Episode 164: Should I Like It? Should I Not? (2)
The news of the senior actress’s comeback seemed to be quite a big issue even in our studio, which had virtually no connection to it.
“Wow. Teacher Soon-deok is making a comeback… The drama scene is going to get interesting.”
“The movie scene will probably get pretty noisy too.”
That was the first conversation he heard the moment he stepped into the studio.
Of course, the people talking about her were all older, seasoned staff members.
They were probably people who had actually faced the great actress’s acting in person.
It seemed they could resolve his curiosity, so he carefully slipped his voice into their conversation.
“Is she that great of a person?”
“Oh, Producer Han. You’re here?”
“Teacher Cho Soon-deok? She’s an incredible person.”
“Mhm. Really.”
The camera director lightly raised his hand to greet him, and the lighting director and sound director took turns answering his question.
“I’ve never seen an actor who uses lighting as well as Teacher Cho. She has everything in her head — where the light comes from, how it enters, and how she herself looks under that light. She’s probably the only actor who can teach someone who has been in the lighting field for nearly twenty years not to do it that way.”
“Just lighting in her head? What about sound? There was even talk that she predicts how sound effects and the OST will come in and acts accordingly. The funny part is that it doesn’t sound like a joke.”
After that, a flood of praise that went beyond compliments and neared worship continued, full of “latte” nostalgia.
Even if only half of what the three said was true, it felt more like the protagonist of a manhwa than reality.
‘At that level, isn’t she a monster?’
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the camera director looked at him and chuckled.
“When I first heard about Teacher Soon-deok, I probably had exactly the same face you’re making right now, Producer Han. And when I actually worked on set with her, I realized it. The nickname people called her behind her back was real.”
“The nickname they called her behind her back?”
“To outsiders she was the ‘Silver Screen Star.’ But fellow actors and staff didn’t call her that.”
“Ah. ‘That’?”
“It brings back memories when I think about it now.”
The laughter that started from the camera director spread to the lighting director and sound director. Unable to endure the laughter growing longer, he asked again.
“What was the nickname?”
And at the answer that came back, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
Considering her age, that expression seemed far more fitting than “monster.”
‘Of course, I still can’t really feel it.’
At that timing, he subtly glanced toward Su-hyeok and saw him avoiding eye contact with a bizarre expression that looked like he was either laughing or crying.
It seemed like he was confirming the nickname that had come from the directors’ mouths… or was he imagining it?
“By the way, who could it be? The rookie who captured Teacher Cho’s heart.”
“Hmm… I’m actually quite curious too. She’s not the type to say empty words.”
Meanwhile, the topic among the directors shifted to something else.
As the names of various rookie actresses went back and forth between the three, he quietly moved away from his spot.
He would have liked to bring up Zia’s name just once, but
‘Even so, that would be going too far…’
Even though it was a fact he had heard directly from someone close, there was a limit to how much flattery was appropriate.
Still, he could now understand to some extent that she really was an incredible person.
All three directors had built numerous careers going back and forth between variety shows and dramas.
How many rising and falling stars had they witnessed during that time?
‘Probably well over three digits.’
Yet none of the three directors showed even the slightest worry about Cho Soon-deok’s comeback.
Even taking into account how trends had changed over the long years and the limitations her age would impose on roles, she was an actress who left only anticipation.
And that actress had declared her comeback because she wanted to “work with Zia.”
It was a major event.
A major event that could, in any sense, flip the board of the entertainment industry.
Nevertheless, there were two reasons why he remained calm.
First,
‘No matter what, compared to Woo Hye-yeon…’
Compared to the shock of the story “Zia’s family has appeared,” this level of news was relatively easy to accept.
‘If the order of events had been reversed, it might have been different.’
His resistance threshold had already been raised considerably.
There was no mentality left that could be shattered by something of this level.
The second reason was that, when he calmly thought about it, he realized one undeniable fact.
‘So. What exactly can I do about this?’
In Woo Hye-yeon’s case, she had contacted him directly, and because it was deeply related to Zia’s private life, his mentality had shattered. But this?
If it was something related to acting, it wasn’t an area he could get involved in, was it?
Of course, he was a little worried about Su-hyeok’s mentality, but he didn’t think he needed to worry too much about that part either.
If he thought about why Grandma hadn’t attended Su-hyeok’s wedding before his regression, the answer became clear.
‘Because of the nature of the industry, it must have been difficult for her to show her face.’
Even he was this flustered right now — how much more so would others have been?
Even without that, with her level of name value, it wouldn’t have been strange if the main character of the wedding had instantly changed.
She was the kind of person who hadn’t shown her face at her grandson’s wedding out of consideration for his work.
This wasn’t a wedding hall situation where the title of family had to be hidden, so she would at least pretend not to know far more perfectly than what he and Zia did in public settings.
‘Su-hyeok might find it a bit hard…’
In any case, Su-hyeok would rarely have to meet Grandma in public settings.
Considering all of that, there was no need for him to be flustered.
That was exactly why he hadn’t contacted Ryu Je-hyuk again and why Su-hyeok hadn’t turned the car around.
There was only one thing he could do right now.
Send his deepest condolences to a certain man who must be under extreme stress because of this.
‘Anyway, this is one of the snowballs from my own choices.’
Well, strictly speaking… this snowball wasn’t rolled only by him.
***
At the same time.
The person receiving Han Yujin’s deepest condolences was currently doing something that didn’t suit his fate at all.
‘…What the hell is going on…’
In one corner of a simply designed office, the man staring at the steeping bright yellow tea water was Song Tak, CEO of BNW Entertainment.
The position of CEO was absolutely not one where he should be leisurely making tea, but unfortunately, the person who had come to see him today possessed a name powerful enough to instantly render such hierarchical dynamics meaningless.
“No need to make it too fancy. Mix coffee is fine for me.”
At the voice coming from behind him, Song Tak snapped back to his senses, picked up the tea that had steeped enough, and hurriedly walked over.
“No, Teacher. You came all this way despite your busy schedule. I can’t just serve you anything. This is burdock tea. The weather has gotten cold lately, so I’ve been drinking it often. They say it’s very good for your health.”
“Aigoo, I came suddenly and must have troubled you, yet you’re taking such good care of me. Thank you.”
Despite the warm, dialect-filled speech, the hand that brought the teacup to her lips was elegant and graceful.
Song Tak had yielded the seat of honor — which should originally have been his — to the white-haired woman exuding a noble aura and sat down to her right.
“This aroma is really nice. Burdock tea, you said? I should write it down and get some for myself later.”
“I’m glad you like it. I’ll prepare some separately for you when you leave.”
“No need. There’s no reason for that. Even if this old Cho Soon-deok has become a backroom granny, I can still afford to buy myself a cup or two of tea.”
Only when the tea in the cup had decreased by half did she finally speak. Song Tak carefully asked her,
“Um… May I ask why you came all the way here, Teacher?”
“Ah. That. I’m thinking of stepping back onto the set again this time.”
“Yes. I also saw the news through articles.”
After all, although BNW Entertainment was a subsidiary of MyWay and the actual final decision-maker was someone else, Song Tak was still the CEO.
Cho Soon-deok’s intention to make a comeback had already been confirmed earlier.
Additionally,
“Whoever it is, they’re going to have quite the headache.”
He had thought that as well.
However, once she came this far, there was no way he couldn’t understand.
That the person who would suffer quite the headache was none other than himself.
“I heard that BNW is a really good company. So I thought I might impose on you once.”
“Ah. Thank you for the kind evaluation.”
Song Tak said this with a smile, but he couldn’t hold back the feeling that cold sweat was about to drip down.
No matter who had said it, the evaluation that “BNW is a good company” was, strictly speaking, inaccurate.
Even though it was the company he worked for, it was true that he had doubts about whether BNW was actually a good company when it came to caring for actors.
From Song Tak’s own objective assessment, he could easily name many companies that were better at actor care than BNW.
He didn’t deny that it was a good company.
It was just that the premise “for Lee Ahjeong” was attached.
In the first place, the company called BNW had been created because the scale of the staff dedicated solely to Lee Ahjeong had grown too large to be contained by just one or two teams.
Of course, there was no complete lack of intention to recruit other actors.
But that was something they were considering only after some more time had passed.
In reality, with BNW’s current manpower, they were already busy taking care of Lee Ahjeong and the one rookie actress she had strongly pushed for.
“Ah. Am I too old? Or… do I need to audition too?”
“No, no, no. That can’t be.”
While he was thinking that, such a joke flew in.
He knew it was a joke, but it wasn’t the kind of joke he could simply laugh off.
Song Tak quickly organized his thoughts and stated his position.
“The problem is with us, Teacher. BNW lacks too much to properly serve you.”
No matter how good the meat was, feeding it to a newborn would cause trouble.
In Song Tak’s judgment, Cho Soon-deok was exactly that kind of actress for the current BNW.
However,
“Aaah. I’m not asking for anything grand. Just give me a few scripts that come into the company and let me hold them in my hands. I don’t even need staff attached.”
“Excuse me?”
“Uh… Is even that difficult? Then shall I lend a hand?”
The problem was that Cho Soon-deok showed no sign of backing down.
Song Tak was left speechless, unable to fathom the inner thoughts of this great actress who wasn’t asking for support but was instead willing to invest to join this company.
Cho Soon-deok smiled brightly at him.
“If I had noticed her earlier, there would have been no need for all this. That child came out too late, didn’t she?”
“Excuse me? Who?”
“That child. Choi Si-yeon. Don’t you know, Mr. CEO? The last person I trained was her. Teach her one thing and she learns ten at once.”
Come to think of it, Cho Soon-deok’s retirement work and Choi Si-yeon’s child actor debut had been the same project.
“I heard the name BNW from that child too.”
Only then did Song Tak understand.
Why this giant was trying to squeeze herself into this small gap.
‘The actor she liked… could it be…’
It couldn’t be Lee Ahjeong.
Lee Ahjeong had already been active as an actress for several years.
If it had been Lee Ahjeong who caught her eye, this would have happened years ago.
“If it’s burdensome for you, Mr. CEO… just release Woo Zia to me. I’ll train her and send her back.”
With a request that drove the nail in without needing further guesswork, Song Tak unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut.
He could not grant that request.
How many people were tied to that contract?
Considering the relationship with the person who was rising as a new pillar in the main company MyWay, it was simply impossible.
There was only one decision Song Tak could make.
“I’ll bring the contract…”
Seeing the smile blooming among the natural wrinkles carved by the passage of time, Song Tak recalled one nickname he had heard from afar.
‘She really is no different from a monster…’
The hidden nickname that only those in the know used — “Silver Screen Monster” — beneath the title “Silver Screen Star.”
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