[Hello, Yeohu. I have something to tell you…….]
After skipping all the pointless chatter and reading only the last sentence, I was a bit more surprised than I expected.
[I wanted to let you know that I participated in the “Vengeance of the Swordsman” OST. The article should come out today. I hope we can have another meal together sometime.]
It didn’t seem like something you needed to apologize for in person just because you contributed to an OST.
Seeing this, I kind of understood why I couldn’t refuse and acted so indecisive.
“Still, this guy is pretty interesting.”
Would most people even want to sing the OST for a drama they were dropped from?
I searched the internet and, sure enough, news articles with clickbait headlines were already flooding the news section.
[Park Iwon, “I Knew About the Breakup.” Sudden Turn of Events in Canceled Drama…]
“I Knew About the Breakup” was the title of the song Park Iwon had released.
[Dropped→Returns, The True Identity of the Drama That Received Park Iwon’s Persistent Courtship?]
This one was clearly released by the production company.
[“Acting Is an Actor’s Foundation.” Ju Taegang and Park Iwon Face Off Amid Bad Acting Controversy!]
There were even headlines framing Park Iwon and Ju Taegang as rivals, using comments Ju Taegang made in an interview years ago, just because Park Iwon was participating in the OST.
The clickbait was already in full swing.
There’s no way Park Iwon didn’t know it would turn out like this. Up until now, the controversy was always about his acting skills, not about getting entangled with other actors.
‘Guess he wanted to meet up so it wouldn’t get any more awkward.’
He’s just… too…
‘Naive.’
Anyway, I replied to Park Iwon with a link to the article that contained the phrase “face off properly!”
[Do your best and win.]
*****
After passing the audition, I got more good news.
I was assigned a manager.
The timing of the contract had changed, so it wasn’t the same manager who’d handled me before my regression.
“This time, I’ll be working as your manager, Jeon Yeohu. My name’s Koo Kido. Please take care of me.”
Koo Kido was overflowing with enthusiasm, as if he’d volunteered to handle everything himself.
By the way, how did Ma Eunin end up bringing in a manager whose name perfectly fits his own style?
Is there a special recruitment process that just picks out names that sound like they’d give you everything without reservation?
Koo Kido gave a brief self-introduction, then pulled a script from his bag and handed it to me.
“Oh, and here, this is the script for . The first reading is scheduled for a month from now.”
“Thank you. Have you heard who got the lead roles by any chance?”
“Oh, yes. I’ve put together the cast info right here.”
He’s good at his job, Koo Kido.
In Woo Hyunsik’s dramas, even the actors often didn’t know who was cast in which role until the first meeting.
Sometimes actors would say they’d decide whether to join after seeing who else was cast, but that only happened in works that weren’t Woo Hyunsik’s.
With Woo Hyunsik, just hearing his name was enough for people to trust and take the role.
Of course, if there was someone they really didn’t want to work with, Woo Hyunsik would usually listen.
If it was an ex-boyfriend, ex-girlfriend, or someone they’d fought with, or just anyone they felt awkward around, having them in the same project could hurt immersion.
“They only told me about the leads who’ll interact with you a lot, Yeohu.”
“That’s fine.”
Jung Chanyul was the type to pick fights with everyone, so it didn’t really matter who he interacted with. Plus, as a rookie, I didn’t have any bad blood with anyone yet.
As I expected, aside from me, the cast remained the same.
‘This is better. If too many things change, it gets hard in a different way.’
As I checked the cast, Koo Kido spoke up.
“There’s something else I’d like to discuss, aside from the reading schedule.”
“Oh, sure.”
“How about your SNS account? Do you want to manage it yourself, or should the company take over? Since it’s your only account, all the ad inquiries seem to come directly to it.”
“I’d like to manage it myself, if possible.”
When you’re a rookie, it’s good to establish the image that you’re managing things yourself.
“Got it. Then we’ll let you know separately if any ad inquiries come to the company. But since we’ll need to post official drama photos and such on your account, it’d be helpful if you could share your password.”
“Sure. By the way, how old are you, Manager?”
“I’m twenty-nine!”
“Then you’re older than me, so just speak casually. We’ll be seeing each other a lot. I’d like to talk comfortably too.”
“Oh… Should I?”
“Yes, go ahead. If you’re done for today, you can head home.”
I did appreciate him coming all the way to my place, but I was more comfortable being alone at home.
Koo Kido stood up coolly.
“Alright, got it! Contact me if you need anything.”
“Yes.”
After Koo Kido left, I logged into my SNS for the first time in a while, since we’d just talked about it. My followers had grown to 150,000.
I hadn’t even been that active, so gaining 50,000 followers meant the advertising effect was pretty strong.
‘Should I post something?’
Actually, there was something I wanted to try.
Hmm.
This is a privilege only rookies get.
I immediately called President Ma Eunin.
[You want to do a livestream?]
“Yes.”
[Hmm… It’s not common for actors to do livestreams, but if you want to, you can. We even included a clause about that in your contract.]
One of the special clauses I added when I signed with Ma Eunin was that I could interact with fans whenever I wanted.
Before my regression, I was so focused on acting that I never even thought about who my fans might be, but this life, I was curious.
I’d never considered that an actor would have fans.
“I don’t think I’ll get another chance to do a livestream unless I’m free, so I want to do it while I can.”
[Understood. Please let us know the time. We’ll watch together.]
“Yes, got it.”
*****
I set the livestream for the next evening at 7 p.m.
It didn’t feel right to make a post just to announce a livestream, so I just started it without much thought.
I figured that, as a rookie actor with no projects out and no announcements, maybe a hundred people would join at best……
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
[Whoa, hello!]
[Crazy, you look even better in person ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Hi!]
In just three minutes, about 900 people had joined.
“Hello. I’m Jeon Yeohu. I came on because my follower count increased so much.”
[This is wild. You’re so handsome.]
“I know. Thank you.”
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅁㅊNo wayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[How old are you?]
“I’m twenty-five. I’ve done my military service.”
[You’ve served? Even better.]
[Which university did you go to?]
[How are you so good-looking ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Do you have plans for another project?]
“My university is Korea National University of Arts, and yes, I do have projects lined up. I started this stream just to say hello and ask for your support.”
Once my schedule gets busy, I won’t even have time to do things like this, and if too many people start watching, it’ll become easy for controversies to pop up.
That’s why it’s better to do livestreams before you get famous, or after you’re really established.
I didn’t bother with them before regression because it felt like a hassle, but in this life, I wanted to make the most of these moments.
After a little while, people started asking me to do things in the livestream.
[Oppa, did you know? You can’t poke your right cheek while winking only your left eye.]
“You can’t do that? But I can.”
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠCrazyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Where were you born? How? HOW?]
[Please stop… my heart can’t take this…]
[Who told him to do that]
“Oh, is this supposed to be aegyo? I’m good at this, so take a screenshot.”
I’ve been in the entertainment industry for years.
I can play a murderer, so doing a little bit of aegyo is easy if I think of it as acting. Besides, during interviews, they always make you do aegyo anyway, so it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.
[Oppa… that wasn’t aegyo… By the way, I keep seeing something behind you…….]
“A ghost? Oh, it’s fine. I’ll win. It can’t even touch the desk, can it? People are scarier, everyone.”
[Oppa is so T (for Teub, meaning blunt type).]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ real man]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋYou’d do well on variety shows]
[Do you have plans to go on variety shows?]
“If I get famous, I’m sure they’ll invite me. I’ll work hard. I’m doing my main job as an actor, too, so please watch my future projects.”
[Yes!]
[Of course ㅠㅠ I’ll turn on notifications.]
[You’re just too cuteㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
“Cute?”
That caught me off guard.
Even during interviews before regression, when I did aegyo, people only ever said I was handsome, or like a good-looking punk. I’d never been called cute.
[You’re cuteㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ reallyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Rookie is brokenㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[No, you said he was handsome alreadyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
They’re saying my ears turned red?
“That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Well, I guess so. Sure, I’m cute.”
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Hey, what are you doing? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋCaptured]
*****
It had been thirty minutes since the livestream started.
Jung Yunwoo joined.
That was my cue to wrap things up.
“Anyway, please keep supporting me. I’ll try to do more livestreams if I have time, but don’t count on it. Now that I have an agency, I’ll post updates from time to time. Thank you.”
[Yes!]
[He’s leaving as soon as his friend arrives ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Don’t goㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[This was crazy… I’m happy now…]
I ended the livestream with 980 viewers.
As soon as it ended, I got messages from three people at the same time.
[Jung Yunwoo: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋHey, what are you doing?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Park Iwon-nim: Did you do a livestream?]
[Han Serang sunbae-nim: Did you join an agency?]
Jung Yunwoo contacting me was expected.
But I didn’t think Park Iwon or Han Serang would reach out.
After replying simply to their questions, Han Serang replied almost instantly.
[Han Serang sunbae-nim: I wish you the best.]
[Thank you.]
‘If they’re reaching out like this…….’
Taking care of Ju Taegang must’ve really left a good impression on Han Serang.
It’s always helpful to have at least two successful sunbaes in the industry, so I decided not to cut ties.
The next morning.
My phone was nearly exploding with notifications, so I checked, and it looked like last night’s livestream had gone pretty viral.
There were trending posts about how I seemed like a veteran even though I was a rookie, and how I was the best-looking among new actors, but I didn’t bother checking them all.
There was nothing to check anyway, since it was all true.
I sat on the sofa and read through the script.
Lee Haryeong joins SY Group.
Because she can see ghosts—even though she never asked for it—she’s failed countless interviews.
At SY Group’s interview, she gets startled by a ghost and screams, so she thinks she’ll obviously fail, but ends up passing.
She’s assigned to the HR Team 4. She didn’t even apply for HR, and unlike other teams, it’s located in an annex building, which feels suspicious. But since she worked so hard to get into a big company, Lee Haryeong decides to do her best.
But something is strange.
The job isn’t all that different from other teams, and there’s almost no overtime, but the team leader always looks like he hasn’t slept in days.
Lee Haryeong’s days are uneventful until one Friday night, she realizes she left her phone at the office and returns late, only to stumble across a senior exorcising a ghost in the building.
[A talisman?]
[What are you doing here? Aren’t you still a trainee?]
[Huh? Oh! Sunbae, ghost!]
[What? You can see it without a talisman?]
After that day, Haryeong learns that her department is made up of people who can see ghosts—shamans, exorcists, priests—and that she’s joined the Exorcism Department, handling corporate exorcisms for SY Group’s clients.
Director Woo Hyunsik’s polished direction and Writer Yang Giyeon’s signature humor combined for a hit drama, .
When I first saw this drama, I was at the lowest point in my life.
All the money I’d earned was gone, and I’d wasted my years with nothing to show for it.
I didn’t have the courage to go back to a world where everyone hated and despised me.
At that time, I envied “Jung Chanyul,” the maniac from who raised hell in every episode.
I envied a guy who lived however he wanted, with power and backing.
I wanted to become that kind of person.
I had to.
No matter the means, no matter the method—I had to.
That might have been the first day that acting, which I’d loved all my life, became a “means to an end.”
I checked the probability of my death in this life.
[Your current probability of death is 100%.]
This time, I’d made my own life the means instead of acting.
Is that a relief, at least?
*****
So, while waiting for the first script reading for the next month, I occasionally did livestreams and went out to people-watch.
I also checked in on the regression-exclusive message boards a few times.
And what did I get out of that?