The daily life of 6-year-old Joo Seo-yeon is busy.
After waking up in the morning and doing some stretching exercises, she heads to kindergarten.
Spending a few hours mingling with children whose mental age is easily twenty years younger.
Then when kindergarten ends, she heads straight to the filming set.
"Cut, cut, cut! Wow, I heard the rumors but... Seo-yeon, you're really amazing."
"No, it's because everyone else helped me."
At the words of Director Kim, who directed this CF, Seo-yeon politely bowed her waist.
At that sight, laughter bloomed across the set.
"Wow, how is she so different from our kid? It seems not all six-year-olds are the same."
"The child is really mature. Seo-yeon's mother must be so blessed."
Every passing staff member said to Soo-ah as if envious.
Because the commercial she filmed this time also showcased acting no less impressive than the soy milk advertisement.
'Our Seo-yeon must really be a genius.'
She was a daughter who had never been difficult to raise since she was young.
Thanks to her not crying much and taking care of things well on her own, Soo-ah's parenting was very, very easy.
Nodding her head, Soo-ah saw the actress who filmed the commercial with Seo-yeon and bowed in greeting.
She didn't have a spectacular career, but she was a middle-aged veteran actress with over twenty years of acting experience.
"Ah! Actress Kim Mi-yeon. Thank you so much for helping our Seo-yeon."
"Not at all. Seo-yeon acted so well that it was comfortable for me."
Looking at Seo-yeon bowing deeply not far away, Kim Mi-yeon spoke.
"However..."
"However?"
"There's a slight sense of incongruity."
Kim Mi-yeon looked at Seo-yeon.
Method acting, everyone talked about it that way, but the feeling was different.
'Rather, isn't it the opposite?'
She rather felt that Seo-yeon's acting was like beautifully spitting out learned emotions.
Kim Mi-yeon is an experienced actress.
She had much experience filming with heavyweight actors who specialized in method acting, and she knew what pain they went through.
'Maybe I'm being too sensitive. She's still a child, so learning emotions and acting is impossible.'
That wasn't something achievable in a year or two.
Easily decades.
A story only possible when acting becomes everyday life.
Seo-yeon is still a six-year-old child.
So even if she had been acting since the moment she was born, it would be impossible.
But.
Still, there's always the possibility of "what if."
"Ma'am."
"Yes?"
"Seo-yeon seems like a very strong child, but kids like that have weaker sides."
In Mi-yeon's eyes, Soo-ah was still a young mother.
Mi-yeon, who was over forty, was a senior to her as a mother.
"Because what's visible isn't everything."
At Mi-yeon's words, Soo-ah slowly nodded.
'Seo-yeon's weak side?'
Does such a thing exist?
Such a question arose, but since it was advice born of experience, she took it to heart.
'Come to think of it, they said actors also need to consistently receive stress management.'
It definitely seemed like a good idea to get check-ups in advance, as Mi-yeon said.
***
'This shoot was rewarding too.'
Seo-yeon nodded.
Money was piling up, and she could definitely practice acting.
The fact that people occasionally recognized her was also becoming a somewhat amusing aspect.
'So this is the taste of broadcasting.'
Internet broadcasting where real-time feedback returns to one's actions—she was already excited thinking about how fun VTuber streaming would be.
"You live harder than this dad."
Looking at Seo-yeon who returned home, Joo Young-bin said.
Somehow, Seo-yeon came home later than Young-bin who got off work from the company.
"By the way, did you hear from your mom?"
"Hmm?"
"She said a drama offer came in for Seo-yeon."
A drama?
For a moment, Seo-yeon thought she had misheard.
"A d-drama? Me?"
"I heard it was a recommendation from Director Jo Min-tae..."
At Young-bin's words, Seo-yeon finally roughly guessed the circumstances.
'Director Jo Bang-woo used his influence.'
Jo Min-tae's father, Director Jo Bang-woo.
He was one of the heavyweight directors recognized in Korea.
Right now, that is.
He hadn't made a ten-million-viewer movie, but he had several successful films, to the point where the saying "a director who never fails" followed him.
'Exactly until 7 years later.'
After that, Jo Bang-woo took on five film projects over 4 years.
And completely ruined every one of them.
Especially, the last film he shot was the decisive blow.
Director Jo Bang-woo, who literally evaporated hundreds of billions in investment funds, was found dead at his home.
'In other words, right now is when he has the most power.'
It would be possible to put a child actor who was just going around filming CFs into a drama audition.
"By any chance, did you hear which drama it is?"
"I heard it's probably... a KMB drama. I think they said it was a historical drama?"
"A historical drama... on KMB?"
"Yeah, right. Did you hear something, Seo-yeon?"
At Young-bin's attitude of asking back with a puzzled face, Seo-yeon quickly shook her head.
Pretending to know here would be strange.
'An audition at this time, and a historical drama on KMB.'
One thing came to mind.
'The Moon That Hid the Sun.'
A fictional historical drama that exceeded 40% peak viewership.
It was actually a historical drama closer to a melodrama, but its impact was tremendous, to the point where this year's arts awards were all swept by actors who appeared in this drama.
'And me, there?'
There's a limit even for parachute entries.
If it's a KMB drama audition, child actors from academies who learned proper acting, or the best children from each entertainment agency would all apply.
A child actor who only filmed two cheap commercial CFs can't even apply.
"Well, there's no need to expect too much. Even if you appear, it'll probably be a minor role, right?"
"I-I guess so?"
That would be a relief, but actually, even just showing one's face as an extra in such a large-scale historical drama would be a great help.
However, Seo-yeon knew.
That if it were an extra role, there would be no need to hold an 'audition' to cast someone.
'Probably, the audition Director Jo Min-tae mentioned is...'
Princess Yeon-hwa, Lee Hye-wol.
In other words, it would be an audition to select the protagonist of The Moon That Hid the Sun.
***
"Hey, you. What are you thinking about."
When I looked up, Lee Ji-yeon was glaring at me with a sullen face.
She's been following me around since the kindergarten entrance ceremony, and now it's almost at the level of surveillance.
"Unlike you who's young, I have a lot to worry about."
"We're the same age, are you stupid?"
I clicked my tongue briefly.
Unlike the other emotional children, Lee Ji-yeon had personality and was very smart.
Just looking at the way she talks, it was doubtful whether this was really a six-year-old.
'Is this how other people feel when they look at me?'
Anyway, Lee Ji-yeon is annoying.
There are cute parts, but the kid has a leech-like disposition, making it very hard to shake her off.
She was the type to cling to someone she'd latched onto until the end.
What's with that soy milk commercial—every time she filmed one, she'd come to me chattering away.
"More importantly, Joo Seo-yeon, try opening this at least."
Ji-yeon held out two glass bottles to me.
Orange juice bottles.
She probably struggled trying to open them on her own and came to find me.
"Why two?"
"One is yours. Can't you tell?"
Hmm, well Ji-yeon is annoying but she has these cute sides.
Bringing orange juice just when I was thirsty, this clever kid.
"Here."
Pop, with the sound, the orange bottle opened easily.
Ji-yeon saw that and opened her eyes wide.
"What are you that you're so strong? Even the teacher couldn't open this."
"Really?"
Did she already try asking the teacher too?
Usually, if friends can't do it, you look for the teacher, right?
'Am I strong?'
Come to think of it, when the standard of strength was based on males.
And when I based it on adult males, I didn't feel anything strange.
Was there anything I couldn't do with Seo-yeon's body that I did in my previous life?
Except for problems caused by being short or having short limbs.
'That's right. Why am I so strong.'
A 6-year-old's muscle strength is the same as my muscle strength from my previous life?
If she grows like this, won't she become a super soldier?
Her eyes sometimes turn red too, to a frightening degree.
"Just in case, you can't hit me, okay?"
"Why would I hit you?"
Ji-yeon didn't bother to answer my words.
It seems she thought that since I sometimes get prickly, I might hit her in a fit of anger.
Because fights among children happen surprisingly easily.
"Hey, do you know?"
After a while, Ji-yeon who finished drinking the orange juice opened her mouth.
"What."
"KMB is having an audition this time. I can't go, but the older sisters and brothers from the agency are going."
Older sisters and brothers?
'They must be holding the male protagonist child actor audition at the same time.'
It was unexpected information.
"Joo Seo-yeon."
"Yeah."
"Are you going there?"
For a moment, I couldn't think of what to answer.
Should I tell the truth? Or should I lie?
"I'm going."
But, I didn't want to lie.
Because if by some one-in-a-million chance I get selected, a catastrophe would happen.
Of course, I know there's absolutely no way I'll be selected.
Knowing how formidable the child actors appearing there are, me getting selected is an impossible thing.
"Hmm, really?"
Given Ji-yeon's personality, I thought she'd scream, but it was a surprisingly mild reaction.
"What, that's it?"
"Yeah. What can I do. I can't go."
Ji-yeon said so and glared at me sharply.
"Just wait. Later I'll easily go to things like that too. This time I couldn't go just because of the older sisters and brothers."
The kid is quite bold.
Should I say her self-esteem and ambition pierce the sky?
Come to think of it, what happened to her in my previous life?
'After the soy milk commercial, it seems like she didn't really do anything in particular.'
But now, Lee Ji-yeon has already filmed one more commercial.
She was a child who made me feel quite a strange way.
"I'm going to be a drama protagonist next time too."
"Sure you will."
After answering Ji-yeon's words, I ended up smiling without realizing.
It was probably a very rare smile for me.
In many ways.