Chapter 54: The Day Acting Became Real

Myungwoo told the manager Kwon Suah’s home address and headed there quickly.

“Myungwoo!”

“Come in, Myungwoo. It’s been a while.”

When he arrived in front of Kwon Suah’s house, rang the doorbell, and said it was Kang Myungwoo, the door opened, and Kwon Suah and Kwon Seonwoo welcomed him with delighted faces.

“Oh my, our Suah’s friend? Nice to meet you. Your name’s Myungwoo, right?”

And there was Kwon Seonwoo’s wife, Kwon Suah’s mother.

The wife… is she a civilian?

Judging by the unfamiliar face, she seemed like a civilian or, if an actress, an unknown one.

Suah takes after her dad a lot.

Seeing the mother’s face made it clear. Definitely, Kwon Suah resembled her father.

Myungwoo thought that and bowed in greeting to her as well.

“Hello. I’m Suah’s friend from acting academy, Kang Myungwoo.”

“Oh my, ho ho, such good manners. I heard you’re the same age as our Suah.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“Suah talks about you so much. Says you’re amazing at acting and really kind.”

“Ahaha, Suah must see me in a really good light.”

“Oh, and humble too.”

Kwon Suah’s mother smiled pleasantly at Myungwoo’s attitude.

It was a happy thing that the first opposite-sex friend her daughter brought home was polite and kind.

“Oh dear, you two need to play, and this ajumma is being so oblivious? Go on in and play now.”

“Haha, no, it’s fine.”

“Ah, I wanted to talk with Myungwoo for a bit…”

“You can talk later. The kids need to play first, right?”

Kwon Seonwoo subtly raised his hand, wanting to talk with Myungwoo, but Kwon Suah’s mother immediately grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

Myungwoo watched the two, who seemed to get along well, with a content look, then turned to Kwon Suah.

“Myungwoo! Hurry, to my room!”

“Yeah, sure.”

Kwon Suah didn’t hide her excitement at seeing Myungwoo after a long time, grabbed his hand, and quickly walked to her room.

“Wh-what! Our daughter holding hands with a boy…!”

“Oh my, they get along so well, ho ho.”

Seeing that scene, Kwon Seonwoo gaped, and Kwon Suah’s mother smiled with narrowed eyes.

The pretty and handsome kids holding hands and walking looked like a painting.

Our Suah is really pretty, but that Myungwoo kid’s face doesn’t lose at all.

No, if she removed the bias from seeing her own daughter, Kang Myungwoo might even be better.

Really, you need a face like that to succeed right away as an actor.

According to her daughter Kwon Suah, who often chattered about Kang Myungwoo, and her husband Kwon Seonwoo, who sometimes said his dramas were doing well, Kang Myungwoo was on a huge roll right now.

Curious, she had looked up the dramas he was in and was amazed at how handsome and good at acting he was on screen.

But seeing him in person, his face seemed to shine.

Hehe, I hope our daughter learns a lot.

As a mother, ultimately, her daughter’s success was the best.

So Kwon Suah’s mother hoped her daughter would get close to Kang Myungwoo and learn a lot by watching.

Entering the room, Kwon Suah spun around to face Myungwoo, her eyes sparkling.

“Myungwoo!”

“Yeah?”

“I watched both <Black and White Mask> and <Alley Childhood Friends> that you were in! Your acting was amazing?”

“Ahaha, thanks.”

At Kwon Suah’s praise starting right as they entered, Myungwoo smiled faintly.

“And you’re filming something else now, right? What is it?”

“Ah, I can’t give details, but this time it’s a movie.”

“Wow, a movie! Dad said it’s not easy for drama actors to do movies, but you’re doing it like it’s nothing?”

At Myungwoo’s words, Kwon Suah’s eyes sparkled even more.

Heard it from Kwon Seonwoo. Definitely, having a somewhat decent actor in the family means a lot to learn.

Myungwoo thought that and laughed haha at Kwon Suah.

“Yeah, somehow someone who liked me cast me. I was lucky, I guess.”

“Wow, but getting noticed and cast like that is so hard! Myungwoo, you’re amazing!”

At Kwon Suah’s appearance, who seemed to know more about this world than expected, Myungwoo smiled faintly and patted her head.

“You know a lot? Did your dad tell you?”

“Ah, yeah! When I said I wanted to go to acting academy and become an actress, Dad said it’d be good to know this and that, and told me a lot!”

Is this actor early education?

Definitely, starting acting with more knowledge is a big advantage.

Somehow, Myungwoo felt a bit envious.

“So, what should we play?”

“Acting play!”

“Yeah? Acting play?”

Myungwoo tilted his head at the unfamiliar game name.

“Yeah! It’s play where we act, literally! I have lots of scripts! Dad gave me some from the works he was in before, for practice!”

“Oh…”

Really actor early education level. Myungwoo thought that and nodded.

“Yeah, sure. It’ll be good for me to see other works and practice acting too.”

“Yeah! I specially asked Dad and picked scripts just for you, Myungwoo!”

“Haha, thanks, Suah.”

At Myungwoo’s praise, Suah excitedly narrowed her eyes, grabbed a stack of papers from one side of the desk, and came over.

“Here! First this one!”

“Come to think of it, if it’s what your dad got, there’d only be one copy, but this is a photocopy?”

“Yeah! When I said I’d do acting play with you, Dad photocopied and brought them!”

“Oh.”

His curiosity satisfied, Myungwoo nodded and turned his eyes to the script in his hand.

Oh…!

The quality was decent. Kwon Seonwoo’s name value wasn’t that great, so the works weren’t masterpieces with amazing scripts, but they were still above average.

Just right for practice. 

Thinking that, Myungwoo read through the script. 

Perhaps shortened on purpose for Kwon Suah, it wasn’t too long, so Myungwoo memorized it in an instant.

“I’m done.”

“Yeah… just a sec…”

At Myungwoo’s words, Kwon Suah made a sulky face and stared holes into the script.

Oh, I was too fast. Hope it doesn’t discourage her?

Myungwoo somehow worried at her appearance.

But she knows I’m really good at acting, so she probably won’t think that much.

Probably. Actually, Kwon Suah was sulking but didn’t seem to have any negative feelings.

Good, thinking that, Myungwoo inwardly sighed in relief.

“Memorized! Hehe, then let’s start right away!”

“Yeah, sure.”

Kwon Suah started. She closed her eyes, slowly opened them, breathed a few times, and began acting.

“Wow, what’s that?”

Eyes sparkling as if curious, excited voice. 

The image of a child interested in something emanated from Kwon Suah.

“None of your business.”

In contrast, Myungwoo’s appearance was a cynical child’s reaction. 

His cold demeanor, drawing lines against everything around, was perfect as always. 

Kwon Suah genuinely flinched at his appearance for a moment.

“Wh-why are you talking like that? I was just curious…”

“It’s none of your concern.”

Myungwoo continued acting and thought.

Did he purposely give scripts with female characters similar to his daughter?

That wouldn’t help Kwon Suah. 

Roles don’t fit the actor; the actor has to fit the role.

I should subtly tell Kwon Seonwoo.

He didn’t know about other things, but Kwon Suah seemed sincere about wanting to act. 

It wasn’t easy for an eleven-year-old to stick to something so persistently.

Kids that age often change interests frequently, but just seeing her hold onto acting for over a year showed it.

“I, I just wanted to be friends with you…”

“I don’t want to be friends with you. Go play with those idiots over there.”

Myungwoo still acted the cold, cynical child, pointing to one side of the room.

Kwon Suah flinched again at the genuine emotion in his eyes.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Sniff, sniff…”

Even at Kwon Suah’s teary reaction, Myungwoo’s gaze didn’t turn to her. 

He just kept his eyes fixed on the script instead of a book.

“Waaah-!”

Soon after, Kwon Suah burst into tears. 

At her crying sooner than expected, Myungwoo inwardly panicked a bit.

She’s not really crying, right?

Originally, Kwon Suah wasn’t that great at acting, so how could her crying acting feel so real?

Myungwoo ended up with a slight delay, stumbling without delivering the next line.

No matter how important acting was, if an eleven-year-old girl was really crying in front of him, he should comfort her first.

But before his thoughts could continue, the door burst open.

“What! Why is our Suah crying! Kang Myungwoo! Did you make her cry?!”

Kwon Seonwoo, who had come running at Kwon Suah’s crying, yelled at Myungwoo.

“Huh?”

“Suah, what’s wrong. Huh? What did Myungwoo do? Stop and tell me slowly.”

No, really, I didn’t do anything… I just acted… Myungwoo looked at him with a baffled face, then turned his gaze to Kwon Suah.

And saw Kwon Suah’s face, already tear-free and pouting.

Huh?

“Good grief, Dad! This is me acting crying! We were in the middle of acting, what do you do bursting in like this!”

“Uh, huh?”

At Kwon Suah’s words, Kwon Seonwoo looked extremely flustered and stammered.

“Really, I was acting with Myungwoo, and Dad suddenly comes in and ruins the flow!”

“Ah, ah, really? Ah, Dad’s sorry.”

“Fine! I hate Dad!”

“Urk!”

At “I hate Dad,” a critical hit struck Kwon Seonwoo’s heart. His body swayed.

But Myungwoo didn’t pay attention to that. Precisely, he didn’t have the mind to.

So… that was acting?

Myungwoo blankly stared at Kwon Suah’s damp face.

Crying acting… pretty good?

Her other acting was just okay, but the crying was at a level that confused him and made him panic.

“Suah.”

“Yeah?”

“Your crying acting is amazing. How did you do it?”

“Ah, that?”

At Myungwoo’s question, Kwon Suah smiled brightly. 

Seeming very happy at his praise, her voice went up a tone.

“I imagined not being able to play with you anymore, Myungwoo! So the tears came well? I practiced like that before, and this time it worked great!”

“With imagination… you did that?”

“Yeah! Plus, the scene you acted this time was similar, so the emotional immersion was even better?”

At Kwon Suah’s words, Myungwoo closed his mouth.

Setting aside the content of the imagination, it’s common for actors to think thoughts that evoke the emotion to capture it.

But even using that, to show this level of skill in crying acting…

She has talent?

He hadn’t known before, but turns out Kwon Suah had at least one talent.

Her face was pretty enough, and her crying acting was outstanding.

This… I should tell Kwon Seonwoo.

Myungwoo thought that and grinned.