Chapter 146: Audition (2)

In the entertainment world, celebrities sometimes secretly... no, sometimes blatantly if off-camera, had wars of nerves against each other. However, it was hard to consider a senior who one-sidedly criticized a junior as a war of nerves.

‘It’s more like grilling.’

Kang Ra-Eun had seen such grills many times. If she was asked where, she would answer...

‘The army.’

It was where grilling was a part of daily life. The entertainment world did not fall behind the army very far in that aspect. Jang Seon-Bin had purposefully chosen a target to demoralize the rookies before the audition even began, and that target just happened to have been Jin Seo-Yeong.

“But I’ve been sitting here for a while...” Seo-Yeong said.

She tried to protest, but it only got on Seon-Bin’s nerves.

“What did you just say to me?”

Seo-Yeong shrunk from her senior’s threatening tone.

“How dare you speak that way to your sunbae? I can’t believe this... What’s your name?” Seon-Bin asked.

“I-I’m sorry, sunbae...”

“You think sorry’s gonna cut it? I asked for your name!” she shouted.

The waiting room was freezing over even more. There weren’t any staff present to control the situation. Seo-Yeong got up from her seat, on the verge of tears.

“Jin... Seo-Yeong,” she answered.

“Jin Seo-Yeong. I’ve memorized your name, so you’d better behave yourself. I can make it so you can never set foot into this industry ever again.”

A rookie who didn’t know any better couldn’t help but be scared by such a threat from her senior. Seo-Yeong walked toward the door while trembling to go out to the hallway, because she couldn’t bear to stay in the same room as Seon-Bin.

“Miss Jin Seo-Yeong, correct?”

Just then, Ra-Eun called out to her. Ra-Eun had thought that she looked familiar, and had finally realized who she was after hearing her voice. Seo-Yeong was an actress who would become one of the most crucial actresses of Korea.

She wasn’t great enough to become the lead role in films, but her performances in all of her works left very deep impressions on the audience to the point that they considered her the scene-stealer.

Seo-Yeong was a supporting role actress who would become more famous than lead roles. Ra-Eun did not remember the lead roles of Seo-Yeong’s works, but she vividly remembered Seo-Yeong’s scenes and lines. Despite all that, there was a reason why Ra-Eun had not been able to recognize her right away.

“Your real name is Jin Woo-Soo, right?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Huh? How did you...”

She had used an alias in the beginning of her career, but she would abandon it and use her real name in the future. She began to let herself be known after changing her acting name, hence why Ra-Eun had not been able to immediately recognize her.

Seo-Yeong... no, Woo-Soo was considerably surprised, since the only people who would know her real name were members of her agency.

“I happened to hear it somewhere. I have a lot of connections, you see,” Ra-Eun answered.

Woo-Soo accepted Ra-Eun’s excuse since there was no actress more famous than Ra-Eun these days. It was definitely possible for her to have heard about Woo-Soo during her film or drama shoots, or in variety or radio show studios.

Woo-Soo thought it was perfectly reasonable for Ra-Eun to know her name, but more importantly, she was honored for such a top star like her to remember an unknown actress like herself. However, things didn’t stop there.

“Would you like to read the script with us?” Ra-Eun asked.

“M-Me?”

Woo-Soo’s eyes shook fiercely. Ra-Eun and Seo Tae-Yeon were the cream of the crop of actresses in Korea. She found it hard to believe that she would be able to join such people.

Ra-Eun asked Tae-Yeon sitting across from her, “Is that okay, sunbae?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind. The more people we have, the more diverse feedback we can get.”

Tae-Yeon welcomed it. Woo-Soo did not have to be chased out into the hallway thanks to Ra-Eun, but Seon-Bin did not stand for that happening.

“Hey, Jin Seo-Yeong. What did I just say? Did you not hear me telling you to get out of my sight? Or did you already forget?”

“N-No...”

“How do you expect to become an actress with the memory of a goldfish? Can you even memorize a script? That’s why you’re a nobody. Know your place.”

“...”

Seon-Bin continued with the malicious remarks. She did not stop despite Ra-Eun saying it was okay for Woo-Soo to join her. In other words, one could consider this as Seon-Bin being hostile to Ra-Eun. Ra-Eun would not let that slide. Although Seon-Bin had debuted three years earlier than her, such a thing meant nothing to her.

“Sunbae. If you want a fight, you should do it with your acting, not with such pointless grilling,” Ra-Eun stated.

“Wh-What? Kang Ra-Eun, are you out of your mind?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine. Rather, aren’t you the one out of your mind from the extreme anxiety you must be feeling because of the audition, sunbae?”

Ra-Eun did not take anything lying down. Even if they were her seniors, she considered all those who attacked her as her enemies. There was no such word as ‘subservience’ in her dictionary, especially when it came to women like Seon-Bin.

Ra-Eun decided not to bother with Seon-Bin anymore, who had become speechless from the shock. Any more time spent conversing with her would be a waste of time. Seon-Bin got even angrier from Ra-Eun’s refusal to bother with her, and stomped toward Ra-Eun.

Just as she was about to criticize Ra-Eun’s actions...

“Seon-Bin.”

...Tae-Yeon got up from her seat. Seon-Bin flinched once she saw her. They were the same age, but...

“You know I’m your sunbae, don’t you?” Tae-Yeon asked.

“...”

Tae-Yeon had been a child actor; in terms of acting career, she had been in the industry for twice as long as Seon-Bin had. If Seon-Bin, who had grilled her juniors with her position as their senior, disrespected her own senior, that would be the height of hypocrisy.

“Why don’t you listen to Ra-Eun and just practice your lines without bothering anyone? Don’t depress your juniors in every single audition you go to like some killjoy.”

Seon-Bin couldn’t say a word to retort Tae-Yeon’s criticisms. She couldn’t raise her voice when her senior was telling her to be quiet, so she had no choice but to retreat.

Tae-Yeon sat back down without losing her smile and said to Woo-Soo, “Seo-Yeong... no, Woo-Soo, was it? Don’t worry about her threat about making sure you can never set foot in this industry. She doesn’t have that much influence. It’s all a bluff.”

She had said it loud enough for Seon-Bin to hear. The other actresses, who found out that it had all been a bluff, giggled. Seon-Bin’s face reddened like a tomato from the humiliation, and she ended up leaving the waiting room in embarrassment. Ra-Eun held in her laugh from watching Seon-Bin rushing out of the room.

***

After that unnecessary storm passed, Ra-Eun, Tae-Yeon and Woo-Soo immersed themselves into their script reading. Tae-Yeon couldn’t help but be surprised; not by Ra-Eun, who she already knew was a skilled actress, but...

“You’re really good, Woo-Soo. How are you not famous yet?” she asked.

Scene-stealer characters naturally had more individuality than the lead characters, since they were the ones to set the mood. Hence, it could be argued that the supporting and minor characters Woo-Soo was trying out for were more difficult to portray.

But despite that, Woo-Soo was portraying the characters overflowing with individuality by reinterpreting them in her own way. However, it did not feel jarring; rather, the character that Woo-Soo had adapted felt far more natural. Not only were her acting skills impressive, her understanding of the character was also on a high level. Because of this, Tae-Yeon had no idea why Woo-Soo was still buried in the rough.

Woo-Soo laughed embarrassingly. “It must be because I’m still lacking.”

“No, no. You’re more than talented enough. How many films have you been in?”

Ra-Eun answered before Woo-Soo had a chance to. “Two. She was in a two-part short film called My House next to a Flowerhouse. The first part was released two years ago, and the second part at the end of last year. She played a minor role in both of them.”

Woo-Soo was shocked by the detail in which Ra-Eun knew what she had appeared in. Tae-Yeon had also not expected her question to be answered by Ra-Eun, so she looked at her in amazement.

“Were you already acquainted with Woo-Soo?” she asked.

“No. This is our first time meeting.”

“Really? Then how did you know about that?”

“Because she’s one of my favorite actors.”

Woo-Soo didn’t know how to react.

“You’re also one of my favorite actors, Ra-Eun sunbae! I’ve watched everything you’ve been in!”

Tae-Yeon couldn’t help but smile from how the two were appointing themselves as each other’s fans. She felt like the three of them would be able to work together very well. Granted, they would all have to pass the audition first.

***

The long-awaited audition began. Ra-Eun was 24th.

‘I guess it’ll be a while until I’m called.’

She decided to focus on the script until then. She was surging with anxiety that she had never felt before, likely because this was the very first audition of her life.

‘Just don’t start trembling when it’s your turn. Do your best,’ she encouraged herself.

She had not starred in tons of productions, but all of her roles had been considerably important. With her level of experience, there would be nothing more embarrassing than being unable to display her full potential in front of the judges.

Time went by, and her number was finally called. She proudly walked to the audition stage. Once she opened the door, she was greeted by a total of seven judges, with the one in the middle being the famous Director Choi Yong-Woon.

Ra-Eun concisely introduced herself. “Hello. My name is Kang Ra-Eun, and I’m trying out for the role of Hwang Tae-Yeong.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Miss Kang.”

Yong-Woon had a very good impression of Ra-Eun. She had already received bonus points with just an introduction. It was not a bad start. Since Ra-Eun was so popular, Director Choi did not go out of his way to ask anything about her. He instead decided to ask how much she knew about his production, Shuttered.

His first question was...

“You know that Shuttered?is a horror film, don’t you, Miss Kang?”