"Mom."
[Yu Myeong! Are you doing well? You're not sick anywhere, are you? Are you eating properly? How did you find time to call? You're about to go live. Aren't you busy?]
The moment the call connected, questions came pouring out in a rush.
Concern and affection saturated every one of them.
Warmth spread all the way to his toes in an instant.
"I have a little free time before the live broadcast starts. I'm doing well. I'm sorry I haven't called more often."
[No, no. You must be so busy...working so hard at acting... Yu Myeong, I'm so proud of you. Our son is incredible. But...you don't have to be quite so incredible, so don't push yourself too hard. Take breaks along the way...all right?]
In only a few words, her worry swelled, overflowed into pride, then settled into tender sorrow.
Every bit of it was sincere.
Listening to his mother's voice, Yu Myeong thought that no matter how good an actor he became, he could never fully reproduce the love a parent felt for their child.
"What are you talking about? Being able to lose yourself in your work like that is incredible."
"Dad, stay out of it. Mom's going to scold you again. Hey, Yu Myeong! Yu Myeong, you doing okay over there?"
His father's and Ji Yeon's voices drifted in from somewhere farther away.
It was around lunchtime on Saturday in Korea.
Apparently, everyone had gathered to watch the live broadcast together.
"Could you put Dad on?"
[All right. Yu Myeong, take it easy, okay?!]
[Ahem. It's Dad.]
His father's gruff voice sounded slightly embarrassed.
[Uh...Yu Myeong. The shop's been doing well lately. I never mentioned it, but apparently word got around that it's owned by Yu Myeong's parents.]
[Well, I look exactly like you, Dad. Haha.]
Yu Myeong's parents ran a small pizza place.
Ji Yeon insisted that the reason she was obsessed with fried chicken was because she had spent her entire life eating pizza.
Yu Myeong and Ji Yeon had helped at their parents' shop whenever they had time since childhood. If people were only now realizing that Yu Myeong was their son...then his lack of presence truly had been astonishing.
[That's great. What about the shop today?]
[My son's about to win. Who cares about business? I told the part-timers to take the day off too. Once you win, I'm giving out free pizza tomorrow.]
[Haha, Dad...]
"Why are you putting pressure on him?!"
This time, his mother's scolding came from the background.
His father stood his ground.
[It's not pressure. Anyone can see you're obviously going to win!]
His mother's concern.
His father's faith.
Neither was any less precious than the other.
Yu Myeong sometimes had thoughts like this.
He wished he had understood how precious all of this was even without having to return fifteen years into the past.
Then perhaps his life back then would not have felt quite so suffocating.
[Oppa! Hey!]
It sounded as though Ji Yeon had rushed over and snatched the phone away.
Was he imagining it, or had she put more emphasis on "hey" than on "oppa"...?
[You'd better do well, okay? Oh, and when you come back, get me Natalie's autograph... Ow! Ow!]
His sister's usual nonsense.
That, too, was precious.
Yu Myeong put on a stern voice.
"Shin Ji Yeon."
[Yeah?]
"Watch carefully. By the end, you'll be calling me oppa without even thinking."
Yu Myeong grinned.
[Casting Vote, the long-awaited final stage!]
Waaaaah!
[Before we begin, allow me to brag a little. Things have gone absolutely crazy. People are saying the year's best variety show has already arrived before the year has even properly begun, that we've reached the pinnacle of audition programs. Everyone's making a huge fuss.]
Jerry lifted both hands and shrugged proudly.
[And honestly, they have every reason to. When I got offers from both Casting Vote and another show, I spent a long time weighing my options before choosing this one...and now I consider myself incredibly lucky. The same goes for all of you in the audience, right? Aren't you glad you applied even while thinking there was no chance you'd get in?]
"Hahahaha!" "That's right!" "I would've regretted it forever!"
[Looks like both you and I used up all our luck for the year right at the start. But you won't regret it. Everyone here today is truly...lucky.]
??
[You all saw the news in episode twenty about the Yu Myeong and Derek team and the Marta and Natalie team, right?]
Episode twenty, which aired between the second live broadcast in episode nineteen and the final live broadcast in episode twenty-one, had revealed that Derek and Yu Myeong would be sharing the stage.
By the next day, every entertainment publication was filled with the news.
-Derek McCurdy to share the stage with Yu Myeong, just as he "spoiled"!
-An established genius and a rookie genius on one stage. Is the real rivalry not Yu Myeong vs. Marta, but Yu Myeong vs. Derek?
-The long-awaited final stage drawing all eyes: Derek and Yu Myeong, Natalie and Marta. Male-male and female-female pairings.
There was no way fans devoted enough to Casting Vote to apply for audience seats had missed that news.
As they nodded in confirmation, Jerry wore the expression of a Santa Claus concealing a gift and dramatically unveiled a new surprise.
[The truth is, we've prepared four performances for today!]
???
[Marta and Natalie, Yu Myeong and Natalie, Marta and Derek, and Yu Myeong and Derek! You'll see all four combinations in sequence.]
W-Waaaaaah!
A deafening roar swept through the studio.
Anticipation sparkled in everyone's eyes.
The viewers watching from beyond their television screens felt the same.
Four performers in rare combinations that would be nearly impossible to see anywhere else.
Some wondered how difficult it must have been to prepare, but that concern was quickly overwhelmed by excitement.
This was going to be fun.
It was the instinct of an audience forever hungry for a magnificent performance.
Once Jerry had expertly pulled the tension taut, he introduced the judges.
[Now then...as a result, our judging panel has changed quite a bit. The judges became far too deeply involved in this live challenge, so we eliminated anyone who had lost all claim to objectivity. Derek is out because he'll be judged, Natalie is out, and Eva is out because she wrote the scripts!]
Hahahaha!
[Only George survived. So we've invited one more person.]
??
[He's the man who stood at the very beginning of this project. He'll direct the Casting Vote winner's next film, and he's also the rival of George over there. Please welcome Director Kyler Earnshaw as a judge for the final stage!]
Amid echoing cheers, a man stepped through the open door.
His long silver-blond hair was neatly tied back in a single ponytail, and despite being a man, he possessed a beautiful appearance with an almost pure, delicate air.
As he took one of the empty judges' seats, George greeted him.
[Hey, Kyler.]
[Have you been well, George?]
[Not at all. I've been judging Casting Vote just to help you out...and I was so jealous I thought I'd lose my mind.]
[Haha, George.]
Neither the audience nor the viewers could take their eyes off the unusually striking man.
Their fascination was understandable.
Kyler Earnshaw avoided appearing in public. Aside from distant footage of him at film festival ceremonies, he had never appeared in motion on mainstream media.
This was the first time he had ever shown himself so openly.
[Hello, Kyler. Forgive me for saying this the first time we meet, but I can't tell whether you're a director or an actor.]
[Haha, nice to meet you, Jerry. I've been enjoying Casting Vote.]
[You're saying that as though it has nothing to do with you. Now, since the judging panel has been reduced to two people, each of you will have twice the authority. George and Kyler can each award up to one hundred points to each of the four teams. The scores you give will then be added together for each contestant and reflected in their total.]
[So the scores aren't being given to Yu Myeong and Marta, but to the teams?]
[That's right.]
There was an important implication behind that question.
The studio audience and viewers would vote for either Yu Myeong or Marta, meaning they would vote for the contestants themselves.
But this time, the judges' scores would be team scores.
Which meant Derek and Natalie would also be judged.
[Interesting.]
Kyler's lips curved into a faint smile.
It was beautiful.
[Now, let's begin. The first performance you'll see is from Marta and Natalie!]
The real competition began.
Wow...
The person Yu Myeong was admiring now was Eva Dobransky.
During this rehearsal period, he had not been able to read the other team's script.
No, more accurately, he had been too busy preparing two separate performances to spare the time.
So the Marta and Natalie performance he was now seeing for the first time was about—
A nun and an assassin.
It combined Nelly, the assassin Natalie had played in Killing Smile, with Julia, the nun Marta had portrayed in the previous live broadcast.
Eva could not have known in advance that Marta would make it into the final two, so she must have written the script between the end of the second live broadcast and the following morning, when the scripts were distributed.
And yet the pairing of two women from opposite extremes, an assassin and a nun, displayed such perfect chemistry that it seemed like a concept she had been developing for years.
When their performance ended, Yu Myeong applauded without reservation.
Several people swarmed Natalie as she rushed backstage, changing her costume and adjusting her makeup in an instant.
The contestants took turns going onstage, but Natalie and Derek had to perform consecutively, leaving them extremely busy.
Yu Myeong fixed his gaze outside so he would not see Natalie stripping off her costume.
By the time Jerry's banter and the judges' brief comments were over, the preparations were already complete.
[Now, let's move on to the next stage. Natalie, who just showed us a magnificent assassin, will become an ordinary woman. And Yu Myeong, who is about to perform for the first time today, will become a slightly unusual man. Please welcome Analog Love with a round of applause!]
Waaaaah!
The stage lights went out beneath the audience's cheers.
Standing in the wings, where only the faintest human silhouettes could be made out, Yu Myeong whispered softly to Natalie beside him.
"You were amazing. Let's do well in this one too."
Even in the darkness, he could feel her firm gaze meeting his.
Natalie gave a slight nod, then brushed past him and stepped onto the stage.
She appeared alone in the opening scene.
Bzzzt—
The lights came on.
A single desk stood onstage, slim and strikingly simple in design.
The computer monitor mounted on it was nothing more than a pane of transparent glass. Blue text and graphs floated across its surface.
The scene looked extraordinarily high-tech.
And seated before it was a woman.
Her hair was swept neatly back and tied in a single ponytail.
Rimless glasses rested on her face.
Large hoop earrings dangled from her ears, and she wore a dress heavily accented with silver.
She had sharp features, yet possessed the kind of beauty that could make someone sigh.
The actress was Natalie Cassen.
She sat with her arms folded across her chest, leaning back as though sinking into the chair.
[Yeah, Mika. I'm still at the virtual office. I just uploaded it to the final deliverables directory, so the important work is done. You found a nice guy? Send me the iris footage right now.]
The year was 2020.
The setting was a future in which advanced technology had been completely integrated into everyday life.
The protagonist, Sophia, was a programmer and a woman who lived at the very forefront of that high-tech world—
When Yu Myeong had first read that premise in the script, he had snorted with amusement.
It was not quite 2020, but he had lived through 2018, and from his perspective, the world depicted in the script was rather absurd.
It's 2007 now...so I suppose it's natural for people to imagine that the world will change radically in thirteen years. Then again, Apple's iPhone will launch in two months, and that alone will transform the world enormously. Just not to this extent.
In any case, that was something only Yu Myeong, who had lived in the future, knew.
Everyone else watching the stage accepted her appearance without the slightest sense of incongruity, imagining a futuristic city in 2020.
[But Mika, I met someone incredibly strange yesterday.]
"A strange person? A pervert?"
[No...I don't think he was a bad person... He approached me while I was standing on the street and asked my name. But...he was incredibly unusual...]
Sophia's expression turned reflective as the lights dimmed.
When they brightened again—
Shhhhhhh—
The sound of rain filled the theater.
A man holding an umbrella stood before Sophia.
He wore a classic suit, and his softly curling wheat-colored hair gave him a gentle warmth like sunlight.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter