“Everyone, a new friend has joined our class this time~”
Inside the classroom, the children’s sparkling eyes turned toward Myungwoo standing next to the teacher.
Myungwoo lightly smiled and waved to the kids.
“Hi, I’m Kang Myungwoo. Nice to meet you all.”
“Hi, Myungwoo!”
“Nice to meet you!”
A few lively kids returned the greeting.
Myungwoo maintained his smile while quickly scanning the children’s faces.
As expected, only good-looking and pretty kids.
Well, kids challenging acting from a young age are all like that.
Of course, even among handsome and pretty kids, there are those who are even more so,
“Wow, you’re really handsome.”
It seemed that here, that kid was Myungwoo himself.
A doll-like girl looked at Myungwoo with sparkling eyes.
“Thanks.”
Myungwoo smiled brightly and answered kindly.
No matter what happens to this child later, there’s no harm in being friendly.
“Wow…… You look even handsomer when you smile…….”
As Myungwoo smiled widely, the doll-like child sparkled her eyes even more.
“You know…….”
“Now, shall we start the class?”
The child tried to say more, but the teacher in front drew attention.
The doll-like child looked sulky but didn’t talk to Myungwoo further and obediently looked forward.
“The content we’ll cover today is…….”
Vocal exercises, posture, etc.—as it was the beginner class, the lesson proceeded with easy content.
It was content Myungwoo not only knew but had mastered, yet he focused on the class.
Every single action would affect his reputation.
For a child experiencing acting-related activities for the first time, openly showing passion for acting while not properly listening to basic lessons made no sense.
I thought it’d just be boring, but it’s more fun than expected.
Doing things he learned from seniors rolling around when he first entered the acting world after decades felt somewhat nostalgic.
Listening to basic lessons itself made him feel more realistically that he had been reborn as a child again.
And one more thing.
“Now, lastly, let’s do a simple short acting.
At the end of the class, the director handed out scripts to the children.
It was a short script containing the conflict of a middle school student fighting with their mother.
The children started acting one by one.
“The emotions are too excessive. Reduce the emotions a bit and try again.”
“You’re just angry, so the pronunciation is too mumbled. Pay more attention to pronunciation.”
The director pointed out improvements while watching the other children’s acting.
Soon, it was Myungwoo’s turn.
“Then, shall Myungwoo try acting this time? It’s your first, so don’t feel too burdened; just do what you can.”
“Ah, yes.”
Myungwoo quickly scanned the script.
Myungwoo took a deep breath and started acting.
The atmosphere changed in an instant, and the director inhaled sharply.
“Mom said it, right? That if I just study well, I can succeed.”
Quietly bursting anger.
“But what’s this! Look at me now!”
Myungwoo’s expression, pronunciation, and eyes glaring at the director playing the mom role.
“My life is ruined because of Mom!”
Myungwoo shouting with veins bulging in his neck.
Hands trembling as if truly angry.
……Does he have something against me?
At Myungwoo’s appearance panting as if really exploding built-up resentment toward her, the director was momentarily speechless.
That was brief,
“Good heavens, Myungwoo ya. Your pronunciation is so good? Especially this part where you shout ‘ruined because of Mom.’ You’re still very young, but expressing emotions this well…….”
She soon poured out praise for Myungwoo’s acting like rapid fire.
“Myungwoo ya, is this really your first time acting?”
And even asking if it was truly his first time.
At this rate, moving up to a higher class will be quick.
From the start, even if nostalgic, Myungwoo had no intention of spending long in the basic class.
The goal was to quickly rise to the highest class and catch the director’s eye—or more precisely, Yoo Hee’s.
Seeing the teacher’s reaction, it seemed Myungwoo could move up soon.
***
The doll-like girl who had praised Myungwoo’s face, Kwon Suah, was in the same class as Myungwoo for just one day.
As soon as the director saw him acting, she immediately sent him to a higher class.
Kwon Suah blankly stared at Myungwoo the whole time he acted.
Among kids who want to act, unmatched appearance, and skills that overwhelm everyone in the class despite just starting.
Completely captivated by Myungwoo’s appearance, she chattered to her parents about Myungwoo on the way home.
“Dad, guess what. There’s a new kid at our academy, super handsome and acts amazingly! He was so so good that the director teacher changed his class right away!”
All.
“Really?”
Kwon Suah’s father, a fairly successful actor himself, Kwon Seonwoo, smiled and stroked her head.
“Yeah! He seems really amazing. I want to act like that later too!”
Kwon Suah’s eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed.
Wondering if this boy might be his daughter’s first love, Kwon Seonwoo playfully asked out of anxiety.
“How good is he? Better than Dad?”
“Yeah!”
“Urk!”
At Kwon Suah’s answer without hesitation, Kwon Seonwoo made a shocked face.
There was no way a kid who just started could act better than him, so surely his daughter had a crush.
Kwon Seonwoo quietly burned his eyes thinking of the boy whose face he didn’t even know.
How dare he steal my daughter’s heart?
Myungwoo had already made an enemy(?) before even entering the acting world.
KNOCK KNOCK-
“Yes, who is it?”
Hyoyeon-ah, it’s me.
“Oh my!”
***
The director of the acting academy Myungwoo attends, Park Hyoyeon, hurriedly opened the director’s office door at Yoo Hee’s voice.
“What brings you here? No, come in quickly first.”
Yoo Hee was currently in the position of a top actress in name and reality.
Such Yoo Hee visiting not anywhere else but an acting academy.
If that news spread, people would flock here; it was obvious without seeing, so Park Hyoyeon quickly let Yoo Hee inside.
All.
“Hoo.
Yoo Hee, following Hyoyeon inside, quickly removed the hat and sunglasses covering her face.
Hyoyeon stared at Yoo Hee, and as soon as she caught her breath, asked without delay.
“So, what brings you here? It’s not time yet, right?”
As Myungwoo knew, Yoo Hee occasionally visiting this academy was true.
Taking someone who acts well from here too.
But that was at shortest intervals of several months; coming after just one month was a first.
“Phew, something came up.”
“Something? What?”
“Well, there’s a drama I’m preparing? The kid I took last time is the lead in it.”
“Ah, yeah yeah. You’re talking about student Yoo Seunghyun?”
“Yeah, somehow time freed up, so I could see the actors filming with Seunghyun…….”
“Yeah yeah.”
“But guess what, the male child actor there acts so poorly!”
Yoo Hee shouted almost angrily.
“Ahh.”
The director, Park Hyoyeon, appropriately interpreted it as the child actor’s skills not being outstanding.
As Yoo Hee who swept numerous acting awards, her standards were too high.
“So?”
“Phew, so I just flipped everything and came out. I’d rather bring another kid. At least much better than that one.”
“No, how good can a child actor be? Aren’t you being too picky?”
“The first scene was a mess; how can I just watch? Anyway, seeing it, it looked like they picked based on face. Acting skills are really hopeless. How can I watch the work get ruined because of him.”
“Really? Must have been serious.”
“Yeah, the director was worrying because of him too. Whether to take this kid. So I just flipped it.”
All.
At least since she was top actress Yoo Hee, few could stop her from flipping it.
With the director’s tacit approval, practically no one could stop her.
At Yoo Hee’s complaints, Park Hyoyeon gave rough responses and smiled briefly.
Here we go again.
She hated those who secure roles with good looks or other reasons despite lacking acting skills.
Yoo Hee had outstanding looks as a top actress but never did that.
Thus, her standards were strict to the point of excess.
Especially for child actors where looks matter a bit more than acting skills compared to other actors.
“So that’s why you’re here. Is there any decent kid here?”
“In your standards, probably not?”
“Hey, how high are my standards.”
“They’re insanely high?”
“Ahaha. Nah, not that much!”
After joking around for a while, the two soon turned serious.
“So really none?”
Precisely, only Yoo Hee.
Yoo Hee got serious, but Park Hyoyeon still had a beaming smile.
“What, why are you smiling like that? There is one?”
Fortunately for Yoo Hee, one face popped into Park Hyoyeon’s mind right now.
A child who registered here 3 days ago, with outstanding face and unmatched acting skills, almost worthy of being called a genius.
“Then, there is one.”
“Oh my oh my, really? Wow, what a relief! How long has he been acting?”
“About 3 days now?”
After speaking, Park Hyoyeon stared at Yoo Hee’s face.
As expected, Yoo Hee’s face was heavily frowned.
“What? Just 3 days? No, Hyoyeon-ah. I’m not joking right now.”
“I’m not joking either, Yoo Hee-ya.”
“Hyoyeon-ah, why do you think I came here? I left because even a child actor said to be good didn’t satisfy me.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
“But you’re recommending a kid who’s only practiced 3 days to me?”
Now faint disappointment lingered in Yoo Hee’s voice.
Park Hyoyeon continued smiling brightly at Yoo Hee’s reaction.
“Yeah, of course that student is a complete newbie with only 3 days.”
“Yeah, so”
“But the acting skills are real.”
Smiling but serious face.
Seeing her friend who had seen her acting standards multiple times say that, Yoo Hee’s stubbornness softened a bit.
“Really acts that well?”
Still not fully convinced.
“Yeah, really. Really acts well. Watching that child’s acting, you forget he’s only been at it a few days.”
“How exactly?”
“Well, a while ago I had him do a male acting angry at mom. You know, that script always practiced in beginner class.”
“Ahh, that?”
“Yeah. But the way the kid expressed anger, wow…… I momentarily forgot he just started acting.”
“What, he made you admire from his first acting?”
Park Hyoyeon isn’t great at acting herself but has excellent eyes.
For her to admire like that…….
“Yeah. Especially when angry, hands tremble; usually with low proficiency, that part is very artificial.”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, but that student was really natural. Like truly angry.”
“Really? Impressive……?”
“Ahaha, seeing that, I momentarily thought ‘Does this student have bad relations with his mom?’ you know?”
“Yeah, alright.”
With Park Hyoyeon going that far, Yoo Hee became curious too.
Just how good to make her friend recommend this much.
“Then, can you bring him? I want to see as soon as possible.”
“Classes just ended around now. Good, I’ll call him.”
“Good.”
Yoo Hee nodded with a still doubtful face.
She must be thinking badly now.
Park Hyoyeon swallowed a laugh inside seeing Yoo Hee.
Once she sees student Kang Myungwoo’s acting directly, that reaction will vanish.
No, rather the opposite.
Park Hyoyeon smiled imagining a fun situation after long and went out of the director’s office.
***
“Don’t be too nervous, just relax. So…….”
“Kang Myungwoo, student Myungwoo.”
“Yeah, Myungwoo gun.”
Myungwoo glanced at the beautiful actress sitting in front of him.
As Myungwoo looked at her, the woman smiled smoothly.
Myungwoo smiled back.
“Oh my, you’re not that nervous? Don’t you know who I am?”
“No way a kid who likes acting and attends academy doesn’t know who Yoo Hee is.”
Yes, Yoo Hee.
Only 3 days attending the academy, Myungwoo was already face-to-face with Yoo Hee.
“I’m the type who doesn’t get nervous easily.”
“Oh my, really? You know who I am?”
“How could I not. You’re one of the most famous actors in our country.”
Myungwoo continued with a bright smile.
“Yoo Hee.”
And, the goal Myungwoo came to this academy to meet.
At the child’s bright smile, Yoo Hee also smiled.
“Right, Yoo Hee.”
Yoo Hee lightly nodded.