Chapter 147(148/718) I Want to Be an Ex-VTuber

After the fan meeting ended, Seo Yeon belatedly realized she hadn't said thank you.

She didn't know exactly what his intentions were in handing her the coffee.

She only guessed that maybe he saw she looked a bit down and was trying to comfort her.

But putting that aside.

'I just took the coffee and left it at that.'

After receiving the coffee, the only thing she said was asking, "Why are you here?"

It just so happened she had some business with Park Jungwoo too, so she figured she should at least buy him a meal later.

And since she thought of it, she contacted him right away.

- Are you crazy?

That was the reply she got.

He was afraid of a scandal erupting if he was seen meeting alone with an actress.

Especially a minor.

It was Actor Park Jungwoo's opinion that the two of them absolutely must not be spotted together alone.

'It can't be helped.'

Then she'd have to buy him a meal later.

Since Park Jungwoo didn't reply further, she turned her attention away.

Actually, the reason she wanted to buy Park Jungwoo a meal wasn't for any other reason.

'I was going to ask him a bit about Writer Min Sehee.'

Since they were currently filming , if she wanted to talk to her, it was fully possible without having to go through Park Jungwoo.

But it felt a bit awkward.

She tried asking Park Jungwoo, whom she was friends with, what she liked, but failed.

'Did he notice?'

As expected of an actor, he was quick to catch on.

He must have realized like a ghost that she had a favor to ask.

For Park Jungwoo, that was well within his capabilities.

Anyway.

This fan meeting did affect Seo Yeon in various ways as well.

She never expected to meet her there.

"……."

Thinking about it certainly made her thoughts complicated in many ways, but.

'Let's think about that later.'

Seo Yeon thought so and turned her gaze.

Currently, Seo Yeon was moving in her manager Park Eunha's car.

Right, today.

Because today was the day she had a meeting scheduled with the chair brand 'Aidis'.

***

"Hello, I'm Kwak Hyunwoo, the team leader of the Ad Planning Department at Aidis."

"Hello, I'm Actor Joo Seo Yeon."

As they exchanged greetings, she could feel the other party scrutinizing her.

It was a fairly familiar kind of thing to Seo Yeon.

Because there had been quite a lot of people who sent her such looks before.

She knew the reason.

First, because Seo Yeon was young.

And in the past, they doubted her skills because of her sparse resume.

It was roughly that kind of feeling, but right now it was a different kind of doubt.

Coincidentally, Seo Yeon had experienced such doubt once before.

'Come to think of it, even PD Wang had exactly that kind of look.'

Roughly speaking, it was a look full of the thought, 'Why did this kid come here?'

But it was a bit different from that time; back then, it stopped at 'Why is an actor like this here?'

Now it felt like, 'Why is an actor like this here? Just how much are they trying to charge?'

'That's because Aidis doesn't use expensive models compared to their brand reputation.'

It seemed using expensive models didn't have much effect for them.

For reference, this wasn't something she knew from her past life memories, but purely from a recent internet article.

Meanwhile, their recent business was expanding.

However, due to the fierce competition in the domestic chair market these days, they were somewhat looking for a breakthrough.

"I've seen you a lot on TV recently. The Eclat Etoile commercial you filmed before was very good too."

As soon as they entered the meeting room, Kwak Hyunwoo brought that up first.

Praise first.

This was the absolute basics.

Making the other person feel good first made it easier to grasp their intentions.

Just as Seo Yeon was thinking, Kwak Hyunwoo was scrutinizing the other party in various ways.

'Why did she come to our company?'

He couldn't ask that outright.

Moreover, seeing Seo Yeon in person, she wasn't someone he could casually ask as a joke either.

'She's clearly just a high school student now, I heard she's turning eighteen soon.'

It was a very young age for an actor.

But her appearance and aura were definitely not that of a young actor.

First, there were no changes in her expression, making it hard to read her thoughts.

Her eyes, tinged with a red hue, were so tranquil that it felt as if she could see right through his mind.

Even as Kwak Hyunwoo diligently brought up topics about the movies and dramas Seo Yeon had appeared in, she only nodded.

She didn't show much other reaction, making him feel increasingly subtle.

'The manager seems to trust the actor a lot.'

As if all decision-making was done by the actor herself, the manager just quietly listened.

Usually, for young actors, the manager would often lead the meeting alone, so this was an exceptional case.

"……By any chance, could I know the reason you requested this meeting?"

Eventually, Kwak Hyunwoo was the first to bring it up.

Anyway, if it was about a commercial, he had to refuse and send her back.

Since he had just praised her nicely, she probably wouldn't hold a grudge.

He had no intention of using Seo Yeon as a model in the future either, but there was always the 'what if'.

Relationships should be handled as smoothly as possible.

It was then that Seo Yeon, who had been looking at Kwak Hyunwoo like that, opened her mouth.

"To tell you first, I am a bit interested in being an advertising model for Aidis."

As expected.

At Seo Yeon's words, Kwak Hyunwoo thought to himself, *I knew it.*

So, as he was pondering how to deliver the words of refusal.

"."

"?"

" is currently looking for sponsorship brands. The announcement went up recently, too."

Why is she telling us that?

Why is an actor talking about drama sponsorships?

But even if there was an open sponsorship slot, putting a chair commercial in was quite ambiguous.

More than that, he didn't even know what kind of drama was.

Since he wasn't an industry insider, how could he know the contents of a drama that hadn't been revealed to the public yet?

" is a drama that mainly deals with the stories of students."

To be exact, it was a satire on private education and academic credentials.

So, naturally, there were a lot of scenes of students studying.

At school, and at home.

By that point, Kwak Hyunwoo slowly started to get a bit interested.

He felt like he knew why Seo Yeon had brought up .

'She's saying it'll be effective if we sponsor Sky Garden.'

But Seo Yeon didn't explicitly say that.

Asking for a drama sponsorship wasn't something an actor should say.

Instead.

"I've been cast as the protagonist of ."

"……The protagonist?"

"Yes."

Kwak Hyunwoo briefly compiled the information he knew in his head.

'Joo Seo Yeon has definitely never played a protagonist before.'

He heard she won the lead role in the most recent movie audition.

Because its finals were highly talked about.

But she only won the lead role; she hadn't appeared in the movie as the lead yet.

The movies Seo Yeon had appeared in so far were too subtle to be called 'protagonist' roles.

One was a villain role.

The other was categorized as a lead, but honestly, the screentime wasn't enough to call it a lead.

At best, a lead-level supporting role.

'But a protagonist this time.'

She was certainly a trending actor lately; the speed at which she was appearing in works was extraordinary.

Just how many works is she filming a year right now?

Roughly such thoughts.

But then again, if you were a trending actor, there were cases where you appeared in all three major broadcasting stations' dramas simultaneously, so it wasn't like only Seo Yeon was special.

'The protagonist of sponsoring chairs to that drama…'

It certainly had its merits.

The problem was that he didn't know to what extent.

"But is it okay to tell us that? If you carelessly reveal who the cast is."

"It was revealed yesterday, so it's fine."

Ah, really?

Quickly checking the internet news on his smartphone, there was indeed an article about .

Joo Seo Yeon cast as the protagonist.

The article was featured prominently, so it seemed there was nothing to hide.

He heard the sponsorship ad had already been posted as an announcement, so this wasn't exactly confidential information either.

Seo Yeon had only spoken of already known information.

Rather, at this point, he was flustered that he hadn't known any of this.

'What a coincidental timing.'

Aidis was coincidentally planning to launch a student chair.

Development was already complete, and they were only pondering the launch date.

Naturally, the advertising model hadn't been decided either.

'This product is definitely important.'

The recent Korean chair market is saturated.

It's even full of overseas brands.

In this situation, Aidis was looking for a breakthrough, and since office chairs were originally their main product.

They wanted to focus on the student chair market this time.

Thinking about it, was certainly an attractive project.

Let alone Joo Seo Yeon, its lead.

'But…'

Kwak Hyunwoo's dilemma deepened.

The question of whether they really needed to use an expensive model.

Seo Yeon observed Kwak Hyunwoo's face like that.

'Thank goodness.'

Sensing his hesitation, Seo Yeon breathed a sigh of relief.

What Seo Yeon knew about was really very little.

Just that in her past life, they launched a student chair, and unfortunately suffered a huge loss because they were completely pushed out by a chair brand that came out around the same time.

If one asked why they were completely pushed out, it was precisely because of .

Because the chair sponsored by did such a perfect job of brand making as a student chair, Aidis was literally crushed without being able to put up a fight.

'But that brand is a bit…'

First, in three years, they would be caught importing cheap Chinese parts.

There was also a power trip controversy, causing all the models who appeared in that ad to suffer from the power trip image.

Therefore, Seo Yeon wanted Aidis to take that spot.

For reference, Aidis was also the chair Seo Yeon used in her past life.

The chair at the company she barely got a job at and worked for.

'Even if Aidis takes that spot, there shouldn't be any problems.'

Rather, Aidis taking it would be a better fit image-wise.

Its performance was actually rated better, and the chair they were launching this time was explicitly a 'student-exclusive' chair.

Perhaps, it could have an even greater impact than in her past life.

After thinking that, Seo Yeon opened her mouth.

"I don't intend to receive a large contract fee."

Seo Yeon said firmly, like driving a wedge into the hesitating Kwak Hyunwoo.

"Just give me as much as you pay the models you're currently putting out in ads."

"Pardon? Is that true?"

Kwak Hyunwoo's eyes widened.

No, what is going on?

If that's the case, huh? Forget hesitation or whatever, we need to use her right away.

Even without considering , it was only right to sign her immediately.

"Instead."

"Ah, yes."

At the word 'instead', Kwak Hyunwoo calmed down.

There must be a condition attached. If it's outrageous...

"Please film it very beautifully."

"……Pardon?"

"Especially in an intellectual way."

"……??"

Kwak Hyunwoo wondered if she was joking.

But seeing Seo Yeon's endlessly serious face, it seemed she was sincere.

"Um, are there no other conditions?"

"No."

"Then."

"You really have to film it beautifully."

"Of course."

Just how many times was she going to emphasize it?

'But is this really all?'

Kwak Hyunwoo was flustered. Asking to film the ad beautifully.

I mean, it's an ad, so of course they'd film it beautifully.

Such thoughts crossed his mind, but.

"Ah, yes, yes. I understand. Of course it should be."

Anyway, a chance to use the recent rising star cheaply.

Unless Kwak Hyunwoo was an idiot, he had no intention of missing this opportunity.

***

Anyway, like that, Seo Yeon concluded the negotiation.

Seo Yeon hoped Aidis would sponsor if possible.

'I know for a fact that spot was filled at the very end.'

It even made the news.

That there was no chair sponsor, so they were about to just use whatever until one came in at the last minute.

And then an unexpected mega-hit article.

Since then, all student brands were taken over by the brand that sponsored it then.

One day, while filming with such expectations.

"Ah, another sponsorship came in."

However, Writer Min Sehee said it with a face full of concern.

It seemed Aidis had come in as a sponsor not long after, just as Seo Yeon had hoped.

"I'll be directing the PPL anyway, so don't worry too much about the script."

Director Kim Ilsoo said with a hearty laugh.

Naturally, if there was PPL, it had to appear in the work, so the script had to be considered.

Of course, there were many writers who didn't care at all.

The director would somehow cover things like that with his directing.

'Thank goodness.'

Seo Yeon inwardly breathed a sigh of relief at the conversation around them.

Because Aidis had properly put in the PPL just as Seo Yeon had said.

"You're set to appear in this chair ad, right, Seo Yeon?"

"Ah, yes."

"I saw the recent poster too. It was filmed very beautifully?"

Director Kim Ilsoo said that and smiled.

It was quite common for actors appearing in a drama to appear in commercials.

"Ah, so that's why the PPL came in."

Min Sehee also seemed to understand belatedly.

Indeed, it was a good opportunity.

Of course, on the premise that the drama does well.

But, honestly, Min Sehee lacked confidence.

'……But can it really do well?'

She lacked the conviction that the script she wrote would do well.

Everyone said it was good, but it felt quite different from the atmosphere of public broadcasting.

"Haa."

As she was sighing with such thoughts.

A strange gaze was felt nearby.

"……?"

Turning her head, she saw Seo Yeon's face.

Not knowing when she had approached, Min Sehee was truly startled by her appearance staring right at her.

Really, she could have at least made some noise.

"Writer Min Sehee."

"Yes, yes?"

"……Could I perhaps talk with you for a bit?"

At those words, Min Sehee froze.