Romance

After ending the call with Director Park Chan-hong, Yeon-woo was about to contact Lee Yong-su right away when he scratched his head with a troubled look.

"Ah. Come to think of it, I don't have it. Director Lee Yong-su's phone number."

They had only ever met short-term on commercial shoot days, so there had never been a reason to call each other, and they had never exchanged numbers.

It was late anyway. Better to formally request the contact through the company once morning came.

"Director Yoon Mi-yeon would know the number. Still… romance, huh."

Romance felt distant—whether because he had never done one, or because even counting his previous life it had been so long since he had been in a relationship.

Hmm. Maybe I should read some pure-love comics or romance novels.

Once he stepped into the performance he could immerse himself, of course… but he felt he needed to somehow revive the romance cells inside his body that the rampaging white blood cells had presumably locked away.

"First I should watch a few romance movies on Netflix. Though maybe I'm getting ahead of myself before even seeing the scenario."

He had not even contacted Director Lee Yong-su yet, but romance was a genre he would have to tackle someday regardless of that particular project.

Yeon-woo logged into Netflix and scrolled through the available titles.

In a way, this was the first time in his life he had ever clicked the romance category.

Countless works filled the screen.

Looking at the thumbnails and titles, the usual Yeon-woo would never have considered watching anything in the romance genre.

He sorted by cumulative views and scrolled down until familiar faces caught his eye.

"Hmm… Looking at this, Jin-uk hyung was a full-on romance machine."

The truth was that Yeon-woo's filmography simply sat far from the path most actors walked. For the majority of leading actors, the filmography started with romance and ended with romance.

Romance-machine Son Jin-uk was no exception.

Of course, actors who mainly appeared in romance did not hate other genres or especially prefer romance. When you averaged the numbers, romance was simply a genre that could be made on a modest budget and still pull large returns—so both supply and demand stayed high.

"Might as well watch the ones with Jin-uk hyung and Yu-han. Even one extra viewer for a film starring our own actors is a win."

Whether he could actually concentrate around people he was so close to remained an open question, but he hit play on a romance movie anyway.

The effect, however, was tremendous.

"Ugh… barely slept a few hours."

The next morning Yeon-woo rose from bed with a stretch, rolling his shoulders and lightly working out the stiffness.

The romance films had been fun in every way.

He thought he finally understood why people went wild for romance even when the stories were, in a sense, nothing but a string of predictable beats.

There had been pure audience pleasure in simply falling into the story and watching the films. But watching them while physically absorbing melodrama that sat at a slightly different angle from every performance he had done so far had also been fun as an actor, not merely a viewer.

He would need to think carefully about how to deliver those delicate emotional lines more effectively to an audience.

In the early stages it was important to convey fresh, tender feelings as softly and kindly as possible so the viewer felt that ticklish flutter. As the climax approached, you had to pour out raw, nearly explosive emotion that made the audience's chest tighten.

Both the former and the latter were expressions of the single emotion called love—yet the methods were complete opposites.

The world of romance is pretty profound too.

Bzzzt—

His phone buzzed.

He washed up quickly and got ready; Kim Min-su's car must have just pulled in.

First he would clock in at the company, then contact Director Lee Yong-su, and if possible meet him that very day.

When he came down to the garage, Kim Min-su spotted him and drove over. The van door opened and Yeon-woo climbed in.

"Good morning."

"Morning, Min-su hyung. We might have some field work today."

"Oh, works for me."

Kim Min-su's car pulled away smoothly and before long they arrived at the company building.

While Kim Min-su parked, Yeon-woo took the elevator up to the third-floor café.

By the window, Son Jin-uk sat drinking coffee and looking at something on his laptop.

"Jin-uk hyung."

"Hm? You're in early."

"You're even earlier. What were you working on?"

When Yeon-woo asked, Son Jin-uk turned the laptop toward him.

"Watching you check movie scenarios last time suddenly made me want to lock in a film schedule too, so I've been reviewing a few."

Yeon-woo smiled with quiet satisfaction and nodded.

From the standpoint of the company's de facto owner, that kind of attitude from a signed actor was thoroughly desirable and pleasing.

"Funny you should say that—I watched a couple of your starring films last night."

"Out of nowhere? Which ones?"

"Last First Love and To Paris From Seoul."

"…"

Son Jin-uk froze for a beat, then turned his stiff body like a machine.

The thought that Yeon-woo—whom he now regarded almost like a real younger brother—had watched the romance films ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had shot left him oddly embarrassed.

It felt a little like getting caught by family while hanging out with a girlfriend.

"…Why only the romance ones? Suddenly I'm dying of secondhand shame."

"I was looking into maybe doing a romance film for my next project. Your acting was so good I took a lot of notes."

At the praise Son Jin-uk huffed a laugh and scratched his cheek.

"A guy who already acts that well, taking notes from me?"

"Especially the love scenes—I don't think I could ever catch up to you. You were basically a kissing machine…"

"…Of course this brat couldn't just leave it. I knew you were going to mess with me."

Yeon-woo wore a playful smile.

He said it as a joke, but both Son Jin-uk and Jin Yu-han felt like they had reached the peak of romance acting. He would probably need their help more than once once shooting actually started.

"So you're really going to do a romance film?"

"Well, I'm getting ahead of myself for now, but I was calling directors to say hello the way you told me last time, and Director Park Chan-hong recommended a scenario."

"Oh? Is the scenario good?"

"I haven't read it yet—I only heard a brief summary from Director Park—but it feels right. My instincts are tingling."

So if possible he planned to read the scenario today and settle production talks with Director Lee Yong-su on the spot.

They reached Director Lee Yong-su through the company. The moment he heard Yeon-woo's voice, the director readily agreed to meet.

Since Yeon-woo had intended to go to him anyway, he asked for the address of the workroom—only to realize, once they arrived, that it was not a workroom address but Director Lee's home address.

"We've arrived. This is the building."

At Kim Min-su's words Yeon-woo looked out the window.

Director Lee Yong-su's workroom was not, as one might expect, somewhere in Seoul's forest of office towers. It sat in a townhouse complex on the outskirts of Ilsan.

Every house finished in the same warm red brick, the whole complex looked like a quiet English town and gave off a cozy feeling.

"Hmm, he said there's a separate stairway that goes straight up to the second floor…"

Following Yeon-woo's words, Kim Min-su eased the car a little farther forward and around the corner. Separate from the front entrance, a stairway leading to the second floor came into view.

"Looks like this is it."

"I'll go in and take the meeting, then."

"Yes, sir. I'll park up ahead and wait. Call if you need anything."

Yeon-woo got out of the car and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

Apparently the first floor of the same building was used as the family home, keeping living space and work space cleanly separated.

He pressed the doorbell. Movement sounded inside, and a moment later the door opened.

"Ohhh, Actor Ryu—it's been a while."

"Director Lee, have you been well? Sorry for contacting you so suddenly."

"Not at all, not at all. A precious guest in this humble place. Come in, come in."

The last time Yeon-woo had seen Director Lee Yong-su had been during the Ihan Tech commercial that used actual fighter jets—almost exactly a year ago.

Looking at the director, who seemed little changed from a year earlier, Yeon-woo smiled and followed him into the workroom.

"I don't get many visitors and I've been buried in work, so it's a bit of a mess. Sit on the sofa there. I'll bring some tea."

Contrary to the director's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠words, the office was actually quite neatly arranged.

Yeon-woo took a seat. Director Lee Yong-su stepped into the small kitchen attached to the office to prepare drinks.

Hm? Is this it?

Yeon-woo spotted a scenario sitting on the table.

Seeing the title written in a single simple character, he felt certain this was the scenario that had brought him all the way out here.

Moon… Yes. It condenses the plot Director Park Chan-hong told me about perfectly.

Leaving it out on the table meant it was meant to be read, so Yeon-woo picked up the scenario and began.

He already had a rough outline from Director Park, so he skimmed quickly. In that short time Director Lee returned with tea.

"It's nothing special as stories go, but I never expected Actor Ryu to take an interest out of the blue. I never submitted it to any festival or circulated it to production companies…"

Watching Yeon-woo read, Director Lee spoke quietly.

Yeon-woo lifted his eyes from the pages and nodded with absolute conviction.

"Director."

"Yes?"

"Let's make this together. I want to play the male lead in this film. Absolutely."

"…Just like that?"

Lee Yong-su had spent so many years as a commercial director that he still lacked the courage to leap into a feature film.

Of course ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the desire to make one burned strong—that was why he had shown the scenario to Director Park Chan-hong—but stepping outside the career he had built required a larger resolve.

"Well… I don't really know any production companies, and for a feature I'm basically a rookie. I'd have to find investors too… Though of course if Actor Ryu took the lead, that part would sort itself out…"

Listening to the director ramble, Yeon-woo smiled crookedly.

"No. You don't need to find anything. I'll be the production company, the investor, and the lead actor."

"…Excuse me?"

Apparently, because Lee Yong-su had only ever directed commercials and music videos, he was not a direct insider in film or drama production and still did not know much about Saebyeol.

Yeon-woo explained calmly.

"Saebyeol Media, under Saebyeol Entertainment, will handle production. I don't plan to take outside investment, but if the budget grows later and that makes you uneasy, I'll arrange investors as well."

In a situation where no one knew how far Baeksol's tentacles reached, outside investment had to be accepted with extreme caution.

But Yeon-woo had connections to a corporate dinosaur that Baeksol could never touch.

In his mind he pictured Chairman Seo Tae-gwang of the Ihan Group.

Given the friendly attitude SL Electronics had been showing lately, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an investment pitch there would not be out of place either.

He was certain the film would succeed no matter what, so even if he brought in a little outside money through personal connections, there would be no problem.

Director Lee Yong-su laced his fingers and sank into careful thought at the sudden proposal.

No—it was not actually sudden.

No one drove all the way out of Seoul to a workroom in Gyeonggi Province simply because he was curious what a scenario looked like.

From the moment the hottest actor of the moment, Ryu Yeon-woo, had suddenly called and said he wanted to see the scenario, Lee Yong-su's heart had already been hammering.

His gaze drifted to the framed celebrity autographs displayed on the workroom bookshelf—specifically to Ryu Yeon-woo's signature, which sat at the very top.

How happy my daughter was when she brought that home.

She knew her father's job meant he met plenty of celebrities, yet even idol signatures and albums left her indifferent.

But when he brought home Ryu Yeon-woo's autograph she had been so excited she bounced over and chattered nonstop.

Later, when he brought the Korean University notebook Yeon-woo had used, she had even teared up.

If a scrap of paper made her that happy… what if I became the director of a Ryu Yeon-woo starring film?

While Lee Yong-su's imagination soared, the workroom door burst open and someone walked in.

"Dad! Mom wants to know if you finished clearing the rocks where we're planting the plum tree in the backyar—"

Director Lee's daughter strode in, then saw the face of the unfamiliar male guest sitting on the sofa.

"Ah…?"

For a moment she doubted both her eyes.