I Want to Be a VTuber

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“Cameo?”

“Stella Baldwin?”

“Director, is this for real?”

I could feel the filming set buzzing with excitement.

The staff members who already knew this fact were a bit less shocked, but they were still entranced by Stella’s looks.

I couldn’t help but wonder how Stella ended up in <Gyeongseong Young Lady>.

But the surprises weren’t over yet.

“She’s here.”

A staff member said to Director Baek Min, his face tense.

There was no need to say who had arrived.

Stella, having finished her makeup and smiling at those looking at her, was soon joined by Asher Baldwin.

If my curiosity about Stella was a mere question, this time it was sheer shock.

Still, while we had seen Stella before, no one had expected to see Asher Baldwin here.

“Asher Baldwin in the flesh?”

“Stella is participating in a cameo, and he actually came here?”

“Could it really just be for that?”

Everyone, both staff and actors, wore expressions of bewilderment as they stared at the filming set, now featuring Asher Baldwin and his daughter, Stella Baldwin.

And then the gaze shifted to Director Baek Min, who was quietly smiling.

‘Certainly.’

Director Baek Min empathized with their feelings fully.

He knew exactly how they felt; even he had questioned his ears when he first heard it.

When he arrived in Japan, Stella Baldwin was being escorted by her bodyguards while he was meeting Asher Baldwin.

“Stella asked to be in your movie.”

“For a movie role?”

“Of course, I’m not asking you to prepare a special part right now. If I had to put it into words… a cameo would be appropriate.”

I never imagined the word cameo would come from Asher Baldwin’s mouth.

And not just any actor, but Stella Baldwin wanted to appear in his movie as a cameo.

From the perspective of a Korean film director, it was truly an overwhelming situation.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible since Korean films had slowly gained recognition abroad.

Some famous Korean directors had already cast foreign stars as leads in their films.

However, it had never happened that a popular star proposed to appear as a cameo by themselves.

While Director Baek Min’s films might have some recognition overseas, it wasn’t to the extent that someone would come to him personally to ask.

“May I ask why?”

“Hmm.”

Asher Baldwin glanced at Director Baek Min for a moment.

He seemed young, but it was hard to read his thoughts.

Considering his name recognition, Director Baek Min would typically have two possible reactions.

Discontent at someone suddenly barging into his film.

Or perhaps bowing his head first to establish connections.

The world revolves around connections, after all.

If Asher Baldwin had the power, it wouldn’t be a problem for a Korean director to be properly showcased in Hollywood.

If he said he wanted to participate in the film as a co-director or cinematographer, he could easily gather Hollywood actors.

So naturally, those wanting to play in the big leagues would end up bending the knee to Asher.

But Director Baek Min was neither of those.

He was simply driven by pure curiosity.

“I heard that there’s an actress that Stella is interested in.”

“You mean Joo Seo-yeon?”

“You know her.”

“Of course, she came all the way to Korea.”

Director Baek Min smiled.

“Why in the world does Stella have an interest in Joo Seo-yeon?”

“If I had to say, it might be because I made a bit of a fuss.”

A Korean actress who had appeared as a cameo in a Japanese drama.

At first, he was struck by her looks, and the second time, he was amazed by the presence she exhibited in her acting.

Presence is innate.

And even though he heard that Seo-yeon could barely speak Japanese, starring in a movie as the lead seemed impossible.

After all, she wouldn’t be able to deliver lines properly, meaning naturally she couldn’t take on the role of someone who had many lines.

However, Asher couldn’t fault Seo-yeon’s Japanese pronunciation.

He didn’t mention it to the Japanese studio staff, but he had some familiarity with the language.

He just chose not to say anything.

In his eyes, even if Seo-yeon had stayed quiet and simply smiled, she would have overshadowed other actors.

Even without speaking, one’s gaze gravitated naturally toward her.

He could count on one hand the number of actors who had given him that feeling.

Among actresses, Stella Baldwin was the only one.

But now that singularity was becoming a duality.

“But the fact that she came to Korea must mean that she saw that kid’s acting.”

“Is that a hint of childish jealousy because your father is praising someone other than yourself?”

“Not at all. Stella isn’t such a simple child. Simple, yes… but that’s generally limited to her goals.”

“Goals?”

“That was a bit long-winded. To sum it up, Stella expressed her desire to appear in your film, Director Baek Min. She even sweet-talked her father for a while, asking for your help.”

Upon hearing those words, Director Baek Min smiled.

It was an astonishingly cute English coming from Asher Baldwin.

Stella Baldwin using charm.

It was hard for Director Baek Min to imagine that.

She looked like an angel, but according to Jo Seo-hee, her real personality seemed quite fierce.

Of course, that aspect was irrelevant to Director Baek Min.

“Declining…”

“I understand your concerns about Stella possibly ruining the film’s colors.”

Asher cut off Director Baek Min’s words, who seemed ready to refuse.

“From what I heard, many young talents are involved in this project.”

Asher’s gaze turned to Director Baek Min.

His eyes were steady.

He had clearly heard that the previous project had failed, yet there was no wavering in his eyes.

Under the pressure that a master could exert, Baek Min found himself stifled.

“It will definitely provide good stimulation for those actresses. After all, it’s just a cameo. There’s no way it could ruin the film.”

Or does he think that just a cameo could overshadow your work or actors?

Asher Baldwin seemed to imply just that.

It was a provocation.

And a rather delightful one at that.

Here was a figure of that stature, deliberately challenging him while seeking to cast his daughter in a film.

Not just anyone but a prominent Korean director wouldn’t even get a second thought from a prominent actress.

“What.”

Director Baek Min too was contemplating.

While Joo Seo-yeon might be one thing, he was curious about how Jo Seo-hee or Lee Ji-yeon would react to Stella.

Certainly, Stella had been compared often to Seo-yeon.

The films she had starred in reinforced that idea.

Watching Stella’s acting naturally evoked emotions and brought forth both laughter and tears for the audience.

At just eight years old, she had captivated everyone with her debut performance, winning the youngest lead actress award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Director Baek Min had watched that film several times.

“Seo-yeon is quite considerate of the two.”

It’s amusing, but Director Baek Min was similar to Asher.

If Asher had thought of Stella while watching Seo-yeon’s acting, Director Baek Min had a child actor in mind when he saw young Stella’s performances.

Stella winning the Berlin International Film Festival award was ten years ago.

And she had starred in a drama that had created quite a buzz in Korea back then as a child actor.

Of course, purely in terms of works, Stella’s performances couldn’t even be compared to Asher Baldwin’s films.

Director Baek Min had never even seen <The Moon That Hid the Sun>.

But after Seo-yeon became involved in <Gyeongseong Young Lady>, he finally got around to watching that drama.

“I realized way too late.”

Or maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

If he had seen Seo-yeon’s performances in real-time back then, and then noticed she had disappeared for a while, he might have searched for her just like Seo-hee did.

Indeed, he firmly believed that the performances Seo-yeon had shown matched up perfectly with those of Stella’s at that time.

And the return of Seo-yeon had only shown that level of performance once, during “Cha Seo-ah.”

“Isn’t there a sense of greed? This may be a chance to turn a raw stone into a gem.”

At those words from Asher, Director Baek Min chuckled.

And he slowly nodded.

Well, honestly speaking, as a director, it wasn’t a bad offer at all.

His investors would surely be thrilled with the news.

While he should technically decline for the sake of his “work,” it also felt like there was no harm in accepting.

“I’ll accept the proposal. However, let me say this before anything else…”

Director Baek Min looked at him and spoke in a calm voice.

“Our actors are not exactly raw stones.”

They are already jewels.

They just haven’t found the right place to shine yet.

Director Baek Min believed that.

***

“Stella Baldwin, who suddenly joined today, plays the daughter of a Western trader, a wealthy man, and is a character who has a past connection with Michiko since they were children.”

Of course, the script had to be modified on the fly.

The screenwriter, hearing that Stella Baldwin would participate, had completed the script with enthusiasm in just two days.

Considering it was written in such a short time, the quality was impressive and fairly well-done.

They added a character to the auction scene, and it fit in quite believably.

However, the problem was that her appearance time was quite substantial for a cameo.

Typically, a cameo lasts about a minute, something to pass by.

“Isn’t it practically a minor role?”

Everyone thought so as they watched Stella.

Her screen time was surely at least five minutes.

Seemingly short, but in a movie with an average running time of two hours, five minutes allocated to a single person was a considerable amount of time.

“Joo Seo-yeon.”

Lee Ji-yeon said quietly to Seo-yeon, who was standing still.

“What are you thinking about?”

Seo-yeon didn’t say a word.

She merely gazed in the direction of Stella.

Was she feeling tense because an unfamiliar person was joining the film?

No way, that couldn’t be it.

Ji-yeon had never seen Seo-yeon get nervous when participating in movies or dramas since they were young.

On the contrary, she had sensed Seo-yeon feeling uncomfortable acting recently in Director Baek Min’s film.

Especially during romantic scenes.

But the scene they would be filming this time didn’t really involve any romance.

“It just feels strange.”

Seo-yeon looked at Stella.

She was quietly still, just like Seo-yeon before shooting.

Not smiling like an angel as usual.

Nor was she acting all snooty like when she was around Seo-yeon.

She was calm.

With her eyes closed, expressionless, like a doll.

Yet, for some reason, her demeanor seemed closer to her true essence than ever.

‘Maybe.’

Seo-yeon squinted at her.

There was a strange resemblance to her previous life.

Thus, naturally, the illness she had suffered in her previous life came to mind.

Alexithymia.

But that was not a condition that would aid acting.

Now that she had overcome that illness, she could no longer apply it to her performances.

Having seen Stella’s movies, Seo-yeon was confident Stella had nothing to do with that condition.

Emotional acting.

An actor who draws empathy from others could never have such an illness.

After all, Seo-yeon herself was a special case even in her previous life, where normal people couldn’t even mimic expressions.

But what to say about it?

There was something to infer.

Considering Stella’s comments thus far, it was quite…

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Huh? What? Who to?”

“To Stella. It’s probably a good idea to have a word before filming.”

After all, there was still time before they started filming.

So a little conversation wouldn’t hurt.

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Seo-yeon’s back.

But Seo-yeon didn’t care.

When she approached Stella, who was surrounded by bodyguards, they blocked her way.

She watched them closely.

“Yeah, move aside. If she wants to meet me, there’s no way you can stop her.”

From behind the wall of bodyguards, Stella’s voice floated through.

Hearing those words, the bodyguards looked puzzled but soon stepped aside.

“Hmm, that’s rather ambiguous. Those guys seem to only think of you as an ‘actress’.”

At Stella’s remark, Seo-yeon looked blankly at her.

Since Stella spoke in English, she hadn’t fully grasped what she said.

“…Isn’t it true that Koreans don’t speak English well?”

“Another racially charged comment.”

“No, not this time. Besides, I’ve been careful lately. If you were to punch me, my head would definitely get concave.”

“I don’t randomly hit people.”

Stella said, covering her head with her hands.

Whether she was genuinely being cautious, who knows, but it was true that she was less reckless than before.

More importantly, Seo-yeon was somewhat aware of her own English skills.

To continue working as an actress, proficiency in English was essential.

Otherwise, she would only find roles in Korea.

“Let me know if you need help with English. I can teach you.”

“…Later.”

Anyway, that wasn’t what mattered at the moment.

Seo-yeon stood face to face with Stella.

Stella in a Western-style dress, and Seo-yeon in a traditional Japanese kimono.

The two formed a strange contrast, with the bodyguards in between.

Those watching the scene couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment, but Seo-yeon felt a sense of relief inside.

“I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

Stella, giggling, prompted her to continue.

Seo-yeon hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

“You mentioned that you can’t really distinguish other people’s faces.”

She paused there, contemplating whether to continue.

It could simply be a passing joke or a habit.

Or maybe it was a reflection of her rudeness, but something felt different.

So she wanted to ask.

At least before filming, she could correct anything that might come off as impolite in her expression.

“Yeah, that much.”

Stella smiled and placed a finger on Seo-yeon’s lips.

“Right now, it’s not exactly important, is it? Or are you worried I might mess up in the shoot? Because I can’t distinguish the roles?”

She spoke while offering a gentle smile to Seo-yeon, who was quietly staring at her.

“Don’t worry. I’m fully capable of distinguishing the faces of the roles.”

With a smile as angelic as ever.

“I’m talking about the roles, you see.”

At that smile, Seo-yeon couldn’t reciprocate.

That smile practically validated all of Seo-yeon’s speculations.

And so.

Their conversation ended like that, and filming began in earnest in Japan.