Episode 11. Child Actor Debut (4)
Kang Dae-oh already knew that Kim Gab-young would offer his daughter a child actor role, thanks to Kang Yebin’s prediction.
So, before coming here, he had already heard from her about how to respond to Director Kim Gab-young’s casting offer.
However, Director Kim Gab-young had no idea about this.
“You’ll need some time to think, won’t you? I’ll give you plenty of time.”
If Kang Yebin had been a child actor from the start, there would have been no need to give her a long time.
But this was the first time such an offer had come.
Moreover, it wasn’t just a one-time appearance; she would have to periodically show up at the filming set for a set period, which would involve a lot of coming and going from the set.
This meant that not only Kang Yebin would suffer, but also her parents, who would have to accompany her.
Therefore, the parents’ consent was desperately needed.
Kang Dae-oh looked at Kang Yebin and Min Seung-yeon.
Kang Yebin replied as if there was no need to say anything.
“I want to do it.”
Like Kang Yera, her goal was to succeed in the entertainment industry.
There was just one difference.
In Kang Yera’s case, the biggest reason she wanted to succeed was the injustice she felt about her life, which ended after living as an unknown idol.
On the other hand, Kang Yebin had already reached the ranks of a top star once, so she didn’t have the same desperation as her older sister.
Instead.
This was what she wanted:
She wanted to live the life of an actress who focused on acting in the works she wanted, the dramas and movies she wanted to appear in, without only caring about what people thought.
This was Kang Yebin’s specific goal for her second life.
In that sense.
‘This drama by Director Kim Gab-young must be the kind of work Yebin wanted to appear in, right?’
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have accepted Director Kim Gab-young’s offer so quickly.
Kang Dae-oh then turned his head towards Min Seung-yeon.
Although Kang Yebin was an adult on the inside, outwardly she was a young child who absolutely needed her parents’ care.
Because of this, the parents’ thoughts were also very important.
“What about you?”
Min Seung-yeon also nodded, just like Kang Yebin.
“If Yebin wants to do it, we should let her. She might regret it later if we don’t.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Kang Dae-oh.
Now, only Kang Dae-oh’s decision remained.
Kang Dae-oh smiled faintly and said to Director Kim Gab-young,
“If you brought the appearance contract, let’s sign it right away.”
Kang Yera, who learned after school that Kang Yebin would appear in Director Kim Gab-young’s new OTT drama, glared at her younger sister with eyes full of jealousy.
“When did you get such an opportunity without me knowing…?”
Kang Yebin put down the straw cup filled with milk and chuckled.
“Opportunities don’t come to those who stand still; they come to those who actively move and act.”
“Ugh, here we go again. That nagging!”
Kang Yera covered her ears with her small hands and let out a shrill scream.
Kang Yera wailed that she was being nagged by her younger sister, both before and after her regression.
In Kang Dae-oh’s eyes, the two seemed to get along very well.
“Both of you, stop bickering. It’s time to get ready for bed.”
“What about mom?”
“Mom? She has plans with her friends today, so she’ll be home a bit late. Around… 11 PM? So you don’t have to wait for mom, you can go to sleep first.”
However, Kang Yera and Kang Yebin, the two daughters, instead brightened their eyes and conveyed that they had no intention of sleeping at all.
“Isn’t it better to sleep later since mom isn’t here?”
“Right, right. Usually, she tells us to go to bed as soon as it’s 8 o’clock.”
“And she doesn’t let us watch TV.”
Kang Dae-oh, who was listening to his two daughters’ plotting(?) in real-time next to them, let out a hearty laugh.
It was as if they were mistaken that dad would allow them to watch TV until late.
But.
Dad was still dad.
“No.”
“Whyyyy—!”
Kang Yera pouted.
Although she didn’t directly show her dislike like her older sister, Kang Yebin also expressed a silent protest to her dad, as if to emphasize that she was on her sister’s team this time.
Watching his two little ones’ cute resistance, Kang Dae-oh smiled deeply once more.
“Dad knows you’re adults on the inside. But your physical age is that of a young child, isn’t it? So don’t live like you did when you were adults. Just eat, play, and sleep like other children your age.”
It was the same logic as not being able to grow up eating chicken and pizza from infancy, even if they had regressed.
Feeling a sense of betrayal(?) at their dad’s actions, the children puffed up their baby-fat cheeks like balloons.
“Chee….”
“Dad, I hate you.”
“Even if you hate me, there’s nothing we can do. Come on, it’s too late, so go to bed now.”
“……Okay.”
Watching the children enter their room, Kang Dae-oh shrugged his shoulders.
‘Still, it’s a relief they listen well.’
There were times he worried that they might already be rebelling against mom or dad’s words from a young age, just because they were a bit grown up.
Surprisingly, they didn’t really do that.
Instead, they were acting as good children who listened diligently to their dad and mom’s words more than anyone else.
Perhaps.
‘It might be because they missed living in an environment where mom and dad were together like this.’
Watching the obedient and well-behaved children, he initially found them cute and lovely.
But as his thoughts reached this point, on the other hand, the children also seemed pitiful.
Kang Dae-oh quickly shook his head vigorously.
‘It’s okay. This time, I’ll make sure it ends with the outcome the children want.’
So that his daughters could safely reach the happy ending they desired.
Kang Dae-oh once again resolved to do his best as a dad.
From the first day of filming, simultaneous with the crank-in, Kang Dae-oh took Kang Yebin to the set.
Watching countless staff members coming and going on set, Kang Dae-oh felt a strange sensation.
‘This set has a different feel from the one I saw when Yera was recording in the studio.’
As an ordinary person, he hadn’t had many opportunities to experience movie or drama filming sets in his life.
No, it was usually non-existent.
Who would have thought that Kang Dae-oh, who had assumed it would always be like that, would end up visiting a drama filming set thanks to his second daughter?
At least Kang Dae-oh himself hadn’t known.
“It’s amazing.”
While waiting for a moment, Kang Dae-oh muttered to himself without realizing it.
Then Kang Yebin whispered in a small voice.
“This isn’t considered a large-scale set.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Historical drama film sets have hundreds of extras alone.”
“Well… I suppose so.”
The more he heard, the more it sounded like a distant world to Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Yebin, the medium connecting him to this world, asked her dad to help her concentrate on the script reading.
“Please turn to the next page.”
“Alright.”
As if reading a fairy tale, Kang Dae-oh placed Kang Yebin on his lap and opened the next page of the script.
While intently examining the script.
Someone approached the father and daughter.
“Hello, Yebin’s father.”
Kang Dae-oh and Kang Yebin simultaneously stared at the woman who had spoken to them.
She looked like an actress.
But Kang Dae-oh had never seen her face before.
Before he could ask who she was, the woman introduced herself first.
“I’m Ryu Yeon-ah, an actress who will be working with Yebin from S#5-1 to S#6-2.”
“Ah…! You’re the one playing the role of the kindergarten teacher, right?”
“Yes, that’s right! You remembered me. Thank you!”
Ryu Yeon-ah seemed particularly happy that someone remembered her.
This was because her recognition as actress Ryu Yeon-ah was still significantly low.
Her role in the drama wasn’t very significant either.
In fact, she had even fewer lines than Kang Yebin.
“If it’s okay, I was wondering if I could do a script reading with Yebin.”
“A reading?”
“Yes. I heard it’s our turn right after this. It’s been a while since I had a role with lines, so I’m a bit nervous… Would it be alright?”
Kang Dae-oh decided it was better to follow Kang Yebin’s wishes than to answer himself, so he deferred to her.
But then.
Kang Yebin’s expression was unusual.
It was as if she had seen someone she shouldn’t have seen here.
Ryu Yeon-ah didn’t notice, but perhaps because he was her dad, Kang Dae-oh immediately understood what Kang Yebin was thinking.
A moment later, Kang Yebin completely changed her expression as if nothing had happened and said,
“Yes, that’s great!”
“Thank you, Yebin. Let’s do well together, okay?”
“Yes, sunbaenim!”
At the word ‘sunbaenim,’ Ryu Yeon-ah gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
“The word ‘sunbaenim’ is too much of a burden for me… I haven’t even had a named role before.”
“That’s just how it’s been until now, isn’t it? In the future, you’ll take on many more important roles.”
Ryu Yeon-ah patted Kang Yebin’s head and thanked her once more.
She took it to mean that Kang Yebin was thoughtful and considerate of others, which was why she said such things to her.
However, from Kang Dae-oh’s perspective, it wasn’t that.
‘It seems like Yebin just revealed a secret from the heavens, didn’t she?’
Ryu Yeon-ah.
Kang Dae-oh decided to remember her name.
It was because he thought she might grow into a famous actress representing Korea in the future, just as Kang Yebin predicted.
While everyone else was worried whether Kang Yebin would properly cooperate with the filming, only Kang Dae-oh watched his second daughter acting in front of the camera with a relaxed mind.
“Teacher! I ate all my apple!”
“Oh my! You really did? Our Hyena, you did well. Teacher will give you a praise sticker.”
Kang Yebin smiled shyly and looked at Ryu Yeon-ah.
She was more mature when behind the camera, but when in front of it, she perfectly acted like an ordinary young child about two years older than herself.
Her acting was so good that others didn’t even know Kang Yebin wasn’t attending kindergarten yet.
‘She’s my daughter, but she’s really good.’
Without a single NG, the Kang Yebin and Ryu Yeon-ah team completed all the scenes they were assigned for the day.
Director Kim Gab-young, who had a trauma regarding child actors, held up a megaphone with the brightest smile he had shown all day.
“Good work, everyone! Yeon-ah-ssi, you worked hard. Yebin, you did so well! Please do the same tomorrow!”
“Yes, Director!”
At Kang Yebin’s appearance, answering with her large eyes sparkling, Director Kim Gab-young smiled deeply once more.
However, this smile didn’t last long.
“D-Director! We have a big problem!”
“Why?”
“Th-that is…”
A young staff member whispered something to Director Kim Gab-young.
The moment he heard the news.
A deep sigh escaped Director Kim Gab-young’s lips.
“……They say we have to revise the script now. Ha, I’m going crazy.”
It seemed something big had happened.
