A World Already Prepared
“Seriously insane.”
Reporter Wi Jae-hwi of Daily Media had long since finished drafting and uploading the fastest article in the industry—the news of Han Yeo-reum's exclusive contract with JC ENM.
It was all thanks to Yeo-reum, who had politely reached out first. Having just wrapped up the signing, she messaged him right away—and she gave the distinct impression of someone who had grown by leaps and bounds since the days of Pachehi.
Reporter Wi couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from climbing upward. This was a success on an entirely different scale from anything a web drama had achieved before.
Adding foreign-language subtitles was worth it. Genuinely.
Word had spread among international fans with a soft spot for K-teen romance, and views and comments had exploded overnight.
Even the K-pop crowd has jumped on board.
Well, good was good, whatever the route. Reporter Wi scrolled through the international reactions in order of most upvoted as he wrote. He was just sitting down to proofread the article he'd finished at record speed when—
“Reporter Wi. What are you writing?”
“Pachehi just passed ten million views.”
“Ooh~. Knew that one would do well.”
The senior who'd dropped by gave a short tilt of his chin toward one corner of the monitor. The messenger icon was blinking.
“When you're done with that, write up Do Gyeo-ul.”
“Which angle?”
“The drama she's going into. The male lead's been locked in. SBC's throwing its weight behind production—picked themselves a handsome one, apparently.”
“Oh…”
At Reporter Wi's flat response, the senior cocked his head.
It wasn't the reaction he'd expected. Reporter Wi was the junior who showed enthusiasm for any drama gossip under the sun.
Reporter Wi's focus had already slid off Do Gyeo-ul and back onto Han Yeo-reum.
“Shouldn't Han Yeo-reum be doing a drama too? You hear anything about what JC's got in the works?”
“Oh, I know about that.”
A colleague who'd been eavesdropping on the exchange jumped in. Winking at Reporter Wi, she spoke in a hush.
“They're in talks over the rights for Strange Tales, apparently. The one Han Yeo-reum did that ASMR for.”
“Seriously? It's getting adapted into a drama?”
“Nobody knows yet. But if they cast a lead, wouldn't it be Han Yeo-reum? She fits the original's protagonist perfectly.”
“So that's why you've been saying you're exhausted every day lately—you were up reading webnovels?”
“I couldn't sleep wondering what happens in the next chapter.”
The colleague smiled sheepishly, then launched into a reporter-grade analysis of why Han Yeo-reum suited the protagonist, along with the admission that it was more fun than she'd expected.
“The lead looks totally harmless on the outside, but turns out she's secretly a deity, and—”
“No spoilers. We stop there.”
Having clapped a hand over her colleague's mouth, Reporter Wi resumed typing at a measured pace.
Writing the article with mechanical detachment, Reporter Wi mused.
Honestly… I'd bet that one does well in the ratings too.
A rom-com script that had turned heads since the writing competition, the wave of attention bound to break over Do Gyeo-ul as she shed her child-actress image, a male lead whose face the cameras loved, and a capable director on top of it all.
Pull this off, and Do Gyeo-ul could charge out as the undisputed queen of her twenties.
The more pieces he fit together, the clearer the ideal formula for success became. Do Gyeo-ul, it seemed, had made a perfectly airtight choice.
“Hello. I'm Choi Seon-hye, and starting today I'll be Han Yeo-reum's manager. I'm twenty-nine, and I used to manage a girl idol group.”
The moment the ink on her contract dried, JC ENM had rolled out its full care package for her. First up: a manager. A remarkably tall woman introduced herself with a bright grin.
“Please feel free to talk to me like an older sister! I played volleyball, so my stamina's great—don't feel bad about bossing me around, just tell me whatever you need. That's literally what I'm here for.”
She had the kind of smile that put you instantly at ease. I took the hand thrust out at me without hesitation. I could feel the rough calluses unique to someone from an athletic team.
“Yes, ma'am. Talk casually, unnie.”
“Thanks. Glad to hear it.”
Choi Seon-hye squeezed my hand and pulled me into a hug. This was someone who knew how to take care of people.
“All right! Let's agree to get to know each other as we go. First, shall we do a quick little tour of everything that's already been prepped for you?”
With an arm wrapped around my shoulders, she strode off. Our destination: the gleaming nose of a vehicle. A Carnival Hi-Limousine.
In other words—the celebrity minivan.
“Is this, by any chance…”
“Yes.”
“Can I get in right now?!”
As if the question were unnecessary, she opened the door for me.
The van glided open with a smooth whir—there were even tiny curtains on the windows. The stock seats had been swapped for plusher light-beige ones, and inside, cushions and a blanket sat neatly folded and waiting.
“Wow…”
The moment I sat down, the seat seemed to swallow me whole. Seeing my reaction, Choi Seon-hye handed me a water bottle with a straw in it.
“You like it that much?”
“Unnie…. I officially feel like a celebrity now…. I'm truly honored, really.”
Just as I was about to sink into the feeling of taking the very first step of an entirely new acting career—
“Hello! I'm Hwang Ji-hye, your coordinator. I watched Pachehi and absolutely loved it. I kept sketching out all these styling ideas while I watched, so working with you now is honestly a dream. Even back during your full-black long hair era, I noticed it—classical looks suit you beautifully, but you also wear a slightly more trend-forward twist on them just as well. The outfit you have on today was matched to your current hair color, and—”
“Whoa, you startled me.”
—that was when it happened. A voice floated over from the back of the trunk. Looking closer, the space behind the hanging racks of clothes was a flurry of movement.
“Ji-hye. They can't see your face back there. Come out.”
“Ah. But I can see you both perfectly through the gap in the clothes…. I figured I was visible too.”
With a rustle, the garments parted on either side and the woman wedged between them emerged. Pushing her glasses back up her nose, Hwang Ji-hye was holding a rolled bundle of clothing in one hand—apparently in the middle of organizing the racks.
“Thank you so much. Did you prepare all of this, Coordinator Hwang?”
“No! I went by Team Leader Ryu's office this morning. From now on, offline events—ah, brand events will be outfits sent over from her side, of course—but premieres, interviews, script readings, broadcast appearances, photo shoots, and on-set wardrobes will all be handled by Team Leader Ryu. I'm the on-site lead! I'll prep the looks she's styled for each occasion, and dress you in whatever pieces you pick yourself.”
There was only one Team Leader Ryu I knew of.
“You don't mean… that Team Leader Ryu is…”
“That's right! Ryu Risa!”
Impossible. A star stylist attached to a rookie? That Ryu Risa, who managed nothing but A-list actors?
Watching my reaction, the manager and coordinator exchanged a glance and laughed.
“You can't go being shocked by every little thing from here on out.”
“She's right. This is just the beginning—you still have contracts to sign upstairs.”
“Contracts…? But I already signed….”
There was more to sign beyond the JC ENM exclusive? While I stood there blinking in confusion, the two of them answered easily.
“Your N-Brand modeling contract. And on top of that—”
“ALAB reached out about shooting one more commercial!”
Jegal Rok's words had been the plain truth.
I promise you support beyond anything you could expect.
A world that had seemed to have been quietly preparing for me all along stepped boldly into view. Today, more than any other day, it was dazzlingly, searingly bright.
As if I'd been thrown into the very heart of summer, my breath caught in my chest.
The studio near Seolleung Station in Gangnam was in the thick of its setup. Blinding lights prowled for their perfect angles while cameras and monitors took their places up front.
“Let's finish the steaming, people—!”
“Main product goes front and center, I said! The order's all wrong!”
In the space at the back, a rack stood packed wall to wall with clothing. N-Brand's fall-winter new releases. And frontmost among them: a pair of gray sneakers.
It would be no exaggeration to say that product had single-handedly carried N-Brand's revenue last season.
“We did the right thing, changing our model—right?”
An assistant asked the visual director who'd come over from N-Brand. There was a faint note of anxiety in her voice. And no wonder—until very recently, N-Brand's exclusive model had been a chart-topping idol whose name everyone knew.
Passing on the renewal and pivoting straight to a rising star had been nothing short of a gamble.
“And what would we have done if we hadn't? Her pride was hurt—she was never going to renew anyway. They took her name off the shoes, remember.”
The visual director answered while gazing thoughtfully at the sneakers. The fall-winter release carried a subtle variation on the original light-gray tone. A pink like strawberry milk had been blended into it.
It was a design that seemed calculated to make you think of someone.
“People call those the Pi Chae-won Sneakers more often than the official model name at this point. Thinking it over again, this was the right call.”
It was thanks to Pachehi having mass-produced Pi Chae-won's trademark Son-Min-soo-style mimicking in bulk. The new model had been designed with that very Pi Chae-won as its muse. The design team's choice looked to be the correct one.
“Yeo-reum! We're running the video shoot and the photo shoot simultaneously. You heard the rundown earlier, right? We'll grab just a quick clip before your energy dips—then we're done.”
“Yes, understood!”
Wearing the piece N-Brand was pushing hardest among all its new releases, Yeo-reum accepted the small lapel mic.
A smile crept onto the visual director's lips. She suited it even better than he'd imagined.
“Here—look right into this lens and just talk naturally.”
Yeo-reum's lips, facing the camera dead-on, began to open, slow and deliberate.