The first day's soy milk sellout was honestly shocking, but I didn't think too deeply about it.
'It must be because they put out so little stock.'
However, contrary to my thoughts, the soy milk sold far better than I expected.
It wasn't sold out every time I went, but compared to my memories from my previous life, it was selling incomparably well.
These days, when I walked around with Mom, there were even people who recognized me.
"Aren't you the kid from the soy milk ad?"
"Wow, you lived in our neighborhood."
"So cute! But the vibe is somehow different from the ad?"
It wasn't like I was drawing crowds around like some real celebrity.
Just a few aunties who recognized me started talking to me.
Right, it was still only at that level.
"Seoyeon! Mom finally bought a bunch of soy milk!"
"……Mom, you drink a lot."
"What do you mean! You drank the soy milk so deliciously……, ah, don't tell me you didn't like soy milk either?"
Mom said as if discovering this anew.
As her words suggested, I didn't really like milk.
I mean, it has that weird smell!
Low-fat was at least edible, but I definitely couldn't say I liked milk.
"Soy milk is better than that……, but I purely just don't like beans."
"Oh my. Our daughter's acting is no joke. Mom thought you really loved soy milk."
Well, that was acting like I was enjoying it.
You can't act like it tastes bad when you hate it, can you?
'Three boxes, seriously.'
Anyway, I couldn't just let Mom drink all that piled-up soy milk by herself, so I was destined to have to drink it too.
"But, Seoyeon definitely has things she dislikes too."
"……Well."
I didn't bother answering and turned my gaze away.
Come to think of it, in my previous life, I didn't separate things I liked and disliked.
Especially if I showed that I disliked something like milk, I was harshly mocked.
Recently, seeing these tendencies come out naturally, those memories must have been softened.
'Is it because of acting?'
Or maybe it's because I became a woman.
How would I know the reason.
"Mom wants to know everything Seoyeon likes and dislikes, so you have to tell me everything, okay?"
"Yes."
"Right, Seoyeon."
Having pushed the soy milk boxes to one side, Mom briefly looked around, confirmed Dad wasn't there, then said in a small voice.
"I got a call from Director Cho. Would you like to shoot more TV ads, Seoyeon?"
"Ads? But going to auditions is a hassle……."
"Well, according to Director Cho, there are some sponsors who viewed this CF favorably."
Child actors with outstanding acting skills are rare, but not impossible to find.
Originally, child actors lacking acting skills often ended up as kids' models, so from the moment they took on a "child actor" role, they were kids who could act to some degree.
For example, like Lee Jiyeon whom I encountered at the audition.
"Why me?"
"Isn't it probably because of this soy milk ad?"
The soy milk ad……
It was definitely true that it had much more impact than in my previous life.
'Well, there's nothing wrong with trying various types of acting.'
The money that came in from the previous CF all went into my bank account.
The amount wasn't that much, but since it was the first money I earned in this world, I felt quite proud.
"Okay."
There wouldn't be that many CFs I could do anyway.
Acting, in some ways, had commonalities with being a VTuber, so honestly, there were fun parts too.
Why I wanted to be a VTuber was partly because it was my only hobby in my previous life.
But also because I could become a completely different self.
***
And so, Joo Seoyeon.
Three months since turning six.
For the first time in my life, I was going to kindergarten.
This was a first, even including my previous life.
In my previous life, I never really went to a place like kindergarten.
'Hmm.'
Among the children wearing colorful kindergarten uniforms, I stood with my arms crossed.
Kindergarten entrance ceremony.
Not far away, I could see Mom waving her hand toward me.
'……I want to go home.'
Needless to say, I don't really vibe emotionally with kids my age.
Even the kids who saw me tended to avoid me a bit.
Why on earth?
It's not like I did anything mean to them.
"Her eyes are scary……."
"Right?"
I heard whispering voices.
Eyes.
Hmm, eyes.
'It's… a bit like that.'
I could understand this part.
The relatively light-pigmented, reddish iris was definitely alien.
And sometimes, it turned particularly red, the reason for which I still couldn't understand.
'Is this also some kind of ability I gained when I was reborn?'
I don't know.
If they're going to let me be reborn, they should at least attach a manual.
Having been born without even a common status window, there was too much I didn't know.
"You!!"
At that moment, a child's high-pitched voice rang out.
Wondering what was going on, I turned my head toward the sound, and someone grabbed my collar.
"Of course it's you! What, why are you here!!"
The child shouting fiercely looked familiar.
Right, definitely……
"……Lee Jiyeon?"
"What, you know my name?"
"We saw each other at the audition."
Of course, I knew the name from my memories of my previous life.
"H-hmm. Is that so?"
Perhaps not expecting me to remember her name, Jiyeon's expression softened a bit.
Honestly, I was more surprised that she remembered me.
"I thought you'd have forgotten."
"What? How could I forget that. Right, that… humiliation!"
Maybe because the kid had done some child acting work.
Her vocabulary was certainly different from other kids.
'Still, though. Remembering something from nearly half a year ago?'
Beyond simply having a good memory, it was borderline obsessive.
I was secretly impressed that she could get this angry over something from half a year ago.
"But you appeared in another ad too."
"What, you saw it?"
Obviously, it was on TV.
'She even appeared in a better ad than in my previous life.'
This time, what Lee Jiyeon appeared in wasn't a soy milk ad, but a children's toy ad.
Children's toy ads usually attracted a lot of child actors, so I thought she managed to get in quite well.
She probably didn't know, but I had given her a big help.
"……Hmm. Fine. I'll forgive you."
I didn't know what she was forgiving me for, but I nodded.
However she took my action, Jiyeon's face instantly became triumphant.
"Mom said the toy ad I filmed is better than the soy milk ad, you know? Got it? I won now."
I had no idea what competition she was having by herself, but I quietly nodded.
She spoke clearly, but I definitely felt she was still a child.
"Soy milk?"
"Oh, come to think of it, I saw her on TV!"
But unfortunately, some kids reacted to the word "soy milk" that Jiyeon had said.
Of course, this wasn't my intention.
"Oh, isn't that the kid from the soy milk ad?"
"She's definitely pretty. But the image is a bit different?"
"I thought she was a lively kid."
The mothers watching the kindergarten entrance ceremony from behind also started paying attention to me.
Why did so many people watch that soy milk ad?
Actually, since this was a gathering of mothers concerned about their children's health, that aspect was even more pronounced.
Kids in this era were glued to the TV all day so they would have seen the ad, and the mothers were naturally interested in milk or soy milk that was good for their children's bodies.
"……Ugh."
Glancing at Jiyeon, her face turned bright red as if her pride was hurt.
Then, as if wanting to be recognized too, she started circling around me.
Thanks to that, my eyes felt like they were spinning for no reason.
'Please stop.'
Of course, not a single person recognized her.
Even up to the moment the kindergarten entrance ceremony began 10 minutes later.
***
"We really made the right choice entrusting this to Director Cho."
"Not at all. It's thanks to everyone's hard work."
"The casting was really good. Actor Kim Jungha too, and that child actor was truly remarkable."
At the words of Garam Dream's ad team leader, Cho Mintae smiled awkwardly.
'If you think she's remarkable, at least try to remember her name.'
Even after being told the name "Joo Seoyeon" several times, he seemed to have no intention of memorizing it.
Well, how many people would remember a child actor's name anyway.
"Thanks to that, our sales jumped sevenfold at once. It's all thanks to you, Director. So we'd love for you to work with us on the next ad too. We'll definitely make it worth your while."
"Yes, of course. Once I have some free time, I'll let you know right away."
"Oh, thank you so much."
After hanging up the call with the ad team leader, Cho Mintae sighed.
'As if I'd work with them again.'
He had no intention of working again with people who lowballed the pay and couldn't even remember the actors' names.
Still, the fact that this project properly spread the names of Kim Jungha and Seoyeon could be considered a significant achievement.
A connection with a talented actor is truly precious to a director.
Cho Mintae hoped that Kim Jungha and Joo Seoyeon would definitely grow to be excellent.
At least for the movies he would film someday.
"The ad you recently filmed was quite good."
At that moment, the voice of his father, who had been watching Cho Mintae, was heard.
Turning his head, his father, whose hair was now starting to turn white, was standing there.
Cho Banghoon.
A famous director who left several hit works and Cho Mintae's idol.
The one thing that bothered him was that his father had never made a ten-million-viewer movie.
"Especially that child. Did you pick her?"
"Yes. She wasn't an ordinary kid from the audition."
"Hmm."
Cho Bangwoo stroked his chin at his son's words.
Now five years old. Or was it six?
"Looking at the unedited footage, I could definitely see some flaws."
"But the emotional acting was strangely good."
"Like method acting…?"
"Yes."
Method acting is a double-edged sword.
Once an actor deeply immerses themselves in a different role, it was common for them to suffer for months.
Seoyeon was definitely the type to immerse herself fully in her role.
Her acting showed that.
But then again, it was too easy for her to break away from that emotion to call it method acting.
"That's probably because she's immature in many ways, or there's some other reason."
"Some other reason?"
"Yes."
Of course, even Cho Bangwoo saying this didn't know the exact reason either.
In the first place, the only proper footage of Seoyeon was just one commercial.
"If it's not a CF but… she tries proper acting, we'd be able to know the clear reason."
"What?"
The talented child actor his son discovered.
Cho Bangwoo had replayed that CF countless times.
This child needed to try more serious acting, not just simple CFs.
If she only filmed commercials like this, her skills would develop in a distorted way.
Especially during childhood when learning is fast, she could easily develop bad habits.
"You said you recommended a new CF? When will that work be finished?"
"Roughly in about a month. We're just about to start filming."
"Hmm, a month later."
For commercials, after filming, the editing and schedule negotiation period takes much more time.
The filming itself would end quickly.
If so, there happened to be a good opportunity.
"There's a historical drama. I know of a good audition."
"…What?"
"If that child wants, I'll specially put in a recommendation under my name."
Normally, this kind of thing didn't happen.
But it seemed like his son cared about this child.
He brought it up because the talent seemed too precious to just leave in commercials.
"A historical drama, by any chance…"
"Yes, I heard there's a fictional historical drama scheduled to air on KMB. The name was probably…"
After pondering for a moment, Cho Bangwoo calmly continued.
"'The Moon That Hid the Sun,' that was exactly the name."
If Seoyeon had heard that name, she would have been startled.
「The Moon That Hid the Sun」
The final episode's peak viewership rating was 40 percent.
Because it was the title of a historical drama that entered the ranks of national historical dramas.