Free Web Novel"Just before she was about to become a prima, she developed a problem with a ligament in her toe. It wasn’t an injury, but damage caused by excessive practice. They said recovery was nearly impossible."
"That must have been hard..."
What would it feel like to suddenly lose the ability to do the one thing you excelled at?
He had endured fifteen years of obscurity because of his passion for acting, but if he returned to that time, would he still have continued?
The color drained from Yoomyeong’s face.
"You seem to know a lot about her."
"It’s a famous story among ballet fans. She was beautiful, came from a good family, and despite having everything, she practiced harder than anyone. Everyone rooted for her. They said she was always the first to arrive at the Aurora practice studio and the last to leave."
"I see..." freёwebnovel.com
"It was heartbreaking to imagine what she would fill her life with after devoting everything to ballet... but it seems she became an actress instead. That’s fortunate."
Could that really be called becoming an actress?
Yoomyeong didn’t tell Jiyeon any more than that.
He could imagine how she must have felt, and it pained him.
The most important issue, securing investors, had already been resolved. However, because the lead and supporting actors had been selected first, the staff setup began later. An assistant director and a casting manager from the film company joined, and the director began preparing in earnest for production.
Filming was scheduled for April.
Director Ki paired the lead and supporting actors together for practice.
It wasn’t common, but because of the nature of both ballet and acting, Yoomyeong needed to learn more ballet, while Seryeon needed to learn more acting.
"I’ll be busy assembling the team, handling casting, and checking locations. The two of you should help each other while practicing. I’ll occasionally join you to discuss the script and character interpretations."
They rented a practice studio.
It was a small studio with full length mirrors and ballet barres.
Fortunately, Yoomyeong was on leave from school, and Seryeon was unemployed, so they had plenty of time.
Seryeon began helping Yoomyeong develop a body suited to a ballerina.
"Please design a program for me to lose about five kilograms."
"Aren’t you already thin enough?"
"Since I’m playing the Phantom, I think a more pronounced skeletal line would suit the role better."
Yoomyeong actively made use of professional expertise.
Even if he had rigorously trained his body as an actor, it couldn’t compare to a ballerina’s. Ballerinas constantly shaped their bodies to appear as beautiful as possible on stage.
"Ballet movements, like standing on tiptoe or lifting a leg, are mostly performed in unstable positions. So balance has to be centered at all times. Core strength, back muscles, and abdominal muscles are extremely important. Even though Yoomyeong doesn’t plan to continue ballet, the upper body will still be captured on camera..."
"Train me as if I intend to continue. Not at an amateur level. Professional level."
"You won’t regret saying that, will you? Hehe."
On the other hand, when it came to teaching acting, Yoomyeong was ruthless.
"That expression looks more angry than frightened."
"Sister, when you act, you’re too naive, especially during ballet scenes."
"Bring the expressiveness of ballet more precisely into your facial expressions. In the end, it’s the same thing."
"Don’t just make beautiful expressions. Sorrow, anger, jealousy. Make it more raw...!"
Contrary to her first impression, Seryeon was surprisingly gentle.
She still wrapped herself in flashy clothes, but the moment she entered the practice room, changed into training clothes, and tied up her hair, she became ballerina Yoon Seryeon again, immersing herself in practice with diligence and persistence.
Seryeon also began to grow fond of Yoomyeong.
At first, she hadn’t expected much and thought things might not work out. But after seeing his acting, she felt, perhaps for the first time, that the story she dreamed of could truly be brought to life onscreen. As they practiced together, she came to recognize his genuine talent and passion, and her trust in him steadily deepened.
As time passed, they grew closer.
"Yoomyeong, the internal acting in this scene is..."
They became deeply immersed.
"Sister, the center of gravity in that pas de deux just now was..."
A partner.
It was a title Yoomyeong had never once encountered in fifteen years of acting.
For the first time, he was able to share his perspective with a fellow actor and understand what it meant to truly resonate with someone.
Then one day, Director Ki Do-han brought in a stand in ballerina.
"She’s a dance major from Woondae University. Her physique is similar to Seryeon’s, and even the aura she gives off while dancing feels alike. We still haven’t found a stand in for you yet, Yoomyeong."
"Hello. I’m Moon Soojin."
She smiled brightly and gave a small bow.
When she saw Seryeon, recognition briefly crossed her face with an unspoken ‘Ah...’, but she said nothing.
"Could we see Giselle’s solo from Act 2? The section with the jeté?"
"Yes."
She changed into her practice clothes and began warming up.
She took a pair of ballet shoes from her bag and put them on.
For a moment, Yoomyeong thought Seryeon’s expression darkened.
As the music began,
Soojin arched her back like a drawn bow and performed a sauté.
Then she quickly executed a pirouette in place.
After that came a demi plié, followed by a grand jeté.
Seryeon, who had watched silently, applauded.
"You’re excellent. You seem more than qualified to be my stand in."
It was a sign of approval.
Even after they left, Yoomyeong and Seryeon continued practicing late into the night, only preparing to leave once it had grown dark outside.
"Sister, aren’t you leaving?"
"Yeah, I’ll go soon. You head out first."
Yoomyeong put on his sneakers and left ahead of her, but after reaching the bus stop, he realized he had forgotten his script and turned back.
He expected the practice room to be empty, but the melody of Giselle was still playing.
Thud— Tap— Thud—
Moonlight streamed through the practice room windows.
Beyond the glass door, the silhouette of a ballerina dancing was clearly visible.
Her arms, illuminated by moonlight, gleamed white.
Those arms traced a large circle before slowly descending.
Both arms gathered fully before her chest, then stretched yearningly toward the sky.
As she bent from the waist, the line from the back of her head to her waist formed a flawless, graceful arc.
When her outstretched hands drew inward toward her chest, they conveyed Giselle’s betrayal, despair, and pleading.
Every detail, down to her fingertips, was a sublime work of art. It surpassed anything the stand in ballerina from earlier could hope to imitate.
‘With skills like this... if even she can’t...’
His chest tightened painfully.
This Giselle, so heartbreakingly beautiful that she seemed to tug directly at the viewer’s soul, bent down to put on her pointe shoes.
‘Huh...?’
Then she rose en pointe.
Her right leg trembled.
From that position, after a préparation,
A grand jeté.
‘No... she can’t!’
Only then did Yoomyeong realize what she was trying to do. He hurriedly threw open the door and rushed inside, but—
Thud—
Seryeon failed to land properly and collapsed to the floor.
"Sister...!"
She clutched her right foot, unable even to scream at first, only gasping for breath.
Once she had finally calmed down, she looked up at Yoomyeong with an embarrassed smile.
"Oh... Didn’t you... go home?"
"What were you thinking?!"
"..."
"..."
"I used to be really good at jetés..."
Tears shimmered in the moonlight as they fell.
"Really?"
"In the nineteenth century, Marie Taglioni rose to prominence through her en pointe technique. They say her dancing looked so light and beautiful, as though she were a fairy floating weightlessly through the air."
"Oh, so that’s why ballet... But it looks incredibly difficult."
"Hehe. There’s probably no one who learns ballet without cursing Marie Taglioni at least once. Your toenails fall off, blood seeps out, and sometimes the pus inside your shoes hardens so badly that when you take them off, chunks of flesh come away too. You literally learn while crying."
"If it’s that hard, why keep doing it?"
"Ballet is a dance that endlessly reaches toward the sky."
"..."
"You straighten your back, lift your pelvis, stretch your arms to their limit, and in the end, rise onto your toes to reach for a heavenly beauty that doesn’t °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° even seem real."
"I see."
"But now, I can’t dance en pointe anymore."
In the moonlit practice room, the two leaned against one wall and talked quietly. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Night made people honest.
"It’s a ligament essential for maintaining balance. Even with intensive rehabilitation, the chances are very slim."
"..."
"I still tried to push through, but my father opposed it fiercely. Since my mother died early, he became extremely attached to his only remaining daughter. You saw him come to the company with my uncle before."
Yoomyeong listened silently.
"And it’s already been two years. My father isn’t narrow minded, even if he’s overprotective, so he told me to try everything I couldn’t do while dancing ballet. Eat delicious food without worrying about weight, go clubbing, get fancy pedicures..."
"But none of it was fun."
A bitter smile crossed her face.
"Some days I cried, and on others I laughed like a madwoman. Then one day, I happened to read the fairy tale about the red shoes."
"I was furious. If it were me, if I could only dance, even if it meant dancing day and night forever, I never would’ve cut off my feet."
Creak—
The record player finished one track and moved to the next.
It was the final scene of Act 1.
The music of Giselle dancing herself into madness after Albrecht’s betrayal.
"Christine from was the same. Chosen by the god of music, what did an ugly face matter? Compared to that, what was love? Opportunities like that don’t come to just anyone."
There was subtle emphasis on the words ‘just anyone.’
"That’s why I wrote this script. A protagonist chosen by the god of ballet, someone who would close her eyes to everything else and commit even sins if it meant devoting herself completely to ballet."
"I want to become that Yoon Hwaran."
Yoomyeong quietly listened until she had poured everything out.
Though she spoke as though she had given up, what she truly wanted was—
"...Sister, do you want to try rehabilitation again? Even if the possibility is small."
"...Well... Dad is trying to give me something, anything, even if it isn’t ballet. That’s why, when he found the script I wrote, he said he would fully invest in it and urged me to begin production quickly. He hopes I can find meaning somewhere else in life, whether through writing or acting..."
"..."
"But surprisingly, once I started, it was fun. As for ballet... it’s already been two years. Even if I somehow overcome those slim odds and complete rehabilitation successfully, I don’t know if I’ll ever dance the way I used to. Now I’m even afraid to try."
Yoomyeong fell silent for a moment.
"There was a time when I couldn’t act no matter how hard I tried."
"..."
"But one day, almost as if by fate, I found myself able to act the way I wanted. So when I first heard about your situation, I wondered something. After experiencing the joy of acting and receiving recognition for it, if I returned to the days when I couldn’t act at all, would I still continue?"
"...What do you think?"
"It would be difficult, but... I think I still would."
Seryeon’s eyes wavered.
"Even if I had to start over from the beginning and could never act the way I do now, no matter how hard I tried, I think I could still endure another fifteen years. Beyond that, I can’t say for sure because I’ve never experienced it, but..."
Fifteen years.
The length of time Yoomyeong had spent struggling unseen in the shadows.
An honest truth without exaggeration.
Seryeon only knew that he was twenty four years old, so she couldn’t fully grasp the weight behind those words, but she could tell he wasn’t lying. The moonlight itself seemed to bear witness.
"Of course, there’s no right answer. Everyone’s answer is different. Let’s keep thinking about it together until filming ends. After all, you’re my partner."
His first partner. The words carried profound meaning.
Yoomyeong stood and extended his hand to her.
Seryeon took it, and Yoomyeong moved the tonearm on the turntable, letting the pas de deux music play. They had practiced it repeatedly so the stand ins could imitate their facial angles for filming.
The two spun beneath the moonlight.
Though they wore no pointe shoes, nor executed perfect fouettés,
their upper bodies portrayed Giselle and Albrecht more beautifully than anyone else could.
