YDCF 14

Chapter – 14

Do Je-hyeon was tired of the entertainment industry.

No, to be precise, he was tired of enduring the expectations people placed on him.

He was overflowing with talent. He had achieved a solid filmography while earning the highest pay as a child actor, yet somewhere deep inside, he felt empty.

Just when he was exhausted by those who approached him only for his fame, he received the script for Your Blue Name.

The male lead, Yoo Ha-jin. A character who, in his village, bore the expectations of all the elders yet always felt an emptiness inside.

The pressure, the sense of lack, a somewhat irritating demeanor, the boredom with the village but inability to leave—it was weakness personified.

The elements that made up Yoo Ha-jin were exactly like Je-hyeon, who couldn’t bring himself to leave the entertainment world.

“I think I understand why they insisted I read this script.”

Je-hyeon realized why writer Choi had insisted on him through four rounds of auditions.

He was the only actor who could bring Yoo Ha-jin to life convincingly.

As he prepared for the audition, he delved deep into the character and emotional arcs.

Unlike Yoo Ha-jin, who was outwardly kind but weary of others’ affection, Yeon Do-yeon was outwardly prickly but inwardly craved love and attention from anyone.

The young Yoo Ha-jin, experiencing Do-yeon’s unconditional care, realized that love and attention weren’t necessarily useless.

After developing feelings of wanting to give and receive love from Do-yeon, Ha-jin grew significantly emotionally.

For a moment, Je-hyeon felt envious of Yoo Ha-jin.

“If only someone like Yeon Do-yeon would appear for me…”

It didn’t matter who—if someone showed genuine interest and love for him, even just once, would the entertainment world feel a little less tedious? Would he grow a little more?

If he couldn’t find such a person in reality, he wanted to experience being Yoo Ha-jin and encountering Do-yeon himself.

His dislike of Joo Sae-yi, who had parachuted into the role of Yeon Do-yeon without effort, stemmed from this very reason.

Yet why did Joo Sae-yi’s portrayal overlap with the image of Do-yeon he had drawn in his mind through repeated script analysis?

“…It must be an illusion.”

Anyway, once the reading began, his affection for Sae-yi would fade on its own, so it was fine.

“Now that greetings are done, let’s start reading Episode 1!”

As Director Woo Byung-hwa gave the instruction, the actors opened their scripts laid out on their desks.

Meanwhile, Joo Sae-yi rustled beside him. She fidgeted busily, taking a thick stack of papers out of her bag.

Everything about it was slightly off-putting.

‘It’s a reading. What is she trying to do?’

Je-hyeon turned his head to give her a warning but froze.

What Sae-yi had pulled out was a script completely covered with sticky notes, each page packed with tiny handwritten notes.

Sae-yi had been waiting for this moment.

Finally, in front of the seniors and the production staff, she could show her interpretation of Yeon Do-yeon!

Her heart raced just imagining it, and she had analyzed the script every free moment she had.

“This is it~”

Seeing the thickened script she had prepared for this moment, her confidence soared.

She could feel Je-hyeon staring at her intently, but she didn’t care.

After a few deep breaths, the signal to start came. Sae-yi closed her eyes and exhaled softly.

“…Think about Yeon Do-yeon.”

The first part of Episode 1 focused on young Do-yeon as a child actor and the grown-up Do-yeon, played by Park Yeon-hee, through narration.

Before her turn, Sae-yi recalled everything she had learned about Do-yeon.

Seventeen-year-old Do-yeon, like a cat, prickly at first but gentle when looked at closely.

A gifted child whose talents had been overlooked because her mother’s attention always went to her three-years-older brother, and even the smallest look from her mother had felt precious.

She had often told friends she wished her brother would disappear, but she never expected him to die after entering Korea’s top university—the frail youth.

“…This should do it.”

It was time for seventeen-year-old Do-yeon to appear.

Sae-yi closed her script. She clenched her fists to clear her mind, then opened her eyes. Stepping into Do-yeon, she spoke.

“Oppa, you’re lucky. I’ll never get that kind of attention.”

A clear voice with a slightly blunt tone.

Even though she didn’t speak loudly, her voice filled the reading room, and the behind-the-scenes staff noticed her immediately.

“Hey, team leader. She’s reciting her lines without the script, right?”

“She’s not even glancing at the stage directions. Wow, they found a good one.”

Writer Choi Ki-jeong’s dialogue had quite long breaths.

At a first reading, most actors were glued to the script, unable to look away.

“Looks like she’ll have good chemistry with Do Je-hyeon too. Hey, don’t you think this is going to look amazing on screen? Choi Ki-jeong really discovered a talented rookie child actor.”

While the behind-the-scenes team nodded in agreement, Do-yeon’s reading continued.

“Oppa has everything, so of course you wouldn’t know. Me? I got a hundred on my test without going to any academy, do you know what Mom said?”

“…What did she say?”

“She told me not to tell Oppa. He’d get stressed. But now that he’s in university, I guess it’s okay?”

It had always been Do-hun, her brother, not their mother, who took care of her.

He had always been there for her when she voiced complaints about her mother.

“That’s it? I study well. I don’t go to expensive academies like Oppa, and I still do well! But why only you…!”

“Do-yeon, I’m a bit tired right now…”

Her friends fought with their brothers, but Do-yeon couldn’t understand her own obedient brother.

“Ah, seriously annoying! Can’t you even get mad once in a while!”

Even when snapping at him, her brother only looked at her with gentle eyes.

“Take care of yourself. Watch out for cars and people…”

“Ah, geez! I told you I can manage, how many times do I have to say it before you get it?”

Even when she lashed out, he only replied gently.

“I’ve always been sorry. I should have taken better care of you.”

“Ugh, how cheesy… Oppa, you’re going to your dorm, not leaving for good, what’s with this….”

Do-yeon didn’t realize that this farewell from her brother was a final message. She shoved on her shoes in a hurry and left the house without another word.

The first scene of young Do-yeon ended this way.

“….”

For a moment, the reading room was silent. Yeon Do-hun, who was supposed to continue the scene, didn’t deliver his lines.

“…She’s devouring it, a complete newbie.”

The assistant director muttered quietly.

It was the moment Joo Sae-yi left a lasting impression on the Your Blue Name team.

The first script reading of Your Blue Name concluded.

Writer Choi Ki-jeong gave brief comments.

“In Your Blue Name, the child actors were required to deliver the most demanding performances compared to my previous works. Youth feels light and carefree, but our protagonists’ stories aren’t that simple.”

He winked at the microphone.

“To have a convincing child actor, I asked our Je-hyeon, who had done my child roles twice before. Did it suit him?”

“He was Ha-jin incarnate!”

A supporting actor from Choi Ki-jeong’s troupe responded enthusiastically.

“And Do-yeon… We were worried during casting. That’s when Sae-yi appeared.”

She smiled as she glanced at Joo Sae-yi and Do Je-hyeon.

“Sae-yi is new to filming, so she might be nervous, but she did so well there wasn’t even anything to correct.”

“…!”

She publicly acknowledged the two of them—an unusual gesture.

“Let’s give a round of applause! For our child actors!”

Amid the applause, Joo Sae-yi stole a glance at Je-hyeon. Their eyes met immediately.

“What… what are you looking at…!”

He tried to look calm, but his stiff posture and the way his gaze lingered on her betrayed him.

“…Why is he like that?”

The cold indifference was gone. Je-hyeon was acting like a machine that had overheated.