Chapter 7
“Let’s do our best from today onward.”
CEO Kim Hyeondeok smiled.
With that, my agency problem was solved.
I calculated the things I had to do next in my head.
First, I still had the second-round exam at Korea National University of Arts.
After that, I would have to properly take profile photos and start going to auditions.
For now, I should focus on preparing for the second-round exam as much as possible.
I looked at CEO Kim Hyeondeok.
“It should be about time.”
“Is someone coming?”
“Didn’t I tell you that there’s another actor signed to the agency?”
As expected, there was already one other person under contract.
Knock, knock.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
When Kim Hyeondeok told him to come in, a man opened the door and entered.
“Hello.”
A man with light brown hair entered. He looked like a high school or college student.
A familiar face.
“Oh, is this the person who came for the audition today?”
“Yeah. You’re going to be family from now on, so introduce yourselves first.”
At CEO Kim Hyeondeok’s words, the man bowed his head.
“Hello, I’m Lee Taehoon. I’m 21 years old. Please take care of me.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Yeon Gijun.”
As expected, he was someone I knew.
Lee Taehoon.
A singer under Nabi Entertainment who would eventually make it all the way to America.
I had heard that he initially joined the company as an actor.
So it really was true.
“He’s a hardworking guy, so get along with him.”
I nodded without showing anything on my face.
Before my regression, I had seen Taehoon act once.
“I-I didn’t k-kill him↗!”
His acting had been so terrible that clips of it had circulated everywhere.
I remembered that even his fans had left plenty of comments begging him to just stick to music.
“Oh, come to think of it, you two are the same age.”
At CEO Kim Hyeondeok’s words, Taehoon and I decided to speak casually to each other.
Even though he wasn’t good at acting, he would become successful without getting involved in any scandals or incidents. So it would be useful to build a friendship with him.
“Since Gijun is good at acting, there’ll be a lot he can teach you, Taehoon. And Taehoon…”
CEO Kim Hyeondeok hesitated, perhaps because Taehoon still wasn’t good at acting.
“He’s good at singing.”
So he had joined the company as an actor, but he was good at singing.
Taehoon shyly lowered his head.
If I didn’t know about the future, I might have reconsidered signing with this company.
“I can teach him acting.”
“You?”
“Yes. There’s still a lot I don’t know either, but they say we all live by helping each other when we’re lacking.”
Maybe I had gotten used to speaking like someone in his early twenties, because those words came out naturally.
“Instead, teach me how to sing.”
“Sing?”
Taehoon opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“Yeah. I want to be good at singing. We can teach each other and grow together.”
Taehoon nodded as if he understood my suggestion.
“But I want to get better at acting too, so you have to teach me properly, okay?”
“Sure. Let’s start right now.”
“Then I’ll teach you singing first.”
Taehoon enthusiastically began teaching me how to sing, perhaps simply happy that someone his age had joined the company.
While learning from him, I secretly glanced toward CEO Kim Hyeondeok, who was sitting in a chair.
His expression was almost emotionless, but he let out a sigh as if he were slightly depressed.
At another entertainment agency, they would have hired professional teachers for us.
Instead, the actors under this agency were teaching each other.
What kind of feelings would an agency CEO have watching this?
CEO Kim Hyeondeok looked at his contacts on his smartphone as he pondered.
Yes.
I mustn’t let him forget that feeling.
That feeling would become the driving force behind his growth in the future.
And it would lead me to an even higher place.
“Do you have something to say?”
I must have been staring at CEO Kim Hyeondeok for too long.
“Just a moment.”
I briefly thought about what excuse I should make and picked up my smartphone.
Coincidentally, there was a text message from Korea National University of Arts’ admissions office that had arrived a few hours earlier.
I showed him the message and spoke.
“I passed the first round at K-Arts.”
Inside my father’s truck on the way to Korea National University of Arts.
I stretched and yawned.
I hadn’t slept much because I had been preparing for the second-round exam and auditions.
Being young really was nice.
If I had my original body, I would have collapsed long ago.
We arrived in front of the school, and I got out of the truck.
“Thank you for driving me here, Father.”
“Sure. Do well on your exam. Let’s have samgyeopsal at home tonight.”
My father said that and immediately drove away.
His truck, with my father waving through the window as he left, seemed to carry a warm feeling.
Of course, it was actually hot because the air conditioner didn’t work.
“Oh, you’re here?”
As soon as I entered the examination area, a man greeted me warmly.
He had tanned skin, was slightly shorter than me, and had bright eyes and short, sporty hair.
“You were applicant number 127, right? Don’t you remember me? I guided you when you took the first-round exam.”
Ah, so it was him.
When I had first regressed, I had been too confused to remember him properly.
“Hello.”
“Nice to meet you. You don’t look very well. I guess you didn’t get much sleep?”
“Yes.”
“You must be nervous. Still, don’t worry too much. You’re such a good actor.”
The talkative man didn’t stop talking as we headed toward the examination room.
I wish he’d leave me alone soon.
“We haven’t even introduced ourselves properly. I’m Kim Seongsu.”
“I’m Yeon Gijun.”
All the student assistants for the K-Arts acting department exams were current students.
If I entered the school later, Kim Seongsu and I would become upperclassman and underclassman, so there was no harm in becoming friendly with him in advance.
I answered him appropriately while planning today’s exam in my head.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Oh, we’re the same age! Want to speak casually?”
“Sure.”
I kept giving short answers to hint that I wanted him to leave, but he didn’t seem to understand at all.
I walked toward the theater without paying much attention to what he was saying.
“Seeing you here, I guess it’s exactly that time slot.”
What did he mean?
I had been letting his words go in one ear and out the other, but one thing Kim Seongsu said caught my attention.
“Is this time slot special?”
“Yeah. Only the people with high scores from the first-round exam were gathered in this time slot.”
If that was the case, it meant I had also received a high score on the first round.
“Ah, I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
Kim Seongsu covered his mouth as if he had just realized his mistake.
When you talk too much, you inevitably make mistakes like this.
Thanks to him, I had gotten some useful information.
Seongsu finally stopped talking when we reached the audience seats where my applicant number was written.
“Do well on the second-round exam, and let’s definitely meet again as upperclassman and underclassman.”
Seongsu waved his hand and left.
Watching his back, I muttered,
“Kim Seongsu. Seongsu, Seongsu…”
It was a name I’d heard somewhere before, but I couldn’t clearly remember who he was.
His face was unfamiliar too.
Maybe I had known someone else with the same name?
It felt like I could vaguely grasp the memory, but it never came to me.
Hmm. Was he involved in acting?
I was sure I’d heard the name somewhere.
Just as I was playing Sherlock Holmes in my head for quite some time—
“Hello. I’m Ahn Seokju, a third-year student and the student council president of the acting department.”
A man named Ahn Seokju, who looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties, bowed his head.
He explained various precautions for the second-round exam, such as submitting our phones and not having private conversations with the other applicants.
After he finished explaining, the professors slowly stepped onto the stage.
Professor Ahn Chiwon took the microphone.
“Congratulations from the bottom of my heart to everyone who passed the first-round exam for the Acting Department of the School of Drama at Korea National University of Arts. Speaking of our school, we are the nation’s best educational…”
While Professor Ahn Chiwon gave a long speech, I organized my thoughts for a moment.
The second-round exam for K-Arts’ Acting Department was conducted in the form of a class called a workshop.
Through movement classes and acting classes, the professors carefully examined the students’ attitudes, fundamentals, and potential one by one.
Kim Seongsu had clearly said earlier that only people with high first-round scores had been gathered here.
If I were among people who weren’t very good, I would stand out even with a little skill.
But if only talented people were gathered together, it would be difficult to catch the professors’ attention with ordinary skills.
I quietly looked around at the other applicants.
I intended to find actors who would become successful in the future.
“Hello.”
While I was observing the people around me, a man spoke to me.
“Yes, hello.”
I didn’t recognize him from his face, but even if he wasn’t on my side, there was no reason to make an enemy unnecessarily.
“My name is Choi Byeongcheol.”
I sure was introducing myself to a lot of people today.
“I’m Yeon Gijun.”
“I go to Jungwon Arts High School. Which arts high school do you go to?”
“I graduated from a regular academic high school.”
“Oh… Really? Then which agency are you with?”
“None.”
Perhaps he decided that I had no value to him, because Byeongcheol—or perhaps Byeongshin—quickly fell silent.
I didn’t care and continued searching for people who would become successful in the future.
On the stage, Ahn Seokju, who had introduced himself as the student council president earlier, stood at the front with the microphone in his hand.
“Alright, then we’ll begin the workshop!”
Since this was a gathering of acting applicants, the energy of their reactions was extraordinary.
Loud cheers and enthusiastic applause poured out from every direction, loud enough to make my ears ring.
The reactions were a little over the top, but I also reacted appropriately in case the professors were already evaluating my attitude.
“Waaah!”
The students entered a large dance practice room and all lay down together.
“Imagine the most comfortable place in your mind. You are lying there, letting go of all your worries. Your body and mind are completely relaxed.”
Professor Ahn Chiwon conducted a body relaxation exercise.
Aware that the other professors might be evaluating us at this very moment, I focused on breathing deeply with my abdomen.
After about twenty minutes, he told us to slowly raise our bodies.
Once the students had gotten up, Professor Ahn Chiwon had us practice walking.
“Walk very slowly. Now walk at your normal speed… Alright, this time, very quickly.”
It sounded like a simple activity, but they were actually observing how freely an actor could use their body.
While concentrating on Professor Ahn Chiwon’s instructions, I also looked for people who would become successful.
I didn’t see any particularly noticeable actors who would become successful in the future.
They had apparently gathered only the people with high first-round scores, yet I didn’t recognize any of the actors.
The industry really must have been difficult.
We also performed basic movements such as sitting and running.
And finally—
“It seems everyone has warmed up their bodies to some extent before going on stage. Let’s move on to the prepared-on-the-day monologue and special talent.”
At Professor Ahn Chiwon’s words, we moved to another practice room.
The prepared-on-the-day monologue was exactly what its name suggested: a monologue given to the applicants on the day of the exam.
We were given three or four lines whose context we didn’t know, then had about ten minutes to create the situation and perform it on stage.
“Please submit the MR files you’ll use for your special talent here.”
For the special talent portion, we had to choose either musical performance or dance and show it on stage.
This was also why I had joined Nabi Entertainment, and why I had learned singing from Taehoon despite planning to become only an actor.
“As for how you should sing…”
Nobody knew it yet, but in a little over a decade, he would become a Korean singer known throughout the world.
And his talent had already blossomed, as he had demonstrated his outstanding singing ability right in front of me.
“Learning directly from someone like that definitely improved my skills a lot.”
In other words, I had absorbed his brilliant talent firsthand.
