Free Web NovelJegal Rok checked the investor list. In the office where the lights still hadn’t gone out at dawn, while everyone else slept, his dark gaze sank into an icy stillness.
“......”
There were quite a few faces he recognized, and others he had only heard rumors about.
Of course, none of it was generally for anything good.
Sweeping his indifferent gaze over the investor list, Jegal Rok estimated how much more JC ENM could invest.
“This much is nothing....”
Even if these little fry pulled out, JC ENM could cover the gap as much as it wanted.
In Jegal Rok’s judgment, Han Yeoreum would soon become a name that could be counted on one hand among the truly stable top names.
Because she was an actress anyone could love.
Han Yeoreum had immeasurable potential.
And with JC ENM—capable of handling production, investment, promotion, broadcasting, and exports all on its own—having taken charge of Han Yeoreum, losing to nothing more than some flash-in-the-pan star was....
“That makes no sense.”
By then, Jegal Rok noticed dawn breaking outside. It was about time the SBC Drama Bureau Director came to work.
Without hesitation, Jegal Rok picked up his phone and called him directly.
—Hello.
“Can you talk?”
As if he had known Jegal Rok’s call would come around this time, a small sigh came from the other end.
—...Go ahead.
“Is the casting change for 〈Unfair Trade〉 true?”
The answer did not come easily.
Sounding tired, Jegal Rok spoke again.
“You wouldn’t want a headache over actor issues throughout the entire broadcast run.”
—Is this some kind of threat....
“I’m simply notifying you of the facts. Before the hospitality scandal involving the person you’re trying to bring in breaks.”
Jegal Rok’s voice dropped lower.
There was no company better than JC ENM at stirring up attention. The SBC director seemed to pause, as if imagining just how spectacularly they could throw the subject of a scandal before the public.
But wrong was still wrong.
—If it’s not Noh Seungchan, then there won’t be any hospitality scandal headaches to deal with.
If the candidate was Myeong Jeha or Joo Junseo, that was a different story.
Jegal Rok played his next card.
“I assume you already know that 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 is scheduled to be produced by JC ENM.”
NetHolics would soon enter Korea.
After 〈Strange Tales〉 earned recognition for its CG and directing, JC ENM had taken on production for 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉.
In effect, JC ENM was the one opening the very first chapter of Korea’s OTT services.
“Your SBC productions should get onto NetHolics too.”
—If I refuse here, that sounds like I should interpret this as you planning to poison things on the NetHolics side.
“Surely... I wouldn’t do that.”
Jegal Rok leaned back into the soft chair and, without difficulty, laid out the conclusions he had drawn from analyzing the OTT market’s trajectory.
“In a few years, broadcasters’ replay services will disappear. NetHolics will make that happen.”
—.......
“When that happens, the problems SBC will have to face—our JC ENM side will solve them together with you.”
The disappearance of broadcasters’ replay services meant a radical transformation of the market.
Jegal Rok predicted that OTT platforms and broadcasting stations would become tightly linked and begin “simultaneous broadcasting.”
If that happened, it was easy to calculate just how much the JC ENM-affiliated production companies, backed by NetHolics—the platform that would have the greatest influence domestically—would grow.
Jegal Rok’s analysis would soon become reality.
The SBC director wasn’t ignorant of that either. His voice trembled slightly, as if shaken by Jegal Rok’s words.
—I’m sure you know this isn’t something I can decide on my own. There’s also the investor issue.
—Ah, that....
Confidence bled through Jegal Rok’s tone.
“Then tell them to pull out if they don’t like it.”
It was the attitude of someone who could fill the gap as much as he pleased.
There was only one thing he wanted.
Han Yeoreum in Han Yeoreum’s rightful place.
* * *
Because of that one thing Jegal Rok had said during his commute, the SBC director remained shaken all the way through lunch.
‘Replay services are going to disappear?’
Perfect stability would never exist in any industry.
Least of all here, in entertainment, where fluctuations were too extreme to even explain.
Go to sleep, and by the time you wake up someone has become a star while someone else has fallen into the abyss.
In a world changing by the second, the moment you lagged behind even a little, it was over.
‘NetHolics....’
The SBC director felt something strange.
‘Wait a second....’
The more he thought about it, the stranger it became.
Noh Seungchan’s side must have already run the numbers too.
‘That’s why he barged straight into the board Jegal Rok had already laid out.’
Just as Jeongdam had predicted, from anyone’s point of view there was no reason for JC ENM to throw itself this seriously into 〈Unfair Trade〉.
And for good reason: it wasn’t the kind of role that would make a female actress who was currently riding momentum toward the top feel desperate for it.
‘It’s just a supporting role in a crime drama....’
The SBC director recalled Han Yeoreum’s filmography so far.
Web drama, one-act special, action-comedy film, fusion historical drama, Daehakro theater, long-form historical drama, youth campus series, and....
‘Wait.’
Then he realized the source of that strange feeling.
‘No way?’
Han Yeoreum had never once appeared in a romance-driven project.
The SBC director hurriedly typed on his keyboard.
And then he saw the chilling result.
Never taking similar roles, minimizing image consumption, saving the romance card for later, and continuing to show her face in hit productions even without always being the lead.
“...They’re trying to raise her on the top male actor route...?”
Han Yeoreum’s filmography was the classic route to becoming the kind of top actor everyone dreamed of.
“No, no... that can’t be right.”
A female actress was still a female actress.
There was definitely a wall that could not be crossed.
No matter how much the times had improved, once female actresses got older, the number of works available to them disappeared to an absurd degree.
Advertisements and PPL were one thing, but there was no investor who would pour money in for the sake of a female actress alone.
No matter how top-tier she became, the money in this industry was still decided by male actors.
For female actresses, it was marketability over artistry.
“And yet....”
Jegal Rok knew that better than anyone.
And yet Han Yeoreum’s filmography felt like some kind of foreshadowing.
Suddenly, the SBC director remembered what Jegal Rok had said.
“In a few years, broadcasters’ replay services will disappear. NetHolics will make that happen.”
If that really became true, if the OTT market brought another upheaval, and if Han Yeoreum became the game challenger who not only broke past the narrow market but overturned the entire board—
‘Would a female actress still just be a female actress then...?’
The SBC director had no intention of abandoning the stability he insisted on.
The very fact that he had maintained stability in this industry was proof of his judgment.
He had never once failed in this dangerous tightrope walk.
So this time too, he had to make the stable choice.
* * *
After getting out of the car, I took a breath.
“Whew....”
The scent of wet grass seeped deep into my lungs. freewebnovel.cσ๓
This place, with its wide garden spread out before it, was a restaurant I never even knew existed in Seoul.
“Yeoreum, go do well.”
“Okaaay....”
“Don’t get intimidated!”
“There won’t be prices on the menu, right? If there are prices written down, I feel like I’ll start shaking the moment I see them.”
“...Yeoreum.”
Manager Choi got out of the car and gripped my shoulders as if they might shatter, silently urging me with her eyes.
Unni, for a commoner like me, just stepping into a place this grand is already stressful.
“I’ll guide you inside.”
As soon as I entered, a staff member in hanbok smiled at me.
I turned around and looked once more at Manager Choi.
Then the magic spell came.
“You still have plenty to do even without this! Right? Who are you?”
Yeah. Who am I? I’m Han Yeoreum.... Even without this....
No, but I really want this so badly.
“This way, please.”
I had come here after receiving a call from the SBC Drama Bureau.
〈Unfair Trade〉 was still under a casting embargo.
Shin Seojin’s side also hadn’t been able to release an official article yet.
They were worried that changing the supporting role’s gender would cause noise before it even started.
‘So let’s just keep going the way it was.’
I walked down the long corridor.
Once we reached the deepest room, the staff member stopped.
Knock, knock.
After two knocks on the paper sliding door, a voice came from inside.
“Yes.”
Slide—
The door opened, and at last I came face-to-face with the SBC Drama Bureau Director.
Director Park was seated there as well.
“Hello! I’m Han Yeoreum. It’s nice to meet you for the first time.”
“Come in.”
Following his words, I sat down beside Director Park.
Once the sliding door closed, the only sound left was the gentle murmur of pond water flowing outside the half-open window.
‘Wow....’
Even though Manager Choi had told me not to get intimidated, even though she had cast the magic spell of “Who are you?”—
“Sorry to call you out when you’re busy.”
—I still got overwhelmed.
If the KBC Drama Bureau Director felt like a hearty uncle, and the MBS Drama Center chief felt like a friendly high school homeroom teacher—
“Let’s eat first.”
Then the SBC director felt like an interviewer.
The gaze he fixed on me was sharp.
“I assume you already know there’s a bit of an issue with the casting for this project, right?”
“Yes.”
“Before I made the final decision, I figured I should at least talk with the director. So I gave him a call. And Director Park said this.”
With neat movements, the director picked up a slice of sashimi.
“He said I’d understand once I met you.”
I glanced sideways at Director Park.
Seeing the same gentle smile on his face made me relax a little.
‘As expected, Director Park is leaning toward my interpretation.’
It seemed the conversation we’d had that day at Eun Baekhap’s house still hadn’t reached the SBC director.
With perfect posture, he asked me,
“I hear that Lee Seohae won’t be complete unless it’s Han Yeoreum....”
“......”
“What exactly did you say to Director Park that made him this certain? Tell me too.”
The director set his chopsticks down on the table.
Then he laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them.
The real interview had begun.
“What kind of person is Lee Seohae, in your opinion? Why wasn’t she afraid of dying?”
“...Because it was an obvious fact.”
“An obvious fact?”
“Because everyone dies fairly someday, Lee Seohae likely cannot understand others who fear death. Rather, she probably finds those who cannot accept death—the thing they should naturally accept—pathetic... which is why Lee Seohae isn’t afraid to die.”
Lee Seohae still does not truly understand what kind of life Gam Seonghwan has lived.
She only infers it.
But there is a limit.
Why he throws his body around without caring for himself, why his eyes redden when he looks at victims’ bereaved families, why he says the people of the world are all his family.
That much, she cannot understand.
Why does he keep risking injury when it only makes him fall behind in promotions?
Why does he not rejoice at hearing thanks, but instead feel sorry?
How can strangers ever become blood family? frёeωebɳovel.com
Even though everything about it is incomprehensible—
“And she also throws herself in with that obvious fact as the premise.”
Lee Seohae throws herself into danger for Gam Seonghwan.
Most people, when they risk their lives, first make some sort of resolve before acting.
But Lee Seohae does not.
Because people die someday anyway.
As far as her plans are concerned, she can die ‘right now.’
If things go according to intention, then she can simply derive the correct answer from the result she herself created, so it means nothing to her.
“Lee Seohae «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» has no emotional response to death. The weight of life, regret, fear, remorse, things like that.”
“Hmm.”
The SBC interviewer gave a small nod.
Come to think of it, his strict expression seemed to have softened a little.
A Lee Seohae far more accustomed to observing others and grasping the facts of a case than understanding emotion.
My Lee Seohae resembles Do Gyeoul.
Since I drew her from a real sociopath, there was no way I would lose to Noh Seungchan in character analysis.
“And the action scenes? Everyone who argued for changing it to a male actor pointed that out.”
The SBC director threw me a short question.
“I’m planning to make use of surrounding objects.”
“For example?”
“A belt. Something used every day.”
The closest piece of metal, ideal for swinging at someone’s eyes from a distance, and if wrapped around the fist it gives an advantage in close combat too.
If I bring it out through object use like this instead of pure physical collision, the viewers can easily accept the awkwardness that would otherwise come from the difference in the actors’ builds.
“I see, hmm... yes....”
As if considering something, the SBC director picked up his clear glass of water.
After draining it in one go, he finally spoke.
“That’s how casting is. Things change in this line of work even after all the articles are already out.”
Did it fail? Even after all this, was it still not enough?
“Don’t be too disappointed.”
Was my Lee Seohae still not enough to change the SBC director’s mind?
I looked at him desperately.
“If you carry it in your heart while filming, the viewers will all know. Something like this is ordinary. I hope you’ll think of it that way.”
...Huh?
“Sorry for taking your time when you’re busy. You may go now.”
“I-I’m doing it?”
“Hmm?”
“You mean you’re not changing the casting, right? Right?”
My voice rose in volume before I even realized it.
My heart pounded.
“Of course.”
At last, I had passed the SBC director’s interview.
I shot to my feet and bowed deeply.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
It wasn’t taken from me.
I can become Lee Seohae.
“No need to thank me for that.”
A faint smile brushed across the SBC director’s lips.
