Even if Ha Eun’s first leading film, “Neighbor Uncle,” recorded an astonishing box office score of 7 million.
Even if she won the Best New Actress award at the year-end awards ceremony, beating out many formidable actresses.
Min Da-yeon hadn’t particularly seen Ha Eun’s proper acting since the screen test for the role of Jiji a few years ago.
After all, Min Da-yeon was still just an 11-year-old minor.
Because “Neighbor Uncle” was rated for adults, Min Da-yeon couldn’t check the image of Ha Eun on the screen despite wanting to.
The most she could do was watch a short 2-minute trailer.
Of course, unlike a few years ago when she dismissed Ha Eun as a novice, now she recognized Ha Eun as a legitimate actress.
She already knew that Ha Eun, who had excellent acting skills, had been putting in effort and attending acting academies.
Nevertheless, she decided to compete against Ha Eun once more because Min Da-yeon hadn’t just been idling around either.
Unlike Ha Eun, who ended up taking a break after shooting only minor commercials since “Neighbor Uncle.”
Min Da-yeon had been accumulating real-world experience by continuously appearing in various dramas and movies, so she thought she might have a chance.
To put it bluntly, that was a miscalculation.
“…How can I beat that?”
Min Da-yeon’s performance, which made her resent her past self for being the first to audition.
It was like a slightly Han Yu-hwa-like demeanor, making her question if she really needed to watch the performances of other child actors.
Following that, the auditions for the next child actors continued.
Eventually, Min Da-yeon’s audition concluded somehow.
However, which of the four performances at the final audition suited Han Yu-hwa was already a settled matter.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for Ha Yoon-seong and Yu Seong-a, the two lead actors in “You Who Came From the Stars,” to only show interest in Ha Eun.
“I feel like it was just yesterday when we saw each other in ‘Neighbor Uncle.’ You’ve grown a lot since then.”
Ha Yoon-seong, who remarked that Ha Eun looked quite lovely in her current hanbok.
Simultaneously, Yu Seong-a murmured that it would make the other boys of their age cry.
To put it bluntly, Min Da-yeon’s fame was several times higher than Ha Eun’s.
However, it seemed like a rather meaningless metric now.
Thus, the final audition for the young Han Yu-hwa ended in a similar fashion to the screen test from a few years ago.
As she stepped out of the audition room, a bittersweet feeling welled up in her mouth.
“Ah, Da-yeon. How was the audition?”
The voice of Min Da-yeon’s manager, Kim Jin-soo, who seemed utterly oblivious, tickled her ears.
Almost at the same time, he handed her a strawberry-flavored latte.
Min Da-yeon knew that this was just Kim Jin-soo genuinely curious about her.
Knowing he had no malice, she didn’t feel any notable irritation or anger and simply got into the car quietly.
However, no matter how much she drank the strawberry-flavored latte that Kim Jin-soo had presented,
Reflecting on her best performance in the final audition today, she thought to herself.
‘…What on earth is so different about me compared to that girl for there to be such a gap.’
Ha Eun’s acting, which was fundamentally different from her own in terms of immersion, wouldn’t leave her mind.
Despite recognizing Ha Eun’s acting ability, she couldn’t help but wonder how Ha Eun could possess such excellent skills.
What on earth had happened for her to act so naturally with a level of completion?
What kind of experiences had she gone through that made the difference even bigger than a few years ago?
During the four years she had been around Ha Eun, the seven-year-old Min Da-yeon had even attempted to observe her to uncover the essence of the acting that had overwhelmed her.
She thought that if she could learn Ha Eun’s unique know-how, she too could perform similar kinds of acting.
However, the more time she spent with Ha Eun, the more the notion that Ha Eun was merely a slightly prettier ordinary girl grew.
In the end, she thought that perhaps the seven-year-old Min Da-yeon had overrated Ha Eun too much.
During this young Han Yu-hwa audition, she had a foolish thought that perhaps she could beat Ha Eun.
Still, Min Da-yeon’s pride wouldn’t allow her to simply accept that it was just a difference in talent.
After all, Min Da-yeon had heard countless times that she was more talented than anyone else.
Thus, when she returned home.
Lying on a soft mattress at that moment.
‘…This is really the last time. I won’t obsess over that girl anymore. I won’t….’
Deciding to thoroughly explore the person known as Lee Ha-eun while sharing the times Min Da-yeon hadn’t been a part of.
Just like she had analyzed and interpreted the scripts of various dramas and movies in the past.
*
“Do you want me to stick beside you for 24 hours? Why…?”
“Why you don’t need to know. Just tell me whether you’ll help me or not.”
Min Da-yeon, slightly shy but trying hard to act nonchalant, faced Ha Eun.
After all, it wasn’t an unreasonable request.
To put it bluntly, it wasn’t as if they were doing something secret that couldn’t be revealed to others.
Moreover, upon hearing that if she didn’t grant her request, she wouldn’t care about Ha Eun (or her acting) anymore.
Ha Eun’s expression became serious for a moment, misunderstanding it as a statement to cut off ties with her.
However, it wasn’t something one could simply stop doing after not missing a single day of trivial exercises.
Regarding acting classes or singing classes, Min Da-yeon didn’t know whether she could show them to someone from a different agency.
“…I’ll give you an answer tomorrow. I have to check a few things.”
“Alright then.”
For now, she cautiously contacted the acting academy and Daulby to ask if she could bring Min Da-yeon to classes.
Unexpectedly, both the acting academy and Daulby replied.
[ If you’re referring to the child actor Min Da-yeon, of course, she can come along. No, please make sure she does! ]
[ Did Ha Eun have a friend named Min Da-yeon? I’ve wanted to meet her for a while; how wonderful! ]
Instead of saying it would be difficult to fulfill Ha Eun’s request, they responded warmly, as if welcoming Min Da-yeon.
Realizing late that Min Da-yeon’s reputation was higher than Ha Eun had thought.
However, when she finally asked her last approval from Na-yeon, the person who had to permit it.
“Hmm, for our daughter’s first friend to be Min Da-yeon. Isn’t her friendship standard too high?”
Since she spoke as though she had never had a single friend until that point.
Ha Eun, who had earnestly followed Na-yeon’s words since the time she first entered kindergarten, had been implementing her advice to have as many friends as possible until this moment.
“…I have a lot of friends.”
For the first time in her 11-year life, Ha Eun countered Na-yeon’s words.
Strictly speaking, she didn’t precisely have a friend with whom she could share trivial worries like Min Da-yeon.
Still, she could confidently say that she maintained reasonably good interpersonal relationships.
She befriended kids from her class, kids from other classes, everyone.
But for Ha Eun, who was told her standards for friends were too high.
“Seriously, I do have a lot of friends.”
It was undoubtedly a statement that had to be corrected.
Aside from child actors from the acting academy, there wasn’t a single child Ha Eun could be friends with.
“Not just friends you’ve heard the name of. A close friend who you could let sleep over in your room.”
However, ultimately, further rebuttal became impossible.
Since, for some reason, the only candidate for a close friend Na-yeon mentioned was none other than Min Da-yeon.
Well, either way.
In any case, since she would be able to grant Min Da-yeon’s strange request.
The very next day, the moment she met Min Da-yeon, she conveyed that she had received all the permissions she needed.
To this, Min Da-yeon responded with a simple acknowledgment, neither surprised nor pleased.
Thus, for today, after leaving elementary school, she started to stick with Min Da-yeon.
There was a small surprise when Ju Jung-yun was taken aback by Min Da-yeon naturally getting into the van with Ha Eun, but well, no matter.
So even as they headed to both the acting academy and Daulby’s studio.
And even when they brought Min Da-yeon to a nearby open space that had become Ha Eun’s personal gym.
“Hello, Da-yeon~.”
“Oh, hello.”
After arriving home, there were no major issues until Na-yeon, speaking in a warm tone, greeted Min Da-yeon.
The problem arose right after that.
“Then, I’ll go wash up. Da-yeon, you can read a book in my room or something—”
“I, I want to wash up together. I sweat a lot following you around.”
It was then that Ha Eun truly realized the meaning of the request to stick together for 24 hours.
Afterward, at some point, overhearing the conversation between Ha Eun and Min Da-yeon, Na-yeon.
“What the….”
Somehow, she ended up in the bath with Min Da-yeon.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t so strange that it would be entirely unacceptable….
‘…What’s that? Is that… abs?’
Min Da-yeon hesitated as she noticed that the 11-line abs she had only seen in adult models lightly outlined on Ha Eun’s stomach.
Unintentionally, she reached out her hand and pressed on Ha Eun’s solid stomach with a light poke.
“…What are you doing…?”
With a mix of embarrassment and confusion, her eyes blinked towards Min Da-yeon.
