Episode 4
Episode 4
After buying the drinks, Park Mijeong tried to open the lid right away, but her hands were shaking too much.
She acted nonchalant, but grabbing the company CEO by the collar was something that required tremendous courage.
She tried to calm herself by drinking the beverage, yet the lid wouldn’t open as she wished.
When the second attempt failed as well, Cha Seonhu peeled off the lid and held it out to her again.
“Manager Park Mijeong. Please become my manager.”
The fact that he had suddenly appeared and opened her drink lid was surprising enough, but the request to become his manager left her dazed.
“…Yes?”
“I’m asking you to become my manager.”
The two sat facing each other at a table in the corner of the convenience store.
Looking at Cha Seonhu’s bright smile, Park Mijeong found it hard to gauge what kind of situation this was.
“Do you… know me?”
“Of course. I saw you earlier.”
Since he couldn’t say they had been close in his past life, Cha Seonhu acted rather shamelessly instead.
With a serious expression, Park Mijeung spoke worriedly.
“You don’t know how important a manager is in this industry…”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking. You recognized me, didn’t you? The one who kept an eye on me at the audition—it wasn’t CEO Dokgo, but Manager Park Mijeong, right?”
“Huh… how did you know? Dokbyeong, there’s no way that guy would’ve told you?”
As expected, Park Mijeong knew all too well what kind of person Dokgo Byeonggi was.
“Dokbyeong”—that was what Park Mijeong called Dokgo Byeonggi.
It was short for “nasty bastard,” and the thought made Cha Seonhu snort with laughter, but he soon spoke calmly.
“I didn’t hear it directly. I overheard you talking to someone else.”
“Ah… I see. It’s a bit embarrassing. Showing such a sight to an artist…”
Feeling ashamed, Park Mijeong hung her head.
“Why? It was very impressive. I really never expected to hear an assessment of Yi Wanyong there.”
With a face mixed with puzzlement and curiosity, she asked.
“What did you see in me that makes you want to work together? I grabbed the CEO by the collar out of nowhere.”
“Isn’t it because you had things built up that you grabbed him by the collar?”
“That’s right. Actually… it was because of an actor who left the company recently. Jo Bora—do you remember the actor you helped relax at the audition?”
“Ah. I remember.”
Since he hadn’t known about the connection between Jo Bora and Park Mijeong, Cha Seonhu was inwardly surprised.
“It was her.”
She had been in the same situation as Cha Seonhu in the past.
After signing the contract, the company seemed to care a lot at first, but when results didn’t come out, they thoroughly neglected her.
Park Mijeong, who had joined the company around that time, saw potential in that actor and supported her by sharing audition-related information in secret.
With a troubled face, Park Mijeong continued.
“Her contract with the company ended three months ago. I thought it was fortunate since staying here wouldn’t help her anyway. Honestly, I wanted to leave with her, but I hesitated because there’s another actor still tied to the company. But…”
“Did CEO Dokgo spread bad rumors about Actor Jo Bora?”
“Huh… how did you know?”
Words lingered at the edge of Cha Seonhu’s lips.
‘Because I’ve seen it countless times.’
He was a petty man who acted that way because he couldn’t stand to see an actor he neglected doing well.
But he couldn’t say that.
“I just had a feeling. It was a situation where he was plenty capable of doing that.”
In his past life, Cha Seonhu, not knowing these circumstances, had considered Park Mijeong a strange person and avoided her.
Relieved that this life was different, he continued speaking.
“I like people who bend when it’s time to bend, but strike back when it’s time to strike back. In that regard, I’m certain Manager Park Mijeong would be perfect for me.”
“Are you really confident you won’t regret it?”
“Yes. I’m confident.”
Staring intently at Cha Seonhu, Park Mijeong soon finished her deliberation and extended her hand.
“Alright. Let’s do well.”
“Yes. I look forward to working with you.”
He responded to the handshake with a bright smile.
‘The past I wanted to change the most is changing.’
If asked to pick the moment he most wanted to change in his life, it would undoubtedly be when he signed with Dokgo Byeonggi.
Everything had gotten twisted because of that.
But he had returned, and because of that, Cha Seonhu could reverse the choice he had most wanted to change.
On top of that, he had gained the opportunity to start working with Park Mijeong, who had once helped him.
An indescribable, surging emotion enveloped him.
How much he had regretted the events of the past that could not be undone.
‘Now I can start over.’
He was finally moved to truly feel that he had returned to seven years ago.
But Park Mijeong didn’t let him fully savor that surging emotion.
“By the way. Where do you live? If I’m going to do pickups, I’ll need to know that first.”
“Ah… my place.”
The stirring emotion vanished in an instant, and the fact that he was staying at a jjimjilbang came to mind.
It wasn’t that big a deal to Cha Seonhu, but it wouldn’t be the same for Park Mijeong.
She had been shocked before when she belatedly learned he had been living at a jjimjilbang for a while.
He tried to brush it off with a subtle smile and a change of subject.
“Rather than that, shouldn’t which audition I should take be more important? Actually, there are a few auditions I’ve been looking at.”
“Hahaha. So you’ve been looking at some auditions.”
Seeing Park Mijeong laugh ambiguously, he felt relieved, thinking his diversion had worked.
But the words that came out of her mouth were not what he hoped.
“Where is your house? It’s fine, so tell me the truth.”
“…”
It hadn’t worked at all.
As expected, Park Mijeong was no pushover.
*
The air in the production meeting room of *Campus Cruelty* was heavy.
The casting meeting was in progress, and the opinions of the director, writer, and producing PD were sharply clashing.
And this was over the role of “Park Sejong,” a supporting role, not the lead.
Writer Yoon Seri spoke, suppressing her emotions.
“Cha Seonhu’s acting expressed Park Sejong the best.”
Writer Yoon looked toward PD Bak Jeonghun as if asking for help, and he nodded deeply in agreement.
“That’s right. He expressed the initial ‘Park Sejong’ role that Writer Yoon had envisioned the best.”
The producing PD did not back down and objected.
“But during the scriptwork, the character changed to a timid and easily swayed personality.”
“That’s because there were no actors who could play it that way, so it was modified.”
Writer Yoon’s breathing grew rough with frustration, and PD Bak, reading the room, quickly added.
“The Park Sejong that Writer-nim originally conceived is a person who hides chilliness within softness, but there didn’t seem to be any actor at this age who could pull that off, so I suggested modifying it.”
“Director. I said we should modify it after seeing the auditions.”
To Writer Yoon’s tearful reaction, PD Bak spoke softly.
“Sorry. Writer Yoon. No… I didn’t know someone would show up so perfectly like this either.”
In the drama, Park Sejong was twenty-three years old, and to play this role, one had to be in their early twenties or look like it.
The problem was that among such actors, those who could act well couldn’t be cast due to schedules, personal circumstances, appearance fees, and so on.
They had ended up in a situation where they had to decide through auditions, and in that situation, sticking to the initial Park Sejong character was difficult.
So PD Bak had repeatedly persuaded them to change the character, and Writer Yoon was stubborn at first but decided to revise it, thinking it was realistically difficult.
In the end, Park Sejong became a timid character who was swayed this way and that.
But then Cha Seonhu appeared at the audition performing with the feeling of the initial Park Sejong perfectly intact.
PD Bak continued speaking, persuading the producing PD.
“Honestly, it’s hard to catch that the character Park Sejong is chilly based on that scene alone. There’s no stage direction before ‘You always think only of yourself.’”
“Exactly. It was just a lucky fluke.”
The producing PD saw an opening and jumped in, but before PD Bak could refute, Writer Yoon spoke as if wailing.
“I was looking for someone who could do that! I!! That’s why I deliberately put in ellipses and removed the sub-directions.”
“Only Cha Seonhu properly read the subtext within the ellipses.”
Most had interpreted the ellipses as Park Sejong’s hesitation or annoyance.
While no one else could properly interpret the meaning, only one person—Cha Seonhu—recognized it.
No matter how valuable an object is, it is meaningless if there is no one who recognizes its value.
So from Writer Yoon’s perspective, Cha Seonhu, who recognized the meaning of her writing, felt truly precious.
Under the combined attack of the writer and director, the producing PD’s head was spinning.
“Honestly, I acknowledge that Cha Seonhu interpreted the script well and acted well. But you know why I’m doing this. We received investment from TJ, and we promised to give them the biggest role after the lead.”
Truthfully, the producing PD also liked Cha Seonhu, but as someone from the production company bringing in investment, he was in a position where he couldn’t ignore the investor’s opinion.
“…”
The pupils of Writer Yoon, who had closed her mouth, moved quickly, and soon she opened her mouth.
“TJ wants to put Junsung in, right?”
“Yes.”
Junsung was a member of a group called Fly Beat under TJ.
TJ’s decision to invest in *Campus Cruelty* was partly to expand their business into dramas, but the larger purpose was to get Junsung acting.
Actually, with Junsung’s recognition, he could have taken the lead role right away, but he wanted to work his way up steadily from supporting roles, so he had targeted the Park Sejong role, which seemed like a suitable supporting role.
But the writer and director didn’t like Junsung for the Park Sejong role, so they deliberately held auditions.
So the producing PD had inwardly hoped that no decent actor would emerge from the auditions, but then Cha Seonhu suddenly appeared.
“There are no other roles suitable for Junsung. If this happens, TJ will pull out. It’s hard to say this, but the investment amount is quite substantial, and covering it could delay filming.”
Looking at the producing PD speaking in a complaining tone, Writer Yoon’s eyes sparkled.
“What if there’s another role?”
“What role?”
PD Bak couldn’t think of another role either, so he naturally asked back.
“The role of Seo Jieun.”
The startled producing PD asked back.
“Are you talking about the contract faculty member who falls from the building in the first scene?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“But that role is a woman.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a man.”
“Really, Writer Yoon?”
“Yes.”
At Writer Yoon’s resolute answer, PD Bak was inwardly surprised.
Gender might not mean much to other writers, but it did to Writer Yoon.
She was the type who needed the character, the work’s story, and intention to all fit perfectly, so she attached great meaning even to gender.
Such a person was saying she would change the character’s gender to cast a rookie actor with no acting experience.
“With a character like Seo Jieun, TJ won’t have complaints either.”
“T-that’s right.”
Intimidated by the momentum, the producing PD stammered in reply.
“Is it still not okay?”
Writer Yoon’s unwavering gaze pressured the producing PD.
*
The car driven by Park Mijeong entered a quiet residential area in Ilsan and stopped in front of a house.
As soon as Cha Seonhu confessed that he was staying at a jjimjilbang, Park Mijeong immediately made him pack his bags and come out.
“Get out.”
Currently, Cha Seonhu was twenty-two, and Park Mijeong was twenty-eight, six years older, so they decided to speak casually.
“Noona, I’m really fine. My friend will be discharged from the military soon. With that friend…”
“I’m not fine. How could I let my actor sleep at a jjimjilbang?”
At the words “my actor,” Cha Seonhu felt something hot rising from his throat.
It was something he had never heard from anyone during his seven years as an actor.
No, he had heard it, but the meaning was different.
There were many who used the term “my actor,” including Dokgo Byeonggi, but they treated Cha Seonhu only as a product.
Park Mijeong was the only one who respected him as a human being.
“Thank you. Noona.”
“Save your thanks. I’ll make you pay it back several times over later.”
Smiling brightly, Park Mijeong got out of the car, and just as Cha Seonhu followed suit—
Suddenly, a Byeolstagram notification rang.
[Congratulations on your mission success.]
He had passed the *Campus Cruelty* audition.