Chapter 2: The Child Who Chose Acting

“…huh?”

No Yeonhee’s eyes widened at Myungwoo’s completely unexpected words.  

She had thought he would ask for a toy he wanted, as always.  

No, more than that, what was this sudden talk about an acting academy?  

“Myungwoo, have you been interested in acting?”  

While raising him until he turned 10, he had never shown any interest in that direction.  

Suddenly saying he wanted to go to an acting academy.  

“Why all of a sudden? Did one of your friends say something like that?”  

Was he swept up by a friend?  

It was common at that age.  

But No Yeonhee knew what kind of child her son was.  

After her husband, Myungwoo’s father, died, he had matured early and grown up without a single mischief.  

As if proving her thoughts correct, Myungwoo shook his head.  

“No, it’s not. I thought of it myself.”  

At Myungwoo’s firm words, No Yeonhee blinked.  

Acting…….  

Was it just a simple interest?  

Well, her son was handsome, so it wasn’t unreasonable for him to think that way…….  

But even so, letting him walk that path rashly…….  

“Is it hard for you, Mom?”  

No Yeonhee, whose thoughts were tangling one after another, looked down at Myungwoo again.  

Seeing her son with an earnest gaze she had never seen before, No Yeonhee clenched her fist.  

What am I thinking?  

The kid has something he wants to do, yet instead of supporting him with all my heart, I’m worrying about this and that before he even starts.  

No Yeonhee smiled and shook her head.  

“No, not at all. It’s not hard at all. If our Myungwoo wants to go to an acting academy, I have to send you.”  

At No Yeonhee’s words, Myungwoo’s face brightened.  

Even though he had brought it up suddenly, she responded so positively.  

She’s truly a good person.  

The mother he had seen for 10 years, No Yeonhee, was a warm person.  

The person in the world who cherished Myungwoo the most.  

He had wondered if it was a bit of an unreasonable request, but he hadn’t expected her to agree so readily.  

Gratitude toward his mother welled up, and Myungwoo smiled brightly.  

“An acting academy…… Which one would be good?”  

As if proving she was listening seriously, No Yeonhee was already thinking about the next step.  

Seeing her pondering, Myungwoo grinned and immediately opened his mouth.  

“There’s a place I want to go.”  

“Huh?”  

A place he wants to go?  

No Yeonhee tilted her head.  

Myungwoo nodded with a smile.  

The moment the words “acting academy” came to mind, one place had popped up.  

If he went there, the path to becoming a proper actor would be shortened significantly.  

“Since we’re on the topic, I want to go tomorrow. Is that okay, Mom?”  

Myungwoo smiled brightly.  

With a second chance and everything I need from birth, I’ll give my all to reach the top.  

“Myungwoo ya?”  

“Yes.”  

 ***

At his mother’s call, Myungwoo shook his head out of his reverie.  

Turning his head, he saw his mother looking at him with a smiling face.  

“Really, what kind of wind blew to make you suddenly want to go to an acting academy?”  

At his mother’s words, Myungwoo smiled faintly.  

“Just…… I want to try acting.”  

For Myungwoo, the eternal supporting actor named ‘Han Minwoo’ in his previous life, there was no option like not becoming an actor even if reborn.  

To him, acting was life itself.  

“Hmm, well, with a face like our Myungwoo’s, you could easily be an actor.”  

At her words, Myungwoo turned his head again to look at his face in the mirror.  

It was definitely young, but a face that wouldn’t be a waste to call handsome.  

The optimal mask for an actor.  

Something his previous self could never have no matter how hard he tried.  

……Hehe.  

Myungwoo silently brushed his face with a newfound feeling.  

Giving someone who lived a life crazy about acting in his previous life this face along with the experience from that life.  

Wasn’t it telling him to live a life crazy about acting this time too?  

After all, these were conditions where he had no choice but to achieve everything he couldn’t in his previous life.  

Thinking that, Myungwoo smiled brightly.  

Unlike his previous life where no matter how hard he tried he could never become lead-level, this time he was born with a face anyone would call handsome.  

While fully retaining the 30 years of acting experience from his previous life and the desire to become a great actor.  

“Our Myungwoo, are you that happy about going to learn acting?”  

At Myungwoo’s bright face, his mother No Yeonhee also made a joyful expression.  

She didn’t know what wind blew to make him suddenly want to act.  

But if it was something her son wanted, she was confident she would support anything.  

She smiled and stroked Myungwoo’s head.  

“By the way, why did you want to come here instead of somewhere else?”  

No Yeonhee looked down at Myungwoo with a puzzled expression.  

From her perspective, it was a valid question.  

There were several other acting academies besides here, starting from near their house.  

“Because I like it here.”  

Myungwoo shrugged without giving a specific reason.  

At his attitude, No Yeonhee tilted her head.  

But for Myungwoo, it was hard to explain.  

How could he say that the director of this acting academy was an unfortunate actor with considerable experience but still only taking minor roles?  

And that she was best friends with the currently successful top actress Yoo Hee.  

Yoo Hee.  

A name that naturally came up when listing top actresses in Korea.  

Famous for her beautiful face and outstanding acting in every work, truly one of the best actresses in name and reality.  

A genius with an eye for movies, whose recent lead films all hit 10 million viewers.  

Moreover, it wasn’t even publicly known; it was insider gossip Myungwoo learned at a previous life’s drinking party.  

He couldn’t say he knew that, and even if he did, explaining how he knew was even more impossible.  

So what Myungwoo chose was to vaguely brush it off.  

Fortunately, he was still 10 years old, and this issue could be passed off as a child’s stubbornness.  

“Mmm, if Myungwoo likes it…….”  

No Yeonhee moved on without questioning her son further.  

What could she do when the kid said he liked it?  

The most important thing to her was her son’s happiness, and granting such a request was no big deal.  

“Then shall we go in now?”  

No Yeonhee smiled brightly and firmly held Myungwoo’s hand.  

A careful gesture considering her son might be nervous.  

“Yes.”  

Myungwoo felt his heart warm at his mother’s consideration and nodded with a smile.  

Of course, he wasn’t nervous at all.  

If I stand out here, I can start acting faster than others.  

Rather, he was calmly turning his mind.  

If the director was merely best friends with Yoo Hee, Myungwoo wouldn’t have targeted this place.  

But Yoo Hee occasionally visited here to see her friend and to scout promising acting sprouts among the growing ones.  

And if there was a truly promising child, she raised them herself.  

Whether by casting them in her own works or connecting them to directors or writers she knew.  

It was a story Myungwoo heard directly from an actor Yoo Hee and she had picked at a previous life’s drinking party, so it was certain.  

And Myungwoo had come here aiming for that.  

To stand out with acting skills here and be raised directly by the top actress Yoo Hee.  

If he did that, he could start much faster and properly than auditioning everywhere and starting from the bottom.  

All.  

If he didn’t know, fine, but Myungwoo felt no need not to use what he knew.  

Debut as quickly as possible in a good work.  

And using that, he would claim the top actor position he couldn’t achieve in his previous life.  

His eyes sparkled as he looked at the director’s office door in front of him.  

Myungwoo held No Yeonhee’s hand and opened the door.  

CREAK-  

“Ah! Hello, ma’am!”  

As Myungwoo and No Yeonhee entered, the academy director quickly stood up and greeted them.  

“Oh my. Hello, Director.”  

No Yeonhee smiled and returned the polite greeting.  

“Hello.”  

Myungwoo also deliberately bowed more politely than usual toward the director.  

From the moment he entered here, he had to pay attention to even the smallest attitude.  

If there was any part she didn’t like, it could cause problems in connecting with Yoo Hee.  

All.  

“Oh my, ma’am. The child has such a handsome face.”  

The director smiled satisfactorily looking at Myungwoo’s face.  

Hearing that, Myungwoo smiled small.  

At the director’s praise, No Yeonhee also smiled brightly and said.  

“Right? Our kid looks just like me, so he’s really handsome.”  

The two shared a brief warm conversation.  

In the meantime, Myungwoo practiced acting looking at the mirror hanging on one side of the room.  

A wide smile instantly changed to a scared expression, then soon turned cold.  

Noticing the rough but lively expressions, the director opened her mouth as if impressed.  

“Oh my, the child…….”  

The director’s voice, looking down at Myungwoo after finishing the conversation with No Yeonhee, had faint admiration.  

“Practicing acting even in this short moment, the passion must be extraordinary.”  

“Our Myungwoo is like that. He wanted to come here too.”  

“Most kids this age are brought by parents. Many aren’t very interested in acting themselves, but Student Myungwoo is different from other kids. He really likes acting.”  

“Hehe, thank you for seeing him favorably.”  

I hear it. The sound of the director’s favorability rising.  

Myungwoo grinned inwardly.  

Of course, the recent situation was also intended by Myungwoo.  

Whether during the conversation with his mother or after it ended, she would look at him at some point.  

So if he showed practicing acting even in that short moment?  

Wouldn’t she naturally see him favorably?  

In the end, that judgment succeeded.  

The director introduced the academy with a subtly more enthusiastic attitude than when she first saw Myungwoo.  

“You said the child has never seen or tried acting, right? Then classes will proceed like this first…….”  

The director talked about the academy curriculum, and No Yeonhee listened attentively.  

Of course, it was a story Myungwoo didn’t need to hear.  

He had already experienced real battles multiple times over 30 years, and not just acting but the set dozens and hundreds of times.  

When will Yoo Hee come here…….  

That one thought occupied his mind.  

After all, that was why he came here.  

“Then when shall we start classes?”  

Suddenly, the director’s question entered Myungwoo’s ears.  

“From today.”  

Myungwoo quickly answered before anyone else could open their mouth.  

Even before No Yeonhee could respond.  

At Myungwoo’s words, the director and No Yeonhee were silent for a moment then burst into laughter at the same time.  

“The child must really want to learn acting.”  

“Yeah. I expected it since he asked for an acting academy as a birthday gift…….”  

“Oh my, was that it? He’s really a rare child.”  

The two shared a warm conversation about Myungwoo.  

Of course, that was brief.  

“Then, since the child wants it this much, shall we start classes tomorrow?”  

“Good. I’ll start as soon as possible.”  

Tomorrow.  

From Myungwoo’s perspective, it was a quite satisfying pace.  

I’m sick of waiting now.  

He had rolled only in the acting world for 30 years.  

Thinking someday it would happen if he kept going, he had worked hard for a full 30 years.  

All of that was waiting for Myungwoo.  

The time he honed himself to become the best actor.  

Well, in the end, only after changing bodies could I aim for that position.  

He was born in a body that could never achieve what he wanted, yet he couldn’t give up acting.  

Acting…… is just too good.  

At this point, it might be beyond severe, like acting addiction.  

What can I do? This is who I am.  

Born as someone who loves acting, what else?  

He would keep acting until the end of his life.  

Though even after his previous life ended, he was acting in a new life.  

That’s not important right now.  

The current situation where he could act again was far more important.  

Moreover, with the limits from his previous life completely gone.  

Tomorrow is exciting.  

Though it’s not in front of a real camera, and since he has no experience here, he has to take the beginner course.  

But somehow, it felt a bit thrilling.  

Retaking the early course he had taken long ago and now vaguely remembered.  

The thought of running forward with a new opportunity without repeating past mistakes made him feel good.  

If he stands out here,  

I can become a top star faster than anyone.  

The chance to lead a work with him as the main would come quickly.  

Myungwoo was that confident.  

With anticipation that he could achieve what he had dreamed of since his previous life, Myungwoo smiled brightly.