Chapter 96
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Audition Participant No. 1
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Audition Participant Number 1: Jin Sun-hu
My life had been one endless act.
Ever since that childhood realization that even tears wouldn't earn forgiveness.
Every action, every expression,
my voice, my speech patterns, my gaze, even my breathing.
Everything about my life was an act.
To survive.
As a good son.
As an obedient little brother.
As a caring big brother.
As a pitiful abused child, a suffering patient, a cute student, a model neighbor.
As a charming man.
I'd never stopped acting, not for a single moment.
You can't create something from nothing.
You can't conjure up parts of yourself that simply don't exist.
To play the good son, there had to be at least a sliver of goodness in me somewhere.
So acting didn't mean everything was a lie.
It was mixing a touch of falsehood into the truth.
Amplifying the image others wanted to see and putting it on full display.
That was my brand of acting.
Everyone in the world gets by on performance.
Mine was just dialed up a notch.
To survive.
To be loved—I'd been acting all along.
Nothing came more naturally to me than acting.
After all, I'd been doing it as effortlessly as breathing.
These days, I could fake a seizure or collapse on cue.
To the point where even I couldn't tell acting from reality anymore.
My life had become the act, and the act had become my life.
Was the part of me that loved Mom real... or just another performance?
Or was it the delusion of a madman convinced everything had been fake?
I didn't know anymore.
Nothing at all.
But even someone like me had one unchanging truth.
"I've found a substitute actor!"
Su-a burst through the conference room door, her voice booming.
Every eye in the room snapped toward her.
Mom was there, along with the production crew, fellow actors, sponsors, strangers—tons of people packed in.
"Hello! I'm Jin Sun-hu, substitute actor audition participant number one!"
I projected my voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Shin-hye's son? How old is he?"
The director, PD Choi Tae-heon.
He was in charge here.
He even remembered me from our brief introduction earlier.
"Yes. Twenty-one, college sophomore—nineteen in international age."
"Jin Sun-hu, don't you think you're a bit old to be pulling pranks like this?"
He said it with a faint smile.
But the vibe in the room was ice-cold regardless.
The director at least acknowledged me, but the rest barely pretended to listen.
"Su-a, what the hell are you doing? This is no time for games!"
Mom scolded Su-a.
Shifting the target away from me, no doubt.
But there was no need.
This wasn't a joke.
"Teacher, you know Sun-hu's talent better than anyone. You've been acting alongside him since he was a kid."
"Shin-hye, really?"
Veteran actor Kang Chang-jae perked up with interest.
But Mom's glare stayed locked on Su-a.
"Su-a, whatever you're scheming by dragging Sun-hu into this, cut it out now. Don't toy with him on a whim."
"Mom, it's not like that. This is something I want to do."
"Sun-hu, stay out of it!"
Mom's sharp shout cut through the air.
It was the full-force performance of a mother, before she was even actress Im Shin-hye.
To shield me from getting hurt.
To shut this down before the blame could land on me.
Playing the unflappable, emotionless Im Shin-hye to a tee.
But there was no need.
Right now, I was dead serious.
"Mom."
I slipped into Hwang Jin-woo, the drama's protagonist.
The unfinished, immature Hwang Jin-woo who knew Mom's words came from love but couldn't accept them at face value—who hadn't grown up yet.
Who had pulled my strings all this time?
Mom.
My entire life played out to her script.
Exactly as she'd painted it.
She'd driven a wedge between Sun-a and me, forced the marriage to Shin Ah-young.
And even after, she never once set me free.
All for my sake?
Does 'for me' justify anything?
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Please, just stop. Leave me alone!
I'm not your damn puppet.
I'm a living person too!"
Thud.
The conference room fell into stunned silence.
Mom most of all.
Her eyes wide, mouth agape, face screaming disbelief that I'd say something like that.
Had she forgotten we'd rehearsed this exact scene together?
It stung, making her sad even for a moment.
I wanted to rush over, hug her tight, and beg forgiveness right then.
But this was essential staging to reach my goal.
The apology could wait—for when we were alone later.
For now, I had to keep playing 'Substitute Actor Audition Participant Number 1: Jin Sun-hu.'
"This is the scene from episode 11, where Hwang Jin-woo snaps back at his mom Kim Young-seon's nagging."
"Ah."
A murmur of realization rippled through.
To an outsider, it'd look like I'd really lashed out at Mom.
As if I'd ever dare.
But that bit of staging had done the trick—now all eyes were properly on me.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I'm Jin Sun-hu.
I didn't have time to prepare any paperwork for the audition on such short notice. My apologies.
Some of you may know, but I'm also the son of actress Im Shin-hye, right here.
She can verify my identity."
Mom slumped into her seat, utterly dazed.
Kang Chang-jae leaned in to whisper something, but she didn't respond.
Mom... sorry.
"No prior roles, and this is my first audition ever.
So yeah, I get why 'actress Im Shin-hye' is worried."
It wasn't just Mom.
Everyone in the room felt the same.
No track record. No proven chops.
That was the biggest hurdle standing between me and clearing this emergency audition.
"But I've been inspired by my mother, actress Im Shin-hye's performances, dreaming of acting since I was little.
We've practiced together since elementary school, and for this drama, I've rehearsed with actress Hwang Su-a too."
"With Su-a sunbae? I thought she was just your manager."
The question came from actress Shin Ji-hye.
Young, but she was the drama's female lead.
One of the key decision-makers in the room.
"Yes. Before pursuing acting, she helped me learn the ropes on set."
"Got it. That's why she brought along her manager she'd never used before. I figured he was Su-a sunbae's boyfriend or something."
Laughter erupted here and there at Shin Ji-hye's quip.
Plenty had thought the same.
The tension eased a little.
It was a lie, but only Su-a and I knew the truth.
When everyone privy to the truth plays along with the lie... it becomes reality.
"Thanks to all that practice with Im Shin-hye and Hwang Su-a, I've memorized the entire script for this drama. I could jump straight into filming right now and nail it."
One man raised his hand.
"Kim Young-woong from production support. You've really got the whole script down?"
"Yes. Feel free to test me."
No sooner had I spoken than a hand shot up, and someone jumped to their feet.
Na Seung-hee, the child actress playing Soo-jung.
"Daddy! I drew a picture at school yesterday! Wanna see it when we get home?"
She dove right into the scene.
Perfect timing, actually.
All the talk in the world wouldn't prove a thing.
"Soo-jung, Daddy's driving right now. I told you not to bug me while I'm behind the wheel."
The scene: inside the car.
Me as Hwang Jin-woo, heading home from a family outing I'd only agreed to out of obligation.
Soo-jung was thrilled—it'd been ages since we'd gone out—but Mom and Dad's faces stayed grim the whole time.
Desperate to lighten the mood, Soo-jung amped up her cheer even more.
"Huh? Daddy~ The teacher even praised it. Said it was the best in class. You'd be shocked too!"
"Show Mom. Daddy's beat."
But even her adorable daughter's pleading fell on deaf ears—Hwang Jin-woo was just irritated.
"Ti. Daddy's always tired."
That's when the wife, Shin Ah-young (played by Hwang Su-a), jumped in.
"Honey, come on. Just take a quick look with Soo-jung. It's not a big deal."
"You handle Soo-jung. I've got to head out soon. Work."
"What work? That woman again?"
"I said it's work!"
Soo-jung glanced back and forth between her parents, utterly lost.
The car turned frigid in seconds.
Then Soo-jung burst into song out of nowhere.
"...Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo~."
Back when Soo-jung was much younger,
a tune she used to sing in the car with Mom and Dad.
"Cute~ one in the ocean~ baby shark~."
Dad would chime in as 'Daddy Shark.'
Mom as 'Mommy Shark.'
They'd sing along sweetly, all smiles and harmony.
A happy family memory etched in Soo-jung's mind.
So she'd figured they'd remember, drop the fight, and join in.
That's why she sang it.
"......"
But Mom and Dad kept their mouths shut.
Not even glancing at each other.
Pretending they couldn't hear Soo-jung's song.
"......Mommy~ shark~ pretty~ one in the ocean~ mommy shark~."
Unable to hold back, Soo-jung pushed through the next verse herself,
but the bubbly cheer was gone from her voice.
"Daddy~ shark~ strong...... in the ocean...... hic."
The melody dissolved into sniffles until Soo-jung finally broke down crying.
"Waaah~."
Tears streaming like raindrops as she sobbed pitifully.
But Dad kept his eyes on the road, face sour.
Mom stared out the other window.
No one spared a thought for their weeping daughter.
"Waaah! Hueeng!Eeeong!"
The conference room echoed only with Soo-jung's wails.
"Come on, Seung-hee, let's go. Sorry about this."
Finally, Seung-hee's mom scooped her up and carried her out.
The cries faded into the distance.
With Seung-hee gone, the room fell quiet.
Some sighed in relief; others dabbed at their eyes.
Seung-hee's tearful performance had everyone soul-shaken.
Na Seung-hee. One scary kid.
"Mind if I give it a shot too?"
One person utterly unfazed by the mood: actress Shin Ji-hye.
"Please do."