Chapter 86: Lead and Supporting Roles (3)
Chapter 86: Lead and Supporting Roles (3)
To be clear, the reason Seo-yeon learned to dance was one of the rare instances that had nothing to do with being a VTuber.
Immediately after receiving her award, Seo-yeon had been forced into a hiatus from acting, leaving her moping for quite some time. She had suddenly been cut off from the work that, for better or worse, had come to occupy a massive part of her heart.
"I think Seo-yeon is really depressed."
Naturally, Sua was worried sick.
Young-bin gave it some serious thought before offering a suggestion.
"Well, you know. Maybe we should just shower her with praise so she can find interest in something else?"
"Do you really think that'll work?"
Sua scolded Young-bin for the suggestion, but since they didn't have any better ideas, she started enthusiastically praising Seo-yeon every morning while she did her stretches.
"Seo-yeon, looking at the way you move, you must have a great sense of rhythm!"
"Really?"
"I bet you'd be great if you learned how to dance!"
Seo-yeon’s ears perked up.
In truth, Seo-yeon’s sense of rhythm was quite remarkable. Since she was generally good at anything involving physical movement, she picked up dancing at an incredible speed.
"Oh my, look at you go! You're so good!"
Sua kept clapping for her without much thought, and Seo-yeon, getting swept up in the excitement, began to practice dancing quite diligently.
"Uh, Seo-yeon. You're really good, but... isn't this a bit much?"
"You praised her too much."
Of course, that was the eventual conclusion they reached.
Regardless.
Seo-yeon was fairly confident in her dancing. For starters, unlike singing, dance required far fewer emotional elements. It was pure physical ability.
And skill was everything.
While finding the rhythm was important, as mentioned, Seo-yeon wasn't exactly rhythmically challenged. The reason she couldn't sing was that she couldn't properly imbue the song with emotion. It wasn't that she was bad at it, but rather that it felt similar to her emotional mimicry—it risked falling into the uncanny valley and making people uncomfortable.
First.
Seo-yeon closed her eyes as the accompaniment began. It was the audition music provided in advance—a song by a certain singer. This singer would later go on to perform an insert song for Dream Future.
I can't just do any random dance.
It was a dance, but also an extension of acting. She had to demonstrate that clearly to the judges.
In the script, Jo Ha-rin was a bubbly, vivacious character. Because of that, she was portrayed as someone with a real knack for dancing. Naturally, Seo-yeon had already put a fair amount of thought into her routine.
Start with some light hip-hop.
It was the most common, mainstream style of dance. It was the kind of thing the general public found "cool." She could do b-boying, but that would be overkill. It didn't fit the character concept in the first place.
Still.
One move should be fine.
She opened her eyes.
Seo-yeon’s red eyes locked onto the judges. Exhaling slowly, her lips curled into a smirk.
Thump.
With the beat, Seo-yeon’s feet began to move. Her legs naturally spread to shoulder width as one foot stepped forward.
"Oh..."
The first exclamation came from Shin Yoon, the casting director. Perhaps it was because the singing had been so mediocre, but the dance felt even more impressive.
Her limbs are so long that the dance looks incredibly sharp and fluid.
Of course, he wasn't a dance expert. He was merely evaluating her from the perspective of an audience member. But even to an average viewer, Seo-yeon’s dancing was exceptionally crisp.
At the same time...
Her expression.
He realized a moment later that Seo-yeon was acting simultaneously.
This is the scene where Jo Ha-rin dances on the street.
The other judges soon noticed as well. It wasn't just because of the dance or Seo-yeon’s bright expression.
Her gaze.
Park Jung-woo carefully observed the movement of Seo-yeon’s eyes. Her gaze, which he thought had been fixed on the judges, swept around in a full circle as she spun, attempting eye contact with a full 360-degree range.
The audience.
She was imagining an audience surrounding her in a circle. When Jo Ha-rin dances on the street, she is performing street dance for the spectators watching her. Seo-yeon’s movements were calculated with that in mind.
Her stride was contained. The movements of her limbs stopped abruptly at certain points, as if defining the space allotted to her. It was as if the space itself became visible.
It felt as though the audition room had vanished, replaced by a street where a crowd was gathered to watch her.
As the song reached its climax, Seo-yeon’s body dropped low.
"Whoa!"
Someone let out a startled cry. She had transitioned naturally from hip-hop into breaking.
With the final, intense beat, Seo-yeon’s body spun. Fast. Incredibly fast.
A windmill.
In other words, breaking. It was one of the most fundamental moves in what is commonly called b-boying. It was also the breaking move most familiar to the public. However, no matter how fundamental it was, it was difficult for a layperson to pull off, and without proper training, it would only look clumsy.
Because her limbs were so long, the judges found themselves watching with their mouths agape. They forgot, for a moment, that this was an acting audition.
And the moment the music stopped...
Seo-yeon’s hands hit the floor, and her body shot up into the air, freezing perfectly still.
"Wow!"
One of the judges reflexively cheered.
A freeze. A pose where the body is supported by the strength of the arms and upper body. It was the standard finishing move in breaking. The reason Seo-yeon had chosen to do the windmill was to lead into this as naturally as possible.
Her body, which had been spinning at high speed, stopped dead in mid-air the exact moment the music ended. The judges stared with their mouths hanging open, no one daring to speak first. Or rather, they couldn't.
Wait, she's way too good at dancing.
More importantly, how is she supporting her body like that? Is she really holding herself up with just arm strength?
Wow, she can actually do that.
To those seeing b-boying up close for the first time, it was a fascinating display. Seeing their shocked faces, Seo-yeon looked toward them with a hint of triumph.
Park Jung-woo chuckled at Seo-yeon’s attitude, which was completely different from when she had been singing.
...Talk about overdoing it.
Despite the thought, Park Jung-woo breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded back at Seo-yeon as she stood up and gave a polite bow. In any case, this had more than made up for the points she lost during the singing portion.
I guess she really is good at anything physical.
Usually, flashy dance moves are just extra credit; they don't heavily influence the final decision. The same goes for poor singing. However, if someone is exceptionally good or exceptionally bad, it inevitably leaves an impact. Seo-yeon’s singing had done that, and her dancing was no different.
Furthermore, considering the character traits of Song So-ha and Jo Ha-rin...
"Her dance moves and acting are natural. She definitely fits the character of Jo Ha-rin."
This was the casting meeting for Dream Future.
"Her singing is a bit lacking, but we have time, and we can reinforce that to some extent."
"But dancing isn't something you can master in a short period."
Song So-ha. Honestly, the production team wanted to cast Seo-yeon in that role. But the actress herself didn't want the part of Song So-ha. Above all, Jo Ha-rin’s specialty in the script was dancing. While she wasn't a bad singer, the setting established her as a skilled dancer to highlight her bubbly personality.
"But Jo Ha-rin’s screen time is..."
Casting Director Shin Yoon trailed off, glancing toward someone. It was Im Jin-ha, the writer of Dream Future. She was a writer whose career was still in the "rookie" stage. Normally, drama writers were the type where if you told them to "change it," they had to change it, but...
"Is there any way to adjust Jo Ha-rin’s importance?"
"I think it would be great if her appearances increased a bit after episode 8," said Casting Director Shin Yoon and Cinematographer Kim Pil-seok.
"If I do that, I'll have to rewrite too much of the script. The story will definitely fall apart," Im Jin-ha refused, shaking her head.
At that expected reaction, Director Kim Pil-seok clicked his tongue inwardly.
Tsk. Of course.
From his perspective as a director, Writer Im Jin-ha was difficult to deal with in many ways. Her career was that of a rookie, but she happened to have two hits under her belt. Actually, she was an assistant writer for one of them, so she only had one true solo hit. Regardless, the difference between a rookie writer with a hit and one without is like heaven and earth.
Furthermore, as far as he knew, Im Jin-ha had backing within the station. He believed she was connected to a certain PD in the drama department... In any case, because of that, if she dug her heels in, even Director Kim Pil-seok couldn't easily push his way through.
"Writer Im Jin-ha."
Park Jung-woo spoke to her with a gentle smile. At that smile, Im Jin-ha’s stiff expression softened.
"Yes?"
"Then, would it be possible to make revisions if an unexpected situation occurs?"
"An unexpected situation?"
"Ah, for example, if a certain character... gains unexpectedly high popularity."
It was obvious who Park Jung-woo meant by "a certain character."
Jo Ha-rin.
She had looked stony-faced when Director Kim Pil-seok or Casting Director Shin Yoon suggested it, but now...
"Oh my, of course."
She giggled as she spoke, causing Kim Pil-seok to rub his face with his palm. Honestly, there was just no beating a handsome face.
...Anyway.
Park Jung-woo’s words were very suggestive.
If she gains unexpectedly high popularity.
Is he saying Jo Ha-rin will get a bigger reaction than expected? Or...
One thing crossed Kim Pil-seok’s mind. The release of The Chaser would overlap with the airing of Dream Future. If Park Jung-woo was saying this with that in mind...
I can't say it's an exaggerated evaluation.
The acting he saw from Seo-yeon at the audition. And her unexpected dancing skills. According to Park Jung-woo, she seemed to be good at anything involving her body. She was a child with a lot of talent in many areas.
"Then, let's decide," Director Kim Pil-seok said, looking at the photos of two people.
Song So-ha. And the face of the actress decided for the role of Jo Ha-rin.
*
It was two days later when Seo-yeon was notified of the results for Dream Future. Her manager, Park Eun-ha, patted her on the shoulder with a regretful expression.
"Seo-yeon, what are we going to do?"
Seeing her gloomy face, Seo-yeon felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
D-Did I fail?
No matter how bad her singing was, failing her for just that seemed a bit harsh. Just as Seo-yeon was about to get depressed...
"They called to say they're casting you as Jo Ha-rin."
"Oh, really?"
"Huh?"
Eun-ha had expected her to be disappointed, but Seo-yeon’s face brightened instantly. Her expression didn't change much, but her eyes were sparkling. After spending enough time with her, one eventually learned how Seo-yeon expressed her emotions. She just wasn't good at showing them; her actual emotions had become quite rich lately.
That gave me a heart attack.
She thought she had failed. Although she had auditioned with the goal of getting the role of Jo Ha-rin from the start, it seemed Park Eun-ha had assumed Seo-yeon was naturally aiming for the role of Song So-ha, the main heroine.
"Ah, and also..."
Just as Manager Park Eun-ha was about to say something else...
Vrrrrt!
A vibration came from her pocket. She pulled out her phone, checked it, and made a face that was hard to describe.
"What is it?"
"Hmm? Oh. You'll know when you take this, Seo-yeon."
"Pardon?"
What did that mean? Though puzzled, Seo-yeon took the phone Park Eun-ha held out. If it were a suspicious call, she wouldn't have handed it over in the first place.
"Hello?"
The moment she answered casually...
—"Ju Seo-yeon?!"
As soon as she heard the voice, she could hear the surprise on the other end. It was a woman's voice. At the unfamiliar tone, Seo-yeon asked:
"Who is this?"
—"..."
She felt a strange sense of disappointment from the other side, but she figured she was imagining it. After a moment of catching her breath, the person spoke.
—"I-It's me, Jo Seo-hee."
Her voice was trembling. Ah, Jo Seo-hee. Come to think of it, she did sound like this. Seo-yeon hadn't given much thought to Jo Seo-hee, the self-proclaimed friend. She just accepted her for what she was.
"Hello."
—"Ah, yeah. I'm not exactly doing 'well,' but..."
At Seo-hee’s words, Seo-yeon pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment and frowned. The voice was so uncharacteristically timid that she wondered if it really was Jo Seo-hee.
"So, why are you calling all of a sudden?"
—"Well..."
Jo Seo-hee sounded hesitant, as if debating whether she should really say it. But soon...
—"I-It's a misunderstanding."
"What is?"
—"That movie I said I wanted to film with you... I didn't know it was that kind of movie."
At Jo Seo-hee’s sudden confession, Seo-yeon finally understood the reason for the call.
Ah, it's because of that.
She realized that Jo Seo-hee had finally found out what kind of film Director Baek Min’s movie actually was.