Chapter 98
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Actor Jin Sun-hu
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“The contract is done. Let’s do our best going forward, Jin Sun-hu.”
“Thank you. I’ll put everything into making this drama a success.”
The meeting room held Mom, the director, agency staff, and network executives.
I’d thought passing the audition meant diving straight into filming, but an unexpected contract process was waiting for me.
“Sun-hu. Are you really okay joining the same agency as Mom? You don’t need to come to a place like this just because of me.”
“Shin-hye... Anyone hearing that would think we’re locking you into a slave contract.”
The president of Mom’s agency, J-up Entertainment, spoke with clear disbelief.
He’d been called in on short notice without any prior heads-up and offered incredibly generous terms, so of course he’d be baffled at being dismissed as ‘a place like this.’
The J-up contract could be summed up in one phrase: ‘unprecedentedly generous treatment for a rookie.’
As the son of their top actress, there was naturally some halo effect at play.
I’d figured Mom had handled everything and wasn’t even planning to read the contract, but skipping it entirely could lead to legal headaches, so I gave it a once-over.
They even handled the drama appearance contract on the spot.
And just like that, I wrapped up both the agency signing and the drama contract in one go.
On top of Mom, J-up also represented actress Hwang Su-ah.
Come to think of it, this drama featured three J-up actors in lead roles.
“President Jeong? Our Sun-hu’s going to become Korea’s top actor someday, so this contract might as well be slavery.”
“Yes, yes. We’ll take good care of him.”
Setting Mom’s faith aside, I hadn’t shown anything yet, so her words just sounded like the ravings of a blindly doting parent.
I had to prove her judgment right by doing even better.
“Then we’ll be off. Good work, Sun-hu. We’re family now, so let’s make it big together.”
“Yes. Looking forward to it, President.”
The J-up president, lawyer, accountant, and other staff who’d come personally for the signing all headed out.
Once the agency folks had left.
PD Choi Tae-heon, who’d stayed behind, scratched his head.
“I wanted to have a nice long chat since it’s Jin Sun-hu’s first time in this gig, but our schedule’s insanely tight.”
“Director, you’re working off side scripts—what’s with the complaining? We’ve got twenty days till broadcast.”
“Shin-hye, you know it’s not about our airdate. For the China simulcast, we have to deliver the first eight episodes at least two weeks early. They’ve got dubbing and censorship over there. That’s what this half-preproduction is all about.”
Ah, so it was slated for simulcast in China too.
If it needed to be sent two weeks ahead, that left less than a week now.
“Listen up, Jin Sun-hu. With Netflix and YouTube these days, terrestrial dramas are definitely taking a hit. But we can’t exactly go as edgy as cable either.”
It was raw testimony straight from an on-set PD.
I listened closely, hanging on every word.
“As viewers drop off, so do sponsors and ad revenue. These days, you can’t even run a drama without Chinese backing.”
“That bastard Joo Jung-hwan—they shoved him in there, and now that the scandal blows up, they’re throwing a fit.”
“So you’ve gotta nail it, Jin Sun-hu. I don’t wanna hear any crap from those clowns, right?”
“Yes. I’ll do my best.”
“Good. Thanks to you, we bought ourselves a week. Recasting a new actor takes no time at all. You starting shoots today? Or tomorrow?”
“I’m good to go right now.”
“Perfect. Head over and wait. I’ll have a smoke and join you.”
“Yes.”
With that, I stepped out of the meeting room.
“Sun-hu.”
Mom hugged me from behind just outside the door.
“Thank you. You were so incredibly cool today. It’s the most moving day of Mom’s life.”
I gently unwrapped her arms and turned to face her.
Then I pulled her into a proper embrace.
“I love you, Mom.”
Her scent spread through my chest.
It was a shame I couldn’t kiss her.
“Let’s show lots of love when we get home.”
I whispered into the ear of the Mom I held tight.
She squeezed me even harder in reply.
“Cut! Good take!”
Filming for me kicked off that very day.
Starting with scenes we could shoot indoors.
Home scenes with the family, company scenes with employees or Kim Sun-ah (played by Shin Ji-hye).
Kim Sun-ah wasn’t a company employee, but the co-founder of a partner venture firm.
Her company held the key item in the project led by Hwang Jin-woo (played by Jin Sun-hu).
Hwang Jin-woo and Kim Sun-ah had no choice but to cross paths often.
At first, Kim Sun-ah resented Hwang Jin-woo for abandoning her and marrying Shin Ah-young (played by Hwang Su-ah).
She’d even approached him to land a solid blow in revenge.
But then she learned his mother (played by Im Shin-hye) had orchestrated their split, and seeing his unchanged attitude toward her, her heart began to waver.
At the same time, she started getting advances from her venture co-founder and senior, Baek Hyun-chul (played by Jo Jae-won).
Caught between two men, Kim Sun-ah waffled back and forth.
Along the way, she traded barbs with Hwang Jin-woo’s mother and wife, the company fell into a trap, and she was rescued by his help.
That was the rough storyline.
No full script yet, but they’d probably end up together.
What were the drama’s selling points?
First off, the heroine, Kim Sun-ah.
Carefree and wild in everyday life, but a serious, capable career woman on the job.
Yet naive and innocent when it came to love.
Competent guys chased after a woman like that.
Viewers lived vicariously through her, savoring the satisfaction.
Next up, the male lead, section chief Hwang Jin-woo.
For a heroine to waver over a married man with a kid, he had to ooze appeal.
Looks, of course—but talent and personality too.
“Actor Jin Sun-hu, time to touch up your makeup.”
Honestly, the thing I’d worried about most was looks.
Talent was just in-character stuff, unrelated to my real skills.
I just had to act the part of a smug hotshot.
Personality wasn’t tough either.
Basically cool, but with hopeless-nerd moments—and even those had to flash ‘cute side only you see’ glimpses.
The real issue was appearance.
Hwang Jin-woo was a mid-thirties married dad, but I was barely early twenties.
I was only ten years older than Seung-hee, who played my daughter Soo-jung.
Could this face really sell as Soo-jung’s dad?
But my worries turned out to be for nothing.
I’d underestimated the network makeup team’s skills.
“We do young looks all the time, but aging makeup is rare, so it’s more fun.”
The makeup noona was young herself, but her hands brimmed with artisan mastery.
Through her touch, I transformed into Hwang Jin-woo in seconds.
“Ha. Way too handsome.”
The makeup noona muttered as she worked on my face.
I instantly knew she meant ‘handsome as a test subject,’ not ‘handsome as a man.’
Something told me she’d love doing corpse makeup.
“Alright. All set.”
“Thank you.”
“No biggie. It’s rewarding working on you, actor Jin Sun-hu.”
She gave an instant touch-up and straightened my outfit on the fly.
I jumped straight into prepping the next scene.
“Give the camera a hollow look this way while you deliver the line.”
“Got it.”
I internalized the director’s directions and mapped out my blocking in my head.
We rushed through a half-hearted rehearsal and went straight to the real take.
With my footage so hopelessly backed up compared to the other actors, there wasn’t a second to waste.
Since the actor had changed, I had to reshoot every single one of Hwang Jin-woo’s scenes from scratch.
Shoots with actor Kang Chang-jae as the dad, with Mom, with actress Shin Ji-hye, with Su-ah, with company extras...
Even with the script fully memorized, the jumbled order had my head spinning.
“Director! You gonna take responsibility if my son collapses?!”
“No, it’s just—the shots are flowing so smoothly, it’s fun.”
“Doesn’t mean you film like this on day one!”
In the end, after Mom threw her fit, we finally wrapped for the day.
Ugh. Exhausted.
Way tougher than I’d imagined.
I couldn’t even tell if I’d acted properly—my mind was total blank.
Had I underestimated acting?
I thought I’d come prepared.
“Today’s schedule was abnormal. We almost never hammer one actor like this, even with a backlog.”
Su-ah had finished her own scenes first but loyally stuck around.
“Thanks for the help today, Su-ah.”
“What’re you talking about? Between us.”
She’d bulldozed through an unplanned audition and shoved me right into the spotlight.
Quiet on the surface, but her drive kicked in when it counted—had to admire it.
She deserved the most credit for me standing here acting now.
How should I even thank her?
“Um, not that it’s repayment or anything, but today...”
“Ooh~ Actor Jin Sun-hu! Great work!”
The one slapping my shoulder like we were old pals was the heroine herself, actress Shin Ji-hye.
Thanks to her, Su-ah’s attempt to speak trailed off awkwardly.
“Great work today, actress Shin Ji-hye.”
“I said call me noona.”
With that, she hooked her chin over my shoulder in a buddy lock.
Her friendliness was off the charts—almost intimidating.
She was social butterfly incarnate.
“Right, Ji-hye noona. Thanks for the help today.”
“See? So, you buying drinks tonight?”
“Ah, sorry. Family’s throwing a celebration at home. Next time, my treat.”
Mom had already spilled the day’s events to my sisters.
And we were planning a full-family party for the first time in ages.
“Oh? Guess it can’t be helped.”
Just a casual toss-out, maybe?
Surprisingly, actress Shin Ji-hye backed off without a fuss.
“Su-ah, looks like today’s no good for you either.”
“Yeah...”
Su-ah, who’d been fidgeting after Shin Ji-hye barged in, nodded glumly at my words.
I got the sentiment, but I’d play dumb for now.
I’d repay this debt someday, for sure.
“Great work, everyone!”
As filming wrapped.
I went around greeting every remaining staffer and senior actor one by one.
I was a debut rookie today.
Couldn’t risk even a whiff of cockiness.
My screw-ups would reflect on Mom too.
“Great work!”
And so my first day as actor Jin Sun-hu drew to a close.