"……Hello, Seo-hee. It's been a while."
"Yes, nice… to see you. Sunbae-nim."
A strange atmosphere flowed between the two.
Park Jung-woo and Jo Seo-hee.
They faced each other with highly guarded eyes.
‘Why on earth is she here?’
‘Why is this guy here?’
They looked at each other with smiling faces, but a strange awkwardness could be felt.
Here was an awkwardness that shouldn't exist for young, highly-praised method actors these days.
And.
The person caught between them.
‘How… did it end up like this?’
Joo Seo-yeon slowly retraced the events after the play ended.
That is, roughly an hour ago.
"Great work today, everyone!"
After the performance ended.
Especially after finishing a successful performance, everyone couldn't hide their excitement.
Looking back at their own acting shown in front of numerous audience members.
And, recalling those splendid scenes.
"Seo-yeon, it was so good. Thanks to you, I was really, really saved."
The first to speak was Lee Hye-jin, who played Song Min-seo.
It was obvious; if it weren't for Seo-yeon, she might have ruined the stage.
"That's because Actor Hye-jin received it so well."
"My, how sweetly you speak."
"Did you really see the audience's reaction today? It's been a while since the first showing had such a good reaction. Really."
He engraved today's stage in his mind several times over.
A stage that lived up to the excessive expectations.
Just by achieving that, he felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.
"We need to have a team dinner! It's a bit early, but let's go!"
The one who spoke excitedly was Jo Do-yul.
As he loudly shouted that he would treat everyone…
"But doesn't Seo-yeon need to go to school? And the director needs to stay."
"……."
He closed his mouth at Sim Cheong-seok's words, who poured cold water on the mood as always.
Anyway, it wasn't a wrong statement.
‘Come to think of it.’
Seo-yeon was a high school student.
If alcohol was brought out at the dinner, it could easily cause a controversy.
But they couldn't leave him out either.
Who was the superstar of this play?
The one who saved the play when it was momentarily faltering was Joo Seo-yeon.
There is no team dinner without Joo Seo-yeon!
"Ah, you don't need to worry about school. I've already gotten permission."
"Really?"
"Yes, it's fine as long as I meet the minimum attendance days."
At Seo-yeon's calm words, everyone busily moved around, saying let's go, let's go.
Seo-yeon, for his part, felt a bit smug.
‘I did pretty well today.’
It was different from his child actor days.
Back then, he felt that everyone was accommodating him.
Knowing his own shortcomings himself, he wasn't satisfied except for his final acting.
However, today's performance was very satisfying.
Another 'Joo Seo-yeon mad movie' to enjoy alone in his head before going to sleep was added.
He would definitely sleep like a baby today.
Although it didn't show on his face, Seo-yeon was excited, thinking such thoughts alone.
As Seo-yeon's mother, Soo-ah, had said.
Seo-yeon likes it when others praise him.
Today was exactly the peak of that.
It was to the extent that his slightly flushed cheeks could be seen on his expressionless face.
Yes, up to that point, it was good.
"It's funny to ask since we're already here, but is a meat restaurant okay?"
"Yes."
Looking at the actors filling the seats of the meat restaurant since morning, Seo-yeon suddenly realized he hadn't washed his hands after the performance.
For reference, Jo Do-yul ended up staying because of the next performance.
Instead, it seemed he left the actors in Sim Cheong-seok's care.
Sim Cheong-seok himself didn't have much experience or age, but somehow he ended up taking the role of leading the other actors since the performance.
"Ah, would it be okay if I go wash my hands for a moment?"
"Of course. Go out and turn right, it's there."
Sim Cheong-seok answered while listening to the other actors' orders.
Seo-yeon looked at the lively actors, then stepped out of the restaurant in a good mood.
And.
"……."
He saw a man and a woman standing at the entrance of the restaurant.
‘Uh.’
They were people Seo-yeon was very familiar with.
First, the man.
Large sunglasses, a hat on his head.
A black mask on his face and casual clothes.
But his handsome face and those refined facial lines were very familiar to Seo-yeon.
Park Jung-woo.
The person he acted with on a variety show just a while ago.
And.
"Heung."
The woman looking at the man while making a nasal sound.
Her outfit was the same school uniform as Seo-yeon's.
If Seo-yeon remembered correctly, it was the uniform of a famous arts high school in Seoul.
A woman wearing glasses and a mask covering her face.
Why bother saying it.
Right now, the person's face was plastered on the signboard right behind her.
Jo Seo-hee.
The girl Seo-yeon met at the audition for 'The Moon That Hides the Sun' when they were young.
"…Hmm?"
"Huh?"
Late, their heads moved as if they just saw Seo-yeon.
At the same time, both of them flinched.
It seemed they belatedly realized how they looked.
A strange silence.
A blank time where no one could open their mouth first and only observed each other.
"It's a misunderstanding."
The first to speak was Jo Seo-hee.
"I just watched today's play and wanted to talk a little."
Jo Seo-hee said with an endlessly serious face.
It seemed she wasn't joking.
"…A talk?"
"Yeah."
Seo-yeon looked at Seo-hee like that.
He hadn't seen her in person since they were young, so it really had been a long time.
Honestly, he inwardly admired it.
At Jo Seo-hee's face, which had grown up beautifully without any awkward phase.
‘Pretty.’
Overall, she has a cat-like face.
It was similar yet different from Seo-yeon.
If Seo-yeon was a languid cat, this one was a sharp cat.
With claws bared and fur bristling.
Anyway, a cat that didn't look like it had a good personality.
It felt like one wrong word and he'd get hit.
Of course, Seo-yeon's own fist would be stronger, so she could come at him all she wanted.
"But."
Seo-yeon asked as if he was curious.
"That, we…"
We aren't close enough to have such a talk, are we?
Those words rose to his throat, but he didn't bother to say them.
Well, wasn't that right?
‘Ah, Parachute?’
Doing that was practically the only communication between Jo Seo-hee and Seo-yeon.
He had built up internal familiarity from seeing the commercial so many times, but he never expected her to visit like this.
No, rather, he wanted to ask Jo Seo-hee.
Why did she really come?
"Ah."
Seo-yeon didn't spit out the rest of his words, but one could roughly guess what he was trying to say.
Thanks to that, when Jo Seo-hee, who had nothing to say, froze up,
"Hah."
Park Jung-woo smirked and uncrossed his arms.
"Seo-hee. This is troublesome. Coming to visit someone just because they're a celebrity when you're not even close."
"……."
"Hmm, I starred in a drama with him. And we also did a variety show together recently, so I came out of cour-te-sy. And close-ness."
"……."
At Park Jung-woo's words, Jo Seo-hee ground her teeth and glared at him.
But Park Jung-woo just shrugged his shoulders.
With her small stature and being three years younger than him, Jo Seo-hee was no match for him.
‘Is that so?’
Seo-yeon wondered since when Jung-woo was that close to him.
Well, it was more than with Jo Seo-hee.
They did do a variety show together recently…
But he never thought he'd come all the way to watch the play in person.
"…Heh, humph."
Jo Seo-hee soon regained her composure and smiled broadly.
"Still, as a junior, if I were to give you some advice, it would be better to be a little careful. If a male actor carelessly contacts a female actress… you know, right?"
"……."
"And, Seo-yeon is a person I'm very grateful to, so I came to say hello. Yes, that's it."
At Seo-hee's words, Seo-yeon rather became curious.
He roughly understood Park Jung-woo, but Jo Seo-hee was truly unexpected.
"A person you're grateful to?"
"Yes. 10 years ago, the audition for The Moon That Hides the Sun."
Seo-hee said, reminiscing about that time.
"Losing the role of 'Princess Yeon-hwa' to you back then. It became good medicine for me."
This was genuine.
At that time, Jo Seo-hee thought she had become arrogant at a young age.
Of course, she is still full of confidence now, but being arrogant and having confidence are different.
"That's why I really wanted to meet you. When Seo-yeon returned, I wanted to say thank you."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Ah, and this time, I…"
As Jo Seo-hee naturally continued speaking, Park Jung-woo's eyebrows twitched.
Because he roughly guessed what she was going to say.
"Hol—"
The moment Park Jung-woo hurriedly tried to stop it.
"You said you were going to wash your hands, why aren't you coming? …Huh?"
Sim Cheong-seok, who came out to call Seo-yeon since there was no news of him, saw Park Jung-woo and Jo Seo-hee.
Sleepy eyes.
Looking back and forth between the two with a sullen face,
"What is this? A hidden camera?"
It was a member composition enough to make him think so.
***
With Sim Cheong-seok's appearance, Park Jung-woo and Jo Seo-hee were startled and fled right away.
He thought their personalities would naturally butt in, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
Sim Cheong-seok, who blankly stared at the two, asked me.
"Friends?"
"…Well, yeah."
"Hmm."
Should I call them friends?
Jung-woo aside, Seo-hee was unexpected.
I didn't know she cared about me that much.
I didn't know there was such a reason for doing much better than in the past.
While feeling a strange emotion about that.
‘Is that your entire impression of seeing the two of them?’
To have only such a reaction after seeing two top-tier actors.
Seeing Sim Cheong-seok scratching his head as he went back in, I felt like I caught a glimpse of why he suffered harsh treatment during a drama filming in the future.
"Great work everyone!"
"Let's do our best for the remaining performances too!"
The team dinner finished successfully like that.
The next day at school, when I told Lee Ji-yeon about it.
"For your information, I saw the performance too."
"Really?"
Then we should have eaten together.
Putting such feelings forward.
"If an outsider butts into such a setting, it's a nuisance. Probably the two of them knew that, so they ran away."
"Is that so?"
Were they people with such deep consideration?
Honestly, I didn't know well, but since Ji-yeon said so, it must be.
‘Anyway.’
I was at the bench where I always spent lunch time with Ji-yeon.
However, I felt the atmosphere had strangely changed from before.
Was it because I filmed a variety show and was continuously busy with the play, so I didn't come to school?
It was the first time I properly felt this atmosphere.
"It's an absolute riot."
As if reading my thoughts, Ji-yeon said.
"Everyone asks me why I hid it. Did I hide it? They just couldn't recognize you."
"Hmm, is it just that much?"
"What do you mean 'that much', Joo Seo-yeon. Are you going to copy what the old man says?"
Ji-yeon rather said as if it was ridiculous.
For reference, the old man Ji-yeon is talking about is my dad.
Then, she pointed her fingers one by one toward the gazes immediately watching this way.
"There, there, there."
Above the teacher's building.
Outside the classroom windows.
Sneaking glances while using the vending machine.
Whenever Ji-yeon's finger pointed, the students would get startled and run away, which was a little amusing.
It seemed filming the variety show at school had a significant impact.
‘I still haven't made any friends.’
Then couldn't they just come a little closer and talk to me?
Even today after coming to school, the only conversation I had was with Boxby on my smartphone.
Ah, of course, excluding Lee Ji-yeon.
"And."
Ji-yeon, who roughly removed the gazes, said.
"You should slowly look for an agency. What are you going to do?"
"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"
"You said there was a place you wanted to go since before."
There was a place I had in mind.
The agency where Actor Kim Jung-ha, who filmed a CF together in the past, was affiliated.
It was originally the place I recommended to Lee Ji-yeon.
It was also the time when Actor Kim Jung-ha would slowly take off, and since it currently receives ambiguous evaluations, I would be able to enter without much difficulty if it's now.
But.
"…Is there a spot open at your agency?"
"Why ask something so obvious. If you say you're coming, they'll make a spot even if there isn't one."
The agency Ji-yeon belonged to, Nova Entertainment.
The agency Ji-yeon moved to after Galaxy Entertainment.
At that time, it was a mid-sized agency, but now it has grown quite large.
Of course, it's lacking in many ways to be called a large agency, and its influence is weak.
However, it survived for a long time with a wide network, and was a place that would surely grow into a 'large agency' later.
‘I've seen their faces a lot, so it's familiar too.’
For one reason or another, since I spent a long time with Ji-yeon, the faces were familiar.
Considering everything, there would be no place better than Nova Entertainment.
‘Yeah, let's do that.’
The moment Seo-yeon made that decision.
Vvvv!
Suddenly, the smartphone rang.
"Who is it?"
"Ah, well."
When he looked at the smartphone screen, the caller's name was displayed.
Jo Do-yul.
The director of 'Closing the Eyes'.
Seo-yeon stared at it for a moment, then calmly answered the phone.
"Hello. This is Joo Seo-yeon."
"Ah, Seo-yeon. It's lunchtime, right? Sorry for contacting you suddenly."
"No problem. What's the matter?"
Today, Seo-yeon had the evening time slot, so he was relaxed.
Because he just had to go until around four o'clock.
"It's nothing else, but there is a director I know."
When he spoke up to that point.
Seo-yeon realized.
"By any chance, do you have any thoughts on appearing in a movie?"
That what was bound to come had finally come.