I'm Always Looking Forward to It
"……."
Reading the message, Seol Soyoung found herself pulled back to the memory of her auditions. At the judges' request, she had performed both rounds as a bright, upbeat character.
The judges' thinking had been that if a face like hers could pull off a lovable young girl, she would completely steal the audience's hearts. And yet—
"Oh, Oppa. I want a Tidburger……. Ha…… I'm so sorry. Could I please try that one more time?"
Aegyo was something you only knew how to do if you'd done it before, and Seol Soyoung had never had that kind of experience at all. In the end, her awkward performance and her inability to get through the lines without blanking out cost her the role.
"……."
She read the message again, gripping her phone even tighter. She could roughly tell what the other person was trying to say.
Only take roles that suit you—roles where your acting can come out completely natural.
It was a simple enough idea, but for Seol Soyoung, whose goal was to become a top-tier actress, it was also something hard to accept.
The people called top-tier actors almost all possessed the kind of outstanding skill that let them handle every kind of role. That was precisely why they were called top-tier, and why they became the goal of every other actor.
……The opposite?
Reading the reply, Seol Soyoung tilted her head in confusion.
Seol Soyoung seriously considered the answer to that question. And before long, something seemed to click—her eyes went wide.
Ah. She can act a character like that at that level—so what would it be like if she took on a different kind of role? That curiosity and anticipation from the public.
The moment that thought took root in people's minds, far more diverse role opportunities would open up for her.
If that were really true……
Even as she hit send, Seol Soyoung swallowed hard, a little tense.
The reply didn't take long this time either.
"……."
That single word was the entire message.
Shorter than the first one she'd received—short enough that someone might even call it half-hearted.
And yet Seol Soyoung felt an unnameable sense of relief from that one sentence.
Vrrrrrr—
That was when it happened.
For some reason, her phone buzzed one more time.
Seol Soyoung's eyes went wide with surprise as she hurriedly checked the screen.
……One little thing that worried him?
If anything, that was welcome news.
For Seol Soyoung, this project carried a rather meaningful weight as her first. So she was ready to keep her ears open to any sharp criticism directed her way and fix whatever needed fixing—especially if it came from the story writer who had recommended her and was placing such enormous trust in her.
"……?"
She had braced herself for something sharp when she opened the message, and yet……
Seol Soyoung simply could not figure out what that last text was supposed to mean.
Not long after that, Welcome to Cafe Violet moved smoothly into production.
Contrary to the staff's early worries, Seol Soyoung delivered acting far beyond what anyone expected from a newcomer, and thanks to that they were able to wrap everything through the mid-episode shoots without much trouble.
Well…… half the material was still left to film, so both the production company and the cast were still plenty busy. Compared to them, though, I was living a peaceful daily life, just getting occasional updates on the drama's progress from PD Na or from hyung Jo Yongseok.
Ah—and lately I'd been talking with Yongseok hyung casually enough that we'd dropped formal speech. The reason was that every single night I was being dragged off to a sweat-soaked gym.
I remember it starting with Yongseok hyung casually asking if I wanted to try working out sometime.
At first I tried every excuse I could think of—what was a middle schooler doing lifting weights, it would mess with my growth, and so on. But he just kept insisting that exercising during a growth spurt actually released growth hormones, and that starting as soon as possible was strongly recommended.
The more I listened, the more logical it sounded, so I squeezed my eyes shut once and started going to the gym with him. And yet……
"Squats! Oh, good form. Eunwoo, three more just like that. You've got to hit at least ten."
"Th-this is really the last set, right?"
"Yeah. So let's just finish this first. Eight! Nine! Nine! Nine! Nine! Nine……"
Yeah.
I was pretty sure I'd been thoroughly hooked.
I was certain I'd heard that overdoing exercise was bad during a growth spurt—was this really okay……?
Still, just like Yongseok hyung said, the growth hormones must have been flowing steadily, because I was getting taller without any trouble, and muscle was starting to show up on me too.
"Haa……. Haa……. Hyung, I can barely breathe."
"That's a good sign. That's anaerobic training right there."
"Haha. I'm seriously going to lose it. One more round of anaerobic and I'm actually going to die."
"Oh, yeah? Want to check? We've torched the lower body enough, so let's confirm it with shoulders."
Damn it.
I was going to pass out the second I hit the bed again tonight.
I shed silent tears on the inside and only got to go home after my shoulders had been thoroughly wrecked too.
For the record, Yongseok hyung always drove me home himself.
"Hmm……."
So there I was, same as always, sitting in the back seat of the car Yongseok hyung was driving, staring at my phone. Catching the look in the rearview mirror, Yongseok hyung grinned and asked,
"Who are you texting with that serious face? Don't tell me it's a girlfriend?"
"Haha. If a mythical creature like that actually existed, I'd kind of like to meet one myself."
I looked back down at my phone.
If I had to name the biggest recent change in my life, it wasn't the gym—it was this phone.
The second phone PD Na had handed over to me that day.
The numbers saved on it were still only three.
PD Na Yeongjin, Bureau Director Park Yongo, and Seol Soyoung.
Well……
And of those three, there was still only one person I was exchanging messages with every single day.
A text that arrived right on cue with the end of my gym session.
When we'd first started messaging, everything had felt fresh—but now it was past familiar and all the way into feeling completely natural.
Seol Soyoung.
For some reason, she and I had been in contact every day since that first exchange.
At first the conversation had mostly been about work and the drama, but somewhere along the way we'd gotten close enough to trade personal talk too.
Of course, if she hadn't been the one to message first like this, the whole connection would have dried up ages ago……
I sent a reply with a wry little smile.
The food photo that came with the reply was clearly high-end Western cuisine at a glance.
Well—when it was a family dinner for one of the wealthiest households in Korea, it wasn't going to be some ordinary restaurant.
The place probably had a few stars on the sign as a baseline, didn't it?
Expensive food. And free.
Words that were hard for any guy to turn down.
I would have loved to set something up as early as tomorrow—but unfortunately, I could tell that invitation wasn't just about grabbing a meal together.
After all, why would a woman of Seol Soyoung's caliber suddenly want to have dinner with someone whose face, age, and even gender she didn't know?
And pay for the whole thing herself, no less.
Someone who's seen the original work would never buy that…….
Considering her ice-princess image, it felt like she had some other agenda.
If I had to guess—maybe she was curious about my identity under the veil and just wanted a look at my face?
But buying an expensive meal just to see my face once still didn't quite add up……
Ssssss…….
I'd already read the message, so I had to reply somehow.
In a situation like this, there was really only one move……
Just brazenly change the subject.
When you were stuck in an awkward spot, this really was the best option.
I'd tried teasing her a little, and the reaction was surprisingly cute.
Looking at her like this, she almost felt like an ordinary girl, didn't she?
Judging only by her face and the way she acted on set, I doubted I'd even be able to meet her eyes properly—but trading plain everyday texts like this, Seol Soyoung felt like just another student my age.
……Wait a second, though.
Come to think of it, I wasn't a student.
"……."
Anyway.
My body was still middle-school age, so I'd just gloss over that part.
I started composing another message to send her.
I'd been joking around earlier, so there was a chance I'd hurt her feelings—this time I put as much sincerity into it as I could.
That ought to do it, right?
I closed my eyes slowly, a satisfied smile on my face.
But……
After I sent that message, Seol Soyoung's acting would drop off so sharply it would start interfering with the shoot.
At the time, I had no idea that was coming at all.