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“Hm? What’s this? Why is the atmosphere like this?”
“Ah, Jessica, actually…”
As soon as Jessica came in, she must have sensed the unusual mood. She looked at Jo Yisu, her closest aide, and asked.
Seeing Yisu about to answer right away, I quickly shook my head.
“Mm?”
“Ah, ah… It’s nothing. Siwoo just arrived, so we were about to introduce him to everyone. Right?”
My hurried head shake from behind the puzzled Jessica had been worth it.
Yisu turned his gaze toward the actors and smoothly glossed over it.
At that, the actors snickered and played along.
“Mm, that’s right.”
“Right, right. That’s how it was. Isn’t that right, Gordon?”
Among them, a few of the more mischievous ones even deliberately called out to Gordon.
But Gordon stubbornly refused to open his mouth.
That’s what you get for picking a fight. Seriously.
I smiled brightly and spoke to Jessica.
It was the best way to draw her attention away from the actors she was watching with suspicious eyes.
“Jessica, it’s really been a long time. We’ve only ever talked over the phone.”
“That’s right, Siwoo! I really missed you. Whether I went to Japan or America, there was no child like you.”
As expected.
Jessica’s attention turned to me right away.
When Jessica even lowered herself slightly to match my height, I heard sounds of surprise from the England team’s troupe members.
“I missed you too. I’m glad you look healthy.”
“You too, Siwoo. I’m sorry for asking you to fill in right after your drama shoot ended.”
“It’s all right. I was just starting to look at what I should do for my next project anyway.”
Kim Sangcheol had asked whether it might be better for me to rest, but honestly, since I was resting anyway, I had been thinking about going back on stage for Bisangcheolddo 777 after so long.
Of course, I had not told anyone that.
If I had brought it up, Mother would have spent the several days before we came to England feeding me restorative meals the entire time.
At my talk of a next project, Jessica placed a hand over her chest and looked up at the rehearsal-room ceiling.
“Oh, goodness. Lady Luck has followed me again. Honestly, more than anything, I’m happy I was able to bring you here, Siwoo. I’d even want to take you to America and put you on stage there.”
“If you have a good project later, I hope you’ll make me a formal offer, Jessica.”
Seeing Jessica’s serious gaze, I gave a small shrug and said that.
“Of course. Think about it seriously, all right? Lucas is waiting for you too, Siwoo.”
At Jessica’s passionate scouting offer, the actors watching us looked like their jaws were about to drop.
“Haha, Jessica. Let’s catch up later. Shouldn’t you introduce me? It seems today’s rehearsal isn’t over yet either…”
“Ah, right. Everyone, this is Siwoo Han, who will be joining our team starting today. If you look down on him because he’s such a small child, you’ll be in for a rude awakening. He is one of the finest talents I, Jessica Brown, personally chose.”
At my words, Jessica introduced me to the troupe members.
But their reaction was not very different from when Yisu had introduced me.
Maybe because Gordon had just taken a hit, he stayed quiet, but the others did not seem especially welcoming either.
Why were they this negative?
As I looked around at the expressionless troupe members in confusion, one actor slightly raised a hand and spoke.
“Jessica, isn’t five years old too much, no matter how you look at it? It hasn’t even been a week since the child originally playing Johnny ran away.”
“We don’t have much time left. Rather than using such a young actor, wouldn’t it be better to compromise, even a little?”
It seemed everyone had become on edge because the previous child lead actor had run away.
I had wondered why the mood became so unsettled every time I was introduced, but… apparently, their anxiety had not been resolved yet.
“I understand what all of you are thinking, but there is no need to worry about that anymore. Siwoo is the actor I chose. You could even say he may be the only actor in the world who truly satisfies me.”
“Even so…”
“He’s too young. Far too young.”
“Isn’t the scale of our England performance much larger than the Korean performance?”
Actors gathered in twos and threes even began muttering about whether the performance could go up normally like this.
They did not seem to be trying to mock me the way Gordon had, but their distrustful gazes still flew at me without mercy.
If we were only talking scale, the Korean performance did not lose to this one, though.
That aside… this was not good.
At this rate, even rehearsals that should have worked would not work at all.
I also did not like the situation where Jessica was making explanations she should not have had to make because of me.
If I was the lead, I should play the role of the lead.
I took one step forward and spoke to the troupe members.
“Then should I prove it right now?”
“What?”
“…Right now?”
At my bold statement, a stir ran through the actors.
The eyes that had been looking at me with nothing but distrust changed slightly.
They were eyes that expected there might be something different after all, seeing how confidently I spoke.
“Of course. It isn’t difficult.”
Even in front of countless gazes, I nodded calmly.
Then Jessica stepped in front of me.
“Oh, Siwoo. I know you’re thinking of me, but it’s all right. You just finished a twelve-hour flight and came straight here, didn’t you? Let’s leave showing them what you can do until tomorrow.”
“But will that really be all right?”
“Of course. They waited a week for you to come. Surely they can wait one more day. They’re all adults over twenty, after all.”
At Jessica’s provocative words, several people bit their lips.
No matter what, they were supposed to be one team. Was it really all right to speak that sharply to them…?
I was hardly one to talk after practically gluing Gordon’s mouth shut before Jessica arrived, but I was a little worried about the teamwork.
When I glanced at Yisu with a worried look, he grinned as if to say it was fine.
Well, English people could be fairly cool about these things.
I nodded to show I understood.
Seeing me do that, Jessica called out loudly to the troupe members.
“By tomorrow, there won’t be anything left to worry about, so everyone, stop worrying. Siwoo must be tired, so I’ll send him off for today. You can confirm it in the rehearsal room tomorrow, right?”
Jessica showed me absolute trust from beginning to end.
Seeing that, the troupe members seemed a little taken aback.
Among the members who were exchanging looks with one another, the ones who had objected strongly finally opened their mouths.
“All right.”
“If Jessica is going that far…”
As expected, Jessica’s charisma seemed to work even here in faraway England.
My young appearance made them suspicious, but they seemed willing to listen to Jessica to some extent.
“Then shall we continue rehearsal?”
Leaving Jessica’s booming voice behind, I exited the rehearsal room with Yisu.
“By the way, everyone seems really fascinated by Jessica.”
They must have been rehearsing together all this time, but it felt strange that the troupe members kept looking at Jessica with surprised eyes.
At my words, Yisu immediately shook his head and said,
“No, more precisely, they’re fascinated by Jessica when she’s with you, Siwoo.”
“Pardon?”
What was that supposed to mean?
When I looked at him with an expression that said I had no idea, Yisu laughed and explained.
“Oh, didn’t you notice? Jessica’s atmosphere changes quite a lot depending on whether you’re there or not.”
“Oh… Really?”
Was that so…?
What was Jessica like when I was not around?
I was curious for a moment, but Yisu saw my puzzled face and said with a smile,
“Haha, well, of course you haven’t seen Jessica when you aren’t there. Anyway, that’s how it is. The troupe members just need some time to adjust too. Now, shall we head back?”
“Yes, sounds good.”
I did not really understand, but if Yisu said so, it was probably true.
I decided to stop worrying about it.
And just then, I slipped into the car after Yisu opened the door for me.
I had not felt it until now, but the fatigue from the long flight seemed to crash over me all at once.
In Yisu’s car on the way to the hotel, I ended up falling asleep.
“I’m back.”
I greeted Uncle, who was staying in the next room, and went into the room I was sharing with Mother.
When I entered the room with the key card Uncle had given me, Mother was washing up.
I took off my outer shirt and headed to the wide-open window.
Standing in front of the full glass window, I could see the London city streets, sunk in darkness, spread out before me.
After meeting the England performance team and talking with Yisu, I was only now able to calmly look around England.
My homeland, England.
I had not known I would be able to return so soon.
The scenery was very different from Seoul.
Unlike Seoul, which had many long, tall buildings, there were buildings here that were not very high and had an old-fashioned design.
Glittering neon signs wrapped around those buildings.
Looking down at that sight felt quite unfamiliar.
The London I knew had not been this bright and dazzling.
The enormous Big Ben, and surprisingly, Tower Bridge crossing the Thames.
They were buildings that had come up when I searched for famous places in modern England before riding the plane.
When I had lived here, those kinds of landmarks had not existed.
I had truly become a tourist from Korea.
Every time I turned my eyes, every corner of England only felt unfamiliar and fascinating…
At this point, Seoul was more familiar to me than London.
It had already been six years since I started living in Seoul.
The sights I saw every day through TV were Korean, and it was also the place of my commute, so of course I could not help becoming familiar with it.
Part of it was that Seoul had become familiar, but another part was that the England in my memories and the England of the present were far too different.
If I went out to the outskirts, would some of the scenery I remembered still remain?
In the capital, London, almost none of the image I remembered was left.
Four hundred years had passed, so that was only natural.
“How strange.”
One month from now, I would show my acting here.
It would not be a performance with the Oscar troupe members at Oscar Feed’s theater, but still.
Since it was a performance prepared by my dependable friend Jessica, the people of London would surely come to like it too.
As if filming a variety program in England were not enough, I had ended up putting on a performance in England as well.
Was there such a thing as fate?
It felt as though England were pulling me toward it.
It was a strange and subtle feeling.
“What are you looking at, Siwoo?”
“Mhm, the city is all sparkly and pretty.”
“Really? How is it now that you’re seeing it in person? You looked it up a lot online. Do you recognize the buildings you saw in the photos?”
“Not at all. I don’t recognize a single one.”
“Hm? Really?”
Mother tilted her head as if surprised by my firm answer.
But it could not be helped.
The streets I remembered no longer existed anywhere.
“Then should we take some photos to show your dad?”
“Yeah! I want to take pictures!”
Excited by Mother’s words, I headed to the suitcase.
Inside were the camcorder and large camera that Moon Heeseong had lent me to use in England.
I had learned how to use them intensively a few days before coming to England.
I hung the camera around my neck, removed the cap from the front of the lens, and ran over to Mother, who was standing by the window.
Starting tomorrow, I would be busy with rehearsals, so we had decided to take photos like this whenever we had a spare moment.
“Isn’t it too heavy, Siwoo…?”
Ever since I first borrowed the camera, Mother had been worried that I had borrowed something too expensive and might break it.
My hands may still be small, but there’s such a thing as technique, Mother.
I held the camera carefully and clicked away at the scenery outside the window.
Big Ben, which I was seeing for the first time, and the streets all across England.
“Look at this!”
“Siwoo, you took this really well.”
Beside me, Mother filmed me with the camcorder.
When I first borrowed the camcorder from Moon Heeseong, she had held onto it with a nostalgic expression and had not been able to let it go. It was the same even now that we had come to England.
“I’m going to show this to Father, Heeseong Ajusshi, Troupe Director, and…… Ah, Director Kang too.”
The scenery of England that I had missed.
I decided to diligently capture this sight and show it to the precious people I had now.
Because before I knew it, I had come to miss them.
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