Chapter 95

95. Evan Taylor

After two years, LA still retained the same atmosphere as before.

The bright sunshine and dry air welcomed Siwoo.

“Isn’t that Sea Eye?”

“Shin Young-min is here too? Oh? It’s Sea! Yun Siwoo!”

“Squeal! It’s Yun Siwoo and Shin Young-min!”

At the Tom Bradley International Terminal, Siwoo greeted the Korean tourists who recognized him and was about to mindlessly agree to take photos with fans when Young-min stepped in.

“Siwoo is still young, so I’ll take the photos for you! Hahaha!”

Thanks to the consideration of the world star Young-min, Siwoo headed to the car with his aunt.

The agency staff were already waiting.

As Siwoo looked back at Young-min and the bodyguards left behind, Tae-woo, who had been walking with him, said,

“It’s okay, Siwoo. Don’t worry. The CEO really enjoys having his picture taken.”

As Tae-woo said, Young-min was enjoying the photo session with all sorts of funny poses.

Siwoo got into the car, thinking for a moment that Young-min might not have stepped in to protect him, and then drove off.

Shortly after, Young-min and the bodyguards, who had finished the photo session, arrived.

In the car, Young-min, with a cheerful face, said to his manager,

“Have you ever seen a hyena wandering the streets looking for attention? Like a breeze~ coming and~ like dew, it can’t just go away~ I must live like a shining~ attention seeker~”

Young-min started singing to himself.

“Ah... Yes... I’m doing well.”

“The song just comes out! I feel good since we arrived in LA. If Siwoo gets this energy from the fans before the audition, things will go well. Our Siwoo not only has talent but also an incredible career, right?”

Young-min’s manager responded.

Siwoo’s talent was well-known to him.

However,

“Only if his Korean career is also recognized. It didn’t work during XOXO.”

“Sea Eye is a bit different. The rights have been sold in the U.S., and there are talks of a U.S. drama remake. It’s definitely a story where a sexy male mermaid appears in front of a high school girl on a Miami beach. The title might be something like ‘Mermaid Diary.’”

“...I see. Siwoo, are you not tired? Did you sleep a lot on the plane?”

Young-min’s manager knew which of Young-min’s words to deeply engrave and which to let blow away.

Siwoo, sitting between Hye-ju and Tae-woo, yawned widely and replied,

“Haaang~ I slept a little.”

“That’s good. Just hold on a bit longer, and you can sleep when it gets dark tonight. But your aunt is already asleep~”

At Siwoo’s words, Young-min’s manager and Tae-woo looked at Hye-ju.

Hye-ju, whose eyes were red from not sleeping on the plane to adjust to the time difference, was already dozing off.

Tae-woo shook Hye-ju’s shoulder.

“Writer~ Let’s try to hold on until dinner.”

Startled, Hye-ju woke up, looked around, and realized she was in the car. She saw Siwoo.

Siwoo, with eyes so bright it was hard to believe he hadn’t slept well, looked at her worriedly.

Hye-ju, pressing her hand on her eyes, said,

“My stamina has suddenly dropped since I turned forty. How about our Siwoo?”

“I’m fine. Aunt, hang in there~”

“Yeah. If our Siwoo gives me a little love, I’ll feel better.”

Siwoo, with a beautiful smile, showed some affection to his aunt for the first time in a while.

“Aunt~ I love you~!”

Siwoo, with his affectionate expression, seemed to cast a stamina recovery spell on his aunt.

Hye-ju, who had been so tired that she could have fallen asleep anywhere, even under the car, suddenly felt a surge of energy from Siwoo’s affection. She thought, ‘My nephew’s affection is really amazing,’ and grabbed Siwoo’s cheeks, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

A few days later, Siwoo arrived at the audition site.

During this time, he had adjusted to the time difference, played at an amusement park to relieve tension, and practiced the audition script with Young-min.

The audition site was chaotic.

Over 100,000 children had applied for the lead roles in the Halwood film.

Of these, 40,000 had applied for the role of Joel Miller, the protagonist of the novel, and 40,000 for the role of Alice Williams, the adorable girl.

15,000 had applied for the role of Bill Lambert, one of the four leads, and 5,000 for the role of Evan Taylor, which Siwoo had applied for.

Due to the restriction that only Asian children could apply for Evan, the number of audition participants was the smallest, but the character’s importance in the novel was much greater than Bill’s.

Out of the 100,000 children, a select few had made it through the document, photo, and video reviews and were now about to audition in front of the original novel’s author and the film director.

Siwoo, classified as a strong candidate who had received a direct audition invitation from the production company, arrived at the audition site a bit later than the other children.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon.

On a vast lawn larger than a football field, many children were waiting for their turn.

Some were practicing their lines, while others were playing with their fathers.

It was a diverse scene.

Several tents were visible.

Siwoo, Hye-ju, and Tae-woo followed a staff member into one of the tents.

Young-min said he would stay at the hotel to avoid making Siwoo feel uncomfortable if too many people gathered.

“Name?”

A staff member sitting in the tent checked the audition participant list and asked.

Siwoo answered clearly.

“Siwoo~ Yun~”

“Siwoo… Siwoo… Okay. Siwoo. Please wait with the other children. When it’s your turn, you’ll change into your costume and go into the building for the audition.”

“Okay!”

Siwoo felt strangely excited.

He had been to an amusement park a few days ago, but this was even more thrilling.

‘I’m a professional. A professional. Working and achieving results is more fun than playing. I must make this project a success~’

Siwoo smiled brightly and hummed the theme song of the Pink Pororo movie he had dubbed last month as he left the tent.

As Siwoo headed towards the lawn where the children were waiting, he saw a group of children gathered together.

Siwoo, with the instincts of an 8-year veteran entertainer, had a rough idea of what was happening.

‘A famous child actor from the U.S. must be here.’

Hye-ju also noticed and said,

“There are a lot of children and parents gathered. Who is it?”

Tae-woo said,

“Should I go and check? We don’t have much information about the other children.”

Tae-woo had studied U.S. child actors in preparation for the audition but didn’t know who would be participating.

Tae-woo was curious.

Siwoo wasn’t the only one.

‘Should I see the face of someone else auditioning for Evan?’

Siwoo listened to the gathered children.

Several voices were heard.

“Seeing her in person, she’s really beautiful! The role of Alice is as good as decided. No one can beat you.”

A middle-aged woman’s voice.

“Lucy~ You’ll definitely get it! You are Alice herself!”

An excited boy’s voice.

“...Huh?”

A familiar name caught his ear.

Lucy was a common name, but a popular child actress named Lucy...

There was only one.

Siwoo changed his direction.

“Why, Siwoo. Are you curious too? Should we go see?”

“Yeah~”

As Siwoo, who had answered Tae-woo, walked towards Lucy, he suddenly thought,

‘Wait, what if she doesn’t remember me…’

If he greeted her with “Hey~ Lucy~” and got a “Who are you~?” in response, even Siwoo, who had lived many lives, would want to find a mouse hole to hide in.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Before Siwoo could greet her, Lucy, who had spotted him first, raised her right hand and waved.

“C~! U~!”

Lucy, who remembered Siwoo’s name even though he had only been a minor character, waved back.

“L~! U~!”

Lucy ran out from among the children and towards Siwoo.

Lucy’s mother, whom Siwoo had met once on the XOXO set, followed.

The children and parents surrounding Lucy, who had been quiet, were surprised and looked at the newly arrived Asian boy, Siwoo.

“I thought you might come. Because~ I think you really fit Evan!”

“Yeah, I also thought of you when I read Halwood and Alice appeared~”

“Ah… U, um-hum”

“Why?”

“It’s nothing!”

Lucy, now more beautiful and adorable than two years ago, crossed her arms behind her back, stood on tiptoe, and shook her head.

‘She looks a bit pale.’

Seeing Lucy puff her cheeks after looking at the people cheering for her, Siwoo realized she was feeling the pressure from the expectations.

“Don’t worry, just be yourself. You’ll do great!”

“Um-hum! R, really?”

“Yeah. But.”

“But?”

“You have to believe in yourself completely.”

Hearing the nostalgic words from when he learned piano from Siwoo, Lucy burst into laughter.

As Lucy’s tension eased and she smiled brightly, the children and parents at the audition felt as if a spell had been cast, and the whole area brightened.

Lucy, ready to fight, said,

“Got it~ I’ll work hard to become Alice! You must get Evan too! Got it?”

“Yeah! That’s why I’m here~”

“After seeing countless children… it feels more like a fan meeting than an audition.”

Jennifer said.

Since the audition was for children, they didn’t expect the quality of professional actors, but most of the children only talked about how much they loved Halwood and the characters.

That was...

important, but not what Jennifer and Mike were looking for.

Loving the work wasn’t enough.

Why?

Because it was too obvious.

Even among the few children who could act, none were particularly impressive.

“It will be quite difficult to decide on Joel and Bill. At least we have our hope, Lucy Riley, waiting for the role of Alice, so we can proceed with the audition with some peace of mind. What about Evan?”

In response to Mike’s question, Jennifer recalled the faces of the Asian boys she had seen so far.

None of them surpassed ‘that child.’

The child who, despite a brief appearance in XOXO, had such a bold performance that it made her binge-watch the English-subtitled version of Sea Eye.

The audition continued.

“Kwaaaah!”

A man in a green spandex suit ran at a child auditioning and let out a scream.

“Puhuhu.”

The child couldn’t help but laugh and couldn’t deliver the line.

“Kwaaah~?”

“Puhahah! Puhu… Puhuuh…”

The child’s effort to suppress laughter and deliver the line was admirable, but as everyone knows, once laughter starts, it’s hard to stop.

“Guh… Guh…”

Director Mike, with a smile, said to the child,

“Kid, it’s okay to laugh.”

“Puhahaha!”

The young boy, with a red face, held his stomach and laughed.

“Uncle’s outfit is a bit funny, right? That’s how we do it on set~ Go home safely.”

The staff sent the laughing child away and brought in the next one.

After a few more children,

Finally, it was Siwoo’s turn.

Jennifer couldn’t hide her excitement.

She said to Mike,

“He’s my Evan in my heart.”

“I know. But we still need to see him in person. The videos are good, but sometimes the kids in person are completely different.”

The door opened, and Siwoo peeked his face through the gap.

Oh.