Seo-yeon, who had recently started building proper human relationships, was brimming with inner confidence.
In her class, many students had started approaching her to talk.
At this rate, having a large number of friends was a foregone conclusion.
On top of that, her actor friends who could be considered colleagues were steadily increasing.
'It, it feels a bit strange, but Stella also said she liked me.'
Though the meaning of "liking" was a bit different, but anyway.
She got along well even with Stella, who thoroughly built walls against others.
Therefore, it was natural that she had recently come to highly evaluate her own social skills.
Actually, wasn't she already an insider?
Seo-yeon, full of confidence, had nothing to fear.
Even when Manager Park Eun-ha worried about Arthur Diaz, hadn't she already become close with Stella?
Though they weren't friends.
She roughly thought so.
'But, I shouldn't become arrogant.'
Rather, the better things went, the more she needed to try.
In that sense, Seo-yeon had recently been reading books that helped with building human relationships.
The first lines of those books were mostly similar.
'Become a person who praises and affirms others.'
That's right.
Therefore, Seo-yeon quietly waited for Arthur to arrive in the GH Group conference room, running mental simulations over and over.
'Stella said she was a very famous actress overseas. And according to Stella, she had experience teaching acting to Arthur Diaz.'
If they were people who taught each other acting, they must be in a close relationship.
Besides, Seo-yeon highly evaluated Stella's acting, separate from her personality.
Being compared to such Stella meant she was practically the best actress among her peers with no rival.
'Good.'
Having roughly thought of the lines to say in her head, Seo-yeon filled with confidence.
Since they would be filming together in the future, it would be best to build as good a relationship as possible.
"He's late."
Of course, unlike Seo-yeon, Kim Chang-gyu, the head of the Cultural Business Department at GH Group in charge of
Today, he had come to this place in place of Director Kang Tae-jin, who was leading this project.
Actually, for such a meeting, just the director and a few employees from the investor side would have been enough.
However, since the other party was Hollywood actor Arthur Diaz, this side also needed to maintain appearances to some extent.
"There were rumors that Arthur Diaz was a very well-mannered actor in Hollywood."
Han Ye-geon, the director of
"Well, as rumors go, reality is often different."
A young genius director.
He was also a person as difficult to handle as Arthur Diaz.
Department Head Kim Chang-gyu felt he understood why Director Kang Tae-jin hadn't come to this place today.
'It's a relief that at least Actor Joo Seo-yeon is well-behaved.'
Perhaps because he had heard so much about Seo-yeon from Director Kang Tae-jin, Kim Chang-gyu felt quite a lot of internal intimacy toward Seo-yeon.
Even when having meals together or doing something, he would constantly check and talk about what Seo-yeon had accomplished recently.
Anyone watching would think she was his daughter.
'Even that robot-like Director has a human side like that.'
Did he say she was a friend's daughter?
Perhaps it couldn't be said that this had no influence from connections.
There were many parts where GH Group provided convenience to Seo-yeon, knowingly or unknowingly.
However, the reason no gossip came out was not for another reason.
They had selected Seo-yeon at an audition that everyone watched.
So that talk of connections wouldn't come up.
It wasn't strange for GH Group to provide convenience to an actor who secured their position through skill.
Rather, people would think, "Ah, they treat their lead actors well."
'If she achieved that level of results in just one year, she has reason to be arrogant.'
Apart from that, the reason Kim Chang-gyu viewed Seo-yeon favorably was because she lacked the arrogance and insolence typical of successful actors.
Of course, that's not to say that's a bad thing.
If one achieved that level of results, being somewhat arrogant would be normal.
However, adding insolence to that was a separate problem, but that was usually how it went with young actors.
'Is it because the actors she associates with are all thorough in self-management?'
Park Jung-woo, Jo Seo-hee.
Both were figures who never had a single word of gossip about them.
Since they were actors who thoroughly managed themselves, Seo-yeon might think that was natural.
"Department Head, he's here."
At that moment, an employee whispered such words to his ear.
At the same time, the conference room door opened, and a tall man revealed himself.
And following him, numerous people entered the conference room together.
Arthur Diaz and his manager.
And the people from the agency handling his contract.
Their numbers were rather more than those waiting in the conference room.
"Hello, I am Arthur Diaz."
Perhaps feeling the surrounding atmosphere flinch for a moment, Arthur offered a soft smile and greeted the assembly.
Only then did the surrounding gazes relax.
Thanks to his fluent use of Korean, the worsening impression had improved.
Originally, people tend to feel goodwill when a foreigner skillfully uses their country's language.
'Easy.'
Arthur thought so inwardly and smiled faintly.
Anyway, the people having conversations today were his agency and manager, and the people from that group.
Actually, the actors didn't particularly have a reason to be at this place today.
However, Seo-yeon and Arthur Diaz had come purely to exchange greetings as the lead actors of
As calm English was heard and the meeting began in earnest, Arthur slowly leaned back in his chair.
'Is that the woman?'
Arthur sat leisurely in his chair, looking at Seo-yeon sitting with an upright posture with interested eyes.
'Her appearance is certainly impressive.'
He admired inwardly.
He had wondered what an Eastern actress would be like, but seeing her in person, her appearance was truly beyond words.
A cool impression, sharp eyes.
White skin with red lips made her look like an elaborate doll.
What's important is the presence felt from that body.
Presence as an actor.
'Stella didn't speak in vain.'
Indeed, she was a person who sparked Arthur's interest as well.
Of course, the perception of her being a young Eastern actress didn't change.
'Still, her appearance is quite nice...'
She looked young, so he didn't intend to make a move on her.
But if he made that girl fall for him, how furious would Stella be?
Such a thought made him smile involuntarily.
"?"
Perhaps feeling his gaze upon her, Seo-yeon's gaze moved and their eyes met.
Arthur smiled softly at Seo-yeon who was staring at him.
Even Hollywood actresses, when facing his smile head-on, would blush and avert their gaze for no reason.
At the same time, there were many actresses who sent suggestive glances.
But.
"??"
Seo-yeon simply faced the gaze staring at her.
Did he have something to convey with his eyes?
Or was he bored and suggesting a staring contest?
'Is this what they call eye contact?'
It's also written in books.
Originally, conversation is only effective when you look at each other's eyes.
Perhaps Arthur Diaz had something to convey to her right now.
With that thought, Seo-yeon just continued looking at Arthur Diaz.
'...What?'
Of course, from Arthur Diaz's standpoint, he was flustered by Seo-yeon suddenly glaring at him.
When she suddenly glared fiercely, even Arthur Diaz flinched for a moment.
For Arthur, who had always received spring breeze-like gazes from women, it was a very disconcerting thing.
'I see, she must have heard something from Stella.'
Otherwise, there was no reason for her to show such a reaction to his smile.
'It'll change if we talk.'
Thinking so, Arthur quietly waited until the meeting ended.
Skillfully deflecting the gazes of Director Han Ye-geon or Director Kim Chang-gyu staring at him.
About 2 hours later.
"Now we can finally have a proper conversation."
Arthur said to Seo-yeon in a soft tone.
As the meeting grew longer, the two moved to a lounge prepared within GH Group first.
This was to give the two lead actors an opportunity to converse before the filming of
That was the original purpose of Seo-yeon coming to GH Group today.
"Let me introduce myself again. I am Arthur Diaz."
Bowing softly to greet, he had an appearance that could truly be called a prince from a fairy tale.
Shining blonde hair, deep green eyes.
Plus his tall stature and slim figure made it easy to understand why he had produced so many female fans in Korea.
"I'm Joo Seo-yeon."
Seo-yeon's calm reply.
At her words, Arthur was inwardly flustered.
'No reaction at all?'
Truly, not even a sliver of emotional change could be felt.
Still, women facing him always showed some kind of reaction.
Except for Stella, who from their first meeting said, "I've never seen anyone more fake than me," most tended to express goodwill.
In some ways, Seo-yeon went beyond Stella.
This one was completely indifferent.
In that strange standoff, Seo-yeon belatedly realized this silence.
'Ah, is it time to speak now?'
The reason there was no particular reaction was because Seo-yeon had been running simulations in her head to say the lines she had prepared.
I need to praise, praise.
"I heard from Stella, you learned acting from Stella, right? Maybe that's why you two have similar aspects, as expected."
"..."
It meant being compared to a great actress like Stella.
That was the intention.
Of course, every word felt like it was prepared to scratch at the opponent.
For a moment, Arthur found it difficult to manage his expression.
Is she provoking me?
He suppressed the veins that momentarily rose in his neck.
It could be called tremendous patience.
Because if he fell for this provocation, Stella would laugh out loud.
"...Is that so."
"Yes. It's similar to the feeling when I first saw Stella."
"I-i-is that so."
Of course, her first impression wasn't good, but at their first meeting, Seo-yeon could immediately tell that Stella was not an ordinary person.
Something felt from her.
She didn't particularly feel such a thing from Arthur, but it could be said to be Seo-yeon's lip-service praise.
Of course, Arthur Diaz ground his teeth to the point of breaking again.
'Was this not it?'
Seo-yeon tilted her head looking at such Arthur.
Of course, since the person she was meeting today was a Hollywood actor, Seo-yeon had prepared quite thoroughly.
In other words, she was fully prepared.
"Mr. Arthur Diaz, you have many fans overseas and are amazing. In 'Lionheart' which recently opened in Korea, you played a medieval knight, and received great reviews from overseas press. I heard you drew over 3 million audience members in Korea alone. This was the most outstanding performance among foreign films this year, and I heard Arthur Diaz's appearance had a great impact on Korea."
"..."
Seo-yeon endlessly spouted praises about Arthur Diaz.
How much the movie revenue was, how many audience members there were.
Somehow, the words felt like they were scraped from internet articles, which was very uncomfortable.
'What on earth is this woman?'
Arthur clenched his teeth and stared at Seo-yeon.
It wasn't just that his pride was cracked, but his mind was slowly drifting through space.
An attitude that truly had not a shred of interest in him.
A woman babbling like a glitched ChatGPT.
If this continued, he felt like he would hear all of his Korean film performance records that he didn't particularly want to know, so Arthur cut off Seo-yeon's words.
"...More than that, there's one proposal I'd like to make."
"A proposal?"
Only then did Seo-yeon's mechanically spouted words end.
If nothing else, Seo-yeon had an amazing memory.
There were about five more internet articles she had prepared, so it was a bit disappointing, but she first focused on listening to Arthur's words.
Because it was also written in the book that listening to the other person's words was important.
"I'll be staying in Seoul for a while, could you show me around Seoul a bit then?"
Now it was truly a battle of pride.
Arthur was thinking of somehow making this woman named Seo-yeon fall for him and laugh at Stella.
Plus, to give the same humiliation to the woman who had just humiliated him...
"I don't want to."
"...What?"
"Then I'll get scolded."
Seo-yeon made an X gesture with both hands, absolutely saying no.
If nothing else, if she went around alone with Arthur, Jo Seo-hee or Park Jung-woo would definitely throw a fit.
Are you trying to cause a scandal, are you crazy.
Surprisingly, Seo-yeon was the type to quietly listen to such advice.
"..."
"Still, it was nice meeting you today."
Arthur felt his mind slowly becoming hazy.
After that, Arthur had to listen to his own praises for a full hour like a radio.
Like that, everything ended.
"Seo-yeon."
Park Eun-ha asked Seo-yeon, who got into the returning van, in a slightly worried tone.
"Did Mr. Arthur Diaz perhaps harass you?"
"What? No, he kept listening well to what I was saying."
"Really? Phew, I was worried, but that's a relief."
It seemed the young actors quickly became friends.
Seeing Seo-yeon looking triumphant, Park Eun-ha smiled softly.
Thinking that, anyway, today's meeting seemed quite good.
***
"Yes, hello... Yes? Ah, yes, that's me."
A woman who stumbled up in the darkness put her phone to her ear and spoke in a hoarse voice.
Because she had been writing a novel until dawn yesterday, she wasn't in her right mind.
However, that mind instantly woke up at the following words.
"...Yes? A meeting? With whom? Yes?"
Because news came that a completely unexpected person had been cast in the drama adaptation she had so looked forward to.