237 Auditioning for a New Movie (2/2)

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Yeo Ri arrived at the audition venue just in time before registrations closed.

There were many people already waiting at the reception area, and after receiving her number, she picked up a copy of the audition scenes and sat in an open seat.

The whole project had been a mystery, and the script was kept a secret up until now. Even Park Soo Yeon who could be considered an insider in the industry had no idea what the film was about other than the fact that the person directing it was a well-known veteran director. Thus, when the famous director had extended an invitation to Yeo Ri to attend the casting call, Park Soo Yeon did not hesitate to accept it.

[Runaway Kids], the title said. Several names followed afterwards, and Yeo Ri could recognise them instantly. They were all industry giants who had multiple successful films and dramas!

No wonder Park Soo Yeon had insisted Yeo Ri to take up the audition—it was obviously a big one.

After going through the scenes once in her head, Yeo Ri finally raised her eyes to take a look at her competitors.

It was a co-ed audition, as the producers wanted to fill up all the spots in a single swoop, and she could see all kinds of people, both famous and unknown, loitering around the room.

”VitaQua girl!” Someone exclaimed. ”You're the VitaQua girl, aren't you?”

Yeo Ri turned her head to look at the person who had called her out, feeling rather apprehensive. However, she still maintained decorum and greeted the person politely.

”You don't have any SNS accounts, do you? I looked for it everywhere!” The person said, smiling.

”I'm sorry, I don't,” Yeo Ri said, forcing a smile. However, the person did not seem to notice the awkwardness in her gait.

—It was then Yeo Ri discovered, the person who had talked to her was a celebrity—a popular idol from a famous big-name boy group. He went by the stage name, 'Won'.

”Oh, don't apologise. I know companies can be strict about social medias and things like that,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. His beautiful almost-feminine face lit up as he offered her a good-natured smile. He himself had used a secret account to stalk for Yeo Ri's account. Unfortunately, his 'research' had garnered no result aside from the few articles and threads of the girl. Also, a fan club of sorts. He was rather surprised to see someone who was still relatively unknown to have an unofficial fan club that had more than a few hundred members. That was more than what his group started with when they debuted!

Won made himself comfortable on the seat next to Yeo Ri's, and accounting any threats possibly made to his charge, Secretary Kwon immediately stepped closer to Yeo Ri, making sure to draw a line between the two.

Won backed away at the serious-looking bodyguard's action. ”Sorry, I didn't mean to scare anyone.” Seeing how he could not read the man's expression, Won could only apologise for being too close.

”Sec—Manager Kwon, it's okay.” Yeo Ri fought the urge to roll her eyes. Looking at the idol's pretty face paired with his thin, lithe figure, Yeo Ri was not so quick to pin him as dangerous. Besides, he was rather young, and younger men were less scarier to her than older ones.

Only after hearing her words did the man back off. The idol broke into a cold sweat as he felt the bodyguard-manager's eyes linger on him for a moment.

”He's your manager? He's so scary!”

Yeo Ri smiled apologetically at the idol. ”Sorry, he can be a little... intense.” And clingy, weirdly so.

”So, anyways, you're auditioning for the main female role, right?” He glanced around in a conspiratory manner before leaning in slightly to whisper, ”Actually, the fact that I'm getting one of the lead male roles were already decided beforehand, so I'm just here as formality. I hope you can get the lead role too, so we can work together.”

Yeo Ri smiled mutedly at him. He reminded her of In Guk in some ways—they both seem to have the tendency to speak their minds freely. Was a trade secret like that something he should be telling someone he just met?

Besides, Yeo Ri wasn't planning on taking the main female role. After reading the script, she felt like going for a lower risk side character role, especially since she was about to start filming another movie in which she was playing the main character.

The famous idol and rookie's interaction did not escape the eyes of the surrounding people. Both of them were relatively high-profile even among the many famous people gathered in the area, thus they easily garnered the attention of other people.

As their conversation paused briefly, Yeo Ri could hear the whispers circulating around the room.

”Is that the VitaQua girl? She doesn't look like much.”

”Can she even act? She looks like just another pretty face.”

”Does she think she's all that? Just because she went viral once, she thinks she's a celebrity?”

”Why is Won talking to someone like her?”

Won frowned for a second before changing his expression to a smiling one. ”Don't mind them; they're just jealous because you're really pretty,” he said with a consoling and sincere tone. He truly felt for the girl, as he was once in the same position. Added with his initial interest in the girl, he couldn't help but want to protect her.

Yeo Ri's facial expression never faltered even after hearing the backhanded insults. She kept smiling her usual smile. Shaking her head, she thanked him for his words and pretended to ignore the awful rumours. However, what nobody realised was that something dark was continuously brewing within the girl, simply biding its time to rear its ugly head. Yeo Ri could feel her anger slowly being stoked by the words, and the urge to hurt someone was rising within her.

”Lee. Yeo. Ri.”

A feminine voice called out slowly as she approached the two. A barely contained face full of resentment marred the pretty face of the newcomer.

”You're really something else. How'd you manage to climb so far with that fake smile of yours?”