Chapter 61 : Lead Role Competition (13)

“You’re better than I expected.”

“Yeah, it seems like Seorim really wanted to win.”

Choi Jooheon and Shin Yoorim said as they watched Seorim’s performance ending.

On stage, the actors who had given a passionate performance were catching their breath.

The stage was even more impressive than expected, and the audience gave a standing ovation.

“Well, I guess we should go in now. Aren’t you going to do anything?”

“I’m just a scriptwriter. What else should I do? I wrote the script, that’s enough.”

“Ugh…”

Choi Jooheon sighed and went backstage.

As the main director, he didn’t have a moment to rest.

On the other hand, Shin Yoorim sat in the front row, comfortably waiting for the next stage.

Normally, a member would have to do some chores, but no one would scold Shin Yoorim, who was a senior.

Perhaps, this would be the last play of her high school years, and she wanted to fully appreciate it.

“Is that friend a first-year student?”

“These days, even the younger ones have good skills. The acting has depth.”

Lee Heedae, a teacher at the School of Arts, was watching the stage with other teachers at the back of the auditorium.

Lee Heedae, who retired as an actor about ten years ago, had continued to teach at the school.

He was pleased to see these young budding talents.

In recent years, the level of education had improved, and many young actors had excellent skills from an early age.

Especially just now, the protagonist of Seorim, Lee Chaeyoung.

She was only a first-year student, yet her acting was profound.

You can see the life of the person in their acting.

That’s why the value of great actors rises as they age.

Of course, merely living longer doesn’t guarantee great acting.

Reflections on life. Growth of character through deep experiences.

An actor is an artist, and that’s why Lee Heedae always emphasized that students should have deep inner qualities.

“If they keep doing well, we might lose this year. Hahaha.”

“Do you think so? But our protagonist is also a first-year.”

“Our lead is a first-year? Huh…”

Lee Heedae clicked his tongue at the news that the lead in his own school was also a first-year.

Lee Heedae knew that Shin Yoorim was the writer of Daehangong’s play.

Shin Yoorim’s skill would be at a level beyond a third-year student.

Knowing Shin Yoorim’s character, Lee Heedae found the choice puzzling.

“The student’s name is Kim Siyeon. You know, the one from ‘The Watcher.'”

“Ah… that kid.”

Kim Siyeon made sense.

Lee Heedae hadn’t seen “The Watcher,” but he had seen “The Heirs” and “Here Heart.”

“The Heirs” wasn’t the kind of piece he would recommend as an artist, but it was certainly a hit.

“Here Heart” was a work that excelled both in commercial appeal and artistic quality.

If it was Kim Siyeon’s acting he had seen, it was at a level that could lead a play even in a student cast.

“Still, theater is different… and since this is a musical, it’s worrying. The other students have taken music-related classes, so they should be fine, but a freshman might struggle with a musical.”

Lee Heedae was concerned whether Siyeon could handle it.

From what he had seen of Siyeon in previous works, he doubted she could excel in this genre.

Siyeon certainly had talent, but up until now, she had only worked in film.

The live acting in theater was different.

Perhaps Siyeon’s talent had been enhanced by the magic of editing in film.

No matter how much talent someone has, at 17 years old, there would be limits, Lee Heedae thought.

“That’s true. Other members might have experience in musicals and music classes, but Siyeon is so famous that if she makes a mistake, it could hurt her reputation.”

“She’s been doing well, so it’s good for her to fall once in a while. It’s better to stumble on a small stage like this.”

“Small? This is at KAS.”

“Isn’t it better than a big-budget movie? Hahaha.”

The teachers were chatting merrily.

It seemed they were all slightly underestimating Siyeon.

After all, they were proud to teach at Korea’s top arts school, so they didn’t expect a freshman to outshine their own students.

Then, Daehangong’s “Electric Jajang” stage began.

“Is there someone who will wear these shoes?”

Kim Siyeon appeared on stage, holding a pair of large red shoes.

But everyone was surprised by the unexpected appearance and voice.

“Is that… Kim Siyeon?”

“Is she cross-dressing?”

Siyeon appeared cross-dressed.

In “Electric Jajang,” the protagonist, Shazam, was a shoemaker.

Siyeon perfectly portrayed the male character Shazam.

It wasn’t just about looking good on the outside.

Her gestures, hand movements, rough expressions, and gait, even her voice, would make anyone think she was a man.

Lee Heedae and the teachers were serious as soon as the performance began, astonished by the incredible acting.

“…She’s acting like a man, perfectly?”

“There’s not even the slightest tremor.”

“Honestly… this is better than some adult actors…”

It wasn’t just good for a high school student.

The first line she delivered—just that—was enough to show how unbelievable her performance was.

Lee Heedae watched the stage silently, feeling he couldn’t afford to miss a single moment.

‘Her voice is not at a beginner’s level. Did she take lessons somewhere?’

Siyeon continued with a monologue, and then the other characters appeared, and the music started.

“Is this a musical?”

“Isn’t this the first time a musical is being performed at Hanseojun?”

“Wow, Shin Yoorim is amazing…”

The audience, realizing it was a musical, was in shock.

The teachers, though they knew it was a musical, were equally shocked.

The students in the music department were particularly shocked.

“Whatever you imagine~”

It was Siyeon’s singing that left everyone in awe.

There were many students from the practical music department in Daehangong’s cast, and they certainly had better singing skills than the acting department.

But Siyeon’s singing was on par with, if not better than, musical actors.

JAN-

As the play continued, Siyeon appeared again, this time as a drag queen from the Night Troupe.

The shoemaker, who had decided to wear the shoes herself and perform on stage, was initially heckled by the audience for cross-dressing.

But even as she was hit with eggs and tomatoes, the shoemaker didn’t give up.

She had dreamed of singing since childhood and took pride in the shoes she made.

She didn’t care about cross-dressing; she just wanted to dance and sing beautifully, and the audience grew more and more captivated by her.

It was a delicate emotional portrayal.

The passion in Siyeon’s eyes was so intense it was hard to even think of it as acting.

“Electric Jajang! Let’s do it again!”

And the musical reached its climax.

Wow~~

The roar was much louder than the previous Seorim High School performance, filling the auditorium.

After all the performances, Daehangong’s members greeted the audience with relieved expressions.

“This… Hahaha.”

“Wow…”

Even the teachers couldn’t find words, clapping their hands in awe.

Can high school students really make a musical of this level?

And they weren’t even professional musical actors; they were just students in a theater club!

Behind this impossible performance was, of course, the writer Shin Yoorim.

It was as if each character was written with the actor in mind, perfectly matching their roles.

Even students who were originally lacking in skill performed above average when cast in the right roles.

But the most surprising of all was Kim Siyeon.

When performing a monologue, she showed a level beyond high school, and when working with other students, she toned it down to maintain harmony.

This balance led to an incredibly high level of completion for the entire play.

“…Well done.”

Shin Yoorim, who had been sitting at the front watching the performance, smiled and stood up.

She passed by the Seorim Theater Group members and headed for the stage.

“We won again. We haven’t won once until graduation. What are we going to do?”

“Shin Yoorim…”

She passed by Seorim’s rival playwright, laughing.

“Yikes…”

And in the corner of the Seorim Theater group, there was Lee Chaeyoung.

Chaeyoung was gritting her teeth, watching the stage.

Shin Yoorim passed her by and went backstage.

“It was perfect!”

“We’re going to win for sure! Did you see the audience’s reaction?!”

Backstage was filled with excitement.

The performance was far more perfect than what they had practiced.

It wasn’t just about winning; they were happiest because they had shown a perfect performance as a theater group.

“Ah! Yoorim-senpai!”

“Great job, everyone.”

“Wow! Senpai said we did a good job! We must have really done well!”

The atmosphere grew even more cheerful.

But among them, there was one person who remained expressionless.

Shin Yoorim approached Siyeon.

“Your friend was almost dying for you.”

“Did you meet them?”

“They were outside. Don’t you want to go see them?”

“…No. Not right now.”

Whatever had happened between the two, it was none of his concern.

After finishing up, Daehan-gong enjoyed the rest of the festival while waiting for the results to be announced.

And then, the long-awaited moment arrived.

“In the theater category, the results for Daehan-gong’s Electric Jjajang and Seorim Theater’s King Lear are… Daehan-gong’s victory!”

“Kyahhhhhhh!”

“Yaaaah! We won!”

The Daehan-gong members cheered.

Looking at the overall Hanseo competition, this year, Han Arts lost.

But since they won in theater, Daehan-gong had nothing to regret.

“What were the other teams doing? We lost in singing and dancing.”

“Seriously.”

They jokingly blamed the other teams, but they didn’t mean it.

With the competition over, the two schools became one and enjoyed the festival together.

“Chaeyoung!”

As the festival was coming to an end,

I ran after Chaeyoung, who was leaving school alone.

Chaeyoung didn’t respond and only slightly turned her head.

Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying.

“The play was great. You did well.”

“…Are you here to mock me?”

“What?”

“What do you mean, ‘I did well’? We lost. And anyone could see that you were the one who did well. Are you here to mock me?”

“No…”

I had only said one thing, but Chaeyoung lashed out fiercely.

It was hard to find the right words to respond.

I had never experienced a situation like this, even in my past life.

“Why are you acting like this?”

There were too many unanswered questions.

The sudden transfer.

And now, suddenly appearing again and provoking me.

I always knew my skills were exceptional.

The TM Incident wasn’t even something I did to target Chaeyoung.

From my perspective, none of this made sense.

But Chaeyoung and I had known each other for a long time.

“Are you really asking because you don’t know? If it weren’t for you… you…!”

Chaeyoung suddenly turned around, got in a car, and drove away.

I let out a sigh and slumped onto a nearby bench.

“Hah…”

Memories from the past surfaced.

Back when I had just debuted and wanted to land a lead role.

I had challenged Jeon Ji-won for the main role in Assassin.

For some reason, seeing Chaeyoung now reminded me of the warnings Ji-won had given me back then.

Maybe, from Jeon Ji-won’s perspective, I had looked just like this.

A rookie actor appearing out of nowhere, suddenly demanding the lead role in a showdown.

Even after extending a hand first, I still treated him like a rival on broadcast, making an absurd bet over box office success.

And then, after losing, I just disappeared without a word. Without even contacting him.

Of course, I had thought my skills were superior, so I couldn’t accept it.

And, honestly, I probably was better.

But now that I thought about it again, maybe I wasn’t.

What even is skill?

I called Jeon Ji-won.

“Hello? What’s up? At this hour?”

Jeon Ji-won answered in his usual laid-back manner.

“Sunbae, back then… Why did you let it slide?”

“What do you mean?”

“Honestly, it must have been annoying to have a middle schooler challenge you. But you let me off easy.”

Honestly, Chaeyoung’s attitude frustrated me.

I was getting hostility without even knowing why.

But Ji-won had been in the same position.

And the situation with him had been way worse.

Yet, I couldn’t even handle Chaeyoung’s resentment.

“If some random middle schooler suddenly picks a fight, claims to be better than you, and ignores you… Didn’t that piss you off?”

Ji-won, who had been teasing me about whether I was drunk, suddenly fell silent.

Then, in his usual sharp voice, he shouted,

“Of course it pissed me off! Some brat with no experience saying he’d steal my role?”

“Then why did you just let it go?”

“What, you expected me to yell at a kid? You were still just a junior, a kid.”

“……”

“You’re a great actor. The whole world knows it. Do you think anyone your age was ever as good as you? Of course, you’d be arrogant. But at least you had a reason to be.”

It wasn’t arrogance; it was just a fact.

I quietly listened to Ji-won’s words.

“But listen, acting skills alone aren’t everything. In this industry—or in any industry—talent alone isn’t enough. You have to have the right personality. You have to be humble. Even if someone’s worse than you, if they’ve been in the field longer, you have to treat them as a senior, bow your head, and show respect.

While doing that, you slowly prove your ability and build your career.

Surviving in the world isn’t easy.”

“…”

“That’s skill. And your position is determined by your real skill. People recognize talent when it comes with everything else—experience, humility, resilience. Acting alone won’t get you fully acknowledged.

You’re a great actor, but you still don’t have skill. And that’s normal at your age.

You climbed too high, too fast.

If I didn’t hold onto you, you would’ve crashed and burned.”

“I… don’t get it.”

“That’s why I’m saying—there’s more than one thing that matters. People matter.

Right now, you’re just a kid still figuring things out.

So, to me, you just looked like a lost little brat.

I chose to look after you.

Just like my seniors did for me.

That’s how you grow into real skill.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“No, you are a kid. That’s just how it is.”

I had lived longer than Ji-won, yet, for some reason, I couldn’t say that out loud.

Why?

At that moment, I really felt like a child.

Even though I had lived through so much in my past life, I knew nothing about this.

“Becoming an adult is a process. Stay humble.

Your unni let you off easy this time.”

“Got it, ajumma.”

“What?! You little—”

Click.

I hung up and turned off my phone.

Skill, huh.

I was starting to understand what Ji-won had meant.

Even after everything I did to him, he had been this honest with me.

Maybe this was what it meant to be an adult.

Ji-won really seemed like one.

Compared to him, I was just a kid who couldn’t even handle something like this properly.

But now, I knew what to do.

I had taken a step forward.

I ran toward Chaeyoung’s house.