Chapter 36 : Light (2)

“Siyeon, you did well.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I saw Siyeon cry today.”

After finishing my award speech, I returned to my seat, and the other actors greeted me with smiles as if they thought I was cute.

In fact, I had a prepared speech, but I couldn’t say a single thing properly.

I never imagined I would use the expression “I don’t remember how I did it.”

In that moment, as I stood on stage, receiving attention, I felt a strange déjà vu. I ended up stuttering through my speech and coming down without saying what I had prepared.

“…I didn’t cry, you know?”

“Did you cry? Hahaha!”

“It’s okay, our Siyeon. It’s fine to cry!”

“You’re so cute~ Wait, I think this is the first time I’ve told Siyeon she’s cute, even though she’s the youngest.”

The other actors were too busy teasing me.

But I didn’t cry!

My throat got a bit tight, and my eyes became a little moist, but tears didn’t run down my cheeks.

With incredible eye control, I managed to hold back the tears. And I still spoke clearly for the moment.

I ignored my colleagues, who kept mocking me, and leaned back.

If they had been my subordinates in a past life, I would have fired them all.

I regretted that my career as an actor was still short.

If I were to win a Rookie of the Year award, I would make sure to give a perfect speech then.

That way, they wouldn’t be able to tease me.

Luckily, the Teenage Actor Award wasn’t a very high-profile award, so it didn’t seem like it would be talked about much.

I practiced my Rookie of the Year speech in my head, just in case I would win.

Afterward, strange awards followed, for things like Best Kiss or Best Mukbang Artist, awards that felt more like events.

After commercial breaks and congratulatory performances, the real awards began.

“Now, let’s move on to the Rookie of the Year award. This year, there were so many new faces, so it was difficult to narrow down the nominees. Let’s start with the male Rookie of the Year.”

First, the male Rookie of the Year.

The nominees included sitcom actors and rookie actors from successful works like The Heirs, The Summer Wind Doesn’t Blow, and The Evil God of Marriage.

Among them, Kang Haon was the only one from The Heirs.

Our other male actors either weren’t skilled enough, or the lead actor, Lee Minwoo, was a candidate for Best Actor.

“Now, I’ll announce the winner. SAS Acting Awards. Male Rookie of the Year.”

“Haon, let’s go.”

“I really need to be the older brother now.”

Lee Minwoo, Park Siha, and Kang Haon, holding hands, hoped so desperately.

The three were in the same department, and the other two were already well-known actors.

The three were very close, and they genuinely hoped for Kang Haon to win.

I also thought, for this award at least, Haon was going to win.

He was talented.

“…The Heirs. Kang Haon. Congratulations!”

“Waaahhh!”

“Yes! Haon!”

“Wah, wah, wahahaha!”

The three were celebrating more intensely than the other winners.

Perhaps because they were friends, they forgot to maintain their composure.

Kang Haon went up to the stage, receiving cheers from the The Heirs team, and gave his acceptance speech.

Then, it was time for the Female Rookie of the Year.

“SAS Acting Awards. The Female Rookie of the Year is….!”

The presenter was last year’s winner, Park Siha.

She told me beforehand that she really wanted to give me an award.

Looking at the nominees, I honestly didn’t think anyone else would win.

And then the envelope with the winner’s name was opened.

Park Siha smiled softly.

“The Heirs’ Kim Siyeon! Congratulations!”

“Of course!”

“Siyeon, congratulations!”

“Congratulations, Siyeon!”

Everyone reacted as if they expected it.

In fact, historically, it was the first time a middle school actor had won Rookie of the Year.

But for me, nothing was impossible.

Even the usually quiet writer Kang Eung-sook smiled and congratulated me.

I went up to the stage, received a bouquet and trophy from Park Siha, and stood in front of the microphone.

“…Why again?”

For some reason, I felt something welling up inside me.

The brightest stage, all the eyes on me, and all the cameras capturing me.

What were those things that made me feel this strange, when I had once dominated the shadows?

My body didn’t react as I wanted.

I fought back the tears that were threatening to come out again and opened my mouth.

“Thank you. Honestly, I was satisfied with just the Teenage Actor Award, and I never imagined I would win Rookie of the Year.”

That was a lie. I had actually expected it.

When people around me said such things, it would be strange not to expect it.

If you look at acceptance speeches, they always start like this.

“The role of ‘Uriel’ was given to me by chance. It was my first work, and I was given such a big role, and I also received overwhelming love.”

I continued with the words I had prepared moderately.

I didn’t want to speak for too long during the Rookie of the Year section, so I summarized it appropriately.

Finally, I intended to mention my parents, seniors, and the staff and wrap up my acceptance speech.

Jeyoung said there was no point in mentioning his name, so I didn’t bring him up.

“…Ah, and lastly, ‘Siyeonhada’ everyone. I love you!”

Waaaaaahhh!

I didn’t forget to greet my fan club, ‘Siyeonhada.’

At first, it felt strange to have a fan club, but now it felt pretty reassuring.

Sometimes they even send things like coffee trucks to the filming set.

I heard that for a fan club of this size, one would need to be an idol.

The ‘Siyeonhada’ fans, who were seated in the audience, cheered loudly.

“Yes, we support actress Kim Siyeon’s future. Congratulations!”

With the MC’s closing, the next section began.

I let out a sigh of relief as I stepped off the stage.

I can’t believe I made them react like that.

It seems that overly bright places are really the opposite of me.

When I returned to my seat, my colleagues congratulated me again, but the atmosphere was different from before.

“Hehe…”

Yuna and Jeong Sujin seemed a little different in their energy.

Both of them were nominated for Rookie of the Year, so they must have had high expectations.

Since they didn’t win, they now had no awards left for the night.

They seemed a bit disappointed.

“SAS Acting Awards, Best Female Supporting Performance in a Drama. The Heirs’ Park Siha, congratulations!”

The Best Female Supporting Performance award was a bit of a surprise.

It wasn’t a bad result, but Park Siha had been expected to win Best Actress or higher.

Of course, it was better than nothing.

It seems that competition was fierce this year because many mid-length dramas were very popular.

The winners in the mini-series and full-length categories were the expected actors.

‘I’m hungry.’

I hadn’t eaten anything because I had to wear a dress, and now I felt the hunger.

I wanted white rice with some roasted pork kimchi stew and soy sauce marinated crab on top.

In my past life, I could survive on just water for a month.

But now, living among abundant resources and food, I seemed to have become weak.

It was embarrassing as a nameless person, but it was also a bit boring.

‘Should I step out for a bit?’

Anyway, I wouldn’t be receiving any more awards now.

And right now seemed like the perfect time to slip out, as people were walking around.

But it would be awkward to leave before the Best Actor and Grand Prize awards, so I figured it was better to leave now.

Just as I thought about standing up…

“Next, the Best Couple Award nominees are… The Heirs’ Lee Minwoo and Kim Siyeon!”

“…?!”

My name was called out during the announcement of the Best Couple Award.

I had just tried to stand up, so my awkward posture and surprised expression were caught on camera.

Ah, right. There was this award, the Best Couple Award.

The previous nominees were from other dramas, including Kim Tak and Park Siha.

The Best Couple Award could have multiple couples from the same show, so it was possible for Lee Minwoo to be nominated twice.

I had no choice but to sit back down.

“The Best Couple Award goes to… The Heirs’ Lee Minwoo and Kim Siyeon! Congratulations!”

“…?! Huh?”

“Wow, congratulations Siyeon. You stole Minwoo Oppa from me.”

“Siyeon, let’s go.”

“Yes, yes.”

Is this really happening to me?

Wasn’t it supposed to be The Heirs’ Lee Minwoo and Park Siha who should win this?

I wasn’t even paired with Kim Tak in the drama.

In The Heirs, the Kim Tak and Uriel couple had an overwhelming popularity and a tragic ending that wasn’t realized, but they won the Best Couple Award with an incredible 87% viewer vote.

It seemed like this award was based on viewer votes.

Although they had prevented the storyline from changing, it seems like they couldn’t control the audience reaction.

So, I went up to the stage for my third award.

Lee Minwoo humorously led the acceptance speech.

Since this award had more of an event vibe, we could keep it lighthearted.

After that, I went back down from the stage.

Now, it was time for the Best Actress Award.

It would probably take over 40 minutes to announce the Grand Prize, so it was awkward to leave now.

I was destined to stay seated until the ceremony ended.

Now I understand why actresses binge so much after award shows.

“Best Male Supporting Performance in a Drama. The Heirs’ Lee Minwoo. Congratulations!”

“Best Male Supporting Performance in a Mini-Series. I Hear Your Voice’ Lee Joongseop. Congratulations!”

The male supporting performance awards followed.

The Grand Prize is awarded regardless of gender, and the big-name actors won the Best Supporting Performance awards.

With this, I’m curious who will win the Grand Prize.

In The Heirs, Lee Minwoo won Best Supporting Performance.

Next came the Best Female Supporting Performance.

“Best Female Supporting Performance in a Drama. Let’s meet the nominees.”

“The Summer, The Wind Doesn’t Blow’ Seo Ae-gyo.”

The narration played.

Seo Ae-gyo, a major actress, was naturally nominated.

Although there were some critiques about her role in this production, she still deserved the nomination.

“The Heirs’ Ko Yoo-jeong.”

Ko Yoo-jeong was also a nominee. It was likely that one of them would win.

Both dramas had been extremely popular, so it was hard to predict who would take the award.

Then, more nominees were announced.

“And, lastly… The Heirs’ Kim Siyeon.”

“…?!”

My name was called at the very end.

What?