Most of the actors welcomed me.
Back then, during the Gold Rush, I had somewhat awkwardly entered through connections, but this time I entered based on my own skills.
Actually, unless someone has an awful personality, it’s rare to scowl at a newcomer who comes to greet them warmly.
Here, too, among people, whenever five gather, there’s bound to be an odd one out, but simply ignoring such things usually suffices.
“Ah, Senior.”
“It’s been a while, Siwoo.”
And thus, while exchanging greetings, I happened upon a familiar face.
Kim Secretary, who also appeared in “The Genius Copywriter, Yoon Seo-eun,” where we’d worked together. The one I’m referring to is Senior Kim Joo-yeon.
I’d heard that this senior has been making frequent appearances here and there after Yoon Seo-eun, and it looks like she’s also become part of our project.
Senior Kim Joo-yeon’s role as the manager of Kang Min’s restaurant “Fromage” suggests she and I will likely share scenes once in a while.
Senior Kim is a very skilled actress, so I’m looking forward to it.
“Hello! Hello! Rookie actor, Hwang Tae-kyu!”
While paying respects to a few established actors, another key supporting actor, Hwang Tae-kyu, appeared and began circulating to greet everyone.
I’m talking about Tae-kyu, the popular idol from the idol group High Finch.
Even though he’s busy, it seems like he showed up quite quickly to offer his regards, which indicates he has at least the basic manners down.
“Hello, Senior.”
“Hmm, well… it’s fine to just call me Siwoo instead. I feel like addressing me as ‘Senior’ might not be that comfortable…”
“Still, compared to acting history, you are the senior. If it bothers you…”
“Yes, Tae-kyu, just keep it casual, casual.”
“Understood. I’ll just call you Siwoo then. It’s a pleasure to work with you.”
Tae-kyu approached me first, starting with ‘Senior’ right away.
As an actor, he was making it clear he acknowledged himself as the junior first.
I’m getting a good impression from his attitude.
Still, if he keeps this up, it makes things awkward for me because, as a veteran idol for several years, Tae-kyu’s entertainment career started earlier than mine, and, most importantly, he’s a year older.
Thus, there’s no need to nitpick about ranks; it would be sufficient if we simply respect each other appropriately and focus on filming.
It seems he understands my stance, as he smiles subtly and nods.
Much like a popular idol member, he has an awfully refined face.
His nose is straight and his features sharp, the kind that draws women like parasitic older brothers.
More similar to Nam Hyun-ho than me, one could say.
Besides his slightly shorter stature, he has a pretty commendable face for an actor.
“Well, at least he doesn’t seem to have a bad character. In fact, the ones in between—those in the gray area—are often the worst.”
People sometimes misinterpret a few things: not all famous entertainers are arrogant.
That’s usually reserved for those who have suddenly risen and lost their footing, while long-term top-tier entertainers tend to be more humble, as I’ve heard.
How should I put it? Rising to the top definitely requires talent, but staying there is another story altogether?
Take, for example, Heavenly Yuah, who carries herself with quite a bit of poise despite holding her own as an idol.
Same goes for Moon Suyeon, who is at the top of K-pop and has nowhere else to go.
The High Finch is supposedly one of the higher-tier idol groups, and it seems Tae-kyu is of that same ilk.
If that’s the case, then we likely won’t run into issues during shooting.
Given the popularity of idols, scheduling is pretty much locked down anyway, and I certainly have no intention of intervening in that regard.
This wasn’t a bad turn of events.
“…But why haven’t these people arrived yet?”
While everyone gathered to prepare for the script read-through, the two leading actresses were still absent.
Could they be having some sort of ego clash, trying to determine who enters first?
Most likely, right? Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for them to be late at this point.
Apparently, in the acting world, there are female actors armed with the strange mindset of always needing to be the last ones to arrive.
It’s baffling how serious they take this—some even wait outside until everyone else enters before making their grand entrance.
Even if pride is important, one still doesn’t show up later than the PD or the writer, so they just wait to enter first when possible.
Since the script read-through is about to start and they haven’t arrived yet, it’s evident that these two prideful actresses are in an impasse.
Even the likes of Heavenly Yuah or Moon Suyeon would arrive before their scheduled time to wait for the PD, so it’s quite baffling to see such behavior from these two less notable figures.
“Hello.”
After some time had passed, Lee Hyerin entered the scene first.
Her expression wasn’t great, probably embarrassed about arriving first.
Soon afterward, Yoon Yeonhee arrived, following closely.
Judging from their experience, Yoon Yeonhee technically has the longer career, so it makes sense for Lee Hyerin to enter first.
Lee Hyerin’s recent career momentum is certainly stronger, but given that Yoon Yeonhee is a senior by several years, it stands to reason.
Perhaps this is why Lee Hyerin chose to give up in this “chicken game”?
In the worst-case scenario, if neither of them entered until the PD came, as a junior, Lee Hyerin would have received more backlash than Yoon Yeonhee.
“To whom are you not greeting?”
“…Well, hello…”
“What’s with that greeting tone?”
“I must say, Senior, you’re particularly late today while everyone else has been waiting.”
“But the PD isn’t here yet, so…”
“You don’t seem to be greeting other seniors either…”
“But aren’t you heading straight to your place?”
“Ah, Senior, I already greeted everyone outside.”
“Is that so? Then why am I not your senior?”
“Well, since you came late…”
The two latecomers were chatting, though not the usual kind of small talk.
The topic? Greetings.
Yoon Yeonhee entered last, but Lee Hyerin had already put on a show, leading to Yoon Yeonhee approaching her and saying something that created a weird atmosphere.
The telling point is that all seasoned actors only pretend to ignore their dispute.
They typically don’t have such overt conversations in front of everyone.
And yet, the fact that the two are doing this openly while other actors pretend not to notice is equally amusing.
It feels like something’s brewing between the two that I’m unaware of.
The atmosphere wasn’t good, and such conflicts usually carry over to the set, making things unpleasant.
“Alright, everyone’s here. I’m Kim Soo-myeong.”
“I’m Oh Kyuyoung.”
“You’ve likely exchanged greetings already, and since we’re all busy, let’s start.”
As everyone sighs internally, Kim Soo-myeong PD and Writer Oh Kyuyoung arrived, commencing the script reading.
All actors were reviewing their respective lines.
“Senior, isn’t it a bit much to appear here?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re either pretending ignorance or truly clueless.”
“What? How could you be so upset? Are you someone important here?”
Yoon Yeonhee and Lee Hyerin were fiercely exchanging lines from the script.
Their characters clash throughout the story, and it feels like they’re embodying that tension well.
I wondered why these two were paired up, but now it seems they’re deliberately using personal feelings to amplify the drama.
The PD isn’t an idiot; he didn’t cast these two opposing forces without thought, that’s for sure.
Still, as long as it plays out well, this production might work.
At the thought that the script reading was proceeding smoothly despite the hostile relationship between the two,
An unexpected bomb dropped.
-Fromage Fantastique. We must uncover its secrets!
Because of one important supporting actor, Tae-kyu, who delivered his line with such forcefulness.
Yeah, there’s really no word for it except “exploded.”
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
His intonation was as unchanging as a vast, open wilderness, firm and unyielding.
And to top it, the pronunciation was almost too distinct, bordering on bizarre.
The accent in every syllable—what was that all about?
The actors and staff alike were speechless, and silence enveloped the script-reading session.
What is this, a robot?
No human could enunciate every word that clearly in this situation.
What exactly is this? Is this guy… an actor?
Even I, who has faced everything, don’t know how to handle this.
“Are you serious? Someone like him as a supporting actor? Are you playing with me?”
“Writer Oh, calm down for a bit.”
“How can I calm down? Are we all destined to fail?”
“Well, I didn’t expect this either. It’s not a difficult role, just a regular department head position. I didn’t think an idol from TS could mess that up.”
After the script reading was awkwardly finished due to Tae-kyu’s entrance,
I planned to talk to the PD since something was amiss, but Writer Oh was already having it out with the PD.
The writer also seemed unaware that Tae-kyu’s acting would be so abysmal.
“So, what are you going to do? We only got this production budget because of TS. Can we really kick out Tae-kyu?”
“That… seems to be the case.”
“Then, how exactly…”
“Hey, you approved it, didn’t you? Without that production budget, we wouldn’t have decent supporting actors. You even said we could get through easily.”
“But this isn’t easy to overlook!!!”
I get the gist.
Tae-kyu landed the supporting role because of the financial support from TS.
And since the received budget was allocated as guarantees for the supporting actors, removing Tae-kyu would be tricky.
However, his acting has created unforeseen problems.
“Go get the production budget back pronto and kick this strange actor out of this piece.”
“That’s harder than you think, Writer. We’ve already been hyping up his inclusion everywhere. Is it just going to vanish by removing him? You know…”
So, our Writer Oh is getting serious.
The situation is a bit tricky.
If we were rational, we’d return the funds to TS and remove Tae-kyu.
But this industry doesn’t operate that way.
If we pull Tae-kyu out, his fans, who are eagerly anticipating his appearance, will demand reasons.
Removing him from the role might reveal how terrible his acting is to the public.
This sets the stage for potentially false yet sensational articles like “Outrageous Truth: Author’s Tyranny?” portraying Tae-kyu’s character as unfairly taken away.
If something like that happens, the show is practically doomed without a doubt.
Besides TS and the production house’s relationship and that with the broadcasting station, it’s very likely there’s a web of connections influencing all this.
Had that not been the case, Tae-kyu wouldn’t have joined this project in the first place.
Ultimately, the norm is to stick with the plan once the contract has been signed and people have been notified.
The insane overacting idols and actors that occasionally appear in dramas do so for reasons tied to their individual circumstances.
The PD isn’t an idiot, so why would he choose someone whose involvement would doom the show?
It’s always due to adult circumstances that actors with really bad skills are still chosen.
Although Tae-kyu’s case is extraordinarily severe, here we are facing the same kind of situation.
So there’s no way around it but to proceed as planned.
“Well, if we can’t remove him, we at least need to figure out a way to somehow use him…”
Looking at the situation, it seems removing Tae-kyu’s no longer an option.
We need to somehow create a situation where he can be used.
The reasons behind why Tae-kyu joined this drama and why TS pushed him are secondary concerns. For now, let’s focus on solving this problem.
An idea is swirling around my head—how to make use of Tae-kyu.
“Can this actually work though? But…”
This might be unrealistic, but if there’s no other option, I guess I should at least throw out the suggestion.
“Writer Oh! Let’s just make Tae-kyu a robot or an alien.”
“…What are you saying? Siwoo, what exactly…”
The writer’s eyes widen as I burst into the conference room and yell ‘robot’.
What is that supposed to mean?
Listen, the guy’s bound to get criticized no matter what he does. Why not just make him a robot right from the start?
To be honest, there’s no way Tae-kyu can realistically portray a human.
