The Cat Cries Meow - 1
Finally, the exams were over.
That meant the sweetest vacation of the year had begun.
"Eunsol's late! I'm heading out first~!!"
"You sneaky little—!"
"Naye! Take this!!"
"Thank you! Ugh—gah!!!"
Eunsol bolted out the door first. Lee Naye, toast still clamped between her teeth from Yun Jiyeon, tore after her in hot pursuit.
Absolute chaos.
Those two still had exams today, after all.
"You're up?"
"Yeah. Where's Sua?"
"She already left for school. Eunsol and Naye just headed out too."
"So it's just the two of us, then?"
"I-I...!!"
"What is it?"
"Look... let's only do it once a week... if we do it more than that.... I'll really start to fall for you... A-ah! Just once a week! And don't ask me why..."
"What exactly are you thinking right now?"
"Huh..?"
"I've got somewhere to be, so I need to head out. Don't bother making breakfast~"
"Ah.... What kind of appointment..?"
"I'm meeting a real beauty."
"A beauty..?"
Today I planned to visit the director after a long stretch. I also needed to hand over a bit of settlement money to the younger kids who would soon be stepping out into the world on their own.
"Haang!! Nngh..!! Hey—you said you had somewhere to be..!!"
"I've got this much time."
"Haang!! Hnnngh..!! Feels good..!"
"What was that?"
"N-nothing! Mmph..!!"
Yun Jiyeon, bent over the kitchen table with her hips pushed out, hastily clamped a hand over her own mouth.
They say holding back what you want to say breeds illness.
Couldn't have that.
Smack!!!
I brought my palm down hard across her ass. The sharp, wet crack filled the kitchen, and the hand that had been muffling her slipped free.
"Kyaaaah!!!"
"Keep working out hard, Auntie. Your ass is getting even tastier."
"You can't—say things like that..! Haang!!! Hnngh!! Haaaaaang!!!!"
Getting a clean shot in first thing in the morning without worrying about anyone overhearing left me feeling refreshed.
"Alright, I'm off~"
"C-come back safe... Sunwoo..."
I left Yun Jiyeon still draped over the table, my cum smeared thick across her ass as she savored the afterglow, and stepped out of the house.
I took the wheel, rolled out of the opening garage, and tore down the road with the wind in my face. Well past rush hour, the empty streets made bringing the sports car out feel completely worth it.
"Oppa~~~"
"Hyung!!"
"Hyung-ah~"
"Oppa~~"
"You guys been good?"
The kids came sprinting over and latched onto my legs, eyes already darting past me toward the car.
It wasn't the car that fascinated them.
Those looks were pure "hurry up and hand over the presents."
I'd shown up loaded with gifts so many times that the formula had locked in: when I arrive, presents appear.
"Sorry, but no gifts today."
"Aw..."
"Hiiing..."
"Why..?"
"Why??"
"Did you leave them somewhere?"
The words came out blunt, but none of the kids actually took it to heart. They all knew I was just messing with them.
"You're here?"
"Have you been well?"
"Thanks to you, yes. But where are Naye and Sol?"
"Those two still have exams today. They said they'll stop by tomorrow."
"I see. Have you eaten?"
"I already did."
Something very delicious, in fact.
It had taken the edge off my hunger, though I still had a separate lunch appointment later.
I spent about thirty minutes catching up with the director and playing with the kids. Then I handed eight million won each—adjusted upward for inflation—to the ones who would soon be leaving the orphanage.
"Oppa..."
"Hyung...."
"Spend it carefully. Get a place to live first, no matter what."
"Okay!"
"Got it. When I grow up, I'm paying this back for sure!"
It wasn't the first time, and it had been happening for a while now, but seeing those faces still made every won I'd earned feel worthwhile.
"Leaving already?"
"I've got an appointment."
"Alright then. Come again tomorrow when Naye and Sol are here."
"I will."
"Bye, hyung~!!"
"Oppa, bye-bye~~"
"Come again tomorrow~!!"
"And bring presents next time for real~!!"
"Did you leave them somewhere, I said!!"
I parted from the noisy kids and drove to the meeting place.
It was a high-end Korean restaurant with private rooms. A staff member guided me in, and the moment I stepped through the door I recognized the familiar backs of two heads.
"Hey. Foot stink. Gorilla."
"What the—! I washed before coming..! Wait, who the hell..."
"Cha Sunwoo??"
"Long time no see."
"Yah!!"
"What the hell are you?!"
Old ties stretching back to middle school—my closest friends. Self-proclaimed taekwondo genius Shin Jinwoo and judo prospect Park Daeseok.
"You've arrived, Representative?"
"Representative..?"
"D-don't tell me you're..."
Right. The moment Shin Jinwoo had to quit taekwondo, he chased the acting dream he'd always talked about, and Park Daeseok had been working as his manager.
Today was the day the two of them would sign a formal contract with Lime Entertainment.
"So you're saying you're the representative of Lime Enter?? Higher than President Won Chaeyoung??"
"Hey..! Stop bouncing around like that..!"
"Sorry.."
"You should've shown your face when I kept asking to meet. We could've signed ages ago."
"Then you should've just said so from the start..!"
"Yeah, if I'd known it was that kind of meeting I would've come up even while we were touring the provinces."
Actor and manager on paper, but both of them were basically earning nothing. Park Daeseok was sticking by Shin Jinwoo out of pure friendship, working without even a proper salary.
The reason they'd been too busy to show their faces was that they'd been chasing every tiny bit part across the country, trying to build even a scrap of recognition.
"Shall the three of you talk among yourselves?"
"No. President, you decide. Whether we sign them or not."
"Yah..!"
"Sunwoo.."
"I'm your friend, sure, but I don't sign actors with zero potential. And Daeseok—if I don't take Jinwoo, you're not joining the company either, right?"
"Well, yeah... but this guy can act! I wouldn't still be glued to him otherwise!"
"What do I need to do? Want me to act right now?"
"You think you can do it in front of me?"
"What's the big deal?"
Of all of us, he'd always been the most playful and lighthearted. At the same time, he had a pride so fierce he went around calling himself a taekwondo genius.
And now that same Shin Jinwoo was ready to swallow that pride and act in front of me just to land a contract.
"You're serious."
"Of course I am. You think I'd put myself through all this embarrassment in front of him otherwise?"
"Then do it. Act. Something you're confident in."
"......"
"Hey, Sunwoo. Ease up a little."
"Aren't you the manager? You're supposed to push him—tell him to act."
"Ah... fuck, this feels like shit."
Shin Jinwoo's head dipped for a second, then he lifted his eyes and glared straight at me.
"That was real, not acting."
"Was it that obvious?"
"Act. Genre: youth romance."
"With you?!"
"Why the hell with me?! Do it alone!"
"Ah.. it's a little awkward without a partner... then maybe the President could..."
"I will not."
"Yes, ma'am. Then Daeseok, I'm counting on you."
"Yah.. yah, you bastard.. I'm Park Daeseok, you bastard!!!"
Over Park Daeseok's howls of protest, Shin Jinwoo launched into a scene of a guy helping the girl he secretly liked in classic tsundere fashion.
No script. No scenario.
Pure ad-lib from start to finish.
But it wasn't bad.
He was an actor who didn't exist in my memories, yet the future I was building from now on would be a path that didn't exist in those memories either.
Maybe this guy would be the first step.
Could I change it?
"Then we'll be in your care, Representative!!"
"I'm not a representative. No business card, no official title at the company."
"Then you should've said that earlier, you bastard!!"
"Ugh! The smell..!! Where do you think you're sticking that foot?!!"
"Shin Jinwoo-ssi."
"Yes??"
"We'll need to fix that behavior and way of speaking first."
"Ah.. I'm sorry... he and I.. no, Representative Cha Sunwoo and I go way back as close friends, so..."
"You never know when old habits or speech patterns will slip out. Start building the habit of being careful."
"Understood!"
"I'll keep a close eye on him from the side."
"Then the contract is settled. Representative, have you looked into that web drama script I mentioned?"
"We've been asking around everywhere, but we still haven't found a scenario with that title. If we can't turn it up after searching this hard... is it possible you misremembered?"
"I don't think so.. it should definitely be around now..."
I rubbed my chin and tilted my head.
The hit web drama The Cat Cries Meow—its scenario had definitely existed in 2018.
It had been such a massive success as a web drama that in 2025 a cable network even aired an unprecedented sixteen-episode remake. I knew it well.
I'd been a hardcore viewer of the drama version myself.
Of course it had been remade for broadcast, but that turned out to be a stroke of genius.
It was a hundred times more entertaining than the original web drama I'd watched later.
Unlike the 2018 version, the writer seemed to have matured with time; all the cringey, childish scenes from the web drama were gone.
In their place were delicate, emotionally piercing moments that filled the story beautifully, and the slightly rough edges of the plot had been polished into something far more solid.
The larger scale gave supporting characters more weight, the male and female leads' arcs were properly laid down, and the whole thing became a near-perfect work.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
"......"
But there was a problem.
When it was produced as a drama, the female lead and several key supporting roles had been carried over, yet the male lead alone had been swapped out for a popular idol.
The improved script, better direction, the OST that took over the charts—everything earned praise, but the male actor's wooden performance drew the worst reviews imaginable.
Even so it cleared 20% ratings, which only proved how complete the drama itself had been.
This time I intended to keep the original lead intact and push it all the way.
I was going to change the real future for once.
"Daeseok, I'll match your salary to the industry average."
"Thanks."
"What about me?"
"You earn it by working! Get a part-time job or something!"
"What kind of actor works a part-time job?! That's so uncool... no, it tanks the dignity."
"All those successful theater actors you look up to worked part-time jobs while they acted. So stop thinking about freeloading off Daeseok's back and go get a job. Even the industry average is pocket change."
"Fine! Fine! Daeseok, then how about samgyeopsal for dinner tonight?"
"I haven't even gotten my first paycheck yet, you bastard..!"
"Tch...."
"Alright, I'm heading out~ Let's grab soju with Seong-hyeon one of these days~"
Mun Seong-hyeon—the former kendo athlete who'd run around beating thugs with a wooden sword—had actually studied hard, unlike these two, and gotten into a better university than me.
His exams finished next week, so we'd probably gather for drinks around then.
"Still... without the scenario we're stuck... Future Studio's searching hard, so they'll turn it up soon enough, right?"
I thought it would be soon.
But whether the scenario itself simply hadn't been written yet, or something else, even President Won Chaeyoung and the Future Studio staff—who were drowning in every script that came their way—searched until their eyes nearly fell out and still found nothing.
"Right. 2018 isn't over yet. Maybe the scenario will be finished in winter."
I decided to wait patiently.
In the meantime I finally gathered with my friends for drinks again, and even called Geum Gangsan as a designated driver for a surprise. Of course the problem was that the designated driver ended up drinking more than anyone else.
While we hunted for the scenario, Shin Jinwoo built experience by throwing himself into every role he could get—including a passionate turn as Zombie No. 57 in Emperor, which Future Studio was currently producing.
Then one day, completely out of nowhere, I got news I never saw coming.
"Wait for me! I'll be right there!!"
Jeong Suyeon had been attacked? What kind of bullshit was this?!
Which bastard had the balls to lay a hand on a Korean prosecutor..!!