Overwhelming Presence
The popularity of The Garden Where Love Blooms showed no signs of cooling off. As the episodes continued, the viewership ratings kept climbing, and more and more people were sitting down in front of their TVs just to see Bom-i. The set, which should have been filled with nothing but laughter and enjoyment, felt unusually heavy today.
The scene we were filming involved Chairman Kang, who was pushing forward with redevelopment in place of his hesitant son Kang Tae-hyun, sending thugs into the neighborhood. Eventually, they would storm the flower shop and cause a ruckus.
“Seo-ah, today’s scene is a bit scary. Will you be okay?” Director Lee Jung-moon asked with a worried expression.
In front of me stood several supporting actors playing the roles of rough-looking hired thugs. When I talked to them, they seemed so genuinely kind that calling them gentle wouldn’t be an exaggeration. But dressed in black like that, they looked exactly like real gangsters. The staff, who knew it was just makeup and acting, still felt intimidated by the atmosphere. It was only natural that Director Lee would be concerned about me.
“I’m fine. They’re all nice uncles. It’s just acting.”
I answered cheerfully. In my previous life, I had hung out with people who looked far more terrifying than this, some of them even carrying guns. Getting scared over something like this was ridiculous.
“Still, if it gets too scary, give your mom a signal right away. Got it?” Mom said, squeezing my hand tightly. Director Lee Jung-moon added his own words.
“That’s right, Seo-ah. We can stop the shoot anytime, so make sure you tell us.”
After reassuring the overly worried mom and director, I stepped into the set. Oh Yoon-hee already seemed to have gotten into character. Her shoulders were trembling slightly, as if she were truly frightened. As expected from a veteran. I still couldn’t match her level. I had to prepare myself mentally, and only when the camera started rolling would the real acting begin. It felt like my emotions adjusted depending on the skill of my scene partner. If the other actor was good, I could hold my own. If they weren’t, I tended to fall apart too.
I was already at a level where no other child actor could compare, and people called it genius since I was self-taught… but with the memories of my past life, it still felt far from enough. Even the act of living my daily life as eight-year-old Yoon Ji-ah was essentially performing a lifelong role. With that kind of prior training, what did it matter if I was good among child actors? I wanted to hear that I was good among all actors. I wanted to act like Oh Yoon-hee or Lee Hyun-woo.
“Sound.”
“Speed.”
“Camera.”
“Roll.”
“Slate.”
“Episode 10, Scene Number 13-2, Cut A, Take One! Set!”
“Action!”
The moment Director’s cue dropped, the thugs burst through the café door. They already knew the neighborhood was in chaos, so the door had been locked, but hired muscle didn’t just knock politely and leave. Of course, they smashed the glass door exactly as written in the script. Even though I knew what was coming, my body still flinched. It was an unavoidable spinal reflex of a child.
Crash! Crunch! Smash! Flower pots were hurled to the floor amid the shouting. Beautiful flowers were trampled under heavy boots.
“No, please! Don’t do this! I beg you!”
“What the hell is this lady doing?! Get out of the way, damn it!”
One of the men roughly shoved Jung So-young. She fell to the floor with a scream. Somewhere nearby came the sound of shattering glass and ceramics.
At that moment, a sharp ringing started in my ears. The dull thud of breaking pots sounded like exploding shells. The acrid smell of dust suddenly turned into the scent of gunpowder.
‘…!’
Even though I knew this was a drama set, the scene instantly transformed into a hellish battlefield where life and death hung in the balance. My breath caught. My chest tightened. My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my ears.
I have to protect her.
It was both acting and pure survival instinct. The club in the thug’s hand flashed like a machete. If I backed down here, we would die. Both me and Mom.
Reflexively, I stepped in front of Mom, who had fallen to the floor. Even though I had the small body of an eight-year-old, if there was nowhere to retreat, I had to become a warrior.
“Don’t touch my mom!”
A roar tore from my throat. It was a desperate, murderous cry that boiled up from the pit of my stomach. It wasn’t in the script. Originally, Bom-i was supposed to be trembling and crying in the corner.
Past-life memories, experiences, trauma. Present-life memories, experiences, and the current situation all collided. A trauma-induced seizure would have been normal, but my mouth was unconsciously spitting out lines.
And it didn’t stop there. The moment the large thug kicked toward Mom, I lunged forward and grabbed his leg. Normally I would have rolled with him, used centrifugal force to pin him down, and finished him off. But even in my half-crazed state, I remembered this was a shoot. So I simply clung to his leg. I tore at his pants and pounded him with my small fists.
“Get out! Get out of here, you bastards!”
My eyes weren’t filled with fear. They burned with the murderous intent to kill the enemy. The thug uncle froze, clearly flustered. It wasn’t acting; he looked genuinely shaken. The look in my eyes right now definitely didn’t belong to an eight-year-old.
“B-Bom-ah…”
Mom, still on the floor, stared at me in a daze. My body was screaming at me to either escape this place or eliminate the threats in front of me. But my mind reminded me that if I didn’t continue the lines, it would be an NG.
“Mom! Mom, are you okay? I’ll protect you. Don’t worry.”
Tears fell from my eyes. Not from sadness, but from rage and frustration. A suffocating silence fell over the set. The camera operator, lighting staff, and even Director Lee Jung-moon were all staring at me. I kept growling, breathing harshly as I threatened the thug.
“…Cut! Okay!”
Director Lee Jung-moon’s shout broke the silence. But the threat hadn’t disappeared yet. Mom still wasn’t safe. My excitement wouldn’t subside. My whole body was shaking. My hand still gripped the thug’s pants with full strength.
“Seo-ah, Seo-ah! It’s okay, it’s over. You can stop now.”
Oh Yoon-hee jumped up and pulled me into a tight hug. The moment I felt her warm body heat and soft scent, my sense of reality slowly returned. In the distance, I could see my real mom, Chae Kang-hee, running toward us. The moment she embraced me, the tension broke and tears burst out like a dam had collapsed.
“Seo-ah, it’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
“…Huh?”
The tears kept flowing. This wasn’t acting. It was the real cry of an eight-year-old. I had been terrified I wouldn’t be able to protect her. Once the shoot ended, relief washed over me. In Mom’s arms, emotions I couldn’t name rose up.
“…I just got goosebumps.”
“Did you see her eyes? Insane.”
“They said she’s self-taught…!”
I could hear the staff murmuring among themselves.
“…This is going to be the highest rating yet.”
“Top among child actors? No way, that’s not even top. That’s the only one.”
“She could hold her own against most adult actors, right?”
I had been triggered by trauma and momentarily seized by a fit. I had barely remembered it was a shoot and avoided causing a real accident. I naturally assumed we would have to cut and reshoot, but the staff’s reactions were far from ordinary.
The uncle playing the thug stood awkwardly in front of me, fidgeting.
“Aigoo, Seo-ah… Uncle is sorry. Were you very scared? Uncle isn’t a bad person. It was acting. Just acting.”
His innocent eyes were trembling. He looked like he was the most scared one here. I almost burst out laughing at the sight, but I held it in, afraid they might call me a psycho.
With my face covered in tears, I nodded.
“I’m okay. I’m the one who should apologize for doing things that weren’t in the script. I guess I got too immersed.”
“No, no! It’s because Seo-ah acted so well. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Mom kept patting my back, comforting me. Lee Hyun-woo, who had run over late, stood there with his mouth wide open.
“Wow… what was that? I got goosebumps watching the monitor.”
He shook his head in amazement and started clapping. Oh Yoon-hee, who had been awkwardly sandwiched between Chae Kang-hee and me, began clapping too. Seeing that, the thug uncle started clapping as well. Soon, the entire set was filled with applause.
Hmm… was it really that good? Could past-life trauma actually help with acting?
Trauma is something that comes in bursts. Bad memories and negative emotions surge up intensely. I don’t know if this was method acting or some other technique, but it was exhausting. It drained me completely. My energy was gone. I wouldn’t want to do it again if I could help it.
‘…But it feels so damn good.’
Everyone was praising me. They were celebrating my performance. Oh Yoon-hee and Lee Hyun-woo were both clapping for me. Director Lee Jung-moon ran over, cleared the staff away, and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Our Seo-ah was truly the best today. There isn’t a single kid in Korea who can act as well as you.”
In the following scenes, café owner Park Sang-jun arrived at the flower shop, said he had called the police, and chased the thugs out. Jung So-young held me and cried endlessly while Park Sang-jun cleared away dangerous things like broken glass first. Once things had calmed down a bit, Park Sang-jun suggested we go home since Bom-i must have been scared. And with that, my scenes were over.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Good job, Seo-ah!”
“I’m so jealous you get to go home! Lucky you!”
“See you tomorrow. These days I come to work just to see you, hahaha.”
That meant my filming for the day was done. In other words, I could leave.
“Seo-ah, shall we go now? Aren’t you tired?” Mom asked carefully, but I shook my head.
A strange sense of exhilaration filled my chest. It was right after my emotions had flared up. The aftertaste still lingered. Going home like this somehow felt disappointing.
“I want to stay a little longer. I want to watch the filming.”
“Really? Then shall we watch for a bit before we go?”
The director, who had overheard, made a spot for me at the monitor station. Earlier, so many people had crowded around with praise and cheers that it had been awkward, so I hadn’t gotten to watch the monitor. They were going to clean up the set and prepare for the next scene anyway. Director Lee Jung-moon showed me the scene we had just shot.
There I was on the small monitor. An eight-year-old girl screaming while clutching a thug’s pants. It was my eyes, my acting, my emotions, but even I found it chilling.
“Wow… did I really make that face?”
“See? That scene is completely yours. We’re going to use it as a long take without any editing.”
The director chuckled warmly and ruffled my hair.
A little later, once the set was ready, filming resumed. The following scenes were an acting masterclass that completely shattered my confidence, but thankfully, thanks to Director Lee letting me watch my own performance earlier, I managed to hold onto a shred of self-esteem.
I guess I overwhelmed at least one scene, huh?