Chapter 111: Clumsy Kim Si-woo (5)
“Oppa!”
Midway through the company dinner, Hong Soo-yeon—who had just finished her schedule—opened the restaurant door and walked in. The newly joined actors looked at her with envious eyes.
But Hong Soo-yeon paid no attention to them, greeted everyone casually, and quickly made her way to Kim Si-woo’s table.
“Oppa… Are the kids okay? I saw a lot of malicious comments today.”
“I told the senior actors to comfort them well, so they should be fine. We spent 500,000 won at a café… If they didn’t manage to cheer them up, I’ll deduct it from those guys’ salaries. When you have time, look after the kids a bit too.”
“Is that okay? I’m still a rookie myself.”
“Look behind you.”
At Kim Si-woo’s words, Hong Soo-yeon turned around. The rookie actors in the back were staring at her with eyes that clearly wanted to talk to her.
“As expected, actors beat writers when it comes to popularity. I’m jealous!”
“Hey!”
When Kim Si-woo teased her, Hong Soo-yeon covered his mouth with her hand.
“You’re thinking something weird again! No way. One act of rebellion is enough for me.”
“Weird? What weird thoughts?”
Kim Si-woo naturally removed her hand and put a well-grilled piece of samgyeopsal in her mouth.
“You should eat some meat too. You probably didn’t eat properly because of filming today.”
“Yes!”
While eating, Kim Si-woo asked Hong Soo-yeon about her next project.
“When does script reading start?”
“Probably next month. They said if I’d contacted them even a day later, they would’ve cast someone else.”
“Good thing. And you heard about the MT, right?”
Hong Soo-yeon, with meat in her small mouth, nodded while chewing.
“Yoo-jin will tell you the exact dates. If you’re coming, adjust your schedule well.”
“Yes, oppa.”
Step, step.
While they were deep in conversation, Kim Min-ji approached Kim Si-woo’s table.
“Hello, sunbaenim. I’m Kim Min-ji, an actor with Siwoo Film.”
“Huh? Oh… hello.”
“Could I possibly take a photo with you?”
“Uh… sure.”
Hong Soo-yeon, a bit flustered, still kindly took a photo with Kim Min-ji.
“Thank you so much, sunbaenim. If I get the chance later, I’d love to learn acting from you.”
“My acting probably wouldn’t help much…”
Literally, Hong Soo-yeon’s acting style wouldn’t be useful for most people.
Her mechanical, ultra-precise performance—based on incredible memory and second-by-second detailed settings.
There were surely only a handful of actors who could perform the same way she did.
“Do I really lack that much talent…?”
Seeing Kim Min-ji misunderstand deeply, Hong Soo-yeon panicked. Kim Si-woo, sitting beside her, teased her.
“Wow… I didn’t know Soo-yeon was like this—keeping acting secrets from her junior?”
“Ah! Oppa! You know that’s not it.”
Not just Kim Si-woo—anyone who had seen Hong Soo-yeon’s scripts or her acting on set knew.
Learning acting from her wouldn’t help most actors.
“No, that’s not what I meant, Min-ji.”
“I’m sorry. I was too impatient…”
“Sigh… That’s not it…”
Hong Soo-yeon sighed and glared at Kim Si-woo, Lee Yoo-jin, and the other actors who were grinning like they were enjoying the show.
Of course, it had no effect.
“Soo-yeon, just show her your script.”
In the end, Kim Si-woo offered a solution. Following his suggestion, Hong Soo-yeon pulled a script from her bag and showed it to Kim Min-ji.
“What is this…?”
Kim Min-ji looked back and forth between Hong Soo-yeon and the script with disbelief.
Kim Si-woo and the others nodded or sighed as if they completely understood her reaction.
“Is this even possible?”
“That’s why Soo-yeon said it wouldn’t help. Her method is different from most actors.”
Kim Si-woo felt uncomfortable, as if he’d accidentally crushed a budding sprout.
Not long ago, even senior actors had crumbled before the wall of talent. Thinking about how much greater the shock must be for a high schooler like Kim Min-ji made his head ache.
Everyone thinks they’re the best when they’re young.
Until they encounter greater talent.
As people step into bigger worlds, they face taller walls and overcome them in their own ways.
Some with effort.
Some give up.
Some accept it.
The ones who leap over those walls are the ones who become stars.
Just as Kim Si-woo thought, Kim Min-ji fell into a deep shock.
But the shock she received wasn’t frustration over talent—it was regret over her lack of effort.
Even a successful actor like Hong Soo-yeon put in far more effort than she did, while she had merely memorized lines like a parrot and practiced.
“It was very educational. Thank you, sunbaenim.”
Seeing the intense determination in Kim Min-ji’s eyes, Kim Si-woo felt a different kind of worry.
“That’s not good…”
Determination certainly makes a person stronger.
But it’s a double-edged sword.
If things go well, it’s fine, but if not… the emptiness and frustration that follow are doubled.
The feeling that no matter how much you push yourself with that fire, it still doesn’t work.
That was far too dangerous.
“They’re young… We need to take good care of them.”
Lee Yoo-jin, who understood Kim Si-woo’s meaning, knew full well that fiery determination was a double-edged sword.
She had experienced it herself, after all.
Lee Yoo-jin had once harbored that same fire to become a film director.
She worked part-time jobs every day to save money and studied.
She barely remembered sleeping properly during that time.
In the end, all that remained was one unrecognized indie film, tremendous stress, emptiness, frustration, hair loss, skin rashes—every harmful thing imaginable.
“Everything in moderation… It’d be even better if they could enjoy it. Sigh… This won’t do. Yoo-jin, let’s add one thing to the MT.”
“Huh?”
Kim Si-woo, as if struck by a good idea, whispered various things to Lee Yoo-jin, who kept nodding as if she liked it.
Meanwhile, Kim Min-ji’s friends, as well as Lee Na-hyun and the middle-aged actors including Baek Jong-su, were also falling into shock after seeing Hong Soo-yeon’s script.
Perhaps because of that shock, starting the next day, Kim Min-ji and her friends, along with Lee Na-hyun and the middle-aged actors, threw themselves into acting with everything they had.
“It’s all good, but shouldn’t they think about their health too…?”
Kim Si-woo worried that the 40-somethings—whose stamina was different from teens and twenties—might soon collapse.
They were roughly old enough to be the fathers of the younger ones.
If they poured in the same energy as the teens and twenties, problems were bound to arise.
The one saving grace was that while Kim Min-ji and her friends had taken on a fierce edge, Lee Na-hyun and the middle-aged actors were practicing with smiles on their faces.
Probably because they could finally act to their heart’s content without worrying about money.
“Yoo-jin.”
“Yes, writer-nim.”
“Tell the kids in advance to manage the actors’ conditions too. And get everyone matching nutritional supplements.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Sorry for always giving you annoying tasks.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not every day. Well… if we’re being honest, it’s way easier than when I was a teaching assistant.”
Lee Yoo-jin shuddered remembering her university TA days.
From running errands for professors to handling student requests—while trying to do actual work—one body wasn’t enough.
And the pay was exactly minimum wage, with the only benefit being access to school facilities.
“If you say so, I’m glad. You take some tonics along with the supplements too.”
“Then I won’t refuse.”
“Yeah. That’ll ease my mind a bit.”
The second shoot wrapped up safely, and as the new staff and writers began settling in, the long-awaited MT finally approached.
“Wow, the ocean!!!”
Hong Soo-yeon, inside the car, excitedly shouted while looking out the window.
“Didn’t you see the sea all the time when you lived in Busan?”
“This is the West Sea.”
“…”
Kim Si-woo was left speechless, unsure what the difference was.
“More importantly, I didn’t expect you to invite us too. Unexpected?”
Shim Ji-young, watching from the side, spoke to Kim Si-woo with an anticipating expression.
“Then should I tell you to go back now?”
“No, it’s fine.”
This MT wasn’t just for Siwoo Film people.
In the current car were Kim Si-woo, Hong Soo-yeon, Chae Yu-hyun, Kim Ji-hyun, Shim Ji-young, Jung Se-yeon, Lee Hae-soo, Lee Yoo-jin, and Park Jun-ho.
Driving was Hong Soo-yeon’s manager, Chae Yu-hyun.
Kim Si-woo and his group were riding separately from the main Siwoo Film crew.
“Well, it’s not exactly free.”
“Yeah. Do you have any idea how much it would cost to shoot a movie with this lineup?”
“Then should I tell you to go back now?”
“I said I’m not going!”
When Kim Si-woo kept making comments as if trying to send her away, Shim Ji-young yelled.
“That’s why, unnie, why do you keep saying unnecessary things?”
“Exactly. If sunbaenim goes back, I’ll take the lead role for you.”
“Grr…”
As Jung Se-yeon and Kim Ji-hyun each added a jab at Shim Ji-young, she clenched her fists in frustration.
“By the way, you invited a lot of other actors too? And even close staff and the director.”
“It’s better than leaving anyone feeling left out.”
After chatting about recent updates, the group arrived at their accommodation—a seaside lodging on the Taean Peninsula. Everyone quickly got off the bus and moved their luggage.
“Ugh… I’m tired.”
“Tired? Then carry the bags. We’re missing the maknae.”
The Siwoo Film staff who got off the bus were diligently bossing around their assistants.
“Yeah, hurry and carry them.”
Director Park Woong-deok said with a smile, hands behind his back.
Kim Si-woo, arms full of luggage, approached him.
“Director, you should carry some bags too.”
“Hmm, Writer Kim. Aren’t you my savior?”
“You’ve been calling me that since last time… Is there a reason?”
“If it’s your request, my wife lets me go without a fuss.”
“…Why?”
Kim Si-woo looked puzzled, so Shim Ji-young, standing nearby, explained for him.
“Because when he works with you, he earns a lot of money and drinks less during filming.”
“Then how about cutting back on drinking this time—for your health too.”
“I actually got a clean bill of health in my last checkup. They said I’m a natural drinker.”
As expected, Park Woong-deok had no intention of reducing his alcohol intake.
“Well, you do look the part.”
“Anyway, to commemorate being invited to a place like this, I brought a gift too. Ta-da.”
Park Woong-deok’s gift was, of course, alcohol.
Expensive alcohol, at that.
He had brought various kinds, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of won per bottle.
“Look forward to tonight.”
At Park Woong-deok’s wink, Kim Si-woo felt anything but anticipation.
“Um… Si-woo-ssi, is it really okay for me to be here?”
“Ah! Lawyer-nim. Sorry, I left you alone for too long.”
And there was one person who didn’t quite fit in.
Lee Hae-soo.
Part of it was that everyone else was from the film and drama industry, but Lee Hae-soo lacked confidence in anything outside her lawyer work.
‘I wish she had the overflowing confidence she showed when we first met. I didn’t know she was this timid when it came to suing malicious commenters…’
The only person she somewhat knew here was Lee Yoo-jin, whom she’d met for copyright or legal help.
“Director Yoo-jin looks a bit busy…”
“Ah, come this way first.”
As Kim Si-woo looked after Lee Hae-soo and led her to the accommodation, several people whispered.
“That’s… the lawyer, right?”
“Probably. That’s why he brought her.”
Rumors about Lee Hae-soo had already spread and been distorted—now she was known among Siwoo Film members as “the lawyer who made Jung Se-yeon and Hong Soo-yeon jealous.”
Naturally, Kim Si-woo was unaware of these rumors.
“This is your room, lawyer-nim. Unpack your things first.”
“Thank you, writer-nim. For inviting me to the MT too…”
“You handle most of Siwoo Film’s legal work—of course you’re family at this point.”
“Family…”
“Anyway, Yoo-jin and I are in this room too, so don’t worry and rest. I’ll finish organizing downstairs and come up.”
“Yes, writer-nim. Take your time.”
Lee Hae-soo entered the room, unpacked, and hummed a little tune.
For Lee Hae-soo, who had always been busy studying or working.
She thought this MT would become a fun memory.
At least until the sun went down.
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TL Note:
This novel is now translated and finished at Chapter 176
If you’d like to continue right away, the remaining 65 chapters are available on my Patreon Premium tier, along with extra chapters from my other 5 ongoing translated novels.
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