“Siyeon, how was it? The meeting.”
After finishing the meeting, I got into Jaeyoung’s car.
Jaeyoung handed me a coffee and a donut he had bought in advance.
I was already craving something sweet, so I was delighted by his thoughtfulness.
For some reason, ever since I came to this world, I’ve been craving sweets all the time.
“They said they really want me to join the film. They said they’d contact me through the company.”
“Really? As expected. You did great.”
Chewing on the chewy donut, I reflected on what had just happened.
Director Bong Joonyoung had asked me to show the maximum action I could pull off.
As instructed, I took down all the stunt actors.
There were only four stunt actors, so it took merely 2.7 seconds.
“After all, they’re just actors.”
I thought stunt actors would be exceptionally skilled, but when I gave it my all, there wasn’t much difference from ordinary people.
They only managed to block my movements for about 0.2 seconds.
Still, if I adjusted my strength, it seemed like we could create some decent action sequences.
Above all, it felt good to hit people again after a long time.
“Working on a Bong Joonyoung film is a great opportunity. Honestly, ever since Heirs aired, I’ve received a lot of offers, but most of them were pretty mediocre. No matter how much attention you got in the beginning, an actor’s performance deepens as they mature. So now’s the time to avoid getting overconfident and focus on one solid project.”
“Yes.”
Jaeyoung didn’t hold back his advice regarding my future activities.
There were a few offers, but none of them felt right.
As he said, a truly skilled director wouldn’t rush to cast someone who’d only worked on one drama.
Getting the chance to work on Bong Joonyoung’s film felt like a stroke of luck.
If I recall correctly, the movie’s name was Hearhart.
It was about an abandoned girl surviving in a mysterious organization and seeking revenge.
It was eerily similar to my past life.
Though I only had a small role as a child actress, I was looking forward to it.
It reminded me of my days in the slums.
“You’re heading to school today, right?”
“Yes, attendance has been an issue.”
I planned to go to school in the afternoon after my morning meeting.
I’d missed a lot due to filming, and since my mom hadn’t been cooking lately, I figured I’d at least get to eat school lunch.
Today’s menu was pork cutlets.
“Let’s hurry, so I make it before lunchtime ends.”
Returning to school after a long time, I noticed something unusual.
Chaeyoung was walking around on crutches.
Apparently, her shinbone had been fractured.
“They said the movie she was supposed to film got canceled.”
“It was such a big opportunity for her… sigh.”
Chaeyoung looked noticeably down.
She had been following me around since childhood, learning things like boxing.
Although I didn’t train in this world’s martial arts anymore, Chaeyoung kept up with her training, never knowing what role she might get.
But no matter how much you train, failing to take care of your own body… Chaeyoung still had a long way to go.
“So, Siyeon, what brings you to school today?”
“The filming for Heirs is wrapping up. And I felt like I’ve been skipping too much. I had a meeting this morning, too.”
“Really? Then we should all hang out for a bit. It’s been so boring at school lately!”
Ji-young smiled brightly, trying to cheer up the gloomy Chaeyoung, perhaps because of her canceled shoot.
I wondered what kind of action Chaeyoung had been cast for.
I didn’t ask, though—it felt like rubbing salt into the wound.
A few days later, on the set of Hearhart.
Since everything had already been prepared, filming began immediately.
Memorizing the script was easy, so I readily accepted the role.
“Everyone, meet Siyeon, who’s joining as Heejeong’s younger counterpart. She’s a middle schooler and quite skilled, as you all probably know!”
Clap, clap, clap, clap—
Introductions with the other team members happened right on set.
Thankfully, some people had seen the drama, so a lengthy introduction wasn’t necessary.
We got straight to work, which I liked.
“Nice to meet you, Siyeon. I really enjoyed your drama.”
“Thank you! Please take care of me.”
My first scene was with veteran actor Gil Daesoo.
His role was Daehyung, the boss of the organization where the female protagonist was raised.
He played a heartless character who trained orphaned children as hunting dogs.
The protagonist, Heejeong, was one of those children, forced to fight for survival.
Contrary to his role, Gil Daesoo had a gentle and kind appearance.
I wondered if he could really pull off being the boss of such a ruthless organization.
However, as soon as filming began, my expectations were completely overturned.
“The kid from Heirs, huh? Let’s see what you’ve got.”
It turned out that Gil Daesoo already knew about me.
A few days ago, Director Kang Shinyul mentioned Siyeon and praised her highly.
Now, she had been suddenly cast as the younger version of Heejeong in this movie.
This was no easy role. On top of that, Hearhart was nothing like a cringy drama like Heirs.
If she acted the same way she did in Heirs, she wouldn’t survive in the film industry.
“Action!”
With the director’s cue, the filming officially began.
Greasy bangs. A long scar running from the forehead to the cheek.
Daehyung steps into the slums, leading his pack of hunting dogs.
The ground squelches with filth underfoot.
The stench is foul, and trash is scattered everywhere.
Children with soot-blackened faces are rummaging through garbage dumped from the upper town.
“…Wait.”
In the midst of it all, just one.
Daehyung stops in his tracks, looking at a girl.
While everyone else cowers in fear of Daehyung, this girl alone stares back at him.
Her gaze is anything but ordinary.
“…Not the eyes of a child.”
Daehyung approaches the girl and grabs her hair, lifting her off the ground.
She looks like she should just have finished elementary school.
An age too late to have ended up in this alley.
Her gaze made it clear—she wasn’t born in these streets.
Children born here didn’t carry such fire in their eyes.
“Where are you from?”
“…?”
The girl said nothing.
Daehyung chuckled and threw her toward his hunting dogs.
“Take her in.”
He thought he’d try raising her as one of them.
It wasn’t because he saw any extraordinary talent in her.
It was just like picking up a random stone on the roadside.
Occasionally, among the stones picked up, you’d find a jewel. That’s all it was.
“Argh!”
Just then, a scream echoed behind Daehyung.
“You little…!”
“Hey! Catch her!”
Tap-tap-tap—
When he turned around, the girl was running away.
One of his hunting dogs was bleeding, and the rest were chasing after her.
“…Ha. She had a knife hidden on her.”
It seemed she had concealed a blade within her clothing.
Without hesitation, she stabbed the ones trying to kidnap her.
A gem.
No matter how much dirt is smeared on it, a jewel will always shine.
Daehyung shoved aside his hunting dogs and darted forward in an instant.
“Kyaaah—!”
He grabbed the fleeing girl by the head with one hand and slammed her into the ground.
The girl, now face-down in the filth, struggled, but she couldn’t overpower Daehyung’s strength.
“Interesting little one. Worth raising, I’d say.”
“Let… me… go…!”
Daehyung grinned.
The girl glared fiercely at him.
Her defiant gaze amused him.
‘What kind of eyes are those…?’
Fully immersed in his role, Gil Daesoo’s focus momentarily broke.
The sheer killing intent.
It wasn’t something that could be conjured by mere acting.
Gil Daesoo felt like he might be swallowed whole by the gaze Siyeon sent his way.
‘Her strength isn’t ordinary either.’
And her power was immense.
Though this was acting, he felt like he could be overpowered if she truly intended to.
Even if her acting was good, how could a young girl possess such strength?
Gil Daesoo frowned, looking down at Siyeon.
Originally, the scene required them to exchange gazes, but the moment dragged on longer than planned.
‘…Here we go again.’
Watching this, Director Bong Junyoung thought to himself.
It was Gil Daesoo’s bad habit.
He was a great actor, but sometimes he had a tendency to torment new actors.
On the surface, he seemed like a kind person, but he placed great value on skill.
Of course, everything he did was out of love for the film industry.
Gil Daesoo hated how mediocre actors were messing up the industry these days.
So, it was likely that he was deliberately testing Siyeon, who had suddenly risen to fame.
However, Bong Junyoung wasn’t particularly worried.
He already knew Siyeon’s talent was real.
Though, the reality was different.
“…What was the next line?”
Gil Daesoo, momentarily forgetting his lines due to Siyeon’s gaze.
But his expression remained perfect.
It seemed like he was intentionally taking time to build up the emotion.
Eventually, Gil Daesoo made a decision.
Instead of saying the next line, he decided to immediately pull Siyeon along.
“Cut!”
The “cut” signal was given.
“Wow, that ad-lib was great, sir. The emotion became even stronger when you pulled her like that.”
“Haha. I got too immersed in the role. Let’s try again.”
Everyone assumed the ad-lib was Gil Daesoo’s, and they couldn’t help but admire him.
Gil Daesoo smiled awkwardly, secretly sighing in relief.
‘Phew… I didn’t get caught. But this girl… she’s something else.’
The filming continued, and during the scenes, Siyeon continued to overpower Gil Daesoo.
Sometimes, it even felt like Siyeon was intentionally holding back, as if adjusting her level to match his.
It seemed like she wasn’t showing her full potential.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the scene where Heejeong, now recognized as one of the hunting dogs, was training.
She poured all her emotions into the punches, relentlessly hitting the sandbag.
“Cut! Siyeon, aren’t you tired?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“No, no. In this scene, you need to show intense emotions while sweating buckets. Your acting is great, but right now you look too fresh.”
Normally, after intense training, one would be drenched in sweat.
Of course, Siyeon did a great job of portraying the exhaustion from the training, but she wasn’t sweating at all.
She looked too clean despite struggling so much.
Siyeon couldn’t help it, though—she couldn’t control whether or not she would sweat.
“…Sweating just from hitting the sandbag, that doesn’t make sense.”
Hitting the sandbag alone shouldn’t make someone sweat like that.
Even for acting, it felt like too weak of a setup.
“Well, it can’t be helped. Someone, spray some water!”
So, they had to spray water on her with a misting bottle to continue the scene.
With the artificial sweat, they were finally able to get the OK.
“…Isn’t this fine, sir?”
“Definitely. I’m curious where something like that came from.”
Gil Daesoo and Bong Junyoung spoke about Siyeon while watching her.
It seemed like Gil Daesoo had acknowledged Siyeon, and Bong Junyoung felt a little more at ease.
There shouldn’t be any issues with the filming from now on.
Or so he thought, but then Gil Daesoo spoke up with a serious expression.
“…But,”
“Is something wrong?”
“Did they say she’s a martial arts prodigy? How is her skill so good?”
“Ah, yes. That’s what I heard.”
Gil Daesoo’s expression became even more serious.
Bong Junyoung, too, started to feel nervous.
“…What if her action skills are better than those of an adult actor?”
“Excuse me?”
“From the looks of it, I don’t think Hye Won will be able to do better than that.”
“…Ah.”
Gil Daesoo’s concern was different from what Bong Junyoung had expected, but it was very reasonable.
Normally, there would be a significant gap between the action skills of the main actress and the child actress.