Murmur, murmur.
People could be seen gathering into the theater.
A theater with a total of 127 seats, including the second-floor audience section.
A red curtain hung over the stage, blocking the inside from view.
People did not pay it any mind at all and busily moved to find their seats.
Han Seongtae was among them.
“Hey, I think we’re over here?”
“Yeah, let’s go in.”
Sitting with Kim Minseok in the seats printed on their tickets, Han Seongtae let out a shallow breath and looked around.
An audience of over a hundred was by no means a small number.
Yet before he knew it, the seats were packed with people.
All of them had come to watch the first-years’ musical.
‘Even when I did a musical, I don’t think it was this much.’
Han Seongtae remembered The Time of Revolution, the musical he had done.
Even with large-scale promotion, the audience seats had not been completely filled.
‘Of course, back then it was over two hundred seats.’
If you looked only at the number of attendees, Han Seongtae’s musical might have had the higher count.
But he focused not on the raw number, but on the achievement of being sold out.
It did not take long for People Who Love Their Neighborhood to sell out.
Considering that there were people who still wanted to buy tickets even after they had all sold, if there had been more seats, would far more people have come?
‘Maybe even more people came than when I performed.’
Han Seongtae let out a small chuckle and looked toward the stage.
Before he knew it, the curtain lifted and someone appeared.
Boom, boom-boom.
The musical began along with the sound of music.
Students in each role came up onto the stage and created lively scenes.
—I said it. That I would not leave this street.
The actors’ voices came through the speakers.
Their voices, together with the music, delighted the ear.
‘They all prepared hard.’
Watching their stage, Han Seongtae could tell, at least a little, how much effort the first-years must have put in.
To put on a stage like this, halfhearted effort would never be enough.
“Looks like the kids prepared like crazy.”
“Yeah.”
“I heard they kept gathering to practice before and after class too. They’re good.”
“Yeah, you can feel how hard they worked.”
Han Seongtae watched the stage with a soft smile.
He likes people who make an effort.
How could he hate those who move for the sake of their dreams.
There probably are not many people who could.
—Alright, let’s all gather together. In our neighborhood!
—We can all sing and dance together.
The first-years ran back and forth across the stage.
Their faces were full of confidence.
As if to say they would properly show the results of their practice.
Their effort and passion were poured straight into the performance.
“Oh, Rina’s up.”
With Kim Minseok’s voice beside him, Han Seongtae could see Kim Rina appear among the students.
She wore worn-out clothes that looked like rags.
But the presence she showed was not worn-out in the slightest.
I know it.
That you cannot be with me.
Her clear, refreshing voice filled the stage.
As she sang and looked around, Kim Rina’s eyes met Han Seongtae’s.
The corner of his mouth lifted, and he nodded to her.
‘She’s good.’
The results of all that effort.
[‘The Actor of Eternal Youth’ smiles in satisfaction, saying you only know an actor once you peel back the shell.]
[‘The One Who Defined an Era’ smiles gently, saying she’s an actor with good focus.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ is convinced that at that level, she could debut right away with no problem.]
Even the gods of acting were admiring Kim Rina’s stage.
There was strength in her voice.
A strength that pulled in the audience’s gaze and captured their eyes.
The stage, which began to shine because of Kim Rina, made Han Seongtae clench his fist tightly.
‘What would it have been like if I’d been up there with her?’
He was watching Kim Rina’s stage.
He saw how she shone, and he saw her acting.
Acting that was very captivating and drew admiration.
Han Seongtae could not help but sigh at the fact that he was not acting alongside her.
It would have been nice to act together.
If it were him, he could have made her acting shine even brighter.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ murmurs that it would have been something to see if you were on that stage.]
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ says their acting is good, but they still want to see your acting.]
It seemed the gods of acting were thinking the same thing.
Taking comfort in their messages, Han Seongtae was able to enjoy the performance.
Even if, here and there, his body twitched.
“Do you need the bathroom that badly?”
“Huh? Ah, no.”
“Then why are you twitching like that? Sit still.”
“Uh… sorry.”
At Kim Minseok’s comment, Han Seongtae nodded.
He really does want to act.
—Thank you!
The stage came to an end.
The actors who had filled the stage bowed their heads to the audience.
Waaaah!
Clap, clap, clap.
The audience applauded them.
Han Seongtae clapped along with them and let out a laugh.
“Senior! Did you see me?”
“Yeah, you did well.”
At his words, a bright smile spread across Kim Rina’s lips.
Backstage, after all the audience had been sent out.
While students bustled around in every direction, Kim Rina stood in front of Han Seongtae, putting into words what she had felt on stage.
Even at her slightly excited appearance, Han Seongtae smiled softly.
‘I was exactly like that when I did my first stage as a lead.’
Even Han Seongtae, with ten years of experience, feels his mood soar when he takes a lead role and performs.
Whether his acting was good, what felt lacking, which lines and actions he emphasized where, and so on…
As a fellow actor, there were many parts he could understand.
“You were really good. Your diction was solid, and when it came to expressing emotion, you were neither too much nor too little.”
“Hehe.”
Hearing his praise, her smile deepened.
It rose and rose, to the point where he wondered just how high the corners of her mouth could go.
“It’s all thanks to you helping me, Oppa. If you hadn’t watched my acting, could I really have done this much?”
“No. It’s because you worked that hard.”
Every word he said to her was sincere.
No matter how much advice and help Han Seongtae gave, there were many people who still could not do well.
‘Even being able to “eat what you’re given” is a talent.’
And how you “eat it” depends on you, too.
Kim Rina had talent, and she had passion, so she was able to grow well with Han Seongtae’s help.
“Senior, thank you so much.”
“Yeah.”
“Please keep taking care of me from now on too!”
At her continued words, Han Seongtae paused.
From now on.
What did she mean by that?
For a moment, he felt a question rise.
‘Well, whatever.’
But only for a moment.
Seeing her bright smile, Han Seongtae decided that good is good and nodded.
―Jung Dusik: Seongtae, if you have time, contact me. I have something to talk about regarding Netflix.
It felt like it had been a while since he had slept deeply.
A day that seemed like it could start refreshingly.
Checking the text Jung Dusik had sent, the smile at Han Seongtae’s lips grew even deeper.
If it was about Netflix, there was only one thing it could be.
Auditions.
Kim Minseok had also mentioned auditions, and unless something big had gone wrong, he would probably say they were going to start auditions soon to move the project forward.
―Netflix contacted us and said they’re going to start auditions soon.
His guess was not wrong.
―Looks like all the preparation is done. They said all that’s left is filming. So they said they’ll set an audition date soon. They already secured a place.
“They work fast.”
―Yeah, I think so too. Ah, so… do you have any interest in being a judge?
“…What?”
What was this all of a sudden.
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae’s expression went blank.
Holding auditions was one thing, but why were they suddenly talking about a judge?
―As judges, there’ll be Director Yeon Jaehun and Minseok. They said they want to use you as the other person.
‘Why?’
―Because you act well. They say talented people can understand each other, and that you’ll have a sense for it…
‘This is kind of a burden.’
Han Seongtae was someone who acted, not someone who found actors.
Normally, he would have refused Netflix’s offer.
It would have been too much for him.
[‘The One With a Thousand Faces’ listens with interest to the offer of being a judge.]
[‘The One Who Made Laughter from Tragedy’ says that when they chose actors, there used to be more than hundreds of applicants.]
He could see the gods of acting reacting.
If he had them with him, could it be possible?
“I’ll do it.”
It did not take long for Han Seongtae to answer.
A small café called Dalbam.
Normally it was crowded, but today it was completely empty.
“Seokjeong’s got money. Renting out a whole place like this.”
“Well, it’s not exactly my money. It’s coming out of the membership dues. If you get picky about it, you could say it was Mucheol hyung who rented it.”
In the café were Kim Mucheol and Jo Seokjeong.
Other actors were supposed to come too, but there was still plenty of time, so only the two of them were holding down the café.
“Seongtae’s coming today, right?”
“Yes, I contacted him this morning too. He said he’ll come as soon as his classes end.”
“That kid Seongtae, if you look at him, it’s like he can’t rest. Seeing him keep up with filming schedules while going to school… man…”
“But he’s doing that well.”
“That’s the problem. I’m telling you, it feels like one day he’ll just collapse.”
At Kim Mucheol’s words, Jo Seokjeong agreed to some extent.
If you film with Han Seongtae, you know just how diligent a person named “Han Seongtae” is.
No, at that point it went beyond diligence.
‘Sleeping less than two hours a day isn’t something a human should do.’
It was more amazing that Han Seongtae had held out this long.
If he collapsed someday, it would not feel strange at all.
“He’ll handle himself. He’s the type who’s good at taking care of his own business.”
“…I hope so.”
“If you’re that worried, then feed him a lot of healthy stuff today. What, should we go buy wild ginseng or something?”
“That’s not a bad idea. Is there anywhere that sells wild ginseng cheap? If not wild ginseng, red ginseng is good too.”
At his enthusiastic attitude, Jo Seokjeong let out a small laugh.
Kim Mucheol was a warm-hearted person.
Once he acknowledged someone as “his person,” he gave endlessly.
For Kim Mucheol to talk like this meant that he really liked Han Seongtae.
“By the way, is Senior Song Ganghun coming today for sure?”
“He is.”
“Man. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him too. Lately he’s been filming, so we haven’t seen his face at all.”
“It can’t be helped. He even won an award at Cannes recently. He must be insanely busy.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I’m jealous of people who can act well.”
Leaning back against the chair, Kim Mucheol grumbled.
Watching him, Jo Seokjeong chuckled.
Even Kim Mucheol, who said he envied good actors, was someone other actors would say acted very well.
“Senior Song Ganghun will like Seongtae when he sees him, right?”
“Probably, yeah. That senior really likes kids who work hard.”
“Right. And there’s no one who works harder than Seongtae.”
“And he’s kind, too.”
At Jo Seokjeong’s words, Kim Mucheol nodded, agreeing.
Just as the two were talking about Song Ganghun and Han Seongtae—
“What are you two talking about so much?”
Song Ganghun opened the café door and came inside.
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