I Want to Be a VTuber-Chapter 306: I’ll Cover It Up for You (2)

Ju Seoyeon, Eighteen!!

Of course, since the new school year hadn't started yet, she wasn't technically a second-year high school student yet.

'Next year, I should act more like an upperclassman.'

Looking back, this year, she had been running around too recklessly, even by her own standards.

She hadn't been like this in middle school. Maybe it was because she had let loose after entering high school.

“How’s the filming for Mine going?”

Sua asked curiously.

It was an OTT drama that GH Group was pouring all its resources into. A drama that was receiving a lot of public attention in various ways.

Naturally, Sua was also quite interested.

Apparently, she had recently binge-watched Child Game.

“Maybe Mine will be a huge ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) hit like Child Game?”

“I don’t think that’s very likely.”

Honestly, even reaching half of that success would be legendary.

When it came to Mine, Seoyeon herself couldn’t even gauge how well it would do.

Well, in her past life, it had never even seen the light of day.

It was originally planned as a movie.

But after repeated delays, the project had naturally faded into oblivion.

'The projects I’m set to appear in this year... they all have oddly similar circumstances.'

The works she had starred in previously had some minor issues, but they were nothing that couldn’t be overcome. As long as they were resolved, those projects had the potential to soar.

Not that they were flops to begin with.

Every single one of them had pulled in decent ratings.

From The Chaser to Dream Future, Sky Garden, and finally Kyungsung Lady.

None of them had been outright blockbusters, but they had all performed at least moderately well.

And whatever shortcomings they had, she had managed to compensate for with her presence.

So it was reasonable to expect them to perform even better than before.

Not because she was amazing or anything,

but simply because she had prevented the issues that had originally plagued them.

However, the projects she was set to appear in this year were different.

Mine—a project that had never even made it to release.

Seoul Escape—a disaster of a film that had cost its director his life.

Flower of the Imperial Palace—a drama completely ruined by its script adapter, earning it the title of the worst drama of the year.

'At least Flower of the Imperial Palace could turn things around with some improvements.'

But what about Seoul Escape?

The script for that one had been good too.

But its performance had been an absolute trainwreck, which made her suspect that there had been another underlying issue.

Still, with Park Jungwoo as her co-star, maybe the two of them could salvage it somehow.

After all, Jungwoo had a good eye for projects.

Hopefully, he hadn't just been swayed by Princess Yeonhwa’s charms into accepting the role.

'That guy is suspicious.'

Hmm.

Seoyeon crossed her arms and fell into thought.

Why was it that someone so weak to Princess Yeonhwa treated her like this?

Thinking about it, the way he treated her felt like how one might treat a yard dog.

"Hey, my dog, can you do this too?"

"Wow, you can catch chickens? You can even hunt now!"

Wasn’t that the vibe?

Even someone like Seoyeon had her pride.

'Anyway.'

With two projects alongside Park Jungwoo this year, she figured they could at least cover some of the gaps with their acting.

'This must be how most actors approach their projects.'

After all, predicting a project’s success was impossible.

Even having as much information as she did was already a huge advantage.

“But what about Suyeon?”

“She went out with Yuna.”

“I see.”

The mention of Yuna made her flinch for a split second.

It wasn’t like she disliked her, but just hearing her name made her conscious of her.

Come to think of it, this year...

'Well, I’ll find out when the time comes.'

Compared to her past life, Han Yuna was practically a different person.

Unlike her past-life mother, she seemed genuinely happy now.

And Yuna was the same.

So surely, the worries she had wouldn’t come true.

“Anyway.”

Seoyeon shoved another bite of food into her mouth.

“Sehee seems to have a lot on her mind lately.”

“Sehee? She’s not the type to waver easily, is she?”

“That’s what I thought too.”

Sua had met Sehee once before.

She had visited Seoyeon’s house once as a friend.

It was after Kyungsung Lady had premiered.

Sehee had been so obsessed with keeping up appearances at the time.

She had seemed so adorably self-conscious that Sua still remembered it well.

'She used to be such a brat when we were kids.'

Incidentally, Sua also remembered her first meeting with Sehee.

Back then, Sua had been present on set.

And she had overheard the infamous “nepo baby” comment.

She still remembered how little Seoyeon had run to her mom to tattle.

"Mom, she called me a nepo baby!"

"What?! How dare she say that to my daughter?! I’m going to go give her a piece of my mind!!"

With a grand proclamation, her mom had stormed off.

Satisfied with that response, Seoyeon had let it slide.

“Sehee has already achieved so much. Maybe she’s pushing herself too hard?”

Unlike back then, now that Sehee was her friend, Sua did have some concerns about her.

Unlike Seoyeon, who was practically made of steel, Sehee was just a regular girl.

Pushing herself too hard could take a toll on her health.

'Achieved so much, huh.'

Jo Sehee.

Seventeen-year-old prodigy actress.

Before Seoyeon had entered the scene, that title had belonged to Sehee.

Now, it had been passed on to Seoyeon,

but there were still plenty who considered Sehee superior.

After all, Sehee had won Best Actress at a younger age than Seoyeon.

Even now, when walking around the city, there were still more advertisements featuring Sehee than Seoyeon.

Compared to her past life, Sehee was leagues ahead.

'The Jo Sehee from my past life... what was she like again?.'

She hadn’t been bad back then either.

She had received heavy criticism for Tae Swoomdal, which had put her career on hold for a while.

But in the end, she had made a comeback.

Even so, she had never quite reached the level of being the top actress among her peers.

'At least, she was still active until a year before my death.'

That last year—that was the missing gap in her past life’s memories.

Looking back, it was strange.

A rising actress suddenly going on a one-year hiatus was unusual.

But at the time, Seoyeon hadn’t thought much of it.

Actors taking a year or two off wasn’t exactly unheard of.

Back then, Sehee would’ve been in her early or mid-twenties.

Maybe she had just wanted a break.

“Come to think of it, Sehee’s mother was actress Baek Seoran, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Hehe, my mom never really watched Korean dramas, but there was one she loved back in high school.”

“A drama starring Baek Seoran?” ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

“Yup. She was incredible back then.”

At the time, Baek Seoran had been an actress around the same age as Sua.

And her performance had completely captivated the entire nation.

At its peak, the drama had surpassed 40% in ratings.

The whole school had been buzzing about it.

Back then, every channel you flipped to had Baek Seoran on screen.

“With a mother like that, it’s no wonder Sehee is ambitious.”

“Ambitious, huh.”

“She must want to be an actress like her mother. Kids tend to take after their parents.”

“That’s true.”

“Actually, Sehee resembles Baek Seoran a lot.”

“Really?”

That was unexpected.

She had never heard anyone mention Sehee looking like Baek Seoran before.

“Especially her face. She’s practically her twin.”

“Huh.”

“And her confident personality is just like Baek Seoran’s too.”

Sua let out a soft sigh as she looked at Seoyeon.

“I wish my daughter had taken after her mom too. But no, she had to take after her dad...”

Wait. Did she really just say that?!

Seoyeon glared at Sua.

Sure, she might have inherited some of Youngbin’s reckless tendencies!

But hearing it said out loud was an entirely different matter.

After all, she had once been a calm and composed person.

'...Anyway.'

Just as Sua had said, Sehee had seemed a little restless lately.

Ever since Kyungsung Lady had wrapped up.

She had that look in her eyes—like she felt she had to prove something more.

'Hmm~.'

Seoyeon crossed her arms and thought about it.

And finally, she reached a conclusion.

Of course, it wasn’t anything particularly profound.

****

On the Set of Mine

Filming was now about two-thirds complete.

At this pace, they could wrap everything up within two weeks and release the drama as soon as post-production and special effects were finalized.

If this had been a traditional TV drama, they would have already set a broadcast date by now.

Since this was her first time working on an OTT drama, even Sehee couldn’t help but be taken aback by the fast-paced production schedule.

“Sehee.”

Just as she finished getting her makeup done and stepped out, Seoyeon called out to her.

A pitch-black dress.

Her eyes, still brown with a reddish tint, would turn fully red once filming began.

Hanging at her waist was a red fire axe.

“Hm, so this is the look from the poster? Not bad.”

“That’s why there wasn’t much makeup needed.”

“...I guess that makes sense.”

Overall, Jin Yeonseo’s image closely resembled Seoyeon’s natural look.

Cold and cynical.

At first glance, Ju Seoyeon appeared to be a girl with a cold and unapproachable demeanor.

So, without much additional effort, simply wearing the outfit made her embody the character of Jin Yeonseo.

“But Sehee, your image has changed a bit, hasn’t it?”

“Huh? Oh, this?”

Sehee touched her face.

Compared to before, her appearance now had a noticeably gloomier air.

“Well, Hong Seha becomes more and more wrecked as the story goes on.”

“Right. She’s a character obsessed with revenge.”

“So, I was asked to reflect that in my appearance.”

Her makeup was darker, emphasizing the fatigue in her expression.

Her eyeliner, drawn in a certain way, made her eyes appear slightly drooped.

If she slightly tilted the corners of her lips, the melancholy in her face became even more pronounced.

“Like this.”

She then struck the expression that matched her makeup.

It was an expression she had practiced in front of the mirror before Seoyeon arrived.

'The face of that woman from my dream.'

That sorrowful, utterly resentful face she had seen.

Mimicking it, Sehee realized—

She had perfectly recreated that face from her dream.

“What do you think? Looks good, right?”

She asked proudly.

But instead of responding, Seoyeon simply tilted her head, resting her chin on her fist, deep in thought.

“...What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it just feels... familiar.”

“Well, it’s my face. Of course, it would feel familiar.”

“No, not like that...”

Muttering to herself, Seoyeon suddenly reached out and grabbed Sehee’s head.

Sehee flinched in shock.

Out of all people, it was Seoyeon grabbing her head—of course, she was startled.

“Hmmm.”

“W-What are you doing? Let go and talk to me properly.”

Ignoring her, Seoyeon gently pressed down on Sehee’s eyelids with her thumbs, shifting her eyes slightly downward.

She traced her nose and adjusted the corners of her mouth.

As if she were... checking something.

“...I-I didn’t get plastic surgery.”

“Well, obviously.”

What the hell is she doing?

Seoyeon finally let go, and Sehee was left recalling a very particular moment.

That time when a bear’s paw had suddenly landed on her shoulder.

This felt exactly the same.

Did people even realize that those small hands of Ju Seoyeon’s were as dangerous as a bear’s claws?

“Don’t be too nervous during today’s shoot.”

“Hmph, I’m not nervous.”

She pouted in defiance.

As if she could be shaken enough for Seoyeon of all people to tell her that.

'...Though that’s a lie.'

She knew she had been shaken lately.

Even though she knew she didn’t have to push herself this hard, she couldn’t help but feel impatient.

She wanted to catch up with the actors around her.

Even though she knew she wasn’t born with star-like talent, she still wanted to reach that level.

'Even Lee Jiyeon has shown improvement.'

Lee Jiyeon, after that one brilliant moment, had been training daily to make that level of acting her norm.

She was steadily growing stronger, as if she had found her path.

All while keeping it a secret from Seoyeon.

Next time they met on set, she fully intended to show her progress.

As Seoyeon silently observed Sehee,

and as Sehee calmed her own thoughts,

the shoot officially began.

Today's Filming Schedule:

Two major scenes.

1️⃣ A chase scene.

2️⃣ A dialogue scene between Hong Seha and Adam.

The American espers storm Hong Seha’s hideout.

They have finally realized that she has been secretly helping them all along.

Jin Yeonseo, realizing this too late, rushes to where Hong Seha is—

But the American espers pursue her.

"After the chase scene, we move right into Hong Seha and Adam’s confrontation."

Adam Lowell.

A former researcher at South Korea’s Esper Research Institute.

Son of Henry Lowell, an esper expert sent from America.

Now, a powerful esper himself—

and the strongest enemy standing in their way.

"This is a critical scene. Both of them are important, but the Hong Seha scene matters more."

Director Han Yegun emphasized the word ‘critical’.

If he said it was important, then it really was.

This was the moment when Hong Seha’s character arc would be completed.

The chase scene was essential for the drama’s entertainment value,

but the dialogue scene was what determined the drama’s overall quality.

"Throughout the series, Hong Seha has been chasing the people who killed her parents. The espers who ambushed and murdered her investor parents."

And now, she asks Adam.

"...So it was that, huh? After all this time... You really went full circle."

The director demonstrated the line’s delivery for the actors.

A mocking tone.

But not just mockery toward Hong Seha—

It was also directed at himself.

A twisted kind of self-derision.

Of course—

"My first mission. I got a little... excited."

That was when it was revealed.

Adam Lowell was the one who murdered Hong Seha’s parents.

"And this is the moment. The moment Hong Seha—who has always been calm—finally explodes with emotion."

She had finally found the person responsible for her parents’ deaths.

How would she react?

She would lose control.

This was the emotional climax that Jo Sehee had to deliver in today’s shoot.

'...Can I do it?.'

Han Yegun turned to Sehee.

She was quietly preparing herself, focusing her emotions.

Her makeup looked great—

But would she be able to pull off the performance?

This kind of intense emotional acting had always been one of her weaker areas.

She was good at clean, controlled performances—

But this scene couldn’t be clean.

It had to be raw and messy.

She must have known this too.

So, she must have come up with her own way to handle it.

'That must be it.'

Thinking back—she had been channeling her mother’s acting on set recently.

Now, he finally understood why.