episode_0033

“Uh… No…?”

That was a word that flustered Kim Iseo.

The fact that portraits would be hung side-by-side in the building.

In other words, she was testing the waters on whether Sua would be willing to join Mystic Entertainment, but she was immediately rejected. She hadn’t anticipated the answer would be so quick and decisive.

However, she soon nodded, albeit slightly.

“I understand. So, Sua…”

She had a hunch.

“…You don’t like being placed on the same level as someone else. Right? You have the will to stand at the very top, no matter what.”

“…”

Sua didn’t give a direct answer. She was simply staring at Kim Iseo quietly. That must mean it was correct.

‘Just how high is the goal she has? I can’t fathom it.’

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Kim Seonil and Seo Yeonju didn’t seem to excite Sua at all. Even though it would be like a dream to most rookies.

Lee Sua’s gaze.

It felt like she was a solitary ascetic climbing silently to the top, not offering her side to anyone. That’s how it appeared from Kim Iseo’s perspective, anyway.

One thing became even clearer in Kim Iseo’s mind.

‘I absolutely can’t let her go. Absolutely.’

Of course, Sua herself was just bewildered.

‘Why is this little CEO acting like this?’

Is she mad at what I said? Sua was slightly frightened.

That was truly all the sentiment she had in her heart.

Kim Iseo’s eyes gleamed with an unusual light.

“…Okay. No entertainment company will be able to hold onto Sua forever. Our Mystic doesn’t have that much greed either. However, I’d like us to be partners, even for a little while.”

“Are you talking about a contract?”

“That’s right. Sua, could you show me the business cards you received yesterday?”

Sua rummaged through her pockets and took out the business cards.

Because she had left a significant portion of them at home, what remained in her pocket wasn’t all of them, but it was still a quantity that couldn’t be called small. It was enough to play a card game with, at least.

Kim Iseo meticulously examined them one by one.

“As expected, there are quite a few. Some decent entertainment companies too. It doesn’t feel like they’d offer Sua bad conditions. But Sua, do you remember what I said?”

“You said you were confident.”

“That’s right. Mystic’s unique strength. What I’m confident in.”

Sua was curious about what that was.

At the time, she wondered what that meant, but it meant there was a card to play as a contract condition. Sua perked up her ears.

“Sua is a flame.”

“A flame?”

“Yes. A flame that seeks the answer to acting. A flame that will devour all kinds of works like firewood, gradually growing in size.”

“Um, I understand perfectly.”

Sua’s first move. Pretending to understand difficult words.

…Anyway, that means she thinks highly of me, right?

“What do you think? Am I right?”

“I acknowledge it.”

Sua’s second move. First, acknowledge compliments directed at yourself.

“I’ll work hard so that Sua can become an even bigger flame, and cause a fire that burns down the entire entertainment industry. That means I’ll search for any and all works that could be inspiring.”

Kim Iseo continued speaking with fervor.

“Of course, Mystic is small. It’s new, and the staff is just Yeonju and Seonil. But I’ve earned a certain amount of trust in this industry. I’m confident that the pool of scripts I can choose from is the widest.”

Sua thought as she listened. A wide pool of scripts to choose from?

There couldn’t be a better element for someone with a special trait like her, could there?

“Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m planning to make you feel lacking financially. It’d be better to read it once than to hear me talk about it. I’ve organized the benefits we can provide Sua.”

Soon, a piece of paper was placed in front of Sua.

Sua’s eyes quickly scanned it.

[ Contract between Entertainer Lee Sua (hereinafter referred to as “Party A”) and Mystic Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as “Party B”) as follows ]

Article 1 [Definition] “Entertainment” in this contract refers to all forms, voices, songs, dance activities (performance stage, TV, film, broadcasting station, on-site production, fashion show, recording, video recording, advertising production activities, etc.) related to—

“…”

The time it took to give up on understanding: 3 seconds.

‘It’s difficult. Should I pretend to like it? Or be expressionless?’

She was in a difficult situation.

She needed to know whether the conditions were good or bad to decide on a concept to grab, but since understanding was impossible from the start, there was nothing she could do…

As she glanced at Kim Iseo, she inadvertently made eye contact. It was a disaster.

“Sua, what’s wrong?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

That was the best Sua could say. More than anything, she couldn’t ask any questions. It would be sad if she was swindled.

However.

“Sua, tell me in detail if you have any thoughts. I’m in a position where I have to listen to Sua’s thoughts and make a judgment.”

“It’s really nothing.”

“Still. Please.”

Kim Iseo’s attitude was more persistent than she had imagined.

“Um, just…”

Sua tilted her head.

She quickly made up something else. A compliment would be okay, right?

“…I thought you were cuter than I expected.”

Kim Iseo’s face turned pale.

◈◈◈◈◈

Inside the building of the agency ‘Bada Actors’, Park Dohee was in a practice room with a wide full-body mirror instead of a wall.

Almost 12 hours. Dark circles were prominent under her eyes.

It was because she had been engrossed in acting practice all night, but it was now temporarily suspended. It was because the manager had come to visit with coffee and donuts. Park Dohee, who was wiping her face with a towel, said.

“Manager.”

At Dohee’s call, the manager, who was looking at his phone, raised his head.

“Do you remember that rookie? Kim Yuhan, who’s playing Lee Sua’s role.”

“Of course, I know him.”

“What do you think?”

“What do I think? He’s just crazy. After I gave him my business card, I searched the parking lot thoroughly. I was worried that he might have thrown away the business card I gave him. He makes people like that.”

“…That’s right. He was amazing.”

Park Dohee asked.

“Did you hear back, again?”

“I’m waiting for that and that alone. If I bring him in, I might get promoted. No, I’ll definitely get promoted. I gave him my business card first, in any case. And I appealed to him for a while. There’s hope.”

“Mmm.”

“Anyway, I’m going now. Don’t overdo it.”

Even after the manager left, Park Dohee couldn’t easily bring the donut to her lips. It was because her mind was complicated. The conversation that took place during the company dinner on the outdoor set kept coming back to her mind.

—Is there any information about Sua that we can use?

Park Dohee had asked.

It was a question that could sound suspicious depending on how you listened to it, but Park Dohee asked because she was so desperate. If her understanding of the other person increased even a little, wouldn’t it be easier to apologize?

Seo Yeonju had answered that question.

—I don’t think there’s anyone here who isn’t curious about that? But in the end, no one knows. Sua is just an acting monster.

—Ah, but I heard a little story.

That was when someone chimed in.

—I asked her what she had done before the drama, just to say hello and strike up a conversation. She said she had done various things, like soccer, golf, and swimming?

—….

There was silence for a moment.

—…Is she good at those too, I wonder?

—Judging by her personality, you can see that she probably didn’t do them half-heartedly.

—What kind of hobbies are those…

—From acting to sports, is it possible to experience those things at a high level in Korea? Ah, maybe she’s from overseas?

—That’s a possibility. No, that must be it.

Park Dohee returned to reality after retracing her steps that far.

“…”

It was hopeless.

She had wanted to increase the success rate of her apology by understanding Lee Sua even a little more, but she only realized even more that the other person was a scary monster. What should she do now?

Park Dohee asked the manager, who was eating a donut in the corner.

“Manager oppa, did you receive the results of the mock filming?”

As a mock filming in which she had put all her effort in terms of money and manpower, there was one major clause attached. That was that the contract would be terminated if it was determined that it did not match the actual drama.

The manager shook his head.

“The results will be out tomorrow. Hey, surely they won’t terminate your contract? You did well, right? You left some impressive scenes.”

“…No, if it’s not terminated, that’s a problem in itself.”

It was not a joke.

Didn’t that mean she had to stand in front of the camera with that monster one more time? She would have to do at least as well as she did during the mock filming, but Park Dohee didn’t have the confidence to do so.

‘I can’t bite her again, right…’.

In the first place, it was possible because she had lost her mind at that time. There was no way she could bite the other actor while sober.

But then what should she do? An ad-lib that wouldn’t harm Sua but would still have the same impact as that time?

It didn’t come to mind. It just didn’t come to mind.

What to do, what to do, what to do…

Park Dohee clenched and unclenched her fist for no reason. Before she knew it, her palms were wet with sweat. After worrying for a while, she finally mustered the courage to contact Sua.

▶ Sua-ssi, hello. This is Park Dohee.

▶ Is your arm okay? I’m really sorry.

▶ And I have just one question to ask.

▶ Do you have any plans for ad-libs during the actual filming?

Surprisingly, a reply came immediately.

▷ The doctor says my arm is okay.

▷ Feel free to bite as much as you want. If you want to.

“…”

Park Dohee dropped her phone for a moment.

After barely catching the phone, which was spinning around in the air, with her frantically outstretched hand, she re-examined Sua’s reply.

“…”

It was certain, even after looking again.

Did you have the guts to go that far? Meaning, are you sure you’ll be able to handle it? Cold sweat poured down her back.

Park Dohee soon began to type furiously. Her fingers were almost invisible.

▶ Ah, no? Why would I want to?

▶ I’m really sorry.

▶ I wasn’t myself at the time.

▶ It wasn’t an ad-lib in the first place.

▶ Please be sure to send me the hospital bill.

▶ I’ll see you with other acting that won’t cause any harm.

Park Dohee then stuffed her phone into her pocket. At the same time, she turned her head sharply to look at the manager.

“Oppa, take me to the department store right now.”

“Why the department store all of a sudden?”

“A necklace, no. A luxury bag. Buy me a few pretty ones.”

“What? You have to go yourself to buy those things? Don’t you remember? Last time I bought one for you, you got mad at me, saying I only picked out stuff like this.”

“I’m not buying it for myself to use! It’s for Lee Sua! And cancel all my schedules except for the actual filming. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

There was even a hint of desperation in her voice. It was understandable. It was a problem of survival for Park Dohee, in a way.

An ad-lib to be remembered in front of the camera besides biting, a way to survive from Lee Sua. She had to come up with various things. It felt like a bomb necklace was around her neck.

And this was not a phenomenon that only happened to Park Dohee.

Actor Academy in Gangnam.

“Is everyone here?”

Multiple people were gathered, including luxury supporting actor Hwang Myungpil. Although they were all supporting actors, their expressions were determined. They had promised to gather together today to rehearse the scenes.

Everyone had largely the same feelings in their hearts.

The thought that they had no choice but to do their best if they wanted to survive.

“Let’s start with scene 1.”

“Let’s try filming it with our phones first.”

“Shall we order food in advance?”

Whether they were wary of Kim Yuhan, afraid of Kim Yuhan, or trying to anticipate Kim Yuhan’s success and receive trickle-down effects… They all led to one path. They had no choice but to refine their acting as well.

In any case, it was an event that enriched the Special Operations Unit 808.

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Meanwhile, Sua, who had returned home, was simply deep in thought.

“I don’t know what’s going on.”

—Because I thought the CEO was quite cute.

Immediately after Sua said that, Kim Iseo’s face turned pale, and she hurriedly took the contract back, saying there was something to revise.

Was she going to revise it in a bad way? If that happened, it would be troublesome, but what could she do, since it had already happened. She had to let go of her attachments.

On the other hand, Park Dohee’s text message was also on her mind.

‘I guess she’s greedy for ad-libs after all. I guess that’s normal since she’s an actress?’

Sua didn’t not understand that feeling. Wanting to be captured on camera in an even more perfect form was a natural desire. Any actor would be like that.

Therefore, Sua readily gave her permission.

However….

‘…I’ll have to wear something like a protector on my arm instead. Or add thick skin with special makeup. It hurts otherwise.’

It was when she was thinking about those things.

( ! )

“Huh?”

Suddenly, an exclamation mark-shaped notification popped up on the trait window. Sua casually touched it with her finger, and a description unfolded below.

[ Trait Acquisition in progress ]

[ Trait: Acting Commander ]

[ Effect: Encourages surrounding acting ]

Current progress ■□□□□ 20%

“…A trait?”

That was a new possibility that Sua had never known about.