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A short while later, Yejun looked like he was on the verge of tears.
‘This is worse than sitting on a bed of nails, seriously.’
Having Teacher Lee Sooncheol seated there was intimidating enough, but then Director Kim Minsu and Writer Hong Jihyun also sat down at his table.
Worse still, Director Kim Minsu was sitting right next to him.
In a way, it made sense.
Teacher Lee was seated across from them.
No matter how you looked at it, this was not a place for a rookie nobody in a supporting role.
Just as Yejun tried to subtly stand up, Su-il held out a bottle of soju.
“Have a drink.”
“Ah—yes!”
I’ll just take this one drink and then get up.
If I offend the wrong senior, I’m done for.
He quickly turned his head, downed the shot, and poured one back for Su-il.
Once he drinks, I’ll stand.
He was carefully timing his escape by watching Su-il lift his glass, when suddenly Teacher Lee spoke to Su-il.
“Hey, Su-il.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Su-il put his glass back down.
There goes my timing again.
“You still drink a lot these days?”
“Hehe, you know me.
Don’t worry—I don’t drink much once shooting starts.”
“It’s your health I’m worried about.
Don’t overdo it.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
What the—
At Teacher Lee’s words, Su-il completely took his hand off the glass.
What do I do now?
Can I just stand up anyway?
As Yejun hesitated and finally rose from his seat, Su-il asked,
“Where are you going?”
“Ah, the restroom.”
“Oh, right.
You know where it is, yeah?”
No, he didn’t.
But that wasn’t the point anyway.
“Yes, hyung.”
“Alright.
Go on.”
He slipped out of the party hall.
After loitering awkwardly by the stairwell outside, he peeked inside and saw that the cinematographer had already taken his seat.
Phew.
Perfect.
Now I can sit somewhere else naturally.
He scanned the room.
There were still empty seats, but sitting there would draw attention.
Yeah… there.
Let’s go to the detectives’ table.
Aside from Jihoon and Jisoo, who played major and supporting roles, the rest of the detective-role actors were basically glorified extras.
That fit his level perfectly.
He bowed slightly and quietly pulled out a chair at their table.
The actors there—who had been sitting around awkwardly among themselves—looked at him.
“Hello.”
“Oh!
Hello.
You’re the one playing Zhang Wei, right?”
Yes.
This is much more comfortable.
One of them was an actor he’d seen before in another drama.
The other two were unfamiliar—probably rookies or long-time unknowns.
Just in case Su-il spotted him, Yejun kept his head low while chatting quietly with them.
As expected, conversation flowed better here.
They were close in age, too.
As they finished introductions, food arrived.
Once the hall filled to about half capacity, the catering staff began moving in earnest.
Seeing that Su-il still hadn’t noticed him, it seemed he’d been forgotten.
Of course.
Who am I to be looked after at a place like this?
We only drank together once.
Just then, Jihoon—the lead actor—entered with Jisoo.
Unlike the others, their entrance was loud and flashy.
“Hello, seniors!
Hello!”
“Hello, seniors~ You all arrived early~”
They were carrying armfuls of gift sets from Daehwa.
Even their managers’ hands were full.
They went around distributing gifts to the director, writer, and actors.
Daehwa’s gifts were clearly elevating their status.
Must be nice.
Having your company do stuff like that.
Jihoon glanced at his seat, stiffened, then moved on to another table.
Jisoo came over instead, holding out a gift set.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you!”
“Yejun oppa, you’re here?
I have one for you too.”
She handed him a holiday gift set packed with Spam, sesame oil, and tuna.
“Whoa, even for me?”
“Of course.
We brought one for every cast member.”
The day I’d receive Daehwa’s gift as an outsider has finally come.
And perfect timing—his apartment only had ramen.
Side dishes secured for a while.
Yes.
This has to be worth over fifty thousand won.
Daehwa really does have money.
There were over a hundred people total—actors and staff included.
Handing out gifts to all of them?
That took guts.
Just then, someone tapped him on the back.
Yejun turned, eyes widening.
“Manager Kim Sunwoo?”
“……”
Manager Kim looked at him with complicated eyes.
Yejun stood and bowed.
“It’s been a while.
Have you been well, sir?”
“Not at all.”
“……”
“I’ve been getting chewed out nonstop because of you.”
What did I even do?
Was it because of what happened at the script reading?
That wasn’t something he’d caused.
Manager Kim gestured with his eyes.
“Come with me for a moment.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim led Yejun outside the building and lit a cigarette.
“You still don’t smoke?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.
A lot of guys pick up bad habits the moment they leave a company.
You did well.”
Kim blew out smoke, stalled for a moment, then looked away and spoke casually.
“You haven’t joined another company yet.”
“No.
I’m still on my own.”
“Want to come back to ours?”
“…..?”
“The CEO wants you back.”
Am I insane?
Go back to Daehwa?
Swearing almost burst out of him, but Manager Kim wasn’t someone who’d treated him badly.
He hadn’t taken special care of him—but he’d never looked down on him either.
“I’m sorry.”
“…Hah.”
Kim exhaled smoke and sighed.
“It’s a re-signing, so I’m not asking you to come back for free.
We’ll give you a signing bonus of thirty million won.”
“…..”
Thirty million won.
The deposit for his semi-basement apartment was three million.
This was ten times that.
Nine years ago, they hadn’t offered him a single won.
Yeah… still no.
Kim shook his head after seeing Yejun’s expression.
“Don’t answer right away.
Think it over.
There aren’t many companies like ours in this industry.”
That much was true.
Daehwa was a top-three agency.
That was why he’d been tempted back then, too.
“…..”
Just then, someone suddenly leaned in from behind.
“Manager Kim Sunwoo?”
Kim saw who it was and hurriedly stubbed out his cigarette, bowing deeply.
“Good evening.
CEO Park Jung-woo—what brings you here?”
CEO?
Must be someone important.
Yejun bowed reflexively.
Park Jung-woo glanced at him, then broke into a wide smile.
“Oh?
Actor Ma Yejun?”
…Huh?
How does this guy know me?
We’ve never met.
Park held out his hand.
“Nice to meet you.
I’m a fan.”
“A… fan?”
“Yes.
I just came from watching The Killer’s Diary.”
“Oh.”
Wow.
Talking to a complete stranger who’s seen my film for the first time…
It felt awkward.
And embarrassing.
“Thank you.”
“This is who I am.”
He handed over a business card.
Yejun’s eyebrow twitched when he saw the company name.
“SU E&M?
Don’t tell me—”
“Haha.
Looks like you’ve heard of us.”
He hadn’t known the company before Jeonghwan mentioned it, but after hearing it was Wooju’s agency, he’d looked it up.
They had quite a few well-known supporting actors, even if no top leads.
“Oh.
I’m a fan of Wooju.”
“Oh?
Really?
Wooju—he says he’s your fan.”
Park turned around.
From the alley behind them, an unbelievable face appeared.
“Hehe.
Really?”
Holy crap.
Wooju is actually standing right in front of me.
A singer with over twenty number-one hits.
An actress whose acting improved every year.
A global K-pop favorite.
Jackpot.
She’s insanely pretty.
She wasn’t tall or glamorous like some actresses.
Small, delicate.
But unbelievably pale, doll-like.
Her eye-smile was dazzling.
Is this a dream?
Other actors were stars too—but none compared to Wooju.
She was a real star.
And she was smiling right at him.
“Oppa.”
Oh no.
Wooju just called him oppa.
Yejun choked, coughing violently.
“Cough—!
Cough!
I—I’m sorry!”
She laughed.
“Sorry.
I came on too strong, didn’t I?
Calling you oppa might be a bit much—we just met, right?”
“…..”
“Then what should I call you?”
“…You know me?”
“Yes.
I watched The Killer’s Diary twice.”
“What?”
Wooju watched my movie?
Twice?
His face flushed, heat rushing up.
Manager Kim stepped in.
“CEO Park.
Miss Wooju.
What brings you here?”
Park smiled calmly.
“Oh, don’t worry.
We’re not here to interfere with Daehwa.
We just came to see Senior Su-il.”
“Ah, I see.”
“We can go up, right?”
“If you have an appointment with Senior Su-il, I can’t stop you.”
“Thank you.
Actor Ma Yejun—shall we go up together?”
Yejun glanced at Manager Kim.
Kim spoke as if resigned.
“Think carefully about what I said.
Call me later.”
“Yes, sir.”
Feeling oddly relieved to escape an uncomfortable situation, Yejun followed Park up the stairs.
Beside him, Wooju climbed as well.
Wow.
She’s really beautiful.
How could someone look like that?
She wasn’t conventionally perfect.
Her nose seemed a bit low, her body almost too slender.
But she radiated a charm no one else could imitate.
When they entered the hall, all eyes turned toward them.
Of course they did—Wooju was there.
From the far end, Su-il raised his hand high.
“Oh!
My puppy daughter’s here~!”
“Daaad~~~!”
Wooju ran over and hugged him.
She was twenty-five, apparently—but her aegyo was no joke.
After greeting Su-il, she immediately bowed to Actor Lee.
“Hello, Senior.
I’m Wooju.”
“Oh, yes.
I enjoy your songs.
Your acting’s quite good too.”
“Thank you!
Hearing that from you gives me so much strength!”
“Heh.
You even speak cutely.
So—you came to see Su-il?”
“Yes!”
“Alright.
Good to see you.
Let’s meet again sometime.”
“Thank you, Senior!”
The room was packed, so Su-il took Wooju’s hand and searched for a seat, calling out loudly,
“But where the hell did that punk Yejun go?
Did he drown in the bathroom or something?”
Eyes turned toward Yejun, who was carefully sneaking back toward the supporting actors’ table.
Su-il spotted him frozen mid-crawl, grabbed Wooju’s hand, and shouted,
“Hey!
Yejun!
Wooju came to see you!
Get over here!”
The room erupted in shocked murmurs.
Among them, Jihoon sat in the lead actors’ seats, glaring daggers at Yejun.
‘That bastard again!’
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