“Black coffee is way too bitter.”

“You’ll get used to it if you keep drinking it. While we’re at it, wanna have some?”

“Hell no, noona. Give it to Maru instead.”

“Noona, give it to me. This guy has childish tastes and doesn’t know what’s good for his body.”

The three ‘pathetics’ were chatting with each other. Do they not know that they can’t be at leisure for too long?

9:40. Okseon closed the script for a bit and took out her English vocabulary handbook. Many books said that using free time was the key to success. This was an era where English skills graded people. Being good at English would allow her to receive more attention. She flipped over the pages and memorized the words. Memorizing words was a boring thing, but effort was always rewarded. While those three pathetics laughed and chatted with each other, she would study. Even a dog would know who was closer to success.

‘So pathetic.’

She looked at a word, closed her eyes, and reminded herself of the word several times in order to memorize it. What a perfect life this was? She was not being complacent just because she was working as an actor, she kept studying. Okseon was proud of herself. She could feel that she was leading a much more fulfilling life than others of her age. I am different from you - Okseon shook her head as she looked at the three people laughing with each other.

“Uhm, Okseon.”

She raised her head when a shadow was cast over her. Joomin had approached her with coffee in hand.

“Would you like to drink some coffee?”

“I’m okay.”

“Do you hate black coffee?”

“I drank some during the day. Plus, too much caffeine isn’t good for the body. An actor should take care of their body, right?”

“R-right. But hey, what are you looking at right now?”

“English vocabulary.”

“You’re studying?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I believe that actors should be perfect in all aspects. Only then can they act properly.”

Okseon tried to criticize her even more but decided not to. If it was anyone else, she would’ve just ignored that person, but it was a waste to ignore Joomin. She was a 3rd year in college, so she was definitely not young. Even she herself, who was a 3rd year in high school, was putting so much effort into preparing for the future which was still unclear to her, yet someone who had lived a few years more than her was talking and laughing with those that were younger than her. She should be leading the others to the right path, yet she was instead pushing her future into the depths of failure. Looking at her, Okseon had the urge to preach to her.

However, there was no need for her to do that herself. It was much more useful to get one more word memorized or to have another look at the script if she had the time to do that. After all, she’d never meet her again after this drama.

“I interrupted you, didn’t I? Sorry.”

Joomin faintly smiled before turning around. Do you have the time to care about others? - Okseon barely managed to swallow these words back down. Joomin was a stifling woman. She couldn’t be any more idiotic.

“Actors, please come out. We’re starting the shoot.”

A scene where people come out of the west entrance while talking, and a scene where they were leaving the school. These two were the last scenes for the day. Although she didn’t get good treatment because she was a supporting actress right now, she would soon become a lead actress. Okseon had the confidence. She was putting in more effort than anyone else, so the important people should soon recognize her efforts and then reach out to her. She just had to polish the sail in preparation for the wind. Of course, there was something she had to solve in order to do that.

Dongho and Joomin left first. After seeing Maru leaving a step behind them, she walked next to him.

“You’ll regret it.”

“If there’s an award of the year for being tenacious, I think you’ll win it,” Maru said as he raised his thumb.

An immature kid who can’t even take care of himself. She had thought that he was someone who had the same ideals as her once, but when she pried into him, he turned out to be all talk just like Seong Dongho, who only acted cool. Well, pathetic people really got along well with each other. Out of goodwill, she told him what the future held for him, but Maru just smiled it off. It was really pitiful. Was it that hard to see the impending future with a dumb mind? He uttered confident words like Seong Dongho, trying to look cool, but he really was pitiful. Why can’t he understand even after she went through the effort to explain in detail? Even dogs could understand human speech with enough training, yet here, a human could not understanding human tongue.

‘I do need to do something about Kang Giwoo though.’

There was something Okseon did every day. It was to read all the news articles regarding the entertainment industry regardless of the outlet. She did so in order to keep up with the latest trends in the industry.

‘We were too sidelined.’

The interest of the media was wholly focused on Kang Giwoo, and Yeseul was getting popular due to the reflected benefit. It couldn’t be helped that the main characters became more popular since they were the main characters, but due to the characteristics of youth dramas, the supporting characters could also become popular as long as they had a firm character. This was proven in previous youth dramas. Yoo Joonsung, Lee Minha, Ha Jimin. They were all popular actors right now who were also supporting characters in youth dramas when they were younger. There were many people who gained popularity beyond the main characters’.

If Kang Giwoo was the same as when he just started New Semester, he wouldn’t be as popular as he is now. As his previous work was a historical drama, his acting was a bit unnatural, and Okseon was sure that Giwoo would never see the light with that kind of acting. However, as the episodes progressed, Giwoo’s acting skills improved rapidly. To be precise, he gained stability by becoming similar to Maru. Until two months ago, his character in the drama was unable to find its unique traits due to imitating Lee Chan all the time, but now he had his unique character as well.

If left alone, Giwoo would continue imitating Maru’s acting, polishing it and improving it even further. If Giwoo was simply good at imitating, she wouldn’t be worried like this. That boy had the talent to copy others and make it his own.

Of course, as Maru mentioned, all forms of learning started from imitating, but this wasn’t the time to be talking about such idealism. Okseon was worried sick because she couldn’t find her name anywhere in the news articles. Even though she had the character of Seri, who was the main opposition of the female lead, she didn’t get a single mention, which made her feel wronged.

If Giwoo kept that vague position, Yeseul wouldn’t have received the spotlight either. Yeseul’s acting was terrible. When shooting the previous version of episode 13, she made everyone waste hours because she couldn’t act like a girl whose heart was racing with first love. Okseon had watched the two of them hugging each other in front of the school gates, where the staff were absent. Giwoo hugged the awkward-acting Yeseul several times, and the moment she saw that she admitted that Giwoo knew the method to improve unlike everyone else here. Yeseul managed to finish the scene safely after that. That day, Yeseul received applause. It was all thanks to Giwoo’s lead.

If left alone, Giwoo would continue to shine. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow, and as a supporting character, she would only have a meaningless line on her career record that stated ‘appeared in New Semester’.

If Giwoo wasn’t here, the spotlight that was currently aimed at Yeseul would be hers. Okseon hated that correlation. Yeseul was receiving so much attention despite her lacking skills just because of the fact that Kang Giwoo was next to her.

‘I need to make Kang Giwoo falter.’

She read from a book that minor details were very important. If she wasn’t able to outdo herself in the first drama she appeared in as a supporting character, she might become one of those one-shot entertainers who appeared and disappeared in batches every year. Even at this hour, there were many other child actors who were preparing themselves. In order to survive this silent war, she had to not let her guard down and do everything within her power.

“It would be much easier if that idiot moved according to my will.”

Giwoo was mindful of his public reputation. As long as Maru told him not to imitate him, Giwoo would definitely stiffen up. For the maximum effect, it would be for the best if Maru declared that in front of everyone, but it was frustrating since Maru didn’t look like he had any intentions of telling him at all.

That didn’t mean that she should tell Giwoo herself. She would be laughed at if someone other than the person in question told him that. She had to be cautious. She had to look for a way to blow her nose without using her own hands.

‘Should I write a memo then?’

No, based on Giwoo’s personality, he would definitely ask Maru. If that happened, it would be revealed that she was the one who did it. Okseon wanted to prevent an unnecessary relationship of conflict with Giwoo. Giwoo was someone who would forge ahead. It would be foolish for her to be at odds with someone who was gaining popularity.

Okseon had already thought of a way to get close to Giwoo. It had been four months since she kept her distance. This awkward distance definitely had the potential to turn into romantic feelings. Once she talked to him and talked about what she hadn’t revealed to anyone else, Giwoo would definitely have romantic feelings. She read about this in a psychology book, so it couldn’t be wrong.

Okseon neatened her uniform before going to the platform. The background actors wearing school uniforms were waiting nearby. This was the scene where they went home after self-study sessions after school.

“Why do you always go around by yourself? It’s about time you became used to us now, don’t you think?”

Okseon looked at Yeseul, who spoke to her with a slightly mocking smile on her face. She didn’t smile like that in front of the others. How childish was that? It was pitiful to even see her trying to cause conflict between factions.

Okseon was about to say something to her before deciding not to, as usual. She felt angry but thought that she should endure. As the mature one, she thought that she couldn’t give in to a taunt like that. She made a calm smile before looking at Yeseul.

“You’re an idiot aren’t you? Why do you choose to be alone? You’re so strange.”

At that moment, she felt a rush of anger. This girl couldn’t even tell who was lacking. She breathed deeply to calm down her anger. She had the urge to shout because of the frustration.

After looking at Yeseul smile like an idiot as she walked over to Giwoo, the rehearsal began. As there were no lines in this scene, the shoot didn’t take long.

She finished a cut where she glared at Yeseul leaving the corridor with Giwoo in just one go. Hearing producer Park Hoon’s okay sign, Okseon made a confident smile. Her acting was flawless after all.

As she watched the equipment being moved over to the school gates, she saw Suyeon, who had untied her hair after her shoots had ended, walk to the back of the school. Okseon joyfully approached her quickly.

“Senior, did you finish your scenes?”

“Oh, Okseon. I just finished mine. Also, stop with the senior. I told you to call me unni when we are alone.”

“Ah, yes. Unni.”

“How about you? You done?”

“I still have some left.”

“Okseon’s working hard, I see.”

Suyeon pinched her cheeks before letting go. Skin contact was a sign of intimacy. Okseon smiled to the point that her teeth showed a bit. Suyeon was her role model. She had climbed her way up from being a supporting character, and her acting skills were acknowledged. She even played main characters from time to time. Although she was not at the level of a top star yet, Okseon was impressed just by the fact that she had climbed her way up steadily while building up her foundation. A smart actress. She had to act like Suyeon if she didn’t want to become a star that twinkles once, never to be seen again.

“Uhm, unni….”

This was a pleasant time where she got to confirm her bond with Suyeon. Just as Okseon was about to say some words in excitement, Suyeon suddenly raised her hand before speaking,

“Hey, Han Maru. Geunsoo-oppa wants to meet us after this.”

“U-unni?”

“Sorry, Okseon. I’ll be right back after talking with him for a little.”

After patting her shoulder to wait, Suyeon walked over to Han Maru. Okseon bit her lips. It was because she saw Maru look at her before pointing at her. It was as though he was telling Suyeon to continue her business with her. A sense of shame and anger welled up in her body.

‘Why does she smile like that so pleasantly? Just why?’

This was the first time she saw Suyeon smile at ease like that. The two looked like old friends. Just then, Okseon saw Suyeon try to pinch Maru’s cheeks. Maru avoided her hands with a sour face. The two looked to be at ease as though this happened all the time.

“Okseon, got something to say?”

Suyeon asked her that after coming back. Okseon slightly frowned. Did she make the wrong judgement about her? This unni played around with an idiot like that. She thought that Suyeon was a reasonable person who only talked to people that benefited her.

“Unni, are you looking after him because you two belong to the same agency?”

Maybe she was doing that out of kindness.

However, the reply she got disappointed her a lot.

“This isn’t looking after him. I’m refraining because he’s telling me to pretend that we don’t know each other.”

Okseon looked at Suyeon with her lips firmly sealed.

It seemed that this woman didn’t have a good eye for people.