The Power Trio Assembles
Hwang Ji-hye took a long, steadying breath. Cross-dressing and a hanbok — with those two weapons alone, she couldn't hope to overwhelm Ki Joo-ye's Top Class look in one blow.
She'll look dazzling on the surface, and the brand will have flood-level press releases ready to back her up.
They say a dog that spends three years at a village school learns to recite poetry. Give Ki Joo-ye three years and she could recite pure garbage. Hwang Ji-hye could see all too clearly whichRoute Ki Joo-ye would take.
Her personality's rotten enough as it is….
Yeo-reum had poked the hornet's nest squarely with her "I'll look forward to your styling" remark. It was obvious Ki Joo-ye's agency planned to prop her up purely on visuals. Hwang Ji-hye wanted — needed — to make sure Yeo-reum won.
But… there's one thing Ki Joo-ye doesn't know.
For Yeo-reum, who had trusted her, Hwang Ji-hye picked up the phone and called someone.
Cross-dressing is the hidden card, after all.
First up: Dokgo Gyeol, who would handle Yeo-reum's makeup.
"Hello? Ah, Yeo-reum's coordi. But what do I do, I'm kind of busy right now…."
"Manager Ma said he's coming, so you can't very well skip it, Director…. In that case, should we just go ahead without you…?"
"Just send me the address."
Of course, the part about Manager Ma coming was a lie — Dokgo Gyeol had been her first call.
Next on her list was Ryu Risa.
"Ahh, I know. But it's a hanbok look — what do you even need me for? I'm busy."
"Director Dokgo Gyeol said she's coming, so you can't very well skip it, Manager…. In that case, should we just go ahead without you…?"
"Why would you cut me? Do you not realize that without me, there IS no styling discussion? Send the address."
And finally, she called Manager Ma.
"Manager Ryu and Director Dokgo Gyeol are both coming, so naturally I thought Manager Ma should be there too."
" Naturally. Must be because you're the Cutie's coordi — you and I actually speak the same language."
And just like that, all three were gathered without the slightest effort.
There was a legend circulating in the industry that when these three got together, nothing was impossible — and Hwang Ji-hye was the very first person to actually summon all three to one place.
Above Hwang Ji-hye's head, a stat flickered to life.
Ryu Risa's eyes were gleaming. For one thing, she was delighted by the sheer volume of reference material. Hanbok, after all, was the final destination of everything conceptual.
"On the Top Class side, Ki Joo-ye will wield flamboyance as her weapon. So what we need to hold the line with here is — in my opinion — simplicity. As the old saying goes: jian er bu lou, hua er bu chi."
Frugal, yet never shabby. Ornate, yet never extravagant.
In other words: a design philosophy meant to satisfy even the most refined eye. Please make it simple — but also gorgeous. At hearing what sounded like an impossible client demand, the faces of all three darkened for a moment.
But only for a moment.
"The instant a cross-dressing character puts on women's clothing — that's been a guaranteed popularity trigger since time immemorial."
"Ahh, I know exactly what you mean. Watching the male lead's face change — wait, was she always this pretty…? — is half the fun."
"Exactly! Which means we should check hair accessories first. Until now, Seoryeong's been buried under that gat, so there was never room for a proper transformation."
But these were pros among pros, and in no time they had squeezed out the absolute maximum that Seoryeong's styling could give.
"Hey~, darling, you must have things you've already thought through, right? Spill."
At Dokgo Gyeol's question, Coordi Hwang answered with a trembling voice.
"First, I think drawing out Yeo-reum's boyish charm has to come before anything else. Rather than taking risks — piling on lipstick just to look prettier on camera — I think we should focus on the brows and the nose shading."
Leave the soft, gentle eye shape untouched; draw the brows with visible texture, like a mountain ridge. At Coordi Hwang's suggestion, Dokgo Gyeol nodded.
"Right. We just make the shading at the tip of the nose pop a little more. And for the feminine looks, we do the reverse — soften the brows, then use blush and lip color for the points."
Once Dokgo Gyeol built the frame, Ryu Risa filled it in.
"For the cross-dressing too, I want to dress her mainly in bright colors — sky blue, soft lavender. You know that playboy look they always draw in sageuk dramas. Reading the script, it's a perfect match for her freewheeling, luxury-loving character, too."
It didn't need to be flashy styling. It didn't need to be a famous brand. In a matter of seconds, the very best options had materialized — ones that would focus the audience's gaze entirely on the character called Seoryeong, as Yeo-reum would play her.
Because viewers aren't fools.
However thick the fake marketing and cheap virality might blanket the era, the genuine thing always gets recognized in the end. People's hearts inevitably drift toward the actor who pushes forward with what they want to show, rather than agonizing over how they appear to others.
"There'll be another Leel mint carpet about a month after the premiere, so we'll style the Cutie in a hanbok mood there, stamp our mark on overseas eyes once more. And if the magazine side wants a before-and-after against Seoryeong's cross-dressing look, they'll hand us a full page for it."
With that, Manager Ma rounded off the branding for Yeo-reum's overseas launch.
And just as they were winding down Seoryeong's Gimyo-dam styling—
"Oh, right. I actually had something to discuss with Manager Ma anyway."
Dokgo Gyeol's eyes lit up.
"What is it?"
"Yeo-reum's ALAB contract ends soon, doesn't it? When we renew, let's do a collab with me."
"With you, Director?"
At the sound of money, Manager Ma's eyes lit up too. The two money-maniacs' conversation kicked into high gear.
"You know when Yeo-reum shoots Faster Than the Law, there's that red-hair styling? Her hair condition at the time. It'd be perfect to push it as 'the ALAB hair ampoule used at the Cheongdam salon' — something like that. I had dinner with one of their people recently. They said the ampoule's development research is in its final stage."
"This… red hair…."
A long-dormant keyword shot up from the depths of Manager Ma's mind.
"Korean Mermaid Princess, hmmmm…. Not bad…?"
The trend had started with Pi Chae-won's sneakers in Pachehi — and now, it seemed, they could set the whole country's hair on trend under the name Han Yeo-reum.
A wave, once it started rising, had to be ridden properly.
And just as everyone expected—
Yeo-reum had succeeded in drawing attention even to her hanbok styling. That deliberately unadorned naturalness landed squarely with the public.
"We seriously cast the perfect model, us…."
The ALAB employees watching all this unfold could only marvel. They were already reaping enormous benefits from their model — there was no telling how much more of the Han Yeo-reum effect they'd be basking in from here on.
The Han Yeo-reum Collab Cheongdam salon hair ampoule, soon to blanket Olive0, was being churned out nonstop at the factory at this very moment.
Every single one stamped with Yeo-reum's brightly smiling face.
The moment the news broke in real time, Ki Joo-ye's face twisted. There she was on Ki Joo-ye's phone screen again — Han Yeo-reum.
Yeo-reum was already riding a wave of critical acclaim for her acting, and now her face was plastered huge across a portal site banner. There was no way Ki Joo-ye could bear not to click.
Hair brand ALAB shakes up the beauty market once again. After a red-hot reception on Olive0 immediately following its launch, ALAB is now teaming up with Cheongdam's No. 1 artist Dokgo Gyeol to debut a new hair ampoule.
Adding fuel to the fire, the brand has successfully renewed its contract with actress Han Yeo-reum — who has been exhibiting a positively unhinged presence in Gimyo-dam of late — sending anticipation for the product soaring even higher.
"…Is this for real?"
Until just a few years ago, Ki Joo-ye had been the first name reporters cited for brand reputation. It meant she had stood at the very peak of popularity.
"Han Yeo-reum, that little—!"
It already grated on her that the girl had tumbled down to the level of a rookie barely one year past debut. And now, two of the brands Ki Joo-ye herself had once advertised had renewed with Han Yeo-reum.
"ALAB, Brand N, Creamy Soda — she's got THREE model contracts already?!"
A creeping dread settled over her: the possibility that Han Yeo-reum might already be doing better than her. The article directly below was headlined [Creamy Soda Boasts Insane Sales Right Out of the Gate]. If she clicked it, she knew exactly what she'd see — Han Yeo-reum's face, huge, yet again.
"Ugh, SO annoying. Annoying annoying ANNOYING—!"
The makeup artist, mid-touch-up on Ki Joo-ye's lip, made a point of staying quiet. It would have been nice if Ki Joo-ye showed a shred of consideration at least during makeup touch-ups — but such things had never once occurred to her.
"Don't you girls think this is ridiculous? Han Yeo-reum shows up looking all scruffy and rough in Gimyo-dam. But then it's fashion this, beauty that, on top of it? Right? Fuck."
At Ki Joo-ye's words, the staff around her chorused their agreement — "Right, right" — clucking along.
"Obviously they just keep grabbing her because her model fee's dirt cheap."
The slander against Han Yeo-reum was growing uglier by the day. Ki Joo-ye stomped her feet where she sat, hammering them against the floor.
There she goes again….
But as long as she was in charge of Ki Joo-ye, this kind of thing was routine.
"What are you doing? Fix my lip. Fast."
"Oh — yes. Right away."
Having vented her tantrum, Ki Joo-ye immediately found something else to pick at with the staff. She was just finishing her lip touch-up and stepping out of the waiting room.
"Oh, yes, yes! Director, it's been far too long. Aigo, it's me. Let's shoot Top Class hard. Mm-hm."
Far down the corridor, a greatly respected senior actress was on the phone. Ki Joo-ye's ears pricked up before she could stop herself.
The entertainment industry ran on rumors, and rumors traveled fast. The one who snatched up good information first was the winner.
"It's nearly confirmed? Ooh, now I'm excited. What's that? You'd slip me a seat at the table too?"
She could feel it. That was definitely talk about a project. And anything at that caliber was bound to come attached with a first-rate assistant director.
Ki Joo-ye's eyes gleamed with greed.