Chapter 7
After the audition ended and the other judges had gone their separate ways, the music director slipped toward the building’s emergency exit.
Even before touching the handle, he kept glancing around. After opening the door and stepping inside, he looked alternately up and down the stairwell, making sure no one was there.
Carefully, he went down the stairs and pressed himself into the corner of the landing between two floors.
Only after confirming he was completely alone did he pull his phone from his pocket.
After a few taps on the screen, he found the contact saved as Sigma Entertainment Head Manager Jung Taek-kyun.
He hit the call button and raised the phone to his ear, then glanced around once more, as if the walls themselves might be listening.
At that moment, the low rumble of the other man’s voice came through.
“Hello?”
“Ah, Head Manager Jung? This is Jang Woo-hyeok.”
“Yes, Director Jang. Since you’re calling, I’m guessing the audition’s over?”
“Yes. It just wrapped up a moment ago.”
Covering the phone with his palm, he lowered his voice even further.
“Well, there’s been an unexpected development.”
“An unexpected development?”
The warmth vanished from the other man’s tone in an instant.
“Yes. There was an applicant we never saw coming. His name was Han Seo-jun.”
“...Han Seo-jun?”
Head Manager Jung muttered the name under his breath.
“Wasn’t there an idol with that name? As far as I remember, he wasn’t in the first-tier lineup...”
“He’s not an idol. He’s an actor.”
“...And?”
“Th-that kid’s acting is no joke, and he even came fully prepared with stage costume and everything. I mean... no matter how hard I tried to find fault with him, I just couldn’t.”
For a moment, silence fell on the line as if the call had dropped.
Unable to bear it, Jang Woo-hyeok unconsciously rubbed the tip of his nose.
After a while, a deep sigh came through.
“Ha, man...”
The sneering voice of Head Manager Jung struck the music director’s ear like a blade.
“Wait, you’re saying he’s an actor? And what, he was better at dance and singing than the first-tier idols? Are you telling me that punk Han Seo-jun danced better than our Yeon-ho?”
“...Not just the dance. The singing too. The assigned song could’ve been sung standing still, but he nailed the entire complicated choreography while doing it, and the vocals were just insane...”
Sensing the other man’s mood, he swallowed the rest of the sentence.
After a hard gulp, he forced the words out again.
“His acting was overwhelming too, so the other judges had already started leaning toward Han Seo-jun. I couldn’t do anything on my own...”
“...Ha, seriously!”
Another sigh, this one heavy with anger, followed.
“What is this, then? If you couldn’t even do your job properly, shouldn’t you at least have a more believable excuse?”
Head Manager Jung’s irritated voice was thick with fury.
And that reaction was only natural.
It was true that there were actors with astonishing talent for singing and dancing.
But after years of fierce competition in choreography and vocal training, didn’t idols barely debut? And even after that, only those blessed with innate talent, relentless effort, and a fair share of luck earned the title of a first-tier idol.
Yet here he was, saying that among those carefully selected nine idols, an actor—someone whose full-time profession was acting—had walked into the audition and blown everyone away?
“Director Jang, even if things go badly, you should still keep your promises. Wasn’t it you who first proposed putting our kid in after saying you’d persuade the other judges? You took everything we gave you, and now you want to wash your hands of this? That’s not acceptable.”
“I-I’ll return it all. I’m truly sorry. But this has gone so far beyond what anyone expected that there’s just nothing I can do on my own...”
Bow, bow, bow—he kept bending as if the other man could see him through the phone, and in the end, he hung up.
“...Huu.”
The music director wiped the sweat from his forehead with a long breath.
He had planned to sweet-talk the judges all the way to the end if he had to, but Han Seo-jun’s unexpected skill had been so absurdly beyond the norm that there had been nothing he could do.
“Damn it...! Why did some bastard like that have to show up and turn everything into this mess...”
Grinding his teeth, he muttered through clenched anger, then quickly checked around him again.
Only after confirming no one was there did he disappear out through the emergency exit with his face twisted in frustration.
***
Second floor of the Blizzard Entertainment building.
The door to Team 1 of the Management Division flew open.
Joo Tae-hwan, the head of Team 1, shot to his feet when he saw the woman step inside.
“...Oh! Hwa-young, what brings you here?!”
The woman shot him a murderous look, then snapped her head away.
She dropped onto the sofa and crossed her legs with regal grace, her lips pressed tightly together as her eyes flashed.
Joo Tae-hwan hurried to the other side and awkwardly lowered himself onto the edge of the sofa.
The moment Lee Hwa-young looked at him, her cheeks flushed crimson. Some mix of anger and injustice rippled across her face.
“I’m seriously losing my mind. Do I really have to be left out like this?”
“No, I just sent Joon-sik to the set. Didn’t he contact you?”
At that, she shot him a dark glare.
Just from the look alone, Team Leader Joo Tae-hwan flinched as if he’d been carved up all over.
“Team Leeeaader~! I’m Lee Hwa-young. Do you know how much money I bring into this company? And you’re giving someone like me some half-baked road manager? No, seriously, am I supposed to stand out in this freezing weather and wait around for a rookie road manager who’s only been with the company a month?”
Seeing her vent her frustration, Joo Tae-hwan softened his voice in an attempt to calm her.
“Now, now, if you just wait comfortably in the trailer, he’ll be there in no time. And it’s still September—how can it be that cold? Even this afternoon it was close to 30 degrees...”
Her eyes sharpened instantly, cutting at him like a blade.
“I said it was cold!!”
When she shouted, Joo Tae-hwan fumbled for words, then tapped his own lips with his palm.
“Right, right. I mean the daytime temperature was like that. It’s already after four now. It’s chilly... c-cold, even. My mouth’s just causing trouble.”
Keeping an eye on her expression, he lightly smacked his own lips with his hand.
At his ridiculous act, she clicked her tongue.
“When are you going to assign Manager Hwang to me?”
“Who? Hwang Dong-jun?”
“Who else would there be when you say Manager Hwang?”
“Ah, well, he’s working as Seo-jun’s manager right now.”
“Didn’t you say the two of them got into a huge fight when he was drunk the other day? And that they’d split up?”
Lee Hwa-young’s expression turned icy.
“I know he took a month off saying he was going to rest, and then came back. When the head office said they’d take care of it and then went quiet, I came here myself to make sure.”
“...Well, about that.”
Joo Tae-hwan stole a glance at her before continuing.
“...He did come back, but he said he wants to keep managing Seo-jun.”
At that, Lee Hwa-young’s face darkened and her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Why?”
The word came out sharp as a scream.
“He said he could tolerate bad acting, but he couldn’t stand an actor who wasn’t sincere, right? And now he’s changing his mind?”
“It’s just... you know that TV show, My Kid Has Changed?”
“......!”
At Joo Tae-hwan’s absurd remark, Lee Hwa-young’s expression stiffened.
She looked ready to snap, What nonsense are you trying to pull now?
“Seo-jun has completely changed. A total transformation? No, wait... an awakening! Yeah, he awakened.”
“What are you even saying? Team Leader, have you been drinking at lunch?”
When Lee Hwa-young narrowed her brow, Joo Tae-hwan wiped at the cold sweat on his forehead and waved both hands.
“No way—lunch drinking? I’m serious. He passed the first round of paperwork for a Netflix original miniseries, and today he went to the second-round audition!”
At that, she burst out laughing and even clapped her hands.
“Oh, my! He passed the paperwork stage? What wonderful news. At this rate, shouldn’t the company be hanging up a congratulatory banner?”
Joo Tae-hwan pressed his lips shut for a moment.
“No, seriously, that’s amazing. A historic achievement, really. Why not go all the way and make a commemorative plaque, too?”
Her cutting mockery made the tips of Joo Tae-hwan’s ears turn red.
“No, I mean... since when did our company make such a fuss over passing the first round? If I remember right... huh... never?”
Lee Hwa-young counted off the point with her fingers, then bit lightly at her lower lip and shot him a sidelong glance.
“The thing is...”
Joo Tae-hwan cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Seo-jun’s got the looks, sure, but his acting was rock bottom, and there was even talk of kicking him out. But then a guy like that passes a Netflix original miniseries audition—an idol drama, no less. Even in the first round, all the most famous first-tier idols were there. And he still made it to the second round, so... doesn’t that show plenty of potential?”
Lee Hwa-young nodded as if agreeing, but then lifted one corner of her mouth.
“Potential, huh... Team Leader, since when has our company cared that much about that sort of thing...”
Seeing the faint smile at the edge of her lips, Team Leader Joo Tae-hwan had no choice but to shut his mouth.
Lee Hwa-young.
At this very moment, she was the actress firmly holding the top position in the industry.
There had once always been three or four actresses of top-tier fame—Troika, Big Three, and the like—depending on the era.
But now there was not even a visible rival standing near her.
It wasn’t that the other actresses lacked looks or acting ability.
It was simply that Lee Hwa-young’s presence was so overwhelming it did not allow for comparison.
Twenty-eight years old.
She carried rumors of being proud and sharp-tongued, but she also had a face like a living painting and acting skill that even the industry had to acknowledge.
Because of that, even her flaws were received by fans as part of her charm.
Her beginning had been in Haeundae, Busan.
As a high school student, while enjoying a summer outing with her friends, she had been spotted by a representative from AceCom, one of the country’s leading advertising agencies.
At the time, a chocolate commercial had featured an actress widely known as the nation’s sweetheart.
She had been adored for her fresh, pure appeal, but when paparazzi exposed her secret affair with her close friend’s boyfriend, she plunged straight into scandal.
Filling that empty space and rising like a new star was Lee Hwa-young.
It had been only a single TV commercial, and yet the media buzzed with nothing but her name.
The appearance of a goddess who embodied innocence and elegance
With that title, she made countless men’s hearts flutter, then soon took the stage for her official debut in a television drama.
At first, of course, there had been jealousy and resistance from actors her age, along with malicious stares and relentless criticism from other actresses’ fandoms.
But once the drama aired, the atmosphere changed in an instant.
Her acting had been somewhat lacking, yes, but she overwhelmed every scene with her face alone.
Her fresh, proud image—and even the slight incompleteness of her acting—left a strong impression on the public and stole their hearts.
From that moment on, Lee Hwa-young’s acting career surged forward in dazzling fashion.
Ten years had passed before anyone knew it. If one counted only her hit works, there were more than enough to fill both hands, and by now she was unquestionably the top actress.
And today, whether anyone liked it or not, the face of Blizzard Entertainment was Lee Hwa-young.
No one could deny that.
No matter how selfish and prickly she was, and how difficult she could be to please.
“Yeah. That’s right. Even if some little punk awakens, how much could really change?”
“Exactly.”
When Joo Tae-hwan let out a bitter laugh, Lee Hwa-young lifted the corners of her mouth again, looking satisfied.
“Then I’ll assign Jang Dong-hyeok to you. You know him, right? He’s been a manager for more than ten years and knows the ropes inside out. Besides, the Yun Min-jun he was handling is leaving for Japan next week to appear in that Korea-Japan joint drama, so Jang Dong-hyeok and two managers from Team 3 will be accompanying him instead. Both of them speak Japanese fluently, so it was decided they’d help Min-jun polish his Japanese skills...”
“I’ll take Hwang Dong-jun.”
Lee Hwa-young let out a snort toward Team Leader Joo Tae-hwan, who had been enthusiastically explaining the arrangement.
Her eyes said, Why are you rambling on so much?
“......!”
Joo Tae-hwan knew exactly why she wanted Hwang Dong-jun.
He had a reputation for sincerity, reliability, a sharp eye for good projects, and enough social intelligence to make him one of the best managers in the business. It was already no secret that not only Lee Hwa-young but many other actors wanted to work with him.
“Fine, fine. I’ll talk to Dong-jun about it.”
Just as he was nodding reluctantly...
“What exactly are you going to talk to me about?”
Before anyone noticed, Hwang Dong-jun had appeared and was striding toward them.
And behind him, Han Seo-jun leaned out to look around.
With the corners of his mouth lifted, he wore a smile full of conviction.