Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Translator: Penny
Chapter 15
After finishing all the lines prepared for the Kim Jia screen test, even after Kwon Jong-hyuk's okay sign was heard from afar.
And even after some time passed and the news came that I could go home now.
"Hoo..."
It was more bearable than I thought.
Yes, more than I thought.
The things I recalled to create my own Kim Jia, not Min Da-yeon's Kim Jia, were definitely not good memories.
I knew that these were things I didn't have to experience anymore, people I didn't have to meet anymore.
But I couldn't help the feeling of suffocation in my chest just from remembering them.
In other words, aftereffects.
Or, trauma.
In addition, I felt mentally exhausted because I was showing things that were a little deeper than the expressions and emotions I usually showed.
-Sip.
Fortunately, the apple-flavored drink that Ju Jeong-yun had bought me earlier seemed to help somewhat.
Is this why you're supposed to eat something sweet when you're stressed?
Anyway, now that the screen test was over.
I just had to go home as soon as my mother, who had gone to the bathroom, came back.
"Lee Ha-eun."
"?"
Min Da-yeon, who suddenly appeared, blocked my way.
And she called my name, which I had never told her, so naturally.
I was wondering whether to act like I knew her or not.
But then I remembered that Min Da-yeon was a pretty famous child actress at this time, so I made eye contact with her.
However, the question that came right after was so unexpected.
"Does your mom hit you?"
"...What?"
I couldn't help but ask her back why she was asking such a strange question.
The answer that came back from Min Da-yeon was.
"No, it's just that you acted like a really abused kid. I was just wondering."
A kind of answer that I couldn't tell if it was a compliment or an insult.
Either way, this life was far from the word abuse.
"It's a misunderstanding. My mom doesn't do that."
"That's good then."
I replied that whatever Min Da-yeon was imagining was probably not true.
The real reason Min Da-yeon spoke to me was what I heard after that.
"Who did you learn that acting from?"
"I didn't learn it."
"Don't lie."
"It's true."
Almost simultaneously, I met Min Da-yeon's sharp gaze staring at me intently.
Not even a few seconds later, a voice mixed with annoyance and suspicion was heard once again.
"If you weren't really abused, and you didn't learn it from anyone. How can a kid like you do such pitiful acting?"
"...We're the same age."
"Ah, anyway!"
I realized then that Min Da-yeon had been paying attention to my acting, with her face slightly flushed.
It seemed that Min Da-yeon was feeling the same competitive spirit that I felt towards her.
The question from before must have been a question she asked because she was genuinely curious, not with any other intention.
Yes, I know in my head that it's just pure curiosity.
-Throb.
Why is my chest feeling stuffy again?
Is it because I already know that this is something you can't learn just because someone tells you?
Is it because I already know that it's better not to know these things?
"...It's better not to know these things."
In the end, I couldn't give Min Da-yeon the answer she wanted.
After all, I couldn't tell a child like Min Da-yeon to go through the same things I went through.
That's not advice, it's a curse.
After that, Min Da-yeon turned her back to me with a noticeably frowning face.
But, I still felt uneasy about letting Min Da-yeon go like this.
"Hey, Min...Da-yeon."
"?"
"Good job."
I indirectly said that I had also been watching Min Da-yeon's acting closely.
In response, the small shadow walked away into the distance without a word.
For some reason, her gait seemed to be more intense than before.
She's definitely angry.
But, why?
Is it something to get so angry about just because she didn't get the answer she wanted?
So, after thinking for a while about why Min Da-yeon was angry.
"Ha, Ha-eun-ah. Did she say anything to you?"
My mother, who was standing next to me at some point, asked, and I finally put aside the thoughts I had been having.
"...No. She didn't say anything special."
I reassured my mother by saying that nothing had happened.
Either way, it was true that nothing had happened that would worry my mother.
However, as usual, I held hands with my mother and headed out of the set.
I got into Ju Jeong-yun's black van, which had arrived at the entrance of the building in advance, and started heading home.
'If you weren't really abused, and you didn't learn it from anyone. How can a kid like you do such pitiful acting?'
A pure, innocent voice that was nothing more or less than pure curiosity.
At the same time, a voice that made me recall memories that I didn't want to recall kept lingering in my head.
By the time I arrived home, not only my chest but also my head had started to throb.
...I should have just pretended not to know.
After that, even after showering with cold water on purpose, my condition didn't improve at all.
So, I decided to use my own way of relieving stress for the first time in a while.
Well, it's just my own way of relieving stress.
It was just eating something sweet and surfing the internet on the computer in the living room.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't good for my health, but the effect was certain.
I took a piece of the birthday cake that Ju Jeong-yun had cut for me a few hours ago and sat in front of the computer in the living room.
The first place I went to was YouTube.
I roughly played a collection of classical music in the background, and then slowly browsed the comments on the Matchstick music video, taking the time to observe public opinion.
-The acting skills of child actors these days are no joke. They can do crying scenes without any problem.
-Originally, they put artificial tears in their eyes and film it.
-Does artificial tears make your eyes red? It looks like they're really crying.
-It's probably CG.
-Then the facial expressions must be done with a mask on. Hey human, just admit it.
-Deobeulli's new song Matchstick represents the selfishness of modern society. The awareness of individualism that Deobeulli has been trying to convey to listeners, and the altruism that has disappeared in the process of the development of civilized society...(See more)
-Go write that on your blog, mister;
'...Hmm.'
At least 70 percent of the comments were ones that I couldn't understand what they were trying to say.
I thought that different comments would be posted as time went by, but there were still only similar comments to the ones I read last week.
In the end, I got tired of reading about 30 of them and scrolled up the comment section.
I opened a new tab as it was, and this time I accessed an internet broadcasting station called New World TV.
With a more serious expression than when I was looking at the comments on the Matchstick music video earlier, I entered the game broadcast that was currently in progress.
And, slowly pressing the keyboard keys.
I entered a chat with a tone that could be said to be my own trademark among the many viewers in the quiet chat room.
The BJ greeted me happily.
"Ah, Dia-nim is here! I've been waiting for you to come~."
The story that was added after that was a trivial story about the game equipment that was currently being enhanced.
Roughly how much it cost, and now it seemed like it was time for the enhancement to succeed, followed by a complaint that wasn't really a complaint.
I also chimed in appropriately with the knowledge I had been investigating in the meantime.
There were about four or five other viewers besides me, but I was the only one who was chatting.
In a way, it could be said to be a one-on-one broadcast between me and the BJ.
The inner intimacy with the BJ was also built up to some extent.
In fact, the game that the BJ was currently playing was a game that I had never really played, either in my past life or now.
Nevertheless, the reason why I had been taking the time to watch the game broadcast that I didn't even play for several days was only one.
[Challenging Black Meteor Sword +11 Enhancement ｢BJ Daramji｣]
This person called 'Daramji' would later grow into a broadcaster with tremendous influence, to the point of being called the Elementary School President.
In addition, he was also the person who introduced the Virtual Youtuber group to the world.
"O, o, o...! It, it worked!!!"
From the days when he was a small-time broadcaster with only a single-digit number of viewers.
I thought it would be helpful to make an impression in advance.
So-called low-price buying.
If I applied to the Virtual Youtuber group Fantasy Home with the same nickname as my chat nickname, D.A, in the very distant future, wouldn't he recognize me and be happy to see me?
So, I continued to watch Daramji's broadcast until I started to get sleepy.
The various memories that had been making my head complicated until recently had disappeared like a mirage.
As expected, I can't find a more certain way to get rid of stress than this.
The cake, which was a lump of sugar, was a snack, so I'll have to increase my exercise a little more tomorrow than usual, but that's okay.
It was a hundred times better than being in a restless state of mind.
-Buzz.
-Buzz.
"Hello."
[ Oh, Manager Ju. It's me, Jeong Do-cheol. ]
"Ah, yes. CEO. What's up?"
[ Is our Lee actress in class right now? ]
Ju Jeong-yun, Ha-eun's manager, shifted her gaze to the other side for a moment at Jeong Do-cheol's thick voice asking what Ha-eun was doing now.
What was captured in her eyes was Ha-eun wearing headphones in Deobeulli's recording studio and staring at the sheet music of a famous female singer's representative song.
She was momentarily speechless at the scenery, which was quite different from what she would normally think of as a children's song class.
Then she remembered that the class had been going on for more than a few weeks and opened her mouth again.
"She's in the middle of a class. If it's an urgent matter, I'll go there now and─"
[ No, no, it's not that urgent. Just, you can tell our Lee actress later that her first debut movie has been decided. ]
What followed was Jeong Do-cheol's gruff voice saying that his eyes were not wrong.
Just like that, the call was cut off without any warning.
Ju Jeong-yun, who confirmed that a message that arrived almost simultaneously contained the contact information of the production team of the movie Next Door Neighbor, began to seriously consider what measures should be taken first regarding the filming of Ha-eun's Next Door Neighbor.
'What should I do first?'
Still, the people who should be contacted with the highest priority over the movie production team were already decided.
She immediately tapped on her phone's keyboard to contact Ha-eun's parents.
She judged that this important news should be shared with her family first.
"Hello, Mother. Yes, this is Ju Jeong-yun. I'm calling with good news."
The story that followed was that Ha-eun had been cast in Next Door Neighbor.
As expected, Ju Jeong-yun herself replied with a promise to work hard at Na-yeon's joyful voice that was heard over the phone.
It was right after that that she ran into Lee Gun-yeol, who had left the studio for a while.
As if he had been eavesdropping on the conversation, Lee Gun-yeol's voice asked if Ha-eun had really been cast as Kim Jia.
-Nod.
She nodded to affirm the question she had just heard.
However, Lee Gun-yeol's mutterings that followed were.
"...As expected, the beef was cheap. We did a great job with the low-price buying."
She couldn't guess what it meant at all.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny