Chapter 18: Like PD, Like Writer (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 18: Like PD, Like Writer (2)
Whether he was nicknamed a "skirt-chaser with picky taste" or not, Kim Ho-jin was a superstar.
He played the most crucial role in the public recognition of the drama Hwan’s Torch.
To an investor or producer, suggesting they drop the male lead just to protect a rookie supporting actress would sound like a death wish for the drama.
“Writer Jung, keep this in mind. We must never be the ones to bring up the topic of him leaving first.”
“I know, I know. I’m just going to scare the CEO and the manager using the atmosphere on set.”
“That should be enough for them to get the hint.”
“What about Kim Ho-jin?”
“He probably won’t get it. He’ll likely just interpret it as a warning to be careful so no weird rumors start between him and Yu-jin.”
“He really is full of himself. Is it because he’s lived his whole life with a face like that? Because the world has always catered to him?”
“Write a drama with a premise like that next time.”
“Who would empathize with that? Hmm, wait. Instead of a male lead, what if I use Yu-jin as the female lead and pull a script together with that concept…?”
PD Jang Hyun-soo and Writer Jung Yoon-ah arrived at their destination.
It was the meeting room of Kim Ho-jin’s agency.
The CEO and the head manager were all present.
“PD Jang, Writer Jung, hello. Thank you for coming all this way so late in the evening.”
“CEO Kim, it’s been a while. You’re looking very well.”
After easing the tension with some casual small talk and smiles, PD Jang slowly started the engine.
“You know we cast an ordinary high school girl as the female lead’s maid-warrior, right?”
“Ah, I heard. I heard she’s incredibly pretty. I’ve been wanting to see her face myself. She doesn’t have an agency yet, right?”
“Words fail you when you see her in person. She has this aura where the viewer sees exactly what they want to see in her,” Jung Yoon-ah said with a coy expression. “She’s so pretty it’s unreal. Out of all the actresses I’ve seen so far, she’s the overwhelming number one. She’d absolutely wipe the floor with any other active actress.”
CEO Kim’s mouth hung open.
“Is she really that good? Wow, she sounds like a very tempting prospect.”
“I was anxious because I gave her my business card on the street and she never called back. As it turns out, she’s in the same class as my daughter. When my daughter brought her home and I ran into her, I thought my heart was going to stop,” PD Jang added.
“Oh, my goodness. What a coincidence. To be in the same class as your daughter.”
After subtly hinting that she wasn't a piece that could be easily discarded based on interests, PD Jang continued.
“But I’m worried because some unpleasant rumors have been circulating on set lately.”
“Unpleasant rumors?”
“Apparently, some men who should know better are flirting with a tenth-grade actress. I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but seeing the young actress suffering in silence because she’s afraid of ruining the atmosphere on set… it breaks my heart.”
“…”
CEO Kim’s eyes narrowed.
His gaze almost darted toward Kim Ho-jin, but he desperately held back since he was in front of the writer and PD.
“I had a hard time talking her out of quitting everything. I brought her in boasting that I’d put her on the fast track to stardom, so how could I fail to protect her like this?”
“I see…”
That was the end of the talk about Lee Yu-jin.
It was brushed off lightly as if it were just a random thought that popped up in conversation, and they immediately moved on to Kim Ho-jin’s role and the filming schedule.
The writer and PD showered him with praise, expressing high expectations.
“Our drama will truly fail without you, Ho-jin. Please refrain from extreme sports for the time being, and don’t even ride a bicycle. You need to be very careful even when exercising, and only do it with a trainer present, okay?”
Kim Ho-jin, oblivious to everything, replied with a smile.
“Of course, of course. I’ll manage my condition thoroughly so there are no issues during the filming period.”
Jang Hyun-soo talked at length about new interpretations of the role, things to consider when setting the direction of the acting, the upcoming production press conference, and more.
“It’s getting very late. Writer Jung, shall we head out?”
“We should. We’ve held up these busy people for too long.”
“Oh, are you leaving already? You’re welcome to stay the night here.”
“Haha, we have filming again tomorrow.”
They parted ways in a good atmosphere.
But as soon as the writer and PD were out of sight, the CEO and the head manager’s faces turned grim as they turned to Kim Ho-jin.
“You f*cking idiot, what the hell have you been doing on set?”
“CEO? Why are you suddenly like this?”
“You! Were those rumors on the official fan site actually true? That you’re obsessed with a rookie actress and keep running over just to see her face?”
The PD and writer’s indirect suggestion for a voluntary withdrawal—the CEO and the head manager had understood it perfectly.
*
When Jang Ji-hye arrived at school, she saw Lee Yu-jin slumped over her desk as usual.
Suddenly, her father’s words came to mind, and the tip of her nose tingled slightly.
‘Ji-hye, keep this to yourself for now. It won’t help Yu-jin’s acting mindset if she finds out…’
The fact that Kim Ho-jin hadn't completely given up but had decided on a "long-term investment." And that Kim Ho-jin might be leaving the show just to keep him away from her in advance.
‘Even though he’s the male lead, they’d pull him out for a rookie supporting actress.’
She wasn't at all disappointed about Kim Ho-jin’s departure; rather, she was envious of how much her father cherished her friend as an actress.
The memory of her past self, thinking she’d receive such precious treatment from her father the moment she debuted, only made her feel more embarrassed.
“Yu-jin, I’m here.”
“Mmm? Ji-hye, you’re here?”
Lee Yu-jin stretched lightly.
The flexibility with which her back and neck arched was astonishing.
Jang Ji-hye noticed the boys in the class stealing glances at her.
“You did your hair with the hairpin?”
“Yeah, I tried it and it’s quite comfortable. It was getting in the way because it’s so long.”
“It’s a waste to cut it… but it’s too long. Long, straight hair looks much prettier on you.”
“I got a pixie cut once a long time ago, and my mom wailed so loudly I almost got traumatized.”
Lee Yu-jin was currently wearing her hair up with the hairpin, letting it hang down just to the nape of her neck like a ponytail.
The composition, which clearly revealed the line of her white neck, caught the eye.
“Do you get the hair on the back of your neck cleaned up at a salon?”
“No? My hair just grows neatly like this.”
“…”
“I don’t do anything special to it.”
Jang Ji-hye felt the overwhelming gap, realizing more and more that this was what a "heaven-sent actress" looked like.
‘She must have saved a country in her past life. It doesn’t make sense otherwise.’
Suddenly, the old and antique design of the hairpin caught her eye.
It looked faded, as if worn down by time, but because Lee Yu-jin’s visuals were so outstanding, even that looked like a fashion statement.
“Oh? That hairpin…”
“Yeah, the PD gave it to me.”
“You like this kind of stuff?”
“I just thought it was a waste to keep something meant to be used just for display.”
In truth, Lee Yu-jin never used headbands or hair ties. That felt too "girly."
However, she had no resistance to this precious memento that had returned to her across time—the very hairpin she used to use to put up Eonnyeoni’s hair.
‘My hair was always getting in the way because it’s so long, so this worked out well.’
“Ji-hye, what’s on the menu today?”
Jang Ji-hye, who was now devoted to "managing her actress’s health," brought two lunch boxes every day made by her family’s housekeeper.
They weren't ordinary lunch boxes; they were large, five-tier containers with a wide variety and large portions.
“Today is a Lunch Hanjeongsik set. The first tier is fresh abalone porridge, the broth was made from chicken feet…”
“Can you just give me the short version?”
“…Abalone porridge, grilled sea bream, tofu hot pot, charcoal-grilled Hanwoo beef, and for dessert, handmade chestnut yanggaeng and sugar-free persimmon leaf tea.”
“I’m a bit hungry, should we eat now?”
“Now? First period hasn’t even started…”
“How about we go to the rooftop, eat half, and come back down?”
“S-Sure!”
Lee Yu-jin headed out first with the lunch boxes, and Jang Ji-hye followed behind her.
Seeing the lightly swaying hairpin, she suddenly remembered yesterday’s chase scene.
‘It was so cool. And pretty…’
The elegant sight of her nonchalantly throwing the hairpin to hit a wooden target, her pinned-up hair cascading down like a black waterfall.
Jang Ji-hye still couldn't forget the awe that had made her whole body tremble in that moment.
‘Is that why Dad loves working on dramas so much?’
A faint image of a role she wanted Lee Yu-jin to play suddenly popped into Ji-hye’s head.
But as she hurried to catch up with Yu-jin, that imaginary color quickly faded and went back to sleep.
*
Kim Ho-jin was the primary breadwinner for his agency.
At the same time, he was the source of the stress that made the CEO live on all sorts of health supplements.
He didn't cause any other trouble, but if he saw a pretty actress, he felt he had to meet her at least once to be satisfied.
CEO Kim felt it instinctively.
Kim Ho-jin was currently facing the biggest crisis of his acting career, and he was blissfully unaware of it.
‘If he gets wrongly entangled with a minor, especially a tenth-grade rookie, his career is over.’
If it weren't for his reputation as a "lazy but incredibly high-standard skirt-chaser," CEO Kim would have stopped at giving him a stern warning.
There was no reason to kick away the male lead role in a drama that was guaranteed to be a hit.
But CEO Kim knew his artist’s personality all too well.
At the same time, the PD and writer had come in person to leave an indirect warning.
‘The PD isn’t saying he’s going to force him out. He came to warn me that if we proceed like this, Ho-jin will definitely do something to ruin his own career.’
With a heart full of gratitude toward the PD, CEO Kim began persuading Kim Ho-jin.
“I looked into it, and rumors have already spread all over the set. They say you’re completely obsessed with a tenth-grade rookie actress and that something’s going to blow up before filming ends.”
“Hey, it’s not like that. No matter how I am, I’d at least wait until a minor is of age before making a move.”
“Then what about the rumors all over the fan site? They say hardcore fans are currently infiltrating the set with telephoto cameras. It’s a miracle a definitive two-shot hasn’t been taken yet, a miracle!”
“That’s because I’ve been behaving myself, ack! Why are you hitting me! That hurts!”
“Drop it! I said drop it! You’re still young and have a long career ahead of you! I’m also sad about missing out on a good project, but you need to look out for your career first!”
“The CEO is right, Ho-jin. It’s better to quietly withdraw from this drama for health reasons. Your parts haven't even started filming yet anyway.”
“Yeah, now is the perfect time to make a graceful exit. If rumors spread any further, it’ll be uncontrollable. A 29-year-old Hallyu star hitting on a tenth grader? I’m going crazy.”
“Just thinking about the penalty fees for the commercials makes me dizzy. I don’t think we could pay them back even if we sold all of Ho-jin’s buildings.”
“The… the penalty fees are that much?”
“Yes, you idiot!”
Shocked, Kim Ho-jin was silent for a long time.
CEO Kim and the head manager calmed themselves and waited patiently.
Eventually, Kim Ho-jin bit his lip with a frustrated face.
“I understand. I’ll… withdraw.”
“Good choice.”
“You won’t say anything if I approach her in three years, right?”
“This brat still hasn't come to his senses.”
*
Jang Ji-hye was giggling to herself while watching the edited footage of Lee Yu-jin’s filming scenes that she’d begged her father for.
The scene where she tracked down and took out all the assassins on a night mountain path, and finally threw her hairpin, letting her hair fall loose.
It was so pretty and cool. It became more addictive the more she watched it.
“The drama needs to air soon so I can make clips of this and spread them everywhere.”
She couldn't believe how agonizing it was that they had only just left the starting line.
“I should check the reaction to the drama. Are there still no rumors about our Yu-jin? On set, she’s already a famous star who completely surpasses Yoon Se-rang.”
Jang Ji-hye searched through the drama’s official site and the cast’s SNS for "praise for my friend," but she stopped when she found posts and comments with ominous and lowly intentions.
└ I heard that supporting warrior is a parachute hire.
└ A parachute? Really?
└ Yeah, yeah. I heard she used her connections to push out the originally intended actress just so she could get close to Kim Ho-jin.
└ It was weird. All the actresses mentioned as candidates for the supporting warrior were prominent, so I wondered how some "nugu" rookie snatched the role.
The reason the role of Yeon Si-ho had been vacant was that other actresses were burdened by having frequent two-shots with Yoon Se-rang.
But no one cared about that truth. Whenever someone tried to point out the facts, they were immediately surrounded and attacked until they left.
└ Can’t that rookie btch just leave the show?*
└ Should we try? I think it’ll work if we do what we did to Jo Eun-bit.
└ Let’s go, let’s go.
└ Let’s show them the power of Kim Ho-jin’s fandom!
└ Shh, clean up all the traces now.
└ Got it, got it.
Jang Ji-hye’s eyes turned cold as she scanned the monitor.
“What? Who’s making who leave? Have these people collectively lost their minds? Do you want to see the fighting power of a juvenile?”
Whether the age of criminal responsibility was fourteen or whatever didn't matter at all to an enraged high school girl.