Over a decade in the director's chair.
If you asked Director Kang to name the single most grueling shoot of his career, he wouldn't hesitate for even a moment: commercials with little kids.
They cry, they throw tantrums, and the second you point a camera at them, they freeze up like statues.
Wrangling one child was easily twice the work of managing three adult actors.
On the last beverage ad, the lead kid had bawled nonstop for three straight hours, leaving the entire crew collectively dead-eyed and hollow.
Compared to that, today's lead being seven years old was practically a luxury, but…
*No experience whatsoever, and they're putting her as the main?*
Even in an industry that ran on connections, the fact that the client had taken the agency's word as gospel and slotted in a completely inexperienced little girl was something else.
Probably drinking buddies or something.
If this were a film or drama — the kind of shoot that could leave a mark on his career — Director Kang would have pushed back hard. But this was a minor side gig, barely more than a side hustle, so he'd agreed without complaint.
He was sitting down, going over the storyboard, when—
"Director! Director!!"
One of his longtime assistant directors came sprinting over, out of breath.
"What."
"Oh wow, this shoot's gonna be a breeze!"
"Hm? Didn't you say she's a newcomer?"
"Yeah, but she talks way better than any seven-year-old I've ever seen."
"Oh, really?"
Nothing made for a smoother commercial than a composed child actor.
"And she's got the look, you know? That thing — like she was just born different."
"Yeah? I figured she was just a nepotism hire."
"No no no, she's like the poster child for 'please never change.' I don't think she'll be picky about camera angles either."
"The camera, you little — what do you know about that."
"I'm serious, you'll be shocked when you see her."
One of Director Kang's eyebrows arched up at a skeptical angle.
*If she were that caliber of child actor, wouldn't she have blown up even younger?*
In his experience, kids who got dropped straight into a role without any explanation were usually nothing more than a nepotism hire.
*Then again, this one doesn't usually get worked up over nothing…*
Curiosity began to bubble up, and—
"Take me to her. Where is she?"
"Yes, sir. Right this way."
They didn't have to go far. Coming toward them, greeting people along the way, was Lee Chae-won and her family.
"Hello there!"
The moment he saw the little girl gripping her father's hand and calling out her greeting in a bright, clear voice—
"Oh my."
"Whoa."
"She's adorable."
A small ripple ran through the set.
"Ho~?"
Director Kang stroked his beard with quiet satisfaction.
Eyes round as a doll's, a complexion that seemed to hold sunlight, a presence that drew every gaze just by standing still.
She had that thing — that pull — people always talked about.
*…This one's the real deal.*
"Hello there. You must be Chae-won?"
"Yes!"
"Good, good. This uncle here is the director. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
Well-mannered, easy to talk to.
Looks like today's shoot might go smoothly after all.
He let himself wear a rare, contented smile.
"Alright, parents, if you'd come wait over here. Chae-won, shall we head over that way?"
He'd only done a quick check to see how she looked on camera.
*Jesus—!*
Even with casual, off-the-cuff angles, the atmosphere she gave off from every direction was something else entirely.
*I'm going to shoot the masterpiece of my life today!*
For the first time in a long while, Director Kang felt his long-dormant artistic soul ignite.
Sadly.
It took less than ten minutes for that smile to shatter into pieces.
"Okay, hold up the magic wand~ say 'Sparkle sparkle, transform!' and give us a big smile. Got it?"
The product was the Magical Girl transformation set from Duel King, which was all the rage these days.
Raise the glittering wand, spin around adorably — the kind of move any girl her age would do with pure, bubbling excitement.
"Ready— action!"
"……Sparkle sparkle. Transform."
"…Cut."
What was that just now.
Her voice had been completely devoid of any soul.
The pose with the wand raised looked, somehow, like a gladiator marching into battle.
He'd asked for a big smile, and what he got was the corners of her mouth yanked stiffly upward — the unmistakable look of someone forcing a grin.
Even that was cute enough to work as a picture, but still…
"Hey, Chae-won. A little more excited! Like, *wow—* I'm transforming! That kind of feeling, okay?"
"…Wow. I'm transforming."
"……Cut."
What on earth.
Wondering if something was wrong, he glanced over toward the observers' area — and found her mother sitting there with both hands pressed over her face.
The way her shoulders were shaking made it clear she was trying not to laugh. Director Kang made a deliberate effort to look away.
"Okay, this time — jump up! Wow— this is so fun! How about that?"
"…Wow. This is so fun. Jump."
"……"
The greatest bait-and-switch of his career!
Director Kang's head was spinning.
"Chae-won, are you feeling okay? Want to take a little break?"
"…No. I'm fine."
*She looks incredible just standing there, but……*
Heavenly visuals, cursed acting ability?
He reviewed the footage they'd shot, and his expression grew progressively more strained.
*Look at that face. Someone would think we handed her a death sentence.*
No — it could just be nerves. She was still a little kid, wasn't she!
Director Kang refused to give up and walked over to Chae-won.
"Chae-won, want to take a break? You're probably fine, but your uncle here needs a rest."
"Okay."
The set was full of enormous cameras and unfamiliar adults.
Not an easy space for a small child.
He tried a calm, gentle approach.
"Chae-won, how did you end up doing this commercial?"
"Oh, this one had the best rate, so…"
"The rate…?"
Not exactly a word a kid her age would normally use.
W-wait.
*Is she… being exploited?!*
What kind of shameless thing was this, in the twenty-first century.
He snapped his gaze wide-eyed toward Chae-won's parents — and spotted Lee Jeong-hwan, who had somehow drifted closer, holding out his phone.
"Ugh, stop taking pictures! If you take pictures I'm not eating all day."
"Aww, come on. You're dressed so cute. Just let me keep a few, hold still."
*Ah. Maybe not, then.*
Judging by the way she talked to her dad, exploitation didn't seem to be the issue.
He told her to wander freely around the set to get comfortable, then sank into his own private brooding.
*Cut the lines entirely. Just have her strike poses that look good.*
It was a shame, but that alone would be more than enough to work with.
Wasn't it a waste to throw away visuals this overwhelming over something like this?
He made his decision and looked around for Chae-won — and found her over by the cluster of set props.
"Hm?"
*What is this… vague sense of melancholy??*
Chae-won was gazing at something with a forlorn, wistful look — harmless yet somehow mysterious, radiating a quiet ache.
He immediately raised his camera and took several shots without a word.
*How does a child express emotion at this level?!*
He zoomed in on whatever she was holding.
"…Duel… King?"
A box of Duel King card packs, being used as a prop.
What was it about that thing?
Director Kang immediately rushed over to her.
"Chae-won."
"Wha?! Yes? I didn't steal anything."
"Hm? No no, do you like that?"
"Um… yes."
Without hesitation, Director Kang lifted up one of the boxes.
"This. I'll give you a brand-new one, the whole thing."
Chae-won's eyes went wide and she pressed her lips together.
"But only if you finish the shoot well. Deal?"
"O-okay!"
He hadn't expected any dramatic transformation.
The limits you're born with are hard to overcome through effort alone.
If sheer willpower could fix stiff actors, the concept of wooden acting would never have existed in the first place.
This was nothing more than bait — a way to coax out just a little more genuine reaction from the child.
Yes, that was all it was.
That was all it was supposed to be.
"Sparkle sparkle, transform! Wow— I'm so, so pretty now!"
That pure, bubbling giggle — as if she were genuinely overjoyed to be playing with the Magical Girl set.
The adorable little flick of her wrist as she swung the wand.
The eye-smile that shot straight through the camera lens.
It was nothing short of perfect.
If the client had been here, he wouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to sign her to an exclusive contract on the spot.
"Bravo!! BRAVO!! Cut cut cut! That's a take!! Great, let's go one more time! That was incredible just now, you hear me? You can break your own ceiling! Let's go! Play even harder!!"
After that, Chae-won followed the director's lead and struck her poses like a real magical girl — sharp and spirited — and they wrapped the shoot without a hitch.
***
"Haah."
I let out a sigh that felt, to me at least, like it could shake the world off its axis.
What did I just do.
"Chae-won, let's go home. You were the cutest thing today."
"I got conned…"
"Hm? What's wrong? Didn't you pick this one because it had your favorite Magical Girl character?"
"……"
*I don't like her, I'm just mildly interested, okay.*
I'd said it hundreds of times and it never sank in, so I just kept my mouth shut.
But wait — didn't I pick the commercial myself?
Yeah, I picked it.
So what, so what, so what.
The agency had sent over a list of options, and one of them was a toy magic wand based on the Magical Girl from Duel King. I'd just been a little curious, that's all.
The other options were a transforming robot car, a doll wardrobe set for Sisi, and a child acting role in a drama.
*There's no way I could do acting.*
That one felt way too serious, and the resistance was strong.
*I just want to do some easy gold farming!*
To keep it from feeling like actual work, the Duel King commercial was the obvious pick — at least it was something I was interested in. Plus, it paid the most.
……And, incidentally, I was also a little curious whether the magic wand's quality had turned out well.
Anyway. That was the stream of consciousness that led me to filming this commercial.
*They said this is going to air on the kids' cartoon channel… This is a disaster…!*
Those clips of me dancing are going to be watched by kindergarteners?
"I wanna die."
"Hm? Chae-won, you want porridge?"
"No…"
Even so, I looked down at the Duel King box I was cradling carefully in my arms.
Bone Dragon.
*Right. This guy is the problem.*
It was a Duel King studio shoot, after all. The set had been stacked mountain-high with boxes of these cards.
I'd been drooling over them going *wow, each box has thirty packs in it*, and then my eyes had just… rolled back in my head.
After the director handed me a box of Bone Dragons, I'd felt something inside me snap — like a limiter had been removed.
I'd gone in with a *I'm going to give this everything I've got!* attitude, and by the time I came back to my senses, I had become: Girl Who Had a Genuinely Great Time Playing with a Magic Wand.
When you think about it, my commercial fee was way more than that box was worth.
*A box costs less than thirty thousand won. Why did I do that…*
Why, she asks.
……It's because Mom banned me from buying cards.
Idiot. Sea anemone. Mutt.
Saying it out loud would get me a flick on the forehead, so instead I stared daggers at the back of Mom's head as she drove, pouring all my resentment into the look.
Somehow it made me feel a little better.
So this is why kids blame their parents.
Just then, Dad turned around and held up his phone to show me the photos he'd taken.
"Hey, sweetie~ Daddy took a ton of pictures. Want to see?"
"AAAAUGH put it away put it AWAY."
"Why, you look so pretty."
He'd ignored me even after I'd growled at him to stop.
"…I'm not eating."
Hitting Dad only made him happy, so I'd punish this body he loved so dearly in his place.
"That's your loss. Go ahead and starve~"
Mom, cool as ever from the driver's seat, answered instead of Dad.
"Honey, should we get chicken tonight?"
"Sounds good. Chae-won, you're not having any?"
"……Chicken?"
Hmm, Mom has a point.
Starving is my loss.
Why should I be the one to starve.
I shouldn't. Nope, nope.
Mom really is the wise one.
"I want boneless."
"Pffahaha. Alright, alright. Let's grab some on the way home."
.
.
.
About three months passed after that.
Right around when the commercial had faded to a blur in my memory.
*Slide—*
"Oh! Chae-won! You're here!"
I'd just arrived at kindergarten when Kim Si-yeon was standing there holding a familiar magic wand.
