Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Setting the Stage
Shall I set the stage?
“Min-u.”
“Yes, Director!”
Having jumped straight into a supporting role in a drama right after filming ‘White Tiger’ wrapped, Park Min-woo hid his fatigue and turned around.
“About this scene we’re shooting next week.”
The director held out a script.
“Do you know anyone who could play this role? As a cameo.”
“A cameo? Hmm...”
“Haneul was supposed to do it, but his schedule didn’t work out. Min-u, you don’t know anyone?”
“Just a moment.”
Park Min-woo’s eyes lit up. He remembered the scene because he was in it. It was one where he visits an acquaintance of a suspected culprit to gather an alibi.
But this cameo role is perfect for... him, isn’t it?
“There’s one person who’d be perfect for this role.”
“Who?”
“Yeon-seo.”
The director furrowed his brow as if he’d heard something unbelievable.
“The... Yu Yeon-seo I know?”
“Yes.”
Park Min-woo smiled brightly. The director scratched the back of his head. This rising rookie actor clearly didn’t know. Yu Yeon-seo was famous for never doing things like this. His personality was so awful that he barely had any friends.
“Would... he have the time? Is there no one else?”
“He’s probably free. We got pretty close while filming the movie. He’s completely different from the rumors, you know?”
True, an actor who recently worked with him would know better than someone who’s only heard rumors. The director stroked his chin.
Having Yu Yeon-seo would guarantee buzz. Besides, the role was quite similar to his real-life persona, and since it was a short appearance, it wouldn’t matter if his acting was a bit off.
“Well, I have heard he’s changed lately...”
“Should I call him now while we’re at it?”
“Would you?”
A call with the infamous Yu Yeon-seo? The nearby staff members slowly gathered around. Park Min-woo tactfully switched to speakerphone.
(What is it?)
Yu Yeon-seo answered the phone with a curt snap.
Of course. The director sighed. But Park Min-woo just smiled and said.
“Hey! What are you up to? Are you free next week by any chance?”
(Next week? Well... I’m free.)
“If you are, would you be willing to make a cameo in our drama? The role is a lot like you...”
(...What kind of role?)
Park Min-woo said confidently.
“A rich asshole!”
“Uh, Min-u...”
You shouldn’t say things like that. The director thought, reaching for Park Min-woo’s shoulder. But he froze, stunned by Yu Yeon-seo’s response.
(...That’s literally me.)
“Haha!”
Park Min-woo laughed cheerfully.
Was Yu Yeon-seo always this self-aware? The eavesdropping staff members gaped.
“So you’ll do it, right? I’ve missed you, so why not? There aren’t many lines either.”
(Sure, whatever.)
“Great, I’ll text you the schedule right away.”
After hanging up, Park Min-woo looked around at the staff and said.
“There.”
Easy, right?
“Wow... was that really Yu Yeon-seo?”
“Min-u, you really pulled it off.”
“I think we can look forward to the ratings now.”
“See? I told you he’s a good guy. He’s an amazing actor, too...”
Of course, no one believed Park Min-woo’s last comment.
No matter how infamous he was in the industry for being an ass, Yu Yeon-seo was always at the center of attention. Him, appearing in their drama? And a cameo, something he’d never done before?
“...Let’s get the press release out quickly.”
This was the perfect opportunity to promote the drama.
‘A rich asshole. A role that’s just like me.’
I was bored anyway. This is perfect.
After ending the call with Park Min-woo, Yu Yeon-seo spun around in his office chair, dispelling his boredom.
There wasn’t much to prepare for his return to school. Im Seung-hyeon was taking care of everything he needed, and it was hard to have fun people-watching outside.
So many people recognized him that his location would be posted on online communities in real-time. Naturally, the crowds following him grew larger, and there was even some crazy guy asking if he was going to fire his money gun again.
“Hey, this is a script from writer Hwang Mi-jeong. Take a look.”
“Who’s that?”
“You don’t know her? She’s a pretty experienced writer.”
Why would someone like that send me a script? An established writer shouldn’t be in a position where they need anything, right? Yu Yeon-seo skimmed through the script.
“So, have you made up with those guys from One Seven?”
Lee Tae-gyeom had gone looking for Yu Yeon-seo when he didn’t show up and found him surrounded by One Seven. At first, he thought they were ganging up on him, but as he got closer, he noticed a strange atmosphere surrounding the flustered members of One Seven and a nose-bleeding Yu Yeon-seo.
“I don’t know.”
The encounter with One Seven at JMA had fizzled out after Yu Yeon-seo coughed up blood. They had disliked each other for so long that the awkwardness was palpable.
And in truth, One Seven had spent a long time in a state of mental victory, blaming everything on Yu Yeon-seo.
Even now that they knew Yu Yeon-seo had fulfilled his obligation regarding his abrupt departure, they were too embarrassed to know what to say.
Annoyed by the incessant buzzing, Yu Yeon-seo irritably picked up his phone.
“Don’t these guys ever get tired of this?”
However, perhaps feeling guilty about their late success despite his investment, One Seven had gotten his number through Lee Han-gyeol and frequently texted him.
(Kim I-jun) Aren’t you going to take back your investment? I have some money left from my payment.
(Yu Yeon-seo) What am I supposed to do with that chump change?
(Yu Yeon-seo) I’ll get it from your CEO, don’t worry about it.
The original Yu Yeon-seo probably watched his money get properly invested in One Seven for the first few years and then stopped paying attention. That amount of money was nothing to him.
That’s why he wouldn’t have known when AST Entertainment later started siphoning off funds. If the original owner of the body had lived, not Kang Jin-hu, he probably would have never found out.
Besides, he hadn’t invested to get the money back; he just wanted to take responsibility for leaving the group. What’s the point of taking pocket money from these kids? The ones at fault were the CEO and the managers.
‘And Im Seung-hyeon will take care of shaking them down.’
Then it’s all over. All I have to do is sit back and pick my next project. Yu Yeon-seo chuckled, but his brow furrowed as he looked over writer Hwang Mi-jeong’s script.
“This synopsis looks really familiar.”
The subject matter was so unique that he remembered it. He shot up and rummaged through a mountain of scripts piled in the corner. A slightly faded synopsis and script, clearly old, ended up in his hands.
“Hey, Lee Tae-gyeom, read these two.”
“Huh?”
Lee Tae-gyeom reflexively caught the scripts tossed at him.
“...What is this? They weren’t written by the same person, were they?”
“Nope.”
Yu Yeon-seo checked the author of the older script. Jeong Da-hee, Jeong Da-hee...
‘That’s the woman I saw in the memory sync.’
The name on the script she had handed him with trembling hands was the same as the one Yu Yeon-seo was holding now.
She must have come to him because he was emerging as a beacon of hope for newcomers. After all, that industry is incredibly difficult to break into without experience.
Yu Yeon-seo searched for them online. For Jeong Da-hee, there was only a short article about her winning a contest. But Hwang Mi-jeong was an established writer listed in public profiles, with a filmography of over ten works.
‘A rookie plagiarizing a well-known, established writer?’
Honestly, the probability of that is low. It’s not like she’d do it for just one project and be done; rumors would spread throughout the industry. Who would do something like that? That means Hwang Mi-jeong must be the one who plagiarized...
Comparing them closely, Jeong Da-hee’s was more concrete and detailed. Hwang Mi-jeong’s version was sloppy, as if she’d just heard a ‘rumor’ about it somewhere.
“Hey, let’s not do this one. Something smells fishy.”
Lee Tae-gyeom must have had a similar thought, as he tried to snatch the script from Yu Yeon-seo’s hand. But Yu Yeon-seo’s hand didn’t move an inch.
This kid’s grip has gotten stronger since he started working out. Lee Tae-gyeom frowned.
“Give it here.”
“Wait...”
Lost in thought, Yu Yeon-seo suddenly grinned. He’d just had an interesting idea.
Yu Yeon-seo to Cameo in Drama ‘Hurricane’... Readily Accepts Park Min-woo’s Request
Yu Yeon-seo to Make Special Appearance in ‘Hurricane’... Connection with ‘White Tiger’s’ Park Min-woo
└ Isn’t this Yu Yeon-seo’s first special appearance?
└└ Yeah
└ They said the atmosphere on White Tiger was good, and now he’s doing a cameo right away.
└ We don’t know what he’s doing yet, right?
└└ They said to confirm it on the broadcast.
└ Hurricane is my favorite drama these days, but why Yu Yeon-seo?
└└ ^^^^
└ Wow, Yu Yeon-seo is doing a cameo lol. I don’t watch it, but I should check it out now lol.
“Hey!”
“It’s been a while.”
Arriving at the ‘Hurricane’ set, Yu Yeon-seo raised a hand to Park Min-woo, who greeted him like a large dog. How gracious of him to come out and meet me personally.
“Wow, you look seriously rich. Perfect character interpretation.”
“I just threw on whatever was lying around at home.”
Yu Yeon-seo had come dressed head to toe in luxury brands. The role he was playing was a third-generation chaebol, a friend of another third-generation chaebol, so he didn’t need to put in any special effort—opening his closet was enough to find everything he needed.
Yu Yeon-seo glanced at the staff members bustling past.
‘Drama sets seem so... busy.’
Unlike movie sets, drama sets were hectic because they had to produce about two episodes’ worth of content each week. As a result, they tended to move on quickly as long as the story was conveyed, even if some details were lacking.
Right now, the lead actor was performing passionately in front of the camera, while another actor was doing post-sync recording right on set.
“Looks busy.”
“I miss filming with you. Aren’t you going to do any dramas?”
“Well, I have one picked out.”
“Really?”
Just then, the director yelled, ‘Cut!’
“First, let’s go say hello to the director.”
“Alright.”
I heard the director of ‘Hurricane’ is famous in the drama scene. It’d be good to make an impression.
“Director, Yeon-seo is here.”
“Oh! Hello. I’m Lee Yeong-jin.”
The director shot up in surprise.
“I’m Yu Yeon-seo.”
Yu Yeon-seo took the director’s outstretched hand and shook it. Lee Yeong-jin’s eyes gleamed. He seems calmer than I expected.
“Thank you for taking the time to come, but could you wait with Min-u for a moment...?”
“Sure, why not.”
Yu Yeon-seo, who he expected to throw a fit about being made to wait, quietly stepped back. Lee Yeong-jin let out a secret sigh of relief.
“So, what drama are you going to be in?”
“Do you know a writer named Hwang Mi-jeong?”
“Ah, her... That’s unexpected. I thought you’d pick another rookie’s project.”
Park Min-woo’s tone was slightly odd. Yu Yeon-seo narrowed his eyes.
“Is there something about this writer?”
“Well... it’s a little difficult for me to say... Don’t you already know?”
“No, I don’t.”
At Yu Yeon-seo’s blatant reply, Park Min-woo called over his management director.
“Writer Hwang Mi-jeong? Her reputation isn’t very good.”
“Why?”
“At first, she was a rookie who appeared like a comet... but there are rumors that as her writing skills declined, she started lifting things from here and there. She’s actually borrowed a lot of scenes from foreign dramas and movies.”
“But how can a writer like that keep working?”
“Even if it becomes public, people don’t really care. As long as it’s successful, that’s all that matters. If it gets really serious, she can just offer a settlement behind the scenes, and that’s the end of it.”
Filing a lawsuit takes too long, and the victims in these cases are powerless.
Even if it’s made public, it’s only for a moment, and people forget over time. Many people are willing to turn a blind eye as long as the work is entertaining, even if they know it’s plagiarized.
“But if you’re talking about writer Hwang Mi-jeong... are you referring to ‘Virtual Reality’?”
“Yes, well... anyway, thank you.”
Yu Yeon-seo was lost in thought.
‘Shall I set the stage?’