I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 147: Audition (3)

This was the one con in Director Choi Yong-Woon’s next work that Kang Ra-Eun had put aside. Like the director had just mentioned, Shuttered, Korea’s seventeenth film that would reach ten million in audience attendance, was a horror film.

Horror films were common during the summer, and Korea was no exception. The country had practically embraced it as a rule, and several horror films were released around summertime.

Ra-Eun obviously hated horror. She couldn’t even watch thriller films with heavy atmospheres, so there was no way that she could watch horror. However, what if she were to appear in it instead of watching it? It was quite a gamble in her perspective, but she had gone through a considerable amount of calculations before applying for this film’s audition.

‘Watching aside, I’m sure it won’t be that scary during the shoots themselves.’

She would know the exact timing of the ghost jumpscares, so all she needed to do was to ‘pretend’ to be scared. Because of such calculations on her part, she had resolved herself to try for the audition despite knowing the film was a horror.

‘There should be a huge difference between knowing and not knowing when and where the jumpscares are.’

If that was the case, even the scaredy-cat Kang Ra-Eun would surely be fine during the shoots.

Director Choi nodded once he heard her answer and said, “You can begin whenever you're ready.”

“I understand.”

She drank some water to moisten her throat. She was a chicken when it came to horror films, but she was confident in her acting, if nothing else.

***

Even horror films demanded a baseline level of acting skills, since they were also films. Hwang Tae-Yeong, the female lead character that Ra-Eun was trying out for, was the same age as Song Hye-Mi, the other female lead, and they had been best friends since middle school. The character required the actress to be the protagonist of the film along with Song Hye-Mi.

Hwang Tae-Yeong was set to possess great charisma and an unreserved personality uncommon for a woman, which was why Ra-Eun thought the role fit her image very well. Director Choi also felt the same way, and the feeling was consolidated as he witnessed Ra-Eun’s performance during the audition.

Director Choi and the other judges cheered while clapping once Ra-Eun’s performance was over.

“Amazing! I’d expect no less from a star actress.”

“Incredible! You were leagues above every other actress who had auditioned for the Hwang Tae-Yeong role so far!”

“How about we just give the role to Miss Kang, Director?”

A few of the judges were positive that no other actress would portray Hwang Tae-Yeong better than Ra-Eun. However, it was far too early to decide.

“There are still other actresses waiting for their turn.”

Everyone here had taken up a portion of their busy schedule to take part in the audition. Taking their devotion into account, chances had to be fairly given to everyone. It was not outside the realm of possibility that there was an actress who was a better fit for the role of Hwang Tae-Yeong than Ra-Eun.

Ra-Eun was not saddened by Director Choi’s words, since the main purpose of an audition was to find hidden gems.

Ra-Eun said while maintaining her smile, “I will be looking forward to your call.”

She had done her best to display her skill, so all that was left to do now was to wait for the good news.

***

Even if it was an audition, Ra-Eun was more than confident in passing since she was a great fit for Hwang Tae-Yeong. As if her confidence had paid off, she received great news from Shin Yu-Bin one week later.

- They just contacted us. You passed.

“Is that so?” Ra-Eun answered concisely.

She was not ecstatic since she had already expected it to happen. Rather, she was more curious about the others.

.

“Miss Manager. Do you happen to know how Seo Tae-Yeon sunbae and Woo-Soo’s auditions went?”

- Tae-Yeon sunbae also passed. She got the Song Hye-Mi role. And... who’s Woo-Soo? I’ve never heard that name before.

Ra-Eun had accidentally used Jin Seo-Yeong’s real name. Her current alias was barely recognizable, so there was no way anyone would know her real name.

“It’s Jin Seo-Yeong. She’s the short-haired girl who was reading the script with me during the audition.”

- Oh, the unknown actress who you’d taken an interest in? Umm... I’m not very sure.

Yu-Bin had specially looked into how Tae-Yeon had done since she was close to Ra-Eun, but Yu-Bin had not for Jin Woo-Soo.

- Should I find out for you?

“Please. I’d appreciate it.”

- Got it. Just give a few minutes to look into it.

“Thank you, Miss Manager.”

- It’s the least I could do as your manager.

Yu-Bin had worked with Ra-Eun for so long that she usually listened to most of Ra-Eun’s favors. While Ra-Eun was waiting for Yu-Bin to call back, she stared at the sample script that she had used for the audition. Just then, Seo Yi-Seo entered her room with a tray full of fruit slices.

“Ra-Eun, have some pears. My aunt sent me some and they’re delicious.”

“Thanks.”

Yi-Seo had a relative who sold fruits, so they frequently sent packages full of fruits to Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo’s home. Thanks to this, Ra-Eun was able to eat fruits anytime she wanted.

“Does she want more autographs?” Ra-Eun asked.

“She said she’s fine for now, since she got tons from you last time. Oh, right. She asked you to come by if you ever happen to be in Jeonju.”

“Jeonju. Okay. I’ll let you know in advance if I have plans there.”

However, it would likely be far off into the future since Ra-Eun was rejecting as many program appearances as possible that required her to get out of the city. She would also be busy with film shoots from now on.

Yi-Seo noticed Ra-Eun’s audition script while setting down the fruit tray.

“Is this the script for the audition that you took part in last time?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Can I take a look?”

“Sure.”

Since Yi-Seo was completely unrelated to the entertainment industry, she was amazed whenever she looked at Ra-Eun’s scripts. As Yi-Seo quickly skimmed through the sample script of Shuttered made just from one scene, her expression froze.

“Ra-Eun. Isn’t this... a horror film?”

“It is,” Ra-Eun answered while eating a piece of pear that Yi-Seo had brought her.

Unlike her unexpectedly calm reply, Yi-Seo couldn’t be any more worried.

“But you hate horror films. Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Yi-Seo said.

“Well, I’ll know everything that will happen during the shoots.”

It would be far less scary if she knew it was coming. That did not mean she wasn’t scared in the slightest, but she was rather confident she would be able to handle it.

‘Not only that, there’s no way I can pass up the opportunity to star in what will be the biggest hit of the year.’

Ra-Eun thought that was far more of a loss than her fears. Despite that, Yi-Seo continued to tilt her head in worry.

“I have a bad feeling about this...”

Ra-Eun said it was okay, but something did not sit right with Yi-Seo.

***

Ra-Eun had heard the good news that Seo-Yeong, the unknown actress who Ra-Eun had taken an interest in, had also passed the audition for a supporting character.

‘Just as I had expected.’

Seo-Yeong had displayed phenomenal acting skills when she, Ra-Eun and Tae-Yeon had read the script together during the audition. Even Tae-Yeon, an actress with more than ten years of experience, had praised Seo-Yeong’s acting skills to no end. That was why Ra-Eun had thought Seo-Yeong would easily pass the audition as well, given there had not been any abnormalities.

Ra-Eun was also curious about the audition result of one more person.

“What about Miss Jang Seon-Bin?”

Yu-Bin, who was sitting across from Ra-Eun who had come to the agency, replied awkwardly, “She failed. Seo-Yeong passed, so it’s the obvious result.”

“They auditioned for the same role?”

“Yeah, apparently.”

Of all the roles, she just had to choose the same one as Seo-Yeong. Seon-Bin was quite unlucky. She had likely never thought that she would compete for the same role against her junior whom she had tried to demoralize in the waiting room.

Neither of them likely knew, since there was no need for one to let their competitors know of which role they were trying out for. It brought them absolutely no benefit.

Ra-Eun felt light-hearted, but she also partly felt it was a shame. If she had been in the same production as Seon-Bin, she would have been able to torment her all the time. In that aspect, it might have been fortunate for Seon-Bin to have been eliminated in the audition, since she wouldn’t have to be tormented by her popular junior.

Yu-Bin started to pack her things.

“Well, Seon-Bin aside, should we go do our own thing?” she said.

“Yes.”

Ra-Eun had a meeting with Director Choi and his team before the production opened. Tae-Yeon was also supposed to join them, but Ra-Eun had ended up having to attend the meeting by herself because Tae-Yeon’s busy schedule didn’t allow her to participate.

Yu-Bin summarized the contents of the meeting while driving there. “They said they were going to explain the shoot schedule, synopsis, and other things.”

“Got it.”

Horror films were like any other films; they were all in the same bubble, so the framework was basically the same. Ra-Eun had already experienced how film productions progressed through One of a Kind of Girl, so she had no need to fret.

Director Choi Yong-Woon and a few members of the head staff greeted Ra-Eun and Yu-Bin once they had arrived.

“Thank you for coming all this way. Please have a seat.”

Director Choi was staring at Ra-Eun with eyes filled with expectation.

“The performance that you showed us during the audition was... incredible. I wasn’t able to bring it up during the call, but every single judge decided to leave the role of Hwang Tae-Yeong to you.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that, Director.”

Things seemed to be going smoothly, but an anomaly that Ra-Eun had not expected occurred.

“Come to think of it, I have something to tell you in advance.”

While Director Choi was letting Ra-Eun know of the shooting duration, and working together with her and Yu-Bin to modify her schedule using the exact dates of the shoots, the director suddenly changed the subject.

“Something to tell me?”

“Yes. Something very important.”

Ra-Eun wondered what it could be. But then, Director Choi said something completely unexpected.

“It’s about the jumpscare scenes. The actors’ reactions sometimes feel too forced when they know exactly when the ghosts appear. That’s why, to make the scenes look as realistic as possible, we’re thinking of jumpscaring the actors without giving them prior knowledge during the shoots! Is that okay with you?”

“...”

This had not been in Ra-Eun’s calculations.