It was a sunny day, and it seemed like the world was in a good mood.
Not June, though.
He was currently cramming the lines that he needed to audition for.
After Jay divulged that he was going to audition for this certain role, he was quickly handed a short script. It only consisted of two pages—an overview of the entire story and the character he was auditioning for, Yian, as well as a short dialogue that they supposedly were going to audition with.
At first, June was hesitant to take the role. He knew that the film was from VIVI Productions, but he was afraid that it was going to have a ridiculous plot. However, as he read the general overview, he realized that it was not the case at all.
In fact, it was similar to the dramas and movies that he watched when he was younger.
Moreover, June also wanted to challenge himself in a field he wasn't familiar with.
"Are you ready?" Jay asked as he opened the car door for June.
June weirdly looked at him. "You don't normally do stuff like this."
"You're a big star now," Jay exclaimed. "I need to start treating you like one."
June clicked his tongue and shook his head. "You better treat me like how you've always been treating me. Otherwise, I might just get a new manager."
Jay chuckled in amusement. "Well, I've always praised the ground you walked on, so there's nothing new about that."
The two of them made their way up the prestigious-looking house. It was weird since it wasn't a studio or anything like that. Instead, they were in a two-storey, modern-looking house.
"This is Director Bong's house," Jay said when he saw the curiosity in June's eyes.
"As I said, this is a closed audition, so he doesn't want any other people interrupting. So, he decided to hold it in his house instead."
"I heard there were two directors for this production," June said. "Who's the other one?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"I'm ashamed to say this, but I also don't know. This project seems to be top-secret since a lot of actors and actresses are aiming for a spot."
"Got it," June said.
So, it was safe to say that he was going to have lots of competitors today.
Nonetheless, June just wanted to challenge himself for this particular role. He wasn't necessarily passionate or dead-set about getting the role—especially since he was still a new actor. It would be safe to assume that the production team would eventually hire someone with more experience. Since naturally, they'll be better at their job, too.
"Don't be nervous, though," Jay said, patting his back. "I read through the overview and believe that you suit the role quite well."
"Are you saying I'm a villain?" June asked out of amusement.
"I'm saying you have villain-like tendencies," Jay said. "There are some moments when I feel genuinely afraid of you. But then again, I'm a scaredy cat, so who knows?"
The two of them finally arrived at the entrance of the house, and they were immediately stopped by a huge bodyguard.
"Invitation, please," he said.
Jay brought something out from his bag and handed it to the bodyguard. Then, the guard shined some light on it, proving its authentication before nodding to himself.
He opened the door and gestured for June to come in.
However, he covered Jay with his arm.
"Only the auditionees are allowed inside the house," he said. "Please come back in two to three hours."
Jay was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't get to see the house and June's acting. However, when he saw the other managers waiting on the side of the house, he smiled to himself.
Time to gossip!
"I'll stay there, June," Jay said, pointing at the group of people who were having coffee by the garden.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Alright," June said before finally making his way inside.
He looked around the interior of the house as he followed the arrows leading to the room designated for the audition. He couldn't help but feel amazed by its interior and the way it was designed. It was almost certain that the person who owned the house was an artist in his own light.
Finally, he arrived in front of the room. He didn't hesitate to go in, and there, he saw some familiar and unfamiliar faces. There seemed to be twenty seats in total, and as soon as he entered, all eyes were on him.
June recognized some old actors who suddenly lost popularity, newer actors who still haven't established their names, currently hot actors who were doing lots of projects, actors who only played as extras...and an idol?
"Another idol is in here?"
"Does he have any experience with acting?"
"I think he was in a web drama. The acting was mediocre at best."
"His acting was good there, though. However, I think it's not too hard to portray the character that he did."
"June?"
June snapped his gaze to the familiar face and saw Haruki sitting at the back with an empty seat beside him.
"Haruki?" June greeted in a similarly confused tone.
The others had already gone back to memorizing their lines and thinking about how to portray them while June made his way to the very back seat where Haruki was currently seated.
"What are you doing here?" the two of them simultaneously asked in hushed tones.
"I was invited," June said. "VIVI Productions contacted the company."
"Same with me," Haruki said.
"It's so confusing since I don't have any background in acting at all. However, Bo Wen showed me the email that the CEO received, and it seemed like they were fond of our confrontation scene in 'The King's Joker,' so they decided to contact our companies."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})June shook his head. Azure didn't even bother showing him that email. If it weren't for Haruki, then he might not have known the reason at all.
"However," Haruki said. "I wasn't even acting at that time. I genuinely hated you."
June chuckled in amusement. "Well, you better thank me then. Your hatred toward me gave you this rare opportunity."
"Shut up," Haruki said. "I'm already cringing at the thought of acting. My members helped me with my lines, and they called me stiffer than a man who hasn't had any physical attention for twenty years."
"That's darn specific," June said.
"They're just telling the truth. I really can't act for shit."
"Why didn't you turn it down then?" he asked.
Haruki pursed his lips since he didn't want to explicitly say the reason.
At first, the company was open to rejecting the offer since Haruki didn't have any background in acting. However, Haruki agreed to it because he felt that June was also going to be invited.
In the end, he took up the offer because of June—so he could finally apologize to him.
Haruki sighed and realized it had long been overdue. So, he sighed and decided to get it over with.
"Actually—"
However, before he could utter another word, the door opened once more, revealing the last auditionee of the day.
They all turned to the front, where a tall and handsome man entered.
June's body stiffened as he saw him respectfully bowing at the other actors before taking a seat in the front row.
Bo Wen said he was going to come back...however, June didn't expect him to come back so soon.
"What are you doing here, Lin Zhi?" he whispered to himself.
