Chapter: 110
—
Lee Sang-soo was an earnest actor.
He didn’t want to brush off the connection made through Star Fisher lightly.
The reason was simple:
“Director Jo Bang-woo’s film.”
The director Jo Min-tae, who formed a bond with Seoyeon during their childhood, was his father.
The film would start production early next year.
Seoyeon wanted to co-star in that film alongside Lee Sang-soo.
“Director Jo Bang-woo’s film is definitely not one of those movies that just flop.”
The investment looks decent, and Director Jo is putting everything he has into this, thinking of it as his last shot.
It’s an uncommon disaster film.
The material is somewhat fresh, and the protagonist has quite a charm… or so it was evaluated later.
But…
“Tomorrow, episode 14 of Dream Future airs.”
“Oh, really?”
“It’s the last episode where I properly appear as Jo Ha-rin.”
In essence, this was the episode where Song So-ha competes against Jo Ha-rin for the finals.
There, Song So-ha beats Jo Ha-rin and advances to the finals.
“I hope you’ll definitely watch it.”
“Of course I will. To be honest, I recently caught up and it was decent enough.”
That “decent enough” was a big compliment coming from him.
After all, Dream Future was completely out of his league.
He was purely watching it to appreciate Seoyeon’s performance.
“And…”
Seoyeon hesitated a moment, unsure if she should say something more.
But she quickly shook her head.
“Trying to convince him verbally will just result in him tuning me out anyway.”
Sang-soo was in a state where he had almost detached himself from acting.
What remained was just the ember of nostalgia.
Seoyeon realized that igniting it was the first step.
“I hope we get to meet again later.”
“Ah, of course. If you feel like fishing again, just let me know.”
“Oh, Senior. Fishing is something only uncles like us enjoy.”
“No, why? Seoyeon, you’ve got talent!”
As she observed the conversation of the “uncles,” Seoyeon subtly shifted her gaze.
To a young man who was barely managing his expressions in the lively atmosphere.
—
“Joo Ji-woo, you acted well today.”
Shim Cheong-seok complimented as he patted Pyo Ji-woo’s shoulder.
They could leave the theater feeling not too bad after the performance.
“But I think it’s better to diversify your acting styles? Right now, it’s all just one hue.”
“Y-yeah, I’ll try harder.”
“Right, right. You’ve got talent, so you’ll pick it up quickly.”
Pyo Ji-woo sighed.
At the very least, with Cheong-seok only saying this, it meant he was satisfied with today’s performance.
If he didn’t like it, he’d usually ramble on for two or three hours.
“Ah, and.”
Just when Pyo Ji-woo thought it was over, Cheong-seok spoke again, as if he remembered something.
Wary of another word, Pyo Ji-woo stiffened.
“You’ve got someone waiting for you, so you’d better hurry.”
“Me?”
Someone’s waiting for me?
This is a strange thing to say when Pyo Ji-woo had a quite limited social circle.
Anyone looking for him would be…
“Hello.”
“……”
Joo Seoyeon.
The girl who almost got him into trouble was waiting outside the theater.
Unlike the uniform he had seen before, she was now dressed in a refreshing summer uniform.
“So…”
Moving to a nearby café, Pyo Ji-woo gazed at Seoyeon.
As stunningly beautiful as ever, striking a chilling chord.
“What’s going on out of the blue?”
Her calm gaze settled on him.
Honestly, even Pyo Ji-woo, who usually had good guts, felt a bit startled under her stare.
“Was that Chae Seo-ah?”
She appeared in Dream Future, or so they’d said, but he hadn’t watched it.
At the very least, he had seen her in The Chaser.
Pyo Ji-woo rather enjoyed thrillers, so his impression of Seoyeon’s acting from that movie was intense.
Maybe that’s why the image of Seoyeon sitting across from him felt extra heavy.
Why was she looking for him anyway?
“She’s been doing quite well lately, hasn’t she?”
With The Chaser and Dream Future, and now gradually making a name for herself through Star Fisher.
Because of that image, even Shim Cheong-seok seemed inclined to step into the entertainment scene, or at least that’s how it felt to Pyo Ji-woo.
“Pyo Ji-woo, sis.”
“Uh, uh.”
“How do stalkers usually target their victims?”
“?”
Why are you asking me that?
Sure, he had followed Min Seo-ho for a bit, but…
“I don’t really know about that psychological stuff; I’d rather ask an expert for advice.”
“I-I’m not exactly a stalker, you know?”
“?”
Seoyeon looked at Pyo Ji-woo with confusion, as if saying, “What are you even talking about?”
Pyo Ji-woo felt aggrieved.
He just wanted to act with her, and he tried to join the play she was part of, out of pure intention.
But he never followed Min Seo-ho around to study his every move.
“Am I a mild-mannered stalker?”
Seoyeon thought, glancing at Pyo Ji-woo.
Now that she thought about it, he was probably late to realize the extent of Min Seo-ho’s influencing on the scene.
But it was a bit overboard to simply say he was determined to act.
“We might think differently since we’re pros.”
Seoyeon thought but brushed that aside.
After all, she wasn’t really in a position to give advice, was she?
“Uh, uh. Usually, they tend to research places they frequently visit…”
This was pretty basic stalking behavior that Seoyeon could easily recognize.
“And?”
“They also try to get friendly with related personnel to gather intel.”
One of the first things is getting their phone number.
If it changes, they figure it out sharpish and text, “Hey, your number changed, didn’t it?”
“After trespassing, they might steal a seal to file a marriage registration form… or even throw their body onto a moving celebrity’s van.”
“…….”
“Ah, no! I didn’t do that!”
“Not like that, huh?”
Seoyeon narrowed her eyes at Pyo Ji-woo.
Well, he definitely knew something.
Anyway, the information Seoyeon was gathering from Pyo Ji-woo was about stalkers trailing celebrities.
Those so-called ‘sasaeng fans’.
The very kick-off that led Thunderst to its tragic ending.
“It’s not just the sasaengs that are problematic, though.”
She remembered Liam from earlier.
An idol who was completely drained of energy.
That was proof that the agency hadn’t cared much either.
Thunderst.
Sasaeng fan attacks.
Conflicts between members.
Such thoughts danced through Seoyeon’s mind.
Liam.
Kim Ho-seung.
She didn’t know the idol names, but knew their real names.
Eventually, everyone transitioned from idol life to acting careers.
And they did so quite impressively.
“But it took quite a while to get there.”
She remembered about a few months before her previous life ended — seven years seemed too far.
“Whatever it is, don’t meddle with stuff like that.”
Pyo Ji-woo remarked, watching Seoyeon get lost in thought.
Given his previous experience with her, he couldn’t help but be worried.
“Actually, we’re short on actors right now.”
“Yeah?”
Seoyeon didn’t elaborate further, and Pyo Ji-woo didn’t ask either.
After all, there was no point in saying more.
“After Hwang Min-hwa left, Nova Entertainment has been wobbling around for a bit.”
She didn’t need to fill that void herself but hoped for at least one talented actor to come around.
The bigger Nova Entertainment got, the more opportunities she’d have for future projects.
More than anything, in her previous life, Nova Entertainment barely made it to a secondary level.
“If I’m going to do this, I might as well aim for the top tier.”
Seoyeon chose Nova Entertainment for a reason — she knew she could eventually elevate it to the top.
In that sense, it was much better to have a say in Nova than at a company like RY Entertainment.
“At least to that level, if not higher.”
Seoyeon’s ambition ran hot.
—
“You sit tight. It’s dangerous.”
“No way!”
“I’ll find out, just wait right here.”
“Fine, I’ll wait.”
In any case, having heard Seoyeon’s words, Pyo Ji-woo decided to step in and stay put.
It was probably better to have a professional handle this rather than a rookie like him.
“After all, nothing’s immediately blowing up.”
At least there was still a bit of time.
Perhaps there was something he misunderstood.
This kind of situation should be handled with caution.
Besides, perhaps he wasn’t aware of something.
“This here is a wooden sword.”
“?”
“If someone stabs with a steel knife, they’ll be dead.”
“A wooden sword could still kill you! Wait, no, I’m not thinking about fighting!”
Well, he figured Pyo Ji-woo would manage that just fine on his own.
Even if he faced a sasaeng fan, he wouldn’t lose holding a sword.
With those thoughts, he went to the convenience store he usually visited on Tuesdays.
“……?”
The cashier’s reaction was different from usual.
For a while, probably due to The Chaser, his pupils seemed to shimmer whenever Seoyeon appeared.
“Oh, hello.”
The attitude had strangely softened.
Suddenly, there was a desire to engage in polite conversation.
And it was similar at school.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“You’re here early again?”
It was rare for classmates to greet Seoyeon.
Should he go ask Lee Ji-yeon for the reason? Just as he was thinking that —
“Yesterday’s Dream Future was awesome! I was rooting for you to win; it was such a bummer.”
The class president, Gil Da-hyun, remarked brightly.
At that instant, Seoyeon realized.
“Oh, it’s because of episode 14 of Dream Future that aired yesterday?”
An episode where Jo Ha-rin competes against Song So-ha.
Excluding the ending, it was the final episode where Seoyeon appeared in Dream Future.
She had been content just to uplift the image of Chae Seo-ah.
Yet it drew a much larger reaction than Seoyeon had expected.
“……A drama OST project?”
It surprisingly took a turn Seoyeon hadn’t anticipated at all.
—
“Ah, that blasted Dream Future.”
Kim Il-su, a drama director, sighed heavily as he carelessly tossed aside the materials received that day.
With Dream Future achieving significant success as a “youth drama,” KMB seemed eager to replicate that with a similar piece.
They planned to have the rookie writer, Min Se-hee, pen the script.
However, Kim Il-su wasn’t thrilled about this situation at all.
He was never one suited for mushy dramas like Dream Future.
Most of the dramas he shot were cynical with a social critique element.
“Are they really going to cast a high school student again? Dream Future was just lucky.”
He had a mountain of things he wanted to say.
Yet it seemed the higher-ups at the drama department were quite fond of that girl.
“Joo Seoyeon, was it…”
That young actress who had been in various issues lately.
She certainly had qualities that caught the interest of the higher-ups.
“Episode 14, right? She’s out by today.”
He was planning to binge-watch all the missed episodes of Dream Future.
He had only watched up to episode 4 so far.
The first episode was okay, but after that, it didn’t hold anything substantial.
Thus, he had stopped watching after episode 4.
But now, with a potential actress for the drama he was going to shoot, Garden in the Sky, he figured it was best to check it out.
They’d already mentioned a positive review of casting her…
“Let’s see what it’s like.”
Stowing away the intense image of Chae Seo-ah from The Chaser, he calmly began watching Dream Future.
Until the next morning when the sun rose,
he didn’t take a single break.
—
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