Scoop!
"Nngh.... this is hard."
Flip. I turned the pages one by one, clutching my head as I wrestled with a problem that refused to come apart the way I wanted.
A week had passed since I'd wrapped my first stream with Luna. I'd put the brief stretch of singing and dance practice on hold and thrown myself into reading scripts, hoping to land a role.
The door creaked open, and a girl stepped in. For a second I wondered who it was—then I remembered. At this hour, the only person who'd be at the dorm was Tsuki.
"Something not working out?"
Tsuki came into the room. She looked like she'd just finished working out; she was soaked in sweat from head to toe.
"Kuro-chan! You can do it! If it's Kuro-chan, you can do it!"
She poked my furrowed brow with a finger and chirped for a smile. I tried to match her mood and forced the corners of my mouth up. Of course, on the inside I was rotting so badly I was about to start oozing.
Haa... I can't even tell Tsuki about this.
Tsuki had only just scraped a pass on the singing portion yesterday. Thanks to that, Director Yoo Hyemin had been burned down to white ash, and I'd gotten a message telling me she was taking a rest for a while and not to contact her.
I spoke as brightly as I could anyway.
"Sorry. Things aren't going the way I want."
"Going the way...? Mm... I don't get it."
Tsuki still wasn't used to Korean, so she didn't catch my meaning.
"It's okay. We'll take our time learning Korean together."
"Yeah! Kuro-chan, you teach me real good!"
"It's not 'teach me good'—it's 'teach me well.'"
"Ah.. teach me well!"
If she couldn't even tell that apart, she had a long way to go before she mastered Korean.
"But Kuro-chan!"
"Tsuki. Calling me that during streams is fine. But I told you to use my name any other time."
"...Ah! Right! I forgot. Sorry, Kuro.. I mean Jiwoo-chan."
Tsuki bowed her head and apologized without a fuss. Watching her fidget like a little hamster, I lost any urge to get angry. I let out a small sigh and looked back at the papers.
I'd been trying to crack this for days, and I was still stuck in place. I wanted to ask someone else, but I knew everyone was busy, so I was afraid to even pick up the phone.
"Again, again! Kuro-chan, here!"
Tsuki pointed at her own brow and scrunched it up hard. Apparently mine had furrowed again. I knew I shouldn't, but my body wouldn't listen.
"Look at that later and play with me now!"
She grabbed my hand and pointed toward the living room.
"Sorry. I want to play too... but I've got an audition coming up. I have to finish analyzing the role by then."
"Mm.. okay! Then Tsuki will wait right here!"
Tsuki ducked out for a moment and came back from the living room with a chair. Out there we had a dining table and chairs where the whole team could eat together. There were only two rooms, so it might look cramped once five of us were living here. Then again, Bae Ji-hyun—my workout buddy—was on a girl group with a full seven members, in a place with the exact same layout, right upstairs.
This isn't the time to be picky.
Kang Ho-yeon had told me that since I'd been working hard on singing and dancing lately, and streaming on top of that, I should take a break and do a little school for a while. But it still wasn't enough. Not if I wanted to reach the level I was aiming for.
"I'm going to look at the script, so don't distract me from the side."
"Okay! Leave it to Tsuki!"
She answered with full energy, set the chair right next to me, and sat down. I dove back into the script, trying to concentrate. I couldn't.
"Um.. Tsuki? You're staring a little too hard, aren't you?"
"Hehe, but Kuro-chan.. I mean Jiwoo-chan is just so pretty. Tsuki's never seen a girl as pretty as Jiwoo-chan!"
She fired off the compliment with a sunny smile. You can't spit on a smiling face, or so they say. Even if I wanted to say something harsh, one look at that cute face and the words went right back down my throat.
"I think Tsuki's cute too."
"Really? Tsuki's jealous of Jiwoo-chan, though."
Me? Not Kuro the avatar—she was jealous of me? She'd said I was pretty, but I'd figured that was just the kind of empty flattery girls tossed around.
"You're jealous of me, not the avatar?"
"Yeah! Of course Kuro-chan's avatar is cute and pretty too! But Jiwoo-chan, the one who moves it, is super great too! And also.. heheheh.."
Tsuki let out a laugh that belonged in some subculture manga. I instinctively took a small step back.
"This mass that you just can't believe belongs to a student... hehehehe..."
"Uh... Tsuki? Could you maybe calm down first.. and wipe the drool off your mouth?"
It was terrifying. She wriggled her fingers and closed in. I covered my chest, dodged her hands, and bolted out of the room.
"Haa.."
My concentration was already shot, and with Tsuki in the way, analyzing the role today looked hopeless. I decided to mess around instead.
In the roughly three months since I'd been reborn in a woman's body, I'd done nothing but run without stopping. I wasn't stopping—just catching my breath for a second—as I logged onto NewTube.
For a whole week now, Kuro and Luna's collab had been sitting at number one on Trending, with no intention of coming down. Remembering the stream I'd done with Luna, a smile tugged at my lips. Should I just stream instead of acting? The thought crossed my mind for a moment as I scrolled.
Then—
"Huh..?"
The algorithm had served up a video about Director XX. In my past life, I wouldn't have cared if a director did drugs or solicited prostitutes. But now that I'd stepped onto the actor's path, it niggled at me a little, so I clicked.
Meanwhile, at that same hour, four men were gathered at a high-end Western restaurant. It was only around lunchtime, yet empty liquor bottles stood on the table and expensive cuts of meat sat on each of their plates. One of the faces was familiar. It was the great director Shin Yo-han, picking at his meat with a pleasantly flushed, slightly drunk expression.
Chewing the meat in his mouth, he pulled a wad of papers from his bag and set it on the table with a thud.
"This is the project I'll be going into. I'd like to ask you all for some sponsorship and investment. I've already received a fair amount, but it's a little short."
The first to react was the man who'd been silently tipping back his glass. He was the reason Shin Yo-han had arranged this gathering—the target. SG Cinema. Department Head Lee Hyun-woo. Son of SG Cinema's president, the future head of the distribution company, and the man currently in charge of investment and distribution.
"Hmm.. is there any issue with this project?"
"Issue? Hahaha! My friend, I don't know why you always say that. Of course not! This is a film led by Shin Yo-han himself—what problem could there be!"
Shin Yo-han spoke tensely. Even though Lee Hyun-woo was much younger than he was, there was an unfathomable presence about him. Eyes and a way of speaking that seemed to see right through a person, tightening around your throat.
Joining in on Shin Yo-han's words, the large man who'd been focused on eating opened his mouth. Director Lee Jiseong. He didn't have enough films yet to be called a master, but the ones he had were outstanding works praised around the world.
"Don't be like that, Director Shin. This guy used to have sticky fingers, sure, but he doesn't pull that kind of thing anymore. Right? Director Shin."
"O-of course.."
Shin Yo-han nodded, hiding a sour expression, and the distributor seemed to accept that, briefly considering the investment.
"Would it be all right if I stepped out for a bit of air to think it over?"
"Air..? Of course! Go right ahead. And don't come back empty-handed!"
Department Head Lee Hyun-woo grabbed his jacket and left the VIP room. Silence settled over the room at once, and everyone just ate the food in front of them without a word.
After a little time passed, Department Head Lee Hyun-woo returned.
"Oh! You're back? Like I said earlier—you packed your hands nice and full?"
"....Yes."
Shin Yo-han flinched slightly at Lee Hyun-woo's chilly tone. His gaze wasn't on Director Shin Yo-han. It was on Shin Yeomyeong, who'd been sitting beside him eating in silence the whole time.
"Director Shin Yeomyeong. This screenplay. Whose is it?"
"Hold on, what are you talking about? It's obviously my screenplay!"
"I wasn't asking you, Director Shin Yo-han. Director Shin Yeomyeong, please answer."
Department Head Lee Hyun-woo wordlessly pulled out his phone and played a video. The footage contained content so chilling it raised goosebumps—content with enough impact to wipe a person off the face of the earth.
"W-wait! This is something I.."
"Mr. Shin Yo-han. I wasn't speaking to you."
He didn't even attach the title of director, and dropped all remaining courtesy. At that icy tone, Shin Yo-han shut his mouth.
Then Shin Yeomyeong opened his.
"You're curious whose screenplay this is?"
"When I first saw this screenplay, I wanted to invest. But.. it wouldn't do if the director was the problem, would it."
Shin Yeomyeong nodded as if that were obvious. His hand moved over the screenplay. In it was a ballpoint pen. He drew two hard lines through a name and wrote his own over it.
Shin Yo-han → Shin Yeomyeong
"This screenplay is one I wrote from the beginning."
"Understood. Then may I proceed with this investment trusting only in you, Director Shin Yeomyeong?"
"Of course. I'll handle it so there are no problems."
With that, Department Head Lee Hyun-woo pocketed his phone and left the room.
"Shin Yeomyeong! What the hell do you think you're doing! After I let you play director all this time, this is how you repay me?!"
The instant Lee Hyun-woo was gone, Shin Yo-han slammed the table and shouted. His voice was full of rage and betrayal. Shin Yeomyeong was unmoved.
"Then what about all my screenplays you've taken until now? Was my name on even a single letter of them?"
"Th-that's.."
"Enough. Start getting ready for prison. No one will defend you."
As if he had nothing more to say, Shin Yeomyeong stood and left.
"Ah.. haha. Something urgent just came up for me too. Let's do this another time."
Director Lee Jiseong, who'd been sitting there reading the room, also stood up. Shin Yo-han grabbed him.
"W-wait! Jiseong. You know, don't you?! That I don't do that kind of thing! I already washed my hands of it!"
"Haa.."
Director Lee Jiseong let out a low sigh and showed him an internet article. Shin Yo-han's gaze dropped to the phone. The article displayed there:
Shin Yo-han's face went blank with despair.
"Th.. this can't be."