I Got Praised
When I got home and checked my phone, a text was waiting for me.
Hmm.
When it comes to how well you acted, the person who actually did the acting knows best.
…Well. Of course she was satisfied with her own performance — that was why she could send a text like that with such confidence.
Still, I figured this was the kind of moment that called for clear, unambiguous praise.
Wasn't there a saying for this?
Praise can make even a whale dance.
The endless string of NGs had clearly been a brutal ordeal for Seol Soyoung as she was now. So even a little mental care like this would be good for her peace of mind.
Before long, a reply came back that was openly, unmistakably shy.
Seol Soyoung… and shyness?
Thinking of the cold, aloof figure she cut in the drama, this was a little shocking.
Huuuh…
But seeing her get bashful like that — why did it make me want to tease her?
Don't tell me that because her body got younger, her mind finally got younger too?
Still.
Yeah, I couldn't resist this one.
I waited for her reply with an innocent little smile on my face.
For some reason, this particular answer took quite a while.
Normally she replied within about five minutes — fast enough to feel a little uncanny — but this time a full thirty minutes went by.
Well, they were probably in the middle of wrapping the set, so I figured that was fair enough.
But then.
Getting a reply like that made my head tip to the side all on its own.
Huh…?
I hadn't sent that expecting a reaction this bold…
Reading the text that followed, a hollow laugh slipped out of me on its own.
Apparently I was the one getting teased here.
Don't tell me that shy little reaction at the start was just acting to set this up…
Tsk.
This was why actors were terrifying. Once they put on a mask in earnest, an ordinary person like me had no way of telling what was real.
In short, the initiative in any conversation always belonged to them.
I let out a sigh and typed my reply.
Urged to clock out early as a reward for all her hard work, Seol Soyoung found herself being practically shoved out by the staff. She climbed into the car Cha Minseok was driving, headed home — and then, as if under a spell, she stared at her phone.
Looking at that name, Seol Soyoung fretted with a grave expression.
In the end, thanks to the staff and Namgung Hwan, she had missed a golden opportunity to meet him.
Well… of course it was a shame, but what was really weighing on her right now was Writer 927's reaction.
Everyone on set had praised her performance just now. Honestly, she thought it had been satisfying acting even by her own standards.
But…
What truly mattered was how he had seen it.
If her performance just now hadn't pleased him, then from her perspective it might as well have been for nothing.
If that was how he felt, Seol Soyoung was prepared to reshoot the climax scene.
Until I deliver a performance that satisfies him.
…As many times as it took.
Her resolve was absolute.
Ah — and as for the reshoot, Studio NMIX's opinion didn't particularly matter. He had said he would take full responsibility in her place, so Seol Soyoung simply trusted his word.
Seol Soyoung carefully sent the text, hoping for his reaction. Honestly, waiting for his answer felt more nerve-wracking than the acting itself had.
As every kind of negative possibility ran through her mind, her face grew more and more serious — until…
Receiving a reply like that, Seol Soyoung completely lost control of her emotions.
"Hehe. I got praised."
She even said it out loud without realizing it.
For the record, Seol Soyoung herself had no idea — but Cha Minseok, driving up front, heard every word perfectly clearly.
No way…
Cha Minseok's mouth fell open as if he had just seen a ghost. Internally, he was already denying that what he had just heard had ever happened.
He thought about it. Who was the young lady he served?
Seol Hanyong, the chairman who had taken Cheil Electronics to the top of the country with overwhelming charisma and ability. Young Lady Soyoung had inherited that same charisma and ability wholesale.
Always composed, good at everything, and even beautiful like her mother, Lady Lee Hwayang. If the title of princess still existed in this era, the person most suited to it would without a doubt have been Young Lady Soyoung.
And so, for the sake of Seol Soyoung's dignity, Cha Minseok decided to keep this incident sealed.
Except… her father, Seol Hanyong — well, shouldn't he be told, at least?
While Cha Minseok was wrestling with that serious dilemma, the grave expression from earlier had vanished without a trace, and a smile had somehow settled on Seol Soyoung's lips as she sent her reply to Eunwoo.
In truth, even as she typed the message, she was spinning happy little fantasies — Did I really do that well? Yeah, of course Writer-nim must have been surprised.
But then.
Reading a text that seemed to carry a hint of complaint, her heart dropped for a second.
S-so he had been holding onto that after all?
Seol Soyoung had no idea what the right thing to say was in a moment like this. Reading someone's mood and answering carefully was not something she was particularly used to.
Time kept ticking by, and after layer upon layer of fretting, the answer she arrived at was simply to say it boldly.
In the first place, the part about wanting to show him her acting in person was factually true. Of course, she had never deliberately messed up for that reason… but in the end, thanks to it, he had been able to see her performance — so all's well that ends well, right?
Still, just "That's right" alone seemed like it might fluster him, so she composed an additional message and sent it along, carrying a little wish of her own…
But the moment the text went through and she reread what she had written, Seol Soyoung immediately regretted it.
This one… wasn't this a bit of an overshoot?
I act strangely well when I think you're watching. I'd love it if we could meet and you gave me cozy one-on-one acting lessons.
At this point, anyone looking at it would see an active declaration of interest.
"Uuuugh…"
For a moment, the tips of Seol Soyoung's ears flushed faintly red. Then, a little embarrassed, she started punching the back seat with her fist.
But the embarrassment she felt lasted only a short while before it turned into curiosity.
How would he reply?
The Writer 927 she knew would probably…
Yes. Just like this — always carefully respecting an invisible line.
Reading the text, Seol Soyoung wore a bitter smile. Honestly, after only a single phone call, she had gotten a little too carried away.
Well…
Still, there was plenty of time ahead.
She intended to keep trying until he opened his heart to her.
A few days later.
Filming for episode 16 of Welcome to Cafe Violet wrapped smoothly, and the official premiere date for episode 1 was announced. Today was also the day of the official press conference promoting the drama.
At a long table with a microphone set at every place, Namgung Hwan and Seol Soyoung — cast as the male and female leads — took their assigned seats. One after another, the other actors and key production staff involved in the shoot filed in and sat down beside them.
For the record, this press conference had become a hot topic for more than one reason. In a drama market stuck in a dark age, would Studio NMIX's ambitious production succeed in turning things around? And then there was the question of Seol Soyoung's unproven acting ability, after she had been cast in what amounted to a parachute drop.
It was as plain as day that the reporters attending this conference would unleash a barrage of questions, all aiming to dig up story material that would grab the public's attention — for better or for worse.
Under the tense atmosphere filling the hall, the conference opened in time with the host's opening remarks.
It began with a light introduction to the project from PD Na Yeongjin and a short trailer screening — and somehow, from the very start, the reporters' reactions were fiery.
Above all else, the most important thing in a drama was the story. No matter how stacked the cast was, if the main story itself was boring or went off the rails halfway through, the drama would naturally get torn apart. Well… even so, looking at the stories of the dramas that had aired in this world so far, by Eunwoo's standards they were little more than child's play.
And because the story had come straight out of Eunwoo's own head, Welcome to Cafe Violet was a drama operating on an entirely higher level in this world. Naturally, the story summary PD Na Yeongjin delivered at the start piqued the reporters' interest, and the trailer drew out gasps of admiration.
However.
The press conference was only just beginning.