Plan Beam
I burst out laughing the moment I heard it. “So you ended up class president exactly like your sister planned? Puhahaha. You two really know how to make school life entertaining.”
“I want to meet Seo-ah’s little sister too. You guys together must be ridiculously cute.”
“And then? You just sat there and took it?”
I munched on the snacks Oh Yoon-hee had brought over and kept talking. “No way! I immediately dragged Yoon Ji-ah out and gave her an earful.”
“My true feelings slipped out at the end by mistake, but thankfully Yoon Ji-ah just smirked like it was nothing and let it slide.”
I nodded right away. Ji-ah does all the work? Okay. Approved.
In truth, I wasn’t the type to be convinced that easily. But I couldn’t repeat the rest of what Yoon Ji-ah said out loud. It would’ve been clear proof that our sister duo was seriously weird.
Eight years old. A first-grader already dominating networks, building connections, and forming academic ties. It was a demonic talent that left me speechless. She was literally a monster born from capitalism itself.
There was no need for people to know Yoon Ji-ah’s true nature. So I wrapped up the story there.
“I thought you were good at acting, but you’re just like that in real life too?” Lee Hyun-woo laughed and ruffled my hair. Oh Yoon-hee, sitting beside him, was laughing as well.
“Your sister’s no ordinary kid, huh? She’s going to be huge someday.”
Oh Yoon-hee seemed to have incredibly sharp instincts. Because Yoon Ji-ah wasn’t just going to be huge—she was going to become a monster that would control the entire Republic of Korea.
“Standby, please!” The assistant director’s voice rang across the set. Break time was over. Time to become Bom-i again.
The scene we were shooting today was what you could call the real turning point where Bom-i and Kang Tae-hyun start getting close. Episode 4, Scene 12-1. Park bench.
After realizing he had feelings for the flower shop owner, Kang Tae-hyun was stressing out alone. Bom-i approaches the bench where he’s sitting and talks to him.
“Sound.”
“Speed.”
“Camera.”
“Roll.”
“Slate.”
“Episode 4, Scene 12-1, Cut A, Take One! Set!”
I wondered why they couldn’t just say “Ready, action!” but every single shot went through this cumbersome process. Since I wasn’t part of the directing team, I just figured there must be a good reason. It definitely wasn’t because I was too lazy to ask. Really.
Anyway. The cue sign came down.
Since the first part was a walking shot, they could cut any delay in editing. But if I dragged it out any longer, they’d call cut for real.
I walked toward the bench, clutching the shabby teddy bear to my chest. Kang Tae-hyun had his head hung low, letting out a deep sigh.
I carefully sat down beside him. At the small sound of someone joining him on the bench, Kang Tae-hyun lifted his head.
“You… what are you doing here again?”
“Just because. You looked bored, mister.”
I grabbed the teddy bear’s arm and waved it at him. Like it was saying hello.
“Mister, do you know what our bear’s name is?”
“I don’t. Not interested.”
Kang Tae-hyun was clearly showing his annoyance and snapping at me, but I just smiled. If it had been the old me, I would’ve already turned around. No, I probably wouldn’t have spoken to him in the first place.
But Bom-i couldn’t do that. Kind-hearted Bom-i, who had sensed the loneliness and solitude in Kang Tae-hyun’s back, simply couldn’t.
Undeterred, I continued. “His name is Moongchi. Because he’s always causing accidents, so Moongchi.”
He looked at me with an expression that said, “So what?” But I still didn’t back down. I smiled innocently and kept going.
“My mom said you’re such a troublemaker that you keep making her upset.”
“…She really said that?”
Kang Tae-hyun’s eyes wavered. The first woman he’d ever felt attracted to was upset because of him? Not only was his first love unrequited, it was starting as dislike. If this weren’t a drama, he’d have to bury his face in a plate in shame.
“Still… she said you probably have a good heart. Trouble makers usually have soft hearts, right?”
The script only went as far as “she said you probably have a good heart.” The rest about troublemakers having soft hearts was my ad-lib.
It was partly because Kang Tae-hyun’s character was the tough-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside type. Also, revealing that the bear’s name was “Accident Moongchi” felt awkward in the original script, so I blurted it out without thinking.
“…Seriously.”
It was a sudden ad-lib, but Lee Hyun-woo handled it so naturally. Since it didn’t really need a response, there wasn’t much he could do anyway. If the line had been bad, the director or writer would’ve cut it themselves.
I decided that if anything went wrong, I’d just use the eight-year-old shield and wiggle my way out. Wah, I’m just a baby Yoon Seo-ah. I mixed up the lines.
But Lee Jung-moon didn’t yell cut, and Lee Hyun-woo continued acting naturally.
“Kid, you really…”
“Hehe.”
Kang Tae-hyun couldn’t finish his sentence and just ruffled my hair. It was the first warmth Kang Tae-hyun showed to Bom-i—and to the viewers. The moment an invisible bond formed between Kang Tae-hyun and Bom-i.
“Cut! Okay!”
With Lee Jung-moon’s shout, the scene ended. Lee Hyun-woo collected himself and looked at me.
“Seo-ah, wasn’t that a bit too much of a hook?”
He was talking about my ad-lib, but he was smiling. There wasn’t the slightest change in his tone or inflection. He definitely wasn’t scolding me. It felt more like he was watching a cute niece play a prank and finding it adorable.
“Hehe, I figured Uncle would accept it well.”
“Hahaha, turning it into flattery now. Anyway, you did great. That one line made the scene feel more alive. Want to go check the monitor?”
Lee Hyun-woo patted my shoulder with a satisfied expression and headed toward the director. I was following behind him when Im Eun-soo the writer came running and grabbed me.
“Seo-ah!”
“Yes, Writer-nim?”
“That line just now! The part about troublemakers having soft hearts!”
The writer’s eyes were sparkling. I was preparing an excuse in case she was mad that I’d changed the script on my own… but it seemed she was actually happy with my ad-lib.
“I’m sorry, it just felt like it would flow naturally after saying the name Moongchi, so I—”
“No, no! I’m not scolding you at all! That was actually a line I wrote but cut because I thought it would be too cringy. Hearing it in person, it wasn’t awkward at all. It actually hit me right in the feels… Seo-ah, you could be a writer!”
Im Eun-soo cupped my cheeks with an emotional expression.
“What do I do if you understand the character better than I do? From now on, if you think of anything, just throw it out there. Got it?”
“Hehe, yes, I understand.”
The main writer had acknowledged my character interpretation. The main PD had acknowledged my genius. The staff had acknowledged my cuteness and lovability. The cast had acknowledged me as a talented child actor junior.
At this point… this drama basically belongs to me, right?
On the way home after filming wrapped, I stared out the car window and recalled what Yoon Ji-ah had said.
She said it would start airing around the middle of episode 3 tomorrow, right? Sis, you’re about to become the nation’s daughter.
Nation’s daughter. It meant receiving love from the entire country, but at the same time, it also meant being watched by the entire country. The moment I stepped out of line or made even the smallest mistake, that love would flip into criticism in an instant.
Maybe I needed to be more careful with both my mindset and behavior.
But… me? Prim and proper? How exactly do you live quietly and obediently?
I wasn’t even confident I could stop myself from punching Min-su the moment I got to school tomorrow. Just imagining it made my fist clench tight. This was bad.
“Seo-ah? If you squeeze your fist too hard, your nails might cut your palm.”
“Yeah. Mom. I was just trying it out for a second. I’ll stop now.”
When we got home, Yoon Ji-ah was waiting at the entrance with her hands behind her back. She looked less like a wife waiting for her husband to get off work and more like a boss waiting for a performance report.
“You’re back. Welcome home, sis.”
“Aigoo, our Ji-ah. Did you eat dinner? Mom should’ve cooked, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Father prepared it.”
“…What’s with you? Why are you standing there like that? You’re making me nervous.”
Yoon Ji-ah grinned and waved the papers she’d been hiding behind her back.
“Advertising proposals.”
“Oh my goodness! For Seo-ah? Mom will go wash up real quick!”
“Yes, go ahead.”
Mom dashed off to the master bathroom. Dad started organizing the luggage he’d taken to the set. Naturally, that left only me and Yoon Ji-ah in the living room.
“We got five offers: workbooks, children’s clothing, confectionery, hamburgers, and milk. I rejected the hamburger and confectionery offers for now.”
“…Why would you reject those!”
The moment I heard “hamburger,” my heart nearly jumped out of my chest, and she rejected it?! This was clearly overstepping her authority, tyranny, and an outright insult.
“When you’re young, a healthy image comes first. Fast food comes later.”
This… dictatorial brat. Yoon Ji-ah’s eyes were resolute. That look meant no matter what I tried, hamburgers were impossible.
I sighed and threw myself onto the sofa. “Begin the briefing, CEO Yoon.”
“The workbook is for building a smart image. It might be a problem since you’re actually a meathead, but… well, at least you can handle up to college level, right, sis?”
…If it was Yoon Ji-ah, she’d probably adjust perfectly to the education level she’d set, but that was impossible for me. Just a few days ago, during a simple math problem about distributing toys, I’d almost started spouting off about distributive justice in micro-social phenomena and Rawls’ theory of justice as fairness in resource allocation.
Shouldn’t there be deep philosophical consideration about what distribution behind the veil of ignorance would be the most fair? I’d barely stopped myself from asking that.
“Hey, I don’t even know how smart an eight-year-old is supposed to be, so I sometimes pretend to get multiplication tables wrong. If I start acting too smart, won’t it be hard to control?”
“It’s fine. Showing a bit of genius from time to time is even better. Those momentary sparks are what shake the advertisers’ hearts.”
“Yeah, well, doesn’t sound bad. Let’s go with that.”
Since it wasn’t a hamburger, everything else was pretty much the same anyway. It was a list Yoon Ji-ah had brought, so there was no way it would hurt me… I was about to just pick anything and move on when—
“No, not right now.”
“…What are you even saying?”
Was she messing with me? Flipping back and forth like this. It felt like it was time to reestablish the hierarchy.
“There’s no need to buy in at the bottom when we know it’s the bottom. Once the drama airs, your value will at least double.”
Aha… so you had a whole plan. But if that’s the case, couldn’t you have told me later?
In front of a hardcore J like her, someone like me who’s a P becomes ridiculously weak. After getting hit by her future-plan beam, my body went completely limp. I sprawled out on the sofa and just let sleep take me.