?"
At Seohee's words, Jiyeon looked at the beer cans piled on the floor and nodded.
Munching on snacks and drinking beer, they had already run out.
Originally, Jiyeon hadn't known everyone would drink so much, so she hadn't brought a lot.
"But is there beer at home?"
"There's probably a fridge stocked with it."
"A fridge stocked with it?"
Seoyeon was surprised again by Seohee's words.
'Just how many fridges are there?'
Was there a separate fridge just for beer?
Well, the mansion was this huge, so it was possible.
"Wait a sec, I'll be right back."
Seohee dashed off and headed to the wine room.
She remembered that in the room next to the wine room, there was a fridge storing miscellaneous liquors along with a small wine cellar.
Of course, it was a place Seohee had rarely visited.
"Ah, is it this one?"
After haphazardly stuffing beer cans labeled "No-Alcohol" into a bag, Seohee quietly slipped back out, tiptoeing hurriedly.
Because if she got caught coming in here, she'd be scolded by her father.
"Seohee?"
"!!"
Turning her head, Han Seoyoung was looking at Seohee with a puzzled face.
Did she see her coming out of the wine room?
"Y-yes? N-nothing much?"
"Huh? No, I just wondered who it was. But it seems you're having fun."
At Han Seoyoung's calm words, Seohee breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
If she had seen her, her reaction would absolutely not have been like that.
"T-then I'll get going."
"Ah, yeah."
Watching Seohee dash off, Han Seoyoung's eyes held a look of having seen something novel.
That was because she had almost never seen Seohee so excited.
'Is that the reason she's been riding her bicycle so diligently lately?'
Originally, Seohee was a proper young lady through and through, always commuting by private car, but since sometime ago, she started using a bicycle.
Probably, she judged that it would be difficult to meet friends privately if she rode in a car.
For Seohee, who used to thoroughly hide herself as an actor, to show such a side, it was truly fascinating.
Should one say she's more vibrant?
Or should one say she's like a girl her age?
'Either way, it's a relief.'
Rather, Seohee had been too mature all this time.
Especially after Seoyeon disappeared, for nearly 10 years, the sight of her devoting herself to work, unlike a child, was vivid in her eyes.
Probably, the shock of losing the starlight twice was huge.
At least, it seemed one of them had returned.
Han Seoyoung looked in the direction Seohee had briefly disappeared to, then slowly turned around.
***
"I-I brought it. Here!"
Seoyeon was bewildered but took the beer can Seohee practically threw at her.
And when she popped it open and drank it, it was twice as refreshing as the beer Lee Jiyeon had brought.
'Ah, so this is how it's supposed to be drunk.'
The beer Jiyeon brought from home felt somewhat lukewarm.
Still, she had sipped it out of curiosity, but it was no match for cold beer.
The taste also seemed strangely sweet.
It seemed the taste varied by beer.
"Anyway, continuing the conversation we were having earlier about our future acting. There's a lot of romance acting between me and Lee Jiyeon."
Seohee also held a beer can in her hand and continued speaking.
"As much as Seoyeon's acting potential has been rising lately, Jiyeon needs to match that, you know? Before, honestly, it was a part led by Yoo Ina, so it wasn't a big problem, but."
There was a part Lee Jiyeon filmed with Ju Seoyeon, who was confident about romance acting.
The general content went like this.
It starts with Yoo Ina calling Yeon Seonye to check how the current situation is progressing.
At that time, Yeon Seonye reveals that she harbors strange feelings for Michiko, and Yoo Ina feels her stomach churn seeing Yeon Seonye like that.
So, it was a part where she shows a somewhat coercive obsession toward such a Yeon Seonye.
"Ju Seoyeon did act the obsession well."
"Right? Honestly, I was a bit surprised too. It's easy to show obsession toward the other person in romance acting, but acting it out so it's subtly revealed is hard."
You have to reveal the emotions so the audience can tell, but the attitude or words shouldn't be explicit.
Literally, you have to express those emotions naturally.
Naturally, it was that difficult, but Yoo Ina's acting at that time was so incredible that even Jo Seohee, who was watching, felt her heart flutter.
"But, Seoyeon. What trick did you use? Your acting is much more..."
Seohee, who was saying that, flinched momentarily.
How should she put it.
Red.
Seoyeon's face was red, and her eyes were red too.
Anyway, an incredibly red feeling.
"Ack."
Lee Jiyeon also belatedly noticed that sight and hurriedly looked at the beer can.
Not an alcohol-free beer, but a no-alcohol beer.
"Hey, Jo Seohee. This is no-alcohol beer!"
"Eh? I-Isn't it the same thing?"
"No-alcohol and alcohol-free are completely different!"
Alcohol-free is 0.01 or below.
No-alcohol is 0.99 or below.
Meaning, up to 0.99 alcohol could be included.
"T-Then is Seoyeon drunk?"
"How would I know. I've never seen Ju Seoyeon drunk either."
When they went on trips like school excursions or training camps.
Even when school friends secretly drank alcohol, Seoyeon just stared blankly.
In the first place, the other kids couldn't even offer Seoyeon a drink.
So seeing Seoyeon drunk was a first for Jiyeon too.
'Maybe, like in middle school.'
Seoyeon, who had been sipping the drink, seemed to realize the can was empty and tried to grab another one with a swaying body.
Seohee and Jiyeon's eyes followed Seoyeon's hand.
Ignoring their words, Seoyeon fumblingly moved her hand and grasped a beer can.
Pop!!
The beer can burst.
"Huh?"
Jo Seohee's eyes widened into dots.
Wait, what just happened?
"Ah, a mistake..."
Thinking she had failed to grip the beer, Seoyeon sluggishly got up and moved to wipe the beer.
But, naturally, there was nothing around to wipe it with, and while trying hard to wipe it with her pajama skirt, she just flopped over.
Seeing Seoyeon rolling around on the half-burst beer, Seohee and Jiyeon couldn't even bring themselves to stop her and just watched.
No matter what, can someone get that drunk on no-alcohol beer?
"Lee Jiyeon, the ground is coming up right now. Is it an earthquake?"
"Ah, no, wait, just stay still right there. Don't move."
"I'm scared of the shaking... Last time, honestly, I was a bit scared when I rode the amusement park ride..."
Seeing Seoyeon babbling like a baby, Jiyeon swallowed dry saliva.
Because she had no idea how to move her.