“Th-That’s not it. What I prepared… is a bit of a sweet, lovey-dovey scene…”
Sohee explained the reason for her sudden hesitation like that.
Hearing that caught me a little off guard.
But honestly… if she had just started acting it out casually, I probably wouldn’t have been all that flustered.
But coming all this way and then acting like she was self-conscious about it… that suddenly made the whole atmosphere weird.
“R-Really?! Oh… just do it then! Haha… I-I am curious, though.”
Hearing Sohee’s words, Ahyeon also seemed pretty flustered.
She answered while stumbling over her words.
Not just her voice—even her gaze was wavering, with nowhere to settle.
“Mm… Okay, I’ll try it then!”
The moment Ahyeon’s words fell, Sohee steadied her breath like someone who had been waiting for that permission.
For some reason, my own opinion didn’t seem to matter at all here.
Honestly, I was just as flustered as anyone.
What in the world is a sweet, lovey-dovey scene supposed to be…
Ah, of course, I have done that kind of scene with Choi Ahyeon before.
No, I haven’t actually done it—it only existed in theory.
I read the script Ahyeon handed me just the same, and there, sure enough, a stage direction like (tightly embraces 00) was clearly inserted.
But Ahyeon, at that part…
She just brushed it off with a “let’s pretend I did it” kind of lazy move.
Where on earth did she pick up that kind of convenient shortcut phrasing?
Well, even so, the lines themselves were about the two characters confirming their feelings for each other.
Anyway.
“Oh, but I don’t have the script, so…”
Sohee in front of me was deep in getting into character…
Maybe it was me who broke her focus with that sudden comment.
As I said that, I could see Sohee’s eyebrows twitch quickly in irritation.
But really, I had nothing in my hands… so how was I supposed to play off her?
“It’s fine. You don’t have to follow the script exactly. Watch my acting… and just show me what you think you’d do—how you’d react if you were him.”
But that irritation was only fleeting, and she spoke to me in that always-gentle voice she used.
“Okay… sure, got it.”
“Alright, then, again…”
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“Don’t go…. Don’t leave me.”
Sohee started her acting with an unexpectedly desperate voice.
Sweet and lovey-dovey…?
Anyway, that line seems to be mine next… is that right?
She wants me to just freestyle it?!
“Ah… I-I mean, I have to. I have to go. Sorry.”
I gave it my best guess.
And sure enough, my choice seemed to be the right one.
“Hey… there’s something I really want to say. So just… hear me out, please. I’m begging you.”
Next came a voice laced with sorrow and yearning.
“What is it?”
“When you suddenly leave this house like that… I get so scared. Scared that you won’t come back once you leave. Scared that you’ll suddenly find me annoying. Scared that the words ‘I love you’ coming from your mouth are just out of obligation. Scared that you’ll turn your eyes to other women. With so many prettier girls out there, scared you’ll think you got stuck with me. Scared that leaving this house quickly will feel like a breath of fresh air to you. So I’m so anxious. So anxious I feel like I’m going crazy.”
Sohee delivered that long monologue in a single breath.
At the end of it… her voice sounded like she was choking. Even so, it felt like she was forcing herself to spit out every last word no matter what.
From my perspective as the listener, it was stressful. Yeah, to be honest… it really started to wear me down.
Is that just how the character is?
“Stop it. What are you even saying? You acting like this…”
Maybe that was why those words naturally slipped out of my mouth too.
A line born from honest feelings. Nobody told me to, but I found myself immersed without realizing it.
And then.
-She grabbed me suddenly.
Sohee yanked me into an embrace.
She buried her face into my chest, her body trembling.
Is this… really okay to do…?!
I-I’m not a professional, so honestly, this is a bit flustering…
“W-Wait a second!”
As I stood there, unable to do anything with Sohee pressed against me, staring blankly with an awkward expression,
Ahyeon’s urgent voice cut between the two of us.
I just turned my head to look at Ahyeon.
Afterward, Sohee also let go of me, stepping back and putting some distance.
But Sohee’s expression was a bit strange.
How should I put it… even for me to guess feels a little uncomfortable.
Like the face of someone who just felt a rush of euphoria. Or maybe thrill?
But at the same time, there seemed to be a hint of annoyance mixed in.
A face full of emotions whose origins I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
Because she was always such a gentle and pure person, it seemed like all those feelings were showing without any filter.
“Aah-! How could you just cut it off like that-! Ahyeonaa-!”
Sohee quickly fixed that ambiguous expression and returned to her usual self.
Then she whined at Ahyeon with a cutesy tone.
“You don’t… have to go that far. It’s not even real anyway.”
Ahyeon explained her reason for stopping them.
Makes sense—when it came to moments like this, she always had that all-purpose “let’s pretend I did it” trick.
“But then the emotion doesn’t land…! She’s a yandere heroine…”
What… so she really was acting a character with that kind of trait.
Then she was acting it perfectly.
“Still… just pretend and move on. There’s no need to actually do that kind of real physical contact right now…”
“Mm… then we’re done here.”
Figures—I wondered why it never came up.
Anyway, after that, Sohee seemed a bit deflated and said she wanted to stop there.
Her immersion had been completely shattered, so… I could understand that feeling.
“So, Jinho! What did you think?”
Sohee looked at me with sparkling eyes, demanding my thoughts.
“To be honest… it was really annoying, you know? Just hearing it made me tired, irritated, and like I was already fed up. But… hearing that you actually acted as that yandere character on purpose… I was shocked.”
Yeah, that’s my honest review.
Hearing that it was intentional… I couldn’t help but be surprised.
And I went in with no prior context—so it meant she perfectly conveyed the emotions she intended.
I do think Sohee might be misunderstanding what “sweet and lovey-dovey” means… but anyway.
“Really?! Wow-!! What part made you feel that way?”
“Especially… that part where you listed all those things you were scared of in one breath. When you spoke like you were about to choke… that was…”
“Oh my god, you caught that point too?! I deliberately added a variation there to try it out.”
“Really? Thinking back on it now, that part stuck with me the most.”
“What a relief. I need to jot that down. I should try that with my teacher later too.”
“You’re even taking notes…? I-I’m just an ordinary person here…”
“Mm-hmm, no. If anything, we’re the ones who act for people like you to watch. It’s important.”
As we shared our thoughts, I naturally ended up talking with Sohee for a while.
The impression was deep enough on my end too, so maybe I got a little carried away in the conversation.
And in that moment, Ahyeon’s presence in the room felt faint, like it had faded away entirely.
***
With the acting practice roughly wrapped up,
the atmosphere was shifting toward heading home.
“I should get going now. Whew- I feel like I gained way more than I expected today.”
Sohee said that with a satisfied look on her face.
Like a child who just ate a delicious meal to their heart’s content, with a happy, full-bellied expression.
Seeing that, I felt a sense of pride somewhere in my heart too.
“Glad to hear it. Glad I could be of help.”
“Mm. If it’s okay… can we do this again next time? I want to try out even more things then!”
Sohee looked at me with passionate eyes and said that.
Next time.
Well… the only reason I can do this kind of thing for Sohee is because I’m acting as Choi Ahyeon’s practice partner.
But with that period almost over, after that… well.
I guess it’s fine.
“Yeah, I’m okay with it. If I can be of help, I’d rather help than not.”
Those words came out of my mouth.
Then Sohee shifted her gaze from me to Choi Ahyeon.
I followed her gaze and looked at Choi Ahyeon too.
It felt like I was seeing her again for the first time in a while.
What an odd feeling. In this place, in this house, Ahyeon used to be the only thing that ever entered my view.
“Is that okay?”
Sohee looked at Ahyeon and asked.
Her voice carried a subtle pressure that was hard to refuse.
“Ah… yeah. Sure, let’s do it again next time. I learned a lot today too.”
Ahyeon avoided Sohee’s gaze, looking down at the floor for no particular reason as she spoke.
Her voice had a strange reluctance that brushed against my ears.
Could it be… she felt the gap in skill between them?
It wasn’t like Sohee was on some completely different level, though.
“Great! Nice!”
Sohee expressed her joy without holding back.
So much so that I wondered if it was really something to be that happy about.
Then she slowly got up from her seat.
“I think… I should head out now. Jinho, what about you?”
She asked me that.
Actually, when Sohee stood up, I had stood up with her too.
Yeah, usually you leave all at once when it’s time to go. And… I also have things to practice once I get back.
Plus, Ahyeon’s script reading practice was already done.
“Yeah, I should go too.”
“Oh, really? Then we can head out together!”
With that, Sohee and I walked side by side toward the entrance.
Choi Ahyeon seemed to be following behind us. Probably to see us off.
Once we reached the entrance, I naturally let Sohee go ahead of me so she could put her shoes on first.
Sohee shoved her feet into her shoes while standing up. Then, losing her balance slightly, she wobbled, stretching an arm out to the side.
Because of that, standing behind her, I reflexively grabbed her arm.
Yeah, it was a reflex.
“Ah! Thanks. Whew- I almost fell!”
“Take it slow.”
“Mm…”
With that, Sohee finished putting on her shoes first, and I put mine on right after.
Then, standing side by side at the entrance, we both turned around toward Choi Ahyeon, who had followed us out.
“Well then, Ahyeona, bye! See you tomorrow!”
Sohee gave her final farewell with a bright smile, and I just raised a hand and waved from beside her.
Then Sohee opened the front door first, and I tried to follow her out.
And in that moment.
My sleeve got pulled back.
By then, Sohee had already stepped out into the hallway.
With my arm caught midway, I stopped the door from closing with my body, turning only my head to look back at Choi Ahyeon.
“You… leave a little later.”
Ahyeon said, looking up at me quietly.
Such a cryptic thing to say.
Maybe in the past, I would have just gone along with those cryptic words.
But now…
I gently peeled Ahyeon’s small hand off my sleeve.
“I’m going.”
I said only those words in a calm voice.
Yeah, I didn’t even ask why she was stopping me.
Because I wasn’t curious anymore.
“Jinho-! What are you doing?! Is something wrong?!”
“No… just on my way.”
Sohee’s voice echoed from the hallway, and I answered as I closed the front door behind me.
Thud.
Ring ring♬
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