The Casting God
It wasn't a laugh meant to provoke Joo Young-hoon.
No ulterior motive at all.
It was just genuinely funny.
And at the same time, a completely random memory popped into his head.
"Hyun-woo, you're a casting god."
"Actors are stubborn as hell, success or failure aside."
"You think it's easy to turn their minds around in just a few minutes?"
When was that?
Oh, right—So Jeong-hoon.
Words he'd heard when he and Chae Seo-hee went to cast So Jeong-hoon.
Back then, it had felt a bit odd.
The stage was already set; all he'd done was place the actor on it.
So he'd thought, 'Anyone could do that—why the awe?'
But now, watching Joo Young-hoon's eyes brimming with utter conviction, it clicked.
These people don't understand actors.
They pick good projects, do solid work, cast well enough...
But they don't grasp what artists truly crave.
Of course, he wasn't claiming to be some artist himself.
Gongbeomche had that vibe, sure, but At Your Fingertips was straight-up commercial drama, no matter what anyone said.
Still, even in commercial drama, you're creating a whole world.
If capital and systems alone could do it, the conglomerates would have swallowed the industry whole by now.
"Are you insane?"
"Sorry. It just hit me as hilarious."
He meant it sincerely, but Joo Young-hoon's face twisted in fury.
"Team leader, you really don't know actors."
A gasp rippled through the onlookers, but the line had already been crossed.
Joo Young-hoon had crossed it first.
He'd known it would come to this since turning down the offer to stay in Team 3, but it was sooner than expected.
"I guarantee it—Kim Ra-un won't touch that. Even if he skips our project."
"You little...!"
"Senior Joo Young-hoon, don't forget what you said earlier. It applies both ways."
"Hey! Stand right there!"
"I'll be heading out."
He bowed and turned away.
After three steps or so, he remembered something he needed to say and spun back around.
"Oh, and I almost forgot."
It wasn't necessary.
No evidence to back it up.
But saying it felt like it would push them to give their all.
Without a moment's complacency.
"Our project will crush theirs."
He stepped out of Team 3.
Until he'd gone to see Joo Young-hoon, his mood had been the absolute worst.
Angry, pride wounded, utterly humiliated.
But now his head was clear.
He knew the path ahead as a CE.
He pressed the elevator button and made a call.
It connected right away.
"Kim Ra-un, let's do a read-through."
"...A read-through?"
"Yeah. I'll give you what you want."
The air felt dry and dusty.
Empty water bottles from who-knows-when littered the floor, and his head throbbed like it was on fire.
Yet he couldn't tear his eyes from Kim Ra-un.
It was Kim Ra-un's house, his sofa, his space.
But sitting across from him was Park Seong-hwa.
This wasn't just his imagination.
Kim Ra-un, clutching the script, couldn't escape Park Seong-hwa either.
"......"
That was why he'd laughed hearing Joo Young-hoon's nonsense.
What had he said? That the flopped Kim Ra-un would want Director Ko?
Ridiculous.
Actors don't think that way.
They hurl themselves into new worlds, shatter and reassemble themselves.
He wasn't about to call it the world's hardest job.
Physically, it might be one of the easiest.
But waking up one day realizing you're playing "Do Hyun-woo"—that vast, isolating vertigo on an endless sea.
No one can soothe that.
So for Kim Ra-un, standing on borrowed strength must be worse than death.
Conversely, what he craved most was rising on his own acting alone.
As he watched Kim Ra-un slowly shed Park Seong-hwa, he spoke.
"You get it now, right? How perfectly you fit Park Seong-hwa."
"Yeah. It's been... forever since it felt like this."
"You said you couldn't take my hand. But I'm not asking you to. Stand on your own power."
"......"
"Spend enough time together, and you learn things. About Jae-hyeok hyung, Jae-yeon, and you—what you fear most, what you love best."
Kim Ra-un's greatest fear was failure.
But...
"Honestly, I just can't see you failing."
Kim Ra-un's eyelids trembled faintly.
"Not cursing you. Everyone fails in life at some point."
Only then did Kim Ra-un's gaze lift.
He pictured it.
Kim Ra-un failing—what would his face look like?
The answer was simple.
"Probably like that right now."
Park Seong-hwa's face.
That was why he desperately wanted Kim Ra-un.
Yeom Jae-moon, Park Seong-hwa, Kim Ra-un—they resembled each other uncannily.
Yeom had failed, Park denied it, Kim hadn't faced it yet. That was the only difference.
"That's why I thought you'd be perfect as Park Seong-hwa."
"Like a dress rehearsal?"
"No. To show you it's no big deal."
Kim Ra-un let out a chuckle.
"So basically, you want me because I just flopped?"
"7% ratings a flop? Then my eight years were a total failure."
"Yeah, can't argue that."
They exchanged smiles—how long had it been?—when Kim Ra-un asked.
"But if I'm cast, won't people freak out?"
"Let them. I made the call—what can they do?"
"Seo Jae-yeon will flip too."
"Seo Jae-yeon? Why her?"
"Didn't you say you'd use her in your next project?"
"Me?"
He'd never said that.
He'd said he'd watch if she faded into has-been territory.
"But you said reject if no answer, right? I couldn't contact you 'cause I didn't know it."
"For real?"
"Yeah."
Looking at Kim Ra-un's cleared face, he said,
"Lies, dummy."
Yoon CEO's demeanor was off today.
His ever-smiling lips were pressed tight, his bright eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses.
But he wasn't tense.
This was best for D.P too, he believed.
After silently scanning the proposal for a while, the CEO removed his glasses and spoke.
"Hyun-woo."
"Yes."
"Me liking you and okaying Ra-un's contract are totally separate. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Ra-un's next gig is huge. We rushed to lock one in, but we wanted something safe."
"Even if Ra-un wants this?"
"Yeah. We have to protect our actor's value—persuade or force it."
"But CEO, that's exactly why Kim Ra-un should do our project."
"Go on."
He laid out his prepared pitch.
"Frankly, it's weird to trash an actor of Ra-un's caliber over one flop."
"You caused the flop and you're awfully cocky about it."
"Heh heh... that work?"
Anyone else, he'd blame Oh Ji-tae PD, but not with Yoon CEO.
"Heh heh and keep going."
"I think Ra-un was miscast as a star from the start. He should've grown as an actor. His skill alone would've sufficed."
"Hm..."
"Now that the 'idol' wrapper's peeled off, this might be his last shot. No more fixes after."
Yoon CEO's eyes narrowed.
Five seconds, ten.
The steady tap of glasses on desk, then his tone shifted.
"Hyun-woo."
"Yes?"
"Wanna join our company?"
"Out of nowhere?"
"Ents are building in-house studios now. We've got cash piled up, no idol plans... Studio it is."
"Can I be honest?"
"Of course. When have we not? If it weren't you, we'd drag the meeting two weeks. The desperate one buys time with money."
Scary stuff.
"So, honestly?"
"Honestly, D.P in about three years."
"Hate starting from scratch?"
"More like, can I even crawl yet? I'm still a toddling assistant CE."
Joining D.P meant a world apart from heading Team 4.
"Fine. Three years from now?"
"Just thinking about it, just thinking."
"Weakling. Starting to take after Seong-tae?"
"Take that back."
After the brief joke, Yoon CEO nodded.
"Alright, good. Jang's approach never sat right anyway. Last chance? Agreed."
"Thank you."
"But conditions."
He'd expected that.
Please not too harsh.
"Shoot."
"Fun fact first?"
"Fun fact?"
"Why that bonehead Joo Young-hoon messed with your actors?"
Obvious, right?
Revenge for his rejection, hatred for Seong-tae hyung.
But Yoon CEO shook his head.
"Smallest reason."
"Huh?"
"You wouldn't get it, but directors dig holes when a project flops. Especially older ones."
He rocked in his chair.
"Am I outdated? Eyes gone bad? Lost my script sense? No, it's me!! Endless loop."
"......"
"He tanked Geoseong Bakery. You hit jackpot with a script he couldn't touch."
"Yes."
"He wants your eye. The emotional act? Just pride cover. Whispers of 'Joo coveting Do's actors' would embarrass him."
"Ah...!"
He hadn't considered that.
But it tracked.
Even he'd thought it odd—risking his own casting just to hit his project.
"Get it?"
"Totally. So your proposal?"
"Roles Joo kills, we get priority review with our actors. No forcing. But it's you—we can't slack."
He got it instantly.
"Deal?"
Joo Young-hoon kicked open Team 4's meeting room door.
As Do Hyun-woo rose leisurely from his chat with Chae Seo-hee and Yoon Hyun-sol, the shout exploded.
"Are you crazy? You really wanna go there?!"
Do Hyun-woo beamed.
"The world doesn't revolve around Team Leader's casting eye alone."