Chapter 160: An Unfortunate Girl and a Lucky Boy (3)
Kim Si-woo smelled the alcohol wafting from Kim Ji-hyun as she approached. Her skin tone still looked normal, but her eyes were slightly unfocused.
“You’re drunk…”
“Hm?”
“How much did you drink?”
“I just… kept accepting whatever people kept handing me…”
Thanks to another major success with Kim Si-woo’s work, Kim Ji-hyun had been in a great mood. She accepted every toast and drink offered during the congratulations—despite her fairly strong tolerance, the early drinking had already gotten to her.
“Come sit over here for now.”
“Okay…”
Kim Si-woo guided the wobbly Kim Ji-hyun to a chair and brought her a glass of water.
“Drink some water first.”
“Thank you.”
She bowed her head slightly and gulped it down.
“Khaaa… refreshing.”
Watching her sway drunkenly, Kim Si-woo scratched his head.
He couldn’t just leave her like this, but staying by her side meant he couldn’t greet others or risk starting a scandal.
“This is tricky…”
Fortunately, his dilemma didn’t last long.
There were people who couldn’t stand to watch Kim Si-woo sitting next to her.
“Si-woo-ya!”
The first to approach was Shim Ji-young.
As a veteran actress, she was usually the one receiving greetings rather than giving them—so she had finished her rounds quickly and come looking for Kim Si-woo.
“Noona.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She said she got like this from drinking everything people kept giving her…”
“Hellooo, unnie~.”
“Unnie?”
Shim Ji-young looked startled—Kim Ji-hyun, who always called her “sunbae,” had suddenly switched to “unnie.”
“Yeah… she’s definitely drunk.”
“Right?”
“So you’re stuck here taking care of her instead of greeting people? The girls you came with looked busy making their rounds.”
“Well… what can I do? She’s too drunk to leave alone.”
“Then… go ahead. I’ll watch her for a bit.”
Hearing that Shim Ji-young was willing to look after Kim Ji-hyun, Kim Si-woo scratched his head.
He had half-expected her to tell him to just ditch her—given how the two of them always bickered.
“Hurry up and go. I don’t know when I might get tired of her.”
“Got it. I’ll be quick.”
Knowing Shim Ji-young wouldn’t abandon her, Kim Si-woo gave a small smile, thanked her, and walked away.
After making his rounds and greeting everyone one by one, he returned to the spot before his energy ran out—only to find a large crowd had gathered there.
Most of them were men.
“Si-woo-ya!”
But Shim Ji-young, completely unbothered by the crowd around her, called out to him.
“Looks like I have no choice but to go in.”
Kim Si-woo pushed through the people and reached the center—where Shim Ji-young and Kim Ji-hyun were sitting, along with Hong Soo-yeon, Jung Se-yeon, Park Jun-ho, and other acquaintances of his.
“Oppa, you’re here?”
“You looked busy, so we just came over here.”
“Of course—Writer-nim is quite the popular guy.”
“More importantly… people are staring a lot. This is kind of uncomfortable…”
As soon as Kim Si-woo appeared, the crowd began murmuring.
Most of the actors and film industry people knew him, but beyond that circle, very few recognized him.
Especially the influencers—they looked genuinely confused about why he was sitting in that group.
“Who is that guy?”
“Some third-generation chaebol?”
“Or maybe someone’s boyfriend?”
“Is he super rich? Honestly, he’s not even that good-looking. And he’s short.”
Those who didn’t know him whispered among themselves, guessing he was either a rich heir or dating one of the women at the table.
“Excuse me. What did you just say?”
“Huh?”
One of the male influencers who had been badmouthing Kim Si-woo suddenly turned around in confusion at the voice coming from behind.
“What did you just say? Can you say that to his face?”
“Uh… well…”
“What’s your name?”
“…Kim Ji-hyeop.”
The man hesitated before answering.
After hearing the male influencer’s name, Arimura Noa quickly looked up his SNS. Then, with an incredulous expression, she spoke.
“500,000 followers? Wow… no wonder this party’s standards are dropping. Inviting someone this rude and calling them an influencer… You’re not officially invited, are you?”
“What… what are you talking about?!”
Arimura Noa couldn’t hold back.
The man she liked—being torn apart by someone else’s mouth…
And not even in a good way, but in malicious gossip.
“Let’s call the organizers and check.”
Arimura Noa approached a nearby man and spoke directly.
“Excuse me—are you one of the party organizers?”
“Ah… yes! That’s right.”
Arimura Noa cut straight to the point with the host.
“Did you invite that person? He seems a bit… below the level for this event.”
“What seems to be the problem?”
“You know Writer Kim Si-woo, right?”
“Of course! I really enjoyed this movie. But… is something wrong with Writer-nim…?”
The man Arimura Noa was speaking to was none other than Oh In-soo, head of the film and drama division at CW ENM—the main organizer of this party.
“Someone was just trash-talking him.”
“What? Who…?”
At the mention of Kim Si-woo being badmouthed, Oh In-soo’s eyes widened. He looked around urgently, and Arimura Noa pointed directly at influencer Kim Ji-hyeop.
The profits Kim Si-woo had already brought to the industry were enormous.
In the film world, his influence was unmatched.
If Kim Si-woo wanted to, he could turn a small distributor into a major one with just a few films.
“Please wait a moment.”
Oh In-soo made a quick call somewhere. Moments later, six staff members lined up in front of him.
“Check the invite list immediately for someone named Kim Ji-hyeop.”
“Yes, Director.”
Seeing Oh In-soo’s stern expression, the staff hurriedly checked the guest list.
Ten minutes later, they returned with grim faces.
“After checking… there is no one named Kim Ji-hyeop on the official invite list.”
“What? Then how did he get in?”
“We’ll ask the entry staff.”
“You all… if Writer-nim’s mood is ruined because of this, you’d better brace yourselves.”
The situation had turned deadly serious. Kim Ji-hyeop and the other influencers began to pale.
“Ah! And those two over there—check them too, please.”
“Understood.”
When Arimura Noa pointed out the others who had joined in the gossip, the staff approached them, asked their names, and checked the list again.
Eventually, Kim Ji-hyeop and the other uninvited influencers were escorted out one by one. As security dragged Kim Ji-hyeop away, Arimura Noa threw one last remark at him.
“Your perfume smells rotten. And you’ve had so much plastic surgery on your face—who are you calling ugly?”
With so many people suddenly being removed, Kim Si-woo and his group stared at Arimura Noa in confusion. She, however, approached him with a bright smile as if she hadn’t just lost her temper moments ago.
“Writer-nim.”
“Noa-ssi… what did you do? Why are people suddenly getting kicked out?”
“Ah… well…”
Just as Arimura Noa was about to explain what happened, Oh In-soo—who had been watching her—spoke up on her behalf.
“Those people were influencers who weren’t officially invited. They piggybacked off real invitees to sneak in, so we took appropriate action. We’ll also be taking measures against the staff who failed to manage entry properly—so please don’t be too upset, Writer-nim.”
“Director… there’s no need to go that far with the staff. They probably had their own reasons.”
“Then we’ll cancel any disciplinary action against the employees.”
Even though he was a division head at a major distributor, Oh In-soo spoke to Kim Si-woo with utmost respect. Kim Si-woo felt a little awkward.
Seeing this, Oh In-soo spoke up.
“By the way, I heard you’re already preparing your next film. If I hadn’t been so busy, I would’ve met you personally to handle the contract myself. What a shame.”
Knowing that CW ENM had secured the rights to this film as well, Oh In-soo saw Kim Si-woo as a golden goose and wanted to strengthen their connection even further.
“Oh no, not at all. The staff were all very kind, and we were able to proceed comfortably. I also know how much convenience you’ve provided.”
“Thank you for saying so. Then I’ll take my leave. If any difficulties arise, just let the staff over there know—they’ll handle it immediately.”
“Ah… thank you.”
Oh In-soo left after clearly conveying his goodwill and giving Kim Si-woo another metaphorical boost.
“I knew he’d do that.”
With the uninvited influencers gone, the party atmosphere felt much more relaxed.
“So why is everyone gathered here?”
“Why? Because of you.”
“M-Me?”
Kim Ji-hyun—still quite drunk—slurred her words heavily.
“Yes, you. How long are we all supposed to keep playing around?”
“Still… it’s a party. Shouldn’t we at least go for round two?”
Park Jun-ho answered, but no one paid attention to him.
All the women’s eyes were fixed on Kim Si-woo’s mouth.
“Hmm… I was planning to enjoy it moderately and then head home.”
“Right? It’s noisy and tiring here—let’s just stay a little longer and then leave quickly.”
As Hong Soo-yeon linked arms with Kim Si-woo and spoke, Shim Ji-young narrowed her eyes at her.
“Wait a second. There’s something going on between you two, isn’t there?”
“Huh?”
At Shim Ji-young’s sharp question, Hong Soo-yeon flinched. Shim Ji-young pressed even harder.
“What are you hiding…?”
“Hiding? What would I be hiding?”
“I can smell it… You’re not living together, are you?”
“…”
Stabbed right in the heart, neither Kim Si-woo nor Hong Soo-yeon answered. Seeing their reaction, Jung Se-yeon and Lee Yoo-jin—who were nearby—got visibly excited and jumped in.
“Really?”
“That’s too much. You’ve never even taken me to your place!”
“No, it just… happened to turn out that way…”
“Then today’s after-party is at Writer-nim’s house.”
“Yeah.”
“Great.”
While the women discussed everything among themselves—completely ignoring the actual homeowner—Kim Si-woo covered his eyes with his hand. Park Jun-ho sympathetically placed a hand on his shoulder.
As the party heated up, more and more actors approached Kim Si-woo to talk.
Many came to build connections with him, but since Kim Si-woo had already learned about most of the actors’ private lives through Hwang Ji-yoo, he only exchanged brief greetings with some.
“Shall we head out soon?”
“Yeah.”
He had drunk enough, and there was no one left to greet.
Kim Si-woo called a substitute driver and headed home. The others also got into their managers’ cars and followed him to his house.
Including Kim Si-woo, a total of 11 people ended up at his place that night.
Besides the women who liked him, Park Jun-ho and their managers had come along too.
“Everyone rest. I’ll order some food.”
At Kim Si-woo’s words, people began moving around.
Jung Se-yeon—who was visiting for the first time—busily looked around the house, while those already familiar sat on the sofa.
Some played with Danbi, while the managers anxiously watched their actors, worried they might cause trouble.
When the ordered food arrived, everyone gathered around the table, chatting freely and catching up on everything that had happened lately.
Fortunately, thanks to the managers’ presence, nothing major went wrong.
Time passed like that, and soon the first day of shooting for <An Unfortunate Girl and a Lucky Boy> arrived.
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