Chapter 307
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 307
Shining Star.
It was the title of a program I had appeared on as a member of The Dawn, and now, it was the title of the drama being planned in Unknown Actor Tycoon. It was scheduled to be co-produced by WH Entertainment and Studio Olio, then serviced through a domestic OTT platform.
With global interest in K-Pop at an all-time high, the plan was to collaborate with an entertainment agency to create high-quality content utilizing that world.
The overall plot was simple.
A PD, whose idea is stolen due to pressure from superiors, grinds their teeth and comes up with a brand-new broadcast format.
Specifically, a competition program that gathers aspiring singers whose talents have been overlooked and selects a winner through a survival format.
Initially, the protagonist runs forward solely for the sake of success. However, as filming progresses and they learn the stories of the contestants, they gradually begin to support their dreams, passion, and youth.
In the end, they grow together, the broadcast concludes successfully, and the drama reaches its finale.
Except for the "happy ending" part, it was my story no matter how I looked at it.
"Sigh..."
...Or so I thought, but there was one thing I had overlooked.
In this game called Tycoon, there was one more PD famous for competition programs.
"This is just Kim Hee-yeong..."
Clutching my head in the cafe inside the WH Entertainment building, I reopened the script I had already read through several times.
Seo Ui-yeong, a 34-year-old PD at the WBC broadcasting station.
A character who loathes injustice, corruption, and unfairness above all else, possessing unyielding convictions.
A person who puts their beliefs into practice.
Though the age was younger than the real Kim Hee-yeong—and even younger than my true self—the character was unmistakable.
[Seo Ui-yeong: My only regret...]
[Seo Ui-yeong: Is that I couldn't personally kill that paycheck-thieving piece of human trash.]
'I've heard that one often.'
Even just skimming a few lines of dialogue, it was clearly Kim Hee-yeong.
Well, come to think of it, she was more suited to be a protagonist than I was. If she were a character in an RPG, her assigned class would always be the Hero.
I gulped down the drink in front of me, suppressing the bubbling frustration inside.
If there was any silver lining, it was that there wasn't even a hint of romance to be found.
'Let's focus.'
In a situation where I didn't know how long the error caused by Min Ji-heon's ability would last, I had to use my time efficiently.
I closed the script and rummaged through the drama proposal again.
My finger traced the brief introductions written for the characters.
Seong Ju-hyeon, who dropped out of high school to focus on dance and joined Shining Star, only for a school violence controversy to break out during the broadcast.
Ji Yeong-won, who couldn't stand the corruption of a major agency and stormed out...
The names were different, but the details were uncomfortably similar to the history of The Dawn.
A frown creased my brow in displeasure.
'Whatever, fine...'
They wouldn't be watching this drama anyway, so I just had to endure it myself.
I clicked my tongue as I idly flipped through the pages.
Ding!
[But Seo Ho-yun isn't there?]
Exactly.
No matter how much I looked, I couldn't find a role that seemed to be based on me.
So, the role offered to me was—
"Ho-yun hyung!!"
I was about to stand up after closing the script when Shin Hee-chan, who had just entered the cafe, spotted me and came running over.
"Shin Hee-chan?"
"Whoa! Why does it feel like it's been so long?"
As expected, he bore a resemblance to our maknae.
Still, there was no reason to get entangled with him, so I was about to leave after a quick greeting when Min Ji-heon suddenly poked his head out from behind him.
"Hi~."
His mug looked quite well-polished today.
"Look at this scammer."
"Do I know you?"
"Your 'fast break-up' skills are no joke."
He nonchalantly sat down right next to me. The way his usually vacant eyes were slightly upturned suggested he was still a bit salty about what happened last time.
I shifted my gaze to Shin Hee-chan.
"But why are you here, Shin Hee-chan?"
"I have a meeting today! I ran into Ji-heon hyung right in front of the building."
He looked back and forth between Min Ji-heon and me, then beamed.
"WH Entertainment is producing a new drama with Studio Olio. I got the role of the youngest contestant."
"The youngest contestant?"
"Yes! I play an aspiring singer who almost wasted years because of a contract scam by his agency!"
"..."
That's Jeong Da-jun.
I shut my mouth, feeling a bit fed up.
Shin Hee-chan seemed thrilled, likely because he had been getting many good roles thanks to Dead after Hope.
"—Especially Shining Star! I found the script so interesting that I stayed up all night reading it the day I got it! The next day, I literally grabbed the Management Team Leader's pant leg and begged to do this project! He actually opposed it, telling me to take a role with more screen time. But in the end, I was cast, and we even finished the script reading recently! Though, there's a sliver of a problem..."
"What is it?"
"The person who was confirmed to appear got injured, so they're urgently looking for another actor."
Aha.
"Anyway, whoever the new person is will probably have to start filming right away."
As I listened quietly, Shin Hee-chan, who had been glancing around, leaned in and whispered softly.
"But you know, Ho-yun hyung. It's so obvious who that character they need to replace was modeled after."
"...What?"
"Well."
Shin Hee-chan swallowed hard and lowered his voice even further.
"The character's name is Kang Ji-sung, and according to my guess, the model is Ju Woo-seong from Black Call."
Spot on.
The idol of idols, the celebrity among celebrities, the star of stars.
Kang Ji-sung, a character who seemed to be a direct copy of Black Call's Ju Woo-seong.
Ju Woo-seong, who was originally a mentor in Shining Star Season 2, had been transformed into the role of Kang Ji-sung—an acquaintance of PD Seo Ui-yeong who occasionally gives advice to the contestants.
"He's totally charming. If Kang Ji-sung and Seo Ui-yeong get involved in a romance here, the ratings will skyrocket—"
"I'm sure the writer will handle it."
I was dead set against that.
"...Ah, oh, right. Yeah. I guess I got ahead of myself."
I picked up my script while watching Shin Hee-chan laugh awkwardly and scratch his head. Then, I heard Min Ji-heon's voice drawling out a name.
"Ju Woo-seooong..."
A chilling intuition spiked through the top of my head.
"Well, I'm busy, so I'll be going..."
"Do you two know each other?"
This bastard noticed something.
I stood up quickly, but Min Ji-heon's words beat me to it.
"No?"
Not too fast, not too slow.
In just the right tone.
"Mhm. Is that so?"
I answered nonchalantly, but Min Ji-heon let out a chuckle, his eyes crinkling.
At this rate, I felt like he'd eventually deduce the fact that I came from somewhere else on his own.
Despite the cold atmosphere he was radiating, Shin Hee-chan clung to Min Ji-heon without hesitation and started whining.
"Hyung, Ji-heon hyung! Please give me some acting tips. I was happy when I got the part, but now that I'm actually facing it, I have no idea what this character is thinking. He seems so bright and cheerful, but then at some moments, he's incredibly mature..."
Bangbang-i is just Bangbang-i, what else is there to know?
But I didn't add that. I thought Min Ji-heon would just brush him off, but surprisingly, he spoke up quite readily.
"Try imagining you've actually become that person."
"What?"
"I find that the easiest."
Having started with that, Min Ji-heon turned his eyes toward me.
"What kind of family did that person grow up in? How did they come to like this kind of food? What is the origin of this behavior? Things like that."
"Ooh! That's good!"
"If you immerse yourself, the answers come surprisingly easily. Even why that person acted the way they did."
Then, resting his chin on his hand, he flashed a meaningful smile.
"Why their personality became so rotten, why they use people so easily, why they're indifferent to others' thoughts..."
"Huh??"
"Don't you agree, Ho-yun?"
Whatever.
I decided to actually leave before Min Ji-heon's shitty acting lecture continued any further.
It wasn't a role difficult enough to need his help anyway. I already knew the subject well.
Someone with strong pride in their profession and overflowing confidence in their own skills.
A human being who was a bundle of talent and received love from many, yet fell into a sense of emptiness and failed to look at those around him.
After sticking together for nearly two and a half years, I had already figured out all of his habits.
"Huh?!"
I was about to head out when Shin Hee-chan's eyes widened as he belatedly noticed the Shining Star script and proposal in my hand.
"Ho-yun hyung, why do you have the Shining Star script? Are you in it too?"
"Yes."
"Is it a special appearance?"
I drained the last bit of my drink before answering.
"No."
The role I was offered was a bit funny, actually.
"It's Kang Ji-sung."
It was Ju Woo-seong.
* * *
Tap. Tap tap tap tap.
"I don't get nervous..."
"Please, stop shaking your leg!"
The sound of clothes rustling echoed loudly in the meeting room of Studio Olio. Despite the assistant director's words, Director Ju Hyeong-chang couldn't stop his leg from bouncing.
It was a meeting hastily arranged due to a matter that had been giving him a massive headache lately.
'I never imagined I'd have to replace an actor because of an injury.'
To begin with, he felt the settings given to this 'Kang Ji-sung' character were a bit of a stretch.
He had to be handsome with elegant, fine features, possess superhuman dance skills, and be a good singer to boot.
"Dammit! Where the hell am I supposed to find an actor like that?!"
"Director, here you go again."
It was a tall order.
He could more or less match the visuals. An actor who could dance decently and sing well? There were plenty in the musical theater scene.
However, when the requirement of being able to pull off an 'idol vibe' was added to all those conditions, there were no options left.
He had barely managed to persuade the main writer, who wasn't pleased because the actor previously confirmed for 'Kang Ji-sung' didn't fit the image she had envisioned.
Now, forced back into casting hell, Director Ju sincerely wanted to cry.
"Let's just cut out the dancing and singing. I'll match the visuals as much as possible. There are so many actors these days who are handsome in an idol-like way."
"Ah, well, but... there's an actor I've had my eye on lately..."
"Who?"
"Someone who's totally cat-like and cute!!"
"..."
A few weeks ago, the main writer he met for work had been busy praising someone with spit flying from her mouth.
How could he dance to idol choreography so well? How could his face be that handsome? He's overflowing with natural talent and charm; he might even be a former trainee, blah blah blah.
That someone was none other than Seo Ho-yun.
When the role she considered most important suddenly became vacant, the main writer was momentarily discouraged, but she soon began pestering Director Ju to offer the role of Kang Ji-sung to Seo Ho-yun.
However, realistically, the possibility of Seo Ho-yun accepting this drama was slim.
Rumors were circulating in the industry that Seo Ho-yun was planning to rest after Dead after Hope, as his side was rejecting every project that came their way.
Just as the production team was starting to look for other candidates—excluding the main writer, who kept asking if they couldn't just try one more time—a call suddenly came from WH Entertainment.
And today was the day they were to meet Seo Ho-yun face-to-face.
"But why did Seo Ho-yun suddenly change his mind?"
"Who knows? How could we know what's going on in his head? This industry is so fickle..."
"Ah, damn. This hurts my pride. If it weren't for this writer, I really wouldn't be doing this for a rookie actor..."
"Gasp, Director! Shh!"
While Director Ju and the assistant director were whispering as they waited for Seo Ho-yun, a knock sounded, and the meeting room door opened.
"Hello. I'm Seo Ho-yun."
Seo Ho-yun, who offered a greeting with a genial smile, no longer had the black hair from Dead after Hope; it was now dyed a dark brown.
Director Ju, who had been grumbling with a scowl until a moment ago, jumped to his feet with a bright expression.
"Seo Ho-yun-ssi! Wahaha! Welcome, welcome."
"Haha, yes."
In any case, there was currently no suitable replacement who could pull off 'Kang Ji-sung.'
Director Ju, who had a fair amount of experience in this industry, could easily pretend to like someone even if he didn't, as long as he needed them.
"Seo Ho-yun-ssi, I'm sorry for calling you in so suddenly."
"Not at all. I'm the one who should be sorry for replying so late."
'The atmosphere is good.'
Seo Ho-yun sat down, placing a guitar case he had been carrying on one shoulder onto the floor.
Deciding he should build some rapport, Director Ju tossed out a casual question.
"It's a bit late; have you eaten? You should eat well to keep your strength up."
"Ah, me?"
The corners of Seo Ho-yun's mouth curved into a soft arc.
"I just ate Kimchi Fried Rice."
"Ah, Kimchi Fried Rice! That's delicious!"
Just as he was about to transition into talking about the project, Seo Ho-yun added more.
"Yesterday, too."
"...Huh?"
"The day before yesterday, too."
At this moment, Seo Ho-yun was recalling Min Ji-heon's advice.
"And the day before that..."
"..."
To act as a certain person, first act like that person.
Seo Ho-yun was faithfully portraying Ju Woo-seong.