Let's go to the sea.
At those sudden words, Seohui naturally thought it was a joke.
Of course, she had time.
Not only was there no filming tomorrow, but she had no other schedules either.
She hadn't taken any other schedules in order to focus on Mine.
On top of that, it was winter vacation, so there was no need to go to school; she had plenty of time.
Seoyeon was probably the same.
Regardless, because it was such a sudden suggestion, she naturally thought it was a joke.
Wasn't that obvious?
Saying we should suddenly go to the sea right after filming ended?
Why?
Just as she was thinking that.
"Huh."
Seohui was already at the winter sea.
Because they had taken the dawn train, they arrived right at sunrise.
It felt so unreal that Seohui stared blankly at it.
"...What are we doing here?"
Looking at the sea, Seohui called out to Seoyeon beside her.
Unlike herself, who had come empty-handed with almost no luggage, Seoyeon had stopped by home and packed meticulously.
"We should sleep first."
"..."
"Staying up all night is bad for your skin."
Was she unexpectedly the type to take such delicate care of these things?
They found lodging that morning, took a nap, and woke up at one in the afternoon.
The sun was high overhead.
Having not brought any clothes to change into, she felt quite uncomfortable.
'Should I just buy some clothes nearby?'
She had money anyway, so that might be better.
As she was thinking that, Seoyeon spoke.
"Let's buy swimsuits first."
"Huh?"
"We came to the sea, so shouldn't we swim?"
Seohui had trouble telling if those words were a joke or serious.
Since Seoyeon had packed so much luggage, maybe she really did have a swimsuit.
'Swimming in the winter sea?'
Seohui seriously wondered if she had committed some grave mistake.
Could her acting have been so terrible?
Terrible enough to be thrown into the cold sea?
A vivid image came to mind of herself jumping into the cold winter sea and being carried off in an ambulance.
"Sorry, I didn't bring my wallet."
"Is that so?"
Truthfully, even without a wallet, there were many ways to pay.
At least if she had her phone.
Seoyeon glanced at Seohui's handbag for a moment, then nodded.
"I suppose."
'I suppose?'
Hadn't Seoyeon just shown a very strange reaction?
What did she think of her to react with "I suppose"?
Sometimes Seohui was genuinely curious about her image in Seoyeon's mind.
'Well, she's rich, so maybe Samsung Pay is unfamiliar to her.'
In fact, the image Seohui expected of herself and the image Seoyeon had of Seohui were surprisingly not very different.
But this was inevitable because, for instance, this was practically the first time Seohui had gone to a fast food restaurant with Seoyeon.
If she hadn't even been to a fast food restaurant, it made sense that she might not know about Samsung Pay.
"Then let's at least dip our feet and play."
Did they really have to go into the sea?
Seohui shook her head seriously, but she had no choice but to be dragged by Seoyeon's hand.
'I think I'll get frostbite.'
That was her first thought as she dipped her bare feet into the cold seawater.
Because her feet were cold, somehow her whole body felt colder.
"Isn't it nice walking along the sea like this?"
"Aren't you cold?"
"No."
Why on earth wasn't she cold?
Suddenly, an entertainment show Seoyeon had filmed previously came to mind.
The filming location then, Papua New Guinea, was a tropical region.
They had gone at the hottest time, so everyone returned having sweated and lost weight.
Bak Jeong-u had said:
"I almost died from the heat, but she was completely fine. I never once saw her sweat there."
He had said as much.
When Seohui had asked Seoyeon the reason out of curiosity.
"Sweat smells, doesn't it?"
"?"
Ah, so she didn't sweat because she hated the smell of sweat?
Finding it absurd, Seohui stared, and Seoyeon averted her gaze for no reason and coughed.
"...It doesn't smell at this level."
At those words, Bak Jeong-u couldn't help but ponder seriously once more.
If the heat of the tropics was merely 'this level,' just how hot did it have to be?
And until filming ended, Bak Jeong-u supposedly never once smelled Seoyeon's sweat.
'Is it the same with the cold?'
Her feet were freezing.
As Seohui shivered and splashed through the sea.
Seoyeon stared at Seohui.
"Are you cold?"
"Isn't it weirder that you're even asking?"
At Seohui's words, laced with spite after so long, Seoyeon smiled faintly.
Then, gently bending her knees, she spoke.
"Get on."
"Why?"
"It means get on my back if your feet are cold."
Couldn't they just get out of the seawater?
She thought that, but since Seoyeon offered to carry her, she quickly climbed on.
"Stretch your feet forward."
"Why? Like this?"
Seoyeon lightly carried Seohui on her back and alternated hands, rubbing the outstretched feet with her hands.
Compared to her own warm body temperature, the feet were very cold.
"...It tickles."
"You said your feet were cold."
As if this level of cold was nothing, Seoyeon's body temperature was very warm.
The cold feet, held in Seoyeon's hands, felt like they would warm up quickly.
And once they had warmed somewhat, Seoyeon readjusted her grip on Seohui and walked along the beach again.
The splashing sound of feet reached her ears.
There was hardly anyone at the winter sea, so it felt like the two of them were walking in a dream.
"Seohui."
"Hmm?"
"Do you know ShinYeon Company?"
"No."
Hearing the name for the first time, Seohui asked if it was a new agency.
But from Seoyeon's reaction, it didn't seem to be a management company.
"It's a common advertising company in Seoul."
"Okay."
"It's not particularly successful, but it's a subsidiary of a famous conglomerate, so it's not at risk of going under."
"Why, did you get an offer from them?"
"No."
Then why suddenly say that?
"Actually, I only learned of it recently. I was just wondering if you knew."
At those words, Seohui was slightly puzzled.
How would she know that?
"Ah, is it a Newlike subsidiary?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, I guess you invested in stocks or something."
"No. I just asked in case you knew."
It was a rather random remark.
Even she didn't know every subsidiary related to Newlike.
Rather, there were more she didn't know.
Therefore, Seoyeon's question seemed very strange to Seohui.
"Seoyeon."
"Yes."
"Why did you suggest coming to the sea today?"
Had she just wanted to walk along the sea like this?
If so, she thought that was fine too.
Riding on Seoyeon's warm back, she didn't feel particularly cold.
Besides, walking along such a winter sea was a rare experience.
"When I act, I think of the sea."
"The sea?"
"Yes."
The small aquarium she had imitated.
That place was now the sea.
"When you look at the sea, there's something overwhelming in your heart, isn't there?"
Countless emotions that had become her own, without needing to imitate them through drawings.
Just like walking along this beach now.
When acting, Seoyeon frolicked in that sea of emotions.
"Isn't it? That's how I felt."
Seoyeon said with a slightly embarrassed smile.
In truth, when Seoyeon saw the sea in her previous life, she felt no emotion at all.
The aquarium and sea she had compared it to in her childhood were simply metaphors.
But after being born again.
When she first saw the sea after being reborn, she realized the difference between her past life and her current self.
Was it third grade in elementary school?
Around the time she had just turned ten, at the first sea she ever saw.
The sea she saw in her past life was merely a beautiful picture.
Well, because she had such an illness.
But the sea she actually saw was different.
Something squeezed and resonated in her chest.
She could clearly realize that she was so different.
And she thought.
Someday, this overwhelming heart she felt looking at the sea.
"I wanted to show those who watch me an act that could make them feel that."
So she prepared for a long time.
Time for her frailer-than-expected heart to stand without wavering before any emotion.
Time to gain the strength to face and confront new emotions and countless unfamiliar things.
That was Seoyeon's ten years.
"What do you want to show people through your acting, Seohui?"
"I..."
At those words, Seohui hesitated for a moment about what to answer.
It wasn't because she couldn't think of an answer, or because the answer was too shabby to be embarrassing.
It was absolutely not for such reasons.
"Let me guess."
Speaking for the silent Seohui, Seoyeon said calmly.
"Starlight."
The moment she said that, Seoyeon felt strength enter Seohui's hand gripping her collar.
"Acting like starlight, right?"
No answer came back.
But Seoyeon knew this silence was an affirmation.
At the same time, she knew the reason it wasn't spoken aloud.
"I looked it up recently. The acting of Baek Seoran."
Recently, she had seen Seohui continuously reaching out toward something.
It felt like she was challenging something new, not the stable acting she usually showed.
That acting resembled actor Baek Seoran's.
Brilliant acting like stars.
Beautiful starlight adorning the night sky.
Such radiance was revealed in her acting.
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The overwhelming feeling felt when looking at the sea could not be felt.
Instead, it was a beautiful performance that made one watch in a trance.
"Yeah, that's right."
Belatedly, Seohui's mouth opened.
"I wanted to do that kind of acting."
To Seohui, who was still a child, her mother's acting was brilliant starlight.
She had thought that someday, she too wanted to do acting like that.
So she practiced in secret, and was happy when praised.
If she kept learning from her mother, she would be able to do such acting.
That was what young Seohui vaguely thought.
'A curse.'
Not long ago, she had heard Han Yegeon muttering that to himself while watching her act.
The curse her mother had placed on her.
Seohui couldn't deny his words.
As he said, her mother's acting was a curse to Seohui.
And also a binding.
Brilliantly twinkling starlight.
Because it was the North Star that guided the way.
"But it is strange, right?"
She said, clutching Seoyeon's collar.
She didn't waver.
A strong mind was one of the few strengths Seohui could boast of.
Yet she felt cracks forming bit by bit.
"I'm nothing like her at all."
Like when her younger self screamed at her father in spite.
What would Seoyeon answer to these words?
Would she affirm or deny?
Seoyeon was kind in places like this, so she would clearly answer no.
Normally she would coldly say yes, but Seohui knew she was a girl whose heart weakened when the other party was vulnerable.
Stepping on the waves rolling onto the beach, small footprints remained in the wet sand.
"It took me ten years."
"What did?"
"The time I spent preparing to do the acting I do now."
At those words, Seohui let out a hollow laugh.
"Are you telling me to wait like that too? That time will solve it? Well, maybe it would be possible in ten years."
"No, that's not what I mean."
"Then what?"
"Seohui."
Seoyeon's voice, mixed with the sound of waves, was heard gently.
"I think your preparations ended long ago."
Debuting in a drama for the first time, being called the princess of daily dramas.
During the ten years Seoyeon rested, Seohui had continued working steadily.
"Only, you simply haven't realized it yourself yet."
Having reached ten million viewers.
She had even won the Best Actress Award that Seoyeon had never received.
"I returned because I saw your commercial."
It was the first time she had heard that.
She never imagined Seoyeon had decided to return to the entertainment industry after seeing her commercial.
"Because you were a model student. You prepared step by step. Since a very long time ago."
Without needing to force emotional acting like herself, Seohui knew how to act from the beginning.
It was probably because she had watched her mother's acting since childhood, but it would have been impossible without talent.
"So, your preparations already ended long ago."
When she was young, Jo Seohui was greedier than she was now.
Hadn't she been jealous of Seoyeon's acting from the start, waiting to meet again and act together?
It was just that now she was impatient and had chosen the easy path.
Because among the acting she knew, her mother's was the most impressive.
Because countless people wished for her mother's acting from Seohui.
That's why she couldn't start.
Her own acting.
"Of course I understand. The most impressive acting you've seen was your mother's, so you can't forget it."
So.
Seoyeon spoke emphatically.
"I'll make you forget."
I'll remind you of young Jo Seohui, who called me a parachute and vented her resentment at me.
"By covering it with my acting."
The feet walking along the beach stopped.
At the same time, Seohui's continuing thoughts also stopped.
Because she had heard something completely unexpected.
"People say this when they see me."
Seoyeon slowly turned her head to look at Seohui on her back.
"'A genius actress.'"
A genius actress like her mother, Baek Seoran.
In other words, the conditions were equal.
"Then, it's worth a try, isn't it?"
Saying so, Seoyeon smiled.
Pupils resembling the sunset glow.
Sparkling like the sun reflected on the sea.
Looking at them, Seohui burst out laughing.
After all, it was undeniable.
"...Yeah, it is."
If she hadn't thought so.
She wouldn't have waited ten years in the first place.
For this young star resembling the sunset.