Hollywood (2)
Hollywood. A luxury hotel suite. I sipped my coffee and grinned.
"Well, not a bad haul."
"...Indeed, miss."
Lee Si-hyun, sprawled out on the bed staring at the ceiling, muttered in that peculiar tone of hers.
"Who would've thought the top bank in France was this rotten. It really drives home a lesson."
"Worried our company might end up the same?"
Si-hyun gave a reluctant nod. "Yes. And... I'm worried I might too. People change eventually, don't they? It's a well-known fact."
Yeah, people change. Me included.
"Don't worry. I'll hold you steady. The only one allowed to get corrupt in our company is me."
Corruption eats away at organizations from the inside. As the owner, there's no way I'd tolerate that, right?
I'll build a clean company if only to feed my own greed.
"...Understood, miss. I'll trust you. But could you maybe back off a little...?"
Heh heh.
"Nah. Who knows when we'll get another chance like this? We'll be too old for it later."
I buried my face in Si-hyun's chest and nuzzled in. Hehe, nice.
"...I thought you'd mellowed out since you started hanging with guys lately."
"What? Pretty girls still beat handsome guys any day."
Men like me too much. It's that... you know. Their physiological reactions are way too honest. I get why, thanks to my past life, but still...
"When a girl like you comes at them half-naked, of course they're gonna..."
"Hmph, not my problem."
It was just a swimming lesson, anyway. Kinda thrilling, sure, but that's it.
"... "
Si-hyun said nothing, just pulled my head close and patted it gently.
"Mm... anyway. UA's getting scooped up by Alpha Fund soon. You'll need to poach a few directors from there... uh, handle it yourself."
"W-wait. Alpha Fund's acquiring them, right? How do I bring them to Daeha Middle School? No connections."
"Figure it out. You're my number two, Chief Secretary Lee Si-hyun. You can make it happen."
When incompetent employees climb the ranks on connections alone, that's what people call corruption.
"Work hard so no one's more capable than you, Si-hyun."
Si-hyun shivered slightly and gripped me tighter.
"...Yes, I'll do my best."
"...Hey, that doesn't mean eliminate anyone more capable. Just work harder. You get me?"
"Oh, not what you meant?"
Her body trembled. What the hell is she saying?
"Ugh, can't leave you in Russia too long."
My Si-hyun's turning weird on me.
Daeha Middle School Film Club. It should have been a drama club or a movie appreciation club, but thanks to Yoo Ha-yeon dumping a massive budget into it, it became a full-on film club.
It was originally just a movie-watching club...
The drama club president had come by all puffed up, eyes sparkling, and I couldn't say no.
Film club president Jung Sun-woo stared at the film camera the school had provided. It was so high-end, he occasionally wondered how much film like that would fetch if sold.
"Sun-woo! Hehe, here I am!"
Clap. A beaming girl waved.
Jung Sun-woo's childhood friend, a spunky little thing with a small frame. Without her passion for the club—the most dedicated member by far—it wouldn't have survived.
Making movies was insanely tough, especially on film as middle schoolers. No digital tech, no UCC videos with current tools.
Sure, Steven Spielberg made a short film at Sun-woo's age in the '60s... but that's genius-level stuff, stars among stars.
"Phew, the club's growing, but... I barely know what I'm doing. Kinda worrying."
"Hehe, don't sweat it! I'll teach you, Sun-woo!"
His puppy-faced childhood friend cheered him up with a smile.
Yeah, at least someone's got faith in me. Gotta give it my all.
"So, film loads like this..."
Thanks to her, Sun-woo—who had more acting talent than directing—relied on his film-obsessed friend from childhood.
She grinned. "Hold the camera like this. Here, give me your hand... yep, hehe."
Her warm, tiny hand guided his larger one. Whatever thrilled her, she taught patiently from the basics, beaming.
Explaining from scratch to a newbie must be a hassle, but she's so kind.
Sun-woo, focused on learning with no ulterior thoughts, when—
Click.
"Who... huh?"
A soft-featured underclassman... the school's real owner, destroyer of couples at Daeha Middle School, self-proclaimed genius girl. Yoo Ha-yeon had arrived.
At Daeha Middle School, Yoo Ha-yeon was infamous as a total nutcase. Not without reason.
Chaebol third-gen royalty, stunning looks, genius brain—yet she pulled endless stunts.
"...You want to join our club, miss?"
Ha-yeon joining clubs wasn't rare... which made it more worrying. She stirred up chaos everywhere.
Legends from Class 1-1 had already spread school-wide, early in the semester: rocking a barely-there bikini to swim class, tormenting the boys; reading a love letter aloud at morning assembly; arguing a science teacher into expulsion for bad info...
Rumors swirled in Sun-woo's head. And to his childhood friend, it was a huge red flag.
Her handsome, kind guy friend was suddenly spacing out in front of a pretty girl.
"...Um, Sun-woo?"
"Huh? Oh, what?"
"Don't you think it's tough for the miss to join our club?"
Ha-yeon smiled sweetly and whispered, "Hmm, why's that?"
She fidgeted, then clenched her fist. "W-well. The club's still too basic for her... She wants to make movies, right? We're not there yet."
"Maybe she just wants to watch? Or... our handsome club president?"
Twitch. A burning glare from the side.
"Miss. Don't. I really liked you. That actress... she's my fave too..."
Public knowledge: Ha-yeon's mom, Hong Ha-ryeon, was a huge star once. Movie buffs knew her well.
Shh.
Ha-yeon paused, smoothed her long hair, and sighed. "Sigh... yeah, true. Right... film club. Sorry for teasing, sunbae."
"Uh... what teasing?"
Sun-woo, oblivious to the club's 1:2 guy-girl ratio reason, blinked.
"Ahaha, figures. Our cute sunbaes have it rough."
Clapping and laughing, Ha-yeon sparkled.
Thud. Legs crossed, seated, she pulled a crisp paper from her bag and set it on the desk.
"I'm serious, y'know. So don't be too harsh."
"...What do you mean?"
"Acting's tough, right? No teachers here know it... So I brought a director."
Sun-woo nodded. "Ooh, at your level, pulling one from Chungmuro? Impressive."
Ha-yeon shook her head. "Nah. I don't like Korean movies much."
"Huh, why?"
"S-Sun-woo, careful..." His friend whispered a warning, too late.
"Seeing Mom's face pop up mid-movie kinda kills it..."
Ha-yeon sighed, deflated.
"... "
Dead silence fell, like death itself.
Monumental first win against Ha-yeon at school, but no joy.
"Ugh, trash Sun-woo. How are you human?"
"Clueless idiot, tsk tsk."
Friends jeered.
"Ahaha. Okay, enough."
"Uh, uh..."
Ha-yeon beamed again, waving the paper.
Her de facto director friend raised a small hand. "S-so... from where?"
"Hollywood."
The proudly displayed paper clearly stated...
-"I-I know that person! From the news!"
-"The super-famous director who visited for a shoot? Won an award recently..."
"Yeah, just a few days while shooting here... but I convinced him for a special lecture."
"...!"
She stomped excitedly, arm shooting up. "Approved!"
"...Weren't you against it a sec ago?"
"Th-that's separate! This is this!"
Ha-yeon grinned.
To create 'plausibility' for a quick Daeha Middle School visit, she'd straight-up commissioned a Korean film shoot...
Money-burning like this? Unmatched. Only she knew.