"From XN Entertainment, what?"
Hwang Min-hwa's mood had been foul lately.
It was understandable, considering her ambitious project
Of course, the results weren't bad.
4 million.
It felt like they would at least break even.
Yes, the break-even point.
Meaning they just barely made their money back.
But today, her manager said they had received a call from XN Entertainment.
When she asked what it was about.
"You mentioned before that Actor Hwang Min-ha was at Nova Entertainment, right? XN Entertainment asked if perhaps you could set up a conversation with Actor Joo Seo-yeon..."
Those words literally made Hwang Min-hwa's anger shoot through the roof.
"I'm seriously dumbfounded. Because of that bitch, I ended up like this?"
"Min-ha, it's not a bad result, right? These things happen sometimes."
Jang Cheol-ho, the director of Horizon Company, wiped the sweat from his forehead as he tried to soothe Hwang Min-hwa.
'Her pride is damn strong.'
Actually, it's good for an actor to have strong pride.
In a way, it means they have a desire to improve.
However, Hwang Min-hwa's was exceptionally severe.
Her desire for success was twice as strong as others.
'
Director Jang Cheol-ho genuinely thought so.
Joo Seo-yeon did receive attention, but thinking coldly, it wasn't a result achievable by Joo Seo-yeon alone.
The director, the scenario, and the other actors.
Every single one of them was formidable.
It was true that Joo Seo-yeon, as the villain, allowed them to fully demonstrate their strengths.
But ultimately, it was the two leads who drove the narrative.
'Director Bae Jin-hwan is definitely an exceptional person. When he gets proper investment, his directing is out of this world.'
A directing style that brought out not 100 percent, but 120 percent of Joo Seo-yeon's acting.
That's how much he trusted the actor.
And that trust returned as success.
"Hah! Unbelievable. So, XN asked me to play bridge to Joo Seo-yeon?"
"It's not something you have to comply with. So you don't have to be so harsh..."
Jang Cheol-ho tried hard to soothe Hwang Min-hwa.
Otherwise, she would clearly go back and tear into the manager like catching a rat.
'To tell Hwang Min-hwa that without thinking.'
The request from XN Entertainment.
The manager who received it told Hwang Min-hwa thoughtlessly, causing this uproar.
'Who knew she'd have this kind of personality.'
Two managers had already been replaced.
Hwang Min-hwa throws tantrums selectively.
To be precise, to those who wouldn't easily spread her flaws to the outside.
Those were the employees working at the agency.
Actors live off their image.
So the image had to be managed without scratches, and the agency employees had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.
Because she was the one bringing in their salaries.
"I will speak well to XN Entertainment."
"...You're not trying to make me out to be the bad guy, are you?"
"Oh dear, of course not."
Even while cursing inwardly, Jang Cheol-ho tried hard to soothe Hwang Min-hwa.
Since she was someone who would be rumored about, she managed her image thoroughly, so Hwang Min-hwa didn't have a bad public image.
So XN Entertainment must have asked without much thought.
'I can't tell them to just take her away, either.'
Although
The fact that it managed to reach 4 million at all was because of Hwang Min-hwa's acting skills and ticket power.
But if she kept sulking like that, the manager would change again...
"Ah."
"?"
"On a different note, I have some information I heard recently."
Jang Cheol-ho brought up information about a variety show GH Group was preparing recently.
An action movie.
And, an audition for it as well.
"...That girl is going to be in that?"
"It's almost certain."
"Heh. That's good."
An audition for an action movie, combined with a variety show, it was obvious.
'They probably want to see how well she can handle action.'
Are they trying to cast her through a survival show?
Then, it won't be on a public broadcast network.
At best, it seems like a web variety show, but...
'If GH Group is investing that much, there must definitely be something more to it.'
Hwang Min-hwa thought so and recalled Joo Seo-yeon.
It seemed the action acting Joo Seo-yeon showed in
'Hmph, stuntmen probably did it all for her anyway.'
Of course, Hwang Min-hwa also saw
She didn't want to watch it, but isn't it said that knowing your enemy and knowing yourself guarantees a hundred victories?
Thus,
The action scenes Seo-yeon showed were excellent, but precisely because of that, she didn't think Seo-yeon filmed them herself.
'When it comes to action acting, I might actually have the advantage.'
Hwang Min-hwa had a lot of experience in action acting.
So, if she were to do action acting against Seo-yeon in the audition, she was confident she could win.
'With that frail body, how much action could she possibly pull off?'
Seo-yeon wasn't very tall, either.
She barely reached Hwang Min-hwa's eyes.
On top of that, Hwang Min-hwa was strict with self-management.
She had kept up with yoga, so her stamina was good, too.
'But...'
Still, anything could happen.
"I don't have the certainty that I'll pass the audition, do I?"
It wasn't that she lacked confidence in physical movement, but she didn't know how much action acting they would demand.
To put it bluntly, if she had direct contact with Joo Seo-yeon, couldn't a task favorable to her come up?
So, when Hwang Min-hwa asked in an implicit tone.
"Then, let's look for one more project. For example, one that perfectly aligns with the release period of that action movie."
In other words, how about having another match?
Honestly, he thought the reason Hwang Min-hwa lost to Joo Seo-yeon this time was because of GH Group's investment and the formidable director and actors.
'I know she's impressive for her age.'
But she's still not on par with Hwang Min-hwa.
She was an actress who had risen to virtually the same level as veteran actors.
No, practically an S-rank actress.
Hwang Min-hwa was a figure who deserved to be called a veteran actress.
"...That sounds good."
Only then did Hwang Min-hwa smile with satisfaction.
Horizon Company—she thought it was just a stepping stone before moving to the Big 3 management agencies, but their work handling wasn't bad.
'Joo Seo-yeon.'
Hwang Min-hwa recalled the face of Seo-yeon from their last encounter.
A breathtakingly beautiful face.
And, that overwhelming presence.
'Next time, I'll trample you properly.'
Coincidentally, Joo Seo-yeon's image had many overlapping aspects with Hwang Min-hwa's.
Beautiful looks, a cool aura.
An impression suited for villain roles.
Thus, she didn't want to lose.
Ever.
***
"...What are you doing?"
Lee Ji-yeon was deep in thought about how to do well in the audition for
There was still plenty of time.
Actually, considering the scheduled filming date, it was rather early.
"Preparing for a variety show."
Seo-yeon was threateningly swinging a long staff.
The sound of it cutting through the air was no joke.
Was a variety show perhaps like a gladiator match?
"A fishing variety show came in."
"...Ah, by any chance,
"That's right."
"But that's a cable variety show."
Of course,
It had a solid core fanbase, and it was a good way for celebrities to show a new image.
Above all, the cast consisted of very formidable actors.
It was a variety show worth appearing on in terms of building connections, too.
"Didn't anything come from the public broadcast networks?"
"There was nothing suitable."
Seo-yeon had also checked the variety shows and commercials that came her way.
There were some that caught her eye, but most were interview-based variety shows.
'I wanted to do Running People.'
A variety show that any popular star must pass through at least once.
A variety show with a plot of carrying out various missions while tearing off name tags stuck to their shoulders.
Personally, Seo-yeon was an avid viewer of Running People, so she really wanted to appear on it, but...
'As expected, it's not time yet.'
She thought
Perhaps they wanted to wait and see a little more.
'Since I'm close with KMB, the probability of them not calling me is high.'
She roughly guessed the reason.
Until now, Seo-yeon had been active mostly in dramas and variety shows related to KMB.
Running People was MDC's variety show.
So, they might be keeping that in mind.
'I'll definitely have to do it later.'
If one or two more projects do well, wouldn't she be able to make a request herself?
Even for promotional purposes.
"There didn't seem to be anything else that suited me."
"A lot came in, but there was no real substance to them."
"Right."
For reference,
It was usually a variety show watched by middle-aged uncles.
If her father, Young-bin, watched it, she would have watched along... but Young-bin wasn't really interested in those kinds of variety shows.
During that time, he'd probably watch LoL Worlds highlights or YouTube Shorts.
Thinking that, something suddenly came to mind.
"Hey, Ji-yeon."
"Why."
"I want to do club activities."
"...?"
At Seo-yeon's rather out-of-the-blue remark, Ji-yeon couldn't help but be bewildered.
The phrase 'Out of nowhere?' suited it best.
'Did she have an interest in the theater club?'
Come to think of it, ever since
But no matter how much she thought about it, it didn't seem like this girl had brought it up for the sake of the theater club.
"...What club?"
"E-sports club."
Seo-yeon wanted to be good at games.
Sincerely.
***
"Is the guest this time an actress?"
"Hmm."
The meeting room of
The two fixed cast members, actors Song Kwang-min and Lee Sang-soo, wore ambiguous expressions.
"Has she... ever fished before?"
"I'm not sure about that."
"Hmmmm."
Well, since they were middle-aged men, going fishing with a young girl wasn't bad in its own way.
However, they couldn't get a feel for whether it would be good for broadcast.
"The actress who recently rose to fame with
"Ah, by any chance, didn't you see it, Mr. Lee?"
"I haven't. Lately, my acting isn't going well either. Both of them are tough for me to watch."
Lee Sang-soo, in his mid-fifties, was utterly terrible with thriller movies.
On top of that,
He tried to watch a bit, but gave up because the vibes didn't suit him at all.
'I heard he's in a slump lately, but...'
PD Jung Seung-hyun of
Lee Sang-soo.
A veteran actor who had been active for a long time.
He had countless hit works, and had even appeared in ten-million viewer movies three times.
He even played the lead in two of them.
'He lost his drive after going to Hollywood and getting burned badly.'
Five years ago, when his career was at its peak.
In his overseas advancement attempt, thinking it was his last chance, Lee Sang-soo suffered a great hardship.
The acting that didn't suit his body was one thing, but it was also because Hollywood didn't give Lee Sang-soo a proper role.
He filmed it because they said it was a significant supporting role, but his screen time was less than five minutes.
From that point on, Lee Sang-soo gave up on advancing overseas and returned to Korea.
After that, he made a comeback with a drama... but even that was severely criticized.
Lee Sang-soo took a break after that, but PD Jung Seung-hyun, who couldn't stand to watch any longer, brought him in through
Through fishing, his only hobby.
"If she were a little younger, she'd be like a granddaughter, so we might get along well."
"The other one is a guy, so I think it'll be fine, but..."
The middle-aged man who chimed in with Lee Sang-soo was a middle-aged actor five years his junior.
Actor Song Kwang-min.
He was an actor who was serious about fishing.
So it seemed he was quite displeased with a female actress who probably didn't even know the first letter of fishing appearing as a guest.
"What if she whines to go back after getting on the boat? Will she even be able to hold her own?"
"Phew, you don't have to worry. We looked into it thoroughly."
"...Ahem. Well, I know PD Jung is a meticulous person."
Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, Song Kwang-min said so with a dry cough.
But the look of displeasure still didn't fade from his face.
'Still, if PD Shin is the one saying it, it must be reliable.'
PD Shin Young-woo of
He was PD Jung Seung-hyun's high school senior.
Thanks to that connection, he had heard about Joo Seo-yeon.
After making inquiries here and there.
It led to them directly offering her an appearance like this.
'Even if only half of the rumors I heard are true, it'll be fine.'
That much was enough.
Since the rest would easily pull the viewership with her looks and public recognition anyway.
That was exactly the extent of PD Jung Seung-hyun's thoughts.