“Why are there so many people who are good at acting these days?” 

Joomin sat down while sighing. Dongho also nodded.

“Apparently, he’s training to be an idol.”

“An idol?”

“You didn’t know that, noona?”

“I didn’t.”

“I asked and apparently he’s going to make his debut soon.”

“An idol, huh. Is that why he looks polished?”

The two people looked at the boy they were talking about. Maru also followed their eyes. Ever since New Semester started its school bullying arc, they got a new character, which was played by him. He had joined them a while ago and was shooting with them.

“Are idols equivalent to general entertainers these days?” Joomin wondered as she rested her chin on her hands.

“They do everything. Don’t you think he’ll gain quite a bit of popularity when he makes his debut? What do you think, noona? Does his face work on girls?”

“Well, he does have a pretty face. It’s not a face that I like that much, but I don’t hate it either. It’s just moderately good, I guess?”

“Looks like he’ll definitely make it big then. I should’ve tried to be an idol too.”

“With a face like that?”

“What’s so bad about my face?”

“Nothing, I mean that you’ll do well. You should definitely make your debut later. Oh, yeah. You remember the last time we went to the noraebang together, right?”

Hearing Joomin’s comment, Dongho shut himself up.

If it was about the noraebang, Maru remembered that as well. The always confident and proud Dongho was strangely quiet at the noraebang and thinking that it was strange, Joomin forced him to take the microphone. Following that, a song that completely ignored pitch and rhythm could be heard. Ever since that day, Dongho wouldn’t give a glance to such places.

“Maru, what do you think? Don’t you think he’s pretty good at acting?”

“He is. Producer Park Hoon didn’t make comment about him either.”

“That’s true, he scolded all of us once.”

Joomin seemed a little dejected when she thought about how all of them were scolded before.

“A friend of mine is also preparing to become an idol, and it’s really no joke. Noona, you haven’t seen aspiring idols during training, have you? They learn something every single hour like squirrels on squirrel wheels. There are those that only prepare their singing and dancing, but these days, the trend is for them to compose and write their own songs or even do acting.”

Dongho locked his fingers and put them behind his head.

“That makes me worried. Do you think we need to learn some specialties too?”

“I thought you majored in chemical engineering. Why don’t you go with a smart image? You should go to Seoul University then.”

“Seoul University isn’t the name of someone’s dog’s house. It’s not a place you can get into just because you want to. Anyways, Dongho, why don’t you go with an actor who’s terrible at singing?”

“Stop teasing. There are only four verses in the national anthem, yet you were trying to sing a fifth. I’m never going to a noraebang again.”

“Let’s go again. I think that was the biggest laughing moment in my life. Where would I see something like that again?” 

While Joomin and Dongho quarrelled with each other, Maru read the text he got from her yesterday.

-I signed the contract. I guess this is the beginning for me now, too. I feel uneasy, but I’m more excited than uneasy. I feel like I’m getting a sense of belonging here already. Since I’m doing this, my aim is to be an actress with 10 million views!

He could imagine her jumping around while making that text. Everything had changed now. While they might have started off on the same line, her life had definitely taken a different path now. The steering wheel of the car that was driving down the road of life had been turned. It turned onto a new road, and ahead was the unknown. Her life of entering a theater troupe had been erased. What was left was a blank diary that would be written over.

“What is it? Did something good happen?” Joomin asked.

“A friend of mine signed a contract with an agency. Her dream was to become an actress, so I’m relieved. I was actually quite worried.”

“Which agency?”

“Hwan.”

“That’s a good place. I’ve never been there, but there are many good rumors about them.”

Joomin’s words put him at ease one more time. He checked over and over again, but since this was related to her, he couldn’t help but be concerned about it. Whenever people around him said that Hwan was a good agency, he felt relieved, and at those times, he realized just how much he loved her.

He was about to put his phone away after checking the text when his phone vibrated. He got another text from her.

-There’s something I didn’t tell you yesterday. You probably won’t be seeing this right away since you’re in a shoot, right? It’s about the stage name. It’s been decided that I’ll go with Han Gaeul. The president likes it so call me Han Gaeul a lot in the future. Apparently, being called by my stage name will make me lucky. While I don’t believe in things like that, now that I’m in such a situation myself, I end up believing it. You’re the first one to know that my stage name is Han Gaeul. Of course, except mom and the president. Work hard during the shooting. Also, thanks.

“Han Gaeul.”

Maru rolled that name several times in his mouth. It was a name that made him smile warmly. Han Gaeul. He decided to call her that loudly the next time they met.

“Uhm, Han Maru, right?”

Maru raised his head when he heard a voice interrupt his thoughts. The actor that was participating in the drama as the bullied kid for three episodes was standing in front of him.

“Uh, yeah.”

While they were introduced to each other as a group, he never got to know this person personally. Other than the fact that his name was Song Siwoo and that he was an aspiring idol, he knew nothing about him. The fact that he was an aspiring idol was also something he just found out thanks to Dongho.

“Do you perhaps know Heewon and Haewon?”

“Heewon and Haewon?”

Just as he was thinking that they were unfamiliar names, the name Hwasoo High flashed past his mind. He was reminded of the faces of the brothers he met last year. The lazy-looking big brother and the very quick-witted little brother. The big brother was Lee Heewon and the little brother was Lee Haewon.

“I do.”

“I knew it. A couple of peculiar kids entered our agency last year. Lee Heewon and Lee Haewon. It was pretty peculiar since the little brother is the manager of the big brother. I talked to them out of curiosity and we ended up talking about you.”

“Really? So he got into an agency too, huh. Why would you talk about me though?”

“Haewon said that it was thanks to you that they could join the agency.”

“I didn’t do anything. I just told them the location of Film, the academy. The fact that he managed to join an agency probably means that he stood out even at Film.”

Lee Heewon. He was a peculiar guy. He didn’t have a clear image of the guy since he only met the guy a couple of times, but the acting he showed was deeply engraved in his mind. Perhaps that was what it would look like at the epitome of instinctive acting. His acting did not use any of the standard methods or gestures of acting and yet still managed to pop out. It was something that only he could do. If another young actor tried to imitate the way he acted, it would either be overly exaggerated or look strange.

“Do you know Heewon well?”

“No, I only met him a couple of times.”

“Really? From what Haewon said, it sounded like you were close.”

“I talked to Haewon for a bit, so I guess I’m closer to him than I am to Heewon. But I still can’t call it ‘close’. We’ve never contacted each other since last year. Oh, I guess I did receive a message of thanks. Anyways, why would you come to me to ask about Lee Heewon?”

“Because he’s pretty strange. We get the same acting lessons, and what should I call it… it feels like he’s living in a world of his own. The instructor doesn’t touch him either and just gives him assignments.”

“Why didn’t you try talking to him?”

“He couldn’t be bothered with anything in life, so I don’t get a satisfying answer even if I ask him something. Having Haewon next to him makes it a little better, but Heewon is the only one there during practice. Oh, yeah. Did you hear this from him as well? That he can see colors from emotions?”

“I did. He said it himself.”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“I don’t see why it would not.”

In a world where a dead man comes back to life, what wouldn’t make sense? Maru smiled as he looked at Siwoo.

“Acting is something hard to describe, isn’t it? Heewon should feel like that too.”

“Is that how it is?”

Siwoo scratched his head before flinching and taking a step back. He seemed to have realized that Dongho and Joomin were staring at him. Siwoo, who probably had no idea that he was the topic of conversation until just now, looked at the two people alternately, clearly clueless.

“Uhm, can I ask you one thing?” Joomin asked.

“Ah, yes.”

“I heard that you were an aspiring idol, am I right?”

“Yes. We formed a team and we’re getting ready. I think we’ll be able to make our debut soon.”

“Idols usually sing and dance, don’t they? Do you have to learn acting too?”

“Hm, these days, the boundary between the two has thinned quite a lot. It’s thanks to the seniors of TTO. Before, everyone glared at idols when they were trying to do acting, but it’s not like that these days. In fact, I believe that making a debut as an idol has its advantages.”

“That’s true.”

Joomin nodded. Her expression wasn’t that bright. Rather than being dissatisfied with idols, it seemed that she was worried about the fact that the position of actors was being narrowed.

“Isn’t it hard to act while being an idol?” Dongho asked.

His words contained thorns. Siwoo also seemed to have noticed the dissatisfaction in his gaze and smiled awkwardly.

“I’ve never taken acting lightly. I’m putting in just as much effort as the others, if not more. I can’t have people swearing at all idols because of me.”

“No, well. It’s a world where focusing on one thing is hard enough, and focusing on two things is a bit….”

Just as Dongho got up to that point, Maru covered Dongho’s mouth. Dongho flinched before moving his head backwards.

“You were good. I’m sure you’ll become a good actor.”

“Ah, uh. Thanks. I’m also watching your acting a lot. I think I have a lot to learn from you. It’d be good to talk again later. We’re friends who are both learning acting, aren’t we?”

Siwoo slightly bowed before returning to Yeseul and Giwoo. Yeseul, who was glaring at this side, probably because of Siwoo, turned her eyes away. Giwoo was maintaining his polite smile.

“You should’ve been harsh on him at this opportunity!”

“You know well that that’s no different from embarrassing yourself. He’s good at acting. Isn’t that good enough? Not only that, he can dance and sing as well. You said it yourself, didn’t you? That idols have a huge amount of practice to do. If you look down on something he’s practiced so hard to gain, what does that make us, who are on a similar level to him?”

“I know, but it’s annoying. You know it too, don’t you? That acting is only a form of insurance for them. If it doesn’t work out for him, he’ll just change lanes to singing and dancing and come back later. I don’t like that.”

“Do you think he’s going to beat you at acting?”

“Me? Hell no!”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

“That’s true, but still.”

“Now then. Let’s have a look at the script one more time. Being harsh on him when he came here to greet us with a smile is something you shouldn’t do. If you want to tell him that acting is not something you do on the side, you should prove that during the shoot. You should just get the producer to tell you that you’re on a different level. Of course, I can’t do that, but what about you, noona?”

“I think Dongho’s going to do something big today. I’ll be cheering for you. Should I tell the director that Dongho’s resolve is different today?”

“F-forget it! I just tried saying it. Do you have to go this far?”

Dongho turned his head away violently like a horse. He was really easy to handle. Maru exchanged gazes with Joomin and smiled.

“Ah! Hwan!”

Dongho suddenly shouted when he just started reading the script.

“What the heck was that all of a sudden?”

“It’s Hwan.”

“What?”

“He’s also in Hwan.”

Dongho pointed at Siwoo who was sitting behind Maru.

“His agency is Hwan?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you say that a friend of yours joined Hwan? That person is not going to start off as an idol and switch to being an actor later, right?”

“You’re being too worried. It’s not like that, so don’t worry about it.”

Rather than that, if she was in Hwan, she might have met the brothers already. Maru texted with one hand to her, Gaeul, about the two brothers.

-Is there someone named Heewon there? If there is, try to stay close to him. You should be able to learn a lot of things from him. You won’t understand him since his acting is peculiar, but it will still help to broaden your horizons.

He hit the confirm button. A winged-envelope special character appeared on the screen before it disappeared.

“Shall we go through our lines?”

That was Giwoo’s voice. Maru looked at the two next to him before standing up. Gathering at Giwoo’s signal before the shoot began had become a routine for them. Giwoo was now clearly at the center of the young actors.

“Let’s go,” Maru said

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