“Na-hee, you need to be as active as possible when Dream Future does well this time. Go on variety shows too; I’ve even secured a commercial for you. Can you do it?”
“Then what about group activities...”
The entertainment planning team leader patted Cha Na-hee’s shoulder as if telling her not to worry.
“I know, I know. Actually, I’m thinking of having a really great person produce for us this time. So Na-hee, you need to work hard. Summer Girls has potential. With just a proper song, they’ll definitely hit it big.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Of course, you need to renew your contract before that. Na-hee, your contract is until next month, right?”
“It’s this month.”
“Right, don’t put it off too long and do it in advance. You know? We’re relying solely on you.”
At the team leader’s words, Cha Na-hee sighed.
Idol.
And Summer Girls was quite special to Cha Na-hee as well.
First of all, the core fanbase that loved Na-hee was solid, and they enjoyed a decent level of popularity.
Of course, they fell far short of a 1st-tier girl group, but even this much was something to be grateful for.
In the first place, just the fact that an idol could shoot dramas or commercials meant their recognition was sufficient.
‘However.’
There were a few things that weighed on her mind.
First, she couldn’t completely blend into Summer Girls.
She knew the reason.
The leader, Rabin, didn’t like Na-hee.
Normally, Na-hee, being the most popular in the group, would have had a stronger voice, but Rabin was the niece of the CEO of Hoyeon Studio.
Naturally, the other members had no choice but to follow Rabin’s words.
Of course, they didn’t particularly sabotage Na-hee, who was currently the only one bringing in income for Summer Girls.
‘Troubled...’
She had worries about whether it was really right to stay like this.
Amidst those worries, Na-hee headed to where Seo-yeon, who would be waiting for her, was.
She was worried about whether the innocent Seo-yeon would hold up well among Rabin, who was like a wildcat, and the other members.
“You came quickly.”
“...?”
And the moment she opened the door to the practice room, she was taken aback.
Rabin was sitting quietly with Seo-yeon’s hand resting on her shoulder.
No, not just Rabin, but the other members of the group were also kneeling and sitting side by side.
Looking as if they were saying, ‘Let’s do well, okay?’
At such a bizarre sight, Na-hee couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion.
And after Seo-yeon left.
Rabin started watching Na-hee’s reactions, but Na-hee never got to hear the reason until the end.
***
Anyway, thanks to that, Seo-yeon was able to properly learn singing from Na-hee.
As if being a skilled idol wasn’t an empty title, her vocal skills were at a level far superior to an average trainer.
“I really learned properly!”
When she conveyed that story, even the vocal trainer at Nova Entertainment was amazed.
Seo-yeon also became proud along with it.
“I didn’t know you knew how to make friends, Miss Seo-yeon.”
“?”
“Ah, no. I just thought you were very shy around strangers.”
It seemed like he genuinely thought so.
Actually, it wasn’t exactly wrong.
‘It’s not that I’m shy around strangers.’
But she definitely had that side when it came to peers of a similar age.
Rather, she was comfortable dealing with older people.
Na-hee was three years older than Seo-yeon, so it was definitely easy for Seo-yeon to approach her.
Anyway, when Nova Entertainment said, ‘Use our practice room too,’ she was trained once more by their vocal trainer.
“...This is good?”
Producer Lee Min-hwa looked at Seo-yeon with surprised eyes.
She was the producer of the new drama
“At this level, I think it’s definitely okay to start working on the OST.”
At Min-hwa’s words, Seo-yeon realized she hadn’t been scheduled to start the OST work right away.
They probably decided to proceed after checking Seo-yeon’s singing first.
Thinking about it, Seo-yeon hadn’t even confirmed her appearance in Sky Garden in the first place.
‘I should have learned a bit more slowly.’
She had learned by rolling around here and there in an accelerated course.
Seo-yeon let out a short sigh.
“But I know you’ve been very busy lately, Miss Seo-yeon. Will you be able to appear in ‘Sky Garden’?”
“I think I’ll be fine.”
“As far as I know, I heard you have a meeting scheduled next week too...”
Ah, so that’s why meeting today was pushed up a bit.
Seo-yeon’s manager, Eun-ha, must have adjusted the schedule in advance.
“...Your stamina is really amazing. How many projects have you done without resting?”
Min-hwa murmured as she looked at Seo-yeon, who was quietly staring at her.
A high school student.
She heard she was soon turning eighteen.
In the past year, Seo-yeon had appeared in one play, one drama, and one movie—a total of three projects.
She also did variety show activities in between and shot commercials.
There were celebrities who took on multiple works, but it was her first time seeing someone live this busily from their very first year of activity.
“I’m really okay. This much isn’t even difficult.”
“R-Really?”
It didn’t seem like she was putting on airs.
Because Seo-yeon was actually incredibly calm.
She didn’t feel any of the sharpness typical of celebrities who live busy lives.
“...Then, Miss Seo-yeon. Is it okay to consider your appearance in ‘Sky Garden’ as confirmed? I will send the exact contract to your agency later.”
At Producer Lee Min-hwa’s words, Seo-yeon fell into thought for a moment.
‘Sky Garden was originally a drama that achieved decent results.’
Plus, Seo-yeon acting her age.
So to speak, there weren’t many cases where one could act as a high school student.
‘The problem is that Sky Garden was originally a drama that would have aired on a cable network.’
This was a different part from her past life memories.
Originally, after participating as an assistant writer for
That debut work was
The first cable drama to surpass 15% nationwide viewership.
In the metropolitan area, it surpassed 20% and shattered all records, but...
‘I don’t know how it will do on a terrestrial network.’
Common sense-wise, it was normal for terrestrial networks to yield much higher numbers.
The problem was that there were developments allowed because it was a cable network, so she wasn’t sure if the same developments would occur on a terrestrial network.
From Min Se-hee’s perspective, a terrestrial network would be better than a cable one.
But that much also meant there were many people who intervened in terrestrial networks.
Since there was a high probability that the story wouldn’t flow according to the writer’s intentions... it was a situation where she couldn’t say for sure it would succeed.
‘At the very least, it won’t fail. No matter how much they ruin the script.’
She had to find a way regarding this part.
Producer Lee Min-hwa, who was in charge of
...Because of that, it was actually a concern.
The probability of following the public network’s formula for success was high.
“Yes, I definitely want to appear in Sky Garden.”
“I see. That’s a relief. The drama bureau chief also... ahem. No, everyone will be happy.”
“...?”
It felt like the term ‘drama bureau chief’ had slipped out for a moment.
Seo-yeon felt a bit puzzled but nodded.
Anyway, it seemed the OST issue was mostly resolved.
“Ah, if there’s anything else you need besides the OST, please let me know anytime. I’ll reflect Miss Seo-yeon’s intentions as much as possible.”
Producer Lee Min-hwa even had a very favorable impression of Seo-yeon.
Saying things like that meant Seo-yeon had to be considered to be treated very specially in this
Then, there was no need to decline.
“Ah, then...”
Seo-yeon made a few requests to Producer Lee Min-hwa.
The essential OOPArts of Sky Garden remaining in her memory.
Because they needed to be together.
***
Recently, an interesting rumor was circulating in the entertainment industry.
A rumor that GH Group, investing in a new movie, was creating a web variety show with action actors.
And that the actor selected through the web variety show would be cast as the lead in the movie they were going to film.
“It seems GH Group, which had a taste of success with
“The action in
“Entertainment movies are the trend these days, after all.”
This was something that couldn’t be aired on public broadcast networks anyway.
Hence, a cable channel.
Or a variety show being planned as a web variety show.
A survival variety show competing for the lead role in a movie invested by GH Group.
And the fact that the rumor had spread meant that offers had already been made somewhere.
To find that information, reporters had no choice but to run around busily.
“Sun-ah. Do you have any information you’ve heard?”
“I do.”
“As expected, you don’t... huh?”
At the senior reporter’s words, Han Sun-ah, a reporter from Sunyang Media, drew a V sign with her fingers.
There was information she had heard while running around doing legwork recently.
“The approximate age range is from mid-to-late teens to mid-to-late twenties. It seems they are looking for a lead among actresses of that age group.”
“Actresses? And it seems the protagonist age of the movie they’re filming is set quite young?”
“Probably. It seems there are already a few who have personally requested to appear. Thankfully, it’s thanks to some actors with loose lips running their mouths.”
There were a few actors whom GH Group had personally requested to appear.
Those actors were young actors who had gathered major buzz in recent movies or dramas.
In other words, the young trending actors who would take responsibility for the future of this entertainment industry.
“I heard it’s an action movie... Did they just contact anyone?”
“Well, initially. If they don’t have the skills, they’ll be eliminated from the survival show anyway.”
“Hah, stunt doubles will do the action scenes anyway...”
“They probably have no intention of doing that.”
Stunt doubles would do the dangerous stunts, but it meant that the lead actor had to do most of the action themselves.
Because that way, it could be filmed much more realistically and dynamically.
So to speak, one could think of it as sharpening their knives for action.
“Gathering up all the young trending actors... Just hearing about it sounds fun, but can they handle the money financially? Besides, if they’re actresses, they’d avoid action, right?”
“That’s why they’re young actors. If they’re young actresses, they aren’t in a position to be picky about roles either.”
“Aha.”
In the first place, young or teen actors come cheap.
Plus, since it’s a survival variety show, the appearance fees would all be fixed from the start.
Because the ‘lead actor’ spot itself was the prey for the actors to claim.
If they weren’t confident, they could just decline from the start.
‘But would young actors want to squeeze into a spot where other trending actors are participating?’
Just participating in it was a chance to build connections.
And among their peers, they would think they were the best.
Actresses might avoid action, but that much also made it a good opportunity.
Because it was a rare chance to plant the image of an actress who works hard at action in the public’s mind.
‘That’ll be fun.’
Han Sun-ah wrote her article with a bright smile.
Young trending actors.
A spot that any ambitious actor would have no choice but to participate in.
Then, her young star would definitely participate as well.
Joo Seo-yeon.
Han Sun-ah was already in a good mood at the thought of writing a new article.
***
“Action acting?”
Jo Seo-hee tilted her head at the offer to appear on a certain variety show that had come to her.
It was a bit much to say, but Jo Seo-hee had never done action acting.
Because she had no experience appearing in an action movie in the first place.
“Why me?”
“It seems they’ve contacted all the actors in Seo-hee’s age group who have recognition.”
“Aha.”
A variety show being planned by GH Group.
She didn’t know if it would be a cable show or a web variety show, but she had heard about the movie GH Group was investing a massive amount of capital into.
If it was the lead role for that, it would be a coveted spot for any actor.
‘And if it’s a large-scale survival audition, rookies will practically risk their lives to jump at it.’
Since it’s a survival show, not only the actors contacted directly like this, but also unknown actors would try to participate in droves. They’d probably gather them separately through internet recruitment.
They would directly request appearances from actors who could generate buzz.
“You’re going to decline, right?”
Seo-hee’s manager, Shin Yoo-kyung, knew Jo Seo-hee’s tendencies.
She didn’t like action acting in the first place, and Jo Seo-hee had no need to appear on such a variety show.
It seemed all the young trending actors had been contacted, but...
‘Honestly, they fall far short compared to Seo-hee.’
Shin Yoo-kyung was confident in that.
Jo Seo-hee’s recognition was not something to be compared with her ‘peers’.
Comparing her to simply flashing young actors was an insult.
“I’ll do it.”
“Yeah, decline... huh?”
Shin Yoo-kyung stared at Jo Seo-hee.
Of course, Jo Seo-hee, whose attention was elsewhere, didn’t feel Shin Yoo-kyung’s gaze.
‘So this is it.’
Recently, Jo Seo-hee had occasionally been talking with Lee Ji-yeon and Seo-yeon about
During that conversation, she caught a glimpse of information about ‘a certain variety show’ that Seo-yeon had mentioned in passing.
‘She’s definitely appearing on that.’
Seo-hee felt a little better.
Although she didn’t have the confidence or even the thought that she would pass that movie audition.
A chance to build their acting chemistry with Seo-yeon before filming
Thinking of it that way made her feel inexplicably good.