Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Without Letting a Single Drop of Water Touch Her (1)
My spine turned cold.
A chill ran through me.
Sweat threatened to break out from my palms.
I desperately suppressed the trembling in my eyebrows.
Some unknown sense of danger washed over me.
‘You need to answer carefully here.’
I didn’t even know why,
but my instincts kept whispering that warning.
Pretending to stay indifferent.
Pretending nothing was wrong.
Without taking my eyes off the sketch the video app was drawing through my hands,
I answered as casually as possible.
“Hm? That video never had sound in the first place.”
“So oppa didn’t remove it?”
“Why would I remove it? It was already like that when I received it.”
“Then did that detective acquaintance you investigated with remove it?”
“Why would they even do that?”
“…”
“They just passed along exactly what they received from the anonymous informant, and I delivered it exactly as it was to Team Leader Jo. That’s all. Why?”
Only then did I finally lift my head and look directly into Hwang Hyejin’s eyes.
My chest pounded nervously.
I desperately hoped Hyejin wouldn’t see through my acting as I struggled to hide my emotions.
Hwang Hyejin suddenly smiled brightly.
A smile overflowing with such warm, positive energy that it could melt anyone’s heart.
“No, it just felt a little strange that absolutely no sound got recorded.”
“Maybe the microphone was broken.”
“Anyway, whoever it was, I’m really grateful. Oppa, if you ever find out who it was someday, tell me. I should at least thank them properly.”
“Alright. Though honestly, I think it’ll be difficult. There’s probably a reason they chose to stay anonymous.”
Hwang Hyejin leaned back against the seat while wearing her eye mask.
At that moment, I felt a cold bead of sweat trickle past my ear.
‘She didn’t realize her memories were beautified and distorted… right?’
That absolutely cannot happen.
Our Hyejin can never take the red pill.
She has to remain forever unaware of how overwhelmingly dominant she was that day,
or how freely she’d unleashed those thick, savage curse-word freestyles.
“Thanks to Doyoung, we safely survived two disasters already. Seriously, how am I supposed to repay you?”
“I just got lucky.”
“Not luck. You’re blessed with good people around you. I swear, everyone around Doyoung seems unusually reliable.”
Lately, whenever I arrived at the company building, people recognized me and approached first.
Most greeted me warmly while offering praise and encouragement.
Thanks to restoring girl group WISH’s music video footage,
and finding video evidence proving Hwang Hyejin’s innocence.
“Ready mentally?”
“For what exactly?”
“To meet the CEO.”
“…What?”
My heart instantly dropped.
Team Leader Jo Woonseok grinned mischievously at my reaction.
“What, you thought after doing all that, you’d never meet the CEO?”
“Ah… I don’t think I’m mentally prepared yet….”
“Then let’s go meet him before you’re ready. Get up. We’re heading upstairs.”
You should’ve warned me beforehand.
Suddenly dragging me to meet the CEO like this could genuinely trigger heart arrhythmia.
“Nervous?”
“A little— no, a lot.”
“But your face looks calm.”
“My expression is naturally kind of like this.”
“He’s calling you up to praise you, so straighten your shoulders.”
Knock knock.
After carefully knocking, we entered the CEO’s office.
“Come in.”
The CEO was a middle-aged man with graying hair.
Probably in his fifties?
Come to think of it, I barely knew anything about the company CEO.
“So, you’re Assistant Manager Cha from Administration’s nephew?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Manager Cha brought excellent talent into our company. Both the WISH incident and Hyejin’s issue.”
Oddly enough, once I actually met him face to face, my tension faded instead.
Guess I only panicked because the meeting was so sudden.
“I heard you’re very interested in video production?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I wasn’t asking Team Leader Jo. I asked this young man directly.”
“Apologies. He seemed nervous, so I was speaking on his behalf.”
Jo Woonseok’s tone felt surprisingly casual for someone speaking to the CEO.
I opened my mouth carefully.
“Yes. I’ve become interested in studying video production.”
“I heard from Team Leader Jo that your dream is to become a director.”
“That’s not exactly my final goal.”
“Then what is your final goal?”
“I want to create a lot of high-quality video content… regardless of genre… content that’s both entertaining and meaningful.”
“Ah, so becoming a director is merely part of the process?”
“Yes.”
The CEO slowly nodded.
His eyes were difficult to read.
Probably because he’d spent decades surviving in business.
“Then shouldn’t someone interested in video production join a broadcaster or studio rather than an entertainment agency like ours?”
“I only became interested after joining this company.”
“I see.”
After nodding once more, the CEO handed me a thin white envelope.
Judging by the thickness, it was probably a check.
“This is a bonus reward for resolving Hyejin’s situation successfully. Take it.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Have you heard we’re preparing long-term plans for drama production?”
I briefly met eyes with Team Leader Jo before answering.
“Yes. Team Leader Jo mentioned it.”
“Interested?”
“Very.”
“Good. I’ll remember that.”
As we exited the CEO’s office,
the elevator doors opened ahead of us.
The moment Cha Seoyoon stepped out, I unconsciously held my breath.
‘Wow.’
She really was unbelievably beautiful.
Hwang Hyejin was incredibly pretty too, but maybe because she was still young,
she slightly lacked the femme fatale atmosphere Cha Seoyoon naturally possessed.
Suddenly I remembered the video of her acting in that tight green bodysuit.
I’d deleted it from my computer and email,
but the video app still preserved it safely.
“Team Leader Jo, hello.”
Cha Seoyoon greeted us calmly.
Team Leader Jo Woonseok smiled brightly and responded naturally.
“Here to see the CEO?”
“I had something to discuss.”
“You’ve been showing up at headquarters pretty often lately.”
“That just kind of happened.”
A flat, emotionless voice.
Exactly like Cha Seoyoon’s famous calm and chic charisma.
But in the polar bear video,
she’d shown incredibly bright and cheerful acting.
And hadn’t she filmed all of that alone in front of a green screen with nothing there?
Actors really were actors.
“And who is this?”
“Ah, this is our new employee from Team 3. He solved Hyejin’s defamation issue this time. Even traveled down to the provinces and brought back proof of her innocence.”
“Ah, I heard about that.”
Cha Seoyoon smiled faintly and extended her hand toward me.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Cha Seoyoon.”
“I’m Cha Doyoung.”
“You’ve got an impressive physique. Hyejin must feel very reassured having you around.”
The first celebrity actress’s hand I’d ever held in my life.
Her fingers were long and soft.
And her eyes from up close—
how should I describe them?
They felt incredibly strong and firm.
I remembered hearing she often played calm, resilient female characters.
“Then please head inside. Manager too.”
“Go on in.”
“Please enter.”
The sharp clicking of high heels echoed toward the CEO’s office.
Once the elevator doors closed again, Team Leader Jo Woonseok smirked and nudged my side.
“Fell for her?”
“Huh?”
“You looked completely captivated.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You.”
That startled me.
I didn’t think I’d looked at her that intensely.
“I’m joking. Doyoung, you’re surprisingly easy to trick sometimes.”
“Come on, you scared me.”
My heart hammered wildly because it felt like my true feelings had been exposed.
Because honestly, I had become captivated.
Not romantically—
but by the desire to someday cast Cha Seoyoon in media content I personally created.
I got scared wondering if that desire had shown through my eyes while looking at her.
To outsiders, it could easily seem like I’d fallen for her as a woman.
I finally uploaded Episode 1 of Journey of the Green Star, the animation created from the screenplay I purchased from that aspiring screenwriter.
Every time I refreshed the page, the views and comments kept skyrocketing higher.
It felt amazing.
Unlike the previous uploads, this project received absolutely zero boost from Cha Seoyoon’s brand recognition,
which made it even more satisfying.
└The story’s good, but the animation quality is insane
└The visuals are seriously crazy;;;
└Wait, we’re watching an original animation like this on WeTube? Is society even allowed to become this advanced?
└How is every single frame at poster-quality level?
└How many animators died making this?
The video surpassed one million views almost instantly.
The comments were nothing but praise.
└At this quality level, they should lock it behind paid memberships. Can’t believe they released it free
└WeTube users are seriously winning
└Heard it’s only six episodes total. I’m already scared the animation quality might drop later
Nope.
Episodes 1 through 6 would all maintain identical quality throughout.
Still, even though I was technically the one who ordered the animation to be made—
it really was insanely entertaining.
Just feed in a screenplay and it pops out automatically.
How amazing must the 30th century be to live in?
At this rate, I’ll probably hit 100 million won revenue and clear Tutorial Stage 2 soon.
[Hello.]
Finally.
The CG outsourcing proposal I’d been waiting for.
But once again, it came from my own company, PineTree Entertainment Team 1.
[The previous polar bear conservation campaign collaboration left extremely positive memories for both parties…]
Removing all the unnecessary fluff,
the email basically said they were deeply satisfied with the previous results and wanted to collaborate on an important project.
[Our artist actress Cha Seoyoon will be filming an underwater commercial. However, due to concerns about her swimming abilities, we eventually decided to contact your company regarding possible CG support.]
They needed underwater acting,
but Cha Seoyoon couldn’t swim properly.
So they wanted to know exactly how much could be handled through CG.
I sent back a single-sentence reply wrapped in excessive polite formalities.
—The artist won’t need to get even a single drop of water on her.