21 - The Second is Proficient
Ye-won seemed to already know. When Im Se-ah asked what was going on, Dane said that his conscience bothered him to just gloss over his rude behavior during the music video shoot with a simple apology.
“You’ve seemed so down lately. When Dane said he was coming, I jumped at the chance.”
Im Se-ah hadn’t been in a good mood since hearing about her mother. She thought she was pretending that nothing was wrong, but apparently it showed. Im Se-ah smiled happily. It was truly wonderful to have someone who cared about her like this.
Dane was already famous for being eccentric, so she didn’t have to worry about scandals.
“So, what are you going to drink?”
Dane, full of enthusiasm, rolled up his sleeves and grinned.
“I’ll have an iced Americano. You?”
At Ye-won’s question, Im Se-ah looked at the menu again. Even though there were only two options, Americano and café latte, she was torn. She had skipped breakfast, so she wanted a café latte with rich milk, and the blazing sun, as if summer was coming, made her crave a cool Americano.
“If you haven’t had breakfast, you should have a café latte.”
Dane said he would be here all day for the shoot, and he bent down to meet Im Se-ah’s eyes. He added that he would make her another Americano later.
“Okay. Then I’ll have a café latte.”
She nodded, deciding to take his recommendation. Ye-won, who was watching from the side, smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. Dane’s eyes looked sweeter than before.
“Wow. Im Se-ah is amazing!”
“Oh, Director Kim!”
Director Kim Seong-cheol ordered coffee with the camera director.
“Congratulations on hitting number one on the music charts.”
“It’s all thanks to Se-ah noona.”
Im Se-ah was a little surprised by the familiar term noona. Im Se-ah turned to look, but Dane was just making coffee, pretending not to notice.
“Coffee’s ready.”
“Thank you.”
Following Im Se-ah and Ye-won’s coffee, which they had ordered first, the directors’ coffee came out right away. Judging by how fast he was, he seemed used to making coffee.
“Wait, you were Director Park, right?”
Director Kim, who had gulped down his hot Americano, asked Dane.
He was asking who the music video director was. When Dane nodded in affirmation, Director Kim took another sip of his coffee and made a keu sound, as if he were drinking alcohol.
“I was really surprised.”
This time, Director Kim was speaking to Im Se-ah.
“I knew you were good at acting. After all, I picked you myself.”
Hearing such direct praise while making eye contact was almost embarrassing. Her cheeks flushed slightly. Seeing that, Director Kim laughed, saying she was shy.
“I didn’t think you were acting.”
It really felt like she couldn’t see. It was natural yet shocking. And then he felt a strong conviction. She would be perfect for the L17 role in ‘Hyde’. Director Kim, who had emptied half of his coffee, broached the subject.
“You know we have a company dinner tonight, right?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve cleared my schedule.”
Im Se-ah smiled and nodded. Because there was a company dinner, she had changed her plans to visit her parents’ house again today. Originally, tomorrow was supposed to be the last day of filming, but due to some actors’ schedules not aligning, the dinner was being held today.
“Let’s talk later.”
Director Kim looked at Im Se-ah once and then spoke to Ye-won. Ye-won’s eyes sparkled as she bowed. She had a strong feeling she was going to be cast.
“Thank you, Director.”
“Let’s film first, though.”
Director Kim said that filming would start in 30 minutes and moved to set up with the camera director.
“See, Im Se-ah, when you can act, work just comes pouring in.”
“Oh, unnie.”
Im Se-ah, who was weak against blatant praise, bit her lip, looking embarrassed. Dane, who was watching, also felt like teasing her and opened his mouth.
“We trust Im Se-ah. She’s an actress you can count on.”
Im Se-ah glared at Dane, who was joking around. He had subtly started calling her noona and was approaching her in a friendly manner, which was completely different from his first impression.
“Noona.”
Dane leaned down from the coffee truck and looked down at her.
“Is it okay if I call you that?”
“You’re asking that now?”
His eyes, which showed that he wanted to get closer, made him seem like a cute younger brother. She thought he was three years younger than her? Im Se-ah recalled what Director Park had said during their first meeting. It would be nice to have a close younger brother. In the future, he would become completely engrossed in acting because of the drama shoot, so they would have a lot to talk about.
“Speak comfortably. Noona.”
“Okay, dongsaeng.”
She retorted with a small laugh, and Dane frowned slightly. As if something didn’t please him.
“You can call me Min-seok, though.”
Now that she thought about it, Dane’s real name was Chae Min-seok. The way he was sulking made him seem like a real younger brother, and she burst into a refreshing laugh.
“Okay, okay. I got it.”
Im Se-ah, who had been tilting her head at his somewhat sulky expression, clapped her hands as if she realized why.
“Thank you for today.”
Come to think of it, she hadn’t thanked him for bringing the coffee truck. He had said he would be here all day for the shoot and was even making coffee himself. It was truly an unexpected event.
“And congratulations on hitting number one on the charts.”
Of course, it was a natural result since the song was good. She knew that he had been quite sensitive because it wasn’t his usual way of working, so she wanted to congratulate him even more.
“You know the song is really good, right?”
She conveyed her honest feelings, saying that she had been listening to it often lately.
“Filming starts in 10 minutes.”
“Ah, thank you, unnie.”
Im Se-ah picked up the script she had put down for a moment. She waved to Min-seok and ran to the filming location.
“……”
A slight smile appeared on Min-seok’s face as he watched her leave. The fresh green leaves of early summer fluttered in the wind.
\\
People began to gather at a restaurant near the filming location. The main actors’ filming hadn’t finished yet, but the people who had finished filming first arrived, ordered food, and brought out bottles of alcohol.
Heo Yuri had finished filming early, but she didn’t go into the restaurant.
“Heo Yuri. Aren’t you going in?”
“Not yet. I’m waiting.”
She was in a bad mood because she felt like she had finished filming early since she was a supporting actress. The main character is supposed to appear later. Heo Yuri was firmly mistaken that she was the main character.
She retorted sharply to her manager’s question about why she wasn’t going in and unbuckled her seatbelt.
“It seems like everyone’s here for the most part……”
Ignoring her manager, who was muttering as if he was frustrated, she checked her wristwatch. She would go in after everyone had gathered except for Joo-ho and Im Se-ah, who were currently filming.
“Kang Hyun-joo isn’t here yet.”
Her manager frowned at her attitude of calling her unnie to her face but talking behind her back. If the head of the agency wasn’t her father, that arrogant woman wouldn’t survive in this industry, he thought. Heo Yuri, unaware that her manager was cursing her inwardly, stared out the car window.
“She’s here.”
A car stopped in front of the restaurant, and Hyun-joo got out. Heo Yuri watched Hyun-joo enter the restaurant and checked her face in the mirror.
She reapplied her slightly faded lipstick and redrew her eyebrows, which had become blurred at the ends. Only after about 10 minutes had passed did she close her pouch. Heo Yuri ran her fingers through her hair, checking if her earrings were visible, and opened the car door.
“Let’s go.”
The high heels she had received from her father a while ago were luxury items that were not easily obtainable. She opened the restaurant door, being careful to make a ttok-gak ttok-gak sound.
“Oh, Heo Yuri’s here. Over here!”
Supporting actors who had become a little closer to her while filming called out to Heo Yuri. Heo Yuri smiled slightly and stood in front of the table where the supporting actors were sitting.
“Everyone, enjoy your meal.”
She greeted them, lightly touching the table, and walked to the table where Hyun-joo was sitting. As if to say, I’m not at the level to sit here, am I? Heo Yuri acted as if she were a top star. The supporting actors seemed dumbfounded by Heo Yuri’s behavior.
“What’s with her?”
“She’s so annoying, seriously.”
“She can’t even act, but she’s so full of herself.”
“She’s just a supporting actress too. Right?”
At someone’s words, merciless laughter erupted.
Unaware that others were evaluating her that way, Heo Yuri sat next to Hyun-joo and greeted her in a friendly manner.
“Did unnie finish filming today too?”
As the story was nearing its end, most of the filming had finished. The only scenes left were probably all the scenes of the female lead and male lead.
Heo Yuri poured beer into a glass and handed it to Hyun-joo, who was eating with her manager.
“I don’t drink alcohol.”
“Come on. How can you have a company dinner without alcohol?”
They had shared a waiting room, but that was it. Hyun-joo had no intention of being close to Heo Yuri at all. Their roles were friends, but they hadn’t acted friendly except during filming. But because Hyun-joo acted thoroughly in front of the camera, Heo Yuri might have mistakenly thought that they had really become close.
“You drink on days like this.”
Heo Yuri forcibly put the glass in Hyun-joo’s hand and clinked glasses with her. Hyun-joo sighed, responded perfunctorily, and put the glass down. Of course, she didn’t even put the glass to her lips. Heo Yuri pouted at Hyun-joo’s behavior.
“Ah, seriously. You’re no fun.”
Heo Yuri looked around for a moment and found the staff drinking at a nearby table. She picked up a bottle of alcohol and sat down next to them.
“Thank you for your hard work, Director.”
There were several staff members, but Heo Yuri greeted only the assistant director. The assistant director, who had come early to lead and control the people who had finished filming and arrived at the restaurant first, took Heo Yuri’s glass and made room for her to sit next to him.
“Oh, oh, sit here. You’ve worked hard.”
“Thank you. What were you talking about?”
Heo Yuri asked the assistant director, sitting down with a friendly demeanor. The assistant director clapped his hands as if he remembered what he was talking about.
“Ah, we were talking about our female lead, Im Se-ah!”
“Yes, well……”
She couldn’t say, We’ve cut ties, so don’t talk about her*, so she mumbled her answer.
“Did you see Dane’s music video? Keu, seriously!”
The assistant director began to rave with a flushed face. He said he didn’t know how amazing Im Se-ah’s acting was, and that he felt like he was being sucked into the music video. Heo Yuri’s expression gradually hardened at the string of compliments.
“Oh, Assistant Director, really.”
“You’re drunk, you’re drunk.”
The staff members next to her began to read Heo Yuri’s expression. This world was a highly competitive world. Everyone praised each other with smiling faces, but in their hearts, they talked a lot about who was better and who was worse. There was no way she wouldn’t know that. To praise only Im Se-ah so much to a fellow actress, especially one who was supposed to be her friend.
“Heo Yuri is good at acting too.”
“Who? Heo Yuri?”
The staff member who had tried to smooth things over realized his mistake the moment he opened his mouth. It was because the assistant director clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“She’s……”
“Ahhh! Director! The meat looks delicious!”
The staff member across from him grabbed a piece of meat with his chopsticks and shoved it into the assistant director’s mouth. The assistant director chewed the meat that had entered his mouth, unaware of the chilling atmosphere.
“If Im Se-ah couldn’t act that well, she’d be an idiot.”
Heo Yuri, who had been quietly looking at the beer glass on the table, suddenly spoke. It was an unwritten rule among actors not to evaluate each other’s acting. Even if they were friends.
It was dangerous to bring it up in a place with so many people. It was an act that would damage not only the other person’s image but also her own, as she was blatantly evaluating someone’s acting. Heo Yuri’s manager tried to stop her, but it was already too late.
“Who’s her mother? I’m just jealous that she was born with good genes.”
Actors and staff alike, who were hearing this for the first time, focused on Heo Yuri. Heo Yuri, confirming all the attention, twisted her lips and began to speak.
