NoveLight ™
Seoyeon had a lot on her mind when it came to her role as Jo Ha-rin. Dream Future was essentially structured around couples, with each pair forming a significant relationship:
That was the general setup. Among them, Jo Ha-rin had a particularly complex storyline, primarily due to her unrequited love for Kim Si-hwan.
"Unrequited love, huh."
To be honest, this was a feeling Seoyeon found difficult to understand. She still struggled with emotional connections with others, which made it hard for her to grasp such emotions fully.
She figured that this difficulty in forming friendships might stem from the same reason. Just like with love, she hadn’t been able to find a clear definition for friendship either.
The only relationship she had consistently maintained over time was with Lee Ji-yeon, which she labeled as friendship.
"But unrequited love..."
Seoyeon sat alone in her dark living room, staring at the TV, lost in thought. This had become a routine as she filmed Dream Future.
Whenever she had spare time, Seoyeon would watch romance or romantic dramas. Despite the quirky nature of Dream Future, as described on the website, it wasn’t a comedy.
It was clearly a youth romance drama centered around the mental growth of its characters. The backdrop was an idol audition, focusing on six idols who participated in it.
"I still don’t get it."
Empathy. She hadn’t understood its importance in the past, but now she knew better. To enter a role deeply through method acting, one had to empathize with the character.
In other words, if she couldn’t empathize with the character, method acting would be difficult from the start.
"Jo Ha-rin doesn’t require deep immersion for the role."
Her character was lighthearted and bubbly. If she just acted naturally, Seoyeon was confident she could do well. Her performance in the pre-released "web promotion" had been praised.
Even during the first shoot, everyone gave her a thumbs up. Of course, this was more noticeable when compared to the idol’s acting.
However, something still nagged at Seoyeon. Even though she had joined the drama primarily to improve her image...
"So..."
Park Jung-woo stirred the straw in his iced Americano as he spoke.
"Have you ever been in love?" "No."
Seoyeon stared at him blankly, and Park Jung-woo was left speechless.
‘Is she serious?’
They were at a café near the set, with both of them keeping a low profile, so no one recognized them.
‘Doesn’t she realize how dangerous that question is?’
If he didn’t know Seoyeon well, he might have misunderstood. Especially considering that in Dream Future, Park Jung-woo’s character was the one Jo Ha-rin had a crush on—Kim Si-hwan.
It was a potentially risky question.
‘She must be quite unfamiliar with these kinds of things.’
Sometimes, Seoyeon displayed an unusual level of ignorance. Jung-woo had noticed this while observing her, and most of her actions shared one common thread.
It was a lack of understanding of specific emotions that arise when interacting with others—anger, jealousy, or, as in this case, love.
Seoyeon sometimes acted as if she didn’t know these emotions. While it was understandable for anger or jealousy, Jung-woo had no words when it came to love. After all...
"I haven’t." "What?" "Do you have any idea how busy I’ve been?"
He hadn’t even attended school properly. From a young age, he had been a child actor, constantly filming commercials, dramas, and movies.
So he had hardly any experience interacting with people. The only ones he occasionally crossed paths with were fellow actors.
Of course, there were young actresses or idols who had approached him.
"Then it’s not surprising." "Sigh."
Jung-woo had a good idea of why Seoyeon had reached out to him. Among the people she knew, he was the only senior actor with more acting experience. The others weren’t easy to contact.
Seeing Seoyeon deep in thought, Jung-woo spoke up.
"Well, even if it’s impossible for me, there is someone who can help." "Who is it?" "You know them too."
With that, Jung-woo made a quick call and led her to the second floor of the broadcasting station where they had just finished shooting.
It seemed like someone was filming a commercial there. And there, Seoyeon met someone.
"Actress Jung Eun-sun."
At Seoyeon’s words, a woman turned around. She was a veteran actress with deeper wrinkles than when Seoyeon had last seen her ten years ago.
"It’s been a while."
Jung Eun-sun bowed her head calmly as she looked at the now-grown Seoyeon.
In a waiting room specially prepared by the staff, Seoyeon and Jung Eun-sun faced each other.
Honestly, Seoyeon felt a flutter in her chest as she met Jung Eun-sun after so long.
‘Nervous.’
It was a feeling she hadn’t noticed much in the past. But after going through puberty and experiencing all sorts of emotions, she had become more aware of it.
"You look more age-appropriate now." "Do I?"
Seoyeon wasn’t sure. Even Lee Ji-yeon had said something similar.
"You seem to be aging in reverse."
Ji-yeon had remarked that Seoyeon used to look much more mature. During middle school and now as a high school student.
Back then, Ji-yeon used to be the one Seoyeon looked after, but now it was the other way around.
"But I think that’s a good thing."
Seoyeon understood what Ji-yeon meant. Perhaps her doll-like appearance in the past was due to the influence of her previous life.
Her previous self, who was unfamiliar with emotions, had likely worn a mask over Ju Seoyeon’s face.
Moreover, her kind-hearted parents had showered her with love, so she hadn’t needed to mimic emotions as she had in her past life.
If it weren’t for acting, Seoyeon might have worn that mask for a much longer time. But through acting, she realized that she was just an ordinary human.
She learned about emotions and adjusted to them during her tumultuous adolescent years.
While there were still some unchanging parts, these, combined with everything else, made Seoyeon who she was today.
Although she had her dull moments, she enjoyed her current self, who would eagerly pursue something once swept up in emotion.
"I heard you’ve been struggling with your acting lately." "What?" "Actor Park Jung-woo mentioned it."
Seoyeon wondered how she knew about her struggles with acting. She hadn’t directly asked any specific questions about her performance in Dream Future. She had only tried to subtly probe Jung-woo for advice.
After all, this wasn’t Jung-woo’s first time performing romantic scenes.
She had watched the youth drama he had appeared in.
A drama that dealt with a sweet, innocent love. The acting that middle-school-aged Jung-woo had displayed had garnered a lot of attention. Seoyeon had been impressed and had wanted to ask him directly.
She wondered if his experience of liking someone had influenced his ability to perform those scenes.
"From what I’ve seen, Dream Future doesn’t seem to require deep emotional acting." "On the surface, no..." "Is that so."
To outsiders, Dream Future might seem like a silly drama. After all, it featured sudden dance and musical numbers.
But beneath it all, Jo Ha-rin’s inner turmoil was clearly depicted.
Acting. Drama.
"It’s not like you’re getting lost in emotional acting like before." "......" "I’ll take it as a sign that you genuinely want to do this."
Emotional acting, or method acting, as some call it.
Seoyeon wanted to immerse herself fully in the character of Jo Ha-rin.
"First, let me say this: there’s no need to rush." "What?" "Of course, I haven’t seen much of your acting, Seoyeon."
After all, the dramas and movies Seoyeon had filmed hadn’t been released to the public yet.
"But from what I’ve observed, you seem to have a lot of ambition." "That’s..." "I understand that you want to do this, but there’s no need to hurry."
Jung Eun-sun sincerely believed that. Even after ten years, Seoyeon was still young.
"Romantic acting. If you ever fall in love, you’ll be able to understand it deeply. But even then, it might not be the same."
"What do you mean by that?" "Love doesn’t always take on a beautiful form. It doesn’t always have a single, definitive shape."
For instance, let’s say you fall for someone. But if that person doesn’t match you well, or if they approach you with ill intentions, even if it starts as love, it might not end well.
"Having the experience might help you understand, but it’s not everything."
Seoyeon looked at Jung Eun-sun with eyes that seemed to ask what she should do then.
"When you were younger, you displayed excellent emotional acting. You didn’t need method acting for that."
Just a little bit more, she needed to add her thoughts. Shape it into the ideal form.
Jung Eun-sun mentioned that Park Jung-woo’s acting followed this approach.
"If you want to understand other emotions, there will come a time when you can."
Even emotions like the love Seoyeon was longing to experience now.
Jung Eun-sun smiled at Seoyeon, who was staring at her.
After ten years, she was finally seeing a young girl emerge from the once doll-like child.
"Seoyeon, you’re still young, so express that imagination in your acting."
That should be enough.
Even if the emotion was unfamiliar to her, even if she thought she couldn’t understand it herself, as long as she was human, she would inevitably grasp it.
Dream Future Episode 1.
The scenes from the web promotion had already garnered considerable attention online.
JustX's Ma Yeon-woo’s first attempt at acting, along with the involvement of Park Jung-woo and Ju Seoyeon, two recently popular actors, made it a highly anticipated broadcast.
The buzz was undeniable. But was it serious interest?
It was mostly curiosity. People wondered what would actually come out of it. How would the funny scenes they saw in the trailer play out in the actual show?
The beginning of Episode 1 was indeed reminiscent of the trailer, evoking the vibe of an early 90s drama.
As the story of Kim Si-hwan and Song So-ha, who participated in the audition, unfolded, viewers began to immerse themselves. However, unlike the raw footage used in the variety show, the properly edited video had a completely different feel.
As the much-anticipated scenes didn’t quite deliver, reactions were mixed. Some liked it, while others were unimpressed.
After the stories of the two leads ended, it was time for the remaining four main actors to take the stage.
First up was Seoyeon.
Jo Ha-rin, who arrived late to the audition, happened to encounter Kim Si-hwan by chance. As Jo Ha-rin’s performance began...
The viewers' reactions started to change. Not just laughter, but genuine interest began to emerge.
It was turning into a proper drama.
Come on, Seoyeon!
Tyfc
tftc