"What? Park Jung-woo really decided to appear in that movie?"
Hwang Min-hwa's eyes gleamed sharply at the words of her junior actress, Yoon Ah-ri.
At that gaze, Yoon Ah-ri naturally shrank back.
Hwang Min-hwa had always had a strong presence.
Like a walking luxury brand, so to speak.
When she walked, she radiated light, making one wonder if this was an actor's aura.
At the same time, that pressure came across as a great intimidation to her opponent.
Especially when she revealed her true self, rather than her usual soft attitude.
"Yes, yes. It seems the rumor has already spread to all the big agencies."
"Hmm, that guy..."
They certainly weren't close enough for her to call him 'that guy'.
But he wasn't here anyway, and wasn't he younger than her?
Park Jung-woo debuted earlier as a child actor, but she was older.
'Park Jung-woo decided to appear in that movie? Is there something about that movie that I don't know?'
She couldn't figure it out at all.
Director Jo Bang-woo was a has-been who had recently ruined several consecutive projects.
Even with just Yoon Ah-ri dropping out, the investors were hesitating whether to continue investing.
And Park Jung-woo joined in that situation?
'Why?'
The Park Jung-woo Hwang Min-hwa knew was a thorough person.
Having inherited his father's talents exactly: looks, acting skills, and even an eye for choosing works.
A man born with everything.
He didn't particularly meet other actors privately, and he was a man whose whereabouts and activities were never even mentioned.
'At that age, with that much success, you'd think he'd want to show off.'
Hwang Min-hwa had also tried several times to make a connection with Park Jung-woo.
However, Park Jung-woo just pushed her away with a smiling face whenever she tried to talk to him.
He didn't give her a single chance.
An arrogant bastard.
The actresses who had hit on him all used such words.
On the contrary, such a clean private life.
With that level of self-restraint, even though they cursed him verbally, everyone was desperate to claim Park Jung-woo.
The more thorough he was, the more people looked forward to the moment it was broken.
'Of course, I'll pass. How boring of a man would he be.'
Anyway, apart from him being a boring man, his eye for projects was definitely special.
Park Jung-woo was not someone who would move thoughtlessly, or just because of past connections.
There was definitely something.
"Ah-ri?"
"Yes?"
"Can I say again that I will appear in that movie?"
"You, unni?"
Yoon Ah-ri looked at Hwang Min-hwa with a flustered face.
Originally, the reason Yoon Ah-ri declined that movie was because Hwang Min-hwa told her to refuse.
But hearing that Park Jung-woo was appearing, she was suddenly going to go out herself?
Yoon Ah-ri herself couldn't appear even if she wanted to, because she had already refused once.
"Ahem, I'm definitely sorry about that. But I originally yielded it to you when I was going to appear."
"That's..."
Well, that wasn't wrong either.
Originally, this movie, 'Seoul Escape', was a project Hwang Min-hwa had promised to appear in.
Originally, Hwang Min-hwa was an actress who rose to fame through a few movies she appeared in directed by Jo Bang-woo.
So, Director Jo Bang-woo had asked Hwang Min-hwa if she could help him just once.
Of course, she said she'd help and pushed it to Yoon Ah-ri.
'But it can't be helped.'
Who would want to appear in back-to-back failed projects?
Above all, Hwang Min-hwa was currently very sensitive about flop works.
Because her movie
If it hadn't been for that, well, she might have still appeared.
'But.'
Because of that bitch Joo Seo-yeon, Hwang Min-hwa didn't want to appear in a movie that might become a flop.
If she failed one more time... she might end up burying her bones in this Horizon Company.
Hwang Min-hwa had no intention of letting that happen.
"Don't worry, I'll speak well to the director. And you're not feeling comfortable because you refused either, right?"
"That's... true, but..."
Yoon Ah-ri nodded weakly.
She didn't really want to do the movie originally anyway, so it didn't matter.
It was just that Hwang Min-hwa's attitude was absurd.
"Yes, yes, Director. Oh my, it's been a while. It's nothing else but about this movie, if it's okay, I..."
While she was at it, Hwang Min-hwa immediately contacted Director Jo Bang-woo.
From Director Jo Bang-woo's position right now, if she said she would appear, he would definitely accept immediately.
Park Jung-woo and Hwang Min-hwa.
With just this proven actor combination going out, the investors would unconditionally say okay.
Maybe they would even invest more in the movie!
However.
"...What? I have to audition unconditionally?"
Hwang Min-hwa doubted her ears.
Because Director Jo Bang-woo immediately showed an embarrassed expression at her words.
[Actor Park Jung-woo set a condition. He said that in exchange for his appearance, the female lead must definitely be chosen through an audition. He said he wants to choose the actress who will sync well with him.]
"Ha!"
Hwang Min-hwa let out a hollow laugh as if she was dumbfounded.
Was Park Jung-woo the kind of guy to make such an arrogant request?
'Hmph, right, you're ultimately that kind of guy.'
Of course, Jo Bang-woo couldn't refuse Park Jung-woo's request.
Not simply because of the power Park Jung-woo held as an actor, but because behind him was the great actor Park Sun-woong.
If Park Sun-woong were to say just one word right now, Director Jo Bang-woo wouldn't even have the strength to protect the remaining cast.
"Alright. Well, I'll do it. The audition."
Hwang Min-hwa said so and hung up the phone abruptly.
It's Director Jo Bang-woo's movie anyway.
Proper actresses definitely wouldn't come.
Hwang Min-hwa was confident in her acting skills.
Actually, her acting skills were quite outstanding.
It was no lie that she was once the representative actress of Nova Entertainment.
"Unni, b-but there's a lot of physical acting in the movie, are you okay with that?"
"Huh? It doesn't matter. You know. These days I do yoga and exercise hard. Rather, if there's a lot of physical acting, it's even better."
It wasn't just yoga.
Lately, she had taken an interest in martial arts and had learned a lot of this and that.
Actually, she had a lot of lean muscle on her body, so she was even more confident when it came to using her body.
'But, if Park Jung-woo went to the trouble of saying that much, there's definitely something.'
Hwang Min-hwa thought so.
If that Park Jung-woo went so far as to say that to Director Jo Bang-woo... there was definitely something more.
***
"I, I said this, but is it really okay?"
Director Jo Bang-woo said that, glancing at Park Jung-woo.
Today happened to be a situation where he was having a separate meeting with Park Jung-woo.
Since he was taking the lead role, he wanted to discuss various things.
But then, a call came from Hwang Min-hwa.
"Yes, I would appreciate it if you continue to say that in the future."
"But if it's actress Hwang Min-hwa..."
Director Jo Bang-woo said with a tone of regret.
He definitely thought it would be a shame if it was Hwang Min-hwa.
Besides, didn't he say it was originally a movie she was supposed to appear in?
When it actually went into production, she pushed her junior forward, saying she was busy.
Of course, Director Jo Bang-woo received it with gratitude.
'I thought this would happen.'
Park Jung-woo crossed his arms and let out a sigh.
He didn't want to go this far either.
Because if this story spread, it would clearly eat away at his own reputation.
Even if the director was a has-been, if it spread that an actor made such an arbitrary condition, there was a high probability he would be criticized.
Of course, given Park Jung-woo's past behavior, people might think there's a reason for it now.
'Because of her, what am I doing.'
Of course, if he just said Joo Seo-yeon's name, it would be over.
But if he did, Director Jo Bang-woo would likely accept immediately, so he couldn't bring himself to say it.
For a kid who wanted to win purely on her skills, well, it couldn't be helped.
'If it's an actress of her caliber, she wouldn't want to audition.'
So he thought he would contact Jo Bang-woo separately.
However, he didn't know Hwang Min-hwa would contact him.
'...A strong rival, huh.'
He had that thought for a moment, but soon chuckled.
In many ways, this movie was a drama that fit Seo-yeon perfectly.
He realized it after checking the script.
The reason Joo Seo-yeon wanted to appear in this movie.
'Interesting.'
But how did she know?
There shouldn't have been a script yet?
Park Jung-woo stared at Director Jo Bang-woo for a moment.
He thought it was just to pay off a debt from the past, but maybe not.
This movie was too good to fail.
Park Jung-woo also finally came to realize that fact.
"Now that the cast seems to be mostly resolved... is there perhaps any other problem?"
"Well... the investors seem satisfied, but separately, the most important problem remains."
"The most important problem, you mean?"
"The number of screens. And promotion."
"...Are the investors not supporting it?"
"They are. GH Group said they would... so they probably will. However, I don't think we'll get many screens. Somehow..."
Since he failed consecutively, there would be little expectation for Director Jo Bang-woo.
Coincidentally, his son was also producing a movie.
Rumors were openly circulating that a great movie would come from that side.
The only relief was that the release dates didn't overlap.
But is that really a relief? No.
They avoided a father-son showdown, but there were several anticipated movies likely to open around the time Director Jo Bang-woo's movie was released.
There were also overseas movies that had been consecutive hits as a series, so the outlook wasn't bright.
"That is..."
This was a problem Park Jung-woo couldn't solve either.
He couldn't go to GH Group and ask them to increase the number of screens.
"Well, it will be fine."
"Huh?"
"Just, I have a feeling."
"Haha, I hope so. Though I doubt it will happen."
At Director Jo Bang-woo's words, Park Jung-woo smiled faintly.
Yes, literally, he couldn't.
However, a person who could do it was planning to participate in this audition.
***
One week later.
The audition for
Actresses began to appear one by one at the audition venue for a spot in
At first, actresses with relatively low recognition.
People who came hoping to gain something if they co-starred in a movie with Actor Park Jung-woo.
Actresses who didn't care about the movie's box office success and came to build a connection with Park Jung-woo.
"What? Did Actress Song Hyun-mi come too?"
"Wow, the Park Jung-woo effect must be huge. That senior is being really careful."
But soon, actresses whose names you'd recognize began to appear one by one.
Supporting roles from hit dramas.
Actresses who played key supporting roles in 5-million-viewer movies.
Actresses with enough recognition to step up to leading roles.
'Phew, there are no leading-role level actresses though.'
'Still, at this level, it's doable.'
The actresses exchanged glances and thought such things.
Still, at this level, I can compete.
Rather, they started to fill with motivation.
They thought there must be something to it since Park Jung-woo was appearing, but seeing the prominent actresses coming in, they felt there really must be something to it now.
*Click-clack.*
At that moment, clear high heel sounds gathered people's attention.
Slowly opening the door, white high heels revealed themselves, and long legs captivated their attention.
At that moment, everyone inevitably gasped.
'Wha-what, Hwang Min-hwa?'
'Really? Why?'
'Why is Actress Hwang Min-hwa here? No, with an actress like that, we're doing an audition?'
A luxurious dress wrapping her slender body.
A luxury bag, and her appearance was as flashy as that high-class outfit.
A luxury actress, an epithet that always followed her.
Hwang Min-hwa.
Those who met her haughty gaze couldn't even think of making eye contact properly and cast their eyes down.
Even Actress Song Hyun-mi, who had just been called out by people in surprised voices, couldn't make proper eye contact.
She was in a different league.
In an instant, the actresses here had no choice but to realize.
Purely, her qualities as an actress.
That her talent was completely different from theirs.
"Hmph."
Hwang Min-hwa scoffed as she looked at those actresses.
'As expected, it's nothing but a bunch of nobodies.'
Actresses who just latched onto hit works.
Rookies who were slightly praised for their acting.
Just amateurs like that.
Hwang Min-hwa moved her footsteps *click-clack* and sat in an empty seat.
And looked around.
To see if Park Jung-woo was there.
Of course, Park Jung-woo wasn't there.
'Right, he's a judge, right?'
Since he requested it, he must be on the judging panel too.
Hwang Min-hwa smiled as if she found it amusing.
She thought it would be so amusing to see that arrogant man lose his mind over her acting.
'But... if this is all, it's disappointing.'
It just feels like a waste of time.
Auditioning with actresses like these was offensive in itself.
She even wondered if she was only at this level.
Of course, even with such thoughts, Hwang Min-hwa sat back leisurely, crossing her legs confidently.
'Well, the ones who didn't come are just cowards.'
Actresses of a similar level to her must have hesitated over whether to appear in this movie.
But still, the trust Director Jo Bang-woo gave must have been the problem.
Actresses of a similar level to Hwang Min-hwa had no choice but to look at such things.
Because everything they had built up could be ridiculed with a single failure.
In that regard, Hwang Min-hwa was definitely the gambler type who threw the dice.
The reason she had been on a winning streak so far was also because she had such judgment.
*Rattle.*
While Hwang Min-hwa was having such thoughts.
The creaking door opened.
Looking at the time, it was 5 minutes before the audition started.
It was the last participant who came by the skin of their teeth.
'A kid who can't even keep time is easy to read...'
Thinking like that, Hwang Min-hwa, who sent an uninterested look,
'Huh?'
Hardened her face.
Somehow, the person who opened the door and came in was very familiar.
Pitch-black hair as if it had melted the darkness.
Eyes that shone even redder because of the relatively dim lighting of the audition room.
White skin that suited that darkness and redness.
Plus a slender physique and light footsteps that caught the eye.
That calm face, feeling no tension for someone who came to an audition.
"Joo Seo-yeon?"
Someone uttered that name.
A person whom they couldn't believe for a moment even seeing her in person.
An actress who wouldn't be strange to be called the busiest actress of the year.
They didn't expect her to participate in this audition again.
Amidst everyone's gazes, Seo-yeon sighed inwardly.
'...I almost was late because I took the subway.'
She told her manager she was running and came out, but because Park Jung-woo contacted her.
Telling her not to run and to properly take a car or subway.
Because of that, Seo-yeon, who was almost late, was currently in a slightly foul mood.
Since she ended up in a position where she was getting dirty looks.