CH29

A nameplate made of pristine white paper was placed on the table, designating a spot, with a lone chair beside it.

People sat in seats distinctly divided like castes separating social statuses.

The behaviors of the actors in the still shot, taken with the click of a shutter, varied widely.

Some actors were leisurely joking with those around them, while others nervously gulped down water and fumbled 

through their scripts.

Among these diverse actors, the staff's attention was mainly on one person.

Ian Pryce.

He's the hottest child actor.

"Will he be able to do well?"

"The showrunner brought him in with effort, so we have to trust him."

Even the responding staff harbored a slight doubt.

He received acclaim for his acting in the role of Noah?

It was common for the same actor to show terrible acting in the next work, so much so that one might question if it was the same actor. 

It's not for no reason that experience is highly valued.

"There's been a lot of work lately. I wonder if he's prepared properly."

"It's not too late to think after seeing. It's just the beginning."

In the drama's main storyline, which involves infidelity and education fever, the character leading the latter is Eugene.

His time to prove his skills came first.

"Alright! We've done a rough introduction, so let's start. Let's begin with the monologue that starts episode 1."

Ian, receiving everyone's attention, put down his script.

He hadn't let go of the script even during the Christmas holidays. 

He knew every line by heart.

"The day I was born was the day of the national default. Remembering the despairing Korea, my mother said proudly. We had escaped hell. Yes, I was born out of hell."

The calm monologue crept into the ears like a chilly snake.

The voice, giving a tingling sense of unease, whispered that this child was not ordinary.

Faced with a crisis that seemed to swallow her if she let her guard down, Elin, the protagonist, sharpened her focus and delivered her lines.

"So, you're Eugene. I've heard about you from my daughter. She said you study very well?"

"Did she?"

"Hmm, can I know how you usually study? Do you have a good teacher?"

The cold reply came back to the question asked with held-back embarrassment.

"Why would I need that? It's just middle school."

It didn't feel annoying because it seemed too obvious.

However, it was enough to touch the insecurities of her, who had married a handsome man because of her beauty.

"Can you really send my daughter to Harvard-Westlake School? I'm willing to use any means necessary."

The prestigious Beverly Hills school sends up to 25% of its graduates to Ivy League colleges.

To the question of whether it's really possible to send her there, the consultant answered leisurely.

"If it were impossible, you wouldn't have come to me. But, for her to be admitted, not only does your daughter have to make an effort, but you must as well."

"Absolutely. Okay. I trust that confidence. Let's hire you and see how it goes."

A unilateral contract, made without considering the daughter's opinion, indirectly showcasing the twisted zeal for education. 

And as the actors flipped the page to see the next line.

"Ah…"

A moan, more suited to a pornographic scene, unexpectedly escaped from Elin's lips, causing several faces to redden.

"…Hic."

Dorothy, Ian's kissing scene partner, hiccupped with a flushed face, seemingly startled by the moan.

With just one moan, Elin, who had drawn all attention to herself, shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Why? The next scene was about an affair. I just tried to make it feel a bit more real, that's all."

Whether to praise her for making it feel so real or to ask her to restrain herself because there were children present.

At a moment when no one dared to speak up, a low voice was heard.

"Your mom is having an affair. Shame? I don't know such a thing. Neither does your mom."

It was a line from a later scene.

Ian, who blurted out a line from a scene where an affair is witnessed, smiled mischievously.

"Sorry. The line just fit the situation so perfectly, it slipped out. I guess I've been practicing too hard."

'Look at this guy, huh?' 

Joshua, seeing Elin's amused expression, clapped his hands.

"Hahaha, it happens. Has our lady's hiccup stopped?"

"…Yes, it has stopped."

Dorothy, her fair skin flushed red, nodded slightly.

Dorothy, teasingly laughing with Larry, pinched his thigh and sneaked a glance at Ian.

During their first greeting, his calm demeanor felt annoyingly nonchalant.

Thanks to the fire Ian and Elin lit, the other actors also gave their all, and the script reading continued intensely for nearly three hours.

While focusing on the reading, Ian occasionally scrutinized the child actor who had introduced himself as Daniel Brown.

'Was he quite popular even from his childhood acting days? Seems so.'

Not just his handsome appearance, but his acting skills were commendable for his age.

It was evident he had been professionally trained in acting from a very young age.

'So what? Ends up a junkie dying from drug addiction.'

Unlike other homeless people, he envied the fact that many people mourned for him, but essentially, he was no different from the drug addicts he had grown tired of seeing during his life on the streets. 

Ian, for his part, lost interest. 

The script reading that exhausted the actors had finally turned its last page. 

"Thank you all for your hard work! I've prepared some food since you all might be hungry, so please eat before you go." 

The staff opened the door, and the smell of appetizing food filled the air, making Chloe, who had been waiting for it to end, come over and ask, "What should we do?" 

"We're not in a hurry; let's eat before we go." 

In Hollywood, finding a job depends more on personal networks than on skill. 

If you don't know the people involved in a project, you won't even get the chance to participate in a good one, so such social activities should never be taken lightly. 

Even though they claimed to be tired, it was clear from the way most of the actors moved to eat that this was an important moment. 

Like the other actors, Ian, who was piling food from the buffet onto his plate, was approached by a boy with curly hair. 

"Ian!" 

"Larry?" 

"Yes, it's me, Larry! Dorothy, Ian remembered my name!" 

"Quiet, Larry." 

Dorothy replied with a tone of annoyance as she picked at her food. 

They seemed quite close, just as he had thought from their first meeting. 

"How do you two know each other?" 

"Dorothy and me? We're learning acting together at the same place. With Daniel, too. By the way, Daniel's dad owns the studio. He used to be a decent actor." 

"I see." 

It made sense why Daniel seemed to have been learning acting for quite some time. 

"It looks like the adults will be eating together. Let's eat with us! Okay?!" 

Without a chance to refuse, Ian was dragged along by Larry. 

Dorothy, who was nibbling at her food, warned Ian, who was now seated with his arm grabbed, "If you do as Larry says, you'll end up running dozens of laps in the gym in a day. Even his beagle gets exhausted because of him." 

"They even asked me if I wanted to try the track at school. Impressive, right?!" 

"Yeah, impressive." 

Larry, seemingly unfazed by any sign of annoyance, smiled brightly and hummed a tune. 

It was an addictive melody that lingered in the ear, "Let's jump." 

Larry, happily humming and playing with his fork, suddenly turned his head towards Ian.

"I've been thinking, you could also be a good singer."

A singer? 

He had never thought about that. 

He'd sing for musicals or dubbing songs if it's necessary for acting. 

'Honestly, I can't even feel the popularity of Let's jump.' 

It's not like he performs concerts in front of people; at best, he just sees views and articles, so how could it feel real? 

"I doubt that will happen." 

"Why? If you sing this well, couldn't you become a singer later?" 

Larry asked with sparkling eyes, and while pondering how to answer, Dorothy spoke up first. 

"Do you think becoming a singer is easy?" 

"Why? You listen to songs from singers you don't know and like them. Ian could become much more famous!" 

"Hmph! For a singer, the song is more important than fame. Do you know how good this song is?!" 

Dorothy, slightly heated, looked around and then composed her voice. 

A song flowed from her lips, familiar yet impossible to have been heard. 

"See you anytime. Any time. I'm waiting for you~" 

Ian's eyes widened. 

The lyrics and melody were all too familiar, exactly like Any time he knew. 

Could this be a hidden camera prank? 

He doubted it for a moment. 

'Could it be?' 

There was no one who would set up such a prank with Dorothy, whom he had just met today. 

"I can run forever. Any time. Any time. If we can meet~" 

He had not expected the song, which had gone unnoticed and buried, to emerge like this, comforting Rachel. 

Ian tried to calm his pounding heart and asked softly, "…Where did you hear this?" 

"Huh?" 

Dorothy stopped singing and said proudly, "Good, right? I found it on YouTube from a recommendation, and it was really good. You'd be surprised if you heard the original by RA-I. The voice is so sweet." 

RA-I. 

The channel name was created by combining Rachel and his own name. 

Dorothy glanced at Ian and continued, "Especially, the voice is totally my type. I fell in love just by hearing it." 

Larry snorted. 

"Even so, you don't know what they look like. For all you know, it could be some chubby, hairy old man." 

"Shut up. You can tell they're handsome just by the voice. Actually, it could be someone really famous, that's why they're hiding their face."

'Actually, that's me.' 

He swallowed the words that seemed to leap out as he watched the two bickering. 

He had to check out what was going on. 

*** 

RA-I. 

A channel that uploaded just one song and then vanished without a trace of its owner.

After seeing a recommendation post on a community, people sporadically visited the channel, but that was it. 

Since the channel had only one song uploaded and no other activity, most people left without even listening to the song. 

Just when the recommendation posts started to fade, someone had a different idea. 

"To just leave such a good song like this? What kind of person does that? Hmm, maybe I should post it somewhere else?" 

Thinking the song was too good to waste, a man recorded it and posted it on a site used by amateur composers. 

-I composed and sang this song, what do you think? 

Pretty cool, right? 

It was a clear violation of copyright and impersonation, but the man didn't take it seriously. 

The site was notorious for ignoring copyright issues, and he thought it wouldn't matter since it was just a song buried on YouTube. 

-Wow, the voice is incredible. I thought my ears would melt. └Please sing one of my songs with that voice. 

└As if someone who can write this kind of song would bother with your mediocre work. 

└…Jerk. 

-No matter how many times I listen, neither the singing nor the composition sound amateur. 

└Could it be Colin Allen? The voice sounds similar. 

└Why would someone busy with a world tour bother posting here? 

└But it does sound similar, doesn't it? 

Happy with the unexpectedly positive reactions, the excitement was short-lived when a few labels, scouting for new talent, started contacting him, and he quickly became fearful. 

The man promptly posted an apology. 

-I'm sorry. 

The original owner of this song is RA-I. I'll attach a link to their channel. 

Despite the blatant impersonation, people flocked to the channel, and the influx of viewers triggered the algorithm to expose the song to more people. 

Ian saw the result with his own eyes. 63,000 subscribers. 

Any Time had about 150,000 views. 

Considering there was no formal promotion, just word of mouth, it was a tremendous achievement. 

Ian checked the top-commented response. 

-Who's Rai? 

Below that were all sorts of speculative comments, from mentioning famous singers to guessing the person's looks based solely on their voice. 

The next most popular comment was a plea for the next song. 

Knock knock knock 

Someone knocked on Ian's door as he was checking the situation. 

-Ayla and Rachel have come to see you. 

It wasn't strange for Rachel to come since he had informed her on the way home. 

-But Rachel doesn't seem well. 

You should come down quickly. 

Chloe said, prompting Ian to hurry downstairs, where he saw Rachel clinging to Ayla, looking frightened. 

"Ray?" 

"…Ian. What do we do? So many people have come." 

Ian smirked at her alarmed expression. 

'Is it that scary?' 

He had said it would be good if many people listened, but the reality felt entirely different. 

Given her timid nature, it was natural for her to fear the over one hundred thousand people who had listened to and judged her composition. 

Ian patted her head reassuringly and told Ayla, "Let's keep RAI's identity hidden for as long as possible. Until Rachel decides she's ready to face the public." 

Who's Rai ?

To the people eager for an answer, a dreadful decision was made.

TL/n -

You can read 

I'm an Actor (up to Chapter 66+)

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