Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Without Letting a Single Drop of Water Touch Her (2)
PineTree Entertainment.
CEO Office.
A cold atmosphere flowed between Cha Seoyoon and the CEO.
“Seoyoon, I’m doing all this because I want you to succeed.”
“You know I can’t swim.”
Cha Seoyoon crossed her arms and answered calmly while staring straight at him.
The CEO accepted her gaze without flinching.
“I’m not telling you to swim. You’d only need to go into the water briefly.”
“I hate getting water on my face. I hate wet hair sticking to me, and I hate other people seeing me like that too.”
“It’s not like anyone’s asking you to wear a swimsuit.”
“I’d rather shoot a bikini photobook.”
“Then should we make you shoot one?”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course not. Why would I personally damage the brand value of our top star?”
The CEO intertwined his fingers and looked at her with a softer expression.
“This is a Na○ki commercial. Does it really make sense to reject it just because you can’t swim and don’t want people seeing your wet hair?”
“I’m telling you, I seriously can’t swim.”
“You don’t need to swim. Are you worried about an accident? There’s absolutely no need. Top professionals will be right beside you handling everything.”
“…”
Cha Seoyoon said nothing.
She only stared silently at the CEO.
And the CEO waited quietly instead of rushing her for an answer.
“…You really don’t listen to what I’m saying, do you?”
“I always listen. My ears are always open. But rejecting a Na○ki commercial just because you can’t swim? If other celebrities heard this, they’d tie me up instead of you.”
“Why would they tie you up?”
“Because they’d say I should’ve persuaded my artist properly and secured that incredible opportunity instead of backing off weakly.”
Cha Seoyoon suddenly let out a small laugh.
A smile appeared on the CEO’s face too.
But moments later, Cha Seoyoon erased her smile completely and spoke.
“I’m sorry. I still can’t do it.”
The smile disappeared from the CEO’s face again.
“What exactly is the problem? Are you upset with the company about something?”
“It’s not that. I really can’t swim, and I’m scared of water.”
“It’s just a swimming pool. The water isn’t even deep enough to cover you standing.”
“I’m sorry.”
Cha Seoyoon stood up as though she had nothing left to say.
The CEO shrugged and escorted her personally to the elevator.
“If you change your mind, contact me. But you have to decide within three days. Na○ki won’t wait forever.”
“My mind won’t change, so forgetting about it would save you calories.”
After returning to his desk, the CEO frowned deeply and sank into thought.
Knock knock.
The door opened, and Team 1 Leader Park Sejin entered.
The manager who had personally discovered Cha Seoyoon and turned her into a star.
“Team Leader Park, what exactly is Seoyoon’s issue?”
“She really can’t swim, and she hates going into water.”
“But rejecting a Na○ki commercial over that? Does that seriously make sense?”
“…”
“If she appears in this even once, her face goes global. Do you know how rare opportunities like this are?”
“They probably won’t come again.”
The commercial offer itself was already a miracle.
A high-ranking executive from American Na○ki had watched the polar bear conservation campaign video and become completely captivated by actress Cha Seoyoon.
The commercial concept involved Cha Seoyoon joyfully swimming alongside a polar bear in the icy Arctic Ocean.
Naturally, she’d need to wear a swimsuit with a subtle Na○ki logo.
“Does Seoyoon maybe have some kind of water trauma?”
“I don’t think it’s that. I think she just hates the idea of panicking and flailing around helplessly in water because she can’t swim.”
“Hm. Seoyoon does have strong pride.”
“Yes. She absolutely hates showing any side of herself that feels less than elegant.”
“Still, this opportunity is far too precious to lose. Try persuading her somehow.”
“CEO, there’s actually something I wanted to tell you.”
Only then did the CEO notice the subtle expression on Team Leader Park Sejin’s face.
“That’s not the face of someone who came empty-handed.”
“I had a conversation with 30THC.”
“The company behind the polar bear video?”
“Yes. I explained that Seoyoon had received an underwater commercial offer but couldn’t swim, and they immediately responded very clearly. They said, ‘We’ll make sure not a single drop of water touches her.’”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. They didn’t even ask what the commercial concept was. The moment they heard ‘underwater commercial,’ they answered confidently like that.”
“Wasn’t the polar bear video similar?”
“Exactly. They said they’d replace Seoyoon’s acting movements with a female mannequin model, and if we just filmed her acting separately and sent it over, they’d handle all compositing themselves.”
“And the results were excellent.”
“Yes. Honestly speaking, their CG quality is probably the best in the world. If they say she won’t need to get even a drop of water on her, then that’s exactly what they mean.”
“But is that even possible? To portray wet hair realistically, Seoyoon would still need to get soaked at least once during filming.”
“That’s why we arranged a video meeting.”
The car slides into a reservoir.
In the back seat, a little girl sleeps alone while still buckled into her seatbelt.
Slowly, the car sinks beneath the water.
Inside the vehicle where the girl remains alone,
the water gradually rises.
Only after it reaches her chest does the girl finally wake up.
She screams desperately and thrashes wildly—
but eventually the water swallows even her face.
Instead of screams, her lungs fill with water.
“Ghk! Hhk! Hnnngh…!”
Cha Seoyoon jolted awake with a scream.
Like someone who had actually drowned, her entire body was drenched in sweat.
Wrapping both arms tightly around herself, she bent forward and breathed rapidly over and over.
In one minute, the video call with PineTree Team 1 Leader Park Sejin would begin.
Honestly, it felt slightly awkward holding a business meeting with another department head from my own company.
They couldn’t see my real appearance.
While I personally spoke through the camera,
the video app would generate a completely different appearance and voice in real time.
The persona I created was:
a Korean man in his late forties with completely white hair.
An image that instantly screamed “veteran CG professional expert” at first glance.
The time arrived.
“Hello. I’m Henri Kim, Technical Director of 30THC.”
—This is Park Sejin, Team Leader of PineTree Entertainment Team 1. Nice to meet you.
I chose the name casually—common and ordinary.
As expected, Park Sejin showed absolutely no suspicion toward my disguise.
—You said she wouldn’t need to get even a single drop of water on her while filming an underwater commercial. Is that truly possible?
“Yes. If desired, we can absolutely do that.”
—But to portray wet hair realistically…
“She won’t need to get wet at all. We’ll handle everything entirely through CG.”
“…”
Park Sejin seemed deep in thought.
Honestly, other CG companies could technically do it too.
The difference was simply time and money.
And Park Sejin clearly understood that.
—Then how much would this cost…?
“Roughly fifty million won per second. It shouldn’t exceed that amount.”
Park Sejin’s expression brightened instantly.
—And the quality level?
“We never compromise on CG quality. We’ll deliver results beyond even the polar bear campaign video.”
—Do you mean the version uploaded on our company homepage, or the version uploaded on 30THC’s channel?
Ah, right.
The version uploaded to my WeTube channel included the spaceship sequence and far more extravagant CG.
“Well, we can match the quality from our channel upload too. But in that case, the price would need to increase to sixty million won per second.”
—Then we’d welcome that very much. Please take good care of this project.
We exchanged contracts through electronic documents immediately.
Only after signing did Park Sejin finally reveal the project details.
—It’s a Na○ki commercial.
“I see.”
—…You don’t seem very surprised.
Should I be?
Ah. Right. I should.
Na○ki was basically the emperor of sports brands.
But from my perspective, it was such an everyday familiar brand I constantly stepped on like air itself that my reaction became more like “Okay, and?”
“If you send us the detailed commercial concept, we’ll create black-and-white animated storyboard footage based on it.
After exchanging feedback, we can finalize the movement directions.”
—Understood.
CG outsourcing really was convenient.
No need to meet offline at all.
Everything could be decided through email and video meetings.
Winter Castle filming set.
Just like the saying “after rain, the ground hardens,”
after surviving one major disaster, every schedule began flowing smoothly.
Filming progressed without even a single rainstorm causing trouble.
The actors and staff jokingly said Hwang Hyejin must’ve sacrificed herself early on and chased away all bad luck from the production.
Additionally, Hwang Hyejin was young, beautiful, humble, kind, and worked harder than anyone else.
So far, she hadn’t made a single NG mistake and had received OK signs in one take every time.
Today again, PD Son Jingu smiled warmly while watching Hwang Hyejin bury herself into the script as if trying to chew through it.
‘That young girl really works unbelievably hard. She’s got incredible potential.’
Thinking he should at least compliment her once, PD Son approached—
then suddenly froze.
Several sketch pages lay beside Hwang Hyejin’s script.
And the scenery glimpsed at first glance strangely captivated him.
“Ah, PD.”
“Mm? Analyzing the script again?”
“Yes. Han Yuna’s psychology feels difficult no matter how deeply I study it.”
“Keep working hard. But… could I maybe take a look at these drawings for a moment?”
“Huh? Ah, yes. Of course.”
PD Son picked up the sketchbook and began flipping through the pages.
The speed at which he turned the pages gradually slowed down.
At the same time, his eyes moved faster and faster across the sketches.
“Hyejin. Who drew these?”