NOVEL WEB Chapter 2
Chapter 2
‘It’s Joo Seo-yeon, Joo Seo-yeon.’
Commercial director Jo Min-tae surveyed the atmosphere of the waiting room.
As expected, the child he had picked out was monopolizing the attention.
‘It’s not just about the looks.’
The aura.
There was something captivating that grabbed everyone’s gaze.
Having followed his father’s work since he was young, Jo Min-tae had witnessed many actors.
They were all beautiful and charming, but they had something beyond just looks that drew people in.
That girl, Joo Seo-yeon, exuded such an aura.
Though it wasn’t quite fair to call it an aura yet, she had something that captured people’s interest.
“Her vibe is definitely promising. If only her acting could match her appearance!”
People tend to see things similarly.
Casting director Kim Hyung-seok was also taking notice of Seo-yeon.
Of course, his expectations were far less than Jo Min-tae’s.
‘There are always a few like her.’
Beautiful faces and a captivating presence.
But in the end, looks are just looks.
If you’re not modeling, acting fundamentally requires acting skills.
Even for a simple commercial, at that.
Especially since this commercial had to feature another actor alongside her.
‘That kid over there must be preparing as well.’
In a scenario like this, I wondered if we could actually find a competent child actor.
“It seems like everyone has arrived. Shall we start the auditions?”
“Ah, yes. We’re running short on time, so let’s get on with it.”
All the children had seemingly arrived according to the profiles, and there were about ten minutes left before the audition was scheduled to begin at noon.
Hyung-seok stood up, opened the waiting room door, and announced.
“Alright, we’ll be starting the auditions. You’ve received your numbers, right? We’ll be calling you in order, starting from number one.”
There was a palpable tension in the waiting room from his dry announcement.
“Ji-yeon, you don’t need to be nervous. Just do what you’ve practiced.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Among all the children, the one in management, Ji-yeon, was the only one who showed a hint of nervousness.
Her mother, Hong Jin-hee, comforted her while stealing glances at the standout child.
‘Does she have a heart of steel or something? She shows no change in expression.’
Seeing Seo-yeon’s calm face, Jin-hee frowned but then chuckled softly.
‘But if she stays like that, there’s no need to see her act.’
After all, being an actor means pouring emotions into their performance.
This is a fact that holds true even for small commercials.
In fact, since this was a short, one-off commercial, the emotional engagement needed to be heightened.
But with a girl who seemed that emotionally unresponsive, her acting would surely be lacking.
‘Why is she smiling at me?’
On the contrary, Seo-yeon wondered if there was something on her face.
There had been a lady glaring at her for a while now.
“Seo-yeon, don’t be nervous, okay? If you feel anxious, just grab my hand tight.”
“Okay.”
It wasn’t Seo-yeon who was nervous; it was her mother, Sua.
Seo-yeon held Sua’s hand tightly—not out of her own anxiety, but to calm her mom down.
‘This is weird. Am I the one acting or is it her?’
While that thought crossed her mind, Seo-yeon focused on the CF scheduled for today.
‘It was definitely a food advertisement, right?’
Not knowing the specific product, she at least had a general idea.
Food.
Which meant she needed to act like she was eating something.
‘Eating deliciously is key.’
Although she didn’t grasp that concept yet, it would become a trend in a few years when mukbangs (eating broadcasts) surged in popularity. Of course, this didn’t apply to VTubers.
In VTuber cases, mukbangs are possible, but they are merely a part of the content and not a focus.
Still, it’d be nice to be able to do anything.
After all, mukbangs are a form of content too, right?
“Seo-yeon, look! Friends who went in first are coming out.”
At that moment, Sua whispered to Seo-yeon.
Turning her gaze, Seo-yeon saw kids waddling out of the audition room.
Their faces clearly indicated they hadn’t received favorable evaluations.
“Next, number five, please come in.”
The call for numbers continued.
Seo-yeon recalled her number was definitely 22.
It seemed she was in quite a late position considering the number of participants.
“Thirteen.”
As she pondered what kind of food ad it might be, a child claiming to be in management jumped up eagerly.
She looked nervous, but compared to the other kids, she was noticeably better off.
‘Huh?’
Seo-yeon’s gaze landed on the girl’s face, and suddenly a particular advertisement popped into her mind.
Now that she thought about it, it seemed familiar.
‘The soy milk ad.’
Was that Ji-yeon’s name?
Her mother had referred to her as such.
‘Yeah, it was indeed the soy milk ad.’
Seo-yeon remembered her.
Even though it was an advertisement she saw long ago, the memory was surprisingly vivid.
Was this phenomenon a side effect of her reincarnation?
‘But… I remember the evaluation wasn’t good.’
Of course, the chances that Ji-yeon’s participation meant this was the same audition as the soy milk ad were slim.
Ji-yeon might have auditioned many times.
‘But if that’s the case…’
Seo-yeon shut her eyes.
Then, the soy milk ad she’d seen in her memories resurfaced.
The ad didn’t just feature Lee Ji-yeon; there had been another actor.
Kim Jeong-ha, if she remembered correctly.
Though she wasn’t much known now, she would later gain significant recognition for her acting as the lead in a cable drama three years from now.
Also, this commercial would soon be rediscovered, revealing that the ‘awkward’ actress from that time was indeed Kim Jeong-ha.
‘So the gap between the child actors was quite apparent.’
It had been an oddly awkward advertisement.
Naturally, that awkwardness had garnered some buzz, and the soy milk still sold reasonably well, but it certainly wasn’t a good ad.
For the record, the reason this ad would later be highlighted wasn’t just because of Kim Jeong-ha.
There was another crucial element.
“Of course, our daughter is perfect!”
Just as Seo-yeon was organizing her thoughts, Lee Ji-yeon emerged from the audition room with a bright expression.
Unlike the others, she must have heard positive feedback.
‘Hmph, anyway, this CF is going to be taken by our daughter Ji-yeon.’
Noticing Seo-yeon watching her closely, Hong Jin-hee beamed with pride.
She happily patted her daughter’s head and scooped her up into her arms.
‘What’s with that?’
While she understood the joy of Ji-yeon performing well, she couldn’t comprehend why her joy was directed at Seo-yeon.
At any rate, based on that reaction, it seemed likely Ji-yeon had been cast for this commercial.
‘The probability of it being a soy milk ad just went up.’
While she couldn’t be certain yet, she decided to think of it as soy milk for now.
There were still about ten kids left before it would be Seo-yeon’s turn.
There was still time.
‘This is like RP after all.’
Whether or not there’s a character for a child eating soy milk, she imagined it along those lines.
She pondered past advertisements.
This wasn’t going to be a solo advertisement.
This was an advertisement featuring two actors.
That meant synergy was critical.
‘And that’s similar to collabs in VTubing.’
To nail a collab, it was important to adjust to the other person’s characteristics.
If they don’t sync, they could end up diminishing each other’s strengths and miss out on the flavor that could be achieved solo.
Especially if RP was held in high regard.
‘Kim Jeong-ha had such a bright image.’
The CF had also reflected that.
She recalled her as incredibly lively, with very high energy.
Thanks to that, the role played by the young Ji-yeon had become overshadowed.
‘Can I match that kind of energy?’
So far, Seo-yeon had only practiced stretching and a little gymnastics.
While she’d tried out various characters in RP…
‘Hmm, well, this is also an experience.’
She would do her best, but originally, Seo-yeon hadn’t really thought she would get cast in the audition.
Others must have practiced just as much, if not more.
Especially the kid from management.
‘It’s an experience, but…’
Seo-yeon took a deep breath.
She tightened her gaze slightly.
Her eyes glimmered a bit redder.
“…It would be disappointing if it just ended like that.”
She didn’t want to have regrets by half-assing it.
Not like in her past life.
And then.
“Number 22, please come in.”
Finally, it was Seo-yeon’s turn.
*
“Clearly that number 13 was the best, right?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
Jo Min-tae and Kim Hyung-seok nodded as they had that conversation.
With a total of 25 children participating in today’s audition, it was nearing the end.
“Still, considering she entered the industry at such a young age, I believe she had decent skills.”
Hyung-seok remarked as he casually covered the remaining profiles.
He felt there was nothing more to see.
“Yes, that’s true… but.”
Yet, Jo Min-tae had a displeased look on his face.
As a CF director, he surely wanted to work with excellent actors for his first job.
‘But world affairs are never that kind.’
Budget constraints were tight, and any talented actors wouldn’t come running for a commercial like this.
It was apparent that, no matter the money, the ad exposure would be limited.
“There’s still number 22 left, right? The child you were eyeing earlier.”
“Oh, yes. That’s right.”
Jo Min-tae scratched his head and glanced at the profile of the recently called number 22.
‘This is her first acting experience.’
After all, she was just like the other kids auditioning today.
He had high hopes at first, but watching the other kids made him realize how significant ‘experience’ was.
“If she just gives half of that face, it’d be great.”
“Yes, that would really be nice…”
Clunk!
Just then, as they talked, the door swung open and a small child entered.
With long black hair and strangely colored eyes.
Her porcelain-white face would make one think she was a doll, providing an almost surreal feeling.
If the mother trailing behind her hadn’t been there, he might have ended up staring at her pointlessly.
“Oh, the guardian can take a seat over there.”
“Yes, yes.”
The mother looked so nervous she had a slightly disheveled appearance as she sat down.
She was the complete opposite of her expressionless daughter, who seemed lost in thought.
‘Maybe she’s nervous too.’
Jo Min-tae nodded, observing Seo-yeon sitting properly with a straight posture.
From the moment he first saw her, he noticed her excellent posture.
Straight back, eyes fixed ahead.
While meeting her direct gaze, Jo Min-tae spoke up.
“So, your name is Seo-yeon, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear what kind of acting you’ll be doing today?”
“I only heard it would be about food.”
Her calm response appeared devoid of highs or lows.
The lack of emotion made his expectations dip considerably.
“Cough, well then, we’re going to do some drinking acting. So… let’s see, imagine you’re drinking cold milk deliciously and give it a try.”
That was straightforward improvisation.
Without any prior knowledge of what kind of ad it was or what character to portray.
This was improvised acting without a written script tailored for screen characters.
Usually, in such cases, one would expect children to respond with something like, ‘Here?’
It’s often portrayed on their faces even if they don’t verbalize it.
“Yes.”
Yet again, she returned a curt response.
Jo Min-tae forced a chuckle and shared a glance with Kim Hyung-seok.
‘This isn’t going to fly, is it?’
‘With such a blunt demeanor… Food acting will be quite a challenge.’
The sentiment was pretty much conveyed in their shared looks.
Especially in these auditions, the casting director’s judgment often weighed more heavily than Jo Min-tae’s as the director.
Kim Hyung-seok had already half-decided on Ji-yeon for the role, so unless Seo-yeon performed exceptionally well, her chances looked slim.
‘What a disappointment.’
He really wanted to work alongside that girl.
Just then, Jo Min-tae thought:
“Phew.”
Seo-yeon’s lips turned into a smile.
It hardly seemed possible that the previously expressionless child had transformed into a cheerful presence.
The atmosphere changed.
The somber hues brightened immediately.
‘What on earth?’
Jo Min-tae’s eyes widened.
He watched Seo-yeon’s hands move in slow motion.
She seemed to be holding something.
When you think about drinking, hands generally mime holding a ‘cup.’
However, Seo-yeon’s hand shape indicated something different.
It was a ‘carton.’
A milk carton.
But not the standard 200ml size.
She gripped a long, 190ml soy milk carton in her hand.