Chapter 26
Chapter 26
“You’re Saying I Rejected It? When?”
Just a few days ago.
Even now, thinking back to the day I secured confirmation from PD Son still gave me chills.
—You should tell Hyejin personally, Doyoung-ssi.
—Huh? You still haven’t told her yet?
—You handled every single part of this from start to finish yourself. How could I steal that opportunity away from you? Tell her yourself and receive her gratitude too.
Come to think of it, Hwang Hyejin must’ve been desperately worried the drama might collapse completely.
—Come on, things like this should be delivered as quickly as possible so she can relax. I’m calling her right now.
She must’ve been clutching her phone waiting anxiously the whole time.
She answered before the second ring even finished.
—Hello? Doyoung oppa?
—The drama isn’t collapsing. Everything worked out perfectly. You can relax now.
What?
Why is it so quiet? Why isn’t she saying anything?
I even checked the signal bars wondering if the call quality had broken—
then suddenly an ear-splitting scream exploded through the phone.
—Waaahhh! Waaah! Really? You’re not joking right now, oppa? If you’re joking, I’m seriously going to die!
Not a scream.
A cheer.
—Yeah. Everything worked out, all the obstacles disappeared, and the drama’s airing on schedule. So stop worrying and focus on practicing the script properly.
—You think I’m in the mood for script practice right now? I’m at headquarters, so hurry over! Come explain what happened!
“Oppa, tell me that story again.”
“…If I tell it one more time, this’ll be the fourth repeat. You know that, right?”
“I still want to hear it again. Every time I hear it, dopamine starts exploding.”
“I really don’t know how I ended up becoming your dopamine stimulation receptor.”
Whenever she found even the tiniest opportunity, Hwang Hyejin wanted to hear that day’s story again and again.
I thought she only liked talking,
but apparently she liked listening to other people’s stories even more.
And after hearing everything, she always asked:
“But exactly how close are you with 30THC, Doyoung oppa?”
“I’m pretty close with a friend who works there managing data. But I’d rather not talk too deeply about them.”
“Oppa, oppa. I subscribed to 30THC’s WeTube channel and even bought the membership too. Want to see?”
“Seriously?”
My first real-life membership subscriber being Hyejin of all people.
And she really had joined the membership and watched every single video.
“Journey of the Green Star was way too fun. There was no way I couldn’t pay for it.”
“That one really is good. I enjoyed it a lot too.”
“But the CG outsourcing fees here must be insanely expensive. Is that really okay?”
“I told you already. They agreed to take Jo Siyeon’s appearance fee instead.”
Hwang Hyejin burst into laughter and casually smacked my shoulder repeatedly.
It didn’t hurt.
Honestly, it was kind of cute.
Suddenly I remembered how she’d practically jumped into my arms after I finished telling her the whole adventure story and finally nailed things down with:
“From now on, you’re Han Yuna.”
Thank goodness we were inside company headquarters with the whole team around.
If she’d done that outside and someone snapped a picture, things could’ve become dangerous.
“Anyway, now you’re not just the younger version anymore—you’re the real female lead. So analyze the script even more thoroughly.”
“Okay. But oppa, how long do I have to keep this secret?”
Hwang Hyejin was dying to tell everyone she’d completely taken over Jo Siyeon’s role too.
Team Leader Jo Woonseok had ordered her to keep it secret even from family for now,
and surprisingly, she’d obeyed perfectly so far.
“We took some damage early because of the drug scandal situation, right? PD-nim’s probably trying to gather hype before revealing things properly as compensation for that. So don’t tell anyone until then.”
“Ah, I really want to tell Mom and Dad already. That I became the female lead of Winter Castle.”
“But you’re not nervous at all?”
“Should I be?”
The way she stared at me with sparkling eyes as though she genuinely didn’t understand—
seriously pretty.
But why did the savage expression from her middle-school-first-year days pop into my head again right at that moment?
Please get out of my memory already.
Bzzzzzt.
[Caller: Team Leader Jo Woonseok]
“Yes, Team Leader. I’m in the company lobby with Hyejin right now.”
—You can come up now.
“Understood. Hyejin, let’s go.”
“Wait a second. Let me finish this first.”
Hwang Hyejin diligently crunched through even the remaining ice cubes in her coffee before standing up.
I slung my camera bag over my shoulder like always.
The elevator doors opened.
I absentmindedly stepped forward—
then froze.
Cha Seoyoon.
Cha Seoyoon was already inside the elevator.
“…Hello.”
“Hello, sunbaenim.”
I immediately bowed my head, and Hwang Hyejin politely followed after me.
Cha Seoyoon glanced at us with a gaze drenched in boredom before speaking.
“So you’re Hyejin? The one playing Jo Siyeon sunbae’s younger version.”
“Yes. I’m Hwang Hyejin. Please take care of me.”
“Think of it as bad luck already paid off.”
“Understood, sunbaenim.”
Cha Seoyoon didn’t seem very interested in Winter Castle’s internal situation.
Just a short, formal encouragement given to a junior from the same company.
Yet somehow, she still carried overwhelming presence.
The kind of atmosphere that made it hard to look away.
‘What’s happening with the Na○ki commercial?’
It’d already been several days since I said she wouldn’t need to get even a drop of water on her,
yet nothing seemed to be progressing.
Running into Cha Seoyoon in this situation made me strangely tense.
I desperately wanted to bombard her with questions about the Na○ki commercial—
but to Cha Seoyoon, I was simply Employee #1 from the company.
Someone not even worth remembering.
【Playing demo video Cha Seoyoon_Na○ki_001.】
【Playing demo video Cha Seoyoon_Na○ki_002.】
【Playing demo video Cha Seoyoon….】
I clicked the future app and generated endless demo videos.
Mixing all kinds of flashy direction styles capable of imprinting the Na○ki brand into viewers’ minds while maximizing Cha Seoyoon’s charm.
At this point, I’d advanced beyond merely imagining vague ideas.
Now I could concretely visualize:
‘I want to see scenery with this kind of feeling.’
And the videos the future app created gained far more vivid life because of it.
At this point, I had dozens of Na○ki commercial demo videos modeled after Cha Seoyoon.
But in every single one of them—
Cha Seoyoon herself was missing.
Only a green mannequin imitating her body shape moved in her place.
That empty space needed to be filled by Cha Seoyoon herself.
Or at least through portrait-rights permission.
“Oppa. Oppa.”
“…Hm?”
A poke into my side snapped me back to reality.
Hwang Hyejin looked at me carefully as though checking someone else’s reaction.
‘Ah.’
Only then did I realize I’d been staring fixedly at Cha Seoyoon’s profile.
Cha Seoyoon herself had noticed too and was now quietly watching me after slightly turning her face.
“Sorry. I’m just such a huge fan that meeting you unexpectedly made me lose focus for a moment.”
Cha Seoyoon suddenly laughed softly and pressed the open-door button to stop the elevator from closing.
“You should get out. I’m holding it.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I only meant to glance briefly at her face—
but I ended up completely absorbed in the Cha Seoyoon demo videos instead.
As we walked side by side down the hallway, Hwang Hyejin suddenly asked:
“You were a fan of Cha Seoyoon sunbaenim?”
“Hm? Ah, I enjoyed her works a lot. I probably rewatched over three times.”
“That’s basically hardcore fan level, isn’t it?”
“Come on, not that much.”
More like a popular star I casually liked as one member of the public?
She was practically the top Hallyu star among young actresses.
At least among men, I’d never seen anyone who actively disliked her.
“If you’re such a fan of Cha Seoyoon sunbaenim, then why aren’t you in Team 1 instead?”
Maybe because she was still young,
but she definitely had a subtle streak of jealousy and possessiveness about things like this.
“In situations like that, saying you stared because you’re a fan is less rude, don’t you think? And it doesn’t make Cha Seoyoon feel bad either.”
“But if you rewatched one of her dramas more than three times, that seriously does make you a real fan.”
“My mother gets lonely watching dramas alone, so I watched it together with her.”
Hwang Hyejin stayed quiet briefly before speaking again.
“You stared so intensely earlier that I got kind of embarrassed and nervous.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah. You seriously looked like someone who suddenly ran into their first love again after years apart.”
“…That’s going too far.”
“But that’s genuinely how it looked.”
It wasn’t really Cha Seoyoon I was staring at.
I’d simply become absorbed imagining what kind of image would emerge once her acting combined with the demo videos.
But from the outside, I guess it could definitely look that way.
I should probably be more careful.
Especially around other people.
“Don’t worry, Hyejin. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What are you talking about? I wasn’t worried.”
“You were worried your highly effective human totem might drift off somewhere else.”
“I was not.”
“Then that’s good. I almost thought you were getting jealous. Kids usually feel that kind of possessive anxiety toward their guardian figures.”
“I’m not a kid.”
Just like that, the cheerful atmosphere returned naturally.
Soon we arrived before the division director’s office.
Right before I knocked, Hwang Hyejin suddenly asked:
“Then how many times are you going to rewatch Winter Castle?”
“Four times. I’ll drag my mother over and proudly introduce her to the Han Yuna I personally cast.”
Watching her grin brightly in satisfaction,
yeah—
she really was the type who hated losing people close to her.
Now I understood why they’d called both of us together.
The division director praised me directly in front of Hwang Hyejin.
Honestly, it became embarrassing enough that I wanted to crawl somewhere and hide.
“…So Hyejin, you just keep trusting Director Cha Doyoung and follow him forward. Understood?”
“Yes, understood, Director.”
Wait a second.
What did he just call me?
The division director noticed my expression and smirked.
“I’m not someone who cares about rank, years served, or seniority. If someone accomplishes something major, they deserve rewards matching their contribution. That’s how companies run smoothly, isn’t that right, Director Cha?”
“…Thank you.”
Honestly, calling this a bold promotion almost felt insufficient.
It was that extreme.
“Hyejin, head back to the team office first. I’ll follow shortly.”
“Yes.”
Jo Woonseok sent Hwang Hyejin out first.
Guess the real conversation was starting now.
The division director’s expression changed while looking at me.
Far more stern and serious than before—
but still favorable.
“Director Cha. I heard you’re close with Studio 30THC?”
“…An acquaintance works at their domestic office.”
“I heard they rejected Seoyoon’s Na○ki commercial outsourcing request. Would it be possible to learn the detailed reason why?”
What kind of nonsense is this?
Since when did I reject it?
Team 1 were the ones dragging things out endlessly.