When the Extra Takes Centre Stage

Chapter 1

Growing up, you were a girl with her eyes on a dream too big for her belly. Chasing it, they said, was like trying to chase the moon to capture with a net. Or, more unflatteringly, like a pig with a carrot on a stick over its head. Out of reach, out of touch.

You proved them wrong.

It took a special kind of woman to plant her roots in the acting industry with no connections, no support. Yuha knew this much. She might have a pretty face, but a pretty face was just a tool in your inventory when you pledged yourself to a place like this. Or anywhere in this damn country, really. You needed assurance. Charisma. A couple favours exchanged, a couple things hung over their heads. And most of all, a blistering, relentless will. Yuha didn't have the type of money to make bribes, but she had the wrought iron determination to stagger her way out of the underbelly of the acting industry. And her pretty face was simply the cherry on top.

That's why she was here right now, sat by the window of a cafe with an overzealous journalist over a pair of iced Americanos. Coffee at dusk was questionable, but Yuha could handle it. She could afford to sleep in tomorrow. There was nothing important on her radar, anyway, not after last week. Nursing a glass of the bitter stuff in her hands and idly stirring with the straw, Yuha fished around in her memory for the journalist's name. Kim Eunmi? Kim Eunbi? Something like that.

"It's such a pleasure to be sitting with you, Ms. Bang," the lady across her jittered, notebook and pencil already in hand. She was a girl, really. Fresh out of university, a little younger than Yuha was herself. A rookie, by the looks of it. "I hope you don't mind me taking too much time out of your day. This interview won't take long, I promise."

Even if it's an interview for a big media company, Yuha thought, idly stirring her Americano with her straw, it's still being conducted by a rookie. Nobody in any industry has heard of a 'Kim Eunmi' before. If I want to get some of the big names at my doorstep, I still have some work to do.

Yuha gave a respectful dip of her head, letting a small smile grace her lips. "It's my pleasure to have you."

The journalist gave a quick nod. "Now, um, Ms. Bang, I'm sure, you're aware that the nation is raving about your appearance in the hit film Rise, which was only released last week on the big screen. With overwhelmingly positive reviews for both you and the film flooding in even internationally, do you have anything to say? About the movie and your performance at all?"

"No."

The journalist blinked. "Really?"

"Everyone has already said what I've had to say."

Eunmi/Eunbi/What's-her-name gave a small, nervous chuckle, nodding. "Oh. I see. You are aware people are speculating that, amongst many things, you will be the future face of South Korea, yes?"

"Very much so."

"And your... thoughts on that?"

"Well, you know what they also say, the future will be here in the blink of an eye."

Yuha heard the pen in the girl's hand scribbling feverishly, before she set it down and looked up. The journalist cleared her throat, crossing one leg over the other.

"You're very confident, Ms. Bang. I like that. Everyone is excited about you. Now, you must know that being a face in the acting world comes with it a curiosity about one's character and background... Naturally, people are interested about such things, especially since you're such a new bombshell. Would you mind elaborating on such?"

Yuha raised an eyebrow, though she had been expecting something like this. "You mean about my life before I landed my role in Rise, yes?"

"Ah... well, yes, I suppose, something like that."

"Ha."

Yuha leaned back into her seat, eyes turned towards the light fixtures on the ceiling.

Don't bother me, dear, was a phrase Yuha was familiar with growing up, words from the tongue of a mother who cradled a bottle like the way she should've cradled her daughter. Alcoholism could bear different faces. During the day, Yuha's mother took the subway, went to work, and became a face in the crowd; at the first gesture of dusk she'd come home to take off her shoes and drink till she could no longer feel her own weight. Run along and do your homework, she'd say airily. With a faceless father that had disappeared from her life long before she could crawl, Yuha was left all by herself. She was left to walk to school by herself. Dust the windows by herself. Heat instant noodles by herself. She learned, very early on, that she could rely on no one but herself. It would always be that way.

Enamoured by the allure of being cared for, her mother gave her ring finger to a man who she figured would shield her from her responsibilities the same way her drink would. She said he made her feel young again. This man titled himself king of the household and watched as Yuha tried her best to win him over by mimicking the actors she saw on the television.

When I'm on TV, the child informed him, I'll be far, far away from here. And I'll make enough money so I won't be living like this anymore, and maybe enough to get Mama off the beer.

He laughed and gave a limp applause. Keep dreaming, kid. Only way out of here is if you put enough focus on your studies.

Yuha did not like studying. She found it suffocating and boring. She wanted to better herself, and she wanted greater things. And she wanted the fast way out.

Or at least, what she thought it was.

"When I was in high school," She languidly set her coffee down. "I was scouted by a modelling agency on the way to the convenience store. It was a little sketchy, but it was also a big opportunity. I had nothing to lose, so I leapt at it. And one fish led to an even bigger fish, and soon I set my sights on acting instead. Only last year, auditions opened for Rise, and now look at us."

Of course, there was more to everything than fate. There had been failure after failure after failure, setback after setback, bitter reality shoved down her throat. She'd had shitty cards raining down on her since the start but Yuha knew the masses didn't need to know that. She simply said what needed to be heard, nothing more.

"Impressive," the journalist said, nodding along.

Yuha gave a short, graceful bob of the head.

"So, how was your experience working on set?..."

And one answer blended into the next question...

.

.

.

The streets....

Are so crowded.

It wasn't a surprise. At this time of day, everyone was getting off work, and in this district, with its narrow streets, food stalls, and budding nightlife, there was bound to be crushes of civilians. Yuha wormed her way out of the cafe, pulling her face mask over her nose so as to disguise herself. It'd be a bit of a problem for her if people recognised Bang Yuha out in the wild; by this point, her energy had kind of petered out and just wanted to go home. She wasn't an underground actress anymore. That thought sat in her chest like a purring cat.

The alleyways around this district were narrow. Yuha was being jostled around at this point; there was someone brushing her back, two people squeezed up on either side of her, someone shuffling in front of her nose as the crowd leaked into the constricted streets vying to get wherever they were getting at.

Ugh i dont wanna write this all you need to know is that she dies in a crowd crush ok ❣️ i need to grind out like 15 chapters and the deadline is in like 3 days so it's looking a bit grim.....

I want to kill myself bruh why is this so corny ☠️

Sorry for ruining the immersion or whatever i just can't figure out how to write this scene (unless someone wanna write it for me)

Just know that she died in a crowd crush. Like her oxygen was cut off and basically she was suffocated to death

Moving on!