Chapter 28
I’m translating the chapter now and preserving the special notification as a styled block. The main work is keeping the prose natural while matching the chapter’s pacing and business-fiction tone.CHAPTER_TITLE: Condensation (2)
The world lurched in front of Kang Jaeha’s eyes, and with it came that familiar, rising sense of recognition. The taste of something he already knew. It was déjà vu. Almost at once, scenes that were not part of reality opened up before him.
A studio of moderate size. A dozen-odd staff had gathered there, and at their head stood a familiar face with a broad, flat look to him: Jeong Taewoo, the CEO of Munbak Film. In front of him, a smartphone had been set up on a tripod, as if they were about to film something casual.
"Since the director and actors are here, let’s put up the banner!"
Two staff members taped the banner they had prepared in advance onto the wall of the filming area. Large letters stood out in plain sight.
-CONGRATULATIONS! "Gyeollo" HAS SURPASSED 5 MILLION VIEWERS! THANK YOU!
Then a familiar face entered the studio. It was Director Kwon Seongmin, wearing glasses, along with several others. Jeong Taewoo called out to Kwon Seongmin and the people who had come with him.
"All right, director, actors, stand right here! Let’s start filming the thank-you video now!"
By then, Jaeha’s vision was swaying again. When the world settled, he was back in reality. In his eyes now was Jeong Taewoo, the very man from the déjà vu. Kwon Seongmin was speaking with him nearby. Watching the two of them quietly, Jaeha let out a small laugh.
The actors weren’t very visible, but one thing’s certain.
He recalled the key words he had seen in the déjà vu.
-CONGRATULATIONS! "Gyeollo" HAS SURPASSED 5 MILLION VIEWERS! THANK YOU!
The setup was clearly a thank-you video for the audience. And 5 million viewers meant that the feature-length version of "Gyeollo" would be a success in Kwon Seongmin’s hands.
And it’s still climbing past 5 million.
That meant the final number could go even higher. If that was the case, then...
MEG has to take this no matter what.
For the commercial feature version of "Gyeollo", Jaeha had to be the one pulling the strings. The story was good, and from the short film version to the Busan International Film Festival and now the feature, MEG had been along for the ride. Probably. No, almost certainly, Director Kwon Seongmin would see MEG as his benefactor.
Mutual gain.
As always, Jaeha didn’t let Director Kwon Seongmin catch on to anything about déjà vu.
"Director."
He only hinted at the possibility.
"Once the feature-length "Gyeollo" script is done, send it to me whenever you’re ready."
"Ah! Yes!"
After stepping away, Jaeha joined Lee Chanhoo, who was watching the set with his arms crossed. Passing by him, Jaeha muttered softly. No, it was more of an order.
"Make sure you check whether there are any investors trying to get close to Director Kwon Seongmin before or after the Busan International Film Festival."
Lee Chanhoo, the smile gone from his face, nodded.
After that, filming for "Gyeollo" continued. They spent quite a bit of time on a two-shot of Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee, and next came Yoon Dayeon’s solo shot.
"Action!"
The moment the signal was given, emotion vanished from Yoon Dayeon’s face. That was the expression she wore as she slipped into the role of the supporting character, Jeonghee.
"......"
She looked at An Jihee with a parched, stripped-down expression. Strictly speaking, she was looking at the camera, but Yoon Dayeon acted as though she were looking at An Jihee. After staring into the lens for several seconds, her lips parted slightly. Her lips were almost unnaturally red.
"Why did you come here?"
It was a line directed at Jisoo, the heroine of "Gyeollo". It was a question, but it carried no real curiosity. Only heaviness. I asked, but I already know how you ended up here. You’re probably not so different from me.
"You know? If you keep pushing here, you’ll only sink deeper into the abyss."
Little by little, just a little at a time, I’ll blur out your future. Like condensation. Something so trivial it can be wiped away and disappear. That was the meaning Yoon Dayeon packed into her emotion.
It wasn’t a lot of dialogue, nor was it long.
But Yoon Dayeon did it perfectly. Not only Director Kwon Seongmin, who was watching the monitor.
That’s killer work. So aching, and yet so restrained. Exactly the kind of Jeonghee I wanted.
Even the surrounding staff, including Jeong Taewoo, were impressed.
She’s good. Fallen out of fashion or not, you can’t ignore that kind of experience.
Honestly, she’s better by a few notches than most of the rising rookies making noise these days... the entertainment world really is impossible to read.
For sure, when someone’s been around long enough, the quality of their acting is just different.
Some actors kept acting badly no matter how many years they had under their belt, and some still managed to stay popular anyway. On the other hand, no matter how much of a skill you had, there were so many washed-up actors like Yoon Dayeon in and out of entertainment that you could trip over them.
It was proof that there was no fixed formula in this business.
The staff who were admiring her knew that too, and An Jihee, the heroine of "Gyeollo" standing just outside the frame, was staring at Yoon Dayeon with wide eyes, trying to memorize and learn from her breathing, her emotions, the way she handled her gaze.
Incredible... right, I have to keep learning. I can’t let my senior down.
As for Yoon Dayeon herself, she was enjoying it. It was only a short film, the set was cramped, and conditions were rough, but when had she last been able to focus on acting like this?
Watching her, Kang Jaeha smiled without making a show of it.
He had shoved her down into the supporting cast of the short film "Gyeollo" precisely for this.
Scene-stealer.
It was true that Jeonghee didn’t have much screen time in "Gyeollo". But depending on the actor, depending on the expression, it was a role whose impact could multiply several times over. That was how Jaeha saw it. Someone like Yoon Dayeon now, with pride and all the rest of it stripped away, cast down to the floor, would clearly...
inspire a lot of directors.
She would make an impression far beyond a supporting role.
Next was An Jihee’s turn. Since she had been chosen as the heroine of "Gyeollo", Director Kwon Seongmin and the rest of the staff watched her closely.
The first take of Jihee, as delivered by An Jihee, was...
"Huh?? M-me? The reason I came here? I wanted money. How much did you have, unni?"
She was awkward, lacking, uneasy, and still untouched by the dirt. Soon enough a dark stain would settle over her, but for now she still looked close to gray. The core of Jisoo’s role was emotion growing darker by degrees.
By then, Jeong Taewoo of Munbak Film was stroking his chin, watching An Jihee intently.
An Oriental beauty type in terms of visuals. Her voice tone is distinctive, her diction is clean. More than anything, the atmosphere she has is absurd.
He drew on the judgment born of long experience.
If the Busan International Film Festival goes well, directors are going to be drooling over her.
That night.
After finishing the first shoot for "Gyeollo" and arriving home, Kang Jaeha took off his jacket and checked the time. Around 11 p.m. The moment he washed his hands, for some reason he opened his securities app. A faint smile came to his face before long. There was nothing strange about it.
-T&K Labs $129.61 (+25.34%)
-Investment principal $808,562 (889,418,200 won)
-Current value $1,013,420 (1,114,762,000 won)
-Profit and loss +225,343,800 won (total 1,114,762,000 won)
The funds he had invested were in the middle of their first huge spike. The money-scented information he had seen in Seo Jinsu’s déjà vu was a rise that would continue for three days starting on the 23rd. The favorable news was a diet drug
Today was the 23rd. The déjà vu had been right, just as expected.
He had no choice but to smile.
A quick search made it clear that the U.S. market was buzzing about T&K Labs’ diet drug.
"Two more days."
Jaeha’s money was certain to swell even further.
Then, the next morning on the 24th.
When the second day of shooting for "Gyeollo" began, Lee Chanhoo was meeting with Director Hong Manseop and Cheongyeon Studio.
He was touring the workshop where "Natdaljib" was being made, together with them.
Watching the workers moving their hands at a brisk pace, Lee Chanhoo clicked his tongue.
So this is how the workflow differs because it’s animation.
He couldn’t take his eyes off the unfamiliar atmosphere. He didn’t make it obvious, of course. Director Hong Manseop pointed at the staff and explained with visible enthusiasm. Probably because the 1 billion won in investment funds had just been injected.
"After the in-between animation work is done like this, we add the coloring..."
He walked him through in-betweening, coloring, backgrounds, effects, dubbing, sound, and the rest of the process. Lee Chanhoo nodded seriously, but...
It smells like something delicious over here. Doenjang-jjigae?
It wasn’t really sinking in. Of course, he would have to study up on "Natdaljib", but when everything was dumped on him at once, it wasn’t easy to understand. Unaware of that, Director Hong Manseop stroked his thick brows and changed the subject.
"'Natdaljib' was already in the middle and late stages of production. By March and April, we can clear out the remaining work, and by May we’ll be into post-production like editing and dubbing."
Listening to him, it sounded like "Natdaljib" had been in production for years, with long gaps in between. Well, the animation film market was barren, so that probably came with all kinds of hardship. The extra investment this time was no different. In any case, Director Hong Manseop explained that whenever that happened, whenever there was a gap in time, he had been running post-production work in parallel.
"We’ve practically been doing production and post-production at the same time."
In the end...
"Thanks to that, we’ve saved a lot of time, so if things go well, we can hold a test screening by around June."
The plan was to have the result of "Natdaljib" ready in June or July, while running promotion and marketing in between. The goal was to release it as early as late July or in August.
"What do you think, sir?"
At Director Hong Manseop’s question, Lee Chanhoo murmured inwardly.
The boss said the faster the better, so the sooner the better.
He nodded gravely.
"Not bad."
A smile quickly spread across Director Hong Manseop’s face.
"I-is that so? That’s a relief. I was wondering if we should speed up the work even more."
Using the boss’s line as if it were his own, Lee Chanhoo replied,
"Quality is what matters most. It’d be best if it comes out exactly the way you want it."
"Thank you, sir."
Moved once again, Director Hong Manseop led Lee Chanhoo onward. He showed him a rough poster draft. On it stood the protagonist of "Natdaljib", wearing a gat. The moment he saw it, Lee Chanhoo was genuinely impressed.
Oh. The protagonist? The atmosphere is sharp, too. This really works.
Then he thought of Kang Jaeha.
So that’s why he’s the boss? His eye for detail is still the same.
Then the thick-browed Director Hong Manseop asked Lee Chanhoo,
"Do you have another appointment? If not, I can show you the in-between and editing work in more detail."
Lee Chanhoo shook his head.
"Let’s do it next time. I need to go see the set of another project I invested in."
And night came again. Kang Jaeha was in the MEG office, receiving Lee Chanhoo’s report.
"'Natdaljib' is moving just as quickly as 'Gyeollo'."
Even while listening to the story about "Natdaljib", Jaeha was looking at his phone screen. A faint smile sat on his face as a bonus. Even now, his funds were...
-T&K Labs $173.34 (+33.74%)
-Investment principal $808,562 (889,418,200 won)
-Current value $1,355,345 (1,490,879,500 won)
-Profit and loss +601,461,300 won (total 1,490,879,500 won)
...still going through a huge surge. A second, full-bodied rise. The third spike came the very next day. On the night of the 25th, after work, the final numbers that came into view for Jaeha were these:
-T&K Labs $224.94 (+29.77%)
-Investment principal $808,562 (889,418,200 won)
-Current value $1,758,805 (1,934,685,500 won)
-Profit and loss +1,045,267,300 won (total 1,934,685,500 won)
Nearly 2 billion won from an infusion of 900 million. Jaeha’s money had swelled so full it seemed about to burst. Looking at the lavishly inflated pile, Kang Jaeha once again offered thanks to Seo Jinsu. The bastard was annoying, but...
Thanks to that jerk’s déjà vu, the capital base got a lot bigger. So, yeah, thanks.
Still, it wasn’t enough. 2 billion was a lot of money, but if he thought about the future manifestations of déjà vu, the growth of MEG, and the subordinates he might meet, it was nowhere near enough. Whether he was the commander of a mercenary band or the backer behind MEG, money was always better in larger amounts.
Then Jaeha...
-Swish.
...started selling the stock without the slightest hesitation.
The morning of the 27th, two days later. In front of Leon Entertainment.
Kang Jaeha had come to work by subway today, and when he reached Leon Entertainment he noticed something unusual: a fair crowd had gathered in front of the entrance. About ten people, perhaps? Jaeha’s brow furrowed slightly.
What now?
They were probably reporters. That kind of thing happened from time to time, if not often. Some actor or idol under Leon had probably become an issue.
What, did an idol scandal break?
Jaeha didn’t pay much attention. It was only annoying that the front of the company had gotten crowded. Just as he was about to lose interest, letting out a faint yawn and heading inside, someone among the reporters spotted him.
-Swish.
They moved quickly. Then that person tapped Jaeha on the back. Tap, tap. Kang Jaeha turned around without much concern. The one standing behind him was a woman. She looked to be in her late twenties, with a smartphone in one hand, brown hair tied up in a loose roll, and large eyes.
For some reason, Jaeha looked quite startled when he saw her, and the woman, in turn, gave him an amused smile.
"Wow—"
Then, all at once, a woman’s voice rang out to the two of them.