Just Blame Me

25

The previous evening, Lisa had removed the wrapping from her ankle. Although it was still a tad red, you wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it.

When she left that morning, she'd purposefully dressed in clothes suited for exercising, and she wore the same shoes that she'd been practicing in.

Jungkook's driver sent her to Universe Pictures HQ, and when she arrived, she saw Seokjin and Sowoon already sitting in the waiting area.

"Lisa ah, you're here." Seeing Lisa arrive, Seokjin quickly walked over to greet her. "The audition starts in twenty minutes. There are five actresses auditioning today, and Junji Hyun will also arrive shortly."

Both Lisa and Sowoon grew pensive at the mention of Junji Hyun. She was their biggest rival in this audition.

Seeing them go so quiet, Seokjin tried to console them. "Don't be too anxious. Even though JiHyun is very popular, Moon Ga Young doesn't look at popularity. Just make sure to do well when you audition."

The two girls both made a sound of acknowledgement. Not long after, a staffer came to notify them that the audition was starting and assigned them a number each.
Lisa was four and Sowoon was five.

The audition took place in a very spacious office room. The director, screenwriter, and the original writer of Dancing In the Beautiful Sunshine (DIBS), along with a top executive at Universe, would be judging.

Junji Hyun was also sitting inside. Lisa glanced over at her before proceeding inside with Sowoon.

"Alright, since everyone is here, let's begin." Kang Ma Roo picked up a paper box by his hand and announced to the room, "There are two parts to the audition today.
The first is a short dance performance, which I'm sure you're already aware of. The other is inside of this paper box. The screenwriter and I picked out five scenes and wrote them down on a piece of paper. Whichever one you get is the one you have to act out. Understood?"

Everyone expressed their understanding, and the audition proceeded according to their assigned numbers. Junji Hyun was number one. Out of fairness, each actress would pick their audition scene right before their turn, so the other girls remained still.

Kang Maroo gave Junji Hyun a minute to begin. JiHyun was to perform an eating scene where she and the main lead were thinking about their future.

At the time, both the hero and heroine were just small background dancers for bigger stars. The two of them sat at the counter in the convenience store, swallowing down sandwiches as they spoke about their grand dreams.

After watching her performance, Lisa felt that JiHyun's acting skill had indeed improved. However, whenever JiHyun acted, no matter her role, she always felt more like JiHyun than the character.

Kang MaRoo didn't make any comments after her performance and just had her start dancing. JiHyun's dancing was better than her acting. And with her pretty and youthful looks, the performance was really quite pleasing to the eyes.

When she finished her audition, she had her assistant pack up and they left.

After watching the first three actresses' performances, Lisa apprehensively stepped up to choose the scene she'd be acting.
She hoped that she would get something easy.

After a moment of contemplation, she opened up her piece of paper.
Topic: The female lead has won the trials of the dance competition. Please perform the farewell scene with the male lead before she heads abroad.

Lisa's heart thumped. If she recalled correctly, this was a crying scene. After checking the topic she'd chosen, a staff member handed her the script for the scene.