There were countless people.
Noisy sounds could be heard.
Eyes were dizzy, and ears were deafened.
But.
"A little late, aren't you?"
Those words were heard remarkably clearly.
"...Even though I'm late."
When he grabbed her slender arm and called her to a stop.
The radiant smile revealed beneath the red cloth pierced his eyes as if etched into them.
"I'm back."
Eyes tinged with a red glow.
A mischievous smile lingering on her lips.
At that moment, he...
***
-Vroom, vrooooom!!
"......"
He opened his eyes at the vibration of his phone.
Checking the clock, it was 5 AM.
If he didn't start getting ready soon, it was a time that could disrupt his schedule for the day.
"Haa."
Looking up into the mirror, the reflection of a haggard man appeared.
A well-featured face, but with a relatively unkempt impression.
Who would look at this and think he's South Korea's representative handsome actor?
"Why did I have to dream of that..."
Joo Seo-yeon, back when she still had an innocent impression left.
But seeing her swaggering around these days, she's nothing short of a beast.
Where on earth did Princess Yeon-hwa, who stole people's souls in an instant, disappear to?
'If she was that strong, she should've just beaten up Prince Cho-young too.'
Actually, wasn't the success of Prince Cho-young's rebellion due to Princess Yeon-hwa's mercy?
It was one of the things Park Jung-woo had been seriously thinking about lately.
Did she really need to wait 10 years?
She should have come back quickly and smashed the heads of all the rebel bastards.
-Vrooooom, vroom!!!
"Ah, what now."
Park Jung-woo, who had just taken a bite of toast, frowned at the phone that started ringing again.
If it was an alarm, he definitely turned it off earlier.
With that thought, he looked at his phone.
- You're awake, right?
- Are you awake?
- Say
- Talk
- I know you're up
- Wake up
- Hey hey
KakaoTalk messages flew in one after another.
Seeing that, Park Jung-woo's eyes narrowed.
There was only one person who would text him like this.
- What is it, this early in the morning
- No. It's not even morning, it's dawn. Look at the time
Does this girl not sleep?
Park Jung-woo sent that message, wondering what to write last, and then.
- And I'm busy today so I can't play games
He left that message.
The very person who sent the KakaoTalk message just now.
When Joo Seo-yeon contacted him, it was usually only for things like this.
Asking to play Kalbaram.
Or saying a new game came out and asking to play together.
Roughly things related to his hobbies.
Even if he told her to play with other friends.
"They have better luck or are better than me, so I don't like it."
This annoying woman was the type who wanted to stand out the most, at least in games.
A person who usually lets most insults slide but gets genuinely triggered by the words, "You suck at games."
That's why the game chosen was a normal online RPG without competition.
When he heard she was playing with Jo Seo-hee and Lee Ji-yeon, Park Jung-woo thought he was finally liberated.
However.
"You quit that?"
"Yes."
"Why? There's no competition in that either."
When he asked casually.
Seo-yeon, with a genuinely aggrieved face.
"Only I fail at enhancements."
"......"
"Jo Seo-hee succeeds every single time she tries. How can a person be that lucky?"
Truly, genuinely, Seo-yeon had never glared at Jo Seo-hee as much as she did then.
It was definitely more angry than when she heard the word 'parachute'.
Park Jung-woo knew.
He even knew that Seo-yeon had spent real money.
When you can't level up even after pouring money into it, and a free-to-play player grows in the blink of an eye, you're bound to feel an unspeakable sense of helplessness.
Park Jung-woo, who felt relatively similar to Seo-yeon in games, could fully empathize.
'Actually, that's also all because of her.'
Park Jung-woo hadn't really played games during his school days either.
When friends asked him to play, he mostly told them to get lost, saying he was busy.
Well, he was actually busy back then.
Anyway, he ended up playing games, which were never in his destiny, quite diligently.
Now he's gotten somewhat hooked on it, though.
-Vrooooom.
"She's persistent today..."
Still, Joo Seo-yeon was quite thorough when it came to work, so if he said he was busy, she didn't hold him back.
As if she knew how important this job was to Jung-woo.
But, strangely today, the KakaoTalk conversation didn't end.
"Ha, really what now..."
Park Jung-woo, who checked KakaoTalk while saying that.
Drop.
He had no choice but to drop the toast in his hand to the floor.
- I think I received a confession.
Because.
- From a woman.
Those words were written there.
***
First of all, Seo-yeon stayed up all night.
No, she had no choice but to.
It was the first time in her life she had heard such words.
She had only seen it in dramas or movies, and never imagined such a thing would happen to her.
- Someday, I want to know the feeling of love.
She had that kind of curiosity.
And actually, she thought she definitely had to try it later.
She had that kind of feeling too.
But she didn't know such a sudden storm would arise.
"J-j-j-j-joo Seo-yeon. Y-y-you, w-w-what happened between you two?"
"I'm dizzy."
As soon as Stella boarded the plane and left, Lee Ji-yeon grabbed Seo-yeon's shoulders and shook her wildly.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice was trembling, so honestly, Seo-yeon was a bit scared.
Can her eyes get red too? Was it not just me?
"Should I turn the plane around?"
Jo Seo-hee said that seriously.
With her phone in her hand.
What, can you make a plane that already took off land again?
Why are you being so scary.
"Nothing much happened."
At that time, Seo-yeon was a bit flustered, but she said that quite calmly.
And, she told the two exactly what happened with Stella.
Swearingly, Seo-yeon hadn't done anything special with Stella.
After hearing the whole story, Ji-yeon and Seo-hee.
"...I knew Stella had a lot of interest in Joo Seo-yeon from before, but."
"This is, hmmmm. Could it be? So?"
The two nodded their heads and whispered about something.
Of course, if Seo-yeon set her mind to it, she could hear all of their conversation, but out of conscience, she held back this time.
"Joo Seo-yeon."
"Yeah."
"You, definitely... have the blood of an old man in you."
"?"
The old man Lee Ji-yeon was talking about was undoubtedly Joo Young-bin, Seo-yeon's father.
Of course, Seo-yeon didn't know why Young-bin's name was being mentioned here.
"Well, wh-what does it matter? From what she said, it doesn't seem like she'll be coming to Korea afterwards."
"Right. We only work in Korea anyway."
At Ji-yeon's words, Seo-hee also agreed.
Hollywood.
Honestly, it's not a place you can advance into just because you want to.
Even if you threw all your effort into that direction, it was a land you might never set foot on in your lifetime.
So far, the actors who advanced from Korea to Hollywood could be counted on one hand.
Among them, if you talked about successful actors, there were practically none.
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Even great actors renowned in Korea were just one of the many Asian extras in the West.
There were many such instances.
At least, that was the case for Korea right now.
'If a little time passes, it won't necessarily be like that.'
At the point when OTT became fully active.
At that time,
Changing the perception of Korean dramas.
Greatly raising the awareness of Korean actors.
It played a perfect role as a bridgehead to expand Korea's cultural industry content to the world.
'From that point on, there will be many cases of Korean actors advancing into Hollywood.'
Thinking about that, Stella's words weren't entirely absurd.
Actually,
"It's a shame for Stella, but this is goodbye, huh."
"Right, Seo-yeon?"
At those words from the two, Seo-yeon stopped her thoughts and blinked.
"Really? I have a feeling we'll meet again."
"......"
Even if Seo-yeon didn't go to Hollywood, there was no rule saying Stella wouldn't come.
She never once said she wouldn't come to Korea when they parted.
'However, the nuance was that she would wait, though.'
The next time they meet is definitely in Hollywood.
Stella seemed to be expecting exactly that.
Even though she wouldn't know the future, Seo-yeon was honestly amazed that Stella said such things.
Did she highly rate
Or...
"Joo Seo-yeon, you're arrogant."
"??"
Afterwards, from coming out of the airport until returning, Seo-yeon had to be harassed by Ji-yeon and Seo-hee.
To be exact, all day after that.
But the very next day, Ji-yeon and Seo-hee returned to Japan for filming, so practically, only Seo-yeon was left alone in Korea.
Seo-yeon had already finished most of her filming in advance, and there wasn't much filming in Korea either.
One shoot and it's over.
Since Seo-yeon's schedule was so busy, Director Baek Min accommodated her, but thanks to that, Seo-yeon was left with free time.
She did have a Korean schedule, but at best, it was just commercial shoots related to 'Eclat Etoile' or AIDS.
So, Seo-yeon had no one to hang out with.
Seo-yeon, who had no friends to call, spent more and more time immersed in thought.
'Um.'
Therefore, she ended up realizing something she had been taking lightly.
Wait, didn't I receive a confession?
She thought.
***
"So."
Park Jung-woo met Seo-yeon at a cafe after a long time.
Before talking about this actress or that actor, he wanted to hear this in person.
"...You received a confession from Stella Baldwin?"
"Yes."
"What in the world..."
Jung-woo felt his mind go blank.
No, what in the world is happening.
Is America really that open of a country?
At first, it's just your delusion.
Park Jung-woo was going to tell her that, but hearing Stella's remarks, he couldn't possibly consider it a delusion.
'Considering she said it's a trend in the US these days, or told me to study it, and then straightforwardly said she wasn't joking...'
Looking at her previous remarks, even if his romance cells were dead, he couldn't help but know.
Honestly, Park Jung-woo had heard all sorts of indirect confessions while living, so he couldn't help but know.
Stella is serious.
And it's not just ordinary seriousness.
'Stella Baldwin, it is the Stella Baldwin I know, right?'
Joo Seo-yeon talked about it really nonchalantly.
Like talking about a rather fierce Chihuahua she met on the street.
But from an actor's perspective, Park Jung-woo couldn't treat Stella like a Chihuahua.
She was literally the actress of the century.
Winning the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival at the youngest age was an achievement no one else had accomplished.
Honestly, it was a wonder she walked around Korea unbothered.
Moreover, Stella was of mixed race, so she grew up like a fairy without the typical rapid aging of Westerners.
Because of that, she was sometimes treated a bit strangely overseas... but on a separate note, she also enjoyed exceptionally great popularity.
Therefore, Park Jung-woo couldn't bring himself to treat Stella like a Chihuahua.
'Jo Seo-hee is really amazing too.'
If it were Park Jung-woo, he wouldn't be able to shoot down Stella like Jo Seo-hee did.
'Well, she is a chaebol, after all.'
No matter how great Stella is, she probably thinks of her as just an actor in the end.
If he said this, Jo Seo-hee would definitely get mad, so he wouldn't say it.
"...But, I'm curious about one thing."
"Yes."
"Why did you tell me that?"
"That's because."
Seo-yeon looked at Park Jung-woo and said in a serious tone.
"You seem to have a lot of dating experience."
"......"
"It's not like I have any thoughts about it right now. I just wanted to ask how I should handle a situation like this."
At times like this, Joo Seo-yeon is quite sincere.
The other person confessed, so shouldn't I give them a proper answer? That kind of feeling.
There are signs of slight panic and embarrassment, but it's also confident.
"I'm sorry, but."
Park Jung-woo sighed and said.
"I've never dated either."
"No need to manage your image with me."
"No, really I haven't. Where in my career do I have time to date a woman?"
But didn't I say this before too?
Park Jung-woo seriously thought so.
"Anyway. So, I can't really give you any advice."
"You're dodging too much."
"No, what do you mean dodge. It's the truth!"
Park Jung-woo was frustrated.
He really had no dating experience!
There were so, so many women making passes at him that he rather didn't think about it.
In a way, it's a very well-fed remark, but what could he do.
Besides, thinking of his fellow actors getting entangled with women and having huge scandals erupt, he couldn't dare to do it.
Park Jung-woo is the son of the great actor Park Sun-woong.
If he made a mistake, an article would definitely be published under his father's name.
So, careful. He had no choice but to be careful again.
"More than that."
So Park Jung-woo desperately changed the subject.
"The audition you talked about before, it's been mentioned recently."
"Yes?"
"I mean Director Jo Bang-woo's movie."
"!!"
At those words, Seo-yeon's eyes turned serious.
Seeing such a look in her eyes, Park Jung-woo realized he had successfully changed the subject.
He was only asking because he was curious, but if this continued, he felt like he would end up talking about his own dating situation.
"...What's the story about?"
"Probably, the audition will start a week from now."
"Yes? A week... from now?"
At those words, Seo-yeon couldn't help but lose her color.
It was only natural.
The audition for Director Jo Bang-woo's movie was originally at the end of the year.
Even now it's getting close to the end of the year, but the end of the year and being close to the end of the year are distinctly different.
'At least two months have been moved up.'
Originally, it was an impossible event.
There had been various changes so far, but there hadn't been a change this dramatic.
'Why on earth?'
Director Jo Bang-woo's posthumous work.
That work, which had problems from the start, already felt like something unusual was going on.