-We got an audition scheduled for you, so prepare for that. The reason I’m telling this to you directly is because I have big expectations from you. Team leader Han will tell you the details, so you can hear that from him. This drama is something heavily marketed by YBS. You’ve made your name known through the sitcom, so don’t you think it’s about time you make your face known to more people? You should row while the water is still flowing. If you make your name known to more people with this opportunity, you’ll have an easier time later. Your acting is pretty decent, so you have the potential to become big. Also, your heart is really okay, right? Tell me if you have a problem later. Don’t suffer by yourself and make other people worried. If necessary, we’ll introduce you to a good hospital.
Jiseok reminded himself of the words he just heard as he left the president’s office.
“Since he’s caring about me, does he think that I’m worth it now?”
He did not hide the smile that crept onto his face as he walked. It was well-known that the president of Yellow Star was quite cold to actors without any fame. Jiseok also only talked to him a couple of times when he signed the contract, and never talked to him after that.
“What, did something good happen?”
“Oh, noona.”
Jiseok waved his hand at Chaerim, who stood in front of him. She was wearing slightly tall shoes, a blue shirt, and beige cotton pants. She also seemed to have become taller, but he did not say that out loud. Anyone in the company knew that Chaerim was sensitive about her height.
“Didn’t you go to Japan?”
“The plan was to have a relaxing rest, but my schedule was leaked on the internet. So I postponed it to next week.”
“Popular people have it hard. What brings you to the company?”
“To see the unnis.”
“Unnis, you say….”
“What other unnis are there in this company other than them?”
“I knew it. What is it this time?”
“Blue’s farewell concert.”
“What concert?”
“They want to do a farewell concert. They asked me for my opinions about doing a farewell concert even though it’s been half a year since we officially split up, and gee, I can only say that the president is amazing. He’s the kind of guy who would dig out a body from a grave before selling it to someone else.”
“Ha, haha.”
Seeing Chaerim with a glare on her face, Jiseok couldn’t do anything but laugh. Jiseok was there when Blue had a press meeting. Camera flashes baptized the girls, and those girls hugged each other warmly in front of the journalists and cried as they declared the last moment of Blue. As soon as the press meeting finished though, they wiped their eyes off with some tissue, got on their respective vehicles, and split up without saying goodbye.
Seeing the five fairies of Blue, who split up as though they were refreshed, Jiseok and his manager talked about how the entertainment industry was nothing magical. An idol group, who split up with tears in front of the fans – regardless of what was actually happening – is going to hold a farewell concert after half a year.
The more he thought about that, the more flabbergasted he became. Leading a company really wasn’t something anyone could do.
“So, are you going to do it?”
“Would you do it if you were in my shoes? After all that trouble?”
“How about the others?”
“I wouldn’t know. Minji-unni and Dayoon-unni are doing well as actresses, so they have nothing to lose, but the other two aren’t. They haven’t done any activities ever since Blue split up, and from what I heard, they invested into some franchise and miserably failed.”
“You don’t seem to contact each other, huh?”
“We’ve had enough of each other, so why would I? I just assume that they’re living their lives well. Honestly, I didn’t want to see them today either.”
“You really don’t hold back, huh. Are the other noonas coming now?”
“Probably? Why do you ask?”
“I thought I should watch.”
“Watch if you want to. It’ll be quite interesting.”
“I-I was just joking.”
“Rather than that, what happened to you to be coming out of the president’s office?”
“He told me to do an audition for a drama.”
“You should get yourself together then. You’re quite soft, so it’s likely that people will push you around. Especially that president. Don’t listen to his words fully. He’s not totally trash, but he’s definitely not someone who can be called good.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Keep raising your worth. If you don’t want to get backstabbed later, you will have to do that.”
“Aren’t you being too pessimistic?”
“I’m just saying. I found out that the only things you can trust in the end are money and your own skills. I’m twenty and I’ve realized that already. Aren’t I amazing?”
“Yes, you are.”
Charim made a self-loathing smile before sighing. Although she spoke in a relaxed manner, she probably wasn’t that comfortable with meeting people from the group she split up with.
At that moment, a person wearing training clothes appeared behind Chaerim. From the figure, it seemed to be a woman. She was covering her face with a hood and was yawning as she walked over. She stopped after seeing Jiseok.
“What are you two doing?”
“Oh, it was you, seonbae-nim. I was wondering who it was,” Jiseok said as he looked at Joohyun, who took off her hood. Chaerim turned around.
“U-unni. Hello.”
“Haven’t seen you in a while, Chaerim. How have you been?”
“I’m doing okay. How about you, unni?”
“Well, I’ve just been resting ever since The Witness finished. It’s been a while since I came to the company too.”
“Wow, it must be my lucky day today then. Meeting you here and all.”
Jiseok slightly walked over so that he could see Chaerim’s face from the side. The way she chuckled in embarrassment made her look like a completely different person. Chaerim, who was looking at Joohyun with a slightly flushed expression, suddenly turned around.
Aren’t you going to get going? – she seemed to say with her eyes. Jiseok smiled awkwardly before moving a step away.
“Then I’ll take my leave. Have a nice talk, you two.”
“Jiseok, wait.”
Joohyun stopped him.
“Eh?”
“Aren’t you doing a drama soon?”
“Ah, yes. The president just told me to do an audition.”
“I knew it.”
Joohyun smiled.
“Are you perhaps playing the lead character, seonbae?”
“Yeah. I was originally planning to take a one-year break, but this one looked interesting. That’s why I decided to do it. Plus, I know the writer as well so I have faith in the work.”
“I was just a bundled product then, huh. I did find it strange because I was told to audition for a mini-series on public TV.”
Chaerim interfered after listening to the conversation.
“What’s so bad about being a bundled product? Products that don’t have value can’t even be put in a bundle.”
“Chaerim is right about that. I’m not saying that it’s the right thing to do, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not an opportunity. Don’t feel disappointed and do your best. I’m looking forward to it because I think that it’ll be quite interesting to do it with you.”
Joohyun waved her hand and walked to the president’s room.
“Now that’s what I call a superstar’s leisure. It’s amazing that she can meet the president wearing something like that.”
“Joohyun-seonbae will probably wear things like that even if she’s not a star, though. She has a strong character after all.”
“That’s true, I guess. You have it good. You get to shoot with Joohyun-unni.”
“It’s a lot of pressure on me. Everyone will probably think that I was cast simply because I’m in the same agency as Joohyun-seonbae. If I end up doing badly or something…. Urgh, that’ll be terrible.”
“What’s not terrible? Everything’s terrible when you work in this field. Look at me, I’m going to talk about holding a concert even though I’ve disbanded.”
“You told me you weren’t going to do it though.”
“That’s what I want to do. However, you know that work doesn’t always go the way you want to, right?”
“I just want to live my life while acting the things I want. Using my brain and measuring things out isn’t my style.”
“If you want that kind of life, the only option is for you to become a famous actor. If you become an actor who gets work prepared for you even if you stay still and have everyone wanting to scout you, then you’ll be able to do that. Heck, I want to be like that too.”
“Are you going to quit singing? I quite liked your singing. You know that I have every one of Blue’s CDs, right?”
“Thanks for that. As for music, I want to try it again later. I want to do emotional ballads instead of dance music though. I don’t want to be a singer who runs around on stage; I want to be one that just stands on the stage with a single microphone and a single light. But I like being an actress for now. I think I’ll remember bad things if I sing now.”
“Tell me about it if you ever decide to sing later. I’ll go watch you.”
“Alright. I guess I’ll be eating at the cafeteria until the other unnis come. I should consume company food since it’s been a while. It’s still terrible, isn’t it?”
“It’s not like the terrible taste would go anywhere.”
Chaerim smiled and turned around. Just then, she stopped as though she was reminded of something.
“You were friends with her, weren’t you?”
“Her?”
Just as Chaerim was about to say the name, she chuckled before changing what she was going to say.
“Gaeul, I meant Gaeul.”
“Ahaha, Gaeul, I do.”
“Do you know that calling her Gaeul in front of her makes her really embarrassed? She was so cute. I met her two days ago, and I kept calling her Gaeul for the whole day. Even though it was her who told me to call her that, she was really embarrassed when I did. She’s really cute.”
“I haven’t seen her face since I only called her, but her voice was a little shaky. It seems like she’s not used to it.”
“What can she do? She can only get used to it. Just like how I’m Chaerim.”
“Ah, right. You changed your name, didn’t you?”
“I became more used to being called by this name after all. It’s a name with a lot of terrible memories attached to it, but there’s no other name that expresses me as well as this one. Are you going to keep using your real name, Yoo Jiseok?”
“Yes. No one’s using the name, and the name isn’t that bad either.”
“I guess it’s fine as long as you’re ok with it.”
Later – Chaerim started walking across the corridor as she said that.
Jiseok stretched out his arms and climbed down the stairs. When he was shooting the sitcom, all he ever wanted was a day of rest, but now that the series finished and there was nothing for him to do other than going to school, he was filled with the desire to shoot. Luckily, he was given some nice work. He was a little disappointed that he was being sold as a bundle, but thanks to Joohyun and Chaerim’s words, he realized that he wasn’t in a position to be complaining.
“Rather than that, I wonder what he’s doing these days.”
There was a name that came to his mind when he talked about Gaeul. He wondered if he should try calling and took out his phone. Just then, he saw the cleaning lady, who was cleaning the stairs.
“Hello, ma’am.”
“Ah, yes. It’s been a while.”
“I haven’t had any work recently, so I didn’t need to come. Give me the mop.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine.”
“Just give it to me. I don’t have anything to do anyway. I have to come down from the top, right?”
“It’s my work though.”
“We can finish it earlier if there’s two of us. Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Then eat with me after finishing this. I have a spare food ticket.”
“Oh, no, I’m okay.”
“I just don’t want to eat by myself. I mean it.”
He went up to the 3rd floor with the mop and came down while wiping the stairs. He also cleaned the banisters with a rag. When he put his strength in it, the stairs and the banisters were sparkly. Jiseok looked at his own work with a satisfied expression.
“You’re doing that again?”
It was Chaerim who said she was going to the cafeteria. She was holding a canned drink and a sandwich in her hands. It seemed that she didn’t like the company food after all.
“Do you want to help too, noona?”
“Don’t bring me into it. I’m not that kind. Also, hey, that’s a bad habit you have.”
“We should help each other out.”
“Like that, you’ll get scammed by a fraudster someday, you know?”
Chaerim glanced downwards before going over to the cleaning lady and handing her the drink. She forced the can into the lady’s hands even though she tried to decline, before returning.
“That’s it for me. You can do the cleaning.”
“Okay.”
“Geez, you’re too kind for your own good.”
Chaerim went up the stairs while taking a bite from the sandwich. Jiseok shrugged before finishing the rest of the cleaning.
“Ma’am, let’s go eat.”
“Thanks every time.”
“Don’t say that. Oh, can you go ahead? I’ll make a quick phone call before catching up to you.”
“Alright. I’ll get your portion as well.”
After sending off the cleaning lady first, Jiseok took out his phone and pressed some buttons. After a few signal sounds, the signal suddenly cut off before a lady’s voice could be heard.
-The number you’re trying to reach is currently unav….
“Oh, is he in a shoot right now?”
Jiseok remembered that the shoots for New Semester were on the weekends. He nodded before putting the phone inside his pocket. They should also eat around 1 p.m. so he decided to call after finishing lunch.
“Ma’am! Wait for me!”
Jiseok quickly went down the stairs.
