Audition.
Audition.
I was filming an underwater scene.
The onlookers watched in silent admiration.
I held my breath for a leisurely minute or so, and their shock at watching me perform every action the scene required was palpable.
"Whoa... she's faster than walking?"
I used the terrain to move quickly underwater.
I moved far faster than the zombies crawling along the bottom.
To keep up with my pace to some degree, the stuntman put on even more speed, but moving like a zombie and catching me seemed impossible.
"Wow..."
At my flashy underwater movements, the crew's jaws stayed dropped.
The stuntman, in zombie makeup and acting his heart out, was doing his best to sell the tense atmosphere.
Accounting for how long people can hold their breath, I came out of the water after one minute, but I didn't feel any need to inhale.
Song Il-seong was staring at me.
"Si-yoon... you're a great swimmer..."
"I told you I'm decent at it~"
Kim Ha-neul murmured beside him.
"...Honestly, isn't this just an insane level...?"
Only the director, who had told me I needed to practice swimming, knew the truth about my swimming ability before filming started.
The director spoke from the side.
"In the video Si-yoon sent me... she held her breath for 8 minutes..."
"".....""
"And she said she was half-assing it..."
People stared at me as I silently wrung the water out of my clothes.
"What."
"Ah... never mind."
Director Yoo Dae-yeon asked me.
"Si-yoon, is the water temperature okay?"
"Yes~"
"Good, okay! Moving on to the next scene. Everyone, get ready please!"
The whole crew got ready, and we continued filming.
"Si-yoon... how come you don't play with me lately...?"
I looked at Da-yeon, who was on the verge of tears.
"Who would I play with besides you, Da-yeon~"
"But still... you're always going somewhere..."
I realized I hadn't told Da-yeon that I was filming a movie.
"Ah! I'm shooting a movie."
"!!! Really?!"
Da-yeon's eyes went wide and she clung to me.
"Your mom didn't tell you?"
"Yeah! Mom knew too?!"
I'd only mentioned it to Kim Seon-hwa in passing, so I felt a little guilty, but getting out of the current situation was the priority.
"Yeah, I thought she'd told you, Da-yeon..."
"Mommy's bad!"
"But she's still your mom, Da-yeon?"
"Bad is bad anyway!"
I smiled and took Da-yeon's hand.
"I'm filming tomorrow. Want to come watch?"
"Really?!"
"Yeah, I'll let my dad know, let's go together~"
"Okay! I really want to go!"
In the end, Da-yeon decided to come to the set with Kim Seon-hwa.
Da-yeon arrived around lunchtime.
A luxury food truck followed behind her, as if Kim Seon-hwa wanted to show off Hanseong's clout.
Chefs started setting up tables, and crew members, wondering what was going on, approached at the sight.
"Um..."
Kim Seon-hwa took off her sunglasses.
"I came to cheer Si-yoon on. Please help yourselves to lunch."
"Ah, j... just a moment, I'll let them know."
"Sure~"
Thanks to Kim Seon-hwa, the film crew was tearing into steak and lobster from lunchtime onward.
Kim Seon-hwa treated several hundred people to a high-class meal, and naturally, everyone welcomed Da-yeon too.
Ji-su had not heard that there was no need to send anything today, so a coffee truck from her arrived as well.
"Wow... look at Si-yoon's connections."
"Yeah, she's really popular..."
Kim Ha-neul glanced at Song Il-seong, who was drinking coffee next to him.
"What about you? Don't you have anything?"
"Hey! You little!"
Kim Ha-neul laughed awkwardly and said.
"...I still got them twice during filming, you know...?"
"Si-yoon gets them almost every day."
"But... wow... the more I think about it, the more incredible Si-yoon seems."
"Ji-ho is the incredible one."
Kim Ha-neul nodded beside him as if he agreed with that too.
Just then, Kang Hui-seon, who had walked over with coffee, spoke.
"Um... do you guys happen to know?"
""?""
"That little kid who came with Si-yoon as her friend, she's Lee Jin-seok's daughter. From Hanseong."
""...?!""
And from a distance, they watched Si-yoon talking with Da-yeon, a girl her own age.
"R... really?"
"I thought it was a rumor, but Kim Seon-hwa from Hanseong came with her..."
""Wow...""
In Si-yoon's hand, visible in the distance, was a dagger.
A prop, but it was spinning dazzlingly, like someone twirling a pen.
The sight of an elementary schooler twirling a dagger was profoundly incongruous.
"".....""
"Si-yoon, whatcha doin'?"
"Huh? Waiting to film~ Da-yeon, your face is gonna get sunburned. Go ask your mom to put sunscreen on you."
"Okay!"
At my words, Da-yeon ran over to Kim Seon-hwa, who was talking to my dad, and came back neatly coated in sunscreen.
Da-yeon was badly startled by the people in zombie makeup visible around us.
"Aaaah!!!"
I hugged Da-yeon to my chest and said.
"You scared Da-yeon!"
"S... sorry."
I took Da-yeon's hand and moved to give her a tour of the set.
"They said I'm filming here today."
"Whoa..."
"Looks fun, right?"
"Yeah!"
Time passed, and my scene started.
"Hey, you little rat, come out if you don't want to watch your sister die."
I spread my hands, signaling surrender as I walked out.
"Whoa... Boss, is this for real? She's way too young, huh?"
"...Shut it. That little runt got thirty of our people killed."
Kang Hui-seon, playing the role of Min-ji, looked at me tearfully.
"G... Ga-in..."
"Don't cry. If things went wrong, I was planning to run away too..."
"Just run aw..."
Min-ji's words were cut short by a blade sinking deep into her neck.
"Got some serious confidence, huh?"
I stepped on the broken glass scattered on the floor as I approached.
Crunch. Crunch.
The men flinched at the sight of a child approaching playfully, as if stepping on thin ice.
"Don't come any closer!"
"You morons. Why are you so scared... if I were your age... ugh, shouldn't say."
"You little shit!"
A man threw a knife at me. I dodged it naturally, but it grazed my cheek.
At my cold smile, they grew even more agitated.
"Ahaha. Running away, my ass. Let's just keep each other company on the road to the afterlife, sis."
I pulled a dagger from a pocket on my thigh, threw it, and sprinted forward.
A man covered his face with his arm to defend himself.
As I dashed forward, striking my feet together, a blade shot out from the toe of each shoe.
I ran up the thigh of the man covering his face and struck the temple of the man next to him with the tip of my shoe.
The blade fixed to the toe of my shoe detached and lodged in the man's temple, and the man with the dagger stuck in his arm grabbed my neck.
"You son of a biiiitch!!"
The man grabbed my neck and lifted me up.
Everyone was immersed in the scene when Da-yeon's voice shattered the silence.
"Don't you bully Si-yoon!!!"
Da-yeon threw a straight punch to the thigh of the actor holding me up.
"".....""
"Ah..."
The man let go of my neck, and I, who had been in midair, was lowered down on a wire.
Da-yeon watched me descend from the air, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
"Whoa..."
Director Yoo Dae-yeon rubbed his head.
Kim Seon-hwa, who had rushed over from a distance in a panic, apologized profusely.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
"...?"
Kim Seon-hwa picked up Da-yeon and apologized, and I scratched my head and said.
"Hey, an 8-year-old could do that, right?"
Director Yoo Dae-yeon, as if remembering his promise with me, nodded awkwardly.
Filming continued into the evening, and Kim Seon-hwa, feeling sorry, ended up buying dinner too.
"I'm sorry about earlier."
""Not at all!""
Kim Seon-hwa of Hanseong—even when she wasn't doing anything, people walked on eggshells around her.
The four of us were eating.
Kim Seon-hwa was watching me eat intently.
"Si-yoon, you're incredibly good at acting, you know that?"
"I'm good at everything, originally."
"R... right..."
Disappointed by her reaction, I stared into Kim Seon-hwa's eyes, and she flinched guiltily and spoke again.
"Si-yoon, you're so good at everything, you're seriously amazing!"
Beside her, Da-yeon stopped eating mid-bite to echo Kim Seon-hwa's words.
"Amazing!"
"How long will you be filming?"
At Kim Seon-hwa's question, my dad, who was slicing the meat, answered.
"From what I know, it'll be before the school summer vacation ends."
"Oh, is it okay to film in such a short time?"
At Kim Seon-hwa's question, my dad shrugged, saying he wasn't sure either.
"So, they're filming all of Si-yoon's scenes in one go, but I hear they might shoot additional scenes on weekends even after vacation ends."
At my dad's words, Kim Seon-hwa, and of course Da-yeon too, nodded.
I wiped the mouth of Da-yeon, who had stuffed her cheeks full of food.
"Is it good?"
"Mm!"
"Chew slowly."
"Nom-nom-nom."
Seeing Da-yeon start to chew slowly, a smile slipped out.
One day while movie filming was in full swing.
Unsure what the weather would be like later, we filmed the scene where I wear the jumping boots today.
Beside me, actor Song Il-seong, who played the combat-hardened old man Kwak In-gu, looked after me.
"Si-yoon... can you do it?"
When I tried to pick up the bag my character always carries, Song Il-seong helped me.
"It's more fun than I thought it'd be?"
"You have to be really careful. Even though you'll be wearing protective gear."
"Yes, sir."
Yoo Dae-yeon's cue signal dropped, and we started acting.
The movie filming had almost no NGs, so it progressed quickly.
Drastically shorter than the director had anticipated, it was now practically just hanging out on set.
If anything took time, though, it was because of my ad-libs.
After seeing my first ad-lib, Yoo Dae-yeon increasingly requested them from then on,
so much so that we filmed separate script and ad-lib versions.
Anyway... even considering that, filming proceeded very quickly, and all the scenes I had to shoot were wrapped up.
After my last movie shoot was over, I said my goodbyes to the actors.
"It was fun!"
"Si-yoon, good work~"
"You worked hard~"
"Yep."
In the distance, CEO Jang Seong-man was greeting people around him while waiting for me.
"Grandpa!"
"....."
Jang Seong-man's face was full of disappointment at my words, so I spoke magnanimously.
"Fine, Uncle. Let's go!"
"Oh!!! Finally..."
He could've sent employees, but Jang Seong-man came to pick me up in person.
Saying he had to take responsibility so my dad would trust him.
Ever since I once let it show that I hated the smell of his cologne, he doesn't even wear it now.
"Si-yoon, is there something you want to eat?"
"My dad's waiting for me."
"No way~ I got his permission before coming, you know?"
"My dad's liver is the size of a booger, so if it's not music, he can't do anything without me."
Jang Seong-man thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah, that sounds right."
Jang Seong-man wanted to buy me something, and he looked regretful when I showed no interest.
"Buy me a churro."
At my words, Jang Seong-man's face was suddenly all smiles as he spoke.
"Si-yoon, you want a churro?"
'This is why, fuck, haah...'
I spoke to Jang Seong-man, who was sneaking glances at my reaction.
"I don't want one."
"Si-yoon...?"