Chapter 172: A Young Dream (5)
Chapter 172: A Young Dream (5)
The video of Seo-yeon participating in the street event spread literally in an instant.
It first popped up as a YouTube Short, and then snippets began circulating through various online communities.
It seemed like she had participated because her younger sister wanted the toy.
At first, there were many claims that it was media play orchestrated by the company that planned the event, or that it was staged.
Seo-yeon had appeared on screen acting many times.
Even during the filming of Dream Future, several clips had circulated because it was shot outdoors.
Back then, even when performing embarrassing scenes, Seo-yeon’s expression had never wavered.
But now, the emotion of embarrassment was vividly conveyed to anyone watching.
In other words, the emotional delivery that was always Seo-yeon’s greatest strength made the audience feel that embarrassment clearly this time.
Suddenly, the event coordinators were summoned to the head office to explain the situation.
Loop Entertainment, which owned the Magical Girl Harara production team, quickly uploaded the related video to the company’s YouTube channel.
This entire process took place in just three days.
It was literally a flash.
"What about a toy commercial with actress Ju Seo-yeon and her sister?"
"Ah, I’ve already reached out to them."
The fact that they had already made contact for a new commercial showed just how fast their response was—a clear indicator of why they were currently leading the industry.
Of course, the person receiving that news...
"What do you think, Seo-yeon? Since you’ve already done it once, couldn't you just do it again?!"
"……."
Seo-yeon hung her head as she watched the YouTube Short, which was currently approaching 5 million views.
The image improvement she had longed for so much.
She never imagined it would happen so hollowly.
I guess improving your image isn't something that happens just because you aim for it.
Still, it was true that things had improved thanks to her previous efforts.
However, it had never been as dramatic as this.
To the public, the actress Ju Seo-yeon was still somewhat unfamiliar.
The perception of her as an actress specializing in villainous roles was strong.
No matter how well she played Jo Ha-rin in Dream Future, people ultimately defined an actress's image by her most memorable role.
Of course, some who saw Dream Future first remembered her as the actress who played Jo Ha-rin.
But Jo Ha-rin’s screen time was, after all...
Thinking back, I really have played a lot of intense roles.
Lee Yu-ju wasn't a murderer, but so far, she wasn't exactly a character who gave off a "good" impression either.
Regardless, Lee Yu-ju’s popularity was quite high.
Many viewers watched her with bated breath because she was a victim of her parents' forced education since childhood, and she constantly showed a creaking, imperfect side of herself.
Like a time bomb.
And first of all, her personal abilities are incredible.
In the story, no character surpassed Lee Yu-ju in talent.
Yet, despite having such great ability, Lee Yu-ju was an incomplete protagonist.
Mainly in a psychological sense.
It was constantly mentioned in the script that Lee Yu-ju was not the type to have a strong mental state.
Anyway.
Lee Yu-ju was Lee Yu-ju.
The problem was the immediate issue of Magical Girl Harara.
"What do you think? Want to do it? If you do a toy commercial, your image among mothers will improve!"
"It’s a toy promotion, though?"
Magical Girl Harara. When she looked it up later, she found out there were so many types of transformations that people called it "Bankrupt Girl Harara."
Its popularity was currently widespread, not just among young children but even middle schoolers.
The character designs were so well-done that even some adults liked them.
"Oh, they're just joking."
Was that so?
However, it wasn't a decision she could make alone, as the offer hadn't just come to her.
It was for her younger sister, Ju Su-yeon, as well.
So, she went home and tentatively brought it up.
"I want to do it!!!!!"
Seo-yeon covered both ears at the shout that was almost a scream.
Since Seo-yeon had a sturdy body but sensitive senses, she felt like her eardrums were going to burst from the sudden loud noise.
"I want to be on TV with Unnie!! Me, me, me, me!!"
Of course, her eardrums weren't so weak that they’d actually burst from that.
"Oh, Su-yeon got a commercial offer?"
"Yes, it seems so."
Sua was just laughing, seemingly finding this whole situation amusing.
Even though Mom turned down all the commercial offers that came her way.
She could have done at least one, but she refused, saying she might die if she stood out too much to people.
But since Su-yeon kept saying she wanted to see her mom on TV, the possibility hadn't completely vanished yet.
Sua was putting it off as if it were a hassle, but an atmosphere was forming where it felt like she had to do at least one.
"The reaction is good this time. Why don't you try it? You liked similar things when you were little, Seo-yeon."
"Th-that’s true, but..."
Back then, didn't every young girl naturally play with toys like that?
She felt like she had played with them with that thought in mind at first.
Because she had to make sure she didn't look strange to her parents.
But thinking back, I think I might have actually liked them.
Back then, she couldn't grasp her own emotions well, so she didn't know exactly what her heart and thoughts were.
But considering how she used to play with them by herself, she felt like she had secretly taken a liking to them.
She had simply deceived herself with the obsession that she 'mustn't look strange to others.'
"……By the way, Mom, what are you doing?"
"Hmm?"
Sua was currently in the living room organizing something with Su-yeon.
They were very old items.
Among them were things related to Seo-yeon.
Mostly clothes she wore when she was little, or toys.
And there were even older things.
Worn-out CDs, photo albums, and the like.
"Just, watching variety shows lately made me think of some things."
By variety shows, she definitely meant Masked Singer.
Sua wasn't the type to watch many variety shows in the first place.
Recently, Sua had been showing strange signs.
Staring blankly into space.
Or looking up videos related to Masked Singer for no reason.
"What’s this CD?"
Seo-yeon pointed to a particularly eye-catching CD.
CDs were items you hardly saw anymore, and it didn't look like something sold commercially.
Seeing it, Sua smiled and said, "It’s a game CD."
"A game CD?"
Even though it doesn't have a title?
"The very first game CD your dad and I made. Ah, of course, friends from our club helped us make it too."
Ah, so this was that game.
Her dad, Young-bin, always bragged about it.
How he won a prize in a big competition with a game he made in high school.
And how that career was recognized, leading him to be scouted by a game company.
It was a story that came out every time he came home after drinking, so Seo-yeon practically had it memorized by now.
"I’d ask if you want to try it, but there’s no way to play CD games anymore."
"That’s true."
Modern computers didn't even have CD drives.
The only things that could read these CDs would be old game consoles.
"And this?"
"Ah, this is from high school……. The album that got me involved with your dad."
"An album? It has a manga title on it."
"Back then, imported manga would be released as albums with Korean songs attached like this."
"It wasn't on public broadcast, right?"
"Right, it was on cable."
Sua laughed bashfully as she said that.
"Back then, Mom actually only knew the Japanese version of that manga’s OST……. Your dad said the song for that manga was good, so I thought he meant the original. I played the Japanese song for him, but…… ahem. Let’s stop here."
But she found out much later that what Young-bin was talking about was the remake OST from Korea.
Mom used to be an otaku.
Well, you could tell just by looking at her drawing style.
She just didn't make it obvious to Seo-yeon.
And after becoming an adult, she didn't seem to watch things like that anymore.
A manga OST.
The title Sua pointed to was one that Seo-yeon felt she had heard somewhere before.
Perhaps it was a famous song that had been remade and released on the market.
"You know, Mom’s dream was to make games. In that sense, I achieved my dream back then."
"Why didn't you go to a company like Dad?"
"Because then I wouldn't be able to make what I want to make."
Sua said, smiling like a child.
"I’ve taken freelance work as a programmer and helped your dad with planning…… but that’s not really related to my dream."
Since she had two daughters, she didn't have much leeway to hold a regular job anyway.
Sua was the type who believed children needed their parents.
Her philosophy was to talk as much as possible and spend time together.
"Of course, your dad was a bit different."
Building a career, raising his profile.
He wanted to become independent once the conditions were right and achieve his childhood dream whenever he could.
"I asked you before, didn't I?"
Sua said, feeling Seo-yeon’s gaze on her.
"That it seemed like you wanted to do something else when you were little."
"……Did it look that way?"
"Because you didn't seem very interested in acting, for the most part."
If you keep watching Seo-yeon, you can't help but know.
Where the direction of Seo-yeon’s efforts was headed.
And where her interests lay.
Sua couldn't know exactly what it was, but she knew at least that it wasn't acting.
At least, not at first.
"Now, I think you’re serious about acting too. I think it’s been that way since you finished filming The Moon That Hides the Sun."
That was true.
The moment Seo-yeon decided to become a 'great actress' was around then.
"But you haven't given up on what you wanted to do before, have you?"
"That’s……."
She wanted to say no, but Seo-yeon couldn't bring herself to speak easily.
She really hadn't given up.
But it felt like something was holding her back.
"Why did you start working so hard at acting in the first place, Seo-yeon?"
"……."
Sua smiled at Seo-yeon, who couldn't answer.
"I’m sure that’s why you’re hesitating."
The reason Seo-yeon became serious about acting.
The motivation behind her decision to become a great actress.
"Since you were little, you were never the type to procrastinate."
The type who must finish one thing before moving on to the next.
Seo-yeon was that kind of child.
"Your childhood dream that you absolutely must achieve."
Of course, the thing she had to finish wasn't 'acting.'
It was likely something else.
Sua was certain that Seo-yeon had something like that.
What it was, even she, as her mother, didn't know.
*
Even after Episode 6 of Sky Garden aired, the viewership ratings didn't change much.
Grand Game was still more popular, and online communities were still only talking about that show.
However, starting from the point when Episode 4 of Sky Garden aired, Adiz’s chair commercials began in earnest.
Episode 4 contained scenes of the protagonists, Lee Yu-ju and Lee Min-seo, studying hard for their exams.
The chairs they used while studying were from Adiz.
Such talk was trickling out here and there.
There wasn't a big buzz yet.
That was because Sky Garden hadn't become a hot topic to that extent yet.
"Seo-yeon? Are you tired today?"
"Pardon?"
"Your acting seems a bit lacking in energy today."
Was it?
Seo-yeon tilted her head at Director Kim Il-soo’s words, but she thought it might be true.
"Go home and rest after today’s shoot. It’s going to get tough from the next one."
"Yes."
Once filming for Episode 10 begins, there will be more outdoor shoots.
And that is the point where Lee Yu-ju begins to truly waver.
It’s the starting point where the incidents begin to unfold in earnest.
A childhood dream…….
Seo-yeon returned home and watched Sky Garden from the beginning by herself.
The character Lee Yu-ju was very one-dimensional.
It wasn't that Seo-yeon acted her that way; she was designed that way from the start.
After all, Lee Yu-ju’s way of acting was ultimately just mimicking her father’s words.
Even if she denied it, the viewers watching knew.
In the end, Lee Yu-ju was a character who only spoke and acted exactly like her father.
A child who hadn't even found what she wanted to do herself.
An immature child.
That was the character Lee Yu-ju.
An actress.
Perhaps, in the sense that everything started with her parents' suggestion, Lee Yu-ju and Ju Seo-yeon were similar.
They were also the same in that they chose that path using that suggestion as a catalyst.
But they were clearly different.
For Lee Yu-ju, it was because 'that was all there was.'
But Ju Seo-yeon had something else she wanted to do.
Then, why did she feel she had to do acting first?
Actually, I’ve known vaguely.
The child she met this time, Han Yu-na.
A child with a name similar to her own in her past life.
Their ages were different, and the environments they grew up in were different.
Unlike herself, who had received harsh education from her parents since she was young, Han Yu-na was happy.
She had no problems with her emotions; she was just a pretty and cute child.
Seo-yeon didn't feel any negative emotions about that.
Rather, she just thought it was a relief.
However.
Thanks to that, there was something she realized.
What she had told writer Min Se-hee this time was one of those threads.
And what Seo-yeon wanted to do in the future.
The thing she must do before achieving her childhood dream.
Acting is the only channel of communication.
Perhaps she wanted to show them.
No, she definitely did.
By becoming a famous actress.
By becoming a great actress that everyone knows, her parents from her past life would see her.
So…….
"I made a bit of a mistake in Lee Yu-ju’s acting."
After rewatching the drama several times, Seo-yeon realized it.
There had been parts of her portrayal of Lee Yu-ju that felt slightly lacking.
It felt like she had finally realized why today.
Because, in a sense, Lee Yu-ju was a character who clearly resembled her.