After Story 51

“Then you should look for an assistant writer and call me when you find someone. If you can’t find any, we’ll introduce one to you.”

“Okay.”

Director Cha left.

Hyojung looked at the living room in a daze. It finally came to her that there wasn’t long left until the shoot. She wished to finish the scripts for all the episodes right now, but that was impossible considering the traits of dramas. She had to insert ads, and above all, she had to check the responses from the viewers.

At first glance, dramas may look like unidirectional media, but it was in truth bilateral media where the opinions of the viewers mattered the most after the core main storyline. It was impossible to predict anything before the drama actually aired. The reality was that the character she put so much effort into may disappear amidst the disinterest of the viewers, while a character she didn’t put much effort into may receive a lot of love. If the public wanted, she had to adjust the significance of the characters while not influencing the ending. Only then would the viewing rates increase.

She sat down on the sofa. She looked at the videos that producer Cha copied into her main drive. It was incredible even when she watched it a second time. Despite the fact that he wasn’t acting on a proper set, she could picture a dark and gloomy warehouse thanks to the vivid expressions on his face. She felt like it was a pity even, as officer Park was a character that would be thrown away as a plot device to bring tension into the drama.

Hyojung pulled up a word document and placed her hands on the keyboard. She couldn’t change the fact that officer Park would die in episode 3. That wasn’t something she could touch. Instead, she decided to retouch his appearance so that the viewers could sympathize with the character known as officer Park; and also so that his death would come as an even bigger shock.

Her fingers felt light as she typed on the keyboard. After writing without any blocks, she tried picturing the scene in her mind. The edit didn’t take that long. She started editing the script she had written beforehand, restraining herself so that she wouldn’t change too much. As pitiful as it was, officer Park was a minor character, a role that had to be sacrificed for the story, and the lead characters.

She added quite a lot of emotion in the last scene. She changed it so that he wasn’t simply just a bridge that connects to the next case. She made it so that the character itself would be emphasized a little more.

“That looks good.” She took her hands off the keyboard.

What was left now was to consult with director Cha. He would probably say okay as well.

Hyojung stretched her neck from side to side and stood up, imagining how the viewers would react in episode 3.

* * *

“I’m off.” Bada left, checking if she hadn’t forgotten anything in front of the shoe cabinet. When she went down the stairs and walked past the glass door, she felt her heart pounding.

She took a deep breath, holding it in for a moment, before letting it out. The sense of nervousness below her navel had not changed. Maybe she should take some calming pills?

I’m going to be okay — Bada muttered to herself in a small voice as she headed to the bus stop. On her way to her destination, she closed her eyes and kept practicing the acting she had prepared in her mind.

Hey, have you heard? I heard that Dayeon fought with the professor.

She saw a tip on the internet, which told her that she should produce a natural and relaxing situation if she wasn’t requested to do anything in an audition. Bada had adapted something that she had experienced herself and turned it into a skit. When she acted while recalling the emotions she felt back then, it looked pretty decent.

As for the second, she prepared a skit where she was getting scolded at home. While ‘scolded’ only consisted of a small scuffle with her mother, she also planned a dynamic acting skit that involved high-pitched voices, which she planned to use in the audition if the judges didn’t find it enough. She was still awkward when it came to expressing her anger, so she was only planning to do it when she was asked to.

Having arrived at Gangnam, Bada checked the time and went to the nearby convenience store. As the weather had gotten pretty cool since the start of October, the heating cabinet was right next to the counter. She took out some warm honey tea from it. When her hands touched the warmth, she felt like her racing heart was calming down somewhat.

There was about an hour left until the audition. Bada sat down under the parasol in front of the convenience store and polished her acting. In her imagination, she was able to perform nearly perfectly, but the problem was that the ideal performance was shattered the moment anything escaped her mouth.

She repeated her skit again and again. Even when she had a look at the internet, she did not find a way to increase acting skills in a short period of time. The only method was to practice with all of her energy.

She found that 40 minutes had passed already. The honey tea she bought from the convenience store had cooled as well.

“Let’s do this, Han Bada.”

She intentionally spoke out loud to console herself. Until just a few months ago, she had never been afraid of standing in front of other people, but ever since she started preparing to become an actress, that had changed. She realized in an audition that other people’s gazes could hit her like blunt weapons. Their eyes were completely different when she was doing presentations in class. It was hard to receive them calmly.

She gripped the honey tea bottle and tossed it in the trash, putting all the worries that eroded her head inside the bottle. She started walking boldly. She straightened her shoulders and smiled at everyone she came across. The passersby looked at her like she was someone strange, but she did not mind. She was going to throw away all of her shame and embarrassment on the streets.

The embarrassment didn’t last long, and she was able to greet people coming toward her like it was nothing. Most of them either avoided her gaze, misunderstood her, or turned back to look at her, but some of them responded to her with cheerful smiles. Each of those smiles empowered her. She felt like they were encouraging her.

Bada stopped walking and raised her head. Her head was directed at the only big building of over 5 stories on a street filled with single-floor cafés.

Hansol Entertainment — she was drawn to the signboard up at the top.

Hansol started off as an idol agency and started raising actors starting three years ago.

Chahoon and Lee Jiyoung — the two actors that received a lot of attention in the drama industry both belonged to this agency. Naturally, the attention it received in various internet communities was quite high. While it couldn’t be compared to auditions of large agencies, it was definitely an opportunity that she could not miss as an aspiring actress.

Bada shook her body lightly. This was an audition held by an agency that produced two rising stars. The competition was naturally high, and she handed in her application light-heartedly thinking that it would be a miracle to pass the first round, but she actually ended up reaching the offline audition. Since she came all the way here, she wanted to pass.

“Look at all those people.” She heard a voice from behind.

Bada looked at the entrance of the building. Various young men and women were entering the building. Even from the outlines of their heads, she could see that they were good-looking.

So she had to compete against those people? She took out her concealer from her bag. She applied it to the pimple on her forehead and chin before checking the mirror. She was usually confident in her skin, but she always had skin troubles prior to auditions.

She clicked her tongue and entered the building. There was an announcement on the wall: the audition is on the 3rd floor.

Bada joined the wave of people and went to the 3rd floor.

“Those of you that just arrived, please come this way.”

The moment she saw the woman who smiled and waved her hand, Bada was inwardly amazed. That woman looked like she must have heard ‘you should be a model’ several times. Her beauty was qualitatively different. Maybe idol agencies take appearance into account when recruiting office workers?

“Miss Han Bada, right? You’re here.”

Bada smiled back at the employee who smiled at her. She couldn’t help but do so.

Her confidence suddenly plummeted. She kept consoling herself by saying that actors aren’t judged on looks, but now that she actually came across a beauty that was in a different league, she couldn’t help but smile in vain. Being good-looking and pretty was an enormous head start. This was an undeniable fact at least in the entertainment industry.

After getting a waiting number, she went to the waiting room. As this was an idol agency, there was a large training room, and that place was temporarily being used as a waiting room for today. The audition venue was the training room right opposite the waiting room. The employee explained to her that the audition will be held in the order of the waiting numbers.

Bada sat down on a seat placed against the wall. The other participants started entering one by one as well. She felt this again, but they all had faces with various characteristics. Not to mention neat-looking appearances, they each had a unique characteristic. Bada looked at the mirror wall. She examined herself with it.

Not bad. Not extremely good either, but it’s enough — she brought up her plummeting confidence.

She thought about her favorite actor. Among them were some people who managed to draw attention with not such a great appearance. Skills mattered more than appearance.

She started hearing various voices throughout the waiting room. Everyone had started practicing. She also collected herself and prepared to act. Sounds stacked on top of one another. Everyone was voicing out while not being so loud that they would turn the atmosphere messy.

She started enjoying herself a little. A nice sense of tension welled up within her. The audition for the large agency she saw before didn’t have an atmosphere like this. Every participant was given a sticker with a number on it on the back of their hands like they were on a conveyor belt in a factory before they entered the waiting room in turns.

Groups of ten would stand on stage and walk past the camcorder and act. The audition ended without any time to heat up, and she was notified that she didn’t make it.

Compared to back then, this was much better. She was going to hone her acting until the last moment and then stand in front of the judges.

It was when she was looking at her expression through the mirror and focused on acting that she saw a woman step into the waiting room. She was going to focus again after giving her a glance, but regardless of her will, her eyes were drawn to the woman again.

She was a beauty. One that was as beautiful as the employee that guided them here. If there was a difference, it was that the employee amazed her once and that was it, but with the woman that entered just now, she was still drawn towards her. When she thought about why, she realized that it was because of her eyes. Those eyes, brimming with leisure, kept drawing her in. The woman did not show a shred of nervousness that other participants consciously or subconsciously had. She looked relaxed like she had come out on a stroll. That didn’t mean that she looked arrogant, though. Cool was the impression she gave off.

She stared at her for a while, until she made eye contact with her. She tried to turn away in embarrassment, but she was a little too late. She smiled awkwardly and turned around. That woman must be thinking that she was a strange girl.

Bada shook off her thoughts and focused again. This was no time to look at others. She had to prepare meticulously since she was supposed to be competing against those people. She calculated everything from how she should say her greeting, whether she should do her skit sitting down or standing up, to how she should be using her arms and legs.

She was reminded of her brother’s words. While her brother was unreliable, he sounded like a different person when talking about acting. No, from his recent actions, he was truly a different person. While he told her to get used to it, she still felt rather awkward. Though, he was much better than before, when he used to be a jerk.

Just as she was pushing her focus to the maximum and putting on the best act in the training room….

“Hello.”

She turned around at the sudden greeting.