Free Web NovelSlender legs adorned with black stockings appeared first, followed by a pair of wide, angular shoulders emphasized by a tight miniskirt and a sleeveless strap top.
Those shoulders were not the kind that suited cross-dressing; they lacked the delicacy sometimes found in smaller-framed men that could rival a woman’s beauty.
Woahhhh!
A long wig tied into a ponytail swayed down to his waist. Smoky eye makeup that contrasted with his pale skin, along with rich purple lipstick, added a decadent touch.
And what completed the whole look was...
“Sister! You’re sexy! Eueu-eck~”
...the sight of Yoomyeong walking out.
A strange allure subtly flowed from him as he walked with one hand on his hip and crossed his legs, making bold, suggestive gestures with a flippant demeanor. His chin was held high, and his eyes were lazily half-lidded.
He resembled a charismatic drag queen.
“Over here! Look at us too!”
“This is crazy. He looks like the most beautiful one.”
“I always thought he was just funny and quiet... but he’s amazing.”
When Yoomyeong, walking the runway, knelt in front of an enthusiastic female student, the cheering reached its peak.
The skirt flared slightly and rolled up precariously, while his eyes deepened with layers of eyeshadow.
Yoomyeong gently lifted the girl’s chin with his left hand, met her eyes, and gave a sly smile.
Dazed—
The female student looked up at him as if entranced. After giving her a light wink, Yoomyeong stood back up.
And as he waved to everyone...
Woooww!
They erupted into a wild round of applause.
At the end of the runway, Yoomyeong turned around.
“Hello, I’m Shin Yoomyeong from class ‘00. While I have your attention, I’d like to make an announcement. During the May festival, the Central Drama Club will be performing, and I’ve been cast. If you enjoyed this performance, please come and see the play.”
He cleverly used the moment to promote himself.
“Woahhhh—”
“I’ll go! I’ll buy all the tickets!”
“Sister!”
“Brother!”
“Sis!”
“Big bro!”
Amid the chaotic shouts of various titles, Group 3’s talent show came to a successful end, and they unanimously won first place.
Meanwhile, Sang Jin... had made a fool of himself all on his own.
.
.
Until the MT ended, Yoomyeong was the star.
Thanks to him, the sophomore executives gave him a thumbs-up for creating the best atmosphere, and the freshmen showed interest in the drama club.
‘Being an insider isn’t easy...’
Yoomyeong, who had returned home, was completely exhausted.
Director Choi Cheol-joo and Assistant Director Sa Jun-han were holding a meeting in advance.
“How many applicants do we have for the role of Kim Cheolsu?”
“Five. Three are members we expected, and one, oh dear, is Park Hansang from ’99. This guy greatly overestimates his abilities.”
“What about the last one?”
“Heh, well... it’s Shin Yoomyeong from class ‘00, aiming for the lead role in his first production.”
Jun-han flipped through Yoomyeong’s application.
“But wasn’t his reading really good?”
“There are people with nice voices who can’t move well. Regardless, it’s unthinkable for him to take a lead or supporting role in his first production. If he looks good today, it might be fine to give him a significant minor role to groom him for a future lead.”
“The ultra-picky Choi Cheol-joo is being lenient? You must like him.”
Jun-han clapped with an “Oh” expression, and Cheol-joo, pretending not to hear, brought up another subject.
“What is Oedipus’ spring performance?”
“Hamlet.”
“The lead role?”
“Seo Ryu Shin. Why are you asking the obvious?”
Cheol-joo wrinkled his nose at Jun-han’s answer. The Changcheon and Oedipus performances were scheduled across three days during the May festival week. It was obvious they would be directly compared.
“We have to perform over the weekend.”
“That’s up to the planning team. We’ll get selected regardless.”
“It will be difficult to win in terms of audience numbers if Seo Ryu Shin is cast as the lead.”
“Don’t worry yet. We might have a stroke of luck on our side.”
Cheol-joo’s expression turned serious. He knew that having the best cast was crucial in their situation.
They proceeded to organize the applicants by desired roles and search for strong candidates.
Chairs scraped against the floor as several people stood up. Yoomyeong also rose and moved toward the center.
The fact that a second-year student with no prior acting experience had applied for a lead role caused a stir among the Changcheon members.
Park Hansang, who was also aiming for the lead role, added fuel to the fire.
‘That guy—I told him to be careful, and now he’s causing a scene again!’
“Starting now, we’ll act out the confrontation scene between Kim Cheolsu and Reporter Kwak from Act 3, Scene 4. Each of you will take turns performing. I will play the opposing role.”
Assistant Director Sa Jun-han announced this as he stepped into the center. Tension crept onto the faces of the five candidates. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Sa Jun-han was a master of character acting. If the prospective leads couldn’t match his energy and were overshadowed, it was clear they wouldn’t make the cut.
“We’ll begin with Gu Won-young.”
The first to act was Gu Won-young from the class of ’98.
Although he was among the top actors in Changcheon, he had always been overlooked for lead roles due to his height and appearance. With Choi Cheol-joo absent this time, he was determined to seize the lead role at any cost.
“Action!”
Won-young began acting from one corner.
Turning his head and scanning the surroundings, he spotted Reporter Kwak emerging from the building and hurried over. Following the script exactly, he grabbed Kwak by the hem of his trousers and rolled on the ground.
Heaving— Heaving—
His ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) breaths came fast and heavy, as though he had been running through the streets moments before. Then, lifting his head, he cried out in desperation.
“Reporter Kwak! Please save our Jina!”
.
.
Clap clap—
Applause erupted throughout the room as Won-young finished his performance.
It was an impressive showing. Kim Cheolsu clung to and pleaded with Reporter Kwak, who coldly brushed him off. The members of the theater team applauded the performance of the two seniors.
Cheol-joo, concealing his satisfaction, jotted down a high score on a blank sheet of paper.
‘Won-young is a good actor, but I’ve held him back in the past. It’s about time for him to take on a lead role.’
After Won-young, a student from the class of ’98 and one senior who had taken a long leave of absence from the class of ’97 performed. However, none matched Gu Won-young’s caliber.
‘It seems like it’s going to be Won-young after all. He has clearly put in a lot of practice. Even though he’s holding the script, he hardly needs to look at it while delivering his lines.’
Just as Choi Cheol-joo’s decision seemed to solidify...
“Fourth, Park Hansang from ’99.”
“Um... I apologize, senior! I urgently need to use the restroom. I’ll be right back!”
“Come back quickly! Then let’s have Shin Yoomyeong from the class of ’00 go first.”
After witnessing his seniors’ outstanding performances, Park Hansang grew nervous. He knew that if he performed after them, comparison would be inevitable. So he feigned a sudden need to go to the restroom.
By letting Yoomyeong perform first, he hoped his own performance wouldn’t seem as lacking by comparison. That was his strategy.
He slipped out of the classroom, and Yoomyeong then took his place at the center of the room.
And then, the acting began.
“Reporter Kwak! Please save our Jina!”
Heavy.
Upon hearing the first line, Cheol-joo thought so.
It sounded like the desperate voice of a weary family man in his forties, not that of a young man in his early twenties.
‘How could such a voice come out?’
“One minute I was held in high regard, and the next I was looked down upon. I never thought the people who praised me as the Spiderman of this era, saving people by climbing the ropes used to clean windows, would turn on me like this.”
“You were happy when things were going well, weren’t you?”
Jun-han, his counterpart, felt differently.
He deliberately averted his gaze, but Yoomyeong’s eyes stubbornly followed. His desperate gaze, as if his life depended on it, made Jun-han genuinely want to ‘escape’ from it.
“Please don’t do this. I let you interview me, let you post my family photo, and I did everything you asked because you told me to trust you. I’m not asking you to republish it. At least provide some explanation. My Jina is too afraid of public scrutiny to go to school.”
Kim Cheolsu’s emotions shifted from pleading to regret, then from regret to anger.
Finally, as security guards rushed out of the building to restrain him, Yoomyeong stumbled backward, rose to his feet, collapsed, and stood up again.
“Reporter! Reporter Kwak!”
Everyone’s mouths hung open in astonishment.
This was especially true for Park Hansang, who had returned from the restroom and was left speechless after witnessing only the second half.
No applause followed.
Everyone was more bewildered than impressed.
“Fi...fifth, Park Hansang from ’99.”
In the end, without any comment, the director called the next person, and Park Hansang stepped forward with an almost tearful expression.
The reaction to his performance was, indeed, pitiful.
It wasn’t just Kim Cheolsu.
Yoomyeong also handled the roles of Reporter Kwak and President Nam impressively. And Hansang went first before Yoomyeong in both turns.
The spectators murmured among themselves.
“Wow. He’s really good. Did he go to some acting school instead of the military for two years?”
“But it seems like Hansang’s acting has declined. I don’t think he was this bad last year.”
“Right. Isn’t he too withdrawn?”
Hansang boiled inside as he heard the murmurs around him.
‘It’s not that my skills have dropped! Try acting after that guy!’
The entire audition ended after three hours.
The directing team moved to another location for their meeting, and pizzas, bought by a senior, were distributed to the hardworking members.
As they ate, the largest crowd gathered around Yoomyeong.
“Wow~ Is this really your first time acting?”
“Ah, yes...”
“You seem like a genius, no?”
“A genius? I just read the script diligently at home.”
“Does practice make everything possible? There are people who still can’t act even after numerous attempts.”
It was a senior who spoke, briefly glancing at Hansang.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the classroom across the hall was serious.
“I think Shin Yoomyeong did the best.”
“He was on par with Won-young. Also, there’s no precedent in Changcheon for giving the leading role to a newcomer.”
“Hey, Choi Cheol-joo. Didn’t we say when we were sophomores that we should break that damn tradition of Changcheon? Does it make sense to hold back a talented kid just because they’re young?”
“We only saw one scene. I acknowledge that he has a sense for acting, but do you think he has the stamina to carry the entire third act?”
As Cheol-joo stubbornly argued, Jun-han put a hand to his forehead.
“Okay, let’s say that’s the case for the lead role. What about Reporter Kwak?”
“It’s the same. Although Kwak is a supporting character, he’s essentially a co-lead. He’s a key figure who drives the entire incident. It’s too much to give to a sophomore in the first semester.”
“Ah... This is why Changcheon falls behind Oedipus.”
When the irritated Jun-han brought up a sensitive issue, Cheol-joo grew angry.
“What did you say, you bastard?!”
“When did Seo Ryu Shin first get a leading role? Right when he entered school. And he’s been a star of Oedipus ever since! But what about us? We usually don’t get our first leading roles until our third year. That’s why we fall behind Oedipus in terms of lead actor charisma and fandom.”
Choi Cheol-joo gritted his teeth at Jun-han’s blunt argument, but he didn’t respond.
That was because it wasn’t often that the usually composed and smooth-talking Jun-han got this angry. He also knew that Jun-han would eventually get his way.
“Seo Ryu Shin was a child actor. This is different. Besides, I’m the director, right?”
“Yes, Director Choi. Should the assistant director resign as of today?”
“Let’s give Shin Yoomyeong the role of President Nam. That role is quite important, too. I didn’t originally plan to give even that to a beginner.” freёweɓnovel.com
“...”
“You try training him well. If you think he has the potential to be a lead, I’ll consider it for the autumn performance.”
Being a lead in the second semester of the sophomore year was not common, but it wasn’t unprecedented.
“Ah, Choi Cheol-joo, seriously!”
“Let’s go, my wife!”
“Ah, get lost!”
In the theater, the director was often referred to as the father, while the assistant director was the mother.
They headed back to the lecture hall to announce the list of those who passed.
2003 Changcheon Spring Performance <Ambitious Dream>
Kim Cheolsu — Gu Won-young
Reporter Kwak — Kang Seok-ho
President Nam — Shin Yoomyeong
Lee Young-suk — Bae Suhyun
Kim Jina — Shin Nahyun
...Subordinate 1 of President Nam — Park Hansang
