Hye-won looked at the rearview mirror with a pitiful expression.
Chaeyoung was crying in the back seat.
It seemed like she had lost to Siyeon at Hanseojeon, even without asking.
After all, defeating Siyeon in acting was practically impossible.
Hye-won secretly wished that Chaeyoung would just get along with Siyeon, but children’s hearts didn’t change that easily.
“Let’s get out, Chaeyoung.”
“….”
After a while, they arrived home and parked.
As Hye-won and Chaeyoung were about to enter the house, they were startled.
“…Si, Siyeon?”
Siyeon, who was supposed to be at school, was standing right in front of Chaeyoung’s house.
“Wha, wha, what…”
Chaeyoung was so shocked that she forgot about losing the match.
It made no sense logically.
How could someone who took a car arrive earlier than her?
But then again, if it was Siyeon, it might not have been impossible.
“Uh, I’ll go inside first.”
Sensing the mood, Hye-won quickly went inside.
Then Siyeon approached Chaeyoung.
“…I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For completely wrecking TM. I’m sorry for ruining your career!”
Siyeon suddenly burst out emotionally.
Chaeyoung, startled, stepped back.
But as she processed it, she got angry again.
“Do you think just saying sorry is enough? You destroyed my company like that?!”
“Then what was I supposed to do? Just stand by and watch what those bastards were doing?”
“At least you should have told me in advance! Because of you… because of you… AHHHHHHHHH!”
Overwhelmed with emotions, Chaeyoung grabbed Siyeon’s hair in a fit of rage.
Siyeon instinctively tried to twist Chaeyoung’s arm, but she stopped herself, realizing she could permanently damage it.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
“You crazy b****!”
Screaming at each other, Chaeyoung and Siyeon wrestled on the ground.
They rolled around the parking lot for quite a while.
Their hair got completely tangled, and their clothes were torn.
In her past life, Siyeon would have never done something like this, but at this moment, she fought like an ordinary teenage girl.
After nearly an hour of scuffling, they finally separated.
Both sat against the wall without saying a word.
“…Ji-young was really worried about you.”
“You could have at least contacted her.”
“…Sorry.”
“Do you remember when we were in kindergarten? After the kidnapping incident, you kept staying at my house—”
“Why are you bringing that up?!”
Chaeyoung suddenly stood up and shouted.
“Just… compared to then, we’ve grown up a lot.”
Looking at Siyeon now compared to the past, she had changed so much.
Ten years had passed, yet Siyeon still hadn’t fully grown up.
“…I was jealous. My company was destroyed, but you were still thriving.”
Chaeyoung spoke in a calm tone.
All the suffering she had endured, all the effort she had put into improving herself.
Siyeon silently took in those words.
She didn’t fully understand yet, but this felt like the right thing to do.
“Uwaaaahhhhhh!”
When Ji-young reunited with Chaeyoung, she burst into tears.
Seeing her like that, Chaeyoung felt guilty and apologized.
“Don’t ever do that again!”
“O-okay.”
“Bad girl, bad girl!”
Ji-young lightly smacked Chaeyoung’s back.
“Oh, by the way, I decided to debut!”
“…Really?”
“For real?”
“Yeah. A spot opened up in the debut team, so I took the test and got in.”
“Isn’t that kind of sudden?”
“I was supposed to join before but failed. When an opportunity comes, you have to grab it.”
Ji-young had brought good news.
She had been feeling down, not knowing when another chance would come, but miraculously, a vacancy appeared, and she got in.
Thanks to her constant hard work, she had finally made it.
“Congratulations. You’re going to do great.”
“Of course! Every girl group that comes out of IG is a hit.”
Chaeyoung, who had been angry just moments ago, suddenly cheered for Ji-young.
The way she switched emotions was still baffling.
“I also landed a lead role in a new project. Maybe it’s because I did well in the documentary.”
“That’s amazing! Are we all becoming stars now? Siyeon’s already a star.”
“Yeah. Everything’s going to work out.”
Even after years apart, their conversations remained the same.
The only difference was that they were now achieving their dreams.
As they got busier with their careers, they might grow apart, but somehow, they felt even closer.
A few months later, Ji-young debuted, and Chaeyoung successfully starred in a high-rating drama.
I didn’t work on any projects that year, mainly because I couldn’t find one that I really wanted to do.
Of course, that was something I could have solved if I had searched harder, but there was another reason I couldn’t focus.
“Siyeon, you need to shake your hips more here! Like this, cha-cha-cha, cha-cha-cha, chalaralara—”
“What kind of dance is this?!”
“It’s twerking!”
“Is it even okay to make a minor do this?!”
“It’s not that bad! It’s just a light move. You’ve already stopped the rehearsal multiple times because of this part. Are you going to skip the stage?!”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
It was all because of the dance performance scheduled for the end of the year.
I had made a bet with Jeon Ji-won, and as part of the deal, I had to perform a dance at the year-end show.
It was turning out to be a nightmare.
I had picked what I thought was a relatively safe routine, but there was one move that was giving me trouble.
It was only about three seconds long—after waving my arms, I had to shake my hips.
The move itself wasn’t difficult, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
It wasn’t that I physically couldn’t—it just felt so wrong mentally.
“Okay, let’s go again. Five, six, seven, eight!”
“Then why does the dance teacher always count from five?”
“It’s just how it is, Siyeon. If we don’t finish here today, we can’t leave?”
“Ha…”
In the end, after numerous failures, I performed the choreography and had to present it on stage at the year-end ceremony while wearing a flashy costume.
“Hahahahahaha! Siyeon, how about becoming an idol? You seem to be better at that than acting!”
“…No, Senior. I want to be an actor.”
“Why’s your face like that? Are you embarrassed? Then why didn’t you win! Kyaahahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
At that moment, Jeongwoo-seon and Jeon Jiwon, who were at the award ceremony, laughed and teased me.
It seemed like they knew that I was embarrassed by this and had found my weak spot.
“I have to keep this video forever. I’ll show it every time she tries to act tough.”
“Hahahaha!”
“…Please stop, Senior. Delete it.”
“What good is deleting it? It’ll end up on YouTube anyway.”
“Ha…”
I ignored Jeon Jiwon’s words and just turned away.
I had never regretted my choices, not even once.
But this time, I regretted betting against Jeon Jiwon.
“…Oh. And did you make up with your friend?”
“…What?”
“Remember when you called before? Didn’t you have a fight with your friend? The one who just won the rookie award, Chaeyoung or something.”
“How did you know?”
“Eonni just knows. I can tell what kids your age are thinking.”
I’m not a kid. I’m older than you.
Still, since it was somewhat helpful, I kindly answered.
“…I think so. We’re okay now.”
“Loosen up your face. Don’t fight with your friend again.”
“I didn’t fight because I was in the wrong.”
“Sigh… you’re still a kid.”
Jeon Jiwon waved her hand and left.
I checked my phone after receiving a notification and saw that Jeon Jiwon had posted my video on her SNS, tagging me.
“Ha…”
I wanted to smash my phone, but I held myself back.
It was already a past event. Let’s just call it a “good thing” and move on.
But this video spread too widely.
[The monster rookie Kim Siyeon makes her comeback after a year. She performs the ‘Rain Heart’ stage at the year-end ceremony.]
[Kim Siyeon fulfills her bet with Jeon Jiwon from a year ago. Explosive reactions.]
[Kim Siyon’s ‘Rain Heart’ stage. ‘Siyeon, debut as an idol.’]
[Kim Siyeon, who causes a stir every time she appears. So when is your next project?]
“Wow, Siyeon, you made quite a splash this time. How about becoming an idol?”
“Please pick my next project quickly. Something with action.”
“Haha, alright. Let’s go with a project now.”
As I watched the explosive articles, Jiyoung eagerly flipped through scripts.
Jiyoung was still working hard.
Even though I hadn’t had an income during my break, she had helped me with various things.
Now, she had completely finished growing, and there seemed to be no limitations to the roles she could take on.
18 years old. Still far from being an adult.
No, maybe even when I turn 20, I won’t feel like an adult.
Compared to my past life, everything felt very different.
A sense of growth.
It was a kind of accomplishment I had never felt in my past life.
“This one… not great. This one looks fun though.”
There was Jiyoung, working hard over there.
My mom and dad, who raised me so diligently.
Chaeyoung and Jiyoung, who had been my friends for over 10 years.
Many senior actors I had encountered during my acting career. And people in the industry.
They were all relationships I was experiencing for the first time.
All these were times I was experiencing for the first time.
In my past life, I had grown into a perfect assassin.
“Boss, adult films can only be done when you become an adult, right?”
“Of course. Why? Are you planning on making a film where you kill people again?”
“Well, not necessarily like that.”
This time, it felt like I was becoming an adult.