Chapter 50: Rising Star (5)
Chapter 50: Rising Star (5)
The Moon That Hides the Sun.
A masterpiece that aired ten years ago, surpassing a 40% viewership rating and leaving a massive cultural footprint.
That year, nearly every acting award went to the cast of The Moon That Hides the Sun.
But that was ten years ago.
Now, it was a drama remembered only by those chasing the nostalgia of the past.
And yet.
“…….”
Kang Se-hyun, who played the role of ‘Alex’ in the play Under Snitch, could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“Wow, look at this. This is insane.”
“Ju Seo-yeon? Did she just mention Close Your Eyes?”
“Is this for real?”
The actors and staff were all buzzing.
But their voices didn't reach Kang Se-hyun’s ears. He was staring blankly at the variety show playing on his phone screen.
「Seo-il, you’ve truly… grown beyond recognition.」
「I was about to say the same to you.」
A young man who had grown tall.
And a girl who had blossomed beautifully.
The gray-tinted nostalgia of the past was being recolored, blooming vividly before his eyes. It was hard to believe the background was just a clumsy set made of paper.
「Shall we walk for a bit? It’s been a long time, Seo-il.」
「As you wish, Your Highness.」
「Mmm, for now… you may call me Hye-wol.」
「Pardon? What are you saying…」
「Seo-il, I’ll be hurt if you speak like that. Not after everything we’ve been through.」
Hye-wol’s playful, soft smile was so beautiful it drew an involuntary gasp. The high school students in uniforms visible in the periphery didn't matter at all.
Everyone watching this broadcast likely felt the same.
Park Jung-woo.
An acting genius said to have inherited his father’s talent from a young age. His acting skills were legendary; he was known for almost never causing an NG himself during filming.
Aura.
He was someone born with the innate sparkle required to be a star. It made sense that he commanded such attention.
But.
‘Ju Seo-yeon.’
The one who truly captured Kang Se-hyun’s eyes was Ju Seo-yeon.
The child actress making a dramatic return after ten years. Her narrative struck a chord in everyone’s hearts, and her acting?
She wasn't being pushed back by Park Jung-woo at all.
No, in this specific setting, she was actually better. It was as if he were watching a play rather than a drama.
In fact, Seo-yeon’s movements were closer to theater than television.
That was why it felt so natural. If her partner hadn't been someone of Park Jung-woo’s caliber, they wouldn't have been able to keep up with her.
‘She’s this good?’
She had taken a scene from a drama and adapted it into a play on the fly in a school auditorium.
The reason the show Looking at the Past and Memories had failed was, in a way, because it obsessed over ‘drama-style acting.’ Reenacting a famous drama scene at a school usually felt flat.
The actors’ skills.
The filming methods.
Everything was worlds apart from an actual drama set.
Ju Seo-yeon knew this. So, she turned it into a play.
‘And she used the students around her, too.’
The Yeonhwa High School Theater Club was known for being quite skilled. But because reenacting a drama is different from staging a play, their talents hadn't stood out before.
However, as Seo-yeon naturally led the performance, the students’ movements and blocking became natural as well.
A single actor leading the entire play.
Even with Park Jung-woo’s support, the level of realism was almost surreal.
“This is crazy.”
Every actor watching the show agreed with that sentiment. The students in the auditorium, who had initially looked bored, were now completely immersed in the performance.
They were spellbound until the moment the reenactment of Episode 8 came to an end.
“Seh-hyun.”
“……Yeah.”
A fellow actor standing beside him spoke up.
“Don’t you think… we might be in trouble?”
“…….”
Of course, tickets were limited, so their play wouldn't fail. That was a given.
But.
‘The specter of the past…’
It was clear that all the attention Under Snitch should have received was being siphoned away by Close Your Eyes. For Kang Se-hyun, who was supposed to use this as a springboard to soar, it was a living nightmare.
A strange sense of anxiety tightened around his throat.
*
“……Seo-hee?”
Shin Yu-kyung, Jo Seo-hee’s manager, looked at Jo Seo-hee, who was staring intensely at her smartphone with a hardened expression. If looks could kill, the phone would have been reduced to ash.
“Ha.”
Jo Seo-hee, who would usually be sitting languidly in the van, looked more energized than ever.
It was only natural.
She was watching the variety show on her phone. She hadn't been able to watch it live, of course. She hadn't even been interested.
But after hearing the ‘rumors,’ she had checked the content late.
“So you’ve finally come.”
Park Jung-woo? She didn't care about him. He was a man she had crossed paths with many times. In the past, she might have been overwhelmingly outmatched by him, but not anymore.
The ‘Princess of Daily Dramas’ was gone.
She now stood tall as the actress Jo Seo-hee, and her position was as solid as Park Jung-woo’s. Though her desire to one day act alongside him and crush him remained.
“Ju Seo-yeon.”
The girl who had handed her a defeat.
That girl had reappeared—and in the most spectacular fashion. Like the protagonist of a drama.
Not only was she showing her face for the first time in ten years, but she had also reenacted the controversial Episode 8 with Park Jung-woo. She had seized everyone’s attention and become the talk of the town in an instant.
‘She’s gotten much, much better.’
Technically, and in terms of acting.
In the past, Ju Seo-yeon was Princess Yeonhwa herself. But that was due to the specific nature of her acting back then. Behind the scenes, her actual acting fundamentals had been those of a novice.
But what about now?
“The tickets for the play. You got them, right?”
“Huh? Oh, y-yes! Of course!”
The agency staff had practically gone to war to secure those tickets. That was how insane the hype for the play Close Your Eyes had become.
It wasn't that she looked down on theater, but it was rare for a play to be on everyone’s lips like this. Some people were even saying they were going to watch a play for the first time because of Close Your Eyes.
Because of that, there were even rumors that regular theater fans were being forced to change venues because they couldn't get tickets.
The impact brought about by a single actor.
The theater world was currently buzzing, eager to ride this momentum and expand the market even a little bit.
“Unni. How many scripts have come in for me?”
“Well, a lot. Quite a lot, actually.”
“I’ll have to look through them all.”
The play Close Your Eyes.
Jo Seo-hee wanted to see Seo-yeon’s acting there with her own eyes. The acting she showed on the variety show… surely, the real thing would be even better.
Jo Seo-hee gave a sharp smile.
If Seo-yeon had appeared exactly as she was in the past, she would have been disappointed.
She’s incredible. I can’t take my eyes off her.
Jo Seo-hee thought as she watched every bit of Seo-yeon’s performance. After replaying the clips several times, she slowly turned off her phone.
“I don’t think I can take a break from filming.”
Though, she would make sure to see Close Your Eyes first.
Jo Seo-hee looked out the van window at the tall buildings. A cosmetics ad featuring her face passed by. Other various advertisements caught her eye as well.
That girl… she’ll have her face up there in no time.
Just thinking about it made Jo Seo-hee incredibly excited.
For her reunion with Ju Seo-yeon.
*
“Alright, it’s been decided! We’re moving to a larger hall!”
“Wait, really? Is that even possible?”
“It’s a decision from the higher-ups. They say the ripple effect this time is no joke.”
The number of people entering the world of theater for the first time through Close Your Eyes was staggering. As if to prove it, the tickets that opened a week ago sold out in just a few minutes.
It was announced that it took 30 minutes, but in reality, it was much faster. It was unheard of for play tickets to sell out that quickly. Usually, the audience was predominantly female, but this was different. The gender ratio was almost fifty-fifty, and the age range was diverse.
Of course, most were audience members drawn in by the hype Seo-yeon had generated, but even if they only retained a small fraction of them, it would be a huge win. If they could make people feel the charm of theater, that was enough.
“They’re opening the second round of reservations soon. The venue will be the Jongno Grand Theater, the one Under Snitch was supposed to use.”
“Pardon?”
At Jo Do-yul’s words, Shim Cheong-seok thought he had misheard for a moment.
“The one for Under Snitch?”
“Yes. You know it, right? Oh, of course, they aren't being moved to a tiny hall or anything. It’ll be a bit smaller than what they had, but given the timing and location, they judged the theater Under Snitch was going to use to be better for us.”
“Is… is that even allowed?”
Jo Do-yul shrugged at Shim Cheong-seok’s question. It was a first for him as well. A very exceptional case.
Perhaps it was possible because Under Snitch was scheduled to open a few weeks later than Close Your Eyes.
“Wow, is this what a real star is? I can’t even tease her anymore.”
“Oh, by the way, where did Seo-yeon go? I heard she came in today.”
At Jo Do-yul’s question, Shim Cheong-seok glanced toward a certain direction.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I heard a welcome guest came to see her.”
“A welcome guest?”
Given the situation, they had to be extremely careful about Seo-yeon’s safety. The area around the theater was already crawling with reporters.
“Well, she’ll be fine. That girl… she’s stronger than me.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that…”
“It’s true, I’m telling you.”
Shim Cheong-seok recalled the arm-wrestling match he’d had with Seo-yeon for fun a while ago. Just thinking about it made his arm ache. It felt like he’d been arm-wrestling a gorilla.
“Anyway.”
Shim Cheong-seok thought to himself.
He knew an actor had the power to draw an audience. He thought he would see that power in full effect this time, but…
“She always exceeds expectations.”
Even Shim Cheong-seok hadn't anticipated it would go this far.
*
“Is there a specific reason you suddenly decided to make a comeback?”
A woman with short hair, dressed in a neat suit, asked the girl sitting across from her.
Long black hair and brownish eyes with a hint of red.
Ju Seo-yeon, the girl who had become the center of a massive buzz, was sitting in a chair, conducting an interview with the woman. Since Seo-yeon had turned down every interview request until now, this was a very special occasion.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I just hadn't found the right role yet.”
“A role for your comeback, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Then was this variety show appearance also planned in advance?”
Seo-yeon shook her head at the woman’s question.
“A friend helped me with that. Originally, my friend was supposed to play Princess Yeonhwa.”
“So, she gave up her role for you, Actress Ju.”
“Yes.”
“That couldn't have been an easy choice. You must have a very good friend. That actress is surely…”
“Lee Ji-yeon. She’s been appearing on cable lately…”
Usually, internet reporters tend to write whatever they want. But Seo-yeon trusted the woman in front of her. She had a reason to.
“I’m sure many fans have been waiting for your return. Would you like to say a word to them?”
The woman asked with a smile. Seo-yeon smiled back.
“Yes.”
Answering simply, Seo-yeon unfolded a white cloth she held in her hand. It was something she had just received from the woman.
It was a white piece of clothing, slightly worn. Old, but kept very clean.
“……For all this time.”
On the clothing, the name ‘Ju Seo-yeon’ was written in somewhat clumsy handwriting. It was familiar.
Seo-yeon’s first autograph. She never imagined she would see it again.
“Thank you for waiting.”
Seo-yeon’s first fan.
At those words, the short-haired woman dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.
Han Seon-ah.
The girl who had grown up to become a reporter was now facing Seo-yeon.
“I’ll write a wonderful article for you.”
“Yes. I trust you.”
Han Seon-ah nodded at the word ‘trust.’ She carefully tucked away the clothing she had shown Seo-yeon. This piece of clothing was a treasure that had supported her whenever times were tough.
“Ah.”
Seo-yeon asked as if something had just occurred to her.
“By any chance, do you know what the headline will be?”
“Of course.”
Seon-ah told Seo-yeon the headline she had been thinking of for a long time. A title she had kept in her heart while waiting for Seo-yeon’s return.
“Rising Star.”
A term referring to a star currently ascending, or one who will shine in the future. It was a tribute to the star Seon-ah had been waiting for since long ago.
<Rising Star, Ju Seo-yeon. She’s Back.>
Seon-ah’s article rose to the top of the entertainment news section. It garnered the most comments and sparked the most discussion.
And then, two weeks later.
“Alright, everyone, stay in line!”
“Scalping is prohibited! You must verify your ID!”
The play Close Your Eyes.
Amidst the attention of countless people, the curtain finally rose.