In our company’s new, comfy, and spacious practice room.
Sung-ah and Hee-yeon pulled chairs to the middle of the practice room and sat facing each other.
Sung-ah’s gaze and voice were very serious as she looked at Hee-yeon.
“You know we’re not in a place to start from the basics, right? We don’t have much time, so you need to learn fast. I’ll explain it my way, and how I think it should be done. How much you learn depends on you.”
Sung-ah usually seemed relaxed, but when it came to acting, she became so serious. She was truly a pro.
From skills to the mindset, she had everything. It was no wonder the big actors loved her.
“First of all, you need to understand the story of this script, the character ‘Hyun-ah,’ and her situation.”
Learning how to use her body, show emotions, control her breathing and gaze, facial expressions, and small details could be taught slowly later.
No, actually, these things should be learned first, but there wasn’t enough time.
“Can you explain your current understanding of the script?”
“Yes.”
Hee-yeon locked eyes with Sung-ah and calmly explained the script.
The working title of the script was 「Can I Borrow Some of Your Luck?」. It was a generic comedy with music and fantasy elements mixed in.
The main character was a trainee at a major entertainment company and dreamed of becoming an idol.
The supporting character, ‘Hyun-ah,’ was the main character’s childhood friend. She had a sad family history. Put nicely, she didn’t grow up happy, and she was also facing serious money problems.
The story really began when the main character helped an old lady pushing a cart. After that day, she could see not only her own luck but also other people’s luck as well.
One day, she unknowingly took the dazzling fate meant for another trainee and caught the eye of a genius producer at the company.
Thanks to her good fortune, she received one-on-one coaching from a genius producer, and her skills improved with each passing day.
Then came an important evaluation day that could decide her debut.
The main character, who was looking for good luck to get a good evaluation, saw luck shining brightly from her childhood friend’s (Hyun-ah’s) body.
It was from her friend, who worked so hard and studied so much, and finally had a job interview scheduled for her dream company that day.
“The main character, ‘Seon-yeong,’ starts off really bad.”
Sung-ah listened quietly to Hee-yeon’s explanation, then spoke.
“Bad… anyone can see that. Let’s go deeper. Let’s think more about Seon-yeong and Hyun-ah up to this point.”
Sung-ah narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, as if she was really curious.
“When do Seon-yeong and Hyun-ah get angry? What’s their fashion look like? What hobbies would they be interested in? Do they like boys? What about their friends? What are their values?”
“…I don’t know that much.”
“Then you have to create it. That’s character building.”
They were things that lay beyond the script or details that could be inferred from it. Imagining and filling in backgrounds wasn’t necessary, but she added them anyway. This was Sung-ah’s way.
“If you do that, you can imagine the character more vividly.”
A small change could make the character more charming.
A character that was just roughly put together would naturally feel less real and less alive than a character that was clearly shaped.
Just take a well-defined character and play it as it is. Then boom, you’ve got a charming role!
If you could clearly imagine the character you were playing, then even when the scenes changed and emotions shifted, the character’s core would stay strong. Your acting wouldn’t waver.
“Why don’t you try to fill in the details yourself? 20 minutes. Don’t just think of making something simple in 5 minutes. Think deeply and dig in. 20 minutes is actually very short. You need to feel the character becoming more and more clear inside you every day.”
For 20 minutes, Hee-yeon wrote things on paper, closed her eyes tightly, and looked through the script to build the character. Sung-ah watched her quietly.
20 minutes later.
Sung-ah didn’t ask Hee-yeon anything and just stood up from her seat.
“Watch.”
Hee-yeon’s eyes followed her.
Sung-ah’s whole vibe changed at once. Her gaze held a sense of selfishness, pity, and warmth.
She was restless and couldn’t keep her body still for a moment. She had to move some part of it.
She stood with one hip slightly tilted, and her eyes lifted innocently. From her mouth burst a loud, light laugh, “Pff– haha!”
She clapped her hands and laughed, scrunching up her face. For about 3 seconds, Sung-ah became a completely different person.
“…!”
Sung-ah sat back down. She spoke calmly to Hee-yeon, who was staring with her mouth open in surprise.
“There are a few ways to act. Method acting. This is the hardest, but also the easiest. You just put on the character you’ve built, and that’s it. There’s not much to think about. The rest is up to the director and the other actors.”
“…”
“Should I give you 20 more minutes?”
“…Yes, please.”
After being told Hee-yeon had a talent for acting, Sung-ah was going with the fastest way to learn. However, she didn’t expect much. Method acting also required knowledge, experience, and know-how.
Even for someone who was well-trained, it was almost impossible to sit there, build a character, and put it on in such a short time.
Slow and steady. If it didn’t work, she planned to change her approach to teaching acting.
After all, she wasn’t obligated to make sure Hee-yeon passed the audition.
Just then.
“This is my life. My luck’s always been crap. It always has been… and it always will be.”
Her eyes were lazily unfocused, but they held a fierce look that made it clear she had lived a tough life.
A bleak and dry voice paired with a plain and flat tone, as if she was talking about someone else.
Her movements were still, and her posture was relaxed.
Even though we were only seeing a small part, what was in front of us clearly looked like a well-developed character.
“…Did she really not learn acting?” Sung-ah let out a small, disbelieving laugh, and her face twisted in a strange way.
I curled up the corners of my mouth in a wide smile.
“She learned from you. Just now, from the moment you started.”
“…Are you kidding me?”
She shook her head, then turned her gaze to me and looked at me with hooded eyes.
“So there was another reason you told me to teach her. You knew, didn’t you, Oppa? That she’s the same type as me. That’s why you were so relaxed even though we’re late for the audition.”
She joked as she shrugged her shoulders and chuckled. Then, she asked me with a playful look.
“How much should I teach her?”
“Since you’re doing it anyway, I hope you’ll be generous in your teachings. It’s not like she’s a threat to you anyway.”
Even though Hee-yeon and Sung-ah had the same acting style, when it came to talent, experience, or acting knowledge, Sung-ah was truly unmatched.
“Alright. The promise was until the audition, but I’ve already taught her this much, and I feel kind of bad toward you. I’ll keep coaching her during filming.”
“So… that means the audition…”
“You’re not actually worried about the audition, are you?”
“Was that too shameless of me?”
“Yes. If she fails the audition, then the production company is shady, they’re blind, or another genius came out of nowhere.”
It felt like the audition was already in the bag. No one in the room had the final say, but none of us could deny it. We were sure.
“It’ll be fun. People are going to lose it when she auditions.”
I agreed, and I planned to see it live.
***
While Hee-yeon was putting all her energy into learning how to act, Yumi was still thinking hard like President Kang had requested.
“What would be good?”
She decided to disregard program planning and just find something she really wanted to do.
“EDM and hip-hop are fun.”
They were genres she liked, but she wanted to try other genres too. It wasn’t like she had something specific she really wanted to do. If that was the case, maybe it would be better to just keep making more EDM and hip-hop.
“The fans… I wonder what they think.”
The word ‘fans’ gave her a ticklish feeling. It still felt strange to say, and she felt shy about it. Yumi put her hands on the keyboard with a shy smile.
Blue Sherbet Yumi
Tap, tap!
She searched her name on a search engine.
[Maestro Yumi, the master of popular music! What’s next?]
[EDM, Hip-Hop, next is definitely Rock! Will she be influenced by fellow member Hee-yeon Lee?]
[Blue Sherbet Yumi and Crescendo’s live fancam views!]
“‘Maestro is a bit much.”
Yumi started looking at articles, comments, reaction videos, and cover videos. She became so engrossed that she completely forgot her original purpose. It was super addicting.
“Right! I almost forgot.”
By the time she remembered her original purpose, a lot of time had already passed. The door opened. Yoon-jung came into the room and chuckled when she saw what was on the monitor.
“Did you look yourself up?”
Yumi quickly turned off the monitor, but it was too late. Her face turned bright red.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Unnie.”
“You don’t have to be shy about it. It’s normal to check for reactions. President Kang even said it’s okay to check, as long as it’s not bad news.”
She said that, but why was there a strange smile on her face?
“No, really. It’s a misunderstanding. Because of the program planning and what President Kang said, I was just checking what the fans thought.”
“Hm?”
She continued to explain to Yoon-jung, who tilted her head in curiosity. After listening to the long explanation, Yoon-jung asked her something.
“President Kang said it, didn’t he? Something like do whatever you want?”
“As much as I can. Whenever I can. Don’t overthink it. Just do what I want.”
“Haha. But you’re saying you don’t have anything you want to do?” She shook her head.
“No. I have a lot of things I want to do. I still want to do EDM and hip-hop. And looking at the comments, a lot of people are expecting rock, a lot are expecting idol music, and some are even expecting folk songs. But because of the program and planning is a mess, I’m worried about what I should do.”
Yoon-jung tilted her head as if it was strange.
“Why are you worrying about that? President Kang said it, didn’t he? Do whatever—'”
“‘As much as I can. Whenever I can. Don’t overthink it. Just do what… Oh!”
Yoon-jung burst out laughing at Yumi’s expression, which said she had an epiphany. Don’t think about anything, just do what you want. It was etched into Yumi’s mind again like a tattoo.
“Haha! So you’ll do rock, idol music, and folk songs. You’ll be super busy, then?”
“…That’s right. I’ll be super busy.”
At that moment, President Kang called.
“Hello?”
“Your Pictures just called, and they need an idol song mixed with EDM. In a way, it’s your first commissioned song. Want to give it a try?”
A big grin spread across Yumi’s face.
“They don’t need anything else?”
***
As expected of a hastily put-together program, it aired soon after filming ended. There was already enough buzz around it, and the time slot was prime time, so it grabbed both viewership ratings and popularity.
“Are we working with the production company on this, Boss?”
It was a sudden decision, so I hadn’t explained it to Jung-han yet. He glanced at me while driving.
“Yeah. From their perspective, it’s best to promote Yumi while she’s still trending. If the song becomes popular before the movie comes out, it’s like gaining an extra weapon.”
“From the broadcasting company’s side, it’s good because they get new content?”
“Exactly. Everyone’s interests match, so they’re fully on board.”
I looked at Yumi through the rearview mirror, and she was completely lost in her phone. The first episode’s reaction was good. Yumi’s kind, careful, and thoughtful personality was clearly showcased, and it touched the hearts of the general public.
As expected of Producer Park. He crafted a drama with Jin-ah and Hyun-hee Lee, and now he was making videos that made people fall for Yumi.
“Yumi. Do you want something to drink before filming?”
Her gaze, which had been glued to her phone, dropped.
“Something to drink? Are you going to buy it at a cafe?”
Instead of answering Yumi’s question, I pointed out the car window with my finger.
“Jung-han, pull over there for a bit. We can buy something from that cafe. For the staff too.”
“I’ll go buy it, Boss!”
As the car stopped, I unbuckled my seatbelt and stopped Jung-han.
“Just stay here. You need to be ready to move the car quickly if we need to move.”
“But.”
“It’s fine. It’s not hard work or anything.”
Just as I was about to get out of the car, Yumi spoke up.
“I’ll go with you.”
I turned around, and she looked at me with pleading eyes.
“You want to go?”
“Yes!”
Jung-han and Yumi were in different situations, and she wasn’t going to the cafe for work but because she really wanted to. Maybe she felt cooped up in the car, or maybe she just wanted to go to a cafe since it’s been a while. That, or she was secretly planning to order dessert.
I scouted the area through the window. It wasn’t near a broadcasting station, so there weren’t any crazy fans interested in celebrities, and it wasn’t packed with people either.
“Okay.”
“Yay!”
With a bright smile, she quickly opened the door and got out of the car. I walked slowly to match Yumi’s pace.
“You want to learn from CEO Hae-yeol Yoo?”
“Yes. And from LOAN, too. And I also want to play with a band. I’m not very good at playing, so I hope they’ll people who won’t get upset if I’m not good.”
It seemed like she had a ton of new things she wanted to do. No matter how you looked at it, this was good news. Her expression was bright and her tone happy.
We entered the cafe and stood in line at the counter. The customer in front of us took their buzzer. Then, it was our turn.
“Hi, how can I help…?” Her words slowly trailed off and came to a stop.
Maybe it was because the show aired yesterday or because of all the talk recently, but she recognized us quickly. Before any commotion started, I placed our order.
“Can I get fifteen iced Americanos and four caramel macchiatos? Yumi, do you want dessert?”
“Can I?! Yes, please! That one, and that one, and that one, and…”
Her eyes lit up, and she ordered all sorts of things like someone who hadn’t eaten in days. Anyone would think I was starving her because of a diet. Look. The staff was looking at her with pity.
“Excuse me…”
I turned my head at hearing a young voice from behind me.
“…!”
Most of the people in the cafe were holding their breath and looking our way. When I turned around, and then when Yumi turned around, exclamation marks appeared on people’s faces.
They looked back and forth between the phones in their hands and our faces, saying things like, “Look! It’s them!” and “It really is!”
Seriously, have you all never seen a celebrity before?
“I really enjoyed the show yesterday! You were so, so cute!”
“Yes! You were amazing! When you came off the stage! And when it ended! Wow! I just knew it was going to be a huge hit! Social media is all about you right now!”
The high school girl who called out to us and her friend were going wild. They were so comfortable with Yumi, it was almost as if they were old friends.
Maybe it was because those high school girls were so lax with us, but people started getting up from their seats one by one with their phones in hand.
“Oh… Th-Thank you!”
Yumi was visibly flustered and didn’t know what to do. She awkwardly bowed to the high school girls. This was the first time Yumi had experienced something like this.
Before she revealed herself as Yumi, even if people recognized her, the atmosphere wasn’t like this. After she revealed herself, her schedule was so busy that she hadn’t had a chance to be in a situation like this.
“Um… Can I ask for a picture with you? I really enjoyed the show yesterday. I’m subscribed to your channel, too.”
People surrounded us in a circle with their phones out. Darn it.
I reached out to grab Yumi’s wrist, so we could push through the crowd. I wanted to take her by the wrist and lead her out. However, I slowly lowered my hand. Because I saw her face.
She looked amazed and happy. Even though she had to know that not everyone here was really a fan, her lips kept curling up at the word ‘fan’ like she couldn’t help it. Her eyes sparkled with sweetness, like she was holding a bite of strawberry cake in her mouth.
Just then, Jung-han came rushing in after seeing something was off in the cafe through the window. I raised my hand and called over Jung-han.
“Jung-han, can you…? No, nevermind. I’ll order. Can you look after Yumi? So she can take pictures with them.”
He had come in with a serious expression, but he blinked for a moment at my calm voice, then nodded. I left Yumi with Jung-han and placed our order.
“Fifteen iced Americanos and four macchiatos, and for dessert… that one, and that one, and that one, please.”
“Oh! President Kang. That one too.”
“…Yes, that one too.”
Celebrities lived off popularity. Maybe it was because this was her first time truly feeling it, but Yumi’s face glowed brighter than ever as she posed for photos.
Soon enough, she would be drowning in this kind of attention. More than enough to grow tired of it.
—