First Shoot (2)
What the hell did she just mean by that?
"They make you… perk right up."
I was flustered, but the answer slipped out before I could think. No — perk right up wasn't even a dirty phrase to begin with. I was just a masochist reading way too much into it. The kind of guy who twitched at a woman's bare command.
"Right? Nothing else builds stamina quite like these. They make you perk…♥"
Twitch.♥
Was I really the weird one here? Hadn't she said that in a distinctly suggestive way? Every time the word hit my ears, my cock sprang up stiff. It was already halfway hard.
While I stood there frozen, Cocoa Writer tore open a vitamin pack and popped one into her mouth.
"Ah, and they taste incredible too. Honestly, I can't work without these anymore. I'm prepping my next series, you know."
"…"
"Jiwoo-ssi?"
"Y-yes. That's great. I'm glad you like them."
I swallowed dryly and forced the words out.
"Cocoa Writer's next series… I'm already looking forward to it. With your art style and storytelling, you'd top any genre you touch."
"Oh my, really? I'm flattered. I'm thinking of doing a youth romance — school setting."
"Wow. Seeing that in your art style would be pure happiness."
Cocoa Writer lifted both arms, gathering her cascading blonde hair and sweeping it back. Her short sleeves slid down her arms, baring her underarms. As her arms rose, her top pulled tight across her chest, pressing her breasts into sharp, stiff relief.
There was nowhere safe to look. How could something as ordinary as fixing her hair look that pretty — and that filthy?
Cocoa Writer was active on social media. I hadn't known at first, but when I looked her up later, she was surprisingly well-known. Being the author of Ghost Story Company made fame almost inevitable, but she'd already been famous for something else entirely.
There had been controversy years back. People called her a webtoon artist who drew unrealistic body proportions — an amateur who didn't even understand human anatomy.
Looking at her work, though, the female characters were almost all so beautiful it was hard to look away. Faces, figures, style — pure visual appeal. I still didn't understand why that had been a scandal. Wasn't prettier better? Did a webtoon need to be realistic?
Either way, it had kicked up enough noise that it couldn't simply be ignored. And then the whole thing — the middle-aged women's jealousy — evaporated overnight the moment Cocoa Writer verified her own body.
Her figure was a dead ringer for her webtoon heroines. She'd been drawing the female leads from her own body all along. The selfie had her face covered, but the jawline, the face shape, the fist-sized proportions — everyone assumed the face underneath was just as gorgeous.
From that day on, her popularity skyrocketed. I'd seen the articles, the posts, the videos myself. It was such a strange, entertaining story that it had stuck with me. I just hadn't realized until recently that the woman in question was Cocoa Writer.
My standards had been ruined by women like Han Ahyoung, my Master, and my little sister — absolute monsters of beauty. Even so, Cocoa Writer was on an absurd level of her own.
"If I'm going to draw a youth romance, I should experience some fresh, innocent dating myself, right?"
"I feel like you must have done plenty of that in school."
"Really? Which part makes you say that?"
Cocoa Writer leaned her upper body forward, just slightly. She spread her arms a little wider, and her smooth underarms came into sharp, clear view. My pupils trembled. I wanted to bury my nose in them and inhale right then and there — that was how filthy it looked.
Her face and figure could put actual actresses to shame. Even with light makeup, her eyes, nose, and lips were so defined they stood out in clean, vivid lines. Her body, especially, was pure hourglass — everything that should dip dipped, everything that should curve curved. With her hair dyed blonde, she could have passed for a Westerner without anyone batting an eye.
"Well… you already know without me saying it, don't you?"
"Come on. If you don't say it, how would anyone know? Tell me with your own mouth, Jiwoo-ssi. Hurry."
Twitch.♥
Something in that strange, coaxing pressure pulled the words out of me before I could stop them.
"You're beautiful. In high school you'd have been the flower on the cliff, the princess, the idol. In college, the department goddess. If you just wanted to — no, if you simply didn't run away — there's no way you wouldn't have had some fresh, innocent romance."
"Hmm."
Cocoa Writer grinned.
"So that's how you've been looking at me, Jiwoo-ssi. Flower on the cliff? Department goddess?"
"…"
"Thank you. Praise never gets old, no matter how much you hear it. And hearing it from you feels even better."
"…I'm honored."
"You like being praised too, don't you, Jiwoo-ssi?"
"Huh? Yes. I do. I like praise."
Something about this felt off.
"You're cute too, Jiwoo-ssi. A little like a puppy, maybe? You remind me of my Coco."
"Ah — yes. Thank you."
"Want me to pet you?"
I nearly said yes on pure reflex, then barely managed to hold it back.
"…I'm fine."
Thump-thump.♥
I'd gotten a lot closer to Cocoa Writer lately, but not this close, right? Had drinking together at the company dinner pushed things further than I thought? Or was what I was thinking right now actually correct?
I decided to bring up the dinner night.
"Did you get home all right after the company dinner?"
"Yes. I told you I'm a heavy drinker. I don't black out the way you do, Jiwoo-ssi. I didn't even need a hangover cure the next day — I was fine."
"You really can hold your liquor. What time did you head home that night?"
"Hmm. We went to a third round, so… around three in the morning?"
A third round? Three in the morning… by then the assault would already have been well underway. So it couldn't have been Cocoa Writer after all. She'd poured drinks into me freely enough, but I'd never seen her slip in an aphrodisiac or anything like it. Of course, even if she had, all she'd need to do was play dumb — so the whole line of questioning was pointless.
If anyone could dig up the truth just by asking like this, they'd be Sherlock Holmes. They should be off solving murder cases, not standing around here. In the end, I learned nothing.
"I should get going and deliver the rest of the coffee."
"Of course. You're popular, Jiwoo-ssi. I was starting to feel like I was monopolizing you. Go on."
I said goodbye to Cocoa Writer and went back to circulating. Time kept moving, and the set grew busier with prep. Master finished her full makeup and styling. Before I knew it, we were five minutes from rolling.
I stood beside Master as she reviewed her script, restless and unable to settle. It wasn't even me acting, and still I was so tense my palms were sweating.
"Relax. Just do it without tensing up."
Director Gun Hyun-woo came over and spoke to Master.
"If you're nervous, your real ability won't come out."
"Thank you, Director. I'll stay relaxed."
"Drop the tension in your shoulders. Loosen your neck too. We're going to shoot multiple takes anyway — no reason to freeze up."
As Director Gun headed back to his position, he glanced at me. I gave a light bow of thanks. It was the first time I'd ever seen him give an actor a pep talk like that. Favoritism, in a way — but favoritism aimed at Master and me was infinitely welcome. Nothing bad about it at all.
The prop team, the script supervisor, the assistant directors, and the rest made their final checks of the set. The actors for the scene stood by. I was hanging back at a distance when Chun Yeonho appeared at my side.
"First shoot, huh."
"Yeah. Hope it goes well."
"She'll do fine. You said she practiced hard."
It was really about to start. I'd been on plenty of sets as Han Ahyoung's manager, and still this one had me shaking harder than any of them. Ready signals started coming in from every corner. Sound and camera locked in last.
"Sound rolling."
"Ready."
"Action!"
Director Gun Hyun-woo's call kicked the take off immediately.
The cut Master was shooting was Park Ha-eun's first appearance. The webtoon world of Ghost Story Company had already been established as dangerous and hopeless. Into that oppressive atmosphere, a gentle character suddenly arrived. Until her true nature was revealed, this was the most impactful scene — and not a single hint of that hidden nature could show. She had to look completely bright and pure. A breath of air, proof that even in a despairing world, someone like this still existed. Nothing off-putting could be allowed. Even a little awkwardness would almost guarantee an NG.
Master's lips parted, and the line came out.
"Then that's a relief. Getting off — tomorrow will be easier, right?"
Ah. She stumbled. Right from the start.
"Cut. NG!"
The NG call went up.
"I'm sorry!"
Master bowed at the waist in apology, and the people around her laughed it off, telling her it was fine. She'd been nervous. The energy at the top had been good. Let's just go again right away. The mistake actually loosened the mood into something warm and easy. First takes always went like this.
"NG!"
"NG!"
"Cut. Again."
"Retake."
But after that, it became a parade of NGs. How many was this already?
"Scene 8, Take 1-15."
This scene was being shot in seven cuts total. The one they were on now was the first cut — and this was the fifteenth retake. My insides were burning. Why… why did Master keep making mistakes? Was the pressure that bad?
Pronunciation, facial acting, blocking, emotional line — the performance itself wasn't just flat. Fatal little errors kept surfacing one after another. I worried about her mental state. If she got swept under here, everything would be for nothing.
"Cut. NG!"
Another retake.
"Ten-minute break!"
Reset time. I sprinted over to Master at once.
"Seoh-ah, eat some chocolate."
I'd dusted expensive chocolate with Red Salt.
"Thank you, Oppa."
Master smiled softly. This was usually the moment a manager was supposed to point out what was wrong and how to fix it. I had no idea. It wasn't that there was no problem — I simply couldn't tell what needed fixing to make it better. So an actor's manager needed an eye for performance. There was nothing I could do to help her right now.
Just on feel, her acting seemed like she was being chased by something. Like she was gasping under the weight of some obsession she couldn't let go. As if her mind were somewhere else entirely.
Director Gun Hyun-woo's face had gone sour. If it had been anyone but me, he looked ready to tear into Master with that ugly temper of his. Then someone approached him and whispered. A moment later, Director Gun spoke.
"Let's shoot other cuts first. Start with the ones Park Seoh-ah isn't in."
If the shoot didn't advance, the entire schedule slipped. Other actors sat around waiting longer, and what should take three hours stretched into ten. In cases like that, you pushed things back. They probably should have done it sooner.
"Rest and reset. It was so good — it's a shame. If only her real ability came out, everyone would be blown away."
"…Yes, Oppa."
There were too many people on a film set. Dozens — nearly a hundred — staring straight at you while you acted. Without serious guts, it was impossible. If she just managed her head, Master would push through this for sure.
I took her to the break room, got her water, ice, a blanket, whatever she needed. Once she seemed a little more settled, I headed for Director Gun. Worrying about Master's scenes could wait. Right now, what mattered was getting something that actually satisfied him.
Shooting was still on hold. Someone was still standing next to Director Gun — the same person who'd pushed to shelve Master's scene earlier. Director Young of Sky Music, one of the four major agencies. Manager to Oh Jihyeon, the rookie actress in a similar position to Master.
I waited for their conversation to finish. At last Director Young stepped away from Director Gun and came toward me. I was about to move past him toward the director when he brushed by my side and spoke — half under his breath, just loud enough to hear.
"Tsk tsk. Hopeless. What a waste of that face. Even robot acting would clear the average bar, and she can't even manage that."
Each word crisp and deliberate.
"Picked the wrong manager and ruined herself. A guy whose only skill is making coffee — how is that a manager?"