Double Date (1)
Becoming a child actor had changed far more of my life than I ever expected.
I had figured a six-year-old’s world could only shift so much. Turns out I was wrong.
“Da-young! Hello!”
The moment I stepped off the daycare bus, a voice far brighter and higher-pitched than usual slammed into my ears.
Teacher Kim Su-jin of the Sunshine Class, who always greeted the kids at the entrance, hurried over and crouched right in front of me. She had always been kind, but today her eyes sparkled with an extra layer of glossy excitement.
What is this? Did she meet some rich, handsome guy on a blind date after work yesterday?
“Our Da-young, how was your first shoot yesterday? Oh my goodness, look at you! Your face is already top-star material before it even hits the screen—top star! I just knew our Da-young would become a big child actress someday!”
“Hehe, yes. It was really fun.”
Ah. So the rumor’s already reached here.
Well, of course. I had skipped daycare for the shoot, so the parents’ group chat and the teachers’ lounge must have been buzzing with the news that I had been cast as the child lead in Flower of Blood and finished my first day of filming yesterday.
Leaving the teacher’s enthusiastic welcome behind, I pushed open the daycare door—only for the director herself to come rushing out of the office.
“Oh my, the pride of our daycare! Da-young’s here!”
“Honestly, Director, you have no idea. Da-young’s face isn’t just a little pretty. The camera loves her, and those big sparkling eyes make her look like a complete idol visual even before she appears on screen.”
A teacher from another class edged closer, eyes shining as she chimed in.
“Exactly, exactly. Even when she just sits quietly, there’s this strange, special aura about her. For a six-year-old she has this deep, mature quality… I’ve been watching her, thinking she’d go far.”
Ugh, you’re kindergarten teachers. What kind of discriminatory talk is that? What if the other kids hear?
Still, I couldn’t help a small smile at their fussing.
But their real interest lay elsewhere.
“By the way, Da-young, did you really meet Actor Namgung Hyun and Actor Lee Ji-soo yesterday? Oh my gosh… They’re huge stars we only ever see on TV. Were they nice? Not scary?”
“Right, especially Actor Lee Ji-soo—she hasn’t done any work in ages and this is her big comeback! And our Da-young is playing their daughter? Truly an honor for the whole family!”
The teachers still seemed unable to believe it, whispering among themselves.
“But that… ‘Enflix’ place—what exactly do they do? It doesn’t sound like a regular broadcasting station.”
“Oh, come on, Teacher Kim. You know those overseas sites where young people watch American dramas on their phones or computers? It’s an American platform. Like internet broadcasting.”
“Good heavens. Not even a real network, just some unfamiliar foreign internet site making a drama, and top stars like Namgung Hyun and Lee Ji-soo are in it? You really do live long enough to see everything.”
Ah. Right.
I had almost forgotten—it was still 2011.
In this era, Netflix—no, Enflix—hadn’t yet become the global juggernaut it would one day be. It was already the number-one OTT service in the United States, but its true worldwide dominance was still at least five years away.
To me, with my knowledge of the future, Enflix’s greatness was simply obvious. To the adults of this time, though, the idea of an original drama from a still-obscure overseas OTT platform felt strange and novel.
Feeling the ironic gap between the future I knew and the present reality, I quietly swallowed the bitter smile that tugged at my lips.
Anyway, my everyday life was changing much faster than I had imagined.
…Still.
Mom was happy, and everyone around me was this thrilled. Auditioning had been worth it after all.
Seo Da-young’s living room.
Between the soft ticking of the clock, a cheerful clatter of keyboard keys rang out. Da-young’s father, Seo Hyun-woo, had his laptop open on the living-room table, still finishing leftover work after coming home.
Beside him, perched on the edge of the sofa, Han Ari sat beaming as she poured out everything she had heard from the daycare teachers that day.
“You’re that happy? You went with her to the audition, followed her to the set… after all that hard work?”
Hyun-woo asked without looking up from the monitor, his tone deliberately teasing. Ari nodded vigorously, as if she had been waiting for the question.
“Of course I’m happy! What hard work? Our daughter was having so much fun.”
Her face was full of unconcealed pride and joy.
But the real reason she felt this way had nothing to do with Da-young acting well in front of others, or the possibility that she might become a famous actress someday.
There was only one reason: on set, Da-young had looked genuinely happy.
In truth, Ari had always carried a heavy sense of guilt in one corner of her heart.
Seo Da-young, with her memories of a past life, might have believed she had completely fooled her parents. But parents were still parents.
Ari and Hyun-woo had both vaguely sensed that Da-young was always reading the room, carefully matching herself to the adults around her.
“…Don’t you ever think that? That our Da-young is sometimes… a little too grown-up?”
At Ari’s sudden question, Hyun-woo paused his typing and turned his head.
Remembering the teachers’ praise about how “mature and adult-like” she was, Ari added quietly, a little forlorn.
“Kids her age are supposed to throw tantrums, whine, and make demands of their parents. But Da-young never does. She only ever does the good, picture-perfect things… I can’t help wondering if she’s forcing herself to hold back because she’s watching our reactions.”
Hyun-woo took a sip of his canned beer, then gave a short laugh as if scolding her for worrying too much.
“Come on, you’re overreacting. Da-young’s just always been a good kid. Barely any trouble, always choosing the sweet and pretty things to do—the ideal daughter, really. Honestly, for two first-time parents like us, how lucky were we that she turned out this well-behaved? You’re complaining about a blessing.”
At his steady reply Ari pouted, yet the memory of her daughter on set the day before brought a soft smile back to her face.
“I know, but… watching her act yesterday felt strange. She still had that good-girl face she always wears, but her eyes looked truly happy. Not like she was forcing herself to fit in—more like she was doing something she genuinely loved. Seeing that made my chest ache a little, and it made me so glad.”
“Then that’s all that matters. All that effort following her around that rough set was worth it, even for someone as timid as you.”
Hyun-woo drained the rest of his beer and stood up.
“Ugh, I think I drank too much. Gonna hit the bathroom.”
“See? I told you to cut back on the beer at night.”
“Hey, this is the only lifeline a poor hardworking husband has after overtime. Cut me some slack.”
Still joking, Hyun-woo headed for the bathroom, leaving a brief silence in the living room.
Ari walked over to the table and stared blankly at the laptop screen her husband had left open.
Behind the work window, an internet browser tab was peeking out.
Without thinking she brought the window forward and checked the recent search history. A soft laugh burst from her lips.
• Why a six-year-old doesn’t throw tantrums
• Problems when a child is only ever good
• Things parents should watch out for when starting child acting
Outwardly he had acted completely unbothered, pretending to be buried in work—yet inside he had clearly been losing sleep over Da-young.
“Honestly… who’s the one who worries too much?”
Ari was smiling to herself, already planning how she would mercilessly tease him the moment he came back, when—
Ding-!
A bright Coconuttalk notification chimed through the quiet living room.
She pulled out her phone and frowned at the unfamiliar name on the screen.
“Who’s texting at this hour…?”
Curious, Ari opened the message.
“….”
The moment she finished reading, her eyes began to tremble as if an earthquake had hit them. Then a scream tore through the living room loud enough to shake the walls.
“Kyaaaaaah—!!”
“Whoa! What is it, honey?!”
Hyun-woo came bolting out of the bathroom, face pale, still yanking his pants up.
At the same time the bedroom door creaked open. Da-young, clearly just woken from a deep sleep, rubbed her eyes with a dazed expression and toddled out like a baby dinosaur.
“Mom. What’s wrong…?”
As father and daughter gathered in the living room, startled by the scream, Ari held out her phone toward them with a face on the verge of tears, as if she were holding a live bomb. Pure terror filled her eyes.
“Th-this… what do we do about this…?”
In Ari’s trembling hand, the phone screen clearly displayed a message from a person she could hardly believe.