13 - The Second is Proficient
The subdued anger surged rapidly the moment Im Se-ah's eyes met Ji-man's.
He was still the same, with his neatly styled suit, slicked-back hair, and cool demeanor.
Ji-man, who had been sitting, stood up and extended his hand as if to shake hands. She barely managed to calm her trembling hand and took his. She couldn't control her expression. To think she would meet her ex-husband like this.
"You must be Im Se-ah?"
"Ah, yes..."
She barely smoothed out her slightly furrowed brow and moistened her lips with water. She was twenty-five now. She had been twenty-seven when she went on the blind date before her regression. To think it would be moved up by two years. She suddenly wondered why this had happened, but there was no time to think.
"It seems you came without hearing the details."
Ji-man said nonchalantly and ordered food for Se-ah as well through the manager.
"Shall we have a glass of wine?"
"No, thank you."
"Then we'll skip the wine."
She stared at him, observing him as he spoke so coolly. With his above-average height, handsome face, and decent manners, she had mistaken him for a good person.
"CEO Im wants to marry you, Se-ah."
Hearing the words he had said in the past, not a single syllable different, made her want to laugh for some reason. She had asked him if he felt the same way next.
"Do you feel the same way?"
Se-ah subtly averted her gaze to the window. Back then, she had answered yes. In response to her answer, Ji-man had abruptly informed her of the wedding date and left his seat.
Her opinion hadn't mattered, and everything had already been prepared. The young her hadn't noticed.
When he suddenly mentioned the wedding date, she had even thought, 'Does he like me that much?' So naive and foolish. A deep sigh escaped Se-ah's lips.
She felt pathetic for having tried to love such a person. And for herself, who had lived without knowing anything, just going with the flow.
"No."
She said firmly, meeting Ji-man's gaze. If she rejected a wedding that was already fully prepared, how would he react?
"I have no intention of getting married."
In the silence, Ji-man's eyes took on a cold light. He seemed to be looking into her eyes, gauging her sincerity without a word. In the meantime, the food they had ordered arrived and filled the table.
"You don't seem to be good at anything other than acting..."
Ji-man said as he gracefully cut the steak with a knife. He blatantly mocked and stabbed at Se-ah.
"And it doesn't seem like you're very good at that either."
He chewed the meat, saying that he heard Yu-ri, who was supposedly her contemporary, seemed to be showing her face here and there, but all you have are a few commercials and a radio show.
It was true that she didn't have any significant career to show for it right now. She remained silent, unable to refute him.
"Wouldn't it be more worthwhile for you to just get married?"
Bullshit. Se-ah muttered inwardly and stabbed the meat with her knife. Whether it was her father or Park Ji-man. She now knew that she was needed only for them to fill their own pockets.
She crushed the steak with a rather ferocious force, making a scraping sound, and sighed openly.
"I have a weak stomach."
"..."
"It smells too fishy, so I'll refuse."
She said, pushing the plate away, but Ji-man would have understood all her sarcasm. Because he was a person who was used to this kind of rhetoric. Sure enough, he frowned fiercely.
"It won't be good for Im Se-ah if you act like this."
"That has nothing to do with me."
"I believe the house you're living in is under CEO Im's name."
It was nothing short of a threat that her father would take away the house. She just laughed. Even if she were to end up on the streets right away, she couldn't marry him.
She had already lived through the terrible end she had with him. There was no way she would want to walk that path again.
"I should start preparing to move."
Her body and mind were full of wounds that had been thoroughly ravaged. She was now so sick of the idea of love that it made her shudder.
"..."
At Se-ah's firm attitude, he stopped the hand that was cutting the steak. She wondered what he was thinking. The knife Ji-man was holding trembled menacingly.
"I see."
He put down the knife with a clatter and gracefully wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"Let's watch for now. There's no rush."
At Ji-man's words, her face crumpled. He smirked and got up from his seat. He put on his jacket, fastened the buttons, and nodded as if he found it amusing.
"See you next time."
As someone who hated being left behind, he passed by Se-ah and left first, leaving her feeling empty.
"What the heck, seriously."
She sighed and ran her hand over her forehead. She rubbed her white forehead with her fingers and picked up her phone to call her father. After a few rings, a heavy voice echoed.
- Is it over already? Director Park is a busy man, but you shouldn't let him leave so quickly.
Se-ah scoffed, dumbfounded by the scolding as soon as she answered the phone. Regardless of how she reacted, her father continued to speak as if the marriage was already a foregone conclusion.
"Father."
- Finish up your radio show well and focus on being a good wife.
Se-ah slowly closed and opened her eyes and opened her mouth.
"I'm not getting married. I've already conveyed my opinion to Director Park Ji-man."
- ...
"I know it's difficult, but I also have plans and goals. Please don't ignore me."
An awkward silence followed. Then, a short ringtone sounded. It was the sound that played when a new call came in during a call.
But she couldn't hang up. She was about to part her lips, anxious about what the call might be about.
- Okay. Starting with dating might be good too.
"Yes?"
- Director Park said that he needs to finish what he's doing now, so there's no rush. But it'll take at most a year or two, so wrap up what you're doing by then.
Her father, as if he couldn't allow anything to interfere with his already planned work, forced her in a tone that suggested he couldn't be lenient, and unilaterally ended the call.
"I guess."
Hundreds of billions were at stake in her father and Ji-man's business, so there was no way they would let go easily. Se-ah, agonizing over how to definitively cancel this marriage, recalled the call she had received earlier and hurriedly checked her phone.
There was a call from an unknown number and a text message from Ye-won's number. She checked the text message first.
[Congratulations! You passed the web drama audition.]
The message started to come up in succession as if the other party had seen that it had been read. It said that she would bring the first part of the script to her house and that the reading date had been set.
For the first time today, a smile bloomed on Se-ah's face.
The tall sky was blue. The wind, which had been sharp enough to sting the skin, softened, signaling the change of seasons.
"New buds will be sprouting soon."
Se-ah arrived at the script reading site for the web drama "Elite High School Romance Records". Looking at the trees at Ye-won's words after getting out of the car, the vibrant green color had faded a lot. Soon, they would be beautifully colored in red and yellow.
Se-ah smiled, grateful that she had work, unlike this time in the past.
"Let's go in."
The script reading, which would be held in the TVM seminar room, was scheduled to take about 1 to 2 hours. Even though she had arrived a little early, there were already many people there.
"Hello, Director."
"Oh, Se-ah!"
She approached Director Kim, who was sitting at the head of the table, and greeted him. He stood up and shook her hand with a welcoming smile.
"Welcome, our lead actress. Sit here."
She burst into laughter at his slightly playful and flattering tone. At the director's introduction, she greeted Kim Ji-eun, the writer who wrote the script for "Elite High School Romance Records".
And she was introduced to Yoon Joo-ho, who was playing the male lead Kang Woo-seok, and Kang Hyun-joo, who was playing Min Hyo-ryeong, the rival of the female lead Seo Ji-an, who had arrived earlier.
Yoon Joo-ho was a famous idol, so she was familiar with him, but Kang Hyun-joo was familiar to her in a different sense.
Se-ah's miserable and desolate married life. Her only pleasure was watching movies and dramas and studying how she would act if she were her, and how she could express that role even better.
"Human," the movie that Hyun-joo would film a few years later, was the only work for which she had given up studying acting. Hyun-joo's acting was exactly the heroine herself, no more and no less. She had been captivated and felt defeated all by herself. She had wanted to meet her someday.
"Hello."
She never thought she would meet her like this. She greeted her awkwardly and sat down, opening the script. She had heard that Heo Yu-ri had also been cast in another role, but she didn't seem to be here, so she probably hadn't arrived yet.
Se-ah quickly skimmed through episodes 1 and 2, which were scheduled to be read, and reviewed the flow once again. The reading site was busy. It felt like a regularly scheduled drama, not a web drama.
She glanced at her watch and saw that the starting time had already passed. For some reason, Heo Yu-ri had not yet appeared.
"..."
Se-ah's gaze turned to the seat next to her. She stared blankly at the nameplate that read 'Park Sol-mi - Heo Yu-ri' when one of the staff members whispered something in Director Kim's ear.
"Oh, really? You should have contacted me sooner, geez..."
Director Kim frowned slightly and sighed, saying he understood, and the staff member stepped back. Director Kim clapped his hands a few times in his seat and stood up, drawing people's attention.
"Okay, Heo Yu-ri says she's late due to her schedule. Let's start first."
Everyone who had been walking around greeting each other sat down in their seats. The managers and staff also sat in the seats prepared in the back, and Director Kim Seong-cheol bowed his head lightly and greeted them.
"I'm Kim Seong-cheol, the director of 'Elite High School Romance Records'."
Applause erupted at the words, "Nice to meet you." He briefly mentioned how he, a film director, came to challenge himself with a web drama and how he came to work with TVM.
'Elite High School Romance Records', which was being produced in collaboration with TVM, was scheduled to be released first on KakamoTV, NamerTV, and Mwayve, and then re-edited and broadcast on TVM. It was a very rare case for a web drama.
"Each episode is about 20 to 25 minutes long, for a total of 16 episodes."
After the explanation, writer Kim Ji-eun stood up and greeted them. Afterwards, everyone, including the leads and supporting actors, greeted them in the order they were sitting.
"Shall we begin then?"
The script reading began with Kim Ji-eun reading the role of Heo Yu-ri, who had not yet arrived.
The reading went smoothly and the atmosphere was pleasant. It wasn't about putting on a show of acting, but rather about seeing each other's chemistry and finding out how each person had researched and prepared for their roles.
"..."
Se-ah felt a pleasant sense of alertness and looked at Hyun-joo. As expected, her acting chemistry was very good even just from the reading.
Hyun-joo's eyes met hers. A satisfying smile appeared on each other's faces. Director Kim also seemed to like the feeling and kept pulling up the corners of his mouth to smile. It was then.
"Ugh, seriously! What a pain because of her!"
