Cho Ha-rin was a girl who had just graduated from high school, having come up from the provinces—rural countryside at that.
A country bumpkin who came up to Seoul alone, ignoring her parents' advice to go to college.
Of course, she hadn't come to Seoul without any thought.
Unlike her parents who wanted her to have a normal job, there was something she had always wanted to become since childhood.
And she hadn't come to Seoul without any preparation either.
"Produce Star 200..."
Cho Ha-rin muttered thus, letting out a tense sigh.
A large-scale audition program where 200 idol trainees participate.
Thousands of applicants alone.
Not only from Korea, but there were also those who came from overseas.
Cho Ha-rin proudly broke through the preliminaries where thousands applied, and obtained the qualification to attend the regular broadcast.
"Yeah, I can definitely do it."
Her nodding figure looked almost foolish.
However, her innocent and sparkling eyes stimulated one's protective instincts.
Cho Ha-rin nodded while looking at the photos saved on her slightly old cell phone.
However, that was only for a moment.
"But."
Cho Ha-rin's eyes, which had been looking at the photos, fluttered tremulously.
Her escape from reality had reached its limit.
"Where am I?"
For a country girl like her, Seoul was far too complicated.
That was when there were only 2 hours left until the filming of "Produce Star 200".
It was Cho Ha-rin's soliloquy muttered in the middle of Gangnam-daero.
- The kid is a bit stupid
- Looks like the cancer-inducing character right off the bat
- Who told her to do that makeup?? Is that right??
- Since she's a country girl, they probably made her up to look tacky
With Cho Ha-rin's appearance, the chat of viewers watching the broadcast in real time started to go up.
First of all, the character's design was mild.
A girl who came up from the countryside admiring idols.
It was a commonly seen setting, but that also surprisingly worked well.
Currently Cho Ha-rin, large horn-rimmed glasses.
Her hair was simply tied in a single braid.
Because her clothes were baggy as well, her clueless appearance was emphasized.
To the viewers who already knew Seo-yeon's appearance, such a dressed-up look felt awkward to that extent.
"What do I do!"
The scene briefly changed, and the drama dealing with other people's stories returned to Cho Ha-rin's part.
Episode 1 of
Among them, the time given to Cho Ha-rin was only 10 minutes.
There were not many scenes she could show.
Moreover, there was not much time left until the drama ended now.
The time given to an individual was now at most about 5 minutes.
Still, since there was a scene where everyone appeared together at the end, it could get a bit longer.
However.
- Ah, what era is this character from
- LMAO fr fr exactly the cancer-inducing character from 10 years ago
Due to her character settings, Cho Ha-rin was a character bound to have many anti-fans.
First of all, there were many people who disliked the bouncy character itself, and since she came from the countryside, she had many frustrating aspects.
On top of that, because the tacky makeup left a bad impression, bad comments went up in the real-time chat.
"Are you okay?"
Someone called out to Cho Ha-rin, who was running around because she couldn't properly find the filming location.
Kim Si-hwan.
Looking at Cho Ha-rin's urgent-looking face, he carefully asked.
"Y-yes?"
Cho Ha-rin looked up at Kim Si-hwan with a flustered face.
Because he was a surprisingly handsome person to her who had lived in the countryside, her words didn't even come out properly.
"Ah, th-th-that. I'm trying to go, here."
Still, it was the first kindness she received after coming to Seoul.
When she told him the place with a trembling voice, Kim Si-hwan's eyes became a little surprised.
"Ah, I actually need to go here too."
"Huh?"
"Shall we go together?"
At that figure saying it with a gentle smile, Cho Ha-rin was about to nod but then slowly shook her head.
Because no matter what, she thought that was too much.
"I'd feel too bad about that."
"No, let's go together."
"?"
Kim Si-hwan, who answered kindly with a gentle smile, surprisingly had a forceful personality.
He just threw a motorcycle helmet to Cho Ha-rin as it was.
"Get on behind."
"No, wait a moment."
"Let's go!"
"...."
With that forceful action, Cho Ha-rin was forced to ride his motorcycle and race to the filming location.
Literally in an instant.
On the motorcycle she rode for the first time, Cho Ha-rin felt like her eyes were spinning.
"Now we're rivals at the audition venue."
Kim Si-hwan, who arrived at the filming location, said so.
And tried to leave lightly.
As if his business was finished.
It was a natural thing.
Because Cho Ha-rin and Kim Si-hwan had met for the first time today.
If it were the usual Cho Ha-rin, she would have bowed to such Kim Si-hwan and parted ways.
However.
Without thinking, Cho Ha-rin approached him who had turned his back and pulled his collar.
"Um."
"Yes?"
"Why did you help me today?"
Cho Ha-rin was genuinely curious.
It was just a light kindness to him, but to Cho Ha-rin, it was the first kindness she received after coming to Seoul.
He was the first person to reach out to her, who felt like she had been dropped into an unfamiliar world.
At Cho Ha-rin's words, Kim Si-hwan smirked.
"Because I thought my luck would get better."
"Huh?"
"Just, it was that kind of feeling."
He only answered like that.
It was a funny answer, but Cho Ha-rin looked at the back of Kim Si-hwan turning away as he said so.
Cho Ha-rin's pupils shining under her glasses glistened clearly.
Slightly parted lips.
Flushed cheeks, trembling eyes were noticeable.
"I, see."
"Yes, that's right."
At Kim Si-hwan's calm reply, Cho Ha-rin smiled.
Kim Si-hwan replied as if he was nonchalant, but Cho Ha-rin knew.
That he was just making an excuse.
That there was no reason for helping her.
Kim Si-hwan just helped because she looked troubled.
What reason could there be for that.
Pure kindness.
So, a laugh came out at that clumsy excuse.
At that clear smile.
- Uh
- Wah
The viewers forgot to type in the chat for a moment and looked at Cho Ha-rin like that.
There were no other lines either.
However, it was as if Cho Ha-rin's emotions pierced through the screen and were conveyed.
The moment of falling in love.
Or, she made them feel the moment of first having favorable feelings without a single line of dialogue.
'The moment of falling in love.'
Cho Ha-rin and Kim Si-hwan's relationship begins from a somewhat awkward meeting.
So to speak, Cho Ha-rin's unrequited love is a configuration created by falling in love at first sight with Kim Si-hwan who helped her.
Therefore.
If that scene looks ridiculous or doesn't hit home with the viewers, it will be felt as simple 'absurdity'.
And the evaluation of the drama will also drop vertically.
Director Kim Pil-seok said.
"Even so, isn't there a bit of lack of plausibility?"
"Can't people originally fall in love at first sight and that happen?"
The camera director replied like that to Kim Pil-seok's words, but Kim Pil-seok shook his head.
"Because it's a creative work."
So there must be more plausibility.
Clearly, much more preposterous things happen in the world, but because it is a creative work, it is needed even more.
Plausibility.
The rule required for fictional stories.
"Ms. Seo-yeon. I will try to direct this well, but the acting is important."
"Yes."
"The conversation between Cho Ha-rin and Kim Si-hwan is at best a few lines of script, and the time exposed on screen is less than 2 minutes."
In that time, they had to show the viewers Cho Ha-rin's heart, the plausibility of her falling for Kim Si-hwan.
They had to visibly show that change of heart, not in the script.
"Can you do it? Otherwise, I'll have a word with Writer Lim."
At Director Kim Pil-seok's words, Seo-yeon shook her head.
"I'll try first."
"Hmm."
Honestly, Im Jin-ha's script was childish.
But then again, this wasn't a bad-tasting script either.
One hit.
It's nothing special, but a career like that isn't there for no reason.
"Understood."
First of all, trusting the actor if they can do it is Director Kim Pil-seok's personality.
And he was also curious about what kind of appearance this young actress would show.
Like that.
Seo-yeon had a few NGs, and succeeded in filming the video.
It was probably the filming with the most NGs in her life.
To that extent, this acting was unfamiliar to Seo-yeon.
It was depicting an unfamiliar emotion.
Affection.
Love.
Had she ever harbored such feelings toward another person?
If asked, she didn't really know.
That was because friendship or favorable feelings also fell into that realm.
However, after watching movies or related visual media several times, it seemed a bit different from that.
Love was a very hot emotion.
And the moment of falling into it was an even more special moment.
Because she didn't know.
Because she wasn't ready yet.
Seo-yeon couldn't immerse herself in it.
Therefore.
"Sometimes, imagining can be more wonderful."
Actor Jung Eun-sun said.
"The vague longing for love that Ms. Seo-yeon spoke of. Just crafting that beautiful form you imagine can sometimes be better than the real thing."
They say it happens sometimes.
A writer or actor who originally specialized in writing romance, from some point on, becomes unable to properly express that emotion.
After tasting the bitterness of love, they rather become unable to express such things even in acting or writing.
"That's what it is."
Actor Jung Eun-sun looked at the young Seo-yeon and smiled.
"Ms. Seo-yeon might also have a wonderful love someday. Save that emotion for that time."
It might have been an unremarkable remark.
However, to Seo-yeon, it was a remark that deeply resonated.
'Depiction of Emotion (Mimesis).'
It was an act that had become very familiar to Seo-yeon.
So, she also knew what actions a person in love took, and what kind of smile they wore.
But there was a part of herself that was not simply satisfied with that.
"Ah, so you're number 178, Cho Ha-rin, right?"
Cho Ha-rin, facing the five judges, stands on the stage.
The preliminary audition of
The stage she was able to stand on without being late, thanks to Kim Si-hwan's help.
"I heard you came up from the countryside, it must have been a difficult decision."
"Yes."
Cho Ha-rin replied with a smile to the judge's words.
"A little."
"Is that so."
A fierce-looking man playing the role of a judge said.
"Then, let's see it."
The judges' faces were all smiling, but their attitudes showed that they didn't expect much.
The appearances of other idols crossed and passed by.
Among them, the appearances of the four leads, including Song So-ha and Park Min-yul who had already appeared beforehand, were reflected.
Lastly, Kim Si-hwan looking at Cho Ha-rin.
Cho Ha-rin grabbed the microphone.
Before dancing, there was a need to judge the singing first.
- Ah, wait
- Seo-yeon, hold back on the singing
The viewers' chat, who had already heard Seo-yeon's singing through variety shows, sped up.
She's not bad at it.
She received such evaluations, but when it comes out in a drama like this, awkwardly doing well is actually harder to listen to.
However.
The one here is not Seo-yeon.
Cho Ha-rin.
A girl who just fell in love.
'I don't know what kind of emotion that is.'
She felt it while encountering many media.
Although it sometimes appears in a terrible form.
That emotion is generally very beautiful.
It was the kind of thing that made her harbor a longing to definitely feel it someday.
Emotion isn't contained in Seo-yeon's singing.
So, everyone said it felt more awkward.
Especially, the magician Han Da-young, whom she met through Ji-yeon's introduction.
"Putting emotion in is natural."
He said Seo-yeon was too conscious of it.
"Well, Ms. Seo-yeon isn't a robot, right? People naturally put emotion in even when they're not conscious of it when they speak. It's the same for singing."
Being conscious of the emotion put into words.
She thought she wasn't anymore, but it seems she still was.
Because it wasn't simple words but took the form of 'singing'.
"Singing is ultimately an extension of words. If you consciously put emotion in, you'll miss a lot."
Just like Seo-yeon's singing right now.
Han Da-young taught that to Seo-yeon as much as possible.
How to sing naturally.
'The emotion Cho Ha-rin felt.'
It was not substituted by any form.
Seo-yeon just vaguely drew out that form.
Not method acting, but closer to emotional depiction.
Drawing out the visible landscape, and there Seo-yeon's imagination—
And adds longing.
- Huh?
A reaction containing bewilderment came out from the chat window.
A delicate voice spread across the stage.
The judges, who were a bit indifferent, opened their eyes wide and focused on Cho Ha-rin.
It was the same for the viewers watching the broadcast.
It was a love song.
The song Cho Ha-rin was singing on the stage right now was a comfortable ballad.
A sweet, delicate voice.
Clearly the technique was lacking, but first of all, her voice was good.
There was Cho Ha-rin, softly curving her eyes and wearing a clear smile.
A girl in love.
As if expressing that, Cho Ha-rin's figure singing while lightly riding the rhythm was like a flower blooming.
Brightly.
A beautiful emotion spread beyond the screen.
The faces of the judges looking at it, and lastly the faces of Kim Si-hwan and Song So-ha were reflected.
From the perspective of Song So-ha, the female protagonist, it was a scene implying the appearance of a strong rival.
At the same time, it was a scene that wasn't emphasized this much in the original script.
Because in the original script, a scene should have come out where Cho Ha-rin awkwardly sang and barely passed with her dance.
However.
Kim Pil-seok slightly adapted it.
Of course, after meeting with the writer.
That is exactly the current scene.
Cho Ha-rin's highlight, which comes out when episode 1 is about two-thirds progressed.
And.
His choice like that.
[Not a simple gag drama
[Clumsy singing is acting? Joo Seo-yeon's reversal charm]
[Momentary viewership of 21%! Signs of a hit for
Brought an explosive reaction.