Chapter 139: Understanding (1)
Chapter 139: Understanding (1)
On the way home together, Gil Da-hyeon seemed to be observing Seo-yeon with a curious eye.
Her face seemed to ask: Why do you want to study with me?
Seo-yeon didn't really have a good answer for that.
Because I have no one else to study with.
What a pitiful answer that would be.
Ji-yeon was busy preparing for auditions, and in Jo Seo-hee’s case, Seo-yeon simply didn't want to feel like she was losing. Since Jo Seo-hee harbored a strong sense of rivalry toward her, Seo-yeon couldn't help but be mindful of her as well.
As for asking Park Jung-woo...
"If an actress calls up an actor for something like that out of the blue, it’ll cause a scandal."
He would surely shoot her down with a line like that.
So, that left her classmates.
Among them, she simply thought Gil Da-hyeon was the best choice because she reminded her of the characters in Sky Garden. Plus, they had actually spoken before.
"Is it okay if we don't invite the other friends?"
"Yeah."
Da-hyeon seemed to have wanted to go as a group, but Seo-yeon refused.
Then my actual study skills would be exposed.
While Gil Da-hyeon seemed tight-lipped, there was no guarantee the others would be.
And so, Seo-yeon followed Gil Da-hyeon like a lost puppy and ended up studying at her house.
"Ah, because of the drama?"
Da-hyeon only understood once they arrived home.
A drama.
Studying hard to portray a character...
...But shouldn't a student always be studying?
The obvious thought crossed her mind, but seeing Seo-yeon’s incredibly serious expression, she decided to let it slide. Well, maybe it was a different kind of studying than usual.
Besides, Seo-yeon looks like she’d be good at studying anyway.
She had never asked about Seo-yeon's grades. But didn't everyone have an image or a vibe?
Da-hyeon had never seen Seo-yeon sleep during class. She always watched the teacher with bright, alert eyes, and her posture was so straight and striking that she looked like a model student pulled straight from a textbook.
And what about her notes?
Da-hyeon had caught glimpses of Seo-yeon’s notebook in passing, and she had seen pages beautifully organized with a wide variety of colorful pens.
...It felt a bit like she was putting in unnecessary effort, but Da-hyeon just figured she liked organizing things.
Or so she thought.
However, Da-hyeon’s assumptions were quickly shattered.
"Wait, you don't know this?"
"..."
"What about this?"
"Um."
Seo-yeon stared at the problem with a dead-serious face.
Da-hyeon was deeply shocked by the sight.
She barely knows anything!
Well, thinking about it, it made sense. She rarely attended class in the first place. But still, there was that image of hers.
"Ah, well, your memorization is good."
"Yeah."
That was because she was always memorizing scripts. Seo-yeon almost never messed up her lines. Her memorization skills were top-tier.
Then why are her grades like this with that kind of memory?
The question popped into Da-hyeon's head, but she didn't voice it.
Seo-yeon sensed Da-hyeon’s internal conflict. She spoke up while cautiously reading the room.
"Studying is... something you learn, right?"
"T-That’s right. Exactly!"
Da-hyeon quickly agreed. From the perspective of someone devoted to her studies, it was a bit hard to understand, but Seo-yeon was an actress!
Besides, the Seo-yeon she saw in her acting was truly professional and amazing. So, even if this was a bit flustering, that was all it was.
"This is part of the middle school curriculum, though."
"..."
"Shouldn't you at least know this much?"
Shouldn't you know what you were supposed to learn before becoming an actress?
As Da-hyeon looked at her with those thoughts clear in her eyes, Seo-yeon subtly averted her gaze.
Sure, she was an actress, so maybe it was okay not to know. But there was a limit to how much one could not know.
Under Da-hyeon’s gaze, Seo-yeon had no choice but to take notes like a scolded puppy.
And so...
"And come to think of it, you're good at sports, Seo-yeon."
After being verbally pummeled by Da-hyeon for several hours, Seo-yeon nodded with a pale face at Da-hyeon’s comment, which was meant as a light 'warm-up' for conversation.
Sports?
Of course she was good. No, was "good" even the right word?
Her body, which had been abnormal since she was a child, had now grown to a level that was practically absurd. Honestly, she wasn't even sure of her own limits.
"Then why don't you try joining a club, like a sports team? It helps with your school records, too."
Of course, it wouldn't matter much since she was an actress. But Da-hyeon suggested it, thinking it would be good to try various things.
"I'm already in a sports club."
An E-sports club, that is.
"Oh, really? I figured."
As Da-hyeon nodded, saying she expected as much, Seo-yeon didn't bother specifying exactly what kind of sport it was.
Club activities were helpful in many ways, and Seo-yeon was currently pushing hard on the road to Gold rank, but...
I'm getting a bit bored of it...
She wondered how people could play just one game forever. She heard FPS games were popular lately. She was looking into that.
They said physical mechanics were crucial in FPS games; with her physical stats, wouldn't she be great at it?
"Da—I mean, Class Prez, do you play games?"
"Huh? Games?"
Seo-yeon, who was about to call her 'Da-hyeon,' corrected herself. It might be awkward for the other person if she acted too friendly all of a sudden.
The seventeen-year-old Ju Seo-yeon was a considerate person. It definitely wasn't because she felt awkward herself.
Why did the conversation jump from sports to games?
Da-hyeon wondered, but didn't think much of it. Did Seo-yeon like games?
"I haven't really played any. I've been too busy studying one way or another."
Da-hyeon shook her head. She was always diligent with her studies. Her only other hobbies were watching movies or dramas. In fact, she often felt even that was a luxury, but it was the minimum amount of rest she allowed herself.
She felt that if she looked back on her school days and saw nothing but studying, it would be a bit lonely... That was why she was always the first to volunteer for things like school festivals.
Hearing Da-hyeon’s story, Seo-yeon thought of the characters in Sky Garden.
Lonely, huh.
Among the people Seo-yeon knew, Gil Da-hyeon was the one who most resembled the characters in Sky Garden. At least among the students.
If she had to say, Jo Seo-hee was similar too, but she resembled the high-society parents more than the students.
Anyway, it was true that Seo-yeon’s decision to study with Da-hyeon was partly for her acting. Studying while researching her role—it was truly killing two birds with one stone.
But they're different.
Gil Da-hyeon was different from the characters in Sky Garden.
"Why didn't I go to a different school if I wanted to get into a better university? Well, I could have, but it's far from here."
Da-hyeon said she had two younger siblings. She had told them to go play outside for a bit today since she had to study with Seo-yeon. Since both her parents worked late, someone needed to look after the siblings. That was why Da-hyeon chose a high school close to home.
"You've been an actress since you were little, right, Seo-yeon?"
"Yeah, though I took a break."
"That's amazing. I'm still so far off. But you've already achieved your dream."
To Da-hyeon, the future was vague. She didn't know what she could do by studying; she just worked hard. She just studied diligently. It might be a repetitive action to erase her anxiety.
To someone like that, Seo-yeon looked like a person already moving toward her dream.
Uh, well.
It was true that being an actress was her dream. It was just that she had another goal she wanted to achieve... but she couldn't bring herself to say it. It was hard to mention to someone as diligent as Da-hyeon.
And as she said, she could do it now if she wanted to. Like Ji-yeon.
But she was still hesitating. Honestly, Seo-yeon didn't think she was the type of person who was sharp enough to juggle two things at once. Having only recently returned to acting, if she started something else, she surely wouldn't be able to do it properly.
That was why she kept hesitating. Because she loved it so much, she had to be more careful.
"I think you're amazing too, Class Prez."
"Huh? Oh, um, thanks."
Regardless, Seo-yeon was sincere. And through Da-hyeon, she had learned something about Lee Yu-ju in Sky Garden.
Lee Yu-ju and Da-hyeon were almost nothing alike, except for the category of 'studying hard.'
However, there was definitely a similarity.
Dreams.
Except...
While Da-hyeon simply hadn't found a signpost for what she should do, Lee Yu-ju had followed a predetermined path for so long that she hadn't even thought about what came after.
This was a massive difference.
Da-hyeon made all her decisions herself. Including studying. From what she heard, her parents never forced her to study. It might be because Da-hyeon was naturally diligent and gave them no reason to scold her, but at least that was how it was according to her.
Studying hard.
Coming to Yeonhwa High School.
Everything was her own decision. Therefore, her anxiety about the future was closer to a hesitation because she had to make the choice herself.
But Lee Yu-ju is the exact opposite.
Studying hard.
Entering Taeyang High School.
She was moving entirely along a path set by her parents. But they hadn't told her what to do in the future. They just vaguely said, If you're good at studying, you can become anything.
A doctor, a lawyer.
A successful star tutor.
Or even an entrance exam coordinator or a teacher like her parents.
They told her the possibilities, but none of them appealed to Lee Yu-ju. Because she had studied mechanically, even with her brilliant talent, she suffered from a paralysis of choice.
Therefore, the loathing Lee Yu-ju felt wasn't just toward others.
It's toward herself.
Self-loathing.
A coward who blames her parents' education but ultimately lacks the confidence to decide a single thing for herself. Perhaps that was who Lee Yu-ju hated.
She realized this through Da-hyeon.
The reason Da-hyeon did various things was for the sake of her future. The simple mindset of 'Wouldn't it be lonely if I looked back on my school days and saw nothing but studying?'
But thanks to that simple mindset...
When she looked back at the past later, she would surely remember a happy school life.
But what would Lee Yu-ju remember when she looked back at her past?
Empathy, huh.
It was difficult.
Seo-yeon let out a sigh. It was hard for her to easily empathize with someone like Lee Yu-ju.
It might sound a bit much, but Seo-yeon liked herself quite a lot. To put it simply, her default state was 'I'm pretty, after all.' She was a bit shy, but she liked what she did, what she wanted to do, and what she was doing now.
The roles she wanted to play, the variety shows...
And being a VTuber, too.
There were so many things, and she liked herself for it. Perhaps it was because her past self had been so lacking that she liked the current 'Ju Seo-yeon' even more.
To the positive Seo-yeon, Lee Yu-ju was a character difficult to immerse herself in—in some ways, even more difficult than Cha Seo-ah. She could empathize with Cha Seo-ah because of her past life. But Lee Yu-ju...
"...Still, I think I know how to do it now."
"Know what?"
Seo-yeon muttered to herself after a moment of thought. Da-hyeon looked at her with a puzzled expression.
At those words, Seo-yeon finally looked up and gave a soft smile.
She had learned a lot today, in many ways.
*
The first day of filming for the drama Sky Garden.
A day where autumn felt like summer.
"Autumn is practically gone now."
"I heard it's going to get hotter every year from now on."
"Ah."
Trivial conversations drifted across the set. But they were also conversations meant to distract from anxiety.
"As if we didn't have enough to worry about..."
"Right? It would be nice if they helped us out internally at least."
The staff members glanced at Writer Min Se-hee, who was sitting in a corner of the set. They weren't looking at her to blame her.
Usually, a drama only needs to worry about the other networks' dramas airing in the same time slot. Even that was nerve-wracking enough, but this time, internal politics were involved.
Drama Bureau 1 and Drama Bureau 2.
It wasn't official yet, but this was essentially their first battle. A ratings war between the Monday-Tuesday drama and the Wednesday-Thursday drama. Since both had been assigned prime-time slots, it was a battle of viewership.
The staff couldn't help but be concerned, knowing how much this first skirmish would affect the future power struggle within the drama department.
If our performance falls behind significantly...
There's a high chance one side will essentially be shut down.
Splitting the drama department into two to foster competition. It was an absurd move, but the reasoning was somewhat understandable. It was because KMB’s drama department hadn't produced a proper hit in quite a long time.
The previous-previous director had stepped down.
The former director had ruined several dramas.
It had only been two years since he stepped down and Director Ha Tae-oh took over last year. He had produced decent results and recently hit it big with Dream Future, but word got out that even that wasn't enough...
And that was how the drama department ended up being split.
Of course, that's just the official reason.
Some say it was to make a spot for PD Baek Tae-soo.
Tiring academic cliques.
The staff clicked their tongues. Now that Baek Tae-soo, who had been working behind the scenes, had stepped into the spotlight, it was hard to guess what would happen next.
And that pressure...
"..."
...fell squarely on Writer Min Se-hee, who was present on-site.
...What should I do?
It was rare for a writer to come to the set. But today, she had come in person. It was the first day of filming for the drama she had perfectly envisioned from the start.
Maybe... I pushed too hard.
Min Se-hee was a bit scared. This script reflected a lot of her own intentions. Romance elements were kept to a minimum, and she had written it exactly as she wanted. She had brought over a scenario that was originally intended for a cable channel.
For Min Se-hee, who was essentially on her first major project, the pressure was terrifying.
If the drama fails...
Even if it wasn't entirely her fault, her contribution to the failure would certainly be significant. If that happened, would she be able to continue working at KMB? Would other networks even take her? Was she ultimately just someone suited for cable?
That kind of pressure weighed on her.
"Writer Min Se-hee."
Just then.
"Hello."
She saw a girl bowing politely.
A polite greeting, as always.
Jet-black hair and pale skin. Her beautiful features were especially radiant today. Instead of the Yeonhwa High School uniform she usually wore, she was in the 'Taeyang High School uniform' for the shoot.
That alone made her look like 'Lee Yu-ju' rather than Ju Seo-yeon.
Huh?
Min Se-hee felt it. The atmosphere was subtly different from usual.
Seo-yeon was the type whose aura changed completely once she started acting. But today was a bit different.
Did she feel the gaze? Seo-yeon looked at Min Se-hee and smiled.
"It was a bit difficult, so I went and learned it."
Unlike her usual self, her voice was slightly cynical.
"The solution process."