Chapter 165: Fixer
When Kim Si-woo arrived at the set, he immediately sensed that something was seriously off.
Normally, the Siwoo Film staff and actors would be chattering noisily, but today they were all quietly going about their tasks in near silence.
“Sigh… this is a total mess.”
Disagreements on set were inevitable, but when they dragged on, they often led to pretty bad outcomes.
In extreme cases, they even resulted in the shoot being canceled.
The ideal solution would be for everyone to admit their faults and apologize, but if it were that simple, Kim Si-woo wouldn’t have had to come here at all.
He approached Choi Do-hyun, who was already running lines with someone off to the side.
“Do-hyun-ah.”
“Ah, hyung-nim.”
“Let’s talk for a sec.”
“Ah… yes.”
Choi Do-hyun seemed to have a rough idea of what was coming. With a sullen expression, he followed Kim Si-woo.
Once inside the car, the two began to talk.
“Do-hyun-ah. About what happened last time…”
“Hyung-nim. I’m sorry. I should’ve held back…”
Seeing him apologize before Kim Si-woo could even finish, Kim Si-woo actually felt sorry for him.
“I didn’t come here to hear an apology… I came to hear exactly what happened.”
“Ah… right.”
Choi Do-hyun relaxed his expression a little and explained what had gone down that day.
“It started out normal, just like always. Acting on Director Lee Yoo-jin’s cue, stopping on cut. It was fine until around 5 p.m. Before dinner. But after we ate and started shooting again, I heard whispering from behind. Then during the scene, someone threw in an ad-lib… If it had been a decent one, fine—but it was some weird, out-of-place ad-lib, so I got angry without realizing and said something. After that, things just escalated…”
Choi Do-hyun continued sharing various details, and Kim Si-woo listened quietly.
“So in the end, that guy’s greed is damaging the work?”
“Yeah. And looking at the atmosphere today… I don’t think it’s going to end with just him.”
“Sigh… why did it have to twist like this… No matter how badly he wants to blow up, there’s a limit. Anyway, I got it. If those guys pull any stunts during the shoot later, just stay quiet. I’ll handle it.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
“And sorry. I called you here and all you’ve gotten is trouble.”
“No, it’s fine.”
After finishing the conversation, Kim Si-woo immediately called over Lee Yoo-jin and the staff members one by one to hear their sides. What he learned was unexpected.
“They said each of them prepared one ad-lib for today… I wonder how long today’s shoot is going to drag on…”
One of the sound staff members passed on what he’d heard from the actors, and Kim Si-woo made up his mind right then.
If dozens of people were saying the same thing, it wasn’t a coincidence.
All that was left now was to see it with his own eyes.
“There’s zero consideration.”
Even before, the Siwoo Film actors and staff had occasionally made mocking remarks in jest, but Kim Si-woo had brushed them off as jokes.
Now he realized those “jokes” had real sincerity mixed in.
Having made his decision internally, Kim Si-woo waited for filming to begin.
“Alright! Let’s get started soon.”
At Lee Yoo-jin’s words, the staff and actors moved to their positions.
However, the expressions on some of the actors were noticeably sour.
Kim Si-woo confirmed they were the problem actors and watched them closely.
“Scene 58. Cue!”
At Lee Yoo-jin’s cue, Choi Do-hyun began acting first. A moment later, the problematic ad-lib came.
It was clearly a scene meant to highlight Choi Do-hyun, but the unnecessary ad-lib scattered the focus.
“Cut! What the hell are you doing right now!”
“I did an ad-lib. What, even this isn’t allowed?”
“What? Did you even read the script properly?”
“No—if you’re just going to walk by, why bother casting us? Just hire extra part-timers.”
The Siwoo Film actors, who had built up plenty of resentment, were now venting even at the director, Lee Yoo-jin.
“Sigh…”
Lee Yoo-jin let out a heavy sigh. At that moment, Kim Si-woo strode forward quickly and shoved the actor’s shoulder.
“Hey. Say that again.”
“Writer-nim?”
“I said, say it again. Extra part-timers?”
“No, that’s not what I—”
The actor froze under Kim Si-woo’s furious glare and couldn’t continue speaking.
“So now you think extra actors are pushovers, huh? You did web drama supporting roles, lead roles, and now you’re in a movie—so you think the film industry is easy pickings?”
“Writer-nim… please calm down for a moment…”
The other actors nearby hurriedly tried to step between them to stop Kim Si-woo.
“If any of you lay a hand on me, you’re the first ones getting fired.”
“…”
At Kim Si-woo’s threat, the actors who had been trying to intervene backed off immediately.
“Hey. Say it again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Because Yoo-jin spoke nicely, you thought you could try pushing your luck?”
“No, sir. I’m sorry.”
“Pack your stuff.”
“Huh?”
“I said pack your stuff. Looks like our connection ends here. I heard you were full of complaints even back when you were shooting web dramas.”
“No… that was…”
“Yeah, sure—back then you were impatient, it was just among us, so whatever. I’ll let that slide. But not here. This place is only for professionals. How many lines do you even have? There are hundreds of actors dying to take those few lines.”
Under Kim Si-woo’s relentless barrage of facts, the actor couldn’t even lift his head.
“Might as well clean house while I’m at it. From now on, everyone whose name I call—pack your bags and go home. Clear out your stuff from the practice room too. Contracts are being terminated, so get ready.”
To make sure the doubting actors understood he was serious, Kim Si-woo called over Lee Yoo-jin to drive the final nail in.
“Director Lee Yoo-jin.”
“Yes, Writer-nim.”
“You still have those videos we recorded before, right?”
“Yes…”
“I’m going to file for damages with those, so keep them safe. Time and costs wasted because of unscripted lines, ignoring the director’s instructions, and disrupting the shoot—I’m claiming every single won.”
At Kim Si-woo’s words, the actors’ faces turned ice-cold. Their resentment turned straight toward Lee Hyun-seop.
“Hey, Lee Hyun-seop, you son of a bitch! You were the one who said to do it! Do something!”
In an instant, dozens of actors were cut.
From the movie. From Siwoo Film.
People who, just recently, had proudly shown their parents photos with their names on catering truck banners saying they were appearing in a film—were now unemployed.
Back to being nameless actors.
Back to trainee days.
“I told you to do it? Didn’t you all agree it was a good idea? Why the hell are you yelling at me!”
“What the—weren’t you the one stirring everyone up!”
The verbal fight quickly turned physical. The female actors clung to Lee Yoo-jin, crying.
“Director-nim… we were wrong. Please forgive us just once. Please?”
“Writer-nim. It’s his decision. There’s nothing I can do.”
“Director-nim… please… I swear I’ll never do it again.”
“Just wait for now. I’ll bring it up.”
The actors whose names weren’t called felt relieved they’d escaped and looked at the named ones with pitying eyes.
Looking at the set that had turned into pandemonium in seconds, Kim Si-woo let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh… I should’ve filtered them out a long time ago. I was too soft on them just because they were the first ones I brought in.”
Realizing he himself had a share of the blame, Kim Si-woo sighed again and stepped aside to a corner.
“Writer-nim…”
“What?”
Leaving the crying female actors behind, Lee Yoo-jin approached with a troubled expression.
“If we fire dozens of people like this… it’s going to affect the shoot… and gathering replacement actors…”
“Right now, promote the decent extras to minor roles. For supporting roles, I’ll reach out to people I know. It’ll take a day at most. Post new notices for the empty extras. Today, let’s just focus on the leads.”
“Yes, Writer-nim.”
Lee Yoo-jin had grown attached to the Siwoo Film team members and wanted to save even one of them, but they had already fallen out of Kim Si-woo’s favor—there was no turning back.
Still, she knew if she had controlled the actors better from the start, this situation might never have happened.
With no choice, she had to continue the shoot.
Meanwhile, there was one person smiling in all this chaos—none other than Choi Do-hyun.
Choi Do-hyun openly grinned as he watched the actors being chased off the set.
‘See? That’s what happens when you get greedy. Those idiots still don’t really understand what kind of person Si-woo hyung-nim is, even after working under him all this time.’
In Choi Do-hyun’s eyes, Kim Si-woo was a perfectly sharpened blade.
Most of the time it stayed sheathed—no matter how much you swung it around, it didn’t matter.
But the moment that blade came out of its sheath…
It was sharper than any other.
In the end, the shoot continued focusing mainly on Choi Do-hyun, Hong Soo-yeon, and Jung Pil-gyu, and that day’s filming wrapped up.
***
In the middle of the shoot, Kim Si-woo—who had returned to Seoul to clean up the mess he had caused—started making calls everywhere to recruit new actors.
“Yes, President. This is Writer Kim Si-woo. We’re currently shooting a film, but due to unavoidable circumstances, a lot of actors dropped out. If you have any promising new actors who can act well, could you send me their profiles?”
Fortunately, thanks to the weight of Kim Si-woo’s name, the agency presidents welcomed the request with open arms.
While quickly reviewing the steadily piling profiles and preparing for new casting, Kim Si-woo bowed his head in frustration.
“Everything’s gone completely to hell…”
Still worried about the atmosphere on set, he hurriedly continued cleaning up the mess.
By the time he finished sorting things out, evening had already arrived. Hong Soo-yeon and Arimura Noa returned home.
“We’re back.”
“How’s the atmosphere on set?”
The moment he saw Hong Soo-yeon, Kim Si-woo asked about the set. She shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve paid more attention.”
“No. We had to cut out the rotten flesh. Otherwise it would’ve infected the rest.”
“How’s Yoo-jin doing?”
“She just… seemed a bit conflicted.”
“Did something happen again today?”
“Well…”
Kim Si-woo explained to Arimura Noa what had happened that day. After listening quietly, she responded as if it were nothing unusual.
“Well… isn’t that just everyday stuff?”
As expected from the daughter of a major production company, she thought Kim Si-woo’s actions were completely justified.
“This isn’t some neighborhood playground fight. If someone deliberately and continuously causes damage to the shoot, you have to cut them. In my opinion, Writer-nim handled it perfectly.”
“Really?”
“Yes! Oppa did nothing wrong.”
Seeing Kim Si-woo looking down, Hong Soo-yeon and Arimura Noa tried to cheer him up.
“Let’s eat out tonight.”
“Should we?”
“Yeah. With the lead actors and the staff too.”
“Ah… yes.”
For a brief moment, Hong Soo-yeon and Arimura Noa—who had imagined a cozy little dinner—looked disappointed.
One hour later, the people Kim Si-woo had contacted gathered at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Seoul.
“Writer-nim. You’ve worked hard.”
“No, I should’ve paid more attention. I’m sorry.”
Jung Pil-gyu, who arrived first, offered comforting words the moment he saw Kim Si-woo.
Kim Si-woo had reached out and helped him when he was at his lowest, so seeing Kim Si-woo’s gloomy expression made Jung Pil-gyu’s heart boil.
Even the usually gentle Jung Pil-gyu thought the actors who got cut from Siwoo Film were foolish and infuriating.
“Please take any seat you like.”
“Yes… Writer-nim.”
After that, Hong Soo-yeon and the staff arrived one by one, greeting Kim Si-woo. Then Choi Do-hyun strolled in casually.
“Ah! Hyung-nim.”
Spotting Kim Si-woo, he hurried over and bowed.
“Hello, sir.”
“Why do you look so happy?”
“Because it feels like a rotten tooth finally got pulled out.”
“Yeah, you’ve been through a lot too.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
Whether because of their different perspectives or just different personalities, Choi Do-hyun’s reaction was completely opposite from the others. Kim Si-woo, unsure what to say, quickly ushered him inside.
“Writer-nim.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“You too, Writer-nim…”
“And I’m sorry. If I’d stepped in a little earlier…”
In response to Kim Si-woo’s words, Lee Yoo-jin simply hugged him instead of speaking.
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