What kind of person is Hong Jeong-hee?
Honestly, she was a person Seo-yeon could not understand.
A human driven to the extreme by affection for another.
In her past life, she couldn't understand emotions, so she had never held affection for anyone.
In this life, she had only received proper love, so she knew nothing of twisted love.
Affection for another was so distant to Seo-yeon that she couldn't understand why Hong Jeong-hee obsessed over Bae Seong-hak.
She supplemented that through Pyo Ji-woo's acting.
The emotions she had held for Min Seo-ho.
Those intense emotions, enough to harbor murderous intent when he betrayed her.
Like an old black-and-white television.
Like watching a silent film.
Seo-yeon examined them one by one.
Even though she clearly couldn't understand, there were things she could know.
Affection.
They say once you harbor it, even if you want to let it go, you cannot easily do so.
Suddenly.
Seo-yeon recalled her past life.
Come to think of it, her parents were like that too.
Twisted and pressing.
Even though they suffered, they ultimately never let her go.
Obsession.
Of parents, of lovers.
Seo-yeon looked at it each time, moving her body, her mouth,
her face.
"You are too greedy."
Sim Cheong-seok said that while discussing character interpretation.
"There are no perfect humans."
Therefore, the interpretation of a character differs for each person.
"The role you took on is ultimately a human full of flaws, too."
A human who craved the affection of others and ended up ruined.
"So acting out proper affection doesn't suit you from the start."
So when you act, the audience will be fooled.
Sim Cheong-seok said so, and
Seo-yeon herself knew it too.
She expresses the intensity of the human named Hong Jeong-hee that she felt.
Inferiority complex, despair, jealousy, obsession, affection.
Listing those complex emotions, she assigns their order.
And, the emotion Seo-yeon placed first was.
"…If something went wrong, it must be set right."
Obsession.
"Think about it, since when did Oppa change? Since when, where did he go. What did he do."
Under the darkened lighting, Hong Jeong-hee's monologue begins.
Movements creaking like a ball-jointed doll.
"Fan meeting on February 22nd. Event in Gwangju on the 27th. In March practice, there was no separate contact."
Hunched back, long black hair flowing down covering her face.
Through the gaps of that hair, her eyes move toward the audience.
"April, visited a facility for... volunteer work."
Red eyes.
Red eyes where all kinds of emotions are intertwined.
Even though they couldn't be seen properly, those eyes alone reached the audience more clearly than anything else.
Not a single breath could be heard.
The sense of alienation toward Hong Jeong-hee, who knew Bae Seong-hak's schedule from one to ten.
That bizarre obsession was clearly imprinted on the audience.
'Why does she go to such lengths?'
Probably everyone thought so.
The answer was simple.
Her obsession toward Bae Seong-hak moves her.
Slowly.
Dragging footsteps.
Step, step.
Hong Jeong-hee's feet move, traversing the stage.
"I have to find him."
Tilting her head once toward the audience.
As if searching for someone.
"Without fail."
The audience members who met Hong Jeong-hee's eyes froze on the spot, unable to even open their mouths.
Soon, Hong Jeong-hee's body pulls away from the audience and turns around.
The moment the oppressive tension scattering for a moment.
Hong Jeong-hee's body whips around, and in an instant, she charges toward the audience.
"!!"
In that moment, the audience was startled and flinched.
Because it felt as if Hong Jeong-hee was charging right at them.
No, it felt like Hong Jeong-hee's face was right in front of their noses.
However, Hong Jeong-hee's feet did not leave the stage.
Its edge.
"It's you."
Hong Jeong-hee, with her feet precariously perched on the very edge of the stage, looks at the audience and speaks.
"Yes, it was you."
The lighting gradually grows darker.
"It was you, Song Min-seo."
The vision goes completely black.
Only then could the audience finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Shuddering at the suffocating presence of Hong Jeong-hee.
'She's utilizing the stage perfectly.'
Director Bae Jin-hwan's hands were itching.
He was taking notes on this scene, bit by bit.
As he touched his mouth, he realized an ecstatic smile had formed without him noticing.
'This isn't the end, right? Joo Seo-yeon.'
He wanted to see it.
Her next acting, as quickly as possible.
Probably, such a feeling wasn't exclusive to Bae Jin-hwan.
Hong Jeong-hee's role was, after all, a villain.
The villain of the play.
That villain was captivating the play.
'But, as a play, this isn't good.'
If the main lead doesn't seem like the main lead, the impression of the play becomes blurred.
What would the people who saw this play today say?
'The villain was amazing, but the play? The play was just okay.'
It would definitely be like this.
That is not good for the actor, nor for the play.
'Indeed.'
What will she do.
Will it end as a play dominated by Joo Seo-yeon like this?
Bae Jin-hwan watched the flowing Act 3 with such thoughts.
The two people getting seriously entangled.
The story of the main leads, Bae Seong-hak and Song Min-seo, flows out.
In between, a person passes by without a single line on the path they walk.
Hong Jeong-hee.
Every time, people's hearts would race with anxiety as they watched the situation.
Fearing that Hong Jeong-hee might do something.
And Act 4.
The moment Hong Jeong-hee steps to the forefront, causing full-fledged friction with Bae Seong-hak.
Joo Seo-yeon and Sim Cheong-seok.
The moment Sim Cheong-seok and Joo Seo-yeon's acting clashes head-on.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
Bae Seong-hak's shout split the stage.
His acting, which had been passable when he was with Song Min-seo, changed.
Sharp emotions suddenly flew in and struck.
Those with an eye for acting recalled Bae Seong-hak's acting when he had faced Hong Jeong-hee earlier.
His acting that had changed in that instant.
'Is this, his real skill?'
'He's adjusting his tone depending on the actor.'
They looked at Sim Cheong-seok with fresh eyes.
But Sim Cheong-seok didn't care about any of that.
'Joo Seo-yeon.'
Beneath his face, which couldn't be seen from outside the stage.
A fierce smile arose.
'I have no intention of losing to a rookie who has only just taken her first step.'
That kind of emotion seemed to emanate from his smile.
The idol Bae Seong-hak.
Originally a role that didn't suit him.
However.
His atmosphere completely changes.
Into the good-natured idol actor, Bae Seong-hak.
"Hong Jeong-hee. I've been wondering all this time. How could it be, you. You, who always cheered for my performances, why!"
Bae Seong-hak finishes the performance safely and feels a bizarre sense of anxiety.
Because Song Min-seo, whom he was supposed to meet after the stage ended, was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, it comes to mind.
That Hong Jeong-hee was not seen at today's performance.
The woman who always followed his performances.
She was a precious fan, but recently a strange tension could be felt from her.
He was feeling a viscous murderous intent directed at Song Min-seo.
Remembering that, Bae Seong-hak ran to find Song Min-seo and Hong Jeong-hee.
And, he was able to intervene by a hair's breadth.
"Why to Min-seo...!"
"Min-seo?"
A low chuckle, *heh*, is heard.
Gleaming eyes turn toward Bae Seong-hak.
"Since when did you get so close, Oppa?"
That voice was extremely calm.
Without intonation.
A chilling voice, as if even emotions were cast aside.
A voice that had completely hidden the intense emotions Hong Jeong-hee had shown so far.
That.
"That never happened to me."
Gradually turns vehement.
Grabbing his collar.
Pushing him against the wall.
"That never happened to me!!"
Along with a scream-like shout, the hand gripping Bae Seong-hak's collar trembled violently.
"What did I lack. I liked you from way, way before."
Tears fall drop by drop.
It was infuriating. Just what did she lack.
No, she knows.
She probably couldn't be a comfort to Bae Seong-hak.
Hong Jeong-hee was, ultimately, a fan.
Song Min-seo, who couldn't hear his voice, was not his fan.
Not an idol, but merely an ordinary man who approached her.
That difference.
No, isn't that all there is to it.
Hong Jeong-hee panted heavily, unable to continue her words.
"You are not lacking."
Covering her trembling, Bae Seong-hak said.
"You were always a fan who was more than I deserved."
So.
"Please do not commit any more wrongs than this. I beg you. Jeong-hee."
The earnest plea contained in his voice.
At those words, Hong Jeong-hee stares at him blankly.
For the first time, the plea her idol had directed at her.
Just blankly.
All the audience watched this scene in a daze.
And the woman sitting quietly in the audience.
'...It's wrong.'
Jo Seo-hee bit her thumbnail.
'What are you doing right now.'
The direction Jo Seo-hee's gaze was headed wasn't Joo Seo-yeon.
The actor playing 'Song Min-seo' behind her, Lee Hye-jin.
She clearly remembers it being written in the pamphlet.
Jo Seo-hee had already skimmed the rough plot and reviews before watching this play.
She also checked the video.
Because she expected it to be clearly different from the previous play.
If that Joo Seo-yeon joined in.
So she immediately noticed what was wrong.
Clearly, in this scene, Song Min-seo should have stepped in between them.
But right now, Song Min-seo was frozen, unable to bring herself to interrupt their acting.
'Are you going to ruin the play?'
Joo Seo-yeon.
Not the bright starlight she had seen before.
At her appearance emitting darkness, Jo Seo-hee felt a chill reach her heart.
'If I were in that spot.'
It was agonizing that she had never done a play.
But the frozen Song Min-seo did not move.
If it goes on like this a little longer, the audience will feel something is off.
The 'mistake' the actor made.
Then.
"Song Min-seo!!"
A suppressed, stage-splitting shout from Hong Jeong-hee was heard.
"You, are you being arrogant thinking you won now? Why, why are you looking at me with those eyes!!"
Jo Seo-hee felt it.
'A line that wasn't in the play.'
Ad-lib.
Song Min-seo originally had a 'deaf' setting.
Of course, she couldn't have heard Hong Jeong-hee's shout right now.
But the audience didn't perceive that in that moment.
Even if they knew, it would have sounded like Hong Jeong-hee's final desperate outburst.
But Jo Seo-hee knows.
This was not a shout toward Song Min-seo, but toward the actor Lee Hye-jin.
At the same time, the weakened Hong Jeong-hee's presence suddenly plummeted.
"Min-seo, are you okay?"
And matching that, Bae Seong-hak's gaze turns to Song Min-seo.
Adding sign language, he makes the audience belatedly realize that she is deaf.
With a natural flow, Song Min-seo's dead presence comes back to life in an instant.
She forcefully directed the audience's gaze to Song Min-seo.
"I-I am okay."
Lee Hye-jin, no, Song Min-seo, barely spat out the line.
For a moment, her vocalization slightly collapsed and her voice trembled, but given the situation, it felt like acting.
She completely covered it up with Song Min-seo's flustered emotions.
Lee Hye-jin is also an actor.
Naturally, she knew that fact and had to make up for this mistake.
Gathering her resolve.
Taking a deep breath.
"Jeong-hee."
There were many lines to follow.
But Lee Hye-jin felt it.
That she shouldn't continue speaking at length here.
"I'm sorry."
Carefully, Song Min-seo hugged the crying Hong Jeong-hee.
Embracing her, gently.
"I'm really sorry."
Forgiveness toward Hong Jeong-hee, who had spewed violence and criticism at her.
Song Min-seo simply showed that by quietly hugging Hong Jeong-hee.
"Sob."
The tears that fell drop by drop streamed down pitifully.
Along with Hong Jeong-hee's sorrowful crying.
Act 4 was completely concluded.
And that was.
Hong Jeong-hee's final appearance in the play.
***
"Wow, so this is what a play is like. It's my first time seeing one, and it's no joke?"
"The lines are a bit different from the one I saw before. But this is good too."
"Really? But the male actor was really handsome. Isn't he really an idol?"
Following that, ending with Act 6,
The audience coming out, sharing their thoughts in murmurs.
As for what topic came up most from their mouths.
"The kid who played Hong Jeong-hee is that Yeonhwa Princess, right?"
"It didn't feel like that at all. Honestly, I almost left in the middle because I was so scared."
"Ah, seriously. Still, I felt a bit bad for her at the end."
It was Joo Seo-yeon, who played Hong Jeong-hee.
To that extent, the acting of Hong Jeong-hee shown by Seo-yeon was unconventional.
The acting that momentarily froze the audience still vividly came to mind when they closed their eyes.
"Phew."
It was the same for Director Bae Jin-hwan and Producer Cha Dong-jin.
The two sighed, still immersed in the afterglow of the play.
"...How was it?"
The first to open his mouth was Producer Cha Dong-jin.
A voice tinged with strange anticipation.
Bae Jin-hwan empathized with his anticipation.
"I stand corrected."
"Corrected?"
Bae Jin-hwan nodded.
"Yes, a comeback after 10 years. The image of the Yeonhwa Princess is strong, so I definitely thought it would be a bit risky, but."
He recalled Seo-yeon walking the stage and looking at the audience.
Originally, Hong Jeong-hee is not that intense of a character.
She is the main villain, but rather than being 'intense', she is an 'unpleasant' character.
"This is good too. It was a new interpretation."
"The last line in Act 4 was different too, right?"
"Yes."
After speaking up to that point, the two slowly nodded.
"You're thinking the same thing as me, right?"
"Of course."
The young age of seventeen.
At first, that had been a hindrance, but now it didn't matter at all.
"Let's do it."
It was the moment the villain for the movie 'The Chaser' they were going to shoot this time was decided.
However.
There was one problem the two hadn't anticipated.
"...What? Actor Joo Seo-yeon. She doesn't have an agency right now?"
"?"
The two, who were trying to deliver the script to Seo-yeon and reach out to her.
Ended up facing a problem they hadn't anticipated.
The fact that they had no means to contact her.
The moment Bae Jin-hwan and Cha Dong-jin were racking their brains in despair over that.
At that time, the person herself, Joo Seo-yeon, was...
"…."
The after-party after the play ended.
The two people who had chased her to that spot.
"...Hah."
"Hmph."
Park Jeong-woo and Jo Seo-hee.
She was caught between the two of them, reading the atmosphere.