Chapter 48
Gil Bo-young said that she had trusted and followed that CEO like a father.
However, around the time Gil Bo-young entered high school, her former agency's CEO began expanding the business recklessly.
At first, the company only managed child actors, but they started bringing in adult actors as well.
To do that, they needed money, so the CEO struggled desperately to attract investors.
As a result, he began taking Gil Bo-young, who was the most well-known person in the company, along to meetings with investors.
And usually, those meetings ended with drinking parties.
Gil Bo-young said that, while she was still a high school student, she had even been made to attend drinking parties and pour alcohol for investors.
Not wanting to do such things anymore, Gil Bo-young eventually left the company using her studies as an excuse.
Afterward, she heard that the CEO, who had recklessly expanded the business, eventually went bankrupt because he couldn't handle the consequences.
“I was too young back then...
I couldn't even tell my parents about it.
I was too ashamed...”
Gil Bo-young spoke calmly throughout, but the pain could be seen in the fleeting changes in her expression.
‘As I thought...
Something like that really happened...
How could they make a mere high school student do something like that...!’
I had more or less guessed what had happened, but hearing it directly from Gil Bo-young made my heart ache.
“Noona...
Thank you.
It must have been difficult to talk about...”
“Yeah.
I thought it would be, too...
But I think I was able to tell you because you're you...
Now, I feel like I can tell you everything.”
Bo-young gave me a faint smile.
The fact that Gil Bo-young had been able to reveal a secret she couldn't even tell her parents because it was me weighed heavily on one corner of my heart.
It meant that Gil Bo-young trusted me enough to entrust me with even her weakest side...
She had decided to trust me despite the fear of being hurt again...
Now it was my turn to repay the trust Gil Bo-young had given me.
‘Noona, please wait just a little longer.
I'll find the best management and the best manager for you.’
At the end of that thought stood Ma Sang-hee.
“Here's Hyun-bin hyung and Bo-young noona's profiles.”
As soon as I arrived at work on Monday, I handed the profiles I had received from Moon Hyun-bin and Gil Bo-young over the weekend to the scriptwriter, Hwang Hyun-hee.
“Oh, okay.
By the way, did you check Hyun-bin's schedule separately?”
“Yes.
He doesn't have anything scheduled after September yet.
He also said that even if something comes up, he'll try to prioritize our side as much as possible.
It's the same for Bo-young noona.”
“That worked out well.
Director Park seems to like Moon Hyun-bin, so I don't think there'll be any major problems with his casting.
But the competition for the role of Consort Seo is tougher than I expected.”
The role of Consort Seo was the character for whom Bo-young noona had just submitted her profile.
“Really?”
“Yeah.
As you know, the role of Consort Seo is quite strong.
If you do it well, it's the kind of role that can really make people remember you.”
Of course, I knew that.
That was why I had recommended the role to Bo-young noona.
However, when Hwang Hyun-hee said there were more competitors than expected, I couldn't help worrying.
“But the role doesn't have that much screen time, so it's not really attractive to established actors, right?
So aren't most of the candidates new actresses?”
“I thought so too, but maybe because the character is good, there are quite a few actresses with some name recognition.”
“Really...?”
“You know Jung-won, one of the members of that idol group ‘Cutie,’ right?
She submitted her profile too.”
However, at that time, people still didn't have a particularly good opinion of idol singers becoming actors.
So I felt somewhat relieved, thinking that Director Park Jun-beom wouldn't cast an idol.
“Oh, and you know Han Hye-joo, right?
She submitted her profile too.”
“Han, Han Hye-joo?!”
My voice suddenly rose in pitch, making Hwang Hyun-hee tilt her head in confusion.
“Yeah, Han Hye-joo.
Is that really something to be so surprised about?”
“Ah, no...
It's just...
Like you said, the competition seems tougher than I expected...
Ahem.”
I tried to regain my composure before continuing.
“Then when will the results be announced?”
“Hmm, I think the director will make his decision sometime next week.
We aren't really in a position to drag things out either.”
“Ah, yes...”
When I returned to my seat, my thoughts became complicated.
‘Ha...
Why did she have to be competing for the same role as Gil Bo-young...?’
No matter who got the role, it wouldn't be strange.
But if things turned out this way, I wouldn't be able to comfortably cheer for either Gil Bo-young or Han Hye-joo, regardless of who was chosen.
Moreover, the tension between the two...
How should I put it...?
It didn't feel like the ordinary competitive jealousy that often existed between actresses.
If this result made the gap between the two of them even deeper...
For some reason, my heart felt heavy.
‘What on earth happened between those two...?’
Another busy week passed.
Park Jun-beom, Baek Seong-han, cinematographer Sunwoo Tae, assistant director Jung Min-hwan, and scriptwriter Hwang Hyun-hee were sitting around the conference table, intensely discussing the final casting decisions.
Meanwhile, Moon Hyun-bin's casting as the Crown Prince was almost confirmed.
Of course, this was partly because Moon Hyun-bin's popularity had skyrocketed after the release of the movie ‘Eye of the Typhoon.’
But more than anything, Director Park Jun-beom valued image casting and cared greatly about whether an actor fit the character.
The moment he saw Moon Hyun-bin's profile, he had immediately chosen him for the role of the Crown Prince.
“Even so, he's practically a newcomer.
Shouldn't you at least have him audition once?”
Despite the assistant director's concern, Director Park Jun-beom spoke with a relaxed expression.
“What's the point of an audition?
As long as the image fits, bringing out an actor's acting is my specialty.”
Director Park Jun-beom himself had once worked as an actor in theater, and he had an outstanding ability to draw performances out of actors.
He was also the person who had cast actress Song Na-hee, who was famous for her poor acting, and made audiences praise her performance as the rediscovery of Song Na-hee.
“Just arrange a casual meeting.
Acting ability and personality are two different things.”
At the meeting that was arranged, Director Park met Moon Hyun-bin and liked him even more than before.
“So we're confirming Moon Hyun-bin for the Crown Prince role?”
“Yeah.
After meeting him, I realized the kid has a good mindset.”
“I also think Moon Hyun-bin is better than Actor Oh Tae-hyun.
And apparently, he's the hottest actor these days.
Something about him feels different.
I think Moon Hyun-bin is going to become huge very soon.
We need to secure him before that happens.”
Scriptwriter Hwang Hyun-hee, who had liked Moon Hyun-bin from the beginning, strongly supported him.
“Right.
Then, Baek PD, confirm Moon Hyun-bin's casting and finish the contract.
And Min-hwan, coordinate his schedule.”
At Director Park's words, Baek Seong-han and the assistant director nodded.
“Yes.
Then, next is Consort Seo...
Ha...
This is the biggest problem.”
A fierce debate had broken out among the staff over the final candidates for the role of Consort Seo, Gil Bo-young and Han Hye-joo.
Director Park let out a short sigh as if he was troubled.
“Bo-young and Hye-joo have such different styles, but somehow, I feel like either one of them could work...”
“Still, in terms of image, wouldn't Han Hye-joo be the better choice?
Han Hye-joo definitely has a strong presence.
Compared to her, Gil Bo-young feels too delicate.”
The cinematographer spoke in support of Han Hye-joo.
“Oh, Gil Bo-young doesn't really have a delicate image.
Wouldn't you say she actually has a strong and determined image?”
Hwang Hyun-hee tilted her head at the cinematographer's opinion.
“Even so, I do wonder whether Gil Bo-young can create as powerful an atmosphere as Han Hye-joo.”
“But if we're only talking about acting, Gil Bo-young definitely has more experience.
I mean, she has a certain depth.
Her details are alive, and her emotional lines are accurate.”
The people gathered in the room exchanged tense opinions, but they couldn't narrow down their choices.
And there was a reason for that.
Gil Bo-young was an actress who expressed emotions through her acting, while Han Hye-joo was an actress who acted through atmosphere.
Since both actresses had completely different strengths, choosing one over the other was not an easy decision.
After thinking for a long time, Director Park Jun-beom finally opened his mouth.
“Since things have come this far, how about we audition just the two of them separately?”
At the word ‘audition,’ everyone's eyes turned toward Director Park.
“This isn't simply about whether one is better at acting than the other.
The two of them have completely different colors.
I think we should decide after seeing which color works better when paired with the protagonist, Min Seong-jae.”
“Right.
Since most of their scenes are with Seong-jae, the surest way is to put them in front of the camera with Seong-jae and decide.”
At Director Park and the cinematographer's words, Baek Seong-han carefully opened his mouth.
“I was thinking the same thing, but...
These two have more than ten years of acting experience each.
I'm not sure if they'll readily agree to an audition...”
“They're both still young, and Director Park is asking to see them.
Surely they won't openly refuse.”
Despite Baek Seong-han's concern, the assistant director spoke confidently.
“Well, that's true.”
In the end, Baek Seong-han also agreed.
“Anyway, their styles are so different that it should be quite interesting to watch the audition.”
Director Park smiled, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if he was secretly looking forward to it.
After the meeting ended, Hwang Hyun-hee informed the directing and production departments about the auditions for Gil Bo-young and Han Hye-joo.
“An audition?!”
I was caught off guard by the unexpected news.
“Yeah.
It was just decided.”
I had heard that Director Park Jun-beom was having difficulty choosing between Gil Bo-young and Han Hye-joo, but I hadn't expected him to have only those two audition separately in the end.
Moreover, thinking about Gil Bo-young and Han Hye-joo meeting at the audition made me worried.
In that case, it would probably be better to tell Bo-young noona that her audition opponent was Han Hye-joo...
“Noona, can I contact Gil Bo-young myself?”
“Sure.
Since you recommended her, you're probably concerned.
Tell her to come to the office by four o'clock on Friday, and tell her I'll send the audition script separately by email.”
“Yes.”
After finishing my conversation with Hwang Hyun-hee, I quietly looked for a place where I could make a phone call and headed toward the emergency staircase.
But when I actually tried to call Gil Bo-young, I didn't know what to say or where to begin.
I sat there blankly, holding my phone for a while before finally pressing the call button.
—Hello?
Along with the noisy sounds of the street, Gil Bo-young's voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Noona, it's Gibaek.
Are you outside?”
—Yeah, Gibaek.
I'm outside right now.
I just met Director Song Jae-hyun, and I'm on my way home.
“Director Song?
You met Director Song today?”
The situation was like this.
The weekly movie magazine ‘Movie 21’ was preparing a special article titled ‘Five Independent Films That Will Shine in 2005.’
Director Song Jae-hyun's movie had been selected as one of the five films to be featured.
They had also requested interviews with Moon Hyun-bin, who played the role of Sunwoo, the protagonist of Director Song's upcoming movie, Jo Hae-young, who played the role of Miseon, and Gil Bo-young, who played the role of Hyorim.
“Oh, really?
That's great.”
—They said they're going to do the interview and a photoshoot together.
None of the three of us has an agency, so I think it would be better for us to move together.
But I'm pretty overwhelmed with all kinds of things because we have to coordinate our schedules.
‘Ah...
It would be great to have a manager to help at times like this...’
And at that exact moment, Ma Sang-hee came to mind.
Was it only natural that she did?
