Free Web NovelThe little bastard calling out to Eun Baekhap from the edge of the horizon had somehow already reached right in front of her.
No, looking closer—
the little bastard wasn’t running.
She was fly?ing? toward her?
With her arms spread open like she wanted a hug?
How was this even possible?
“Ah, fucking hell. A nightmare.”
Eun Baekhap narrowed her innocent-looking eyes.
Right now she was grinding through schedules while spinning endlessly between flights, which made her even more sensitive than usual.
After the massive pan-Asian success of 〈The Great Garland〉, Eun Baekhap had scheduled solo fan meetings across eight countries.
Even at a fairly large scale, every seat had sold out.
Because she insisted on changing the program composition every single time, between vocal practice and foreign-language study, Eun Baekhap’s head had been pounding nonstop.
“Unniii... I’m sorryyy.... I didn’t know the sound was unmuted....”
“Want to die? Turn it off.”
Eun Baekhap snapped at the coordinator sitting in front of her.
As she glared at the coordinator hurriedly pressing the sound button, she tilted her head.
‘But fucking weird.’
The sound had been way too realistic for something that appeared in a dream.
“What are you watching.”
“It’s a movie trailer.”
“So what movie. Don’t make me drag answers out of you.”
“It’s a Disney animation called 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉.... Are you interested too, unniii...?”
Eun Baekhap crossed her arms with a bored look.
“Why would I care if I’m not starring in it.”
“You could appear in one someday toooo....”
“Quit your bullshit. What acting in animation.”
“Han Yeoreum appeared in it though....”
The moment the little bastard’s name came out, Eun Baekhap’s eyes sharpened again.
The boredom vanished from them instantly.
“What kind of bullshit are you talking about.”
“That just now, it was Han Yeoreum’s voice.... She did the dubbing....”
The coordinator deliberately adjusted the sound button again and rewound the video.
A colorful screen appeared, then a rabbit, and then a flying squirrel.
-Unniii~!
Eun Baekhap finally realized the source of her nightmare.
Not long ago, Eun Baekhap had lost the hanbok ambassador position to some fucking piece-of-shit motherfucker.
“What the fuck is this supposed to be?”
When she heard the news, Eun Baekhap had exploded in rage, but there was nothing she could do.
“Baekhap.”
“What.”
“You’re the top star.”
“Well obviously.”
“They said they could bring in two people for the price of hiring just you, so what are we supposed to do about it?”
The hanbok promotion foundation had basically used the strategy of, “Eun Baekhap is way too top-tier but we’re poor little beggars ㅠㅠ sowwy.”
“So which fucking assholes got it instead?”
“Do Gyeoul and, uh... your younger version....”
“My younger version?”
It was the little bastard.
Eun Baekhap remembered the days filming 〈The Great Garland〉. Remembered grinding her teeth because she wanted to crush the little bastard and secure the hanbok ambassador position.
Even though Eun Baekhap had somehow managed to obtain and wear the Park Sulhwa brand skirt for the final episode, strangely enough, she no longer felt that bitter about it now.
‘No, fuck it. It’ll come back to me later anyway.’
It was a position Eun Baekhap could claim anytime she wanted eventually. Naturally, there wasn’t much lingering regret.
After being reminded of the little bastard again, Eun Baekhap muttered once more.
“Ah, fuck.”
“She’s cute though.... Han Yeoreum’s dubbing was way better than expected toooo....”
“Cute my ass. When’s it releasing?”
“I knew you’d be interested toooo.... I just knew it.... You always pretend not to care, but secretly you totally like this kind of thing....”
“Shut your mouth.”
“How am I supposed to tell you the release date if I shut up.... You dummy.... Anyway, it already released in America and Northern Europe, and Korea gets it in Mayyy....”
Staring at the coordinator who suspiciously knew far too much about the release schedule for 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉, Eun Baekhap spoke in a solemn voice.
“If you go watch that movie in theaters, you’re dead.”
“Ah, unniii...!”
“That kind of thing gets released on VOD eventually. And if you pay for the dubbed version, you’re dead too. Watch subtitles only. I’ll check.”
“It looks fun though... they said Han Yeoreum even did the whistle part herself.... My friends are all excited toooo....”
“You looked all this up? Whose career are you monitoring right now? An Eun Baekhap coordinator? Fucking hell, so it’s natural when your unni works herself to death, huh? You don’t care about that at all? Life comfortable these days?”
“Unni... your character persona is slipping more and more.... What if someday around the other staff you accidentally let out something like, ‘That bastard’s face looks like an omakase special, the eyes, nose, and mouth all came from different chefs’...?”
Eun Baekhap shut her mouth.
Then after taking a deep breath, she elegantly curled up the corners of her lips into a smile.
“Sweetie... if you go watch that, I really won’t let it slide.... Hehe.... Understood?”
Only then was the public-facing, pure-and-innocent Eun Baekhap complete again.
Though the core remained exactly the same.
The coordinator, who had suddenly been banned from watching the movie she had been looking forward to, clutched her phone in despair.
‘Hmph. Instead of acting properly she’s poking around dubbed animations. And she’s not even the lead.’
Once her overseas fan meeting schedule ended, Eun Baekhap planned to move on to her next project.
Mainly to tighten discipline around the increasingly relaxed little bastard again.
* * *
Spring had truly arrived now....
“Huu....”
〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉, 〈Codename: Time Seven〉, 〈Dongdaemun Romance〉....
I opened the window and enjoyed the air of a springtime actress whose career now had three upcoming dramas already lined up.
“Yeoreum, we’re almost there now-. Let’s fix your bangs.”
I rolled the window back up and turned my face forward.
Soon I’d have to stand in front of flashing cameras again....
Even if I was exhausted from schedules, it was basic courtesy not to show that side of myself to the public and to <Summer Day>.
‘This must be the duty of an actress currently at the very peak of her market value.’
It was my first time seeing reporters again since the 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 script reading, so I was a little nervous, but I’d do fine.
Click-.
The car door opened, and I stepped out wearing an airport fashion look that had now become familiar to me.
‘Reporter Wi is here again today!’
The moment I saw a familiar face, I instantly relaxed. I smiled brightly and waved my hand.
At the same time, the clicking sounds exploded around me.
“Miss Yeoreum, cheek poke! Just one cheek poke!”
“Please look left-!”
The memory of getting torn apart at the 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 reading venue now felt far away. Cameras really did make me happy after all.
At the loud clicking of giant camera shutters, even passersby started pulling out their phones after spotting me.
“Oh my god, Han Yeoreum.”
“It’s Han Yeoreum.”
I bowed politely toward them too.
Everyone, please write lots of real-life Han Yeoreum sighting posts.
“How have you been lately? Busy?”
“Yes. Writer Hwang’s project is almost done with pre-production now, so I think we’ll probably see each other at the next reading session.”
“Already? That’s really fast.”
“Right? I think once I return to Korea this time, we’ll probably start immediately.”
Even after entering the airport, I continued chatting with the reporters who followed alongside me.
Since I currently had more upcoming projects than any other actress in her twenties, lots of people wanted material for articles.
“How did filming for 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 go?”
Not long ago, I had finally escaped from the set where Do Gyeoul was.
Thankfully my filming period had been short because my screentime was limited.
Worried it might become a spoiler, I simply smiled and nodded instead of answering.
Right now I was on my way to film 〈Faster Than the Law 3〉.
I was finally going to Macau for overseas location shooting.
“You little pony!”
“You’re here?”
As I headed toward the lounge, Senior Kwak Cheolsik and Senior Yun Hyeonjo were already sitting there.
Had Senior Kwak Cheolsik bulked up again recently? Even from a distance, he seemed to completely ignore the concept of perspective.
“Eat some snacks.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey, I’m dying lately because of you.”
What did that mean? I looked toward Senior Kwak Cheolsik.
“My daughter keeps replaying it so much that I memorized the trailer at this point.”
“Oh my... how adorable.”
He seemed to be talking about 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉.
I could already see my future as the next national children’s superstar, surrounded by swarms of kids.
“Hey. What’re you eating?”
Joo Junseo arrived late.
He looked exactly like the villain from the double-ten-million-hit movie 〈Faster Than the Law 3〉.
His entire appearance radiated determination not to let even a single 기사 photo come out badly.
“Senior, you really dressed up today.”
I was also wearing perfectly cute airport fashion armed with Shin Seojin’s lucky color for the day....
But I was definitely going to get overshadowed by Joo Junseo.
“Enough. What would you know? And if you waited, wouldn’t someone naturally buy something for you eventually? Couldn’t even hold out and already picked up weird snacks.”
“Hey brat. I’m the one who gave her those.”
“...Sorry.”
While Joo Junseo rolled his eyes at Kwak Cheolsik’s comment, Yun Hyeonjo beside him stood up.
“Time to go now~.”
At last, it was finally time to depart for Macau.
For the filming of 〈Faster Than the Law 3〉, which would become my third triple-ten-million-viewer hit.
* * *
Yun Hyeonjo swiftly secured the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) seat beside Han Yeoreum.
Because—
“You prepared properly for avoiding hitting her face, right? Huh? If I accidentally graze it, I’ll feel guilty enough to lose sleep.”
“...Yes. I practiced a lot.”
“Good. It takes serious courage for me too to throw punches at a face like this. Hey. Do you put some kind of serum or something on your eyelashes?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Right, clench your fist once. Depending on the angle you raise it, there’s a whole cool-factor thing that either lives or dies, y’know? You still don’t get it yet, right?”
Sitting beside Kwak Cheolsik was simply too inefficient.
Offering silent condolences to Joo Junseo, who had ended up trapped beside Kwak Cheolsik instead, Yun Hyeonjo put in his earplugs.
“...”
Surprisingly, Han Yeoreum was quiet.
Sometimes she ran an endless delusion factory in her head, but the moment she grabbed a script, her immersion became insane.
As if nothing in the world existed except the script and herself.
Even now, the moment she boarded the plane, she pulled out the screenplay first.
Yun Hyeonjo opened his own copy too.
The early section.
Han Yeoreum’s scenes appeared.
Influencer 1 │Hello, my sweeties. I’m in Macau. It’s my first time flying alone, so I was really nervous....
In 〈Faster Than the Law 3〉, Han Yeoreum appeared with black hair rather than bleached hair.
It was entirely Director Gong’s consideration.
“But wouldn’t it be better to keep emphasizing the character image?”
Han Yeoreum already had one upcoming project after another lined up.
That meant if she dyed her hair red again, she’d immediately need to dye it black once more afterward.
At that rate, she’d end up repeatedly bleaching and recoloring her hair within a short period.
“Right, right. Maintaining the character image would be good. But Miss Yeoreum.”
However, Director Gong had said:
“I think everyone watching our movie knows who you are now.”
After 〈The Great Garland〉, Han Yeoreum’s recognition had quite literally doubled.
And since everyone who watched the 〈Faster Than the Law〉 series already understood the personality of Influencer 1, there was no need to emphasize her brightness with vivid red hair anymore.
Now Han Yeoreum could make audiences beyond the screen recognize her without additional explanation.
Influencer 1 │Originally, you know, I was supposed to come here with my boyfriend? Ha... but... later I’ll teach you how to catch a cheating boyfriend using the recent addresses in his navigation history.
Director Gong had naturally explained why Influencer 1 Han Yeoreum now had black hair.
It was also the reason Influencer 1, who had always been surrounded by friends, had come all the way to Macau alone.
Originally there were supposed to be several more actors filming in Macau.
They were meant to play Han Yeoreum’s influencer acquaintances.
But Director Gong revised it again.
For the same reason.
Now Han Yeoreum no longer needed something external to explain her role.
Yun Hyeonjo remembered the days he watched 〈Unfair Trade〉 live as it aired.
Han Yeoreum was becoming more and more iconic.
‘At this point she’s eventually becoming a lead actress~.’
Even in the movie industry, where even the hottest rising stars couldn’t instantly become leads, it would probably take time.
Still, he felt certain that day would come eventually.
She had been steadily securing her screentime step by step from supporting roles onward, so someday she would probably be able to command even a runtime over an hour entirely on her own.
“...”
Yun Hyeonjo quietly flipped the page.
How many minutes passed like that?
Thunk. freewёbnoνel.com
Even through the earplugs, he heard something collide.
Han Yeoreum had suddenly shot to her feet, smashing her knee against the table and sending the script crashing to the floor.
“What’s wrong~?”
Yun Hyeonjo removed one earplug.
“Hey, did you hit your knee?”
“Little pony! What happened?!”
Despite both Joo Junseo and Kwak Cheolsik questioning her, Han Yeoreum only trembled silently.
A phone was clenched tightly in one hand.
-Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard flight SK101 bound for Macau. Before takeoff, we would like to provide several safety announcements....
The in-flight announcement saying the plane would soon depart echoed through the cabin.
It seemed someone had contacted her.
But Han Yeoreum was making an expression they had never seen before.
“Uh... I....”
