The Acting Genius Who Descended Dancing from the Darkness (1)
“Da-young, look! This is the audition hall! Kyaa! Everyone’s so cute. Ah, of course our Da-young is the cutest of all!”
The woman never let go of my tiny hand, chattering away with endless little squeals of delight. She looked far too young to be anyone’s mother—almost childlike herself. That was Han Ari, mother to the me of this life, Seo Da-young.
Her youthful face wasn’t just an impression. She had married the moment she graduated high school and given birth to me the following year at twenty-one. Everything about the audition hall seemed to fascinate her; her eyes darted around like a puppy seeing its first snowfall. Even so, she kept my hand firmly in hers the entire time. That, more than anything, proved she was a wonderful mother.
…And every time I felt the warmth of that maternal love, the same heavy guilt settled over me like a familiar weight on my chest. If she ever learned that the child she cherished so deeply was not truly hers—that some unknown man’s soul had taken root inside this body…
“Oh my, Da-young. What’s wrong? Are there too many people? Is it making you uncomfortable? Mommy’s sorry. I got so excited I forgot to think about you. Should we just give up on the audition and go home right now?”
“No, it’s okay. It’s just… I’ve never seen so many pretty kids in one place before. It’s amazing.”
“Ahh, I see. You were surprised there are so many friends your age.”
“Yes. I’m really happy I get to audition today.”
And so, once again, I played the part of the good little girl. While I nodded along with Mom’s words and looked around, I saw she was right—the place was packed with beautiful children. Kids born pretty, starting life already standing on far higher ground than most.
“It’s okay, Da-young. To Mommy, you’re the prettiest of them all. So don’t feel small.”
“I’m fine.”
She must have misread the way I was looking at the other kids. She stroked my hair and gently reassured me that I was the cutest. Honestly, I still didn’t know what to make of it. Everyone around me kept saying I was pretty, but it never quite landed. Han Ari was undeniably a lively beauty, so of course the daughter who inherited her blood would be pretty too.
The longer I watched the other children and their parents, the clearer the difference between our little pair and everyone else became.
“Oh my, Jia’s mother, hello! It’s been so long.”
“Hasn’t it? Fancy running into each other at another audition. What a coincidence. Hoho.”
Mothers who clearly knew one another exchanged warm greetings. The children trailing after them looked just as at ease, calm and natural in a place like this. If anything, my own mother, Han Ari, was the one making the biggest fuss.
From the adults’ conversations I overheard, some of these kids were already “pros”—child actors with agencies.
“Ah, hello…”
“…Who?”
“Oh. I’m Han Ari, and this is Seo Da-young. Everyone seems about my daughter’s age, and since we met like this I thought it would be nice if we could get to know each other.”
“Ah… is that so?”
The response was lukewarm at best. The middle-aged women, draped in luxury brands that made their ages hard to guess, openly looked Han Ari up and down.
“Oh my, Da-young’s mother, was it? Please speak comfortably. You look so much younger than us.”
“Ah, yes! To be honest, this is my very first time somewhere like this. Hehe.”
“Oh dear, don’t worry. Everyone’s nervous at first. Even our Jia kept getting rejected until she finally landed that big company public-service commercial last time. Hoho.”
The cool air lasted only a moment. Laughter bloomed at once. The parents who had arrived earlier acted like benevolent seniors, making space for Han Ari and speaking to her with sudden warmth. Her cheeks glowed with bright energy as she kept bowing happily.
But six-year-old Seo Da-young’s eyes caught the real reason for their change in attitude with perfect clarity. They smiled and offered to get along only because they had already decided she was no competition. One look was enough to tell them she was an amateur who had shown up completely unprepared. Someone not even worth guarding against—tensing up around her would have been a waste of emotion.
Mom had no idea. She squeezed my hand with a face that said the world was a warm and wonderful place, and whispered,
“Da-young, everyone’s so nice, right?”
“…Yeah, Mom. They’re all really kind.”
I squeezed her hand back and smiled bitterly. The truth was, I had been dragged here against my will completely. In my past life and this one, I had never once imagined standing in front of a camera as an actor. I didn’t even know what acting was, and I had zero desire to become famous. If anything, I wanted a job where I never had to face people, never had to leave the house, and could still make money. I wanted to get rich without anyone knowing my name.
But.
But if it meant not making my mother sad…
I could try, just a little.
“Haa. None of them. Not a single one I like.”
“Shh! Director! Someone might hear you!”
“Let them hear. If the director doesn’t like them, what are they going to do about it?”
“Haa.”
At Director Han Sang-in’s words, the man in charge of the audition let out a long sigh. The work in question was the Enflix drama Flower of Blood. Even though the final casting authority for the child actors officially rested with him as casting director, the overall atmosphere of the room sank whenever the man ultimately responsible for the production looked this unimpressed.
Just look at them now. Every time Han Sang-in sighed, the surrounding staff visibly flinched and started watching his mood.
The reason for those sighs was simple—and maddeningly hard to fix. He simply didn’t like any of the child-actor candidates.
“What a shame. Such a shame. The acting is this clumsy…”
“Well, what can you do? They’re actors in name only—kids who’ve barely started elementary school. How deep do you really expect their performances to be?”
“I know that. But the early episodes aren’t carried by the adult actors—they’re carried by the child actors. Put simply, how well these kids perform decides how many viewers stay glued to the screen. With acting this level…”
“Complaining about it now won’t change anything. There’s nothing we can do.”
Casting director Lee Min-woo soothed Han Sang-in with a practiced business smile.
Who doesn’t know that pulling viewers in during the early episodes is make-or-break for a drama’s success? But it’s not like we get to hand-pick every single applicant who shows up!
Director Han Sang-in was skilled enough to land an Enflix-backed drama at a young age, but that same early success had left him with a notoriously picky personality. His dissatisfaction wasn’t new; it had been building since the previous child-actor audition. This was already the second round. The role they were casting today should have been filled last time, but the director had refused every candidate and forced a re-audition. At least Lee Min-woo had managed to push through the female lead’s child actress on the first try, so they hadn’t had to redo that one.
I just want to go home already.
“Whew. Anyway, if Director Han wants to find someone he likes, we’ll have to keep looking through the candidates diligently. Shall we end the break and call in the next child?”
“Fine.”
Why did a mere casting director have to provide mental care for a finicky young director? Lee Min-woo sighed inwardly and signaled the staff to bring in the next candidate.
“Let’s see. Next is… Seo Da-young? Send her in.”
“Understood.”
The staff opened the door, and a child who looked about five or six walked in slowly, holding her mother’s hand. Instant disappointment flickered through both Han Sang-in’s and Lee Min-woo’s eyes.
Hmm. She’s far too small… Let’s check. Six years old? The notice said applicants six and up were welcome, but…
That age limit had only been set loosely to gather as many candidates as possible. Ideally they wanted someone around eight for this role.
Unless she’s unusually mature for six, that build is better suited for the female lead’s child role than the one we’re casting today.
Even her overall presence didn’t match the part. The role was the female lead’s older sister—described in the script as a child who always wore a smile as bright as the sun, loved by everyone around her, the kind of girl no one could help but adore.
Seo Da-young’s looks certainly lived up to that description; she was one of the prettiest faces in the entire hall. But there was a fundamental problem. Her posture was slightly hunched, withdrawn. She clung tightly to her mother’s hand.
Acting wasn’t only about appearance. Looks mattered, of course, but far more important were the performance itself, the actor’s unique aura, and above all how perfectly they synced with the character on the page.
No matter how pretty the face, with that personality…
What a shame. What a real shame. The looks are a perfect pass.
The same thought rose in both men’s minds at the same moment—when Seo Da-young quietly let go of her mother’s hand.
And something miraculous happened.
The timid, almost melancholy air that had clung to her began to bloom, as if a tightly closed bud had suddenly opened into full flower. Until now she had possessed top-tier beauty among the child actors yet somehow faded into the background. In this instant she radiated such powerful presence that it felt as though she were appearing for the very first time.
For a second the lights in the room seemed to grow brighter. That was how dramatic the change was.
Did she just become a different person?
No. The only thing that had changed was her posture. The slightly lowered head lifted and faced forward. The attention that had been fixed solely on her mother now turned fully toward the two men in front of her. Her spine straightened. A smile bloomed across the previously blank, slightly drooping face.
And that alone was enough. The aura of an actor poured out. The perfect sync with the role.
Then Seo Da-young parted her lips. Her voice was bright and joyful, the kind of tone that made the listener feel happy just hearing it.
“Hello! I’m candidate number thirty-two, Seo Da-young, auditioning for the child-actor role in Flower of Blood. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
In that single moment, the shy little girl who only clung to her mother vanished. Standing before them was a blessed child—no, a blessing of a child—loved by all the world.