I Want to Be a VTuber

Aaquarium and Sea (3)

‘Finally.’

Seoyeon turned the calendar, feeling emotional.

‘I’ve turned seven.’

Joo Seoyeon, age seven.

First year of kindergarten.

In reality, turning seven didn’t change much. Maybe just feeling the accelerated growth of her body?

Next year, she would start elementary school. And...

‘Hmm.’

There were many things to consider. Most of them related to acting.

With serious practice, she realized her own shortcomings. And emotional acting, in particular, was not easy.

‘Most things end with just mimicking emotions.’

Even actors don’t always express their emotions at full strength. For Seoyeon, mimicking emotions was usually enough.

At least in this area, she probably wasn’t much different from adult actors.

‘Considering my age, of course...’

Emotional acting comes from lived experiences. Naturally, younger actors struggle with it due to their lack of experience.

However, Seoyeon filled that gap with her past life.

Smack.

She cupped her face with her hands, looking in the mirror.

‘My facial expressions are relatively natural.’

But as she studied acting more, she noticed other areas where she was lacking. Minor actions, handling gazes, voice projection when delivering lines.

Thanks to her practice, her voice projection was about a 4 out of 5.

‘I need more time.’

Of course, with the filming of *The Sun Hidden by the Moon* coming up, there wasn’t time to learn anything new. What she could do was maximize her strengths.

Previously, she was all in on being a VTuber, but things were different now. She was Joo Seoyeon, a soon-to-be great actress.

She didn’t want to waste her talents, which felt like a gift from her past life.

“Phew.”

Taking a deep breath, she pulled her hands away from her face. Looking at her palms, she saw various scratches and wounds.

Her eyes in the mirror were bloodshot, redder than usual.

Almost as if they changed with her emotions.

‘...Could it be?’

Even if it were true, it wasn’t dramatic. Her body had many peculiarities, so she was used to it by now. The strange strength and the unusual eyes.

“Alright.”

Now that she felt somewhat composed, it was time to practice again. For her first true emotional performance as the seven-year-old Joo Seoyeon.

***

There are two stars at the Arongdarong Kindergarten. One is Lee Ji-yeon.

A lively kid who actively appeared in commercials. Her strong personality meant no one in the kindergarten dared to go against her. Except for one person.

“Seoyeon is so well-behaved.”

Mr. Hyun Young from the Blossom class looked at Seoyeon with a hint of envy. If only the kids in her class were as calm as Seoyeon.

“Well-behaved... she is, I guess?”

Mina, the teacher of the sun class where Seoyeon belonged, smiled awkwardly. Seoyeon was the second famous star at this kindergarten.

But honestly, Ji-yeon paled in comparison. Especially after the broadcast of [The Sun Hidden by the Moon] audition, there were people who would glance at the kindergarten just to see Seoyeon.

While that had now subsided, Mina still felt uneasy. If something dangerous had happened during those times...

“She’s well-behaved, but... she’s a peculiar child.”

She got along well with other kids. But it felt less like playing with them and more like playing with them as a favor.

She even took care of others so well that it left Mina with mixed feelings.

“By the way, when is the drama airing again?”

The air date of [The Sun Hidden by the Moon], in which Seoyeon would appear, was approaching. Checking the calendar, Hyunyoung noticed a date marked in red.

“Oh, it’s almost time for the school play, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Hehe.”

“...Why are you laughing?”

“Hehe.”

Mina’s mischievous smile made Hyun Young frown. The school play was a kind of proxy war among the kindergarten teachers.

The war was for the kids’ snacks, but it was a different story for the teachers. The teacher of the winning class would get a two-day vacation!

However, forcing or overworking the kids could lead to penalties. Under the strict surveillance of the kindergarten director, the teachers’ real competition unfolded during the school play.

“I plan to take a trip to Jeju Island.”

“...We’ll see about that.”

But who said it? No one who says “we’ll see about that” is scary. Mina’s class had two stars.

It was like having both Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong in one place in the Three Kingdoms. For reference, Pang Tong was Ji-yeon.

‘Victory is always cruel, Hyun Young.’

Even a simple play could easily win with a performance. Especially with the lead child actress of [The Sun Hidden by the Moon,] Joo Seoyeon, in her class.

“Joo Seoyeon, the teacher is looking at you funny again.”

“What do you mean by funny?”

“Funny is funny.”

Ignoring Ji-yeon's whisper, Seoyeon glanced at Mina. She had a rough idea of why Mina looked at her that way.

‘...Hmm.’

Unfortunately, Seoyeon had no plans to do anything special for the school play. Her priority was [The Sun Hidden by the Moon], and it felt odd for her and Ji-yeon to participate in a kids’ play.

“I’m going to be the princess in the play.”

“...Do what you want.”

“I will, even if you tell me not to.”

Of course, Ji-yeon was full of enthusiasm.

‘But how come I don’t remember what she did later?’

Seoyeon often wondered about Ji-yeon. Ji-yeon was ambitious about acting.

Currently, she was only doing commercials but was steadily preparing for drama auditions. With her talent, she should have landed several child roles by now...

“By the way, which agency are you with?”

“Me?”

Ji-yeon looked at Seoyeon warily, wondering if she was trying to invade her territory.

“...I’m just curious.”

“Hmm, well, if you’re just curious.”

Ji-yeon then revealed her agency to Seoyeon.

Eunha Entertainment.

After hearing that, Seoyeon had a rough idea why Ji-yeon didn’t appear on TV later.

***

The filming of [The Sun Hidden by the Moon] progressed smoothly. The difficulties from Seoyeon’s issue seemed like a lie, and they were now nearing the end of the second episode.

In other words, there were fewer than ten sessions left to shoot for the third episode.

“It feels like we’ve been shooting in bursts... but Seoyeon doesn’t seem tired, does she?”

“Yeah. We planned to take it easy, but...”

The staff chatted, looking at Seoyeon, who had just finished a scene. Despite the back-to-back shooting sessions, she looked lively.

Park Jung-woo, on the other hand, seemed more exhausted, even though he had fewer sessions than Seoyeon.

“Director, wouldn’t it be better to space out the sessions? We’ve been shooting too intensely lately.”

Director Gong Jung-tae nodded at the camera director’s suggestion. He also felt they had been pushing Seoyeon’s scenes too hard recently.

“But, well... the person herself wants it.”

“Well, that’s true.”

It was about two weeks ago when Seoyeon cautiously approached Gong Jung-tae and spoke hesitantly.

“Director.”

“Yes, Seoyeon. Go ahead.”

“If it’s okay with everyone else...”

Seoyeon apologized profusely as she made a request to Gong Jung-tae. In short, she wanted to quickly film the pending scenes.

It was an admirable request, but also overstepping bounds. It was rare for a child actor to make such a suggestion to a director.

But knowing Seoyeon wasn’t one to make frivolous requests, Gong Jung-tae decided to listen to her reason.

Seoyeon calmly began to explain.

“According to the script, there are two scenes with intense emotional lines.”

“S#24 and S#32, right?”

“Yes.”

Listening to Seoyeon’s articulate explanation, Gong Jung-tae wondered if she was really just seven years old. Compared to his cousin’s kids he saw during holidays, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Both in attitude and vocabulary.

Gong Jung-tae could guess Seoyeon’s reason.

“Seoyeon, are you saying...”

“It’s a secret. I might need a break after the next performance...”

Seoyeon spoke hesitantly, knowing she was asking for something unusual. One of the scenes involved acting with Jeong Eun-seon.

Considering the previous conflict, Gong Jung-tae was hesitant.

‘Although she hasn’t said anything since then.’

Seeing Seoyeon act well afterward, Jeong Eun-seon might have thought everything was fine. Her face still showed complex emotions, but she hadn’t said anything.

‘Old-fashioned people are difficult.’

Although the treatment of child actors had improved in recent years, there had been many issues for a while. Reports of child actors being mistreated or verbally abused on set or stage were not uncommon.

That’s why there were caretakers like chaperones specifically for child actors.

While Jeong Eun-seon wasn’t like those people, her sharp tone and lack of tact made her unsuitable for dealing with children.

‘Still...’

Refusing Seoyeon’s request was the right thing to do. There was no need to push her hard; her current performance was already enough.

But he was also curious about the performance she was so eager to show.

“Then, let’s see and decide.”

“Pardon?”

“If you’re asking to push for the sake of your acting... I need to see that acting to consider it.”

Since he was in charge of the filming schedule, any decision would ultimately fall on him.

Even so, Gong Jung-tae wanted to see Seoyeon’s performance.

“...Alright.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Seoyeon took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It still took her time to get into the emotions.

And then...

“...Wow.”

When Seoyeon’s performance ended, Gong Jung-tae couldn’t help but be convinced.

This was worth a try.

Footnotes