The Manager's Time (1) — Feeling Like I've Become a Host
"Would you like to see it right now, Writer? Our actress seems ready."
The scene we'd prepared for this audition was the jealous outburst of the second female lead, furious at the sight of the male and female leads together. With the way her eyes were blazing right now, I was sure she could tear through that emotional beat without breaking a sweat.
But as if she'd read my mind, Writer Kim Hye-kyeong had other ideas.
"Oh my, is that so? Still, I'd really love to see Kim Yumi's confession scene… You don't mind, do you?"
She smiled sweetly as she tossed out the challenge.
As expected of Kim Hye-kyeong… Even if she's still a rookie, she's no pushover.
No matter how green she was, no matter how cornered her situation, Kim Hye-kyeong was still Kim Hye-kyeong. She had just ordered a confession scene full of quiet heartbreak from an actress currently seething with unreadable rage.
If she calculated that, she's sharp. If it was pure instinct, she's terrifying.
She wanted to test Kim Si-a's range—how far the actress could control her emotions and still deliver. Looking at the writer's bright, smiling profile, I felt like I was catching a glimpse of the woman she would one day become.
Ha… No choice, then. But can Si-a noona pull this off…?
This was no longer territory I could manage for her. The baton had passed into the pure domain of an actor's craft.
"Hehe… Shall we? I really love that scene."
As if all my worries had been nothing but empty fretting, Actress Kim Si-a was already wearing a sunny smile. Writer Kim Hye-kyeong stared at her with open surprise.
Hmm. Look at her… She's pretty good at pulling her emotions back together.
It was impressive. Only moments ago her eyes had burned like she wanted to devour someone whole—and now she was smiling as brightly as a puppy wagging its tail. I was starting to think I needed to revise my assessment of Kim Si-a a little.
"You seem confident. Then… may I see it right now?"
With those words, Writer Kim casually slid the script aside. By clearing it away, she was asking a silent question: If you love the scene that much, you've obviously memorized it, right?
"Of course! I told you, I really love that scene."
And yet Kim Si-a didn't flinch at all. Something unmistakably professional radiated from her attitude.
Was I worrying for nothing…? Damn, our noona looks cool.
She had never looked more self-assured.
Don't worry. Minhyuk is right here beside me…
I hadn't realized it, but just having me next to her was enough to give her a deep sense of security. Once the anxiety left her, she had no reason to blank on her lines and no reason to be afraid of performing.
It's easy, right? I just have to say the things I've always wanted to say.
All she had to do was look at the man she loved and pour out every word she'd been holding back—through the mouth of the role called Kim Yumi.
"Then… I'll begin."
With that, I started rolling, framing her in the camera. She lifted her gaze toward the lens, her eyes already touched with a quiet desolation.
"Am I… really not enough…?"
Just one line. Nothing more than a single question asking whether she was someone who simply couldn't make it—and yet my chest felt like it was splitting open.
"Mm…!"
Writer Kim must have felt the same thing. Her eyes flew wide as if they might tear at the corners.
"You can't… think it over just one more time…?"
Her face looked unbearably sad. The words came out soft and tangled, half-swallowed, half-spoken—and a single tear slid down her cheek. It was the face of a woman of her standing, pride completely set aside, asking if he couldn't please reconsider just once.
As I held her in the frame, I thought,
I've felt this since way back… That face of hers is genuinely persuasive.
Whatever role she wore, her features somehow made you believe it. That wasn't simply a matter of being pretty—it meant she could slip into a character's skin and wear the mask completely.
"…Sorry. I looked pretty pathetic just now, huh…?"
As if she wanted to look as cool as possible in front of him, she wiped her tears, forced the sobs down, and managed a smile. That trembling voice of hers sent a slow chill prickling over my skin.
"But… I just can't hold it in anymore. Can you really not love me…?"
The bright smile she'd been holding with a shaking chin collapsed into pure grief.
"Love me… Please, just love only me… Hwaaang…"
In the end she threw away every scrap of a chaebol daughter's pride, clung to him, and broke down crying like a child. She looked so wretchedly heartbroken that Writer Kim Hye-kyeong pulled out a handkerchief and started dabbing at her own eyes—and I had to fight down the urge to reach out and comfort her myself.
After sobbing for a long while, Si-a seemed to come back to herself. She dipped her head in a small bow.
"That's all… hic… hic…"
Still gathering the emotions that hadn't quite settled, Kim Si-a went and sat down beside Writer Kim—who immediately seized both of her hands.
"Thank you… Thank you so much for loving our Yumi."
The warmth in the writer's eyes as she looked at Si-a made me want to whoop out loud. I kept filming the two of them, quietly pleased.
"Not at all, Writer. I'm the one who should thank you for giving me such a wonderful role."
"I'm seriously going to become Kim Si-a's fan… And this time I'm not lying…"
The audition wrapped with the two of them embracing.
Well then… From here on out, it's the manager's time, isn't it?
That's right. Now came the real manager's hour. As that long-awaited moment finally arrived, a razor-edged smile began to spread across my lips.
The days after the audition were genuinely hectic. Courtesy visits around the broadcasting station, checking the shooting schedule, locking down the contracts—with Si-a noona as the final piece, casting was complete, and principal photography was set to start as early as next week. Meanwhile I threw myself into the plans I'd been turning over in my head, moving at a near-frantic pace.
"Min-seok. Don't upload Si-a noona's audition video yet. Hold it."
"What…? You can't do that! If we drop this, it's definitely going to blow up—so why…!"
"I know that, you idiot. That's exactly why we age it properly and drop it when the timing is right."
He puffed out his cheeks at my cryptic answer, but we still couldn't post the video yet.
If the drama doesn't generate buzz on its own, you've got to pull aggro somehow…
"But Chief… was Actress Kim Si-a really at this level?"
"Why? That good? Well, even I have to admit our noona's pretty damn pretty."
Min-seok gave me a long, flat look, as if to ask what kind of nonsense I was spouting.
"No… that's not what I meant. While I was editing this, I seriously couldn't stop crying. I completely reevaluated Actress Kim Si-a."
"Ah… so that's what you meant."
Fair enough. I'd seen noona's outstanding performances more than once in my previous life, but to this kid she had just been another decent-looking actress with a strong face card.
"I don't know for sure, but once this goes up, it's going to cause a riot."
He wasn't wrong. With Min-seok's editing layered on top, her performance alone looked more than capable of drawing serious attention.
Still, when it comes to aggro, nothing beats noise marketing, right?
Manufacture a controversy, hand Kim Si-a the underdog position, then let her smash straight through the noise with pure acting ability. The card I'd chosen this time was noise marketing.
And we should hurry up and make their worst day even worse, shouldn't we~?
Honestly, this side of things was way more fun. Watching the other side collapse was several times more entertaining than watching our side succeed.
"Anyway, Min-seok. Upload it when I give the signal. I'm heading out for a bit."
"Chief, where are you going?! What about dinner…"
"Ah~ I'm just going to meet Reporter Lee Ji-yeon from Dongin Ilbo for a bit. You and Min-gu eat together~"
"W-with Min-gu…?"
"Yeah. You two aren't that close anyway. Take the chance and get friendlier~ I'm out!"
A private dinner for two with Min-gu. The moment he heard that, Min-seok's face went paper-white, like a man who'd just overheard something he never wanted to know. Min-gu, on the other hand, broke into a full, beaming smile—apparently looking forward to a meal with the still-distant Min-seok.
Th-thank god I was born before Min-gu…
Having peeled even Min-gu—who usually stuck to my side—off my hip, I arrived at the place where she and I had first met: that cheap motel. I still didn't understand why she liked this place so much, with its stale, faintly indecent smell hanging in the air. But whenever we met, we always made the appointment at a dive like this.
I opened the door—and the sound of a running shower spilled out.
"What are you doing~? Aren't you coming in…"
Her sticky voice drifted from the bathroom.
Ha… This is straight-up body lobbying.
It was a strangely complicated feeling—like I'd turned into a male escort just to get an article commissioned. Then again, it wasn't exactly wrong, so I grumbled under my breath even as I stripped and stepped into the shower.
"You're early, noona."
"Mm~ I like getting here first and waiting…"
Maybe she got the same thrill a guy feels when he pulls a call-girl gacha. Judging by the way she always paid afterward whenever we slept together, it was entirely possible. That was the final kink for her, or so she claimed. Apparently devouring me the way you'd devour a host was what got this noona so worked up…
"What are you doing~? Aren't you coming in…"
Fine. Let's do this. Do it! I came all the way here—what's the point of clinging to pride now.
It stung a little, feeling like I'd become a kept man. But I had favors to ask of her anyway, so I decided that today I would give her proper service.
"Noona… just a second."
I lathered foam thickly over my whole body, stepped in behind her, and started working every inch of her like I was gliding over her skin—starting with her knotted shoulders, then the firm upper curve of her chest. And her already slick sex I treated with special care, slowly stroking and teasing as I rubbed my fully hard cock against her in lazy, deliberate passes.
"Haa… That's good… Where did you learn something like this~?"
"Haha. Good question… Where did I learn something like this…"
I couldn't exactly say I'd picked it up bouncing between all kinds of establishments in my younger days, so I laughed it off and gently bit her earlobe—determined to leave her unable to think of anything at all, trapped in nothing but the pleasure of my body and my cock.