Free Web Novel“Ha....”
At least he wasn’t interrogating me like last time. I should be grateful for that.
After a short moment of thought, I nodded slightly.
“I know. But isn’t it just something I can fix by doing well?”
At my answer, I saw Myeong Jeha’s eyebrows lift a little. As if he hadn’t expected me to admit it so easily.
‘No point trying to get clever— it’ll only hurt me.’
This was my first lead role I’d finally gotten. I had no intention of letting it be taken away.
“You’re surprisingly confident. You weren’t that good though.”
So his stats are all higher than mine, is that it? Thanks to the ever-honest Myeong Jeha, my fist clenched again.
‘I really want to punch him once.’
Jeha stared at me for a moment as I glared at him, then casually smoothed down my hair, messy from running.
“Joo Junseo doesn’t have an ordinary personality. Don’t get close to him.”
He dropped that one line ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) and disappeared.
Left alone, I let out a hollow laugh.
‘Anyone is probably better than you....’
* * *
Han Taeyang stared out the window at the group holding cameras.
With how crowded it looked, something must have been going on.
A friend noticed his gaze and answered immediately.
“They’re filming some drama at our school? Heard it from the teachers’ office.”
“Oh... a drama.”
Taeyang nodded with a bored tone but didn’t look away.
“Oh, I heard the title. It was so weird I almost remembered it.”
At Taeyang’s reaction, friends standing around him began sharing all the rumors they half-heard.
“Hold on, I’ll ask the others.”
At their endlessly repetitive school, a drama shoot caused rumors to spread quickly.
After piecing together fragments, Taeyang’s friends finally got the correct information.
“〈The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine〉? It’s a web drama.”
A friend wandering near the window suddenly spoke up, as if remembering something.
“Come to think of it... didn’t you say your sister was acting?”
Taeyang grinned widely. His friends froze. Then they stared dagger-like at the guy who asked.
“Yeah. She acts. She’s crazy good.”
Taeyang tore his eyes away from the window and even met their gazes directly. Emboldened by the positive reaction, the clueless friend asked another question:
“How old is she? What school?”
The other friends silently formed X-signs with their hands. Meaning: Stop. Stop talking.
“Twenty. She got into DaeYeJong. You know DaeYeJong? Daehan Arts General University. Yeah. No way you haven’t heard of it. She’s not... academically great or anything, but she got in because she’s crazy good at acting. How long do you think she studied? Like half a year. I thought for sure that troublemaker would re-take the exam. Who the hell gets into DaeYeJong with half a year of prep? Seriously, right?”
But it was already too late.
“And when she went to the academy for like a month, she already got the hang of it? She’s not even the type with good memory, but she memorized pages of scripts like nothing. Ha, seriously... if she studied like that, she’d be amazing. She forgets chores at home all the time, you know? But acting lines? Never forgets a single one. Isn’t that wild?”
Thus began Han Taeyang’s unstoppable monologue about his sister.
“Oh, and by the way, she doesn’t have a signature yet, so don’t ask me to get one beforehand. Seriously. Okay? If you ask, I can get it, but don’t.”
The friend who had asked the initial question was forced to listen to an avalanche of Han Yeoreum information until one of his ears emotionally gave out.
* * *
At JC ENM headquarters, I wore a temporary access pass and arrived at the designated location.
〈The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine〉
Finally, it was script reading day. I’d literally had nightmares thinking Myeong Jeha might replace the lead at the last minute.
“But really... he didn’t mess with it....”
Worried I might get fired on the spot, I held onto my tension until the end.
‘I even came two hours early.’
Seeing a seat with my name on it helped me relax at last.
“Whew....”
I pulled out the script I had read countless times.
‘I already memorized all of it.’
It was only an eight-episode short drama. I quietly practiced one of the lines again.
“Friend? He’s probably not at this school anymore.”
My voice resonated softly through the roomy reading hall.
Since it was a small web drama, reporters weren’t here like during major script readings, which actually made me feel comfortab—
THUD!!!
—comfortable, my ass. A wave of unease washed over me.
‘What the hell was that?’ freewebnovёl.ƈom
I stood up and looked around.
“I said I don’t want to do it!”
Ah. Not here— next room. The soundproofing wasn’t great; the angry voice vibrated through the wall.
“Junseo, just calm down first....”
“Calm down? Do I look calm? Fine, I can accept not being on stage this season. It was my contract. Whatever. But you’re selling me off to some shitty kids’ drama?!”
Ah. I immediately knew who it was.
The male lead, Joo Junseo, was in the next room. Amazing lung capacity. Not a quiver in his voice.
“There’s a limit to treating someone like an idiot. You said it wasn’t happening! I asked and you said it was cancelled! And now what? I show up this morning and you say it’s back on?!”
“Junseo, we tried to change it for your image... you know the situation....”
“I don’t know shit! And tell me, how does this make any sense? F***, unbelievable.”
The manager’s weak attempts to calm him were instantly drowned out.
Junseo didn’t stop shouting for a second.
“So what if it won’t take long to film?! If I shoot this crap, my entire career I built is gonna go to hell!!!”
A loud crash followed— probably him shoving the table. Jeha had been right.
‘Joo Junseo really isn’t normal.’
From the sound of it, he’d been told it was canceled but was dragged here anyway.
‘Makes sense. He’s a big name....’
And they had him shooting a web drama like this.
‘Judging from the situation... higher-ups forced him into it.’
Nobody wants to be the first guinea pig in an experimental project.
They must’ve thought Junseo, with no real acting experience but solid teen popularity, was the perfect fit.
“I wanted to be a model, not a clown! I’m busting my ass trying to extend my career even by one year, and they think I’m a joke?!”
Then— silence. When Junseo stopped talking, the whole room stilled.
‘Is it over?’
I pressed my ear to the wall. I could hear him breathing heavily.
‘If he backs out now, we’re screwed.’
The drama investment could collapse altogether.
‘The male lead’s influence on a project is enormous....’
Most investors decide based on the male lead alone.
‘No! Absolutely not!!! My first lead role!!!’
I barely survived Myeong Jeha. Now the problem was Joo Junseo.
‘Should I go in and beg him right now...?’
While I was debating how to grovel effectively, I heard the manager crying.
“Hngh... Junseo....”
“What the hell— why are you crying? I’m the one who should cry.”
“I... I tried to stop it.... You know that. But they already began investment with you as the starting point... do you think they’ll just change it easily....”
“I don’t care. I said I’m not doing it.”
Then Junseo’s tone shifted. Still irritated, but now startled.
‘Good job, manager!’
Yes! Hold him down exactly like that! It wasn’t just me who sensed the shift— the manager sobbed louder.
“Junseo... if you walk out now, I’ll get fired....”
“What do you mean fired? Someone with your career could get hired anywhere, don’t use me as an excuse.”
“They... they said they’d assign me to Bang Munhwan....”
Bang Munhwan.
I slapped a hand over my mouth. The infamous troublemaker.
‘So they’re in the same agency?’
His reputation was legendary— the king of power abuse. Whenever extras talked trash at drinking tables, it was always about him.
Of course, he disappears a few years later, but right now he’s still a very successful actor.
‘Since this is his peak, his power-tripping must be insane.’
Junseo seemed to know that too— he hesitated.
“Junseo... please... save me just once....”
“Then— then you can just quit if they assign you to him! When I move agencies later, I’ll take you with me!”
“You know... how hard it is to fight JC in court... how would you take responsibility for me too.... Instead... maybe I could switch to Bang Munhwan’s manager team early to minimize the damage—”
The more desperate the manager sounded, the softer Junseo’s voice became. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
‘Wow. Didn’t expect that. He’s actually soft-hearted.’
Joo Junseo was like an iced Americano— cold, but warm underneath.
BANG—!!!
Another loud kick of a chair. Holding back his anger, he grumbled:
“...Tell them to revise my scenes. Damn it, give more scenes to the female lead or whoever. I’m not backing down any further.”
Holy shit. Joo Junseo. You’re actually a good person. Give more scenes to the female lead?
‘Thank you so much.’
If my part gets bigger, that’s only good for me.
