The Day the Fake Became Real
Blizzard Entertainment headquarters, third floor.
The door to the Management Division Team 2 office opened the moment footsteps approached, and in strode Kang Min-gyu, the general manager.
The team leader of Team 2 rose to his feet at once when their eyes met.
“...You’re here?”
He offered the greeting under his breath, and when the general manager gave him a slight nod, he spoke.
“I heard Jang Mi-ran is joining this Netflix miniseries?”
“Yes, she signed the contract today.”
The general manager sat down on the sofa, and the team leader took the seat opposite him.
“Good. Actress Jang still looks amazing, doesn’t she? She won Miss Korea in the beauty category back in the day, so the role suits her perfectly. Nice work.”
As the general manager nodded in obvious satisfaction, the team leader spoke again.
“...But it’s Han Seo-jun. I heard he said he’s going to audition for it too.”
At that, the general manager’s eyes narrowed.
“Han Seo-jun? The Han Seo-jun who just wrapped filming for Truth Like a Lie last week?”
“Come on, sir. Is there another Han Seo-jun in our company?”
The team leader gave a snort and stretched both arms high over his head, letting out a long, weary yawn.
“Honestly, it’s a nightmare, sir. Ha Ju-young has been turning down every drama offer from TvM, and Chae Yun apparently keeps chewing out his manager because the co-star isn’t to his taste. A manager isn’t some household servant, for crying out loud...”
“He’s always had a temper. What can you do? You have to talk him into it and make it happen. That’s a manager’s job.”
At the general manager’s flat reply, the team leader let out a short sigh and went on.
“But surely... you’re not actually dumping Han Seo-jun on Team 2, are you? We’re already drowning in what we’ve got.”
The general manager watched the scowling team leader for a moment before letting out a faint laugh.
“Hey, what’s so bad about him? Look at that face. He doesn’t lose an inch to Chae Yeon-woo, the so-called face genius. He’s 185 centimeters tall, has a great build, and he keeps up with his workouts, so when those shirtless stills hit the internet last time, people went crazy. Why do you think photographers keep chasing after him like that?”
“Exactly.”
A sly smile spread across the team leader’s mouth.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if he just stayed quiet—striking poses for all those photographers begging for a shot, doing a few C-tier brand ads, and leaving us in peace? The last time I saw the photos for that midrange clothing brand, they were pretty decent.”
“Even so, watch your mouth. He’s still an actor, technically...”
“His acting’s already been stripped bare. And besides...”
Just as he was about to continue with a greasy smile on his face, there came a knock.
Knock, knock.
A short man opened the door and stepped inside.
His eyes had been smiling, but the moment he spotted the general manager, his expression changed.
“General Manager, you’re here?”
“Yeah. But what’s got you so happy?”
“Nothing, really. Just nothing at all.”
Even as he said it, the corners of his mouth kept lifting.
The general manager knew perfectly well he was trying to avoid him and talk only to the team leader. Frowning slightly, he eyed the man.
“I heard Ha Ju-young turned down the TvM drama offer. Do you even know how good that role is? The show’s floundering in the ratings right now, so they’re preparing for a comeback. Don’t you know that because Ju-young refused, the role got passed to Yang Jun-ho? If he already had another schedule, fine, maybe. But he didn’t, so why throw away a perfectly good spot? Do I have to tell you to crawl over and beg for a part that good? And you just stood there and let your actor kick away a blessing that fell into his lap because you couldn’t even manage him properly?”
“Ah...!”
At the rebuke, the man put on a face of utter injustice.
“No, sir. Ju-young only finished his last project two months ago. It was a crime thriller with really demanding psychological detail, so filming was exhausting, and it did well too—the ratings broke nine percent. I thought you’d want him to rest a little more comfortably...”
“Two months is enough. What, should I tell him to rest forever?”
“That’s not what I meant. While he was resting, Ju-young...”
The manager’s eyes flickered, and the general manager instantly figured out what had happened.
“That brat got back into his old habits and spent his days drinking and fooling around, didn’t he?”
“......!”
“So how much did he put on?”
When the man hesitated, the general manager raised his voice.
“I said how much did he gain!”
“T-ten kilos.”
“Hah. Unbelievable.”
The general manager shook his head as if appalled, then turned to the team leader.
“What were all of you doing if it got that bad?”
“He’ll lose it fast enough. Ju-young is a pro, isn’t he? Once the role’s decided...”
“What nonsense are you spouting? That’s exactly the point he’s making. Ju-young gained weight, lost his sharp, intelligent image, and blew the role.”
He did scold them, but the general manager understood perfectly well, deep down, what the reality was.
Was Ha Ju-young some ordinary actor?
After three consecutive hits, he’d risen straight into the top-star tier.
And with that came a swollen sense of self. Rumor had it he brushed off not only his manager but even the team leader, as if their words were nothing more than wind in his ears.
And now there was the manager standing before him.
How many people could possibly endure Ha Ju-young’s temper and still keep standing beside him?
He could stay there only because he was quick on the uptake and knew how to smooth things over, bending and adapting to Ju-young’s moods.
“...Hmm.”
The manager read the change in the general manager’s expression.
“By the way, sir, do you know something?”
“What?”
The general manager looked up at the man, who had lowered his voice with an oily, knowing smile.
“I heard Han Seo-jun submitted an application for Director Kang So-hee’s new project. He even sent in a self-tape.”
“...!”
The general manager and the team leader exchanged a glance at the words.
They had only just been talking about him, but neither had imagined Han Seo-jun would actually do something like that.
“What do you mean, he did?”
“I mean he sent in a self-tape. You know, the kind they submit for idol projects. He filmed an introduction, a short acting piece, singing, dancing—the whole thing—and sent it to NextStage Media. For My Friend in a Flop Idol’s Body... that project.”
“I know what it is. Actress Jang Mi-ran already signed on for it.”
With his brow slightly furrowed, the general manager tapped the sofa armrest with his fingers.
“Hah, impressive. Without saying a word, on his own?”
“Not exactly. I heard the Team 1 chief told him to.”
“What? The Team 1 chief? You mean Hwang Dong-jun?”
“...Yes.”
The manager shrugged, and the general manager clicked his tongue in blatant disbelief.
“Tch. What the hell was that bastard thinking...?”
The team leader, who had been watching the general manager, shifted his gaze to the manager.
“Don’t just stand there. Come over here and sit down. Sit and tell us everything you know, nice and easy.”
As if he were expecting an especially juicy story, the team leader patted the empty seat beside him with a sly look.
At that, the manager pretended to resist only a little before crossing over and sitting down beside him.
The general manager took his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen with his fingertips as he muttered to himself.
“That idiot, has he lost his mind or something? Hm?”
Frowning deeply, he put the phone to his ear.
After chewing his lower lip for a moment, he spoke.
“...Hey! Where are you? And Seo-jun—”
That was all the general manager got out before the person on the other end began talking nonstop, as if they had been waiting for the call.
The others couldn’t hear the details, but the voice of Team 1’s chief, pouring out a long, rambling explanation, could be heard clearly by both the team leader and the manager.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get here fast.”
After hanging up, the general manager gave a snort and shook his head.
“What did he say?”
“Hah, seriously!”
The general manager let out a laugh that was half a sigh.
“Han Seo-jun said he’d give it a shot, so they had him try, and the kid... was apparently too good. His singing and dancing were both so overwhelming that they said he fit the role perfectly. So they approved him... no, they actually pushed him through enthusiastically.”
“...What?”
The two men’s eyes went wide.
“No way. That sounds like a sketch comedy script.”
“Hah, this is easily the funniest thing I’ve heard all year. I’m dying.”
The team leader let out a dry laugh,
and the manager burst out laughing hard enough to clap his hands.
“So when are they announcing the first-round results?”
“Today. In a little while, apparently—and he’s already acting cocky, saying there’s no way he won’t pass.”
“Really?”
As he watched the general manager shake his head, the manager spoke up.
“What if he really does get in? If they tell him to come for a live audition, then it’d be...”
“You think that’ll happen? Seriously?”
With an expression that said the whole thing was absurd, the team leader let a crooked smile creep across his lips.
“Anyway, they said he’s almost here.”
“Then when he gets here, let’s have him sing something. I’m curious how good he really is.”
“Don’t make him sing.”
At the manager’s words, the team leader waved a hand.
“Don’t you remember what happened at the company dinner last time he sang? It turned the whole table upside down. He ignored pitch and rhythm completely. Isn’t he honestly tone-deaf?”
“I wasn’t there, so I wouldn’t know.”
“He’s tone-deaf, all right.”
The general manager nodded.
“Man, I tell you. The first time I ever saw someone sing worse than me was that bastard.”
He looked up at the ceiling and let out a disbelieving laugh.
“But then how did he manage to make the choreography video and audio track and submit everything?”
“That Han Seo-jun apparently knew a decent place. A one-person studio that rented out dance practice space and recorded tracks too—a pretty well-known spot, from what I heard. He handled the whole thing himself, start to finish.”
At the general manager’s words, the manager’s eyes widened.
“How did he even find a place like that?”
“Well, he got laughed at at the last company dinner, so maybe he made a little effort in his own way.”
“Then maybe, just maybe, he actually improved in the meantime...”
“Hey, say something that makes sense.”
When the team leader’s face twisted, the manager gave an awkward smile.
“That probably isn’t it, then?”
“If a little practice were all it took, our boy would’ve debuted as an idol ages ago.”
After saying that, the general manager clicked his tongue.
His son had shown talent in both dance and song since he was little.
He also took after his mother in looks, so he’d grown up hearing how handsome he was everywhere he went. Naturally, the general manager had seen potential in him too.
And with his own job in an entertainment agency, he had done everything he could to support his son’s path.
But was anything ever as easy as it sounded?
Even with all the benefit of the father’s backing, the boy had spent five years as a trainee without ever making it into a debut lineup, and in the end he had decided to change course.
And now, with rumors flying that most of the first-tier idol members had already applied, Han Seo-jun—the worst of the worst when it came to singing—had supposedly thrown his hat into the ring for an audition everyone called a private party for idols.
“Can he dance at least a little?”
At the general manager’s casual question, the team leader made a face like he’d just heard the dumbest thing in the world.
“Hah, sir. Don’t you remember that drama club scene from last time?”
“...Ah, right? That happened, didn’t it? It really did.”
Kang Min-gyu let out a snort of laughter.
Seo-jun’s previous project had been a trendy romantic comedy.
It had been a scene where he tried to seduce a woman in a club, but the dance moves that were supposed to look cool were as stiff as a rice mortar, and in the end the shot had to be edited down to the back of his stunt double.
The general manager was remembering that footage with a faint laugh when it happened.
Knock, knock.
At the knock, the door was flung open.
Hwang Dong-jun, chief of Team 1, came striding in with a bright grin plastered across his face.
“What’s got you so happy?”
With an expression of utter disbelief, the general manager looked him over.
The team leader and the manager also stared at him, equally puzzled.
“When I got on the elevator just now, the first-round results had already come out.”
“...And?”
“Our Seo-jun passed easily.”
“...What?!”
“......!”
All three men stiffened at once.
Hwang Dong-jun, as if he’d been waiting for that reaction, pulled out his phone and tapped the screen.
“See?”
The phone screen was held out right in front of the general manager’s eyes.
Then the team leader and the manager, who had shot to their feet, craned their necks and stared at the screen.
[NextStage Media] Casting Team Notice Email
Hello, this is the Casting Team at NextStage Media.
After reviewing the self-tape you submitted,
you have been selected as a candidate for the live audition.
Please check the schedule below and attend without error.
Date and Time: Monday, September 21, 2025, 4:30 PM
Location: Audition Room, 7th Floor, NextStage Media Headquarters
Required Items:
Designated song, 60 seconds, including chorus
Acting sides (see attached file)
Designated choreography, 45 seconds (see attached link)
※ Backing track and choreography video can be downloaded from the attachments/link in this email.
※ For a smooth audition process, please be sure to prepare the designated song, acting piece, and choreography.
※ Please arrive and complete registration 30 minutes before the audition begins.
Thank you.
Regards,
Casting Team, NextStage Media
General Manager Kang Min-gyu frowned hard.
“No, wait—this is really real?”
With his face still frozen stiff, the team leader glared at the screen.
“Hey, this isn’t fake, is it?”
As the manager casually crossed the line with his remark, Hwang Dong-jun’s expression twisted.
“What, punk? You little—”
With a rough curse, Hwang Dong-jun clenched his fist, and the general manager stepped in to stop him.
“Hey, calm down. He’s joking.”
“Joking? If a fellow agency actor does well, you should be happy for him. What are you doing?”
“No, it’s just that what he said was so unbelievable.”
Still wearing the face of a man who could not possibly believe it, the team leader snatched the phone from Hwang Dong-jun’s grip and held it close.
“Wow... It really does look too real to be a lie. And yet it can’t be true...”
He muttered the words right up against the screen.
“It is true, Team Leader.”
Han Seo-jun, who had apparently arrived without anyone noticing, stood by the door with a glittering smile as he answered.