YDCF 05

Chapter – 05

Actress Seong Hyesim only withdrew after getting my phone number.

My aunt, who had been spouting nothing but exclamations, finally said something coherent.

“Since when did you learn all this? Did your brother-in-law send you to an acting academy or something?”

“I didn’t go to an academy… I just studied on my own.”

“Oh, please! Who are you trying to fool!”

I turned to face her, eyes wide, silently asking her to believe me.

In my previous life, I hadn’t seriously studied acting at this point—but still.

The skills I had honed through self-study until I was twenty-five were all still there, so it wasn’t a lie.

“It’s true! I analyze things on InTube, reinterpret scenes, and—”

At my answer, Actress Seong Hyesim covered her mouth. Her eyes, which had been shining the whole time, now looked like they were practically shooting sparks.

It was the look a professor gives a student they want to handpick.

“No wonder you don’t have that academy-style stiffness. Did you polish your vocalization on your own too? You memorized the script fast—that part’s pure talent.”

“Haha…”

“Saeyi, I’ll be blunt. What do you think of me?”

Was this… a blind date?

“I want you, Saeyi. If you plan to work as an actress, I want to teach you.”

Teach me? That Seong Hyesim, teaching me?

“I don’t intend to force my style on you or mess with you. I just want to brush off a few grains of sand stuck to a piece of gold.”

I clenched my fists.

Just like in my previous life, I had earned Seong Hyesim’s recognition—and this time, even an offer of coaching.

What is there to think about?

Seong Hyesim becoming my mentor? Even if it’s a long shot, it’s worth it.

“I’d love that!”

My cheeks burned with a sense of achievement. I pressed my hands to my heated face and answered eagerly.

“Then, Saeyi. That ad-lib you threw in earlier—could you develop it further?”

“Ah, yes! In what way…?”

“If regret was the main emotion, then you layer in a new one.”

What kind of nonsense was this—like asking for iced Americano without coffee but still wanting it to taste like coffee?

Maybe because I’d never been taught acting by anyone, it was hard to grasp.

“Dohun is sick of his mom, so maybe he feels a sudden sense of relief—like, ‘I can finally get away!’—and that’s why he readily accepts the dinner invitation.”

“Oh!”

“Got it?”

After hearing the explanation, it started to click.

So she meant adding another emotion and adjusting the balance. Keeping compassion as the base, but mixing in something like liberation…

I nodded hard.

“Good. Then show me next time.”

“Uh, I… I can show you right now.”

I think I can do it.

In my head, Dohun’s final scene was being revised in real time. It was becoming vivid enough that I wanted to show it immediately.

Actress Seong Hyesim’s eyes widened. I caught the twitch at the corner of her lips.

“No. Next time.”

What? I thought she’d ask me to show it.

“I want to savor it. I’m barely holding myself back right now.”

As if her patience were about to run out, she quickly packed up her things.

“Oh, right.”

She handed me the script book for Your Blue Name, which had been on the table.

Why this?

Maybe my confusion showed, because she added,

“Take the script. I’ll arrange a casting audition for this project soon.”

What? An audition already? And for a KDS drama?

“Of course, you’ll need to satisfy their side too—but I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

Without giving me time to ask anything, she left. Her manager seemed to be waiting outside.

After the storm swept through, the Haeum Atrium fell quiet.

“Um, Aunt… by the way, why did you call me here…?”

I carefully asked the reason she’d summoned me.

I’d accepted right away when she contacted me, but she wasn’t the type to call me over just to chat.

She must want something from me.

But her answer was completely unexpected.

“Our chairman was curious why you went to Dongu Hall.”

Our chairman?

That would be Chairman Joo—my grandfather. He was curious about me?

Wait. He knows I went to Dongu Hall?

“I realized this earlier—you show all your thoughts on your face. Just now, you were wondering how the chairman knew, weren’t you?”

“Gasp.”

“Hey, what is this? You’re cute when you react like that. Totally different from your mom!”

My aunt burst into laughter, clearly amused. Her bright voice rang loudly in my ears.

“I reported it to Father. The daughter of the woman who took the Joo surname gets turned away at the door by her brother’s secretary? That’s unacceptable.”

“Ah…”

“So what were you digging around for at Dongu Hall? I’m curious too.”

Finally, we got to the real point.

I had planned to answer honestly if she asked, and then ask her to take me to the dinner party.

I told her I was looking for a screenplay to show my grandfather.

I didn’t say how much that script meant to Chairman Joo. If she asked how I knew, it would get awkward.

“Well, the chairman does like that sort of thing. And from what I saw earlier, your skills seem solid.”

“Then…”

“Clear your schedule for that day. I’ll need to take you around to some shops.”

Yes!

Seong Hyesim, a dinner party…

The efficiency is insane!

I cheered inwardly, humming under my breath.

My aunt watched me with interest, then pulled a check from her wallet and handed it to me.

“Father said you’re at an age where you’re starved for affection. I disagree. You’re at the age where you’re starved for money, aren’t you?”

Wait—can I really take this?

“Keep it. Call it payment for the good acting you showed.”

She pressed the check firmly into my hand so I couldn’t refuse, then laughed heartily.

The SUV carrying Seong Hyesim exited the Atrium’s VIP parking area.

She tapped her phone a few times and brought it to her cheek. The call connected.

“—Actress Seong~ Did you meet Haeum’s Jeonghee okay? So, did you pick a script to her taste?”

It was CEO Song, the head of her management agency.

“Yeah, oppa. And I had an unexpected gain.”

“—Gain?”

“First, tell them I’m joining Your Blue Name.”

From the other end, she could hear CEO Song clapping like a seal.

“—You! You made such a fuss about quitting acting! And now finally! You’re over it! Are you sure? Really okay?”

“I’m more than okay. I want to act right now.”

Adjusting her grip on the phone, Hyesim smiled meaningfully and got to the point.

“If possible, add one condition to my joining.”

“—Of course! What do you need?”

“The actress I recommend—have her audition for my daughter’s role.”

“—Okay—wait, uh… Hyesim? Your daughter means… you know…”

“Of course, the female lead.”

Hyesim intended to push Joo Saeyi as the lead of Your Blue Name.

On the day of the dinner party.

Early in the morning, Joo Jeonghee came to fetch Saeyi with reporters in tow.

Saeyi’s father, Han Junho, awkwardly greeted his sister-in-law for the first time in years. Since Saeyi had explained everything beforehand, he didn’t faint from shock.

At the shop, Jeonghee picked outfits from a catalog she had chosen in advance and dressed Saeyi.

I thought it’d be weird, but it’s surprisingly good.

Looking in the mirror, Saeyi acknowledged her aunt’s taste. She wasn’t number one in business, fashion, and art for nothing.

Fully armed in appearance and spirit, they passed through the guarded main gate and headed into Jaedamjae’s inner garden.

Why is she here…?!

Joo Sudeok recognized Saeyi as she entered the garden. His and his daughter Joo Suyeon’s faces clearly wavered.

While Jeonghee greeted acquaintances, Saeyi slipped away from her side.

She’d come to see her grandfather—not to mingle with the business elites gathered here.

Avoiding people’s gazes, Saeyi stepped onto a wooden deck.

Everyone’s paired up.

Hiding behind a pillar, she felt a bitter twinge. While everyone else laughed joyfully, she had come here just trying to survive.

Saeyi let out a deep sigh. As she quietly waited for Chairman Joo’s arrival—

“…Hey.”

An irritated, low voice sounded above her head.

That was strange. She’d checked—there was no one nearby.

“Who are you?”

At the second call, Saeyi flinched. Thinking he might be talking to her, she turned around—and there he was.

“Why are you here?”

A large figure cast a shadow over her. Black hair. Slightly upturned eyes and a clean, confident smile. Pitch-black pupils with unfathomable depth.

Huh?

Joo Saeyi recognized the man instantly.

“If someone asks you something,”

“you should answer politely.”

He was Ryu Dogyeong, the grandson of Chairman Ryu of Seohae Group.

The man Joo Sudeok had his eye on as a future son-in-law—

“Isn’t that right, Joo Saeyi?”

—and Saeyi’s childhood first love.