Chapter 1015: Genius Child Actors (2)

In Episode 1 of Land of Happiness, the four Yoon siblings lost their parents in a tragic car accident. As a result, the four children were sent to a nearby orphanage called Eunsung Orphanage, a rundown place on the verge of shutting down.

Among the siblings was the youngest, Yoon Kkot-Nim, played by Miso. Crushed by the guilt of believing she had caused her parents' deaths, and by the despair of losing the use of her legs, she completely shut herself off from the world.

The opening scene of Episode 4, which they were about to film, showed the existing children at the orphanage bullying Yoon Kkot-Nim.

Before filming began, Miso sat alone in the wheelchair the staff had placed beside the sandbox, reading through her script. She intended to pay Nam Joo-Hwan and Sung Ri-Yeon back through her performance for the vicious things they had said to her earlier.

Just then, PD Ju Se-Hyung called out loudly, "Everyone, look over here!"

The children on the playground stopped playing and turned toward him. Miso also looked up from her script and turned her head slightly.

With a serious expression, Ju Se-Hyung began giving acting directions. "For this scene..."

At that moment, a chorus of voices from the entrance to the playground interrupted him.

"Hahaha. Mrs. Cheon, you really have such a wonderful sense of humor."

"It's not just Mrs. Cheon. Mrs. Yang is just as witty. Hahaha."

"That's true. No one compares to the two of you."

Leading the group were Cheon Mi-Ra, wearing a red dress with short hair, and Yang Mi-Ra, dressed in an ivory two-piece outfit with long hair. They returned to the set at the head of a group of child actors' mothers. The mothers who had come with them were eager to place their children under Mira Entertainment and were shamelessly flattering the two co-presidents.

Just then, as Cheon Mi-Ra crossed the playground, her eyes met Ju Se-Hyung's, and she quickly raised a hand.

"Everyone, quiet down. Mr. Ju is trying to give acting directions."

Just before Ju Se-Hyung could lose his temper, Cheon Mi-Ra deftly stole the opportunity away from him. All he could do was smack his lips in annoyance.

"Yes. I'm currently instructing the children, so I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your voices down."

Cheon Mi-Ra and Yang Mi-Ra exchanged sly smiles before bowing their heads.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ju."

"We'll make sure everyone stays quiet, so don't worry, Mr. Ju."

Far from looking intimidated, the two women appeared completely at ease, and Ju Se-Hyung couldn't hide the irritation on his face. Still, he quickly reined in his temper and resumed directing the child actors.

"We're filming Episode 4, Scene 1 now. Ri-Yeon, don't go into the playground. Stay outside. Joo-Hwan, when you dump the sand on Miso's head, do it all at once so we don't have to shoot it twice. Oh, Ri-Yeon, when you take Miso's shoes, be gentle. Got it? And..."

Ju Se-Hyung carefully walked the child actors through every detail of how they were supposed to bully Miso. He wanted to make sure she only had to go through the humiliation once.

Just then, Cheon Mi-Ra and Yang Mi-Ra quietly approached me.

Cheon Mi-Ra spoke in a nasal voice, low enough that only I could hear.

"Chief Jung. Nice to see you. You know who I am, right? I'm Cheon Mi-Ra, the president of Mira Entertainment."

Yang Mi-Ra stepped beside her and greeted me in the same hushed tone.

"Mr. Jung, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Yang Mi-Ra, the co-president. I've been wondering when we'd get the chance to meet, and here we are today. Haha."

I gave the two women a bright smile before replying in a low voice only they could hear.

"You two are really lying around acting like complete idiots."

The smiles instantly vanished from the co-presidents of Mira Entertainment.

"Hey, Chief Jung. What... did you just say?"

"We must've heard you wrong... right, Mr. Jung?"

These were the mothers who had planned to shake Miso's mental state by having the children bully her, ruining her performance so their own kids would shine even brighter. I didn't have even the tiniest shred of courtesy to spare for people like them.

"You thought I wouldn't notice you using those kids to wound Miso and break her spirit? You'd better prepare yourselves for what's coming."

Cheon Mi-Ra and Yang Mi-Ra trembled with anger, about to say something.

Just then, having finished giving directions, Ju Se-Hyung raised his voice and cut them off. "All right, everyone, stand by! As soon as the child actors are in position, we're rolling!"

Nam Joo-Hwan crouched in the middle of the playground with a gardening trowel in his hand, while the other child actors settled down beside him. Next to the playground, Sung Ri-Yeon stood beside Miso wearing a spotless red dress. On her feet, however, were a pair of old sneakers that were torn in several places.

"We're ready! The kids are in position too!"

The moment the staff gave the all-clear, Ju Se-Hyung picked up his megaphone. Just then, the fuming Cheon Mi-Ra caught the eye of her daughter, Sung Ri-Yeon, and blinked.

Nod.

Sung Ri-Yeon nodded back to show she understood.

Yang Mi-Ra then gave the same signal to her son, Nam Joo-Hwan.

Nod. Nod.

Nam Joo-Hwan answered with a nod of his own.

It looked like they had come fully prepared today. I, however, gave Miso no instructions at all. She already was Yoon Kkot-Nim.

'Just watch Miso act.'

Ju Se-Hyung lifted the megaphone and called out, "Here we go. Yoon Kkot-Nim bullying scene. Get into character! Ready... action!"

At that instant, the fierce acting showdown between Miso and the child actors began.

***

Miso sat in the wheelchair beside the sandbox, staring blankly into empty space.

Whoooosh.

As the massive wind machine outside the camera frame started up, the leaves shading her from the sun began drifting down one by one.

Flutter. Flutter.

The moment she saw the falling leaves, tears welled up in Miso's large eyes. Watching life disappear in the blink of an eye reminded Yoon Kkot-Nim of her dead mother and father. Before the tears could even fall, Miso's face suddenly twisted in anguish. The thought that her parents had died because of her consumed her with guilt.

Overwhelmed by self-loathing, Miso clutched at her chest and let out a silent scream through tightly shut lips.

"Urghhh..."

Miso's upper body shook violently in the wheelchair. Her lower body, however, remained completely motionless. The stark contrast made it look as though the upper and lower halves of her body belonged to two different people.

Watching the performance, the staff and the mothers of the child actors couldn't hide their amazement as they whispered among themselves.

"That's... child acting?"

"She's a natural. An absolute natural."

"Writer Nam Jong-Ok said the role of Yoon Kkot-Nim would fail because they couldn't find the right child actress. Looks like she was wrong."

"Still... in the past, Ri-Yeon would've gotten the role of Yoon Kkot-Nim..."

"Shh! President Cheon might hear you."

Hearing her daughter compared to Miso, Cheon Mi-Ra began trembling with rage. Yang Mi-Ra's expression also hardened, as though she refused to acknowledge Miso's talent.

Meanwhile, having finished her emotional scene alone, Miso let out a long, weary sigh before once again staring blankly into space.

Then, Nam Joo-Hwan, playing Oh Jin-Gu, the ringleader of the orphanage children, lashed out in a rough voice and kicked her wheelchair.

Bang.

『Hey, cripple. What're you doing over there all by yourself?』

Creeeak.

The battered wheelchair groaned as if it were about to fall apart. The kick was much harder than I had expected. Even so, Miso remained lost in her role, exactly as the script called for, without the slightest reaction.

Then Sung Ri-Yeon, standing right beside her, cupped both hands around Miso's ear and shouted at the top of her lungs.

『Aaaaah! Can you not hear me?!』

Her voice was so loud that even I, standing several meters away, flinched. Yet Miso didn't react in the slightest.

'So that's how they're playing it.'

Having spent years as child actors, Nam Joo-Hwan and Sung Ri-Yeon knew all kinds of ways to torment their scene partners without breaking character. Even so, they had failed to shake Miso's focus on her role.

A moment later, the child actors who had been playing in the sandbox gradually surrounded Miso and began whispering among themselves.

『Do you think she can hear us and is just pretending she can't?』

『I heard she nods whenever her older sister talks to her.』

『So she can hear? Then where'd her twin sister go?』

『I saw her heading to the director's office earlier.』

『So she won't be back for a while? Perfect!』

Unlike the other children at the orphanage, who had no families, Yoon Kkot-Nim had arrived with all four of her siblings. That alone had made her the target of the other children's jealousy. As a result, she was constantly bullied, and it gradually twisted her personality beyond repair.

This scene marked the very beginning of Yoon Kkot-Nim's downward spiral.

At that moment, Nam Joo-Hwan scooped up a shovelful of sand with a worn-out gardening trowel and walked over to Miso.

The next instant, he dumped the sand straight over Miso's head.

Shhhhhh.

Even then, Miso endured it without a trace of emotion.

Nam Joo-Hwan snickered before shouting,

『She's seriously a rock. Let's stop calling her Kkot-Nim and call her Yoon Rock instead. What do you think?』

『I like it! Hey, Yoon Rock! Yoon Rock!』

At Nam Joo-Hwan's urging, the other children joined in the chant.

Just then, Sung Ri-Yeon glanced down at the white sneakers Miso was wearing.

『Hey, Yoon Rock. You're crippled, so you can't even walk. You don't need nice shoes like those, do you? I'm getting adopted today, so give them to me!』

In the drama, Sung Ri-Yeon's character, Yeo Soo-Jin, was supposed to be adopted by a wealthy family that day. That was why she wore her nicest red dress, but her shoes were still old and yellowed with age. Claiming she wanted a new pair to wear, she demanded Miso's shoes.

When Miso still didn't respond, Sung Ri-Yeon abruptly crouched in front of her, grabbed her foot roughly, and started pulling off her sneaker. Miso still showed no reaction.

"Huh? What's wrong with Miso...?"

Ju Se-Hyung tilted his head in confusion. Up until now it had been fine, but from this point on, she was supposed to struggle with Sung Ri-Yeon. Instead, Miso continued staring blankly ahead.

Ju Se-Hyung was just about to call for an NG and stop the take.

Then, Miso's eyes slowly lowered. After staring blankly at her own feet for a moment, she finally spoke.

『What... are you... doing...?』

Everyone on set froze. Because Yoon Kkot-Nim was paralyzed from the waist down, she had no sensation in her legs. She couldn't even tell when someone touched them. Miso had deliberately waited about three seconds before looking down to portray that detail accurately.

It was an astonishingly nuanced performance, far beyond what anyone would expect from a child actor, and murmurs of admiration spread across the set. Then they heard her remarkably hoarse voice. The script explained that Yoon Kkot-Nim buried her face in her pillow and cried every night. With that single line, Miso conveyed even that part of her character.

"Hah... As expected... It's Jung Miso..."

Only moments earlier, Ju Se-Hyung had been ready to call an NG. Now he simply wiped the sweat from his brow and lowered his megaphone. The staff exchanged nods, quietly marveling at Miso's performance.

Seeing that, Nam Joo-Hwan tensed up and shouted at the top of his lungs.

『Huh? The cripple talks!』

Still pulling Miso's shoe off, Sung Ri-Yeon curled her lips into a grin and shouted.

『Well, if you could talk, you should've said something sooner. Perfect. You can't even walk in these shoes anyway, so I'll take them. That's fine, right?』

『No... They're... mine... My sister... gave them to me...』

『You can't even walk, so why do you need nice shoes? They're mine now!』

Sung Ri-Yeon yanked harder, trying to pull Miso's shoes off. Miso, still seated in the wheelchair, weakly hit Sung Ri-Yeon's back in protest. Even then, her lower body remained completely motionless as though it had been bolted in place. From the moment she sat down in that wheelchair, Miso never once forgot that Yoon Kkot-Nim was paralyzed from the waist down.

Just then, Nam Joo-Hwan grabbed both of Miso's arms from behind.

『Hey! I've got her! Hurry up and take the shoes off!』

『Good!』

With Nam Joo-Hwan holding her in place, Sung Ri-Yeon managed to pull both shoes off. She tossed her own old, yellowed shoes onto the ground in front of Miso.

『You can wear those instead. They're not like you'll do you any good anyway.』

A look of triumph spread across Sung Ri-Yeon's face as she bent over to put on Miso's new sneakers.

That was when Miso's eyes flew open, and she did something no one expected.

『Ughhh...』

Consumed by rage, Miso lifted herself off the wheelchair using nothing but the strength of her arms. For a brief moment, no one understood what she was doing. Then she threw her body forward.

Thud.

She slid out of the wheelchair with both arms outstretched and crashed onto the sand. The impact sent the wheelchair rolling backward before it tipped over.

Bang.

'Miso!'

I had told Miso to overwhelm the other two with her acting. I hadn't told her to risk getting hurt.

I immediately scanned Miso from head to toe, checking for injuries with hawk-like focus. Fortunately, the sandbox had already been cleared of rocks and debris beforehand, so she didn't appear to be hurt.

'Thank goodness...'

At that moment, Ju Se-Hyung, just as startled as I was, moved to stop the filming.

I quickly lowered my voice and spoke urgently.

"It's an ad-lib. Please... give her a little longer."

Since Miso wasn't injured, I asked Ju Se-Hyung not to cut the scene. Ju Se-Hyung hesitated, but Miso continued acting. Eventually, he abandoned the idea of calling cut altogether.

Lying on the sand, Miso dragged her motionless lower body behind her and crawled forward using only her arms.

『Mine... They're... my shoes!』

Miso's eyes burned with fury, her face trembling as she crawled toward Sung Ri-Yeon. There was something terrifying about Miso's wild, glaring eyes. Just looking at them was enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Thump.

Scrape...

Miso slowly closed the distance. As she crawled, her hand closed around a fist-sized rock lying nearby.

Grab.

『Give... them... back! My... shoes!』

Her voice dripped with murderous rage as though she was ready to smash Sung Ri-Yeon to death with the rock.

Then, watching Miso's performance from only a few feet away, Sung Ri-Yeon fell backward onto the ground.

Thud.

Sung Ri-Yeon's legs had given out without her even realizing it. Miso, however, showed no intention of letting up. She continued dragging herself forward with her arms, getting closer and closer.

『Wh-What are you?! D-Don't come any closer! Stay away!』

Pale with fear, Sung Ri-Yeon hurled the shoes she had been holding over the playground fence. This wasn't in the script.

Just then, Miso ground her teeth, planted her left hand on the ground, and pushed herself upright. Then she raised the rock in her right hand above her head.

『Bring... my shoes back... NOW!!!』

Miso threatened them as if she were about to bring the rock crashing down.

Then, Sung Ri-Yeon screamed, throwing her hands over her face.

"Aaaahhh!"

"Uwaaaahhh!"

The frozen Nam Joo-Hwan finally screamed as well. At the same time, a wet stain quickly spread across the center of his filthy beige pants, growing to the size of several coins. Miso's terrifying performance had literally scared him into wetting himself.

Surprised, Ju Se-Hyung shot to his feet. "Cut! Cut! Cut!"

At that moment, Miso's expression instantly softened. She casually set the rock down on the ground. Then she slowly stood up and brushed the dirt from her hair and clothes.

Silence fell over the set.

Miso simply smiled brightly and bowed politely to the staff. "Thank you for your hard work!"

The staff stared at her in a daze before slowly nodding. "R-Right... Good work, Miso."

Miso nodded back, then walked over to help Sung Ri-Yeon, who was still sitting on the ground. She even held out a hand with genuine concern.

"Are you okay, unnie?"

Still sitting on the ground, Sung Ri-Yeon scrambled to her feet, and she and Nam Joo-Hwan ran straight to their mothers.

"Waaah! Mommyyyyy!"

Miso froze where she stood and looked over at me with a puzzled expression. I simply smiled with satisfaction and gave her a thumbs-up. She had gotten her revenge on Sung Ri-Yeon and Nam Joo-Hwan through nothing but her acting.

Still, seeing Cheon Mi-Ra and Yang Mi-Ra glaring at Miso as if they wanted to kill her, I stayed on guard.

'Now it's my turn.'

***

The first thing I did was hurry over to Miso and carefully check her for any injuries.

"Miso. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Other than getting some sand inside my clothes, I'm fine."

Pat.

Pat.

As I brushed the remaining sand from her hair, I asked, "You didn't scrape yourself when you fell out of the wheelchair?"

Miso stretched both hands out toward me. "No. I'm not hurt."

"That's a relief. Then... leave the rest to me."

"Leave what to you?"

At that moment, Cheon Mi-Ra pointed angrily at Miso. "Hey! Jung Miso! Have you lost your mind? Get over here!"

I immediately stepped in front of her, shielding Miso behind my back, and spoke in protest. "She delivered a great performance. How can you say something like that to a child?"

"Chief Jung, you saw it yourself! Miso tried to smash my daughter with a rock! You think calling it acting makes everything okay?"

At that moment, Ju Se-Hyung spoke up. "President Cheon. Miso did improvise, but that kind of ad-lib is completely acceptable. Thanks to her, your kids' reactions looked incredibly real. The scene turned out great. Why are you making such a fuss? Your kids did well too, even if they got a little carried away."

Cheon Mi-Ra glared at him. "Mr. Ju! Didn't you see her trying to hit my daughter with that rock?"

"No, that was because Miso's acting was so..."

"You actually thought that was acting?"

"Well..."

Ju Se-Hyung fell silent. Miso's performance had been so convincing that, for a split second, even he had forgotten it was an act.

Cheon Mi-Ra huffed in anger before calling over one of the other mothers. "Let's ask Yung-Soo's mom. You recorded what just happened, right? Send me the video. I'm going to tip off the reporters."

She was clearly determined to make things as difficult as possible for Miso. If that was how she wanted to play it, I wasn't about to stand by quietly.

I warned, "If you don't stop here, you're going to regret it."

"Regret it? What's there to regret? The lead child actress just assaulted her co-stars! A violent kid like that has no business acting. She should never be allowed to act again!"

"You're going to the press before you've even confirmed whether it was acting or not?"

"Anyone with eyes can see it! She really threatened them!"

"Anyone with eyes can also see that it was acting."

"You've really got some nerve!"

Just then I said, "Fine. Then let's ask someone else whether what Miso did was acting or a genuine threat."

"Who are you talking about?"

"That person over there."

I immediately pointed toward the people who had just entered through the front gate of the playground.

"Yoon-Ho~ Why's the set so noisy? Did a war break out or something?"

Wearing a leopard-print skirt and sunglasses, Writer Lee Ji-Yeon walked in alongside Team Lead Yeon So-Hee and Writer Kim Soll-Ip—Miso's biggest fans.