First of all, the reason Seoyeon learned to dance wasn’t because of her VTuber activities, which was quite rare.

After receiving an award, Seoyeon took a break from acting for a while, leaving her feeling downhearted. She had suddenly stopped doing something that had become a significant part of her life.

“Seoyeon seems to be really down,” Suah noted, clearly worried.

Youngbin, after some serious thought, responded, “Well, maybe if you praise her for something else and get her interested in it, she might cheer up.”

“Do you really think that’ll work?” Suah wasn’t convinced by Youngbin’s suggestion, but with no better ideas, she began to praise Seoyeon every morning as she did her exercises.

“You’ve got great rhythm, Seoyeon! You should try learning to dance; I think you’d be good at it!”

Seoyeon’s ears perked up at the suggestion. In fact, she had a pretty good sense of rhythm. She was generally good at physical activities, so she picked up dancing quickly.

“Wow, you’re doing great!” Suah continued to clap her hands, not giving it much thought, while Seoyeon, motivated by the praise, put real effort into learning to dance.

“Um, Seoyeon, you’re doing really well… but don’t you think this might be a bit much?” Suah eventually said, realizing she might have overdone the compliments.

“You’ve praised her too much,” Youngbin remarked.

Although it eventually led to that conclusion, Seoyeon grew quite confident in her dancing. Unlike singing, dancing required less emotional expression.

It was about pure physical ability and skill.

Of course, rhythm was important, but as mentioned before, Seoyeon wasn’t tone-deaf. Her struggles with singing stemmed from her inability to fully convey emotions through her voice. While she wasn’t bad at it, it could sometimes come off as slightly off-putting, much like her attempts at emotional mimicry.

For now, Seoyeon closed her eyes as the music began. It was a song prepared in advance for the audition—a song by a singer who would later contribute to the Dream Future soundtrack.

‘It’s not enough to just dance any old dance.’

Although it was a dance, it was an extension of her acting. She needed to demonstrate this clearly to the judges.

In the script, Jo Ha-rin was a bubbly, lively character. Because of this, the character was also portrayed as having some dance skills.

Naturally, Seoyeon had thought about how to incorporate this into her performance.

‘First, a light hip-hop dance.’

It was a popular, widely recognized dance style, one that the general public would find ‘cool.’

B-boying was something she could do, but it was excessive. It didn’t match the character’s concept.

‘Still…’

One or two moves would be fine.

Seoyeon opened her eyes. Her red eyes locked onto the judges. Exhaling softly, she flashed a slight smile.

With a thumping rhythm, Seoyeon’s foot moved. Her feet spread naturally to shoulder width, one foot stepping forward.

“Whoa…”

The first exclamation came from the casting director, Shin Yoon. Perhaps it was because the singing had been so underwhelming, but the dance felt even more impressive.

‘Her long limbs make the dance movements feel expansive.’

Of course, he wasn’t a dance expert; he was just evaluating it from a viewer’s perspective.

But even to an ordinary audience member, Seoyeon’s dance was remarkably fluid and expansive. Simultaneously…

‘Her expression.’

He realized, somewhat belatedly, that Seoyeon was acting even as she danced.

‘This is a scene where Jo Ha-rin dances on the street in the script.’

The other judges quickly caught on to this as well. It wasn’t just because of her dance or bright expression.

‘Her gaze.’

Park Jungwoo carefully observed the movements of Seoyeon’s eyes. While it seemed her gaze was directed at the judges, as she spun around, she made eye contact with everyone in the room, as if she were performing in front of a full circle of onlookers.

An audience. She was imagining herself surrounded by an audience on the street, dancing as Jo Ha-rin would.

Her steps were measured, and her arm and leg movements were as if she was showing the space she had to work with, suddenly freezing in place.

It was as if you could see the space around her. Seoyeon wasn’t in the audition room; she was on the street, surrounded by people watching her dance.

The song reached its climax, and Seoyeon bent her body downward.

“Oh?!”

Someone let out a surprised exclamation. That was because the hip-hop dance naturally transitioned into breaking.

Finally, with the last intense beat, Seoyeon’s body spun rapidly.

Windmill.

In other words, breaking. It was one of the foundational moves in b-boying, the most basic and familiar breaking dance move to the general public.

Although basic, it was difficult for an ordinary person to do, and without proper training, it would look awkward. With her long limbs, it was enough to leave onlookers open-mouthed, forgetting that this was supposed to be an acting performance.

And as the music stopped, Seoyeon’s hands touched the ground, and she suddenly lifted her body into the air.

“Wow!”

One of the judges couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration.

Freeze.

A pose where the dancer supports their body using the strength of their arms and upper body, often used as a finishing move in breaking.

The reason Seoyeon did the windmill was to naturally lead into this final move. Her body, which had been spinning rapidly, suddenly stopped in midair as the music ended.

The judges sat there, mouths agape, unable to speak first. They were simply too stunned.

‘She’s really good at dancing?’

More than that, how is she even holding herself up like that? Is she supporting her whole body with just the strength of her arms?

‘Wow, she can really do that?’

For those seeing b-boying for the first time, it was an impressive feat. Watching the amazed faces of the judges, Seoyeon looked over at Jungwoo with a self-satisfied expression, completely different from when she was singing, causing Jungwoo to stifle a laugh.

‘She’s overdoing it a bit.’

Jungwoo thought as he sighed in relief. Watching Seoyeon stand up and bow in greeting, he nodded back at her.

At any rate, this should have more than made up for the deficit from her singing.

‘It seems like she’s good at anything that involves physical movement.’

Impressive dance moves usually only serve as bonus points and don’t have a significant impact on the overall score. The same goes for poor singing. However, if you perform extremely well or poorly, it does make a difference.

Seoyeon’s singing was like that, and so was her dancing. Moreover, considering the character traits of Song So-ha and Jo Ha-rin…

“The dance moves and acting flow naturally. It certainly suits the character of Jo Ha-rin,” someone commented during the Dream Future audition discussion.

“Her singing might be lacking, but we have time, and it can be improved to some extent.”

“But dancing can’t be mastered in a short period.”

Song So-ha. Honestly, the production team wanted Seoyeon to take that role. But the actress herself didn’t want the part.

Moreover, Jo Ha-rin’s strength in the story was her dancing. While she wasn’t a bad singer, her character’s bubbly nature was best expressed through her dancing ability.

“But Jo Ha-rin’s role is relatively small…” Shin Yoon, the casting director, muttered, glancing somewhere.

He was looking at Im Jin-ha, the writer of Dream Future.

A writer with a career still in the ‘newbie’ stage. Typically, if someone said, “Change it,” a drama writer would have to comply, but…

“Is there any way to increase the screen time for Jo Ha-rin’s role?”

“It would be good if she appeared a little more frequently after episode 8.”

However, both the casting director and the director of photography, Kim Pil-seok, were met with a firm refusal.

“No, if we make those changes, there’ll be too much to adjust in the script. It will ruin the story.”

Im Jin-ha shook her head in disagreement. Kim Pil-seok cursed under his breath at the expected response.

‘Tsk. Of all people…’

From the director’s perspective, Im Jin-ha was quite difficult to deal with. She was relatively new to the industry but had already written two hit dramas. One of them was as an assistant writer, and the other was her solo work.

Regardless, the difference between having a hit under your belt and not having one is like night and day. Additionally, Kim Pil-seok knew that Im Jin-ha had some backing at the network. He believed she was somehow connected to a PD in the drama department…

Because of this, if Im Jin-ha insisted on something, even Director Kim Pil-seok couldn’t easily push back.

“Writer Im Jin-ha,” Park Jungwoo spoke up with a smile, addressing her.

That smile softened Im Jin-ha’s previously stern expression.

“Yes?”

“In that case, if something unexpected happens, would it be possible to make adjustments?”

“Unexpected?”

“Ah, for instance, if a particular character… becomes unexpectedly popular.”

Everyone knew that the ‘particular character’ Jungwoo was referring to was Jo Ha-rin.

When the casting director, Shin Yoon, and the director of photography, Kim Pil-seok, had mentioned Jo Ha-rin earlier, Im Jin-ha’s face had stiffened. But now…

“Oh, of course.”

She laughed and nodded, leaving Kim Pil-seok rubbing his face with his hand in exasperation.

In the end, there was nothing he could do about it.

‘…Anyway.’

Jungwoo’s words carried a lot of weight: ‘If a character becomes unexpectedly popular.’

‘Does that mean he expects Jo Ha-rin to get a bigger reaction than anticipated? Or…’

Kim Pil-seok had a thought. The release of The Chaser and Dream Future would overlap.

If Jungwoo was thinking along those lines…

‘It’s not an exaggeration to think it might work out.’

Seoyeon’s acting at the audition, her unexpected dancing skills… According to Jungwoo, she was good at anything physical.

She was a talented kid in many ways.

“Alright, let’s make the decision.”

Director Kim Pil-seok looked at the photos of the two selected actors.

For Song So-ha.

And for Jo Ha-rin.

Seoyeon was notified of the results of the Dream Future audition two days later. Manager Park Eun-ha tapped Seoyeon on the shoulder with a somewhat regretful expression.

“Seoyeon, what should we do?”

Seeing Eun-ha’s downcast face, Seoyeon felt a prickling sensation.

‘Did… did I fail?’

No matter how poorly she sang, they wouldn’t have cut her for that, right? Just as Seoyeon was about to feel dejected…

“You’ve been cast for the role of Jo Ha-rin.”

“Oh, really?”

“Uh?”

Contrary to Eun-ha’s expectations, Seoyeon’s face brightened instantly. Although her expression didn’t change much, her eyes sparkled.

Having spent so much time with her, Eun-ha had learned to read Seoyeon’s subtle expressions. Though she struggled to express herself, her emotions had become much richer lately.

‘You almost gave me a heart attack.’

Eun-ha had thought Seoyeon was aiming for the role of Song So-ha, not realizing that Seoyeon had always targeted Jo Ha-rin during the audition.

After all, Song So-ha was the main heroine in the story.

“Oh, and…”

Just as Manager Park Eun-ha was about to say something else, a buzzing sound came from her pocket.

She naturally pulled out her phone and, after checking it, made an expression that was hard to describe.

“What is it?” Seoyeon asked.

“Uh? Oh, you’ll understand once you answer this.”

“Huh?”

What could this mean? Puzzled, Seoyeon took the phone that Eun-ha handed her.

If it were a suspicious call, Eun-ha wouldn’t have handed it over in the first place.

“Hello?”

As Seoyeon casually answered the phone, a startled voice responded immediately.

“Ju Seoyeon?!”

The voice sounded surprised. It was a woman’s voice, unfamiliar to Seoyeon.

“Who is this?”

“….”

The other person seemed oddly disappointed, but that must have been Seoyeon’s imagination. After taking a moment to collect herself, the caller continued.

“I-it’s me, Jo Seo-hee.”

The voice was trembling. Ah, Jo Seo-hee. Now that she thought about it, this was what her voice sounded like.

Seoyeon didn’t think too deeply about her supposed friend Jo Seo-hee. It was more of a casual acknowledgement.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hi. Though I’m not doing so well…”

Hearing Seo-hee’s unusually timid voice, Seoyeon pulled the phone away and frowned. She rarely sounded this subdued, making Seoyeon wonder if it was really Jo Seo-hee.

“So, why are you calling me all of a sudden?”

“Well…”

Seo-hee hesitated, her voice full of uncertainty. It sounded like she was debating whether she should say something.

But soon enough…

“There’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Huh?”

“The movie you wanted to shoot with me… I didn’t realize what it was.”

Seo-hee’s sudden confession gave Seoyeon a clue about what this was all about.

‘Ah, so that’s what this is about.’

She finally realized what Director Baek Min’s movie, the one Seo-hee had mentioned before, was all about.