TCHGCA 04

Chapter 04

Translation

“Baek Yujin, Baek Yujin… There’s no one by that name here.”

“Huh? Th-that’s strange.”

At the staff member’s words as she scanned through the list, I widened my eyes and put on an expression of exaggerated confusion.

“C-could you please check again? My mom definitely said she signed me up…”

“Hmm. Then where’s your mom, by any chance?”

“There weren’t any parking spaces, so she told me to go ahead first! She’ll be here later!”

“Really? Hmm. What should we do about this…”

Just as the staff member tilted her head in confusion for the umpteenth time—

-HYAAAP!

A loud cry rang out inside my head, as if the fox were gathering all its strength.

The staff member’s shoulders twitched.

She blinked several times before finally nodding.

“It looks like your name was left off the list. Just wait a moment.”

With that, the staff member disappeared behind the counter.

“Phew… Whew.”

Only then did I quietly release the breath I’d been holding.

That was close! If it weren’t for the fox, I would’ve been in serious trouble!

-Hahh, huff, huff. Good grief, I’m going to die…

‘……’

Uh, um.

Wait a second. Maybe the fox was already in serious trouble…

The voice echoing in my head sounded absolutely exhausted.

Just as I’d suspected earlier, it seemed the fox still couldn’t use its powers freely.

‘Still, we’re almost there now.’

Thinking that, I secretly peeked toward the counter.

The staff member was talking to some other people on the other side.

This was a fairly large acting academy located in a shopping complex near our house. I remembered seeing its enormous sign several times while passing by in the car.

Before I regained the memories of my past life, I’d never imagined that I would actually walk through the doors of this academy myself.

‘Back then, there was nothing I wanted to do.’

I’d never really liked anything, nor had I ever thought there was anything I wanted to pursue.

I’d simply spent each day doing whatever homework and assignments I was given.

But things were different now.

‘……My heart’s pounding.’

My heart had been happily bouncing around in my chest for a while now.

I was definitely incredibly nervous, yet I couldn’t stop myself from breaking into a silly little smile.

I didn’t even know what production this audition was for or what role I might be playing.

But just the thought of being able to act was enough to make my heart race like this.

‘So I absolutely have to pass this audition…!’

I clenched my fists for no particular reason.

This wasn’t simply because of the quest the fox had given me.

In this life, not only Mom and Dad but even Grandpa were incredibly strict and frightening people.

There was no way they would ever allow me to become an actress.

For all I knew, they might even kick me out, saying they no longer needed a daughter like me.

“……”

Just thinking about it made me terribly sad.

Even though I knew Mom and Dad didn’t love me, my heart still tightened painfully, and my eyes began to burn.

But I quickly shook my head from side to side.

‘No more sad thoughts…!’

There was so much I needed to do. If I wasted all my time feeling miserable, I’d never get anything done.

Besides!

If I was going to be kicked out of the house someday, I needed to start preparing for that possibility now.

‘Right. I need to make money.’

The first step was earning money through acting.

In my previous life, Mom and Dad had always told me the same thing.

Raising me cost an enormous amount of money.

Food, a place to sleep, even the simple act of breathing—all of it cost money. That was why I always had to feel sorry for Mom and Dad and be grateful to them.

So I was relieved that I could earn money as a child actress.

‘I made a truly ridiculous amount of money back then, acting in dramas and filming commercials.’

Of course, all that money had gone straight to my parents in my previous life…

But things were different now.

My parents in this life were incredibly wealthy, so they wouldn’t need my money!

Which meant my plan was simple.

I would secretly pursue acting without letting Mom and Dad find out, and slowly save up my earnings.

‘Mom and Dad aren’t interested in me anyway, so they won’t find out anytime soon.’

Then, when they eventually discovered the truth and kicked me out, I could use the money I’d saved to support myself!

‘Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.’

It was a truly perfect plan, if I did say so myself.

I was nodding to myself in satisfaction when—

“Little girl.”

“……Ah, yes!”

The staff member, who had finished talking to the people behind the counter, approached me again.

“There happens to be an opening right now, but if you don’t go in immediately, you’ll be pushed to the very end of the list. Then you’ll have to wait at least three or four hours… Would that be all right?”

“Th-three or four hours?”

My eyes widened on their own.

Wait a minute. That wasn’t part of my plan!

Mom and Dad were supposed to be working right now, but in three or four hours, they’d be getting off work.

If they found out I’d sneaked out before I’d even signed a contract…

My entire plan would fall apart.

“I-I’ll do it!”

I answered hurriedly.

“I can do it now! I want to go now!”

For some reason, the staff member let out a little laugh at my desperate response.

“Okay, got it. When your guardian arrives, I’ll explain everything to them. For now, come this way.”

“Yes…!”

I did it. I did it!

‘That was almost a disaster.’

I let out a relieved sigh and followed the staff member.

As I walked, I steeled my resolve once more.

That’s right. I could do this.

‘Because I’m actress Seo Yujin…!’

Acting was the one thing in the world I was most confident in.

“Th-thank you very much.”

“Oh, wonderful. Good job, then. Take care on your way home.”

A little girl who looked to be in the lower grades of elementary school bowed deeply, her face stiff with nerves, before walking out the door.

The director and the writer smiled warmly as they waved her off.

But the moment the door closed and the sound of her footsteps faded into the distance, the two of them let out a sigh in perfect unison, as though they’d rehearsed it.

“Good grief. See? Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t work?”

Director Yoo scolded him as if the outcome had been obvious from the start.

Writer Jung couldn’t bring himself to offer even the slightest rebuttal. He could only let out another deep sigh.

‘Yeah… Maybe I was just being selfish.’

His pen moved across the paperwork before drawing another X.

He’d lost count of how many rejections they’d gone through by now.

Come to think of it, perhaps this result had been inevitable all along.

Writer Jung knew it himself.

The script he’d written was simply too difficult for a child of the age he’d envisioned to perform convincingly.

Watching Writer Jung grow dejected, Director Yoo clicked his tongue.

“Look at your face. I keep telling you to get rid of that damn artistic obsession of yours.”

“Hyung, if I’d really let my artistic obsession run wild, it would’ve taken me ten years. You have no idea how much I’ve already compromised.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. He genuinely meant it.

Of course, Director Yoo looked at him as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You call giving a child actor a role like that compromising? Have you no conscience?”

“……”

This time, Writer Jung couldn’t argue back, either.

Soon, he waved a hand dismissively and changed the subject.

“Anyway, let’s finish the auditions. Who’s next?”

“A last-minute replacement, apparently. The name is… Baek Yujin?”

“……Good grief.”

Another hopeless case.

Thinking that, Writer Jung sighed.

Although he hadn’t been able to give up hope and had insisted on holding the auditions, even that tiny sliver of hope had just vanished.

The child who’d auditioned moments ago had some experience, having played the younger version of a female lead in several productions.

But her performance had amounted to little more than reciting her lines without making a mistake.

With that level of skill, it was practically impossible for her to portray the character Writer Jung had in mind.

What Writer Jung was searching for was…

A child actress capable of portraying a sociopath.

If even an experienced child actress couldn’t pull it off, there was no way some unknown newcomer could possibly deliver a convincing performance.

He was half-heartedly rolling his pen between his fingers, having more or less given up, when—

Creeeak.

The door opened, and a tiny little girl walked in.

“Oh my.”

“She’s adorable.”

A brief murmur rippled through the assistant directors watching the auditions from the back of the room.

Writer Jung, who had glanced up at the commotion, also widened his eyes.

The dullness in his gaze vanished, replaced by a sudden sparkle.

‘Her appearance is absolutely perfect!’

Her clothes were neatly arranged and impeccably styled, and she walked forward with slow, graceful steps.

She had a small, pale face and large, clear eyes like a deer’s.

She looked exactly like a little girl raised in a sheltered greenhouse—the precious daughter of a wealthy family, pampered and protected from the world.

She was practically the spitting image of the female protagonist’s childhood self, just as Writer Jung had envisioned her.

The girl soon bowed her head.

“H-hello! My name is Baek Yujin!”

“Haha. Nice to meet you!”

“……Yes, nice to meet you, Yujin.”

After Director Yoo greeted her, Writer Jung belatedly followed suit, forcing a friendly smile onto his face.

Considering that he’d never heard her name despite all the searching they’d done, this was undoubtedly her first audition.

“Are you nervous? Don’t worry. Just relax and show us the kind of acting you’re best at.”

For now, they would start by checking her basic skills.

To be perfectly honest, with a child that young, he wasn’t even sure she’d be able to deliver her lines properly.

“Yes, y-yes…”

The girl answered in a trembling voice.

Then she stood in place, gently closed her eyes, and began to steady her breathing.

‘Oh?’

In that brief moment, Director Yoo sensed something strange.

He could tell.

‘This child…’

She was quite experienced.

The brief process of closing her eyes and slowly regulating her breathing was clearly not something she was doing for the first time.

If anything, it resembled the routine of a seasoned actor finding their own rhythm even in front of countless cameras and watching eyes.

‘Could it be that she’s acted before?’

That question had barely crossed Director Yoo’s mind when the girl’s slowly closed eyes opened again.

“……”

In that instant, the atmosphere in the audition room changed completely.

The seven-year-old girl who’d walked in moments ago with an awkward smile was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes now stared into empty space, as though she were looking at something far beyond the room.

Gradually, a different emotion began to well up in those clear eyes.

“Liar.”

It was resignation mixed with disappointment.

At the very first word the girl uttered, Writer Jung’s hand froze around his pen.

This wasn’t the high-pitched, childish voice typical of a young child.

Her voice rose steadily from deep within her diaphragm, firm and perfectly controlled.

“You already knew, didn’t you? Dad, and Mom, too. You both knew I wasn’t your biological daughter.”

The girl continued delivering her lines.

Her expression barely changed.

Yet the betrayal in her heart was unmistakable, conveyed through the faint tremor of her eyelids and the tight corners of her mouth.

Soon, she took half a step backward.

Then she let out a short, self-mocking laugh.

“Did you think I was too young to understand anything? Or…”

For a brief moment, she paused.

Then she tilted her head at an angle.

“Did you hope I’d keep pretending to be stupid and let you deceive me forever?”

Her voice trembled ever so slightly, yet she forced it to remain firm as she lashed out at them.

She was desperately holding back her tears, and every word she spoke carried a tangled mixture of conflicting emotions.

Resentment. Betrayal. Sorrow.

And, lingering beneath it all, affection that had yet to fade.

The performance conveyed so many different emotions at once that Writer Jung found himself staring open-mouthed, unconsciously holding his breath.

And he wasn’t the only one.

Everyone who had watched the performance found themselves thinking the exact same thing.

‘……What the hell is this kid?’