Chapter 68: The Troublemaker’s Audition

The office of author Park Eun-sook, located in Seongsu.

I got out of the taxi and headed into an alley with a smoking area before the meeting.

I was taking a moment to enjoy a fresh cigarette and a disposable lighter I’d just bought at the convenience store.

“Hoo—”

What happened in the taxi earlier popped into my mind.

I realized I’d overreacted, and felt embarrassed for no real reason.

“Excuse me.”

Lost in thoughts of my first love and trying to shake off my awkwardness, someone called out to me.

It was a woman in her twenties, wearing a hat and a mask.

For a second, her physique and style made me wonder if it was Cheon Nayoung, but it wasn’t.

“Do you have a lighter?”

Cheon Nayoung didn’t smoke.

More than anything, her slightly clumsy speech had a foreign accent to it.

Considering the area, I figured there would be lots of trendy women around.

Her way of speaking and acting was short and direct—just like kids these days.

“Here.”

I put out my finished cigarette and handed her the disposable lighter.

“Just keep it. I only bought it temporarily.”

“Oh, thank you.”

She bowed slightly, accepted the lighter, and walked off.

I passed her and headed for the office.

Just then, I happened to catch a glimpse as she took off her mask, and froze.

A woman slipping a smooth cigarette between her pink lips.

Lighting the tip, she turned toward me with a mischievous look—a familiar face.

It was none other than Ishihara Sakura.

---

“Author, you’re here.”

“You said you had another meeting before this one. Did it go well?”

In Park Eun-sook’s office, Kudo Kei, his assistant, and Park Eun-sook greeted Lee Junghyuk as he arrived.

“Yes.”

“The actors will arrive soon. Before that, there’s something we wanted to discuss privately.”

Park Eun-sook handed a profile to Lee Junghyuk.

It was the profile of a Japanese actress named ‘Wakana’.

Reading through it, there didn’t seem to be any particular achievements or remarkable traits.

Lee Junghyuk turned to the next page, and only then realized why Park Eun-sook had given him this profile.

“This actress… it’s Cheon Nayoung, isn’t it?”

On the next page, the profile photo showed Cheon Nayoung—the one Lee Junghyuk knew—grinning widely.

“What the hell is she doing here? Ah, sorry.”

I nearly let slip a curse, and hurriedly bowed my head toward author Park Eun-sook.

“It’s all right. I know you’re the one who brought Cheon Nayoung back to the screen. Apparently, she auditioned in Japan, pretending to be Japanese.”

“Why, though?”

“When the director asked, she said she really wanted to be in this drama. Since she’s close to the author, she thought auditioning in Korea would give her an unfair advantage over other actresses. She wanted to win the role purely with her acting skills.”

Lee Junghyuk glanced at Kudo Kei with an expression that seemed to ask what they were supposed to do about this troublemaker.

“Heh. So, how did it go?”

Lee Junghyuk looked at Kudo Kei, face full of concern over this troublemaker.

Kudo Kei smiled faintly at Lee Junghyuk.

“She was excellent. She perfectly embodied the spoiled youngest daughter of a wealthy family who falls for a killer.”

If it was Cheon Nayoung, it did seem she could pull off the role of an immature, nearly psychopathic youngest daughter without any trouble.

The only problem was, the original plan was to cast a Korean actor as the male lead, with Japanese actresses as both the female lead and second lead.

That was because the story involved a Korean male lead being assigned a mission by the government, traveling to Japan, and assassinating high-ranking officials and secret powers.

“But if Cheon Nayoung gets cast, the second lead’s background will need a lot of revision. She’s currently written as the youngest daughter of a Japanese conglomerate, but if she’s Korean, it won’t make much sense…”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Park Eun-sook played a video on her phone.

It was the audition video Kudo Kei had received.

“Cheon Nayoung speaks Japanese really well. Well enough that you’d believe she’s actually Japanese.”

“She does?”

Lee Junghyuk was a bit skeptical, but thinking about it, being picked after auditioning in Japanese meant she must have serious skills.

“I see. What do you two think?”

“I’m in favor of Cheon Nayoung.”

Park Eun-sook put away her phone as she spoke.

“I agree. A Korean actress playing a Japanese character could be really refreshing.”

No sooner had the assistant finished translating Kudo Kei’s words than there was a knock at the door.

Cheon Nayoung entered.

“こんにちは. 女優のチョン·ナヨンです. (Hello, I’m actress Cheon Nayoung.)”

Lee Junghyuk turned to look at Cheon Nayoung, who had already been cast and now greeted everyone in Japanese without batting an eye.

---

After briefly greeting the actors in Park Eun-sook’s office, we moved next door to a Korean beef BBQ restaurant.

It was for a formal introductory meeting.

An actor’s introductory meeting meant the director and writer would meet the actors for the first time and have a conversation.

I’d been through plenty of these before, but I’d never felt so unsettled.

That was only natural—with actor Jung Sung-woo and my first love, Ishihara Sakura, sitting across from me.

That alone was hard enough, but my head throbbed as I watched Cheon Nayoung, chatting away in Japanese with Sakura and director Kudo Kei.

‘Whew. Maybe it’s because I drank half a bottle of soju earlier.’

I had a sense of how to handle the situation.

First, I decided to ignore Cheon Nayoung.

From what I’d heard, Cheon Nayoung’s behavior wasn’t so different from a typical drama protagonist’s backstory.

A Korean actor going to Japan alone, hiding her identity, and auditioning?

‘It’s a classic genius story arc.’

And then, passing the audition with overwhelming talent—it all sounded like a dream.

Fortunately, Park Eun-sook and Kudo Kei seemed to appreciate Cheon Nayoung’s abilities as befitting a main character.

But that was only possible because it was those two.

Anyone else might have found her actions quite rude.

Of course, it was still impressive. It took both great courage and skill.

But if I acted impressed and supportive of her now, who knew what kind of stunt she’d pull next.

If it were any other actor, I wouldn’t care—but because I’d discovered her myself, I wanted to keep her from doing anything that might cause problems for others.

‘That girl really is in her own world.’

Watching Cheon Nayoung, who was chatting more cheerfully than usual with Sakura, I quietly set down my chopsticks.

“Author, are you not drinking today?”

“No, I will.”

Jung Sung-woo, seeing me picking at my food, held up a green soju bottle and asked.

When I raised my glass, he filled it halfway and checked in.

“You’re unusually quiet today, Author.”

“Oh. Am I?”

“How did your meeting go?”

Jung Sung-woo subtly asked about my meeting with the Blue House staff.

I caught his meaning and nodded.

Because of how secretive things were, I hadn’t even told Park Eun-sook’s side, so this was the most I could say.

Park Eun-sook, who had been talking with Kudo Kei, quietly joined our conversation.

“Jung Sung-woo and I go way back. You know that, right?”

I’d heard the two met on their respective first projects.

Remembering Jung Sung-woo’s rookie days, Park Eun-sook briefly reminisced about meeting again.

“I can’t tell you how honored I am to appear in your work. I’ve always done movies, but I’ve been reading drama scripts steadily. I thought, now that I’m older and there are so many talented younger actors, scripts like this wouldn’t come to me anymore.”

Despite Jung Sung-woo’s humility, Park Eun-sook didn’t sugarcoat her words.

“I originally considered a younger male lead. But after talking with this author, I realized someone with a more mature presence would be better. And when it comes to mature charm in Korea, that’s you, Jung Sung-woo.”

“Haha. Thank you.”

“Let’s do our best.”

Just then, Kudo Kei’s assistant came over to speak to me.

“If you don’t mind, would you switch seats with the director? He’d like to talk with actor Jung Sung-woo.”

“Of course.”

As I started to stand, Jung Sung-woo got up first and motioned me to sit.

“I’ll move. Cheon Nayoung? Would you swap seats with me?”

“Yes!”

Cheon Nayoung sat across from me, stealing glances my way.

She seemed conscious of me, since I hadn’t said a word to her since we greeted each other, not even during the meal.

“Author, did you eat well? The director said for the second round, we’ll go to a nearby bar to meet other staff. Since filming in Japan is soon, they want to meet the Korean team while they’re here.”

“Cheon Nayoung.”

“Yep.”

“Sigh. Let’s talk later, just the two of us.”

“Yup.”

Look at this kid. Maybe she guessed what I was about to say, because she just answered quickly and didn’t push any further.

Well, I suppose that’s how she ended up auditioning in Japan.

“When did you learn Japanese?”

Leaning forward, I asked quietly.

“Oh. I’ve always liked anime, so I could do basic conversation, but I studied hard for the audition. I’m not smart in other areas, but languages come easy to me. Even when I prepared for college entrance exams, I always did well in language and English.”

Is she actually bragging about that? I wanted to retort, but with Park Eun-sook beside me and Sakura across the table, I swallowed my words.

Maybe sensing my mood, Cheon Nayoung giggled and placed a nicely grilled piece of salchisal on my plate.

“Author. I’m glad I get to work with you again.”

Eat this and forget your anger! That’s what it felt like, and my own petty pride made me pop the meat into my mouth and chew.

But I gave her a look that said, ‘I’m not letting this slide.’

Whatever the case, this kid had pulled off something unbelievable in an unbelievable way.

As Jung Sung-woo said earlier, getting to appear in a Park Eun-sook drama is an incredible chance for any actor to become a star overnight.

And the second female lead role Cheon Nayoung got suited her perfectly.

After all, to fall for the male lead, who’s a killer, you’d need to be a bit crazy.

Still, I hadn’t even considered casting Cheon Nayoung, because I thought she needed more time before becoming a star overnight.

“Author. Are you a boomer?”

“What?”

“You keep sighing and frowning. If there’s something you don’t like, just tell me. I’m so nervous my hands are shaking.”

Watching her pretend to tremble with her chopsticks made me snort in laughter.

“Whew. Fine. Creating and grabbing opportunities is a real talent.”

“Thank you!”

“Yeah, right?”

“Hehe. I’ll do my best.”

Cheon Nayoung mixed a perfectly balanced soju bomb and set it in front of me.

“You helped me last time, Author, so this time, I’ll stand tall on my own.”

For some reason, the way she turned her fist and flexed it almost looked like she was swearing.

But I liked her guts.

“Don’t do that again. Even your agency didn’t know. They must have been shocked. You got lucky this time, but if you pull something like that elsewhere, you might end up with a bad reputation. Even with good intentions, things get twisted in this industry.”

“…Boomer.”

“I can hear you even if you whisper, you know?”

“Should we toast?”

And so, the introductory meeting with the cast of  seemed to come to a peaceful close.