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Before leaving for the out-of-town location shoot, I thought:
“...Where am I supposed to start?”
When I appeared as an extra, I never had to worry about anything—from the car to the lodging, everything was arranged. But now I had to move separately.
“...Hair and makeup. What do I do.”
Since I didn’t have an agency, staff was the problem. How was I supposed to solve this.
“Would someone who works in the broadcast station makeup room... follow along with me? Or not?”
After thinking for a moment, I didn’t hesitate to contact Myeong Jeha.
—Staff? That’s what you’re worried about?
“Of course.... The only makeup artist I know is Director Dok Gogyeol, but I can’t ask her to travel with me! And I don’t even know how to find a makeup artist I’ve never met who’s available for travel.”
Even searching on X didn’t bring up anything like that. Then again, he had an agency from the beginning, so maybe he wouldn’t know these things either? I sighed and was about to give up, when Jeha said:
—Then try saying, ‘Please take care of it.’
“Yes! Please take care of it!!!”
From the other end of the line came a happy burst of laughter.
—From now on, just follow my instructions exactly.
In a voice sprinkled with amusement, Jeha told me what I needed to do.
“So then... those two will really come with me as staff?”
—I’m telling you, it’s real.
It was hard to believe, but for now, I just did exactly as Jeha told me.
* * *
Dok Gomin was counting the days until the semester ended. Summer. The perfect season for shooting in natural light. The blue sea, the crisp cool-toned sunlight, the green shades in between....
“Unni, I got booked for two shoots.”
How could this happen. It was all because of Dok Gomin’s overwhelming artistic eye. She had chosen her muse too well—so well ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) that the entire world seemed to have discovered her in less than half a year.
Dok Gomin slumped onto the studio floor in despair.
“Han Yeoreum’s twenty-year-old summer only comes once....”
And now she wasn’t going to capture it? Impossible. After working on the lily and moth orchid shoot last time, she had been planning a “summer peach” concept; tears welled in her eyes.
“For the location shoot, I’m playing a writer who moved to a rural village. They said I just have to act naturally, wearing comfortable clothes....”
While Dok Gomin sat blankly, Yeoreum’s words dug into her ears. Rural village. Comfortable clothes. Natural feeling.
A scene formed in Dok Gomin’s mind: Han Yeoreum in a white, airy T-shirt, hair tied up in a loose ponytail, faint peach-toned cheeks glowing in the sun, holding a sky-blue ice cream in her hand....
[Name: Dok Gomin]
Level: 57,000 followers
Title: The One You Can’t Drag Because Her Skill Is Too Good
Fame: D+
Artistry: A-
Right when Dok Gomin’s stats were about to sparkle—
“But I guess I probably won’t look good on camera for this one? There’s no salon near the shooting location.”
“? Why would that matter?”
“I don’t have an agency or staff, so... if it’s urgent, I guess I’ll have to go to a neighborhood beauty shop.”
A beauty shop.
The moment she heard that word, the beautiful scene in Gomin’s mind shattered to pieces. A crack split through the creative soul of an artist who wanted to shoot at any cost.
“Since Director Dok Gogyeol can’t come with me, I’ll just have to do my best on my own....”
Han Yeoreum’s pitiful, fragile beggar tactic—this time in a brand-new version—assaulted Gomin’s heart. She imagined Yeoreum touched by the hands of a beauty shop.
A stretched-out T-shirt with the Saemaeul Movement logo, frizzy perm, face slashed with heavy shading, Yeoreum basking in the sun while holding makgeolli....
“Aaagh!!!”
Dok Gomin bolted out of the room. Behind her, Han Yeoreum smiled.
* * *
Meanwhile, Dok Gogyeol was uploading a photo of Yeoreum to SNS. From the recent shoot where Yeoreum had glamorous makeup for her role as Influencer No.1 in <Law-Faster-than>.
“Even I think I nailed that color combination.... Good, good.”
She was daydreaming of the movie releasing soon, and everyone looking at Han Yeoreum and exclaiming, “As expected of Dok Gogyeol.”
Crash—!!! freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Dok Gomin burst in, panting, clearly not in her right mind.
“Unni. Unni unni unni. Travel job. You have to go on a travel job!!! You HAVE to go!!!”
Gogyeol replied dryly.
“How much?”
A true money-gremlin’s question always began and ended with numbers. Zero at the start, zero at the end.
Gomin rolled on the floor. Gogyeol didn’t even blink—she saw this every other day. And exactly three seconds later—
“AAAGH!!!”
Having received Gomin’s horrifying simulation of what Han Yeoreum would look like, Dok Gogyeol screamed too.
The shock was tremendous. Dok Gogyeol began to wilt. Money-gremlin Gogyeol had already invested in rookie Han Yeoreum by offering a 50% discount and a post-payment system.
“No. Absolutely not. Such terribleness....”
Gogyeol wavered. For the No.1 makeup artist of Cheongdam to follow a rookie on a travel job—just that alone made her image slip. And with no agency, it was obvious she would have to run errands and hustle.
‘My market value.... Do you know how long it took to raise....?’
Maintaining “being expensive” was also one of the duties of a No.1 artist. Gogyeol took a deep breath and calmed herself by thinking of money. While pinning her cousin to the floor with one foot, she thought of Han Yeoreum.
‘If I, Dok Gogyeol, follow a nobody rookie on a travel job... everyone will think I’m crazy.’
But views for <ParCheHi> were nearing seven million. The ALAB brand Yeoreum advertised hit No.1 on the Olive0 app.
‘In other words—’
Director Gong Mujin rewrote his script for Yeoreum, and rumors spread that industry money-king Jegal Rok was keeping an eye on her.
‘My discerning eye—choosing a future star while she’s still a rookie—will become legend!’
And so, money-gremlin Dok Gogyeol decided to go.
Thus, the utterly rookie actress with no agency, Han Yeoreum, secured Cheongdam’s No.1 makeup artist as her staff.
* * *
The first scene of the location shoot was arriving in front of the house, dragging a heavy suitcase. After checking the movement path once in rehearsal, we went straight into filming.
“Yeoreum-ssi—stand by!”
I took a deep breath. Exhausting, tiring life. The beginning of escaping from people who used me like a tool. I filled my eyes with the right kind of fatigue—leaving home early in the morning and arriving in a strange place.
“Take 1—!”
Clack— the slate echoed across the set.
“Ready, action!”
I heard Director So’s voice, and I gripped the handle of the suitcase tightly. So tightly the veins on the back of my hand stood out.
Rattle— rattle—.
The wheels of the suitcase scraped roughly across the unpaved road. I dragged a suitcase as big as my own body, struggling.
Reaching the point we had set for the movement, I stopped, looking tiredly at the door. Since this was a long take, I didn’t stop there.
I opened the gate and dragged the suitcase over the threshold.
Clang—.
The metal step caught the wheel. Calmly, I slipped the top of my foot under the bottom of the suitcase and lifted it, distributing the heavy weight.
And finally—
“Hoo....”
My space. A place where only I existed.
As if a bit of tension had lifted, I slowly relaxed the hand gripping the handle. My tired gaze shifted to one containing faint expectation.
“Cut—!”
Director So shouted from the monitor.
Only then did I turn my eyes to look at the filming team.
