‘Seo Incheol.’
The name felt both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.
“Wow…… So it connects like this?”
The true identity of the man I had simply thought of as a film director was none other than the director who had disappeared after being exposed for stealing his junior’s idea.
‘They said he went into hiding…… So that’s why he was trying to film it half-heartedly in that state back then.’
Once I learned the story about Incheol, his behavior at the commercial shoot and the involuntary reactions that had slipped out all started to make sense.
‘Collision’
It was a work by a director who had once been at the top of his game.
Curious about what kind of story it might hold, I turned another page of the script.
And then another.
Even in the shaking car, my eyes moved frantically, and I couldn’t stop my hand from flipping the pages.
“Hyunjae we’ve arrived.”
“Hyung, just a second…….”
Somehow the car had already reached its destination, but I still couldn’t tear myself away from the script.
“That script…….
It’s the one that person gave you last time, right?”
“Yes.”
“Looks fun?”
Hayoon glanced over and asked cautiously.
“It’s really…… charming.”
“Charming?”
“Yes.”
Even I hadn’t expected to describe it as “charming” instead of something like “interesting” or “the premise is fresh.”
Yet no other word fit it better.
“What’s it about?”
“About the story…… Hyung, do you want to read it yourself?”
It would be better for him to see it directly than for me to explain, so I handed the script to Hayoon.
“Me, me?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never read a script before…….”
Hayoon hesitated for a moment.
“Go ahead and read it.”
While artist care was part of a manager’s job, having an eye for good scripts was also part of a manager’s role.
“I’ll read it.”
Hayoon carefully took the script from me and placed it on the passenger seat.
“Hyung, could I make one quick call to the CEO before getting out?”
“Of course.”
“Give me a second.”
Before contacting Incheol, I felt I should inform Hyungkyu first, so I called him.
—Yeah, what’s up?
“CEO, it’s nothing much, but I received a script…….
Haa
The moment I mentioned receiving a script, I immediately heard a sigh.
“CEO?”
—It’s Collision, right?
Hyungkyu instantly named the title of the script I had received.
“Huh? How did you know?”
—We’ll talk about that when you get to the company.
“Yes?”
—I’m hanging up.
It was surprising enough that Hyungkyu knew about it, but his reaction felt even stranger.
‘He’s not someone who lacks an eye for scripts, so he must have felt it too.’
Yet his response had been lukewarm…… no, closer to cold. Why? I would find out the reason when I met Hyungkyu.
Kingdom Entertainment.
“How do you know about this script, CEO?”
“Because I received it before you did.”
“From whom?”
“Who else? From the director himself.”
Besides the copy I had brought, an identical script was already sitting in front of Hyungkyu.
“The script came to the company too?”
“Yeah, it did. I turned it down, so he couldn’t let it go and handed it to you directly.”
He already knew I had received the script from Incheol.
“You turned it down, CEO?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
I couldn’t understand why Hyungkyu, of all people, would reject this script.
“The script itself is fine. But like I always say, the script isn’t everything.”
“Don’t tell me…… it’s because of that old incident?”
If it wasn’t for that incident, there would be no reason for Hyungkyu to oppose it.
“You know about it too?”
“I happened to find out.”
“Then I don’t need to explain at length.”
“But I heard he was found not guilty?”
After hearing the story on set that day, I searched for articles. There were a few old ones left, but none of them said Incheol was at fault.
“Being not guilty doesn’t matter.”
“He might really have been wrongly accused. If so, he’s the victim, so wouldn’t it be fine?”
“Did you hear the full story properly?”
Seungkwon and Haejin had lived through it in real time, so it probably wasn’t wrong information.
“Yes.”
“Yoo Byunghyun, Hong Changho, Jin Taesang. You heard those three names clearly too?”
“Of course.”
They were definitely the directors who had worked under Incheol.
“That already ended it.”
“???”
“One became a 10-million-ticket director, one specializes in thrillers, and the other consistently puts out work. What more explanation do you need?”
That’s when I understood what Hyungkyu was saying.
“The film industry is all about connections. Back then the director had influence, but now he’s just a tiger with no teeth. Those people have a firm grip on everything now.”
While Incheol had left the scene, those people had built and expanded their own power bases there.
“Do you think they’d welcome back the boss they drove out? They wouldn’t even let him set foot in the door.”
“Ah…….”
“Even if he somehow manages to make the film, it’ll be hard for it to see the light of day. No, it’d actually be better if it never gets released. Do you think other directors would cast you if you appeared in that director’s movie?”
Of course not. It would be a relief if they didn’t actively block me from future film casting.
“Do you know why people say ‘film actor’ but not ‘drama actor’?”
“I know.”
In this industry, films were valued higher than dramas. Once someone became a top drama star, they tried to move into films, and once they crossed over to films, they rarely returned to dramas.
That was the unspoken ‘hierarchy’ of the industry.
“You need to do films too. Are you going to trade one project for your future?”
“No. I understand what you’re saying, CEO.”
Hyungkyu’s words snapped me to attention. I felt sorry for Incheol, but I hadn’t become an actor solely for the love of acting.
‘Climbing to the very top and dragging Han Jung-woo down to the bottom.’
That was the real reason I acted. Of course I enjoyed acting, but that was only a side benefit.
“I won’t do this project.”
“That’s rare. I thought you’d at least hesitate a bit.”
“I told you, didn’t I? My goal is to climb upward.”
If it obstructed my goal, I could give up even a great project.
“Ha, here I thought you were serious about acting.”
“I am serious about acting.”
The owner had loved it, so that part was true.
“You’re an even scarier guy.”
“I’ll tell the director myself that I’m not doing it.”
“No…… never mind. I’ll contact him.”
Hyungkyu started to say something but stopped, then gathered both copies of the script.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Got it.”
“How’s filming going? Everything okay?”
“Of course~ It’s going great!”
Filming was proceeding perfectly without even a single small disturbance.
“Episode 9’s script came out and it’s absolutely insane.”
“Looks like the writer has truly spread her wings.”
Episode by episode, receiving the scripts was pure joy; Bong Hyerim was pulling out incredibly fun stories.
“It’s not just wings. She’s grown phoenix wings.”
Adapting something while giving it a fresh, new feel was extremely difficult, yet she was pulling off that difficult task.
“I should take a look at the script myself sometime. Anyway, no thinking about your next project yet. Let’s finish this one perfectly first, okay?”
“Got it.”
“Oh! Right. Since you’re here, sign a few things before you go.”
“Signatures?”
As if suddenly remembering, Hyungkyu pulled several documents out of his desk drawer.
“This is the contract for the Deowin advertisement.”
“Ah~ I like Deowin! But…… is this amount right?”
The contract listed an absurdly high figure.
“Why? It looks fine to me.”
“It’s…… too much?”
It was exactly ten times the modeling fee I had received last time.
“They said they liked the previous ad, and it’s only six months.”
“Even for six months…… is this possible?”
“Hahaha, you still don’t know the market rates, do you? This isn’t even considered expensive.”
“Wow…….”
Just how much do celebrities earn?
“This is why everyone’s desperate to become a celebrity. And this is a three-month one-off carbonated drink ad.”
“A drink ad too?”
“Yeah, the duration is short, but the company image is good, and the product is marketed as refreshing, youthful, fresh. It suits you perfectly.”
The drink ad contract also had a considerable sum written on it.
“And when you go out, ask the staff for the gifts that came in.”
“Gifts too?”
“Ah~ It’s a shame it’s exclusive to Mving; if it had aired on broadcast TV it could’ve done even better.”
I felt the same regret. Accessibility was the issue, so the drama’s response was mostly limited to the 20-30 age group that watches OTT.
“If it had been on broadcast, ads would’ve poured in like rain.”
“We’re still only in the middle, so it’ll get better.”
“Thanks to Taewoon, the international rights sold a lot overseas, so we’ve gained many overseas fans too.”
No wonder there were so many foreign-language comments on Byeolstar.
“If ‘Countryside Three Meals’ airs in this atmosphere…… heh heh heh.”
Hyungkyu suddenly let out a weird laugh.
“That’s scary.”
“Don’t think unnecessary thoughts and just focus on filming hard, got it?”
“Okay, okay.”
“If anything’s uncomfortable, tell me right away, our actor-nim.”
Suddenly calling me actor-nim felt extremely awkward, but I didn’t dislike it. Seeing Hyungkyu excited made me feel good too.
“Then I’ll get going.”
“Take care~”
“Yes!”
I left the CEO’s office and approached the staff noona.
“Oh! Finished talking?”
“Yes, the CEO said to take the gifts…….”
“This shoe brand just released new ones and sent them as gifts. Aren’t they pretty?”
“They’re pretty.”
“You have to take photos of these and post a thank-you story on Byeolstar.”
“So they’re not pure gifts.”
Of course, posting promotion on Byeolstar meant they weren’t purely gifts.
“Naturally. This is all promotion. And here’s a phone case.”
“Phone case?”
“Yeah.”
It came in a box so flashy you wouldn’t think it was just a phone case.
“Can I open it?”
“Of course, it’s yours.”
Curious about the box, I opened it, and inside were five phone cases.
“This smartphone is fake…… wait, it’s real?”
What I thought was a dummy turned out to be a real smartphone.
“They’re giving this too?”
“Of course. This is how it’s usually done.”
“Wow……..”
They were casually giving away a smartphone worth well over a million won. Seungkwon’s words came back to me.
‘Being a celebrity is sweet as hell, right?’
“You know you have to post this on Byeolstar too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t make it too obvious that you’re just showing off the items; take natural mirror shots or something.”
How did she know? I was planning to post just the phone case.
“Got it.”
Carrying the gifts along with my new homework, I left the company.
In an empty meeting room, two men sat facing each other, cold air flowing between them.
“I never thought I’d see your face again like this.”
“I never thought I’d see you again either.”
Byunghyun’s appearance after roughly fifteen years was completely different from the last time.
“You look well.”
“Well…… there’s no reason I wouldn’t.”
It was true his expression looked relaxed, but the real reason he seemed different was his attitude.
Leaning back on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking down at him, Incheol let out a hollow laugh.
“You look pretty worn out, hyung.”
“Thanks to you.”
Tense air stretched tightly between the two.
“You wouldn’t have come just passing by, so did you come to see if there was anything to scrounge?”
The attitude treating him like a beggar should have been offensive, but Incheol straightened his shoulders and spoke confidently.
“Do you have something to give me?”
At Incheol’s words, Byunghyun took out his wallet from his jacket’s inner pocket and tossed two 50,000-won bills onto the table.
“Will this be enough?”
“I’ll use it well.”
Seeing Incheol pocket the mere 100,000 won without complaint, Byunghyun snorted loudly in ridicule.
“Keh, if that’s all, you can go now.”
“I received something, so I should give something too.”
Incheol took out a single sheet of paper and placed it on the table. Curious what it was, Byunghyun picked it up.
“This…… what the……..”
And the hand holding the paper began to tremble violently.