Pretty in Pink ~ San

Chapter 6

After having the table reading of the script, preparing for our roles, it is time for us to begin filming this new drama; Love in Focus. I think I suite my character quite well because I love photography from time to time, and I'm more on the shy side. I think this is why the casting agency was interested in me. They also mentioned to me that they saw my work in ATEEZ's music video and I was an eligible lead role. I appreciate that they saw the potential in me. I don't even have an agency who manages me yet. I'm more of a freelance actress at the time, but I'm working on finding the right acting agency for me. I know there are K-pop entertainment companies that double as acting agencies, so I might look into those as well. For now, I'll focus on nailing my first big role in a major K-drama. I have watched K-dramas for a long time, and to finally get to star in one of my own, is surreal.

The first day on set felt so unreal. I am surrounded by all these talented people and I feel talentless being surrounded by them. The male lead, the one and only, Cha Eunwoo, would like to get to know me so we can have better chemistry on camera. This man. He is my bias in ASTRO, he is a talented and handsome man. How will I be able to talk to him? Eunwoo talks to me first.
"Hey, you're Raeshel right?" Eunwoo asked.
"네, um I mean yeah. It's so nice to meet you, Eunwoo." I said.
"It's nice to meet you too. So, you can speak a little bit of Korean?" Eunwoo said.
"네, 조금밖에 없어요. 열심히 공부했지만, 저는 여전히 나빠요." I said(Yes, only a little. I studied so hard, but I'm still bad)
"What are you talking about, your Korean is good." Eunwoo said.
"Aww, thank you." I said.
"No problem. Hey, want to go over our lines together?" Eunwoo said.
"Sure." I said.

Eunwoo and I go to the green room, where most of the actors, extras, and actresses touch up their makeup, or are going over their lines. Eunwoo and I sit on a couch together, going over our lines. It is weird because Eunwoo was born in 1997, and I was born in 2003, but we're supposed to act as regular high school students. Eunwoo is so much older than me, but it's as if he doesn't age. That's good for him, I guess. I get to wear a Korean uniform again, which I love because uniforms are so cute. After going over our lines with Eunwoo, and being friendly with him, I am becoming more comfortable around him. He wants me to be comfortable with him because we are co-stars.

Once everything was in place, we are set to start filming right about now. We film the first few scenes. My scene where I am arriving in Korea, and walking through the airport. The director actually shut down a portion of the airport so we could film this part. The power that these people have, wow. When I finish some of my first scenes, they then move on to filming other scenes, that don't include me. There are a lot of extra scenes that need to film in order to fill the time because most drama episodes go on for at least 30 minutes to an hour, if not longer. They need a lot of content to work with, then they have the editing process that cuts out the parts that don't really make the cut. There are a lot of parts to making a drama work, and it's interesting.

By the time we finish filming, about 12 hours later, all the actors are allowed to go home to rest. Being an actress is going to be tiring, but I'm having fun. The next day, I go out, auditioning for multiple entertainment companies to see which agency suits me best. I go to the major K-pop labels such as; SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, Fantagio Entertainment, and DSP Media. I also go to the major acting agencies such as; KeyEast, WIP, TOIN Entertainment, and Mystic Entertainment. After going to all these auditions, I had a hard time choosing which company I wanted to be under.

When I narrowed down my list, it came down to two potential companies, one major entertainment company: SM Entertainment, and one major acting agency: KeyEast. Funnily enough, SM Entertainment is the parent company of KeyEast, which makes sense. It took a while for me to finally choose, but in the end, I favored SM Entertainment over KeyEast. When they called me back for the next two auditions, they were pleasantly surprised by my talent. I also told them that I am interested in being a singer, but they told me I am "too old" to train under them for that. Pfft, if Eric Nam, who debuted when he was already 25, then I still have a chance. I think I will just be an independent artist, with no company, if no company wants to take me as a singer. Plus, having two agencies manage me sounds complicated, so I'd rather just focus on one thing.

With my agency chosen, and passing the auditions for SM Entertainment, I am officially an actress under SM Entertainment. This is so insane as well because I love all the groups under this company, despite them having their problems in the past. . . We won't talk about that, though. I just like to acknowledge that SM Entertainment has had issues in the past, but the groups and actors who are still under this company, have stayed strong. I am proud of them for that. Upon joining SM Entertainment as an actress, I am shown to my new dorm room. I let them know that I already have an apartment, and that I don't need a dorm, but they insisted that I move into a dorm. I gave in, and now I had moved all my stuff into this new dorm. I'm excited to start working with SM Entertainment, and become the actress I always dreamed of since I was little.