Chapter 23 : I’m a Living Actor (23)

The boy’s eyes grew wide.

Then, lowering his gaze, he faintly smiled.

Though the corners of his mouth lifted, it felt like he was holding back with effort.

It wasn’t a smile born of joy, but one laced with resignation.

An unwilling disbelief, an inability to accept.

Even if those feelings were genuine, a deep resignation that nothing would change.

That bittersweet shift in emotion unfolded so vividly yet naturally.

The poignant ache tightening the hearts of those watching was an added layer.

Since Han Yeoreum realized her own feelings, she had bombarded him with confessions like a barrage, but the boy’s reaction remained unchanged.

Seeing that, the girl grew anxious.

“It’s true! I, I… like you, Yoon Jihwa!”

His pupils trembled at the sincere words, clearly meeting her eyes.

The gaze that had been cast downward slowly lifted, fully meeting Han Yeoreum’s.

Instead of saying anything more, Han Yeoreum smiled. Brightly.

The boy smiled along with her.

The fresh, blooming smile nearly brought tears to the girl’s eyes.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t exhausted by the boy’s consistent reaction.

Sometimes, it was unbearably frustrating.

But all the hardship up to this moment melted away.

Jihwa had changed.

“Jihwa! We can do this.”

“Huh?”

“Happy ending! We’ll protect it no matter what! We can do it!”

Suddenly, Han Yeoreum punched the air and shouted her slogan, while Yoon Jihwa looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Since the situation wasn’t something she could fully explain yet, the girl swallowed the words welling up inside and simply smiled.

The few tears forming were truly unavoidable.

“Let’s definitely be happy.”

Yoon Jihwa stared blankly at Han Yeoreum’s words and replied.

“…Yeah.”

Wiping the small tears from her eyes, the girl stood up with determination. “Let’s hurry before any troublemakers come,” she urged Yoon Jihwa.

Though puzzled by the girl’s still incomprehensible words, the boy obediently followed.

Han Yeoreum’s gaze lingered on her sneakers as they walked together.

Normally, Yihyuk’s new sneakers would be on his feet, but instead were his own familiar, slightly worn shoes.

Thinking of the boy who must have found those sneakers—thrown far away by one of the gang that had bullied the girl with ill intent—made her heart flutter.

‘I really like this side of you.’

She vowed to say it until he got tired of hearing it, and smiled with a squint.

“Cut! Okay!!”

The voice pierced her ears, snapping Lee Choi back to reality.

The sudden rush of reality made her glance around without realizing it.

Director Choi Younghwan, unusually satisfied, and the staff staring blankly at the actors came into view.

‘It feels like I’m under a spell…’

Or like waking up from a dream with eyes wide open.

To be honest, she couldn’t believe she had just been acting.

The content she had stuffed into her head to avoid mistakes and finish filming quickly evaporated entirely.

Instead of moving according to a prompter, her body moved and her words came out naturally on their own.

“Good work, everyone.”

A voice nearby made Lee Choi turn her head sharply.

There stood Yoo Chaemin, smiling gently.

“Ah, yes. You worked hard too!”

Though she responded reflexively, Lee Choi felt dazed.

‘What’s going on?’

Was the person who had just acted with her really Yoo Chaemin?

Their face was the same, but it felt like someone else had come.

Otherwise, she couldn’t explain that performance.

Without Lee Choi reaching out, Chaemin had easily taken the lead in their acting.

‘How on earth…’

It was realistically impossible.

Suddenly, someone’s acting skill exploded.

No, “improved” wouldn’t even begin to describe it.

The acting Yoo Chaemin had just done was on a completely different level.

‘Ah, wait!’

While blankly replaying the scene, Lee Choi shuddered.

There was something even more important than that.

She hurried to follow Yoo Chaemin, who was walking off to monitor the footage.

“Um… Chae, Chaemin?”

“Yes?”

Lee Choi bowed her head gently toward Yoo Chaemin.

“Thank you for today. Thanks to you, we finished filming smoothly.”

“No, thank you. I’m grateful you accepted my behavior positively, even though it might have been unpleasant.”

“Oh, no. I really got a lot of help.”

“That’s a relief.”

It was a clean response, without any empty flattery.

Such a reaction was a little unexpected, leaving Lee Choi searching for the right words when Yoo Chaemin spoke again.

“By the way, Choi.”

“Yes?”

“If you have time, would you like to do a script study together? Seo Sangwoo—that is, Hyuk—will join the three of us.”

A script study.

Come to think of it, Seo Sangwoo had been asking for that persistently.

She had always declined, too busy memorizing lines alone and figuring out how to act.

Would it be okay?

What if it exposed all the flaws in my acting?

These reflexive thoughts overwhelmed Lee Choi, who squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them.

“Yes…!”

“Then, I’ll contact you.”

Yoo Chaemin smiled brightly and nodded before quickly disappearing somewhere.

Lee Choi quietly watched the hurried figure before turning around.

Her face was clearer and brighter than ever.

As soon as she got off the bus, the sticky, muggy air wrapped around her entire body.

Though she desperately wanted to take off her hat, she pushed it down more firmly and hurried on.

[Ilrang Management]

Following the directions, she soon spotted the building she was looking for.

Entering quickly, the air conditioner’s cold air cooled her heated body.

‘Finally, some relief.’

She took off her hat while she was at it.

The cool breeze swept quickly through her scalp.

Fanning herself lightly with the hat, she looked around and saw the sign for a café in one corner of the lobby—the place for today’s appointment.

“Hyung! Over here!”

As soon as she entered the café, a deep voice greeted her.

‘Looks like he just plans to call me “hyung.”’

It was too bothersome to correct him now.

She figured this was deliberate.

With a small sigh, she headed toward the table where Seo Sangwoo sat, surrounded by coffee, desserts, and open scripts.

“Hello!”

Lee Choi greeted brightly.

I nodded in response and put down my bag.

“I’ll just order drinks quickly and come back.”

“Okay!”

“See you soon, hyung!”

I returned to the table with the coffee I ordered.

Seo Sangwoo and Lee Choi were exchanging serious looks, discussing the script.

“Wow, Hyuk really is annoying.”

“What? Did you just badmouth our Hyuk?”

“No, it’s true. Yeoreum keeps saying she doesn’t like him, but he doesn’t admit it and cowardly bullies Jihwa and teases her.”

“Yeah, but… Hyuk is kind of a pitiful kid too.”

“So what, if he’s pitiful that means he can bully others?”

“Tsk… I think you’re being way too biased right now.”

‘They’ve gotten pretty close.’

There was a sense of familiarity different from what I’d seen on set.

Their personalities were somewhat similar, so it made sense they’d become close quickly.

I sat down carefully so as not to interrupt their conversation.

Setting my coffee on the table and tidying up the area a bit, I looked up and met two pairs of eyes looking at me.

“…….”

“…….”

“You can keep talking, you know.”

“No, it wasn’t anything important, right?”

“That’s right.”

When Lee Choi spoke, Seo Sangwoo quickly chimed in.

Did they…?

I nodded lightly and gave an awkward smile.

“It’s really hot today. Was it tough getting here?”

“Oh, it was fine. Not too bad…”

As Lee Choi replied, I glanced around the café.

Since it was a place for company employees only, most people were getting takeout.

Thanks to that, the hall was quite empty.

No worries about attracting unwanted attention.

“The Saok is really clean and nice.”

The script study was taking place in Lee Choi’s agency’s Saok.

I’d heard her maternal family, including her mother, ran it, and despite its size, the interior was quite nice.

“Haha, right? I gave a lot of input during the interior design.”

“Hyung, next time let’s meet at our company’s Saok. Ours is small and cute.”

“Is that so?”

Just as I wondered if I could really go there, Seo Sangwoo quietly added,

“I’ll make sure everything’s organized.”

“…Organized how…”

I was about to ask but stopped myself.

It seemed perfectly fine to keep meeting at Lee Choi’s company Saok.

Taking a sip of coffee, I opened the script.

To shift the mood, the two’s expressions quickly became serious.

“Don’t you think Jihwa could be more proactive here? She’s been a bit passive the whole time.”

“I think it’d be good to make her stand firmly against Hyuk. Something more intense!”

The script study went far more actively than I expected.

I had imagined Lee Choi might be passive or that there would be awkwardness, but those worries proved baseless.

Lee Choi and Seo Sangwoo offered suggestions energetically, and I just mediated and organized their opinions.

The whirlwind session passed.

“Shall we take a short break?”

“Yes!”

“Ah, perfect timing.”

Lee Choi and Seo Sangwoo collapsed into their chairs, accepting my suggestion.

“Oh no, the ice’s all melted.”

Seo Sangwoo muttered as he took a sip of his coffee, frowning.

“No way. It’s completely watered down. I barely drank any, what a waste.”

“You were just too focused…”

I looked at my own coffee, which I thought was nearly finished but was actually less than half gone.

“…….”

“Hey, hyung, you didn’t drink much either.”

“Yeah… I guess.”

Seo Sangwoo grumbled about the coffee before excusing himself to go to the restroom.

Only Lee Choi and I remained at the table.

Avoiding the coffee that caught my gaze, I looked at Lee Choi.

Sensing my stare, she raised her head.

Honestly, I didn’t have anything in particular to say.

“…Are you feeling a bit better?”

Since our eyes met, I felt like I had to say something and opened my mouth.

Lee Choi smiled gently.

“I’m not sure. Sometimes I feel okay, sometimes not. To be honest, I almost canceled coming here until the last minute.”

That made sense.

Burnout, slump.

Someone pushed to the point where they couldn’t even act on set wouldn’t suddenly be fine.

Especially not from just a professional counseling or a simple heart-to-heart talk.