CH 14.1

Park Hyun Jeong enjoyed teaching Yoo Yeon Seo. His docile personality was different from the rumours, he had a talent for soaking up anything he was taught like a sponge and had a strong sense of achievement. 

Once he started practising, he wouldn’t leave the practice room until he was satisfied with his performance. Last time, she even ran into Yoo Yeon Seo who had stayed up all night practising, and as a result, his vocalization and pronunciation had improved significantly.

‘It’s quite similar to his mother.’ Lee Hee Seo was also very driven and a lone wolf too. As a former idol, she had the passion to overcome the staff who ignored her acting skills and simply admired her pretty face, staying up all night to study her character. The success of ‘Happy Farewell’ was not only due to Hee Seo’s efforts but also her dedication to the role.

Lost in thought for a moment, Park Hyun Jeong crossed over her arms and closely observed his gait. ‘If you had received lessons earlier, your reputation wouldn’t have fallen so low.’

However, there was one thing that bothered her, “Who were you portraying with the footsteps you just did?”

“A homeless person searching for food just before dawn,” Yoo Yeon Seo replied.

“It certainly looked that way. Earlier, you were portraying a drug dealer who got shot and ran away. You did a good job, but…” 

Yoo Yeon Seo nodded in agreement.

Having a concrete imagination and being able to express it wasn’t bad, especially for someone like Yoo Yeon Seo, who had a talent for improvisation. However, what he expressed was scarily accurate, as if he had only ever seen such things in life.

‘Can a chaebol portray the low-class life so well?’ Park Hyun Jeong thought. It’s better to do at least one thing well than nothing at all, but if he only wants to express such dark things, he’ll stray far from his desire to play diverse roles.

“Yoo Yeon Seo, you’re generally weak when it comes to ‘ordinary things’,” Park Hyun Jeong said.

“Is that so?” Yoo Yeon Seo smiled awkwardly. Park Hyun Jeong’s words were all correct.

“What you’re trying to express seems too… hopeless. Why did you dress up your character that way?”

“Just because, I don’t have a reason.”

“Hmm…” Park Hyun Jeong’s sharp eyes stared, and Yoo Yeon Seo avoided her gaze. 

The people he encountered in the world of 2207, which had nearly reached destruction but managed to survive, were all like these people. It was a society where people were born with predetermined lives, without freedom and rarely seeing sunlight, sometimes with monsters descending from above, and without hope of things getting better.

“Your immersion is good. Your imagination is also good,” Park Hyun Jeong said. 

He had been exposed to past-era media countless times and had repeatedly thought, ‘What would I have done if I were in that situation? I would have done it differently than they did.’ As a result, his immersion and imagination naturally grew.

‘Still, there’s no sense of hope at all,’ Yoo Yeon Seo clenched his fist. 

“But you need to improve my observation skills. You are going back to school next year, right?”

“Yes,” he replied. He had promised his grandfather that he would graduate properly, and he was also curious about the normal college life.

“Then observe the students around you. Your age group will have plenty of roles like that,” she advised.

“When you go to a nearby restaurant, observe the employees and the office workers eating their meals. When you’re driving, don’t slack, instead observe the people walking on the street. What does that person do? Why does their face look unhappy? Did they have an argument with a customer?”

Park Hyun Jeong spoke quickly, barely taking a breath. “Continuously observe and research. You can create a character for that person if you want, and then make it your own.”

Just then, his phone alarm went off. The acting class had ended.

“That’s all for today.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Yoo Yeon Seo nodded along o the advice. Park Hyun Jeong left the practice room without lingering soon after. Teaching Yoo Yeon Seo in such a hurry was also a challenge, considering she was also a successful theatre and musical actor.

“Are you done?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Lee Tae Gyeom, the re-instated manager, observed his strangely subdued demeanour and couldn’t help but admire his transformation. ‘Wow, his personality really has changed. I wonder how much he hurt his head,’ he thought to himself.

This was definitely a drama-like situation. Anyway, it was a good thing for Lee Tae Gyeom to become Yoo Yeon Seo’s manager again, especially since the future looked uncertain.

“Once you’ve fastened your seatbelt, we can go,” he said.

Yoo Yeon Seo felt uncomfortable. Normally, Lim Seung Hyun would be sitting in the front seat but was the man in question was nowhere to be seen.

“By the way, where did Lim Seung Hyun go?” she asked.

“He said he was headed to the company for a bit.”

“Ah.”

He nonchalantly rested his body on the backrest.

*     *    *     *    *

The trainees preparing for the martial arts director and stunt actors at the Cheonha Action School stopped what they were doing and started cleaning diligently.

“Who came that they’re cleaning so meticulously?” someone asked.

“Yoo Yeon Seo is coming.”

“What?”

The trainees murmured.

“That Yoo Yeon Seo? Why is he suddenly coming here?”

“Maybe the next project is an action role.”

Negative opinions about Yoo Yeon Seo were abundant in the internet communities, but not everyone disliked him. On the contrary, those who were not familiar with fandom envied his innate background and his free-spirited lifestyle, sending him envious glances.

“I really liked Lee Hee Seo when I was young.”

“Me too. Did you hear that Yoo Yeon Seo is so handsome? Will we finally get to see him in person today?”

Furthermore, industry insiders did not view Yoo Yeon Seo’s arrival at the action school too negatively, since it meant that they would have more job opportunities through the chaebol’s hobbies.

“But do we really have to make such a fuss just because Yoo Yeon Seo is coming?”

“He couldn’t even act, can he keep up with the lessons?”

“Won’t last even an hour, my vote is in.”

“I agree.”

However, of course, there were also those who viewed Yoo Yeon Seo with contempt and jealousy, simply because of his innate background.

“Hello.”

Just then, Yoo Yeon Seo arrived and walked in, the people at the action school stopped what they were doing and stared at him in awe.

‘He’s good at greeting.’

‘His face is really small.’

‘I am so excited to see him in person.’

‘His body is in pretty good shape, how does he manage it?’

It felt as if a different world existed wherever Yoo Yeon Seo was standing. Behind him was Lee Tae Gyeom carrying a large box full of vitamin drinks.