[Title Not Provided]
A special directive from CEO Kang Sang-mi had landed in the management team.
It was to manage Kim Deok-su as a Signature member.
Lee Hui-yeong handed over all the Kim Deok-su-related work she had been handling alone.
“…I never imagined she was running all of this by herself.”
“Boss, it’s no wonder she got the nickname ‘Young Lady’.”
The management team members who took over the work each stared in astonishment.
Everyone already knew that Hui-yeong had learned the ropes by working closely with Deputy Team Leader Ha Yeong-hyeon, but the workload was staggering.
From sponsorships and press coverage to SNS and fan clubs, it was far more than one person could handle.
Then an unexpected problem surfaced.
“…Isn’t L’Vyu too different from the Signature members? Will the image even merge?”
“The CEO ordered it, so the Signature members aren’t exactly acting, but... was Deok-su’s actor image really that strong?”
For a full year, the name Kim Deok-su—the actor—had become more familiar to the public than L’Vyu of Signature.
The name that had been unpopular in Signature now felt strangely appealing because of his incredible acting talent and the complete change in his demeanor.
“…This is going to be tough, Team Leader.
When will someone come to replace the Deputy Team Leader?”
The management staff asked Team Leader Gang Tae-seon, but he only shook his head.
Deputy Team Leader Ha Yeong-hyeon had been JMT’s top talent.
With an ace also leaving due to pregnancy and childcare... the team was running on a very tight schedule.
And then...
“Team Leader! C-crisis!”
“W-what happened?! Did Kim Deok-su punch someone?!”
“N-no, not that. It’s about the screen test...”
Around the same time, after finishing the call, Hui-yeong gripped the steering wheel again.
Next to her, Deok-su sat resting, looking visibly exhausted.
“Thank you for your hard work.
I was worried about the MV shoot being your first time, but... I shouldn’t have worried.”
“It was fun. The Turnshine members were really nice.
By the way, sorry about that.
I feel like I stole the broadcast slot from the kids.”
Hui-yeong shook her head.
“The Turnshine members liked it too.
And the viewers who watched the broadcast... It’s actually kind of amazing when you think about it.
Original fans of girl groups aren’t supposed to enjoy male idols appearing on Slive, right...?
To the public, Oppa is still...”
“Stop there. No.”
“Haha, got it.
Hey, how do you plan to handle the test? Ten o’clock weekday drama with such an attractive casting...”
Deok-su, who had been reading the script, nodded.
Just moments earlier, he had received a call from writer Min A-ru asking him to prepare for a camera test.
The role offered was the supporting character Jin Dong-ho.
“Jin Dong-ho. The heir to Daeho Group... a villain.”
Jin Dong-ho was the textbook villain: a sociopath with anger management issues.
He clashed with the protagonist, used the wealth and power of a second-generation chaebol to commit every kind of dirty deed, and did it all without remorse.
“I’ll take a look at it.”
Hui-yeong stopped the car nearby and explained the details she knew.
“Writer Min A-ru is from Haengnamaru.
This is her third project, and it’s her first time working with PD O Chang-seok.”
“I heard her second project didn’t do well...”
“That’s right.
Ratings were in the single digits.
She’s probably going all out on this one.”
The story itself was ordinary, but the characters stood out.
Especially the lead character Ha Jin-woo, whose cold exterior hid a quiet kindness that made people secretly hope for more.
“The lead actors are already cast: Lee Jin-ho and Kang Se-a.
Their popularity is solid, and their acting... well, you can tell.”
But the leads were already fixed.
Deok-su focused entirely on the Jin Dong-ho character.
“Jin Dae-ho? His father...”
Episode two showed how Jin Dae-ho, the CEO of Daeho Group and Jin Dong-ho’s father, treated his runaway son.
He scolded the boy for the hit-and-run and beat him mercilessly with a baseball bat before covering everything up with money.
“Son, watch closely.
The law can be bought with money.”
Those words defined the character of Jin Dae-ho.
Deok-su’s imagination ran wild with what kind of values a son who received such a father’s “education” would develop.
“…He didn’t have his father’s abilities, but he had plenty of greed... and his personality must have warped from it.”
“You said a father is important to a child, right?”
“Yeah... I wonder why Jin Dae-ho turned out like that.
What kind of appearance he needed to have, how he should look in his face.”
The moment he thought of his father, the image of Jin Dae-ho filled Deok-su’s mind.
He didn’t even look up from the script until they reached home.
When they got out of the car, he spoke.
“Tell them I’ll go for the test.”
Two days later, Deok-su headed to Haengnamaru Production’s office.
Also present were writer Min A-ru, PD O Chang-seok, Production President Lee Min-gyun, and representatives from UBS Broadcasting.
Surprisingly many people were there, so Deok-su and Hui-yeong felt a little uneasy.
“No matter how I look at it, the atmosphere doesn’t seem welcoming.”
“Same here.”
Their whispered conversation was interrupted by PD O Chang-seok.
“Mr. Kim Deok-su, please stand here.”
After a brief greeting, Deok-su stood directly in front of the camera.
His tightly fitted navy suit and slicked-back hair were displayed on the monitor for everyone to see.
“Is this his normal state?
He looks sharper than I expected.”
“...He really does come off well.
Isn’t he better than Jin-ho?”
“The vibe still feels like Jin Dong-ho, right?”
While the attendees voiced their opinions, the camera test continued.
“Deok-su, give me a curse word.
You know, the kind that comes out when someone suddenly slaps you on the back.”
Deok-su sensed the tension in the room.
With so many people speaking, they were clearly nervous.
He realized the importance of his expression and began to immerse himself.
“…You bastard.
After peeling my guts out, I’ll make you do skipping rope.
Only do what a dog does.”
Deok-su’s face changed with every curse word.
His usual calm voice shifted dramatically.
The attendees, who had been watching silently, opened their mouths in surprise.
“This... isn’t as bad as I thought.”
“Ah, we’re still not there yet.
It feels a bit over the top...”
“Let’s keep watching.”
The Broadcasting Station people were cautious, but Production President Lee Min-gyun and PD O Chang-seok were already convinced.
Only he could do it.
But they couldn’t persuade the station people.
Sixty percent of the production budget came from the station’s pocket.
President Lee Min-gyun said, “Mr. Kim Deok-su. Is the soy milk on the desk?”
“Yes.”
“This is a PPL product. Try it.”
Deok-su immediately understood the president’s intention.
They wanted to see if it matched his image.
With everyone’s eyes on him, Deok-su sipped the soy milk through the straw and muttered,
“…Ugh, you guys make me crave sugar.”
He drank the entire carton in one go and crumpled the empty bottle into the trash.
It was obvious.
“Shit...”
His short curse and the subtle twitch of his facial muscles appeared clearly on the monitor.
“I actually want to try some now.”
“One sip?”
Unconsciously, PD O Chang-seok glanced at the desk piled with soy milk, and writer Min A-ru was already sipping hers.
The other attendees did the same.
“…It’s... impressive?”
Deok-su blinked and looked around, but no one spoke.
Even the station people and production staff were stunned by his skill.
The first to regain composure was writer Min A-ru.
“I-I think Kim Deok-su is the only one who can do it.”
“Writer Min.”
“If you keep opposing, we’ll scrap the whole thing.
Forget it...”
President Lee Min-gyun was shocked by her sudden declaration, but the words had already been spoken.
He couldn’t take them back.
PD O Chang-seok felt the same.
“I agree with the writer.”
“PD O...”
“Honestly, finding a young actor who can deliver this level in a test isn’t easy, you know.”
“Hmph...”
The attendees were genuinely surprised.
They had heard Deok-su was good, but not to this degree.
The station representative shifted his gaze to Deok-su. “Last question.
How do you interpret Jin Dong-ho?”
It wasn’t an easy question, but Deok-su answered without hesitation.
“A broke, angry, controlling demon pretending to be a real devil.”
“And the reason?”
“Because he never received proper training from the real devil, his father.
He respects and fears the true monster, but he never became one himself.
That’s where his personality flaws come from.”
The attendees stood up.
“Let’s go with Kim Deok-su.”
News of Kim Deok-su’s casting for a weekday drama spread quickly.
The news of Deok-su’s casting became even bigger than the leads’ announcements, leaving everyone embarrassed.
An idol on the verge of retiring had been cast as a villain in a weekday drama.
Of course people were interested.
JMT Entertainment responded immediately.
“...He passed the camera test and was cast?”
“Yes.”
After hearing Hui-yeong’s explanation, Managing Director Lee Gwang-yong nodded.
“I see.
Hui-yeong, did you conduct a thorough background check on the production company and the other actors before casting?”
“I don’t have enough yet, but I’ve gathered most of what was necessary.”
“Really? What about the lead actors?”
“I heard Lee Jin-ho is known for being outgoing, but he stays home a lot and is quite shy.
He changes completely when he acts.
Kang Se-a sometimes scares people with crazy behavior, but she’s the mood-maker on set.
Also...”
Hui-yeong shared the information she had gathered, and Lee Gwang-yong added his own insights.
Every week, Managing Director Lee Gwang-yong summoned her for reports and taught her what she still needed to learn.
At first hesitant, Hui-yeong now listened willingly to his instructions.
“SNS stuff has been handed to the management team, so from now on focus on caring for Kim Deok-su.
Once he starts immersing himself in the character, there will be a lot more to watch over.”
“Understood.”
“And soon, a driver will be assigned to you.”
“I’m fine...”
Managing Director Lee Gwang-yong shook his head.
“Driving and managing an actor isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Your job is to manage Kim Deok-su.
Leave the driving to someone else.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“You earned this by doing well with Kim Deok-su.
Don’t worry about it.”
After leaving the office, Hui-yeong headed straight to the training room where Deok-su was waiting.
In the training room, personal trainer Ryu Min-hye was talking with him.
“Ah, unni.”
“Hello. What’s up?”
“Ah, I was just talking to oppa.
I’m trying to figure out how to design this character so I get compliments.
Hehe.”
Ryu Min-hye ran her hands over Deok-su’s muscular body and checked it in the mirror.
Inside the frame, his physique looked even more imposing.
“…Ha.
Oppa, with a body like this you won’t look like a broke guy at all.”
“It has to come off that way.”
“I worked so hard to build it... but it’ll be hard. Maybe three or four kilos?”
It was painful to reduce the hard-earned body, but the character mattered more.
To emphasize the broke vibe, Deok-su had pushed himself into a dry-diet regimen.
His efforts paid off quickly.
“…Deok-su! You lost weight!”
“I lost a bit.”
On script-reading day, PD O Chang-seok stared wide-eyed at Deok-su.
He had worried about the bulky body during the camera test, but today he looked even slimmer.
Writer Min A-ru patted Deok-su’s back cheerfully.
“Ah, Writer Min.”
“What? On reading day you’re in a suit with makeup?
You went all out, huh?”
“If I don’t, I’ll make mistakes.”
The conversation was light, but the reading itself was intense.
It was the kind of session where actors were cut without mercy if the script didn’t suit the scene.
When Deok-su sat down to read, the lead actors arrived.
“I’m Lee Jin-ho, who will play the role of Ha Jin-woo.”
“I’m Kang Se-a, who will play Yeo Kyung. Please take care of us!”
They came in comfortable clothes without makeup, but the aura they gave off was clearly different from ordinary people.
Introductions continued with Deok-su present.
When he stood and bowed, director Woo Hak-yeol laughed.
“Mr. Deok-su, you’re so passionate.
Even for a reading session you’re in a suit with makeup.
Anyone would think you’re Jin Dong-ho.”
Deok-su smiled awkwardly.
Among the group, Deok-su’s over-the-top appearance was the biggest topic.
After the brief introductions, the real reading began.
“…Let’s not interfere just because we happened to cross paths once.”
“Is this interference? You...”
The sharp lines between the lead actors flew back and forth.
The two actors’ reading was nothing like performing.
Writer Min A-ru and PD O Chang-seok nodded in satisfaction.
Finally, it was Deok-su’s turn with a supporting actor.
This was the first scene he appeared in.
“W-why are you like this!?”
“The kids’ festival can’t even happen...
the mood is dead, it’s dead!”
Thud! Deok-su slammed his hand on the table and shouted.
“Hah!”
“...That wasn’t acting.”
Deok-su’s tense, eerie voice swallowed up not only the supporting actor but everyone nearby in an instant.