LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 20
Time had swiftly slipped into October.
The filming for “Hydream” was gradually progressing.
Since my scenes hadn’t come up yet, I was leisurely enjoying school life.
But at the same time, one worry started nagging at me.
“I should probably start looking into it soon.”
What I was concerned about was the agency.
With “Hydream,” it didn’t matter about the pay, since everything was based on a rookie standard anyway.
But the upcoming projects would involve complicated processes like contracts and deposits.
Going through all that alone felt like too much.
“Should I really go to ST Entertainment?”
At this point, the best option was definitely ST Entertainment, where Kim Yu-ryun was.
Having someone I knew, especially a top-tier actor from the industry, in the same nest made the place inviting.
If I managed to stay there, all the minor issues I had to deal with would just vanish.
“Sigh, I need to think this through.”
But I didn’t want to rush into anything.
Typically, when you sign a contract as an actor, you’re locked in for at least five years, so making a careful decision was the best approach.
“Hey, you little rascals, you didn’t study a bit, did you?!”
While I was lost in my thoughts, our homeroom teacher, Teacher Jang Boseok, entered the classroom.
“The midterm exam results are out, you lot!”
“AAAAAAAH!!!”
It was news of a catastrophic kind.
Hearing that wailing, the teacher seemed to relish the kids’ misfortunes as he chuckled heartily.
“Study a bit, will you? What good is it to just whine about everything?”
Then, his gaze suddenly fixated on me.
Clap clap clap.
He unexpectedly started applauding.
What the heck? What’s going on? My confusion was fleeting.
“Well, well! It’s all good! Our class has the top student, Kim Donghu! Come on up!”
With an exaggerated dialect performance, the teacher called me forth.
“I’m the top student?!”
Me, who frequently skipped school?
“Our class president became the overall top student, raising the class average! Clap for him!”
Wait a minute, why am I the class president?
As I shot a questioning look at Min-hyuk, the explanation began immediately.
“When you skipped school last time, we just decided you’d be the president among ourselves.”
By the way, I’m the vice president.
Because I’m your manager.
“…What does that even mean?”
“Huh? Oh, don’t worry about it, we all agreed.”
Why am I the class president when I wasn’t even there?
I can’t come to school regularly as it is!
It didn’t seem like they were going to listen to my objections, and applause burst out again.
Back then, it was common for the teacher to pick a kid to celebrate.
It was like public execution, almost.
And did they want to join in on the celebration as well?
Oooooo! Oooooo! Oooooo!
As if on cue after a long time.
[Sim’s – The Real Life] sent a message.
But this time, the format was different.
Previously, it was just simple texts, but this time it was something else.
– [Cyber QA, cracks appearing? “Mass exodus of team leader-tier managers, with some directors involved too.”]
– [Choi Seok-ho’s challenge! “Creating a space solely for actors,” throwing a gauntlet in the industry with Veritas Management.]
It was presented in article format.
And the headline that grabbed my attention was at the very end.
– [Is the first actor an unknown rookie? “A monster shining brighter than anyone,” Choi Seok-ho reveals his pride.]
Could this possibly mean me?
+++++
At the same time, in an office in Bundang.
That place was bustling with preparations for its grand opening.
“Hey, please put that down slowly!”
As PP boxes scurried back and forth, the man directing their placement was moving without even a moment to wipe his sweat.
“That, that couch goes over there! Yes, yes! Please put the vase over there!”
The man was swept up in a strange feeling as he looked at the office slowly getting organized.
‘I didn’t plan to leave so soon, you know.’
It’s normal for someone at the managerial level to start thinking about nesting in a new place, but there weren’t many managers who took direct action on it.
Because there’s just too much to lose.
You have to recruit actors, face competition from your old nest, and above all, it’s tough being ‘me’ without the name of a big corporation to back you up.
You have to cater to the whims of the people who used to be your subordinates.
Everything that used to be a given under the name Cyber QA would no longer be like that, and the stark reality would hit hard.
But.
“No way, treating a manager like some money-making cog in a machine.”
It was certainly not okay.
What Cyber QA did was like firing the entire server management team because there hadn’t been server troubles for years.
So he just turned in his resignation.
Because it was a mess.
At the same time, he made a firm resolution.
He would start a company where both actors and managers get treated right.
But the problem was that even if he had left, there were no actors to recruit.
To be precise, there had been some, but they were gone now.
‘Cyber QA…’
His former workplace, and now a rival corporation.
The power of that big corporation could easily stomp on a newly established one-man management team.
In truth, he had seen this situation coming.
Still, he believed he could recruit a few rookie actors.
“…Over there, yes yes, that chair is the CEO’s chair, so please bring it here.”
In the office, aside from the workers, he was all alone.
Thinking about that made the man’s, no, Choi Seok-ho’s voice grow slightly grim.
A space he had poured all his money into for a fresh start.
The emptiness of a place where he had bet his entire fortune, even maxing out loans—could there be a sadder story?
“Isn’t there a rookie actor just falling from the sky somewhere?”
Yeah, if that were the case, I wouldn’t be stuck here.
Choi Seok-ho slapped his cheeks lightly.
“Get it together, Choi Seok-ho, you can do this.
You’re a lucky guy, remember?”
You can do it! If you just jump in and hustle, recruiting actors will be a piece of cake.
“Yeah, I’m a lucky guy.”
It was lucky just to have moved into this building.
A seventh-floor commercial building, in a prime location with a large parking lot.
Plus, a kind landlord who doesn’t jack up the rent too much.
“Word has it the landlord hit a jackpot in World Cup betting or something.”
Could that really be true?
That sounds like nonsense.
+++++
November.
The time when final exams and winter break are slowly approaching.
Thanks to the weather getting a bit chilly, an outdoor brand that once swept through South Korea made an appearance.
“Wow, it’s been ages since I’ve seen North Face padding.”
It’s almost an exaggeration to say that every teenager was wearing North Face padding.
At that time, it was pulling in an insane amount of popularity.
“I used to want to wear it but couldn’t.”
The North Face padding, or “No-Pai,” wasn’t something you could wear just because you had money.
You could say it was like a class system.
It was a piece reserved for the so-called “delinquents,” and if your rank was below theirs, they could even snatch it away from you.
Of course, I—
“Luxury brands are the best.”
Thanks to the uncles in Bundang who were stuffing money into my pocket,
I was wearing Moncler.
I’m not particularly sensitive to the cold, but it feels nice to be warm, doesn’t it?
Huff.
As I lightly exhaled, my breath appeared and then vanished.
“It’s cold today, but there sure are a lot of people.”
Seeing the crowd of reporters in the distance made me grimace.
“Weren’t they saying this is the third public shoot today?”
Making film.
Not just simply showing the drama, but also turning the process of filming into content.
It was one of the essential tasks for promoting the drama.
But I had no chance to be part of the making film until now.
“Because I had no screen time.”
The first script reading and the first shoot were all kept private since they were the firsts.
Then, when we finally got the chemistry right, they switched to public, so there hadn’t been any opportunity to film.
“But it’s only two hours before the shoot, and everyone got here super early.”
The youngest, under his dad’s teaching to come early, was the first to arrive, but it seemed impossible to get through the crowd silently.
“Excuse me, just passing through.”
Rustle rustle.
Did the boy who was lugging around kimbap and coffee get recognized by everyone?
The reporters, while annoyed, gradually made way.
Then—
“Huh, huh? You’re really handsome!”
Someone blurted out the most obvious statement loudly.
“Um, are you… I mean, I…”
Flustered.
The reporter who loudly exclaimed I was handsome awkwardly fumbled and pulled out a business card.
“I’m Gil Gil-dong, a rookie reporter from Daily Happy Online Media. Is that you?”
“Huh? What are you saying is right?”
“Uh, you’re incredibly handsome, it’s absurd, so that day during the interview…”
“Interview?”
“Oh, the audition! Audition! You’re the one and only successful candidate from the public audition, right?”
It felt like I shouldn’t just say yes.
My brain started whirring quickly.
“Time to make a run for it.”
After grabbing the coffee and kimbap, I bolted.
“Y-yeah! That’s right! Unbelievably handsome! Kim Donghu!”
How does he know me? What the heck is this? A stork’s secret?
Just then, a flash of realization hit me.
“Oh, FaceStorm!”
Now that I think of it, I hadn’t even thought about my social media after becoming an actor.
How many followers did I even get for a rookie reporter to recognize me?
While running, I quickly opened my phone to check FaceStorm.
10,000.
That number at this time was utterly ridiculous.
I hadn’t posted a single thing; I just put up a few face photos, and bam—10,000.
No wonder I was recognized.
At least the good news was that I had blocked all DMs.
“Well, if this was allowed, my phone probably would have exploded.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Come on, who would send anything important?”
“Let’s just focus on filming.”
+++++
60 days.
1,440 hours.
86,400 minutes.
5,184,000 seconds.
The commonality of this time is that they all represented two months. At the same time, Studio Geumgang was going crazy.
“Is there really such a lack of talent? Is talent really this scarce?!”
“These kids today just can’t cut it! Ugh, ugh!!!”
So many audition announcements and recommendations from various agencies. After countless attempts, they still couldn’t find an actor for the Student Soldier role in [Endless Frontline].
Why is it that everyone is just spitting out the same rehearsed acting from academies? Do they think screaming and crying is all there is to war?
At least it’s a relief that the movie is still being filmed. They were stalling as much as possible by pushing the Student Soldier part to the back.
But eventually, limitations started showing.
Director Kang and Producer Park were slowly losing their minds. They didn’t want to give up.
They knew which was closer to success: completing the movie 100% or giving birth to it at 120%.
“Should we dig through SNS or something?”
Shouldn’t they really just scout someone? Do they really have to go this far?
With a resigned heart, Producer Park opened his social media, something he really didn’t want to do.
“Tag search… prettiest, middle school student.”
Would anything come up if I did this? Even while thinking that, he felt foolish.
If it was going to be that easy, why did they even conduct auditions?
“Huh?”
Wait, why is this guy so good-looking?
But that face was peculiar.
At first, it just seemed like a typical handsome face, but… it was like he was hiding a quiet wave of sorrow that had experienced war.
“…Director Kang, what do you think about him?”
“What the hell, Producer Park… you can’t just bring a photo without even seeing his acting…”
What’s with that face?
“…He might be okay? But isn’t he just a regular guy?”
“How about we have him give it a test?”
It’s normally impossible; it’s truly impossible.
This doesn’t make sense.
He’s just too handsome.
And he fits perfectly with the face they were envisioning.
Ugh, this really can’t be happening.
Tap-tap-tap.
The heart says no, but the body obediently starts drafting a DM.
No, he was going to do it.
“But I blocked him.”
“What?”
“I’ve blocked his contact.”
Blink blink.
“What do we do then?”
At Director Kang’s question, who looked like a goldfish blinking in confusion, Producer Park answered calmly.
“We’ll have to go find him.”
In Sinbit Middle School, everything is there.