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TL: Kind of getting tired on seeing Tilted his head on any sentences. That’s why I will be changing them from time to time. In raws tilted his head is used constantly because the act of tilting the head signifies confusion. And the author describe more of the action than the confusion the person felt.
“You will still be going to audition on the stage. For now, sit in any seat you would like seat and wait for the director to call you.”
“On the stage?”
“Yes. Shooting in Movies and acting on plays are different, you still need to experience acting on stage even if only the Blue Dragon’s voice is needed. This is a test to see if you have stage fright. Also, you still need to coordinate with the others actor on stage and the behind-the-scenes staff.”
At the words of the staff, An Daho and Seojun looked at the stage again. Well, if he were scared on the stage when there was no audience, he would not be able to stand on the stage when the audience was full.
“Then please wait a moment.”
The staff left, Seojun and An Daho sat in a relatively hidden part. Children and guardians who came to audition in several places were seen.
There was child crying while looking around the stage and the audience. Meanwhile, his guardian was comforting him.
Another child was running around because he likes the large place and his guardian was just looking at his cell phone. There was also a child who was busy reading the script.
Seojun, wearing a black baseball hat, was looking alternately between the audience and the stage.
It was very different from the small theater where the Wind Troupe was Playing. The stage was spacious, clean, and there were many audience seats.
There was also a little distance between the stage and the audience.
‘Hmm. This is very different from what I initially thought.’
The stage that Seojun thought of was small enough to see the sweat of the actor even if it was bigger than the Wind’s theater.
An Daho saw Seojun’s troubled expression and asked him.
“Is there anything you don’t like?”
“No, the stage is bigger than I thought. I thought it would be smaller than this.”
At Seojun’s words, An Daho recalled that he went to the small theater of the Wind Troupe.
“A small theater-like from that small troupe?”
“Huh? How did Daho know?”
An Daho laughed. As a fan of Seojun, he watched ‘My Neighborhood’ play as soon as the picture of Seojun and Lee Ji-Seok was released.
“I watched that play, too. But you can’t act in such a small theater.”
“Why can’t I?”
Seojun was confused at An Daho’s words.
Isn’t it good that the audience could even see the chest of the actor breathing, see their sweat closely and hear their voice as if he was speaking to them face to face?
“It would be dangerous for you to act in a very close stage from the audience. There might be people who would break into the stage during a play or throw something at you on the stage.”
“There people like that?” Seojun’s eyes went wide at An Daho’s words.
An Daho smiled bitterly. He was in the entertainment industry for only two years, but he saw every black handed things that happens.
“So for safety, it’s better to have the stage away from the audience.”
“Yes.”
Seojun, who was looking between the auditorium and the stage with a sad face, raised his head and asked.
“What about the members of Wind Theater Company? Are they okay?”
“There’s no big accident, but there could be some small incident. They are all adults, so they’ll do better than Seojun.”
“That’s a relief.”
Seojun was relieved. He looked at An Daho.
“How come you know it?”
When asked by Seojun, he answered without hesitation.
“That’s what managers do. I have to pay attention to what the actors don’t usually look into. The Wind Troupe has a relationship with Seojun, and they are still a hot topic, so I should know about them.”
It was amazing that he even knew the current situation of the Wind Troupe.
Cocoa Entertainment Team 2 was watching what moves will Wind troupe do in order to prevent any damages that may happen to Seojun’s name. Today, a text message arrived on An Daho’s cell phone saying, “The Wind is fine!”
“I see.”
Seojun did not know what is happening at Cocoa Entertainment so he just nodded.
At that time, the lights among the audience were turned off. The stage became brighter, while the path to the stage lightly brightened up so that it was not dangerous to walk.
[Hello.]
The voice rang throughout theater. Both the children running around and the children reading the script looked at the stage. A woman was standing under the spotlight.
(TL: it is confirmed here that the director is a woman so I will be using she. Ji-Soo is kind of gender neutral name so it was unknown if the author refers to a woman or a man.)
“I’m Park Ji-Soo, director of Spring, a Children’s Play.”
The woman said hello. At first no one clapped, only Seojun. After a while, the whole theater rang a round of applause.
“The audition for Blue Dragon will begin soon. Please stand by and wait until we call your number.”
“Do the children have to go up there alone?”
When asked by a guardian, Director Park Ji-soo nodded and said.
“Yes. Guardians will remain on their seats. Applicants will come on the stage alone and act out the lines in the script. Do you have any more questions?”
The audience was quiet.
Director Park Ji-soo nodded, went down the stairs, and sat in the front row.
When Seojun went to see her from a far, other people went to sit beside Park Ji-soo. They are probably officials such as music directors, lighting directors, and assistant directors.
“Candidate 1, please come out.”
A sobbing sound came from somewhere at the words of Director Park Ji-soo.
“What’s wrong with you? You need to go in stage!”
“No! I’m scared!”
He was a child frightened by the large concert hall. He seemed anxious even before but he eventually burst into tears. His guardian soothed him with a restless face, but he remained still.
“The first applicant?”
“Hold on! You said you wanted to be like Lee Seojun. Are you going to give up here?”
“Who said I wanted to be like Lee Seojun? My mom is the one who said so!”
The words of the child and the guardian rang throughout the whole quiet concert hall.
Seojun and An Daho, who did nothing wrong with the two’s words, flinched. Officials who knew who was auditioning today also flinched.
“Dad is like that too! I told you I don’t want it!”
Eventually, the guardian left the concert hall with the child wailing loudly. Director Park Ji-soo sighed and lifted the microphone again.
“Candidate number two.”
“I don’t want to do it either!”
The naughty child, who was running around the concert hall earlier, ran bravely towards the door of the concert hall and got out.
As if they had already expected, before leaving the hall, the guardians bowed their heads and apologized, and followed after the child.
Officials were already accustomed to it after three days of auditions and all the staff continued without any interruption.
“3rd applicant, please come out.”
No one even stood at the words of Director Park Ji-soo.
The applicant seemed to have left without saying a word. Officials changed the application papers without shaking their heads.
Of the 10 applicants, 6 went on the stage. Among them, three children memorized half of their audition lines.
There was only one child who could even act. Although, his acting was also thanks to the guardian’s hard work below the stage in guiding him.
“Blue Dragon. What’s wrong with the applicants?”
“I know. The other roles has still some children who acted seriously.”
Everyone who auditioned as the main character acted decent that resulted to the guardians almost fighting to each other for just the role.
“Because the audience will not be able to see their faces. Who wants to act where only their voices comes out?”
Officials who came up with the reasoning tried to sigh but saw the last application.
“Here it is.”
“Yes. All I need is this actor.”
Director Park Ji-soo held the microphone.
Employees who were counting the number of children outside the concert hall gently opened the door and sat in the audience.
“Is this okay?”
“It’s okay. It’s okay. If not now, when would I be able to see Lee Seojun’s acting in person?”
“Sunbae!”
“Why?”
“Aren’t you the CEO?”
Everyone turned their heads at someone’s words. The president of the Milky Way, who was contacted by the assistant director, quietly entered the concert hall and settled near the screening seat. After that, the other superiors also appeared.
While Seojun was waiting for director Park Ji-soo’s call, almost all the people who knew about actor Lee Seojun’s appearing in the concert hall arrived.
Unlike a while ago, when it was empty, the audience seats were now half-full, and unlike Seojun, who showed no sign of being famous, An Daho was able to confirm his actor’s popularity and smiled without realizing it.
Director Park Ji-soo looked and the audience and said, “I think everyone is here.”
[Applicant no.11 please come out]
It was now Seojun’s turn.
An Daho fixed Seojun’s hair after taking his baseball cap.
“Hey! I’ll be back”.
“Yes, Seojun. Good luck!”
“Yes!”
Seojun looks like he wanted to run toward the stage.
“Don’t run!”
At the words of An Daho, he slowed down.
Everyone held their breath and looked at Seojun.
Seojun stood on the stage.