Free Web Novel“Cut! Let’s do it again!”
The director’s irritated voice drew everyone’s attention on set.
That acting was... an NG(No Good)? Why?
“You can’t overshadow the male lead like that! Tone your acting down!”
“But, sir, the script says...”
The assistant director tried to defend Shin Yoomyeong, but quickly backed down under the PD’s glare.
“The script itself is a little strange, but... hmm. Still, you could’ve delivered the lines more softly instead of trying to overpower the scene.”
“Sir, I think his interpretation makes more sense too...”
It was Baek Seunghyo who stopped the PD.
This scene really was supposed to show Dojun being overshadowed by Bohyung, even if it was frustrating to be genuinely overpowered in practice.
The PD eased up slightly after Baek Seunghyo stepped in. Even he had to be mindful of Seunghyo, a popular star backed by Moon Yuseok.
“Well, if we’re not careful, the protagonist could end up looking pathetic. How are viewers supposed to sympathize with him in a drama like that?”
“He is supposed to seem a little pathetic at first, isn’t he? Dojun grows after meeting Hana.”
“Hmm... I don’t know, but if Seunghyo says so. You’ll be the one stealing the spotlight later anyway, right?”
“Of course, sir.”
Thanks to Baek Seunghyo’s support, the day’s shoot wrapped up.
But the same thing happened again the next day, and the day after that.
Every time Hana and Bohyung acted together, filming was delayed. Despite all the criticism, nothing changed, and the PD’s remarks only grew harsher. Still, they stubbornly repeated the scene over and over.
As the lead actress, Hana had it even worse.
“NG!”
“Cut—Again!”
“Cut! Cut! Cut!”
Shin Yoomyeong clicked his tongue.
She was the kind of actress who maintained a polite exterior while openly going head-to-head with the PD.
“She’s the type who makes life harder for herself.”
Actress Bae Okjin, who had been waiting nearby, shook her head as she watched the filming.
“Maybe she puts up with all of it because she’s the breadwinner.”
“The breadwinner? Harin?”
Yoomyeong looked surprised.
“Not in her family. At her agency. She’s staying loyal to that tiny struggling company, and she’s basically their only profitable star, so they work her to the bone. Just look at her ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) schedule. Even with all that chaos, she’s never late to set. She doesn’t know how to take the easy route.”
“I see...”
“She’s talented, pretty, and she’s built a reputation over more than ten years for being polite and hardworking. Plenty of agencies would jump at the chance to sign her if she ever wanted to move... But when I asked if she’d ever considered joining our company, she said she couldn’t betray the boss who supported her since she was young, and that leaving would destroy the agency.”
After hearing about Harin’s situation, Yoomyeong couldn’t find the words to respond.
It was a heavy burden for someone who was only twenty-two.
Was that why she had never managed to rise any higher in the industry?
“She may be younger than you, Yoomyeong, but there’s still a lot you could learn from her. It’s rare to see someone who grew up in the entertainment industry from such a young age and still turned out so grounded and polite. And despite everything, she’s genuinely passionate about acting. If she just had a good agency, she wouldn’t have to go through humiliating things like this.”
...
Her passion for acting, and the things beyond acting that kept holding her back.
Her struggles reminded him of his own past.
“Cut—Cha Harin, focus, please!”
“I’m sorry. I’ll do better!”
Watching her bow her head once again, Yoomyeong felt something stir inside him.
[I just got home. How did you know...?]
[I have a gift for you.]
[Another gift?]
[Check tomorrow morning’s paper. You’ll find it interesting.]
Yoomyeong had just returned home after filming through the night.
He was exhausted from constantly being nagged by the PD, and hearing about Harin’s situation had weighed heavily on him. He had been about to rest when his phone buzzed with a new message.
It was from Yuseok, whom he hadn’t heard from in a while.
{Who is it?}
‘Director Moon.’
{Ah, that interesting man. What did he say?}
‘He told me to check the newspaper.’
It was 4:30 in the morning.
He really should’ve been asleep already, especially since his call time the next day was noon. But curious about whatever Yuseok considered “interesting,” Yoomyeong decided to wait for the morning paper.
Thud—
About thirty minutes later, he heard the newspaper hit the front door.
Careful not to wake his family, Yoomyeong quietly stepped outside and picked up the Kyungdong Daily, his father’s favorite paper.
Flip—
As he skimmed through it, he inhaled sharply.
He had a feeling this was what Yuseok had found so “interesting.”
[Network PD Suspected of Habitual Marijuana Use]
Allegations had surfaced that a network PD had been habitually smoking marijuana. According to sources, Mr. J had been using marijuana since ’99 and continued purchasing it through various channels until recently. Drug abuse within the entertainment industry has long been a recurring issue, yet remains unresolved. Given the communal nature of marijuana use, there is also the possibility that other industry figures may be involved...
Seeing Yoomyeong frozen with the paper in his hands, Miho spoke up.
{What is it? Oh... Is this about PD Joo?}
‘It... looks like it...’
{Good riddance.}
‘What?’
Yoomyeong’s startled voice contrasted sharply with Miho’s calm tone.
{Imagine if this had happened in the middle of the drama. At least you managed to get rid of him now.}
‘Well, yes, but...’
{It’ll cause an uproar, but it’s for the best. The quality of the drama was already suffering with him as the PD. You must’ve felt suffocated too.}
...
{Looks like tomorrow’s shoot will be canceled. Get some proper rest.}
Having quickly reached her conclusion, Miho curled up again.
Yoomyeong sank into thought.
What kind of demon had dragged PD Joo into the mud?
Was it the criticism over failing to produce a hit for years? The darkness hidden beneath the glamour of the entertainment industry? Or simply how easy it was to give in to temptation?
Having spent so long living as an outsider within this world, Yoomyeong had seen many people fall prey to those demons.
And he knew the real demon always lived within a person’s own heart.
I won’t give in to it.
Yoomyeong carved that resolve into his heart.
The assistant director called sounding flustered, saying there had been some misunderstanding and that filming would resume once things were sorted out. But PD Joo never came back.
Two days later, they announced a replacement PD.
It was PD Bang Hak.
He was a young and promising director who had just returned after last week’s dramatic resolution of the PD strike.
Production decided to take a week-long break to reorganize before filming resumed.
Then Moon Yuseok called Yoomyeong.
This time, they met at an upscale Korean restaurant with a quaint garden and a shallow stream running through it.
“PD Joo was giving you a hard time the whole time, wasn’t he?”
Smiling, Yuseok poured him a drink.
“You should’ve told me earlier. Did you like the gift?”
Yoomyeong emptied the glass in one gulp before quietly replying.
“It wasn’t a gift for me. Wasn’t this something you planned from the beginning?”
Yuseok flinched slightly at the remark.
It wasn’t suspicion.
It was certainty.
“How did you know?”
“You even paid a penalty fee to move Baek Seunghyo onto this project. You must’ve either been certain it would happen or had the means to make it happen.”
That wasn’t the only reason Yoomyeong was so certain.
He had realized it after hearing that Bang Hak had been assigned to the drama. In his previous life, Bang Hak had been the PD of Showbiz Studies. Which meant Yuseok had tactically removed Joo Ilho at just the right moment back then too.
“Was it because of the PD strike?”
“Wow, that almost gave me goosebumps.”
The smile faded slightly from Yuseok’s face.
“The script was good, and it had a prime-time slot. If not for the rushed production schedule or the PD’s questionable credibility, the lead role probably would’ve gone to an A-list actor. So you took advantage of that opening and removed PD Joo the moment the strike ended, didn’t you?”
Yuseok remained silent for a moment, slowly sipping the drink in front of him.
He had thought Yoomyeong was just a kind and diligent person...
“Shin Yoomyeong, I had no idea you were this sharp.”
“But there’s one thing I don’t understand. The project Baek Seunghyo was originally attached to wasn’t bad either, so why move him to this one?”
“Hmm... Do you really want to know?” freewebnovёl.ƈom
“Yes. I prefer working with people I can trust.”
Yuseok paused briefly before answering.
“When people are in a hurry to cook a meal, it’s easy to undercook it. So they turn the heat up higher, especially when they’re starving.”
“...?”
“Both KBK and PD Joo were under pressure from multiple directions. That raised the stakes. That’s why they forced the writer onto the project, and why everything else—the broadcast slot, the staff, the promotional schedule—became far more rushed than usual.”
...
“Seunghyo is a decent actor, but under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been welcomed so gratefully. But having him ‘break another contract’ to join this drama significantly strengthened our position. And now that the PD has been replaced, the stage is finally set. That’s all.”
“...I see.”
Moon Yuseok was as frightening as ever.
He was not someone Yoomyeong wanted as an enemy.
“Last time, you gave me advice. May I say something too?”
“...Go ahead.”
“First, let me make one thing clear. I don’t like the way you talk as if you did all of this for me so I’ll feel indebted.”
At Yoomyeong’s blunt words, Yuseok let out a sigh.
“I never intended to use that debt for anything. I only wanted to show how much I expect from Shin Yoomyeong... No, that’s just an excuse. I apologize.”
Yuseok lowered his head slightly.
But Yoomyeong continued.
“I think the circumstances you mentioned probably did play a part... but in the end, you moved Baek Seunghyo onto this project because the script was genuinely good, and you removed PD Joo because he was getting in the way of a ‘good project.’”
After spending a month at Good Entertainment, Yoomyeong had come to realize things he never understood during his fifteen years lingering in the shadows of the industry.
Moon Yuseok was frightening, but that didn’t mean he treated actors like tools for making money.
When it came to business, he valued an actor’s career and body of work more than immediate profit.
For a moment, Yuseok was left speechless by Yoomyeong’s insight.
“Wrapping sincerity in efficiency is a bad habit. Eventually, people stop believing you even when you’re telling the truth.”
Caught off guard, Yuseok stared at him blankly for a moment before—
“Hahaha!”
He burst into loud laughter.
After laughing so hard tears gathered in his eyes, he finally spoke again.
“Ah, you really got me there. It’s been a long time since someone scolded me like that.”
A refreshed smile spread across his face.
“Ah... I hated the way ‘those people’ did things, and yet I ended up becoming the same. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
Then, refilling their empty glasses, he raised his own.
“But my support for actor Shin Yoomyeong is sincere. At least believe that.”
Clink—
Without a word, Yoomyeong tapped his glass against Yuseok’s.
The sound of the glasses echoed softly through the early autumn garden.
That day, they took one step closer to becoming “real colleagues.”
“Yoomyeong, did I forget to tell you the news at the end of August?”
“What news?”
“Oh... I thought I mentioned it, but I must’ve forgotten in the middle of the editing chaos. Our film was selected for the Busan International Film Festival.”
“What??”
Yoomyeong was stunned.
Director... I know you’re absentminded outside of production, but how could you forget something like this...?
“The festival’s already next week, and I’ll be heading down there... But since you’re in the middle of filming a drama, it might be hard for you to come, right?”
Apparently, he still had no idea about the PD drug scandal currently shaking the entertainment industry.
“I can go! I want to go too!”
And just like that, Yoomyeong’s trip to Busan was decided.
