LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 33
<"Genius Child Actor Suddenly Retires? Nope! She's Coming Back!">
<"What led the child actress who became a sensation as Yeonhwa to make the sudden decision to retire?">
<"The Moon That Hid the Sun hits the jackpot! Average viewership surpasses 25%! Highest ratings on the horizon!">
“…….”
Han Sun-ah rubbed her eyes.
Was it a dream? No, it wasn’t.
“Unnie, can you wait for me until my next project?”
Suddenly.
The words Seo-yeon said to her at the premiere popped into her mind.
Ah, so that’s why she asked if she could wait long.
It wasn’t an impulsive decision, but rather an answer after long contemplation.
Realizing this, Han Sun-ah shook her head vigorously.
“……It wasn’t to say she’s retiring.”
Seo-yeon said.
To wait until her next project.
Perhaps, she thought of taking quite a long break.
This was fairly common for child actors.
It’s just that it’s rare to go on a break right at the moment of peak popularity.
“I have to study.”
Thanks to Seo-yeon, she could get into S University in Seoul.
So, Han Sun-ah would keep waiting.
To meet her sister again as a proper adult and even cooler than now.
Perhaps it was the one-of-a-kind signature left by Seo-yeon.
Staring at it, Sun-ah made a vow.
*
“Unbelievable!!”
Jo Seo-hee’s scream echoed through the living room.
Her parents, who were watching the news with their daughter, covered their ears at her sudden outburst.
“Ah, Seo-hee, why are you shouting all of a sudden…”
“Did you not see that?! That girl!”
Jo Seo-hee seemed like she would grab her daddy’s collar and shake him vigorously.
Strong-willed and energetic, she was a daughter whose description was hard to capture.
After losing the audition for The Moon That Hid the Sun, she was thoroughly crushed.
“There must have been something going on behind the scenes. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have lost, right Seo-hee?”
Her parents soothed her, saying so.
But the feeling of discontent didn’t change.
If anyone could see she was superior, then even if there was something from above, she wouldn’t have lost.
Seo-yeon’s and her acting were quite similar.
Seo-yeon was superior in emotional acting and atmosphere creation.
Jo Seo-hee had the upper hand in pure acting stability and skill.
The princess of the daily drama.
Her childhood acting life was on a solid path.
It was almost unimaginable that she would lose to a rookie in such a place.
However, even Seo-hee admitted when she watched episodes 2 and 3 of The Moon That Hid the Sun.
Even the young Jo Seo-hee could inadvertently get absorbed in Seo-yeon’s acting.
If she’d seen it on set, she would have been completely devoured by Seo-yeon.
“That subject acted like that…….”
Jo Seo-hee bit her thumbnail and stared at the TV.
Her glare was so fierce that even her parents who were sitting next to her started to subtly distance themselves.
“Isn’t it a duck that lays golden eggs? But it left completely instead of just making a cut.”
“Thanks to that, Seo-yeon’s last CF is making waves. After the soy milk CF, she shot a children’s nutritional supplement ad.”
“Oh, I also saw it. The CFs will be pouring in, but I have no idea why.”
The hosts on the screen said that while watching the reference video of the CF.
Seo-yeon was acting in an ad with the middle-aged actress, Kim Mi-yeon.
They were playing a loving mother and daughter.
It was completely different from dramas, yet it was still clean acting.
‘She’s so good at this.’
Now, discussions about Seo-yeon were flowing incessantly in news that dealt with entertainment gossip.
It was that sudden and impossible.
‘Is she winning and running away?’
She swore she wouldn’t lose in the next audition.
In truth, this time’s audition failure became a blessing for Jo Seo-hee.
Everyone praised her as the princess of the daily drama, so she had become complacent and arrogant.
After all, Seo-hee was still a kid.
So she thought a child actor didn’t need to do better than this.
Even her beloved actress Jeong Eun-seon had always said that Seo-hee’s acting was already top-notch for a child actor.
Yes, ‘as a child actor.’
But Seo-yeon was now being compared to adult actors.
With Ha Ye-seo, who played the grown-up Lee Hye-wol in episode 4.
“Just you wait.”
She didn’t think it was retirement.
While the news buzzed about retirements and whatnot, it was close to ‘taking a short break’ from the contents of the celebrity live show ‘Stars in the Spotlight.’
How long that break would last was unknown.
Child actors often take breaks longer than ten years.
Especially if they’re as young as Seo-yeon, the hiatus could be even longer.
Usually, child actors are sought after at ages 5 to 7.
They can still work after that but there’s not much they can play.
More than anything, they have to go to school, right?
Thus, most appear only after turning into high school students or adults.
When they can handle roles typically taken by adult actors.
But Jo Seo-hee had no plans for that.
She would grow continuously, not as the princess of the daily drama, but as a real actress.
While Seo-yeon was absent, she would ensure she outshone Park Jung-woo and was called the best among her peers.
“Next time…….”
……I will definitely win.
Jo Seo-hee vowed so.
*
“Seo-yeon, first, you need to act without using emotions, okay?”
Hwang Jeong-hoon, acting instructor at the Hwayang Acting Academy, said to Seo-yeon.
“Seo-yeon has something that grabs people’s attention. Bang! That probably serves as a strength in emotional acting…”
Acting that captures a person’s line of sight.
Seo-yeon probably could do that because of her lovely appearance.
And her mysterious eyes and unique atmosphere, without a doubt.
Thus, when displaying static acting, Seo-yeon was indeed unmatched among her peers.
Even seasoned adult actors would feel nervous.
As for how child actor hopefuls felt witnessing that acting up close.
“Teacher, I can’t do that.”
“I saw her on TV… Why is she here?”
They were in a state of lost motivation, getting kicked in the behind by Lee Ji-yeon.
It seemed like they were frozen since they were experiencing ‘actor’ acting, which they couldn’t possibly fathom.
“What’s this? Aren’t you guys doing well? Are you ready for another kick?”
“Ah, alright.”
A boy who was practicing acting in pairs began acting again after Ji-yeon’s kick.
It wasn’t anything grand, just passing simple lines back and forth.
In fact, it was closer to ‘storytelling.’
That level was the general standard for children’s acting.
“Can you perform without using emotion?”
“I’m not saying to not use them at all. Also, you have to use your body.”
Movements of the fingers, the eyes. Minor actions.
“If you’ve interpreted the character, they must have quirks, and gestures must be made for each line. What about Yeonhwa?”
“Yeonhwa…….”
She tried to imitate Park Jung-woo as best as she could.
However, it was more Jo Seo-yeon’s mannerisms than Yeonhwa.
That seemed natural since the Yeonhwa who had just escaped the palace was in a state of ‘acting like an ordinary girl.’
‘I suppose the performance of Yeonhwa coming out of the palace was a bit awkward.’
The alright signal had come out right away.
That, most likely, was because of the misinterpretation of Seo-yeon’s awkwardness as intended awkwardness.
Or perhaps it just blended well.
‘Back then, Park Jung-woo didn’t have much of a reaction.’
Seo-yeon thought that was his typical attitude towards her.
A calm and indifferent ten-year-old.
Seo-yeon too had an insensitivity towards others, so she considered him of a similar kind.
However.
“How can you act like that?”
After filming episode 3, Park Jung-woo’s reaction was entirely different.
His face showed shock at Seo-yeon’s acting.
He must have thought until episode 2 that she was at the ‘not as good as him’ child actor level.
It’s probably the kind of sense that goes ‘not bad for a child actor~.’
‘After all, she’s also a child actor.’
He probably completely disregarded her because she was three years younger.
‘That’s what you get.’
However, after delivering a substantial blow in episode 3, Seo-yeon felt thoroughly refreshed.
……When it comes to age, it felt a bit ambiguous, though.
“So, you mean I should try expressing the character solely through movements without emotions?”
“Yes, that’s exactly it!”
Hwang Jeong-hoon’s face beamed as he saw Seo-yeon grasping it quickly.
‘At first, I was flustered, but… this is a great opportunity.’
Most acting academies often double as agencies.
Hwayang Acting Academy was likewise, where Lee Ji-yeon had settled after leaving Eunha Entertainment.
An agency Seo-yeon had recommended.
It was a remarkable agency and acting school that had produced quite a few great actors.
Of course, for now, it was an ordinary acting academy only managing a few child actors for CFs and extra auditions.
‘Genius Child Actor Jo Seo-yeon.’
The child actress stirring the most buzz recently.
If this girl were to be at Hwayang Acting Academy, many would undoubtedly come flocking.
An opportunity to make her name known.
Moreover, Jo Seo-yeon’s talent was at an astonishing level.
‘She understands quickly. There’s no way she’s a seven-year-old.’
Even Lee Ji-yeon, at her age, was a remarkably smart girl.
But Seo-yeon was beyond that.
She had an understanding that was hardly perceivable for a child.
“Well then, I’ll give it a shot.”
Acting without emotion.
Seo-yeon began her performance, deploying only bodily movements.
Eagerly anticipating how much she might surprise herself this time.
And.
“Um, let’s start with one. Seo-yeon.”
“…….”
Seo-yeon’s acting without emotion was merely a stiff Jo Seo-yeon.
She realized that fact.
‘It’s all because of my body.’
Her physical abilities far surpassed that of an average child.
That was undoubtedly the reason she couldn’t perform properly.
Or perhaps the dissonance between emotion and body was the cause.
‘That’s right, it’s clear.’
Seo-yeon kept making excuses in her head.
Not everyone would be perfect from the beginning because of this invincible TS body.