'Joo Seo-yeon, it's Joo Seo-yeon.'
Cho Min-tae, who was directing the CF, surveyed the atmosphere of the waiting room.
Sure enough, the girl he had his eye on was monopolizing everyone's attention.
'It's not simply the face.'
The presence.
There was a presence that captivated the room.
Having followed his father's work since he was young, Cho Min-tae had seen many actors.
The actors all had beautiful and striking appearances, but beyond that, there was something that captivated people's eyes.
That girl, Joo Seo-yeon, had that kind of presence.
It couldn't yet be called an aura, but there was something that gathered people's gazes.
"The feeling is definitely good. I just wish her acting could match that appearance."
Eyes for spotting talent are all similar.
Casting director Kim Hyung-suk also took notice of Seo-yeon.
Of course, his expectations were lower than Cho Min-tae's.
'Those kinds of kids exist occasionally.'
Kids with pretty faces and a natural presence.
But appearance is ultimately just appearance.
If she wasn't going to model, an actor's craft was ultimately acting.
Even if it was a simple CF.
Especially since this CF wasn't a solo appearance; there was one more actor.
'They'll need to prepare separately too.'
With even child actors being like this, he wondered if a proper actor could be found.
"It seems like everyone's here? How about we start now?"
"Ah, yes. We don't have much time, so let's hurry."
The children confirmed through profiles seemed to have all arrived, and there were roughly 10 minutes left until the scheduled audition time of 12 o'clock.
Hyung-suk stood up, opened the waiting room door, and shouted.
"Alright, the audition will now begin. You've received your number tickets, right? We'll call you in order starting from number 1, so please come in when called."
At his dry words, tension filled the waiting room.
"Ji-yeon, there's no need to be nervous. Just do as you always do."
"Yeah, Mom."
Even Ji-yeon, the only one among them belonging to a management agency, showed signs of inner nervousness.
Her mother, Hong Jin-hee, comforted her daughter while glancing at the child who had caught her eye earlier.
'Does this kid have a heart of steel? There's no change in her expression.'
Looking at Seo-yeon's tension-free face, Jin-hee frowned but then snickered.
'But with that, there's no need to even see her acting.'
An actor is ultimately a profession that puts emotion into acting.
This is an unchanging fact even for a small CF.
Rather, because a CF is like a short one-act play, such emotional aspects needed to be maximized.
But with such a dull child, it was clear she would be clumsy at emotional acting.
'Why is she looking at me and smiling?'
On the other hand, Seo-yeon wondered if something was on her face.
Because there was a middle-aged woman who had been staring at her like glaring since earlier.
"Seo-yeon, you mustn't be nervous. You know? If you get nervous, hold Mom's hand tightly."
"Yes."
The one who was nervous wasn't Seo-yeon but her mother, Soo-ah.
Seo-yeon looked at Soo-ah and held her hand tightly.
Not because she was nervous, but to calm her mom.
'That's strange. Aren't I the one doing the acting?'
Such a question arose, but Seo-yeon first thought about today's CF.
'They definitely said it was a food commercial.'
Even without knowing exactly what product it was, she could at least know the general category.
Food.
In other words, she needed to act eating something.
'Eating deliciously is important.'
Right now, even that concept hadn't been established, but in just a few years, the concept of mukbang would emerge. Of course, this didn't apply to VTubers.
To be precise, VTubers could do mukbangs, but it was only part of their content and difficult to push as their main focus.
Still, it would be good if she could do anything.
After all, isn't mukbang also a type of content?
"Seo-yeon, the friends who went in first are coming out."
At that moment, Soo-ah whispered to Seo-yeon.
Turning her gaze, she saw children trudging out from the audition room.
They had faces that clearly showed they'd received poor evaluations.
"Next, number 5, please come in."
The numbers continued to be called.
Seo-yeon's number was, if she remembered correctly, 22.
Considering the number of participants, it seemed like a fairly late turn.
"Number 13."
While she was wondering what kind of food it was, the child who was said to already belong to a management agency suddenly stood up.
Her face showed nervousness, but she was definitely better than the other children.
'Hmm?'
Seo-yeon looked at the child's face without much thought, then suddenly recalled a commercial.
She only just realized it, but it was a somewhat familiar face.
'Soy milk commercial.'
Was her name Ji-yeon?
The woman presumed to be that child's mother had certainly called her that.
'That's right, it was a soy milk commercial.'
She remembered seeing that girl.
Even though it was clearly a commercial she had seen a very long time ago, her memory was strangely vivid.
Was this also some kind of correction that came with reincarnation?
'Probably... I remember the reviews weren't good.'
Of course, just because that child was here, the probability that the audition Seo-yeon was participating in was the soy milk commercial from her memory was low.
That child named Ji-yeon could have taken multiple auditions.
'But if it is...'
Seo-yeon closed her eyes.
Then the soy milk commercial she had seen in her memory came to mind.
Lee Ji-yeon wasn't the only one who appeared in the commercial.
There was one more actor who appeared alongside her.
Kim Jung-ha, that was probably the name.
An actor who wasn't very popular now, but in just 3 years, she would land a lead role in a cable drama and receive great recognition for her acting.
Moreover, this CF would also be re-examined later, and it would become known that the 'awkward' actor who appeared in it was Kim Jung-ha.
'So, I remember there was a huge disconnect with the child actor.'
It was a strangely awkward commercial.
Of course, that ironically became a talking point and the soy milk sold reasonably well, but it wasn't a good commercial.
Incidentally, the reason this commercial was re-examined later wasn't simply because of Kim Jung-ha.
There was another important part.
"As expected of our daughter. Perfect!"
While Seo-yeon was organizing her thoughts, Lee Ji-yeon, who had finished her acting, came out of the audition room.
Her expression was quite bright, clearly having received positive reviews unlike the others.
'Hmph, this CF belongs to our daughter Ji-yeon anyway.'
Hong Jin-hee, noticing that Seo-yeon was staring intently at her daughter, smiled triumphantly.
And as if to show off, she kept stroking her daughter's head and picked her up.
'Why is she doing that.'
She understood being happy about a good audition, but she didn't understand why she was being happy while looking at her.
Anyway, judging by that reaction, the probability was high that Lee Ji-yeon would be cast as the child actor for this CF.
'The probability of it being soy milk has gone up.'
It wasn't certain yet, but let's assume it was soy milk for now.
There were still roughly ten people left before Seo-yeon's turn.
She had time.
'This is ultimately like RP too.'
She didn't know if there was a character like 'a child deliciously drinking soy milk,' but let's assume it was roughly that kind of scene.
Recalling the commercial from the past.
This wasn't a commercial filmed alone.
A commercial with two people appearing.
That much made the chemistry important.
'When doing VTuber, this is like a collab stream.'
To make a collab stream work well, it's important to move in accordance with the other person's characteristics.
If they play separately from each other, they only kill each other's strengths, and sometimes it was less appealing than streaming alone.
Especially if RP was prioritized.
'Actor Kim Jung-ha had a very bubbly image.'
The CF was like that too.
She remembers it being very bubbly and having extremely high tension.
Because of that, the color of the child actor who played the role of a fresh daughter was killed off.
'Can I match that tension?'
The acting Seo-yeon had done was nothing more than doing stretching exercises with some intensity.
She had tried playing various characters through RP, but...
'Hmm, this is also an experience after all.'
She would do her best, but from the start, Seo-yeon didn't even think she would pass the audition.
She wasn't the only one who practiced, and all the kids here would have done so.
Perhaps more diligently, more.
Not to mention the kids who had entered a management agency.
'It's an experience, but...'
Seo-yeon took a deep breath.
She put a little strength in her eyes.
Her eyes shone a little more red.
"...It'd be disappointing if it ended with just that."
She didn't want to regret doing it half-heartedly.
Like her past self.
And then.
"Number 22, please come in."
Finally, it was Seo-yeon's turn.
***
"Wouldn't number 13 from earlier be the best?"
"Yes, that seems to be the case."
Cho Min-tae and Kim Hyung-suk had such a conversation and nodded.
The total number of children who participated in today's audition was 25, so it was almost over.
"Still, she entered an agency at a young age, so I think she has some skill."
Kim Hyung-suk said so and roughly closed the remaining profiles.
Because he felt there was nothing more to see.
"Yes, that's true... but."
But Cho Min-tae had a very dissatisfied face.
It was his first job as a CF director, so he'd want to work with a good actor.
'But things in the world aren't that easy.'
The budget was lacking, and a good actor wouldn't bother coming to shoot such a commercial in the first place.
Simply beyond money, it was obvious the commercial exposure wouldn't be proper.
"Number 22 is still left, right? The child you were keeping an eye on earlier."
"Ah, yes. That's right."
Cho Min-tae scratched his head and examined the profile of number 22 he had just called.
'Acting experience: this is the first time.'
As expected, it was no different from the other children who came to audition today.
He had expectations at first, but seeing the other children's skills, he could feel how big the lack of 'experience' was.
"It would be nice if she could do even half of that face."
"Yes, that would be really great..."
Clack!
During their conversation, the door opened and a small child came in.
Long black hair, eyes of a peculiar color.
Her white face was like a porcelain doll, to the point where it didn't feel real.
If it weren't for the child's mother following behind her, he might have kept staring.
"Ah, the guardian can sit over there."
"Yes, yes."
The mother sat down with a disheveled face, showing how nervous she was.
It was the exact opposite of her expressionless daughter, whose thoughts were impossible to read.
'No, it might be because this one is also nervous.'
Cho Min-tae nodded as he looked at Seo-yeon sitting demurely in the prepared chair.
He had felt it since he first saw her, but her posture was very proper.
Her back was straight, and her gaze was forward.
Meeting that straight gaze directly, Cho Min-tae opened his mouth.
"Alright, your name is Seo-yeon, right?"
"Yes."
"Did you hear what kind of acting you'll be doing today?"
"I only heard it was food."
It was an even, calm answer without intonation.
Her emotions were so sparse that expectations for her acting decreased further.
"Cough, then you'll be doing a drinking act now. So... let's see, think of it as drinking cold milk deliciously and try acting it out."
This was literally improvised.
Without any prior preparation of what kind of commercial or character it was.
Improvised acting without even a script written for the screen character.
Usually in such cases, children would have a reaction like "Here?"
Even without saying it out loud, pure children tend to say such things with their faces.
"Yes."
But this time too, it was an extremely short answer.
Cho Min-tae gave a hollow laugh and exchanged glances with Kim Hyung-suk.
'This won't work, right?'
'With her being so blunt... food acting will be difficult.'
It was a glance containing roughly that meaning.
Especially in such auditions, the casting director's word sometimes carried more weight than the director Cho Min-tae.
Kim Hyung-suk had already half-confirmed Lee Ji-yeon for the role, so it was a difficult situation unless Seo-yeon did remarkably well.
'This is regrettable.'
He really wanted to work with that child.
It was the moment Cho Min-tae was having such thoughts.
"Phew."
A hint of smile formed at the corner of Seo-yeon's mouth.
It was a bright smile, to the extent that one couldn't believe she was the expressionless child from just a moment ago.
The atmosphere changed.
The dull color instantly felt bright.
'What.'
Cho Min-tae's eyes widened.
He saw Seo-yeon's hand moving as if in slow motion.
She grasped something.
When imagining drinking, hands typically describe a 'cup.'
But Seo-yeon's hand shape was different.
It was a 'carton.'
A milk carton.
And not a regular-sized 200ml milk carton.
She held an elongated 190ml soy milk carton in her hand.