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For Dayeon, Haeun is an undeniable rival.

An audition without Haeun held little significance.

Therefore, I definitely wanted Haeun to participate in the lead audition for “<Busan>,” which I recently learned about.

Going straight to Haeun’s house was just an extension of that.

“Dayeon, there are some roles I really don’t want to do.”

However, the responses I received from Haeun were all refusals.

Afterward, I tried provoking her with comments about her lack of confidence and pleaded with an unusually desperate tone for us to audition together, but Haeun’s answers didn’t change much.

Ultimately, I couldn’t help but question why she was so reluctant to play a sick role.

The only reply I got was a deafening silence.

‘…What is going on?’

What on earth was the issue that made her reject my proposal so firmly, sealing her lips?

After all, it was just acting.

It was merely playing a sick person, just a few coughs and sneezes.

“I don’t want to play a sick role… not ever again.”

What met Dayeon was Haeun’s eyes, swirling with various muddled emotions.

It was a stark contrast to the time when she only showed the emotions the camera required.

Thus, this audition proposal was bound to fail.

However, I had to ensure that she wouldn’t dodge her matchup with me by making excuses.

“Lee Haeun, if my <Busan> surpasses your neighbor’s movie, you’ll have to do whatever I say afterward.”

I set an unrealistically high condition to eliminate any chance of Haeun evading our competition.

After a moment of contemplation, Haeun finally nodded her head.

“Okay. If <Busan> gets over 7 million, I’ll do whatever you say, whether it’s a acting duel or rock-paper-scissors.”

“And one more thing. On opening day, you have to go watch the movie with me.”

“What… Alright.”

Thanks to the memories of my past life, Haeun already knew how well <Busan> would perform.

Since it had come to this, I decided to use this as an excuse to pass on the audition.

After all, I would eventually have to face Haeun in an acting competition.

I didn’t think it was a bad idea to let her achieve the 7 million box office score we’ll reach anyway.

Thus, without Haeun, I proudly passed all the competitors in the audition and won the lead role.

I diligently poured my effort into the filming for a long time, driven by the singular desire to show my acting to Haeun.

After several months passed, the much-anticipated opening day of <Busan> finally arrived.

“Hey, students. This is a 15-rated movie, so you need to have an adult with you.”

“…Just a moment. I’ll go get my guardian.”

And just like that, a minor crisis almost returned everything to vain before we even entered the cinema.

I managed to call my manager, Kim Jinsoo, who was killing time at a PC cafe near the theater and overcame the crisis somehow.

The issue arose not long after entering the cinema with Haeun when the bizarre scenes I’d only seen in the script suddenly filled the screen.

[ Geeeeeeee…!! ]

Shocked, Dayeon let out a high-pitched scream, jerking back.

Almost simultaneously, Haeun’s arms, which had tightly wrapped around Dayeon’s arm and mouth, held her steady.

Following that, the popcorn bucket that Dayeon held toppled over, barely saved from spilling by Haeun’s intervention.

If you really can’t bear to see it, let’s just go, Haeun whispered softly in Dayeon’s ear.

“D-Dayeon! You don’t have to force yourself.”

“I’m… not forcing myself…?”

“Hmm, your expression says otherwise.”

“What’s wrong with my expression?!”

Dayeon was trying her best to feign indifference, but unfortunately for her, even just a few minutes later, a scene even more bizarre and horrifying than the last filled the screen.

[ Kyaaaaaaaa!!!! ]

“!?!??!!??!!?”

Sure enough, she recoiled once more.

And just like that, thud.

“No matter what, I can’t disturb the others.”

“Ugh! Ugh!!”

“Some things just can’t be helped. We should leave before you spill soda again.”

“Uuuuuuuhhh!!”

In the end, Dayeon couldn’t show that hard-earned final scene to Haeun.

Given that Haeun’s memories from the past life remained clarity, she already knew what scene Dayeon wanted to show.

Even if I told her, she wouldn’t believe me, instead treating me like a weirdo.

“The acting you’ve done until now has been good enough. So don’t be too disappointed.”

“Who said anything about it being easy?!”

“I mean it.”

For now, I could only soothe Dayeon, who was still puffing angrily for quite some time.

And since Dayeon, too, had no desire to re-enter the cinema, she had no choice but to calm down eventually.

To sum up, the condition of our promise was for <Busan> to achieve a score similar to or better than <Neighbor Uncle>.

Achieving a figure of 7 million right after the release was realistically a tall order, so all we could do was wait and wait.

About two weeks later.

On the day when Dayeon’s <Busan> finally hit the incredible milestone of 7 million.

“I heard the news. Congratulations, Dayeon.”

Haeun called first to say that Dayeon had fulfilled the condition she’d set.

However, after actually extracting the competitive promise from Haeun,

For some reason, every drama or movie I could choose now seemed lacking to serve as a competition against Haeun.

“I definitely didn’t forget, so brace yourself!”

“…Alright. I’ll be ready.”

A week and three days later, even after <Busan> finally achieved that monumental 10 million record,

I sent nothing but hollow warnings through the phone to Haeun, continually delaying our competition.

However, perhaps because it had been quite a while since any drama or film that suited Dayeon’s expectations had appeared,

“Hey, Dayeon. You’re taking photos with Haeun later, right?”

“…Only if she asks me first.”

As time passed and finally brought the elementary school graduation day,

And after several months had gone by where I wore a tidy school uniform instead of my casual clothes,

“Oh, we’re in the same class again.”

“…They probably put us together to make it easier for the teachers.”

“Uh, Dayeon. It’s not just the teachers; it’s teachers.”

“It’s better than calling them old fogies.”

I kept the promise with Haeun deep in my heart.

Still, since both Haeun and Dayeon were continuing their careers as actresses, I firmly believed that there would come a time for a direct showdown.

However, unlike Dayeon, who had been filming various dramas and movies,

Haeun, who had been acting only sparingly, wasn’t fulfilling my expectations.

“Lee Haeun, are you thinking of retiring from acting?”

Just a few days past the beginning of my third year in middle school, I asked Haeun sincerely and sharply about her feelings.

The response that came back from Haeun was a shake of her head, not up and down but left to right.

“I enjoy acting.”

Having spent nearly nine years glued to Haeun, I knew that much of her statement was not a lie.

Nonetheless, I still couldn’t grasp why she would only act once or twice a year at best.

“Haeun, you said you were all ready for the class audition at the Busca Han. Do you still have ‘preparations’ left to do?”

It was a chance to pry again into Haeun’s true feelings, reaching back into my memories.

After a brief silence, her usual flat tone returned.

“The preparation ended back then. But if I acted constantly, it feels like I’d get bored quickly.”

“Why would you ever get bored of acting?”

“Still, who knows? If I keep filming without rest, I might burn out my image.”

‘…Is this girl trying to diss me right now?’

At first glance, it seemed like Haeun had treated acting as a hobby until now.

But the fervent and serious way Haeun had acted didn’t fit the definition of a hobby.

“Don’t worry too much, Dayeon. I won’t stop acting until I fulfill the promise I made with you. There are still works I really want to film also.”

That response didn’t feel outright insincere either.

Still, I couldn’t let my suspicious expression go, so I resolved to find a project to compete against Haeun before I turned into an adult.

Strictly speaking, neither Dayeon nor Haeun had to audition for any project,

But even without auditioning, there were countless opportunities for competing against Haeun.

For now, I decided to focus only on ensuring Haeun wouldn’t stray from the path of acting.

*

“Hm… Where should I even start organizing?”

Nayoung’s swift hands energetically swung open Haeun’s door, which felt fine enough.

Since the owner of the room wasn’t home, and it wouldn’t do to make an exception for Haeun’s room on a long-awaited cleaning day.

However, upon entering Haeun’s room, it became difficult to determine where to begin.

First, I started to look around the various furniture in Haeun’s room.

The first thing that caught Nayoung’s eyes was the bookshelf packed with worn notebooks and novels.

Next up was the bed that had a giant teddy bear, commonly used for snuggling.

Finally, right in the middle of the room, was the snow-white soundproof booth that took up the most space among all the furniture.

‘…When did she buy a lock to put on that thing?’

At least, unlike other things, that pristine soundproof booth might be something of Haeun’s middle school graduation gift, for which she had certainly taken care to keep it clean.

As a mother, she also recognized that respecting her daughter’s privacy was necessary.

Yet, she couldn’t help but reminisce about Haeun singing in front of her with that adorable face when she was still young.

‘It feels like just yesterday when she’d wobble around. Time really flies…’

It was impossible to suppress the nostalgia for that clear and youthful voice delivered so sweetly.

The moment after she spotted a slightly tilted display case in one corner of Haeun’s room.

-Clink.

Carefully, she pulled the trophies out one by one from the display case.

Then with a little effort, she restored the display case to its proper alignment.

She started cleaning the tarnished trophies with wet tissues, letting them shine again.

Each time she read the various names inscribed at the bottom of the trophies in her head, snippets of old memories sprang to life.

“The best new actress for my first film, the best young actor for my first drama… My daughter is really amazing.”

For quite some time, Nayoung gazed silently at the various shaped trophies, lost in nostalgia.

Around half an hour later, she began returning the trophies, restored to their original shine, back to their rightful places.

Continuing to tidy up Haeun’s room here and there, Nayoung finally felt a sense of satisfaction seeing the now tidy room.

To be precise, it hadn’t been too messy in the first place.

But Nayoung had put in enough heartfelt effort that Haeun would at least notice.

So, at last, ending her vague wish that Haeun would be surprised or pleased upon returning to such a ordered room,

The bright white door that had been wide open until now slowly closed behind Nayoung.

And just a few minutes later.

-Slam!

The door that Nayoung had shut was violently swung open by Haeun, who had looked exceptionally flustered since entering.

There was not a trace of the joy that Nayoung had anticipated at seeing the clean room.

Of course, Haeun had her own reasons.

The next week was supposed to be the application date for the virtual YouTuber group “<Fantasy>“, but it truly ended up being today.

For Haeun, who had been prepared for her dream of being a virtual YouTuber for a long time, it had become urgent.

Thus, she drafted the application in a flash like light and sent it to the work email of the company’s manager.

[Unread]

-Clack.

[Unread]

-Clack.

-Clack clack….

[Read]

“…!”

After an agonizingly long five hours had passed, a “read” notification appeared, and she finally let out a sigh of relief.