The Stolen Dress
“What?”
Ryu Risa frowned as she scanned the list sent over by the sponsorship agency. The dress Han Yeo-reum was supposed to wear at the very top of it was missing.
“Is this list wrong? Did someone fail to pick up the outfit properly?”
“W-well, Team Leader... about that... the brand...”
“Yes, the brand. Go on.”
At that ominous hesitation, Ryu Risa pressed. The youngest staffer, who had gone to pick up the garment, answered haltingly.
“Ki Joo-ye... she...”
“So Ki Joo-ye stole it?”
The staffer gave a small nod. Ryu Risa closed her eyes. That was the dress meant for the Le-el Style Awards.
She had calculated everything — the silhouette that flattered Han Yeo-reum best, the color palette, even the texture — and in an instant, all of it had crumbled to nothing.
“What did they say when you asked?”
“Apparently, since it's a brand with high sales in China, they asked for our understanding...”
Ryu Risa bit her lower lip. That was simply how this industry worked. There was a reason people said you could wake up one morning and find the whole world turned upside down. Overnight you became a star; overnight you fell into the abyss. That was the entertainment business.
And in that business, fame was power.
“So they said they'd pull any other outfit we wanted for Actress Han...”
“If they got robbed once, why can't we rob them back?”
With that one item in her grip, Ki Joo-ye would have the perfect advantage. Of course she could seize a dress like that.
'Because this kind of thing never happens just once.'
Which was why the cutthroat, underwater battles over sponsorships mattered more than anything.
You'd rent a dress promising to wear it for a single day, then drag your feet on returning it — or reshuffle the filming schedule so another celebrity loses her chance to wear it. Or you'd call the brand first and quietly rewrite the priority list.
There was no way around it. In fashion, public exposure was life itself.
The clock of the fashion world ticked relentlessly, even at this very moment. A lipstick launched for spring can still be worn in summer — but spring clothes cannot be worn in summer.
“That goddamn China money...”
Ryu Risa recalled the article about Ki Joo-ye that had surfaced recently. Come to think of it, there had been a lot of SNS photos lately of her wearing this brand's clothing.
'No wonder...'
Staring at the sponsorship list glowing on her screen, Ryu Risa's mind began to churn.
'I can already see the estimate.'
It was entirely possible that before long, this brand would name Ki Joo-ye an ambassador.
'Articles bearing Ki Joo-ye's name are never free, after all.'
No doubt the mix would include some paid for by her agency and some paid for by the brand itself.
In the entertainment world, styling is not simply a combination of hair, makeup, and wardrobe. It is politics. A single perfectly captured photograph is a gamble that can seize fame in the space of a heartbeat.
'If this were an actual awards ceremony, we'd be in real trouble — but thankfully...'
The Le-el Style Awards was more casual than your typical formal event. A dress was acceptable, but wearing a one-piece wouldn't raise any serious eyebrows.
Ryu Risa's options suddenly widened.
'What do I dress her in?'
First, rule out anything she'd recently worn in press photos. Also anything from Music N. This would be Han Yeo-reum's first public appearance since the finale of Strange Tales, so it had to grab every eye in the room.
'Oh, and no hanbok.'
If she locked Han Yeo-reum into a hanbok image, Seo-ryeong's shadow would cling to her forever. The drama was completely finished; Han Yeo-reum needed to open the next chapter of her career.
'What do we have...'
Ryu Risa tilted her head as she studied the white mannequin.
“Han Yeo-reum. Han Yeo-reum. Han Yeo-reum...”
She spoke the name aloud, and as every Han Yeo-reum she had known flashed through her mind—
“Ah. Got it.”
She had caught something.
The ultimate accessory — one that only Han Yeo-reum could pull off. Just as she had used Joo Joon-seo as an accessory on the last mint carpet, she would do it again.
“Though this time, the weight class is a little different.”
A devilish smile bloomed across Ryu Risa's face.
Ryu Risa — Artistry: S+
The status window blinked into being above her head.
'That's our Ryu Risa for you...'
Team Leader Hong barely managed to swallow the laughter that threatened to burst out of him. Reporters were thick in the air around him.
This was a café near Cheongdam-dong, just hours before the Le-el Style Awards would begin. Team Leader Hong was buying rounds of coffee for the press and spinning his banter with practiced ease.
“Ah, in this heat, too — you all work so hard.”
His entertainment-industry instincts, seasoned beyond measure, had carried him all the way to head of the PR team at the very JC ENM itself. Hong was a man who had mastered the art of political maneuvering. Half-closing his eyes, he smiled at the reporters who would be writing up the Le-el Style Awards coverage in a few hours.
“Please write our Yeo-reum up nice and pretty, won't you?”
“Han Yeo-reum's articles? Of course we'll make them good. Think of the click numbers she pulls in even on a slow day.”
Someone's slick answer warmed the atmosphere. One of the reporters turned to him.
“But what's gotten into you? She's made Best Dresser every single time. Why so unsure of yourself today, of all days?”
Team Leader Hong pulled the straw out of his coffee cup. Popping the lid open, he gulped down his iced Americano as he thought.
'Gotcha.'
The reporter had tossed out the bait. Now all that was left was for Team Leader Hong to snap it up in style — as smoothly as a well-scripted play. They both knew the game: deceive and be deceived, all with full knowledge on either side.
“The dress she was supposed to wear suddenly! fell through... this is something we scrambled to put together at the last minute, so it might look a teensy bit dated. I told her and told her — let's change into something else. But our girl must have been so upset about it... *sigh*...”
An actress rising faster than anyone right now — and her dress suddenly falls through? The reporters sipping their coffee felt a fresh hit of dopamine.
'There's something here.'
'Obviously.'
No need to wonder — someone had snatched it. And the odds were high it was an actress of a similar age and image.
Two candidates surfaced in every mind at once: Do Gyeo-ul or Ki Joo-ye. One reporter asked with artful casualness:
“How does a dress even fall through like that? So who's going to wear it now? Do Gyeo-ul, maybe?”
“Whoa, whoa! Don't say things like that. Do Gyeo-ul's outfits have been locked in since ages ago. Aiyo. I'm terrified some rumor's going to spread.”
Waving his hands in denial, Team Leader Hong slid the answer sheet across the table as naturally as breathing. Ladies and gentlemen, it is not Do Gyeo-ul. Put an X next to that name. And then who's left? You know who it is, don't you? Who took our girl's dress? Hmm? It was a silent hint. At the sight of Team Leader Hong smiling through narrowed eyes, the reporters were certain.
'Okay. Not Do Gyeo-ul.'
'So it really was Ki Joo-ye... her character truly knows no bounds.'
At the next round of informal press briefings, this rumor was set to spread like wildfire. Team Leader Hong, feigning nonchalance, continued.
“Our girl absolutely adores Professor Geum Bit-gang, so she dressed in this slightly retro style as a sign of respect. Please package it up all prettily for us.”
“Oh, of course. It's JC — like we're strangers to you.”
At the reporters' hearty assurances, Team Leader Hong finally seemed to relax and let the rest spill out. Everyone present knew, of course, that every word had been angled in advance.
This was the cold-hearted entertainment industry. The naive don't survive.
“She's actually deep into the classics again these days. Won't let the screenplay out of her hands. Honestly, productions collapsing under actors is par for the course, but... maybe it's because she's still a rookie? It's cute, that's all.”
From those words, the reporters could deduce any number of things. It was a round of Godori being played with the cards laid face-up.
“Come to think of it, weren't there rumors Han Yeo-reum was in the running for the child role in The Great Garand? Is that real?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“I'm close with Director Gong, remember? Heard it piecemeal over drinks last time. With Director Ja's temperament, he was pushing hard for her, but the money got in the way. Yeah.”
“Huh? If she's on the shortlist, that means there are other actors in the running too...”
In that instant, every puzzle piece clicked into place. The frame of the article took shape. Just as the reporters were about to pounce on him, Team Leader Hong picked up his ringing phone.
“Ye-yes. Right, ah — I'm with some very important people at the moment.... Yes, I'll be right there! If it's urgent, there's nothing to be done. Okay.”
Hurriedly preparing to leave, he covered the receiver with one hand.
“My apologies. Apparently a rookie just caused an accident. Well then — looking forward to those articles! Yes!”
“No, wait a minute! Tell us more about The Great Garand—!”
“Team Leader Hong! Where are you going!”
But it was too late. Team Leader Hong was already out the café door.
The reporters who had scrambled up to grab him were left standing in a daze. The only one still seated crossed his arms and spoke.
“Give it up, everyone... did none of you see that man's phone screen earlier?”
At his words, the reporters leaned in.
“That incoming call was a show...”
That was right.
“The vibration was just his alarm...”
Team Leader Hong was playing a level above them all.
The keywords the reporters would now be chasing were #BelovedMentorAndMentee #TheHanYeoreumGeumBitgangEndorses #NextProject #TheGreatGarand. With no detailed information available, there was only a single line they could write.
But the shockwave that single line would send through the entertainment industry was anything but small.
Before stepping out of the van, Ki Joo-ye checked her reflection with a satisfied smile. The dress she had stolen from Han Yeo-reum fit her flawlessly.
'It was mine from the start.'
The dress, the role, the buzz, the popularity — none of it belonged to Han Yeo-reum. It was all mine. The moment that thought formed, a sense of superiority swelled across Ki Joo-ye's face.
“Ki Joo-ye nim is arriving now—!”
The van glided to a smooth stop before the mint carpet, and the door opened. A storm of flashes erupted for Ki Joo-ye.
'That's right. I am Ki Joo-ye.'
Her turn in Top Class had posted modest numbers, but she was ready to be loved by the public once more — as Hee-jae, the first love in The Great Garand.
“Over here, just once please!”
“Finger heart! Look this way!”
Beaming finger hearts at the reporters, Ki Joo-ye was brimming with confidence. Guided into the venue, she was shown to her table — which happened, of all things, to be assigned near Han Yeo-reum.
'...What is this?'
Ki Joo-ye's eyes instantly doubted what they saw. It was no exaggeration to say Han Yeo-reum's styling stood out more than anyone else's in the entire Le-el venue. Han Yeo-reum alone seemed to live in a different era altogether.
'What is that?'
White lace gloves, an elegantly swept updo, a yellow two-piece that could only be called tailored menswear. And the ultimate accessory only Han Yeo-reum could deploy.
The grande dame of Korean acting — the actress Geum Bit-gang herself.
'...She coordinated her outfit with Geum Bit-gang!'
It was as if a legendary actress of the seventies had arrived with her chosen successor in tow. Ki Joo-ye answered the greetings drifting in from around her with vague nods while fumbling her phone awake in a rush.
At today's Le-el mint carpet in Cheongdam-dong, rookie actress Han Yeo-reum's outfit is the talk of the town. Han Yeo-reum, who proved her acting chops in TVM's Strange Tales, appeared alongside Geum Bit-gang, her on-screen acting rival in the drama. The two turned every head with classic styling that evoked the seventies.
[Excerpt]
Meanwhile, Han Yeo-reum has been named as a candidate for the role of Yeon Hee-jae, the protagonist's first love, in KBC's 50th-anniversary drama The Great Garand.
'...Goddamn it.'
Her head was spinning too fast. By styling her to match the era of her next project's setting, she had left a spoiler for her follow-up work lying in plain sight.
'If it goes like this, even after I take the Hee-jae role later, I'll be compared to her forever.'
Competing on pure acting skill was a fight Ki Joo-ye would lose one hundred times out of a hundred. She knew that all too well — which was exactly why she had tried to force the issue with investment money.
Ki Joo-ye glared at Han Yeo-reum. Feeling the stare, Han Yeo-reum turned her head — and then flashed a radiant smile.
As if to say: let's play.