Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Translator: Penny
Chapter 20
If I trace back my memories, there was definitely such a clause in the appearance contract.
A clause stating that as a cast member, I should cooperate as much as possible for the movie's promotion even after all filming was completed.
However, when I signed the contract for the role of Kim Jia, I was only thinking about acting.
Since when did I decide that my job as a child actor was only to act as Kim Jia in front of the camera?
So, after finishing the last filming well.
I thought I would go back to kindergarten and play doctor with my classmates.
Or that my original routine of taking singing lessons from Deobeulli (Double Lee), who had returned from a successful overseas tour, would continue.
'Um, Ha-eun. I got a call from Make Future….'
'?'
It was only after hearing from Ju Jeong-yun that I had to attend the production presentation of the man next door that I realized an actor's workplace isn't just the film set.
And so, as time passed and finally the day of the production presentation of the man next door arrived.
“…Our daughter should have been a model, not an actress.”
After heading to the makeup shop early in the morning for the first time in a while, I was styled to match the image of the word 'actress.'
A complete opposite of the plain Kim Jia from head to toe.
A white blouse and a navy skirt.
Voluminous hair.
A face that perfectly fits the expression 'elegant.'
It's understandable why my mother's camera shutter has been going off non-stop for a while now.
However, perhaps because the power of makeup, which always created a simple appearance, was now added to enhance the appearance.
'...Won't they recognize me?'
There was quite a gap between the appearance of the past few months when I lived as Kim Jia.
Even if Kwon Jong-hyuk director and Kang Seon-woo mistook me for someone else, it would be somewhat understandable.
Anyway, it's still awkward.
It seems I need a little more time to accept without any hesitation that the girl reflected in the full-length mirror in front of me is me.
Anyway, there are only about 2 hours left until the production presentation of the man next door.
First, I headed to Apgujeong OGV, the venue for the production presentation.
Even after arriving at the OGV underground parking lot and walking to the elevator connected to the ground building.
Even after getting off the elevator and heading to the place I had received in a text message in advance, I was only thinking about what Kwon Jong-hyuk director and Kang Seon-woo would say after seeing the changed me.
Was that why?
'...Why are there so many people?'
I was slightly taken aback by the crowds that filled the inside of OGV almost to the level of an amusement park on Children's Day.
Fortunately, nothing special happened thanks to meeting the staff who had come out to meet me in advance and being guided to the waiting room.
“Hmm, Kang Seon-woo is Kang Seon-woo after all…. It's bustling.”
I belatedly realized why so many people had come to OGV early in the morning at the staff's mumbling, which wasn't really a mumbling, as they took me to the waiting room.
It was five minutes later that I reunited with the person who had brought so many people to OGV.
"Hello, Ha-eun. Long time no see~.”
“…Hello.”
Like this, the person who immediately recognized me, making my previous worries seem ridiculous, and who is another lead actor in the man next door, Kang Seon-woo, is literally a star actor.
Since he was a famous actor who had been enjoying tremendous popularity even before appearing in the man next door, it was perhaps natural for people to flock to see such a famous actor's face in person.
However, Kang Seon-woo, whom I had met on the set, was nothing more or less than a person with a good personality and excellent acting skills.
In many ways, I knew in my head that he was an amazing person, but because I had been talking to him in the same space without any awkwardness, there hadn't been anything in particular to make me realize Kang Seon-woo's status until today.
"Hey, Ha-eun. Is there something on my face?"
"No…. It's nothing."
As always, familiar eyes, familiar expression, familiar voice.
Only because I had clearly realized the popularity of the name Kang Seon-woo just a few minutes ago.
I couldn't help but glance at Kang Seon-woo.
The rehearsal for the production presentation started about 10 minutes later.
Still, there wasn't really a problem until we practiced answering the questions that the host of the production presentation had prepared in advance.
I was concerned about the fact that I would have to receive questions from reporters who came to cover the actual production presentation, not just the rehearsal.
"Ha-eun will probably only be asked briefly about how she felt while filming the movie. Or what it was like when she first met actor Kang Seon-woo."
According to one of the staff members who seemed relatively young among those who were helping with the rehearsal, there probably wouldn't be any questions that were that difficult or troublesome.
In fact, when you think about it, it's strange to ask a 7-year-old child in-depth questions.
Above all, I decided to just relax because it didn't seem like it would help to be nervous from the start.
I heard from Kang Seon-woo himself that it was okay to pass the question to Kang Seon-woo if it seemed like it would be difficult to answer.
Soon, the short rehearsal was finally over.
When I went back to the waiting room, I saw that snacks like piece cakes were already on the table.
"Hey, Ha-eun. Do your classmates ask you about the man next door?"
"Um, well…. I guess because it's a restricted movie, their parents didn't even let them watch the trailer."
"Ah, well, I guess so. I guess it's understandable from the parents' point of view."
While tasting the sweet and sour cakes for the remaining 10 minutes until the production presentation, Kang Seon-woo and I shared simple small talk about how we had been doing.
"Actor Kang Seon-woo, actress Lee Ha-eun. It's time to move~.”
Like that, holding hands with Kang Seon-woo as we had practiced in the previous rehearsal.
We walked to the production presentation hall where many reporters and prospective viewers of the man next door were waiting.
\*
“Is this the production presentation hall for the man next door, or Kang Seon-woo's personal fan meeting venue….”
Heo Ju-eun, an entertainment reporter, clicked her tongue without realizing it at the sight of the production presentation hall, where not only posters of the man next door featuring only Kang Seon-woo were visible.
Of course, Heo Ju-eun also agreed that Kang Seon-woo was a flawless famous actor.
However, seeing people who had come only to see Kang Seon-woo in person, regardless of what kind of movie the man next door was, didn't make her feel so good.
This was solely based on Heo Ju-eun's experience working as an entertainment reporter.
It wasn't the first or second time she had seen scenes where various problems occurred due to the extreme fans of actors when actors with thick fan bases like Kang Seon-woo showed their faces at places like production presentations.
'Are they going to scream every time he says a word this time?'
She couldn't help but have a prejudice against people who looked like Kang Seon-woo's fans.
Of course, anyone who interfered with the production presentation would be immediately removed.
However, it would be good for both Kang Seon-woo and Heo Ju-eun if such a disturbance didn't occur in the first place.
Anyway, as a reporter, Heo Ju-eun would be happy if she could write an article that would attract people's attention through this production presentation of the man next door.
The fact that she had prepared in various ways from a few days before the production presentation and finally secured the front seat was also an extension of that.
"Now, let's meet the two main characters of the man next door. Actor Kang Seon-woo, actress Lee Ha-eun, please enter."
Like that, after the two lead actors of the man next door finally appeared on stage with a barrage of camera shutters pouring in from the entrance.
'...It's completely different from the trailer.'
After Heo Ju-eun admired Ha-eun's beautiful appearance without realizing it, unable to think of her as the same person as Kim Jia in the trailer of the man next door.
Even after the host's various questions were alternately directed to director Kwon Jong-hyuk and Kang Seon-woo, no particular disturbance occurred.
"Then, Ha-eun, what kind of acting did you mainly want to do in this man next door?"
After that, the host's question was finally directed to Ha-eun, but seeing her answer clearly without stuttering even once, it seemed like it would be a proper production presentation that she was facing after a long time.
However, during the Q&A session with reporters that started about 20 minutes later.
"Ha-eun, as you know, the man next door is a restricted movie. Didn't Ha-eun's parents object to her appearing in such a high-level movie?"
From the moment a question that wasn't really related to the content of the man next door was heard from a reporter behind Heo Ju-eun, things started to feel a little strange.
Questions with no substance targeting only Ha-eun began to be heard from some other reporters as well.
'...Did these guys get paid off as a group? Why are they like this?'
Strictly speaking, there were several times more reporters asking normal questions than reporters asking strange questions.
Occasionally, there are such reporters.
Reporters who don't care as long as they can hear words that can be interpreted in various ways from actors or celebrities who are famous people in society.
Words that are full of room to be processed according to their tastes.
And, for such reporters, naive child actors like Ha-eun were the best prey.
"Was the process of acting as Kim Jia mentally difficult? I know this is Ha-eun's first time appearing in a movie."
A question with a different surface and inside was finally thrown at Ha-eun once again.
This question, too, was strictly speaking, on the surface, a question asking about Ha-eun's feelings about filming her first movie.
However, if you look closely at the inside story.
If she answered that it wasn't difficult, it would be evaluated that the depth of Ha-eun's acting in the man next door was low.
If she answered that it was difficult, it would provide the basis for raising suspicions that Ha-eun, who is still a child, was mentally abused during the filming of the 19+ movie.
The moment director Kwon Jong-hyuk and Kang Seon-woo, who had noticed this in advance, tried to raise their microphones.
"What kind of difficult acting are you talking about, reporter…?"
Ha-eun, with a truly innocent expression, opened her mouth even before that, and instead asked the reporter back.
The answer that was uttered from the reporter, who was slightly embarrassed by this, was.
"Acting that makes your head and chest feel stuffy when you do it. Acting that makes it hard to breathe for some reason. I think it's acting that you don't want to do again."
An extremely abstract kind of vague answer.
After all, it was the answer of someone who couldn't be deeply versed in acting, so it wasn't worth listening to.
"Then, is acting that is comfortable even if you repeat it countless times. Is acting that you feel like you can do again and again good acting?"
Rather, using such a vague answer, Ha-eun's answer or question that was given to the reporter once again made the reporter speechless.
Ha-eun slowly smiled at the reporter who continued to remain silent.
"Doesn't the fact that acting feels difficult mean that you did your best in acting?"
With that elegant appearance as a base, she created a graceful smile.
"So I think I'm glad I was able to act as Kim Jia in a difficult way."
She locked the reporter's already closed mouth even more tightly.
As she slowly shifted her gaze towards the voice of another reporter that followed, not a single point of shaking could be found from her dignified figure that was unlike a child.
Almost at the same time, click.
Heo Ju-eun's camera, which had finally confirmed the main character of the article she would write, was raised in an instant.
It captured Ha-eun's appearance, who was still answering the reporter's question with a relaxed expression, without any shaking.
📝 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