Hobbyist VTuber

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“Cut! That’s a wrap~.”

The one-take I had only heard about.

All the staff at the filming site, of course.

“Now I get it, she really is on a different level compared to the other child actors.”

Even Ha Yoon-seong, who had just been rehearsing with Ha-eun, completely revised his opinion of her.

No matter how talented a child was to snag an award in their debut film, the impacts of a hiatus wouldn’t just vanish overnight.

Despite that, in front of countless cameras, she transformed into the young Han Yoo-hwa without a hint of nervousness.

Not once did she stumble over her lines, and she wrapped up the shoot flawlessly.

Even when considering aspects beyond the script, there were hardly any flaws to mention.

Just earlier, the performance Ha Yoon-seong had witnessed from Ha-eun was quite similar to what Yoo Seong-a had shown in front of him hours earlier.

Ha-eun as Han Yoo-hwa was acting in a way that made viewers believe she would eventually grow up to become Yoo Seong-a’s Han Yoo-hwa.

The confidence exuding from her beautiful face was a familiar sight to Ha Yoon-seong.

During her hiatus, he had seen child actors mimic adult actors’ expressions, gestures, and voices, but this was the first time he saw a child actor replicate her inner emotions so closely.

“Come to think of it, she said she dedicated her entire hiatus to learning acting.”

A few days ago, recalling the brief Q&A during the audition for the young Han Yoo-hwa role, Ha Yoon-seong said,

“Hey, Ha-eun. Since we wrapped the first shoot successfully, how about we take a picture together to celebrate—”

Ha-eun, a genius who works hard.

In other words, someone Ha Yoon-seong considered worthy of connecting with.

He intended to take a picture with her for his social media.

“…Huh? What? Where did she go?”

In the fleeting moment he looked away, Ha-eun literally vanished, leaving him blinking in confusion.

It was 30 minutes later when he heard from a staff member about Ha-eun’s whereabouts.

“Ha-eun? She was heading to the parking lot with her manager just now.”

“Why so soon? Does she have another schedule?”

“Well, it’s about to be 9 o’clock, Yoon-seong. Kids like Ha-eun start feeling sleepy around this time, while adults might not notice.”

“…Are you dissing me for being old?”

“Of course not! If your face is aging, then I must be a ghost with just its soul left!”

In the end, posting a picture with Ha-eun to his social media had to be postponed for a few days.

However, contrary to his assumption that both Ha Yoon-seong and the staff would have gone home already, Ha-eun was currently at a café located near the filming site.

“Order whatever you want. I’ve got enough money for that.”

“…Isn’t that something you usually don’t say in a café?”

“Ah, anyway. Just think of this as a thank you for accepting the interview.”

Sitting at a table with Heo Joo-eun and Ju Jeong-yoon, the long-awaited interview with child actor Lee Ha-eun began shortly after.

However, for some reason,

“Since ‘The Neighbor Uncle,’ you haven’t really been active in any projects. What have you been doing during that time?”

“I’ve been going to school.”

“W-What else?”

“Sports? Or perhaps, studying at a hagwon?”

“Didn’t you, like, travel abroad with your family or have any special events?”

“Not really…”

Almost all of Ha-eun’s answers were…

“Among the child actors who competed for the role of young Han Yoo-hwa, I heard Min Da-yeon was also one. What do you think set your performance apart from hers?”

“Um, Da-yeon… No, Min Da-yeon’s acting was brilliant too. I don’t think there’s anything particularly outstanding about my part.”

The replies were somewhat distant from what Heo Joo-eun had hoped for.

“How do you feel about working on ‘The Star from the Sky’?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“…Is that all?”

“Yes.”

On the one hand, you could say they were typical responses for a child of that age, but negatively speaking, they were bland answers lacking any unique flair.

‘…Where did the person who captivated the press with eloquence go?’

Heo Joo-eun’s enthusiasm deflated like a punctured balloon.

However, since Ha-eun somewhat understood what was expected of her by Joo-eun,

“Um, reporter. I’d like to have another interview in a few months, is that okay?”

“What’s there for me to be okay about? As long as Ha-eun is fine with it, we can interview anytime.”

Even if not right now, promised to meet the expectations of Heo Joo-eun when the scene that Ha-eun put the most effort into airs on TV.

Of course, Heo Joo-eun had no way of knowing what that scene Ha-eun referred to was.

For now, she thought of it as merely saving a media article for later.

A few months later.

“…With this body burdened by guilt, I dare to beseech the noble one. Please… may you be at peace.”

A scene featuring Ha-eun became pivotal, causing “The Star from the Sky’s” viewership ratings to soar.

“No way, getting an interview with a 12-year-old is like plucking stars from the sky!”

“Ugh, Heo Reporter. Isn’t there more material on Lee Ha-eun?”

At that moment in the café, Ha-eun’s promise had started to reveal its true value, although realized much later on.

*

“Just checking, but Seong-a, do you have a daughter hidden away from your brother?”

“Um, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t one until a few days ago? But it seems like there is now.”

A brief exchange that was nothing more than a light-hearted joke.

Still, Yoon Seong-a and her manager couldn’t take their eyes off Ha-eun, as her performance closely resembled Yoon Seong-a’s own.

Of course, it wasn’t that Ha-eun looked exactly like Yoon Seong-a in her childhood.

There was no way Ha-eun could be Yoon Seong-a’s biological daughter.

However, in other respects, it felt as if an even younger version of Yoon Seong-a was directly portraying the young Han Yoo-hwa.

Her expressions, tone, fleeting gestures, and even the emotions underlying them mirrored everything Yoon Seong-a had shown on camera previously.

It would be quite impossible for Yoon Seong-a not to recognize such similarities.

As she had mentioned to PD Hwang Min-soo during the audition for young Han Yoo-hwa, the person who knew Yoon Seong-a’s acting best was only Yoon Seong-a herself.

“Manager brother knows, right? Mom needs a daughter who brings in money, not just a daughter named Han Yoo-hwa.”

‘It’s not completely false when they say children these days are frightening.’

The Han Yoo-hwa portrayed by Yoon Seong-a up till this moment was essentially a person living in self-importance.

Her self-esteem and pride soared sky-high, and she wouldn’t easily back down from anything.

However, behind that shining facade lay a not-so-peaceful family environment.

She tended to avoid relying on anyone, including blood relatives.

This also applied to the young Han Yoo-hwa, who hadn’t yet escaped her parents’ shadow.

Because of this, Yoon Seong-a kept overlaying Ha-eun’s portrayal of the young Han Yoo-hwa with her own performance.

Of course, in general, comparing a child actor’s performance with a top star like Yoon Seong-a’s would be regarded as harsh.

After all, child actors, even if skilled, were still children and inevitably less mature than adults.

Child actors typically lack the vocal skills and expressiveness of adult actors and thus often receive considerable leniency in acting.

Especially for child actors playing younger versions of adult actors, some degree of compromise and understanding is almost essential.

In most cases, child actors aren’t held to the same standards as adult actors, and there might even be times when they are allowed to pass as long as they somewhat resemble the adult actor.

Usually, in such cases, criticism would be directed toward the production staff that made poor judgments rather than at the child actors themselves.

‘Well, that girl shouldn’t have that problem.’

Yoon Seong-a believed Ha-eun’s acting was of the so-called ‘no leniency needed’ type.

There was no need to consider her being a child actor; her performance could easily fulfill the original purpose of depicting young Han Yoo-hwa on camera.

“If I had known this would happen, I’d have rather been born in an orphanage.”

The lament of being the one who only seeks Han Yoo-hwa’s help instead of offering any.

Nevertheless, the bitterness of forcing a smile in front of a full-body mirror to hide such emotions.

To anyone, including Yoon Seong-a, she was certainly the young Han Yoo-hwa from childhood.

Already self-aware of her star potential, feeling both frustrated with her parents who only see Han Yoo-hwa as a source of income and striving to escape that grasp.

“Hah… Even monkeys at the zoo must be better off than me.”

A girl who shines brighter than anyone yet feels lonelier than anyone.

How perfectly Ha-eun was portraying the character Yoon Seong-a interpreted as Han Yoo-hwa.

“Cut! Great job, Ha-eun. As long as you keep going like this, you’ll be fine.”

“Ah, yes… Thank you.”

Thus, today’s shoot ended smoothly within the planned timeframe without any significant issues.

Just as Ha-eun was about to head to her manager, Yoon Seong-a blocked her path.

“Ha-eun. Do you have a moment?”

She asked with her unique and impressive aura if they could talk about the filming ahead for a bit.

For a moment, Ha-eun was curious about what would happen if she flatly refused that she didn’t have time,

But given Yoon Seong-a’s status and debut date, she was practically a senior in the industry.

‘…I should definitely share the story of meeting Yoon Seong-a when it gets aired later.’

Deciding to add the topic of her meeting with Yoon Seong-a to her list of stories, she moved forward.