Kang Hyun-seong PD of ‘Studio Snack.’
After leaving behind a significant variety show at KBM to focus on his personal channel, his ability to cater to the audience’s tastes became even more refined.
The transition from official broadcasting station variety shows to MyTube variety shows also meant that censorship standards became somewhat more relaxed.
With broader freedom, accumulated connections, and remarkable senses, Kang Hyun-seong currently focused on one individual.
A rookie actress, Lee Su-an.
One of the staff members hurriedly jotted down notes.
“Are you asking to add Ms. Sua to the casting list?”
“That’s right. She seems decent enough.”
Kang Hyun-seong PD nodded.
“It’s not like people who keep Arctic foxes are common either, and her character contrasts nicely with her pet. The setup is amusing.”
However, some staff members opposed the decision later.
“But Ms. Sua’s character is too predictable.”
“That’s true. Just by looking at her icy demeanor, you can guess what’s coming. She’s cold, doesn’t speak much, and eventually, the crew has to step in to make her talk…”
Their points held a certain validity.
‘Studio Snack’ was already such a prominent channel that even calling on actors with proven variety show skills wouldn’t harm. Bringing in a rookie was similar to willingly taking a risk.
At that moment, Kang Hyun-seong PD pointed to the board with his chin.
“No.”
[Pet]
“That’s why this topic is good.”
His gaze became even sharper.
“Is there any human who can fully understand the hearts of animals? Hell, is there even a human who can talk with animals?”
“Eh?”
“If humans who can talk to each other can’t fully understand each other, the distance between humans and animals is surely even greater. Fully understanding each other is impossible, which is why unexpected situations inevitably arise.”
Kang Hyun-seong PD smiled faintly.
“Of course, we will also induce some unexpected situations by assigning missions. And what happens when there’s an unexpected situation?”
“…Even her stoic facade might crack.”
“Exactly. People will be thrilled by that scene.”
He continued speaking with a slightly excited tone.
“The stoic actress gets flustered by the unexpected situation and bursts into laughter due to her pet’s absurd actions. Showing something different from her usual demeanor will create a warm story, right?”
“Indeed. A pet is a big variable in itself.”
“It’s also a good point that we don’t have to worry about the ‘evil editing’ talk.”
Gradually, even the opposing staff members began to agree.
“Anyway, we’re not only bringing in Su-an. We’ll call various actors, so let’s mix in such contrasting personalities too.”
“Yes, understood.”
After finishing the meeting, Kang Hyun-seong PD removed his hat with a smile.
“I can already hear it. I can hear the view counts climbing.”
◈◈◈◈◈
The next morning, Su-a’s house.
“Ugh…”
Su-a stayed up all night.
Why? Having fun on her smartphone!
Because it was so enjoyable to roam the internet. To be honest, Su-a posted quite a number of comments…
But she didn’t behave too embarrassingly! If she saw praise for Su-a, she’d respond in agreement? That’s okay, right?
Anyway.
“Agh, I’m so tired. Is this okay?”
She had to head to the Mystic Headquarters shortly afterward.
Why? She had another hectic day planned.
What about the holiday she was given and the idea of staying up all night? Su-a didn’t care! Well, more accurately, she aimed to sleep early but got carried away with her phone.
“-We need to hold a meeting since too many variety show and interview requests have come in. I’ll filter out the ones that seem too odd, and you can review them this afternoon.”
That’s how Kim I-seo put it.
“If I were to appear on a variety show, there wouldn’t be any special rewards, but it’s nerve-wracking…”
While Su-a thought this, her phone remained ablaze. Su-ay’s crew was on fire.
[Monkeying: Ugh, I’m going crazy with how busy this is.]
[Monkeying: I’m legendary for doing this unpaid.]
[Jaeng-ji: My stomach hurts from drinking too much coffee…]
[Monkeying: When are you going to serve us food, Lee Su-an?]
[Deer: @Lee Su-a]
[Deer: Hey, please check Kakao Talk!]
“Everyone, I’m grateful, and I should give something back…”
She knew her friends were working hard for her. After contemplating for a bit about what to do:
[Su-a: Alright, let’s lock in a date for the treat.]
She promised to have dinner with Lee Su-an.
…Since they asked, it should be okay.
She also proceeded with a private conversation with Deer.
[Su-a: Group chat?]
[Su-a: I’m possible, but Su-an might be a bit…]
Naturally, she couldn’t appear in both simultaneously because it was herself in both cases.
[Deer: Got it. Thank you even for your part.]
[Deer: But Su-a, maybe, that…]
[Deer: What is your relationship with Su-an?]
[Su-a: We’re just friends.]
Su-a furrowed her eyebrows while replying.
Is she still suspecting that I’m in a romantic relationship with Su-an?
However, Deer’s response was unexpected.
[Deer: No, wait, it’s not that.]
[Deer: Ah, nothing!]
[Deer: I’ll figure it out some way or another.]
“…?”
Why’s she acting like something has happened?
“So, should I try to sleep a bit?”
Still, she couldn’t help but fiddle with her phone.
[@artic_fox_sua]
[🔒Private Account]
Posts: 1
Followers: 50,000
Following: 0
She thought about making her SNS account public again but decided against it. While she recognized she was closer to a wolf than a fox, she still couldn’t come to terms with it.
…I need time. It hurts.
“What should I do? The sun has already risen.”
She drank an energy drink early in the morning to browse the web and now felt quite uneasy. She couldn’t sleep if she laid down, but she was too tired to do anything.
But Su-a soon decided what to do.
“A, right. Let’s tackle that first.”
The scripts that had arrived at her house via courier.
They practically took up as much space as moving boxes. There was a great need to clear them. They were taking up considerable space.
Su-a placed a large empty box in the center of the room. She intended to use this as a trash can.
[Adrenaline]
▶ Sufficient elements for execution
▶ Grade 6
“What’s this Grade 6?”
[Carnival]
▶ Insufficient elements for execution
▶ Grade 5
“…Low-grade and elements are insufficient as well?”
Su-a mercilessly tossed the lackluster scripts into the empty box.
In the midst of it, Su-a’s Association also peeked its head out.
─Senior Su-a, please try to recruit decent new members. Things will get harder for us if strange tenants come.
─Find someone who can take care of housework…
─Uuuh…?
─R, Run!
─Ahhhh!
Su-a cleared out her inner racket.
“Alright. I’ll pick the good ones, so wait a bit.”
But a problem arose.
“Grade 6, Grade 5, Grade 5, Grade 4….”
She couldn’t even find any scripts of Grade 1-2, and even the once-discarded Grade 3 scripts were nowhere to be found.
If Grade 4 is the best, isn’t this absurd?
“There are so many scripts, and Grade 4 is the highest?”
In the end, the script Su-a ultimately selected was:
[Lies, Lies, Lies.]
▶ Sufficient elements for execution
▶ Grade 5
001 ─ Park Si-yeon (Seo Yeon-joo)
002 ─ Lim Su-hee (Lee Su-a)
This one set her mind.
Sure, there were some Grade 4 scripts occasionally, but she couldn’t ignore Seo Yeon-joo. There might be a way to overcome a single grade’s difference through various abilities.
Of course, this wasn’t a weak resolution.
“My goal isn’t to accept Grade 5 as the standard. I’ll try hard to change the grade. I can’t let Yeon-joo fail.”
At least in Su-a’s mind, it didn’t make sense.
It wasn’t possible for Seo Yeon-joo to be an untalented skill-holder who couldn’t be freed from the Yeoncheon-kyung. Moreover, since a piece of Lim Su-a’s puzzle is me too.
“Yes, let’s test my capabilities once.”
As she muttered that, Su-a suddenly realized.
“…Have my brain grown? Do I actually think like this?”
She has changed from her past self. More than she thought.
“So, what is this about?”
Su-a lightly skimmed over the front part of the script.
Then, the special feature additional information was filled in.
[Lies, Lies, Lies.]
▶ Crime / Revenge / Politics
The content wasn’t too difficult.
“Ah, hence the name Lies. Yeon-joo-ssi is a con-artist, and I am her assistant.”
The storyline features Seo Yeon-joo rising to prominence by pulling off large-scale cons, originating from being a street-smart con artist. Su-a is a figure created precisely to assist Seo Yeon-joo’s crimes.
She ignored whatever twists might come later. Just confirming this much was enough.
Right then, the representative called.
[Sender: Kim I-seo]
▶ Su-a, the van’s been sent for you.
It was time to head to headquarters.
.
.
.
.
.
Su-a arrived at the Mystic Headquarters.
Well, actually, she just got out at the parking lot where Kim I-seo was already waiting. Su-a felt touched.
Kim I-seo, who had pinned a large ribbon in her hair, smiled.
“Su-a, you’ve arrived? Take a short rest. After that, we’ll get Lee Su-an’s makeup ready. Because of the huge success of Special Mobile Unit 808, we need to take quite a few shots after Su-an’s makeup.”
“Yes. Finishing this all at once would be better.”
Every time the makeup was redone, it was extremely burdensome. Su-a decided to wrap up all the video chats this time.
At that moment, Kim I-seo tapped Su-a on the shoulder.
“Why did you make your SNS account private?”
“Eh? Oh, that…”
Su-a stammered.
Certainly, saying that she did it out of pique would be a bit odd.
However…
“Well done.”
“Eh?”
“This has driven people to the fan cafe. I didn’t know Su-a had such a great knack for marketing.”
“Eh?”
“The followers may be individual, but the people in the fan cafe form a single community. Within the Su-a community, they will solidify more closely. Well done. Planning this so early with fans is impressive.”
No, it wasn’t like that…
Anyway, Su-a nodded with a smile.
Kim I-seo casually asked.
“Anyway, did you look over some scripts?”
“Most were thrown away, but I’ve decided on one.”
“Good to hear you found something you liked. What is it?”
“There’s that movie with Yeon-joo-ssi, right? I want to be in it. Specifically, the character Lim Su-hee.”
“Ah…!”
Kim I-seo seemed quite pleased.
“I was secretly hoping you’d say that. If Su-a follows Yeon-joo’s works, it’ll create a warm story, right? And since Su-a already has experience, the results will be even better.”
“Umm…”
You see, it was because the grade was Grade 5.
[Lies, Lies, Lies.]
▶ Sufficient elements for execution
▶ Grade 5 → Grade 4
Ah, it went down one grade just because I’m participating.
Still a wretched number. A way to fix it was necessary.
Unaware of Su-a’s thoughts, Kim I-seo was overjoyed.
“Since the staff of Yeon-joo’s movie is currently working under very tight schedules, I’ll try to arrange meetings as quickly as possible. Also, since Su-a has already chosen the role, it’d be better to hurry.”
“Yes!”
And Kim I-seo, noticing the van Su-a had ridden in, added.
“Also, it’s high time we form a team exclusively for Su-a.”
“For Su-a?”
“Yes. Su-a will only get busier, and I can’t always be by her side. We should start from a manager and move toward a dedicated stylist. Things like that. Things we didn’t have so far.”
“Aaah.”
Su-a immediately named the team in her mind. Team Arctic Fox.
─♩♪♬
Kim I-seo’s phone rang at that moment.
“This is Kim I-seo from Mystic.”
The representative immediately became serious as she took the call. After a while, she muted the phone and turned to Su-a.
“Su-a, have you become quite friendly with your Arctic Fox?”
“Eh? Oh, we have enough understanding to hold a conversation.”
“…Already to that point?”
It struck Su-a then.
She’d used the word “understanding,” but in reality, only she could communicate with her pet.
Sure enough, Kim I-seo misinterpreted and responded.
“Yes, PD. He’s listening….”
After finishing the call, she turned back to Su-a.
“Su-a, Studio Snack is planning a pet-themed variety show. It’s none other than PD Kang Hyun-seong.”
“Studio Snack? I also know the channel.”
She stumbled upon it via algorithms and watched occasionally.
Celebrities were brought in for conversations, foodie hunting, and daily observations—something varied and entertaining.
She always ended up watching it from start to end whenever she stumbled upon an episode.
“…I thought you didn’t care about such shows, but I guess I was wrong. Anyway, it’s a proposal from Kang Hyun-seong PD himself. They want Su-a.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Su-a will appear alone, but the pet will also be part of the show. Other actors will also join.”
Su-a had much to ponder.
A variety show where she appears with her pet. Could it work?
But soon, she thought it would likely be fine.
“…Isn’t it rather advantageous for me? I can communicate with Sumi, after all. It feels quite stable.”
What’s more, Sumi was also pretty sharp.
Perhaps on par or lower than Su-a.
“Yes. This might not be bad.”
An actor couldn’t forever avoid variety shows, and it would be advantageous to start gathering experience from favorable programs.
Su-a nodded.
“Yes, I want to appear.”
“Understood. Actually, aside from this, there’s an overwhelming pile of other casting offers as well. We’ll handle the rest once we get inside….”
That’s when it happened.
─♩♪♬
Kim I-seo had to answer another incoming call.
“Yes. Hello?”
But this time, her expression was different.
At first, she responded with her usual professional manner, but a smile gradually appeared on her lips. By the end, she burst out laughing.
For Su-a, it was an unfamiliar sight.
Su-a finally asked.
“Director, what’s the matter?”
“What’s the matter? It’s something about Su-a, of course.”
“Yes?”
“You’re caught up in some gossip.”
Su-a broke into a cold sweat.
Gossip?
It probably stemmed from not replying to some acquaintances in the past.
No matter how she thought about it, it seemed to be the case. She should’ve at least talked to her Japanese tutor! But who could it be? Who exposed her?
However…
Kim I-seo grinned.
“A dating rumor has gone viral. With Su-an.”
