There Are Four Top Idol Uncles - Chapter 213

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Part 2, Episode 39
Mun Hyeok as the male lead.
Yewon went blank.
In her past life, the male lead had been a different actor, not Mun Hyeok.
‘I figured he’d be replaced since he wasn’t even from our school in the first place… but I never saw this coming.’
She had no idea how much the future would diverge.
Yewon felt something strange as she watched Yu Eun-o and Hyuk sitting side by side.
Everything about them was different—their appearance, their atmosphere, even their posture.
Yu Eun-o sat perfectly upright, writing something with quick, crisp strokes, his expression sharp and alert as a blade.
Mun Hyeok gave the actor performing in front of him quiet, consistent support to ease their nerves, meeting their eyes with steady calm.
They were nothing alike, from head to toe.
Yewon’s gaze shifted to the senior actress performing in front of them.
She was performing a scene from .
‘…She wants to look beautiful.’
It was obvious that she was forcing too much effort into her acting overall. Every gesture was more exaggerated than the script called for, and her movements were oversized.
The real problem was that in her refusal to abandon prettiness, there was no subtlety to her performance.
Her movements were flashy, but her face held only a pretty expression.
It was completely different from how Yewon had interpreted the female lead.
‘But then again…’
In her past life, Yewon’s interpretation of the female lead had aligned with Director Yu Jeong-seok’s vision. But would it align with how Yu Eun-o interpreted the role?
What if Yu Eun-o wanted a female lead like that?
There was no right answer in acting or character interpretation.
And so Yewon was growing increasingly anxious. The past and future had diverged so much that she couldn’t predict anything anymore.
“But wasn’t the script really difficult? I’ve never done sign language acting before, so I’m having trouble adjusting.”
Just then, Jeongyun let out a small sigh beside her and spoke.
“Yeah. I watched the video the chairman sent too… acting wasn’t easy for me either.”
Harin nodded in agreement.
It was rare to hear Harin, who usually accepted any type of acting with equanimity, speak like this—but Yewon wasn’t surprised.
She knew well herself how difficult this role was.
“Sign language acting is something I’ve never done in my life. The idea that they expect us to practice it in just one day is insane.”
“Right.”
“That’s why all the seniors in front made mistakes too. And the scene isn’t even that long.”
Yewon nodded slightly at Jeongyun’s words.
Trying sign language acting for the first time… it was easy to make mistakes. Performing a language you’d never used before smoothly in one take was nearly impossible.
This was precisely where Yewon had an overwhelming advantage over the others.
She had already performed sign language acting perfectly once before.
Then.
Poke.
She felt someone jab her back.
“?!”
Yewon spun around in surprise and found Seo-a there.
Her face was filled with dissatisfaction, even more than usual.
“Oh, Seo-a’s here.”
“…Yeah.”
Seo-a answered as if she couldn’t help having poked her, then hesitated a moment before speaking.
“Did you… find it easy when you practiced?”
“!”
It was an unexpected question.
Why would she want to know that?
“No. It was really difficult.”
Yewon answered honestly despite her bewilderment.
It had been difficult both when she first practiced and yesterday when she went over it again.
Reviving that feeling after seven years was genuinely tight on time.
“…So you found it difficult too?”
Ah.
That’s what this was about.
Yewon realized that Seo-a was feeling anxious about her own skill.
“Yeah. I don’t think any actor would find this role easy. Actually… I think good actors would understand just how difficult it is.”
Yewon smiled gently and reassured her.
“….”
Seo-a stared at Yewon with an odd expression at her response, then abruptly turned and left.
It wasn’t Yewon who felt indignant at that cold behavior—it was Jeongyun and Harin.
“Seriously, she’s too much. Yewon gave her such a sincere answer and she didn’t even say thank you! Yewon, don’t let her take advantage of you. She’ll never appreciate anything you do for her.”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
Harin expressed strong agreement with Jeongyun’s words.
“Ha ha….”
But instead of agreeing, Yewon only scratched her cheek a little.
Her friends weren’t wrong. But she thought she understood what was in Seo-a’s heart.
When anyone’s desperate, it becomes hard to care about another person’s feelings.
And so.
She just wanted to do what she could.
* * *
After the second-year auditions concluded following the third-year auditions,
“Bringing in Seo-a Kang.”
Whether they were going through interviews in alphabetical order or not, Seo-a was the first among the first-years.
When Seo-a’s name was called, all eyes turned toward her.
Seo-a stepped into the Practical Skills Room as though she couldn’t see anyone’s gaze.
Yewon rose on her tiptoes again to peer inside the Practical Skills Room.
Since it was Sign Language Acting from beginning to end, the fact that she couldn’t hear the sound inside the room almost felt like an advantage.
Then.
“Move over to the side a bit.”
“?!”
Seo Gyeong-woo suddenly appeared, pushing through the students.
“M-sir?”
“Why. You all get to watch, but I can’t?”
“No, sir…. Of course you can….”
It was just strange that until now he hadn’t watched, and suddenly he wanted to see Seo-a first.
“She’s my student.”
“!”
“So I should look after her.”
“Wow. Sir. That’s so touching.”
Jeongyun beside him spoke with what seemed like genuine emotion, even pouting her lips.
“You’re not in my class, are you?”
“I’m not, but sir, I’d love to be. Why can’t I transfer now?”
“No way. Go back. Try again next year.”
At his blunt response, the students’ shoulders sagged and they refocused on the Practical Skills Room.
And so Seo-a’s performance began.
‘…Certainly.’
Yewon nodded quietly as she watched Seo-a perform.
She’d sensed it during class last time too, but the direction of her Character Interpretation was good. Her emotional beats were solid, and she had almost no bad habits.
Yet….
“Hm?”
The other students seemed to sense what Yewon felt, and they began to tilt their heads in confusion.
“Why is she doing that…?”
Harin murmured, sounding genuinely curious.
“It’s not that she interpreted the character that way—it’s like she completely rewrote the character’s entire setting.”
“No.”
“!”
At Yewon’s response, Jeongyun, Harin, and even Seo Gyeong-woo looked at her.
“It’s not that. I think it’s Seo-a’s own issue. It was the same during the acting practice class before.”
“…!”
At those words, the students hurriedly looked back at Seo-a.
And they fell silent, as if catching on to something.
Only Gyeong-woo looked back at Yewon, not understanding what she meant.
“What do you mean? She seems to be doing well?”
“….”
Yewon hesitated for a moment. Should I even be saying this about Seo-a’s problem?
“She’s not making eye contact.”
“!”
It wasn’t Yewon who answered—it was Harin.
“Right now, Mun Hyeok is playing the other role. He’s just reading the lines, but… so when I perform opposite him, I should be fine. Except my gaze keeps sliding away.”
It was true.
Seo-a was making far less eye contact than she had during the last practical session.
It was probably the nerves—this was a real audition, after all.
“…You’re really having that problem?”
Seo Gyeong-woo nodded, as if only now noticing it.
The four of them fell silent.
They all felt it.
If even from this distance it was visibly obvious that she wasn’t meeting his eyes, how glaringly apparent would it be to the judges?
No one was ignorant of how fatal it could be for an actor to have the habit of avoiding eye contact with their scene partner.
The three girls, who understood the weight of it all the more deeply, felt their hearts grow heavier.
Yewon looked at Yu Eun-o and Hyuk.
Hyuk was responding to Seo-a as naturally as he could manage, but Yewon, who had known him long enough, could feel it—his pity for her, plain beneath the surface.
Then what about Yu Eun-o?
Yewon turned her attention to him, only to find herself startled.
Those eyes….
Unmistakably….
‘He’s intrigued.’
It was a starkly different look than the one he’d worn watching the second and third-year students.
She didn’t know if the others had caught it, but Yewon could sense it plainly.
Yu Eun-o was watching Seo-a with genuine interest.
The moment her eyes met that gaze….
Thump.
It felt as though a massive stone had fallen through her chest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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