| Episode 157. Analyzing the Duties of Other Departments (3)
I knew there was a lot of public debate over idols branching out into acting.
But such reactions were of no importance whatsoever to production companies.
There were only a few things a production company had to consider: production costs, name recognition, and average visual appeal.
Unless it was a work by an extraordinarily famous writer, production companies had no intention of putting much effort into casting anyone other than the leads.
There were always a few so-called “lucky” people who managed to slip in at times like this.
People who, even if they couldn’t act, had decent enough faces to land supporting roles that appeared in every episode despite having very few lines.
Even judging by the idol who had come in this time, it was obvious he was nothing more than a tall, handsome face.
What possible merit was there in using this kid, except when filming a scene of him dancing at a company dinner?
He was dressed in a fairly Do Yeonghwan-like manner, but that was probably the extent of it.
“Shall we start with your character analysis?”
Director Cha asked the question. Since one was no better than the next, they could hurry through the formal audition and simply choose the actor the writer liked best.
The young man before us cleared his throat, then began speaking quietly about the character he had analyzed.
At first, there was nothing different from any other actor. He simply found and compared evidence in the script for the details listed in the profile, such as Do Yeonghwan’s age and personality.
But the idol’s character analysis continued without pause for more than five minutes.
“Considering that many financial companies are concentrated in Yeouido, I thought he would commute by extremely crowded subway. Therefore, he would probably prefer light clothing so that his outfit and hair wouldn’t become disheveled from the heat, and would mainly use a boxy backpack capable of carrying documents and a laptop without damaging them.”
“What about his watch? Did you think about that, too?”
“I understand that male office workers in their late twenties frequently use smartwatches. I tried to dress in a way that matched the image as much as possible, but I don’t use a smartwatch myself, so I wasn’t able to wear one.”
The young man answered the writer’s unexpected question with an awkward smile that somehow wasn’t at all unpleasant.
His neatly styled hair and light-gray suit, which gave off an air of lightness, once again caught Director Cha’s eye.
“When do you think Do Yeonghwan joined My Asset Management, in your opinion, Iwol?”
“I think he joined when he was around twenty-six.”
“Do Yeonghwan is twenty-eight, so if what you say is correct, he would already be in his third year. Wouldn’t he have been promoted to assistant manager by then?”
“Since the script portrays My Asset Management as a leading asset management firm, I assumed they would recruit personnel through conversion-track internships rather than open recruitment, as major asset management firms do.”
The writer nodded. Whenever a writer worked on a drama, research was a given. The rookie idol’s answer just now seemed to match what the writer had investigated.
‘Why does this feel so much like an interview?’
The handsome young man from the beginning was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it felt as though a veteran who had spent years doing nothing but interviews was sitting there.
The excited writer and director threw all sorts of questions at him, but the man before us smoothly handled every one without changing his expression even once.
“Well, yes… Your character analysis seems more than adequate. Let’s see your script acting.”
Director Cha hurriedly opened the script. He had been a director for years. He didn’t want to be swept along by an idol who wasn’t even a rookie actor.
But Director Cha never managed to take back control.
As I mentioned earlier, Do Yeonghwan was not only a supporting character with few lines, but—
“Assistant Manager, here are the materials you asked for.”
“Don’t say things like that. You’ll bring bad luck.”
“I pay you right when you’re about to quit.”
—the rookie idol named Gim Iwol was bizarrely good at acting like an office worker.
The audition, which could have been mistaken for a skit, ended just like that.
* * *
“I’m back.”
“How was your first-ever audition? Did you do well?”
“Hey, give him a moment to catch his breath.”
The youngest members came running out to greet me, followed closely by Jeong Seongbin and Park Ju-u.
Choe Jeho also came out of his room, gave me a nod in greeting, and then returned to his room.
He had grumbled about why I was bothering with acting when I wasn’t even interested in it. At least he greeted me. Thanks, you bastard.
“It was fun. I didn’t do particularly well, though.”
“Why? Was it that difficult…?”
Park Ju-u studied my expression.
“Wouldn’t it have been strange for me to show off some incredible talent there?”
“Well… I suppose?”
Park Ju-u pondered it, then readily accepted my explanation. But I was right, wasn’t I? I was already struggling to keep up with being an idol as it was.
‘The director in particular clearly didn’t think much of me.’
No matter how I looked at it, his eyes hadn’t been favorable. So after the interview—no, the discussion—no, the audition, I handed him the compiled list of setting errors I had found in the script and hurried out.
On the way home, I also received a reward from the system. I hadn’t looked into it closely yet, planning to open it up later tonight.
“It’s a shame. I thought we might have a genius actor in our team.”
“What are you going to do if I quit and say I want to devote myself to acting?”
“Go ahead and try.”
Lee Cheonghyeon brazenly challenged me with a “Scared?” Since I really was scared, I didn’t defy him any further.
While I was showing the members the Do Yeonghwan series I had exhausted myself with at the audition, the dormitory phone rang.
While Jeong Seongbin, who was nearby, answered the phone, we busily mouthed questions at him.
‘Is it the company?’
‘Our manager?’
Jeong Seongbin shook his head. Then he focused on the call.
The color drained from Jeong Seongbin’s face in an instant.
He turned deathly pale, pulled the receiver away from his ear, and barely moved his lips. ‘Jeho hyung.’
“Choe Jeho, I think someone’s asking for you.”
“Who?”
When I called out to him while throwing open his door, the guy slowly rose from his bed.
“They said it’s your younger sibling. They’re looking for you urgently—”
The guy, who had been moving like a sluggish grub, bolted from the room before I had even finished speaking.
Then he snatched the receiver from Jeong Seongbin’s hand.
“What happened?”
Choe Jeho’s voice was murderous as he asked the person on the other end.
Jeong Seongbin carefully approached us and said,
“Your sibling was crying….”
“Gasp…”
Lee Cheonghyeon covered his mouth and glanced nervously at Choe Jeho. Choe Jeho himself, however, was entirely focused on the phone.
Throughout the call, Choe Jeho said nothing but “Yeah.”
The call didn’t last long, either. After three minutes that felt like an hour, he hung up immediately.
“Did something happen?”
“I think I need to go out for a while.”
“Now? Where?”
Choe Jeho said nothing. He grabbed his wallet and put on his shoes. The heels of his sneakers were crushed horribly.
I stared at his back as he left before I even had a chance to stop him, then hurriedly called out to Jeong Seongbin.
“Seongbin, if the manager comes looking for us, tell him we went to the convenience store for a moment. Got it?”
“Are you going too, hyung?”
“I can’t send him alone. I’ll contact you if anything happens.”
I grabbed my wallet and outerwear and ran out, only to see the elevator doors closing.
I pressed the open button and forced the doors back open. When I got in, Choe Jeho frowned.
“Why are you following me?”
“Don’t you know Spark has to move around in pairs of two?”
“Weren’t you the one who followed that rule the least?”
Though he snapped at me, he never told me to go back.
Instead, he silently hailed a taxi. He probably thought even arguing with me would be a waste of time.
Fortunately, a taxi arrived soon after. We seemed to have benefited from it being around the time when people were wrapping up their drinking sessions.
I quietly buckled my seat belt beside Choe Jeho while he gave the driver the address.
Even after the taxi started moving, Choe Jeho couldn’t seem to relax.
“Are you all right?”
I knew he wasn’t, but I couldn’t help asking.
I hadn’t expected an answer, but for some reason, he opened his mouth.
“…My father went to my sister’s house.”
“Didn’t you say it had been a long time since they’d lived together?”
I had heard a brief account of Choe Jeho’s family circumstances.
His parents had divorced because there were so many problems on his father’s side, and they had lived as complete strangers ever since.
But family problems weren’t something you could simply sever cleanly, like cutting a radish.
“He must’ve gotten her address from the family register. Fuck, why don’t they arrest that bastard for domestic violence when he drinks and gambles….”
Choe Jeho clutched his head.
Cutting ties with one’s parents was not easy.
Even I had spent several days struggling to restrict access to my records after becoming independent. It was only possible because I had meticulously gathered evidence of how often I had been beaten and what kinds of abuse had been hurled at me. For someone without that, taking measures would have been even more difficult.
“Are you sure we don’t need to call the police?”
“It’s useless.”
Choe Jeho’s voice fell apart as he spoke.
“That bastard doesn’t hit people. If he did, he’d really go to prison.”
“……”
“But he doesn’t hit anyone, does he? Then they just tell you to soothe him and put him to sleep. They say families can argue sometimes, that your father will come to his senses in the morning.”
I couldn’t say anything.
Even I had tried to live as though I had no family, but whenever I suddenly imagined them coming to find me one day, I had spent the night wide awake.
I knew how painful it was to realize that you might have to see someone you wanted to become a stranger to countless more times over the years to come.
“This is fucked.”
Choe Jeho muttered it under his breath. I closed my eyes and pretended not to hear.
* * *
The neighborhood where his sister lived was quiet. In other words, there were few people around.
After paying the taxi fare and getting out, Choe Jeho, who exited after me, looked around. He seemed to be checking whether there was anyone who looked like his father.
I grabbed the guy, who looked ready to run somewhere at any moment.
“Wait a moment before you go.”
“Why?”
Choe Jeho’s reaction was sharper than ever before. A murderous look flowed from his eyes.
“What are you going to do when you meet your father? You’re an idol now. Are you going to get into a huge fight with him and end up at the police station?”
“……”
“Let’s say you don’t use violence. Is there any guarantee your father won’t try to accuse you of intimidation? A filial impiety crime against a direct ascendant is a serious offense.”
Choe Jeho’s breathing grew rough at my words.
But he neither argued nor told me to watch my mouth. He knew it himself. He knew I wasn’t wrong.
When Choe Jeho clenched and unclenched his fists several times, blood rushed red into both hands. The bluish veins bulged and writhed.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
Choe Jeho met my gaze with his dark eyes. He didn’t seem inclined to hide the ominous energy surrounding him.
“Leave it to me and stay back.”
“What?”
“Wait. Until I call you.”
I entered the convenience store. I needed a secret weapon.