A Warm Iced Americano
“Ha….”
I made a mental note to be grateful that he wasn't pressing me for details like last time.
After a brief moment of deliberation, I gave a small nod.
“I know. But isn't this just a matter of me doing well?”
At my answer, I could see Myeong Je-ha's eyebrows rise slightly, as if my ready admission had caught him somewhat off guard.
No point racking my brain over it—it'd only cost me.
Do you have any idea how hard I fought for my first leading role? There was no way I was letting it get taken from me.
“Your confidence is through the roof. You weren't that good, though.”
What is it—does telling the truth level up all his stats? Thanks to Myeong Je-ha and his unwavering honesty, my fist clenched all over again.
I really want to land just one hit.
Myeong Je-ha stared at me glaring up at him for a moment, then gently smoothed down my hair, which had been mussed from running over.
“Ju Jun-seo has a pretty rough personality. Don't get close to him.”
With that parting remark, tossed off like an afterthought, he vanished.
Left alone, I let out a hollow little laugh. Heh.
Anyone would be better company than you, I think….
Han Tae-yang watched the crowd with cameras through the classroom window.
They were milling about in a knot—looked like some kind of event was going on.
A friend who caught Tae-yang looking immediately supplied the answer.
“That? Some drama shoot at our school or whatever. Heard it from the teachers' office.”
“Ah… a drama.”
Even as he nodded with practiced indifference, Tae-yang never took his eyes off them.
“Oh, and I heard the title. So weird I can barely remember it.”
At that, the friends clustered around him started pouring out the rumors they'd each picked up along the grapevine.
“Hold on, I'll ask some of the other kids.”
In a school where boredom repeated itself on an endless loop, a drama shoot spread like wildfire. Piecing together the fragmented bits of gossip, Tae-yang's friends soon had solid information.
“The Cherry on Top of the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine? Apparently it's a web drama.”
Then one of the friends, who'd been pacing near the window, spoke up as if the thought had just struck him.
“Come to think of it, Han Tae-yang—didn't you say your noona's an actress?”
Tae-yang broke into a wide, sunny smile. His friends' faces stiffened in response. Then he turned and glared at the one who'd opened his mouth like he wanted to kill him.
“Yeah, she does. She's insanely good.”
Tae-yang pulled away from the window and even made a point of meeting his friend's eyes warmly. Encouraged by that positive reaction, the oblivious friend pressed on with the next question.
“How old is she? What school does she go to?”
The other friends silently flashed X's with their hands from the sidelines. That's enough, the gesture said.
“Twenty. She got into K-Arts. You know K-Arts, right? Korea National University of Arts. Yes, of course you do—there's no way you wouldn't. She was never exactly a great student, but she's such a phenomenal actress that she got in. Know how long she studied acting? Six months. Exactly six. So I figured, obviously the idiot was going to retake her exams. What kind of lunatic gets into K-Arts after half a year? Am I wrong or am I wrong?”
But it was already too late.
“Apparently after just one month at her academy she was basically there. And it's not like she has some amazing memory otherwise, but she'll memorize pages of a script straight through. Ha, honestly… if only she'd applied herself like that to her studies. She forgets chores around the house every single day, you know. Constantly. But she's never once forgotten a line. Amazing, right? Seriously.”
And so the unstoppable lecture on Han Tae-yang's noona began.
“Oh, and by the way, she doesn't have a fan sign yet, so don't go asking me to get you one or anything. Seriously. Got it? I mean, I could get you one if you asked, but don't ask.”
The friend who'd asked that first question was forced to absorb information about Han Yeo-reum until one ear went completely numb.
JC ENM headquarters. With a temporary visitor's pass hanging around my neck, I arrived at the announced location.
The Cherry on Top of the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine.
The day of the script reading had finally come. I'd honestly had nightmares about Myeong Je-ha swooping in and replacing the lead at the last second.
“But really… he's not touching it after all….”
Terrified of being fired on the spot, I hadn't let a single thread of tension go until I checked the table—there was my name on a reserved seat. Only then did I finally exhale.
“Phew….”
I pulled out my script, the one I'd read so many times it had practically fallen apart.
Not that I needed it. I have the whole thing memorized.
It was a short eight-episode drama, after all. I ran through my lines one more time, quietly.
“Friends? I doubt there are any in this school.”
My voice echoed softly through the spacious reading room. Since it was only a small web drama, no reporters had shown up like they would at an ordinary script reading—which, frankly, was a relief….
BANG!!!
Relief? Who was I kidding. My anxiety came surging right back.
What on earth was that noise?
I stood up and looked around.
“I told you I didn't want to!”
Ah. Not this room—the one next door. The soundproofing must have been terrible, because an anger-laced voice came rumbling right through the wall.
“Jun-seo, come on, just calm down for a second….”
“Calm down? Do I look like someone who can calm down? Fine, fine, I can't perform this season, whatever. I signed the contract, that's on me. But now you're shoving me into some garbage drama that only little kids watch?”
Ah. I knew exactly who it was.
The man in the next room was Ju Jun-seo, our male lead. Impressive lung capacity, I had to admit. Not a single tremor in his delivery.
“There's a limit to how much you can mess with a person. You told me it wasn't happening! When I asked, you said it got cancelled! And now what? You drag me in here first thing in the morning to tell me it's back on?”
“Jun-seo, I tried to change it for the sake of your image… you know how things are….”
“I don't know, actually. Does this situation make any sense to a rational human being? Un-freaking-believable.”
The manager's low, placating voice was drowned out instantly.
Ju Jun-seo vented his rage without pausing for breath.
“And what am I supposed to do if it doesn't take up much of my time? Huh? If I shoot this trash drama and walk away, the career I've been building goes straight down the drain!!!”
Sounds of furniture crashing came through the wall, like he was shoving desks around. Myeong Je-ha had been right.
Ju Jun-seo is a way bigger handful than average.
From the sound of it, he'd thought the project was cancelled and had been dragged here by force.
Figures. Ju Jun-seo's name carries real weight….
It would've been odd for him to sign on for a web drama like this one.
Judging by how things are playing out… someone up top forced him in.
Nobody wanted to be the guinea pig for a risky project like this. But Ju Jun-seo, with no acting experience yet plenty of popularity among teenagers, would have seemed like the perfect candidate.
“Did I say I wanted to be a model or a clown? You think it's funny, watching me claw and scrape to add even a year to my shelf life?”
The moment Ju Jun-seo shut his mouth, a heavy silence settled over the room next door.
Is it over?
I pressed my ear to the wall. I could hear Ju Jun-seo panting for breath.
If Jun-seo walks now, at this stage, we're truly screwed.
The entire drama investment could collapse.
The male lead's influence on a production is beyond imagination….
Most investors made their decisions based on the male lead alone.
No! Anything but that!!! My first leading role!!!
I'd barely escaped Myeong Je-ha, and now Ju Jun-seo was the problem.
Should I just open the door and go in there and beg….
While I was still working out the most effective way to grovel, the sound of Ju Jun-seo's manager crying drifted through the wall.
“Sob… Jun-seo….”
“Oh, for f—'s sake. Why are you crying? Who's the one who wants to cry here?”
“I tried to stop them too…. You know I did. But the investment was already rolled out with you attached… you think they'd just swap you out that easily…?”
“I don't care about any of that. I'm not doing it.”
Then Ju Jun-seo's voice changed. The irritation was still there, but I could hear the panic underneath.
He's good! The manager, I mean!
Yes! Keep him hanging on like that! And I wasn't the only one who caught the shift—the manager sobbed even louder.
“Jun-seo. If you quit and walk out of here, I get cut….”
“Cut? With your track record, any agency would snap you up. Don't use me as your excuse.”
“They… the team lead said they're sending me to Bang Mun-hwan….”
Bang Mun-hwan.
At that name, I clapped a hand over my mouth. He was a famously notorious troublemaker.
Same agency as Ju Jun-seo, I'm guessing?
He'd committed every gapjil sin in the book, so his infamy was beyond measure. Whenever swearing echoed out of some after-party for extras, you could bet Bang Mun-hwan was tangled up in it.
Granted, he'd be gone from the industry in a few years—but for now, he was still a fairly successful actor, and that was the problem.
He's at his absolute peak right now, so the power trips must be beyond imagination.
Ju Jun-seo must have known it too, because he faltered.
“Jun-seo… just save me this once….”
“Ugh, if they stick you with Bang Mun-hwan, just quit then too! I'll take you with me when I switch agencies!”
“Hic…. You know how brutal a lawsuit against JC would be… how would you take responsibility for me too? Better if I move to Bang Mun-hwan's management team now, before you get caught up in—”
The more pleading the manager's voice became, the softer Ju Jun-seo's grew.
Damn. Didn't peg him for it, but he's secretly a pushover.
Ju Jun-seo was a warm iced americano of a man.
CRASH—!!!
The sound of a chair getting kicked over rang out loud and clear one more time. Ju Jun-seo forced his anger down and spoke.
“…Then rework my scenes. Give the extra footage to whoever the female lead is. I'm done making concessions beyond that.”
Wow. Ju Jun-seo, you are genuinely a good person. You're telling them to pile it onto the female lead?
Truly, I am so grateful.
More screen time was nothing but good news for me.