Chapter 207: As It Is (2)
Chapter 207: As It Is (2)
In her past life, Seo-yeon was someone who couldn't properly recognize emotions.
Joy, sadness, and all those various, complex feelings.
Naturally, that lack of understanding extended to the realm of sexuality as well.
T-this is only rated 15?
Seo-yeon was currently in a state of total culture shock.
When it came to anything sexual, Seo-yeon had been profoundly ignorant since her previous life. It wasn't that she didn't know the mechanics—she knew what she needed to know.
But knowing was one thing; she had never actually gone out of her way to watch anything like this. Even if she did happen to see something, she just watched it with a blank stare; it wasn't as if she could feel anything from it.
At first, she had tried to take an interest in sexual matters like the men around her, but even that had failed. After that, she had completely tuned it out. Even after being reborn, it remained entirely outside her field of interest.
Gyeongseong Lady doesn't have scenes with this high a level of maturity, but still...
Seo-yeon swallowed hard as the parade of flesh on the screen finally came to an end. Instead of the movie's plot, the script for Gyeongseong Lady flashed through her mind.
Fortunately, her character, Kasugayama Yuina, rarely had such scenes. Maybe once or twice at most? And even then, she recalled them being nothing major. Just some hand-holding, a hand brushing over a shoulder, things like that...
Wait.
The drama was definitely for all ages, but depending on the acting, couldn't those parts seem quite suggestive? Watching this movie made her realize that.
I see why Jo Seo-hee wanted to watch this.
It was a film where the emotion of love was revealed with blatant intensity. Even if Seo-yeon didn't understand the feeling, the acting was so clear that even a fool could grasp it.
She felt a bit embarrassed, and her chest felt strangely ticklish. Her fingers and toes twitched restlessly, unable to stay still.
Yet, funnily enough, Seo-yeon found herself focusing intensely on the movie. At some point, she had become completely absorbed.
*
"How was it?"
Exiting the theater, Jo Seo-hee glanced at Seo-yeon as she spoke. She tried to sound confident, but in reality, she was carefully gauging Seo-yeon's reaction.
She had made that blunder last time, and even with a good movie, everyone has different tastes. Based on Seo-hee’s observations so far, the movies Seo-yeon usually watched leaned heavily toward action.
Ironically, the movies and dramas Seo-yeon actually starred in were mostly of the emotional variety. It was quite a contradiction.
"..."
Seo-yeon remained silent. She tossed the remaining popcorn into a trash can and walked quietly beside Seo-hee.
D-did she hate it?
The corners of Seo-hee’s mouth twitched. She had thought this was the perfect movie since Seo-yeon struggled with romantic acting. When Seo-hee first saw it, she had soaked her handkerchief with tears. Even today, seeing it for the second time, her eyes were still misty.
The heart of a woman who watches the person she loves end up with someone else—no, a woman who actually has to help them. Could there be a more appropriate movie?
In a-action movies, romance is just a side plot.
It wasn't good for studying emotional arcs. That’s what she thought, but...
If she says it was boring...
Seo-hee glanced at the posters hanging in the cinema lobby as they walked out. There happened to be a Japanese animated film playing; should she suggest they go see that right now? The characters' outfits were even similar to what Seo-yeon had worn in Japan. Yes, maybe she should hurry and—
"It was good."
"Huh?"
"The m-movie. It was good."
Seo-yeon answered somewhat hesitantly, as if admitting she liked it was embarrassing.
Eh? What’s this? She’s cute.
Seo-hee thought to herself. Seo-yeon was usually quite cool-headed. While she became a bit of a bubbly puppy when filming variety shows, in daily life, she was a composed, beautiful girl whose expression rarely changed.
But right now, Seo-yeon looked... well, she looked like she was experiencing a very complex set of emotions.
I wish she’d stop using formal speech with me, though.
The thought crossed her mind, but since Seo-yeon said she enjoyed it, that was enough. Jo Seo-hee straightened her back and gave a confident laugh.
"Of course it was! Did you think I’d recommend just any old movie?"
"But honestly, there were parts I didn't understand."
Saying she enjoyed the movie wasn't just empty talk. Seo-yeon generally enjoyed most movies. In the past, she had watched even more boring films as part of her training for emotional acting.
That hadn't changed much, but the important thing was that the range of emotions she could feel for herself had increased.
I should watch this movie again by myself later.
It wasn't because she was bothered by the love scenes. Really.
"I know she likes the male lead, but I honestly don't understand why the protagonist made that choice."
Seo-yeon began to share her thoughts on the film. What bothered her, what she liked—it was a very standard movie review.
This made Seo-hee feel much better. Yes, this was it. The real joy of watching a movie was exchanging thoughts afterward.
"I didn't understand why Si-young acted that way even though she knew she wasn't the one he chose."
Si-young was the heroine in the film who harbored an unrequited love for the protagonist. In the love triangle, she was the first to confess. However, the protagonist rejected her because he already loved another woman.
"Isn't it common sense to stop once you've been rejected? Honestly, it felt like she was being too pathetic..."
"Don't you dare say that in front of Ye-hee Sunbae. Got it?"
Reality is often stranger than fiction. In the movie, Yoon Si-young spent four years pining after the protagonist. Everyone thought four years was an incredibly long time, but...
Ye-hee Sunbae has been at it for twenty years.
If Ye-hee had seen this, she might have scoffed, wondering why the girl was acting so tragic over a mere four years. However, in Seo-hee’s opinion, four years was plenty; twenty years was just going too far. Honestly, if she were the recipient of that kind of unrequited love, she’d find it a little scary.
"But I guess it just shows how much she loved him. Kasugayama Yuina, the role you're playing this time, isn't much different."
"Yuina leaves even though she could have stayed, right?"
"Her heart stays behind. It's only her body that leaves."
Kasugayama Yuina is a villainess. Naturally, she is the one who stands in the way of the love between the protagonists, Yeon Seon-ye and Amanabi Michiko. At the same time, she is a romantic rival.
In the ending, Yeon Seon-ye and Amanabi Michiko move to Japan to live together. Yuina also returns to the mainland, but she does not join them. Even though Yeon Seon-ye reached out to her at the very end.
"She has her pride. And she steps back because she wants Yeon Seon-ye to be truly happy."
In a way, she was similar to Ye-hee. Ye-hee had moved to Seoul as soon as she was rejected by Seo-yeon’s father, Young-bin. She probably felt her heart drifting and wanted a fresh start, but Ye-hee still hadn't let go of those feelings. She had lived her life with her time frozen in the brightest moment of her youth.
I suppose Yuina is the same.
Thinking about the drama and Ye-hee’s situation, Seo-yeon fell into deep thought.
Love seemed more complicated than she thought, and it wasn't always a good thing. Most people think of love as something beautiful that shines like a star. But love has many forms, and there is also love that is cloying and accompanied by deep pain.
Yuina must have been the latter.
I think I might understand a little.
Maybe she could find out more if she asked Ye-hee the next time they met. Of course, whether she could actually pull off the acting herself was something she’d only know once she tried. She could guess the emotional arc, but executing it was a different matter entirely.
"Thank you for showing me the movie today. It was a big help."
"Huh? What? Are we saying goodbye here?"
"Pardon?"
"There's no way we're just ending things after a movie!"
Seo-yeon stared blankly at Seo-hee. What else were they supposed to do?
"Hmph, didn't you say before that you wanted to go shopping with me after seeing me go with Lee Ji-yeon?"
"I did say that, but..."
That was under the assumption that Lee Ji-yeon would be there too, not just the two of them.
The self-proclaimed friend. No, Jo Seo-hee felt like she had moved up a bit from that rank now. Honestly, Seo-yeon did think of her as a friend, but actually calling her that felt a bit annoying.
Of course, Seo-yeon was broad-minded, so it definitely wasn't because Jo Seo-hee had called her a "parachute" when they were kids. It was just that Seo-hee had a tendency to subtly betray her or play tricks, and Seo-yeon wasn't sure if it was intentional or not.
"I bought too many clothes in Japan, so..."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, Seo-yeon had recently been to Japan. She had supposedly done quite a bit of shopping there. If she bought that much, she certainly wouldn't need anything right now.
"T-then..."
Seo-hee hurriedly looked around. Since they were in a busy district, there were plenty of places to go nearby.
A cosmetics store... would probably be pointless. Same for clothes...
The things Seo-yeon was interested in were usually things men liked. Lee Ji-yeon had mentioned that even if you took her to a cosmetics store, she had no idea what to buy.
How can her skin be that good when she barely takes care of it?
The world was so unfair. Jo Seo-hee was also exceptionally beautiful, but that was the result of desperate maintenance! Yet Seo-yeon’s entire routine consisted of just lotion and toner... or so she heard.
Ever since she filmed the ad for éclat Étoile, she’s only been using their products.
Since she didn't know what to buy, she just kept using the éclat Étoile products she got for free. Thanks to that, éclat Étoile's sales were skyrocketing every day. Seo-yeon, who had no intention of looking for other cosmetics, was always wearing éclat Étoile. She was practically a walking billboard for the brand.
Compared to the amount they paid her, she was the ultimate bargain. It was no wonder other advertisers were drooling over her.
"D-do you... want to play some games? There's an arcade near here."
"An arcade?"
Seo-yeon’s interest was piqued. At the same time, she realized Seo-hee was being considerate of her.
Does she think I hate shopping?
In the past, that would have been true. The rebellious Ju Seo-yeon would have thought: Makeup? Why bother? What’s fun about shopping? I’d rather spend that time exercising. That was the general vibe.
So, even though Lee Ji-yeon knew things were different now, she didn't usually call Seo-yeon when she went shopping.
"You're good at games, right, Seo-yeon? I've been playing all sorts of games lately too. They're surprisingly helpful."
As Seo-yeon was thinking, Jo Seo-hee smiled softly and said those words.
Was she good at games? Actually, there was no need to even ask.
"Yes, I'm good."
Seo-yeon took great pride in her gaming skills. To the point where she didn't doubt for a second that she would win at whatever they played. Jo Seo-hee looked like she had never even stepped foot in an arcade before.
"Fighting games are perfect for playing together."
"I guess so. But I've never played this before, is that okay?"
"It's fine, I'll teach you."
Seo-yeon thumped her chest quite confidently.
Of course, you learn fighting games by getting beaten up.
Seo-yeon sat across from Seo-hee and inserted a coin. But there was one thing Seo-yeon had forgotten.
The VTuber 'Alice' that Seo-hee played was a variety game streamer. And recently, she had become quite famous for her gaming skills.
"Um, Seo-yeon."
"..."
"Should we... go somewhere else?"
"No, the match isn't over yet."
The match ended a long time ago, though...
Jo Seo-hee couldn't bring herself to say it. Ju Seo-yeon, who had confidently claimed she would teach her, had been utterly crushed by Jo Seo-hee in just five rounds.
What is this absurdity?
Seo-yeon definitely had the advantage in the first and second rounds. But from the third round on, the situation changed. For the record, Seo-yeon actually was quite good at fighting games. With her kinetic vision, she could react to the opponent's attacks on sight.
However...
It was always Seo-yeon who ended up getting pummeled.
"You can't just react to what you see; you have to memorize the frames."
"?"
"You didn't know? I mean, you don't have to, but..."
Her reactions were so fast, though.
Seeing Seo-yeon's reaction speed, Seo-hee had naturally assumed she had the frame data memorized. The basics of fighting games involved identifying the opponent's attack by its startup animation and then calculating the frames of that attack to land a counter.
But Seo-yeon was different. It was as if she was seeing and hitting simultaneously.
I wonder if that's even possible...
But if it was Seo-yeon, it felt like it might be. Honestly, that alone was threatening enough that Seo-yeon's claim of being good at games wasn't a lie.
I should have just suggested shopping.
Seo-hee looked like she was about to cry. Because after that, Seo-yeon lost two more times in a row.
The buttons here are weird.
For a moment, Seo-yeon almost ripped the joystick out of the machine.
I'd rather just go in there and fight myself.
She was frustrated enough to actually think that.
"One more round."
"D-do you want to? But haven't you been saying that for the last ten rounds?"
"This is the real last one."
She meant it. She was finally getting used to the moves Seo-hee was using. Of course, she still didn't know the frames.
It can't be helped. I'll just spam light punches.
The fastest attack. No matter what attack the opponent used, it couldn't be faster than a light punch—a jab, so to speak. It was a tactic she hadn't used because it felt cheap, but she couldn't afford to lose here.
Just as she decided to pummel her opponent with jabs...
"Oh, what's this? Isn't that Jo Seo-hee?"
A strangely familiar male voice reached her ears. Wondering what was going on, Seo-yeon peeked her head out from behind the arcade cabinet.
The 'Idol on Meds'?
It was Low, the leader of JustX. He was waving at Jo Seo-hee with a bright, welcoming face.