Chapter 122:
Chapter 122
From now on, it’s our business.
(Kang Juwon) Ian, I was really drunk yesterday – 09:13
(Kang Juwon) Did I say anything stupid? – 09:13
(Ian4) No, you didn’t say much – 09:15
‘He did say something that could get him in trouble if anyone heard it.’
Actually, he said too much. But Ian decided to keep quiet to avoid Kang Juwon’s tantrum. He sent a reply and turned off his phone screen and threw it on the sofa.
[Kang Juwon, that guy… He’s too obsessed with the online community.]
‘I understand his reaction, but he shouldn’t care so much.’
[He’ll be eaten alive by the internet comments in no time.]
The online community’s feedback doesn’t represent the whole public’s opinion. Besides, the more negative feedback there is, the more popular he is.
He needed to filter out some of it, but Kang Juwon was too immersed in it. Jin couldn’t believe it.
[He’s being paranoid. What if he says something that anyone can hear on the internet?]
‘Here we go again, who asked you?’
I didn’t ask and I don’t care. Ian felt suddenly tired and pressed his eyes. Jin continued to rant.
[He’s only hurting himself by doing that. If he doesn’t come clean, he’s done. He’s famous enough to say ‘Go ahead, curse me.’ and still sell out his hats… There’s no celebrity who doesn’t get cursed these days.]
Jin clicked his tongue. Ian ignored him and looked at the door with a tense face.
‘It’s noisy, and Kang Juwon is not the problem right now…’
Actually, Ian didn’t care what Kang Juwon did or saw.
But it was different if he was a member of the same group. The person who came out of the door was Jo Taewoong. He walked to the kitchen with a dark circle under his eyes.
“Are you going to shoot today?”
“Yeah…”
Ian sat on the sofa and glanced at the kitchen. Jo Taewoong opened the fridge and drank Ian’s coconut drink that he hated so much.
Kim Juyoung, who sat next to Ian and pretended not to notice, opened his mouth wide.
“I’ll be back.”
“See you.”
Jo Taewoong took the script on the table and walked to the front door with heavy steps. His expression was gloomy.
Kim Juyoung tapped Ian’s shoulder urgently.
“Did you see? I’m not the only one who thinks he’s weird.”
“No.”
“He’s crazy, right?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Juyoung and Ian looked at each other until the front door closed.
“Why is he like that?”
Jo Taewoong was acting strange lately.
***
Jo Taewoong had a high self-esteem since he was born. He had risen to fame as a child actor who was admired by many, and he had also received attention from senior actors. He didn’t overestimate his ability either.
He had thought that he was in an awkward position in the group for his acting activities, and he had felt depressed for a while, but his skills improved gradually as he studied with his members.
Thanks to that, he believed without doubt that ‘I’m not so bad.’.
“I’ll go again!”
“It’s because of you, Tae-woong, that the shooting time is getting longer.”
“You can’t act like that.”
But he couldn’t erase the feeling that Yoon Hyun-joon, the director of the drama he joined this time, was eating away at his self-esteem.
‘Is this feeling not right here?’
‘Did I really act badly?’
It was strange that he only picked on Jo Tae-woong, not any other actors.
“Director Yoon is doing it again.”
“Tae-woong is doing well…”
“Honestly, I read the original work too, but I think Tae-woong has a better vibe, don’t you?”
This strangeness was not only felt by Jo Tae-woong. The other staff and actors, except for Director Yoon, also questioned the director’s claim.
“…Since the shooting time is getting longer, I’ll just do as the director said.”
“Mr. Tae-woong, you have a good feeling… It’s a shame, but are you going to do that? Geez… Director Yoon has such a clear self-opinion…”
It was already a shooting that was carried out with only the minimum necessary manpower because Corona was not over yet. The longer the shooting time, the more tired the staff became. Jo Tae-woong had no choice but to compromise.
-I’m a fan of the original work, but am I the only one who doesn’t like Jo Tae-woong?
He’s an idol but he was a child actor and he acted well in his old works so I thought he would do well in Secret too but he seems to be bad at character interpretation
└It’s really annoying??
└Honestly, I think he got the popular character with his group’s popularity?? Idols often mess up as actors
-This board has very high standards. He’s better than Yeon-jun Seo, isn’t he?
He believed without doubt that ‘I’m not so bad.’ thanks to that.
“I’ll go again!”
“It’s your fault, Tae-woong, that the shooting time is getting longer.”
“You can’t act like that.”
But he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Yoon Hyun-joon, the director of the drama he joined this time, was undermining his self-esteem.
‘Is this feeling not right here?’
‘Did I really act badly?’
It was strange that the director only picked on him, not any other actors.
“Director Yoon is doing it again.”
“Tae-woong is doing well…”
“Honestly, I read the original work too, but I think Tae-woong has a better vibe, don’t you?”
This strangeness was not only felt by him. The other staff and actors, except for Director Yoon, also doubted the director’s claim.
“…Since the shooting time is getting longer, I’ll just do as the director said.”
“Mr. Tae-woong, you have a good feeling… It’s a shame, but are you going to do that? Geez… Director Yoon has such a strong self-opinion…”
It was already a shooting that was carried out with only the minimum necessary manpower because of Corona. The longer the shooting time, the more tired the staff became. He had no choice but to compromise.
He was also good at web surfing among his group members. He turned off his phone screen and sighed deeply after checking people’s reactions to his drama.
‘Am I really bad at this?’
He groaned in pain. As he thought longer, he felt both inferior and rebellious.
‘But that scene was what the director told me to do. It wasn’t my choice.’
He flipped through the script reluctantly. The script was worn out. There were sentences written densely on it, such as how to deliver this line, how to breathe here, and so on.
‘What’s the point of practicing like this? The director will make me do it again anyway…’
He sighed deeply and closed the script while browsing it mechanically.
***
“That’s what happened.”
His members noticed his strangeness. They sat him down in the middle of the table after finishing the shooting.
The members leaned back comfortably on their chairs after listening to his story.
“Wow, damn.”
“Why is that director like that? You’re not doing anything wrong.”
“That person is really weird.”
He looked brighter than before thanks to his members who listened to him. Lee Joo-hyuk asked him.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“What can I do? I just have to do it as it is.”
“Are you okay?”
“It’s okay. There’s not much shooting left.”
The only consolation was that his role was a sub male lead who left a strong impression with a short appearance, so he had less shooting time than the main actors.
“You’ve been through a lot, man.”
“Just hang in there for a bit longer.”
While Park Jin-hyuk and Kim Hyun comforted him, Ian thought deeply about something in silence.
‘Yoon Hyun-joon… Director Yoon…’
He felt a chill when he heard the director’s name. The members were talking bad about Director Yoon instead of him.
‘I remember.’
A director who had no talent or experience in directing and only survived on his connections. A director who was notorious for picking on someone and harassing them with his director position.
[Wow, me too. I just remembered because he’s so forgettable.]
Jin spun around in midair.
‘But why is he like that?’
[Who knows? He’s just a typical jerk. You know how some people with no ability and only connections act like that. They harass others to confirm their status.]
‘You’ve seen a lot of them, huh?’
[No way. ‘Idol rapper’ Kang Byung-in is also similar to Director Yoon.]
Was he? Ian tapped the table with his finger. He couldn’t remember exactly when, but Director Yoon would disappear from the broadcasting industry soon.
The reason was that he lost his connections, and after that, the actors and staff who worked with him exposed his misdeeds.
“Choi Ian, what are you scheming again?”
“I feel anxious but also excited when he makes that face.”
Ian lifted one corner of his mouth. The members looked at his face with anticipation.
“Hey, Jo Tae-woong. Are you satisfied with just enduring it?”
“Well… I don’t know.”
“You’re not going to use the script that’s full of notes, are you?”
“That’s… true.”
Jo Tae-woong felt wronged to back down like this. He prepared a lot, but he didn’t want to give up like this.
“Just act as you think. Don’t change it even if the director tells you to do it again according to his directing.”
The members shrugged their shoulders. Ian nodded his head with confidence.
“…Is that okay?”
“Yeah, we’re not that bad, are we?”
The staff would suffer from the nerve war between the director and Jo Tae-woong, but honestly, Jo Tae-woong’s behavior was nothing more than cute compared to other actors’ actions.
Despite Ian’s confidence, Jo Tae-woong had an ambiguous expression. He didn’t know the future like Ian.
“Do you know actress Jeon Yoo-jin?”
“Yeah.”
Jeon Yoo-jin was a top actress in Korea.
“Do you know what she did when she had a similar situation as a rookie? She acted as if she didn’t know anything. You can find her interview on YouTube.”
Park Seo-dam quickly brought a tablet pad and searched.
(…‘I don’t know anything~’ ‘This is the best I can do~’ I endured like that. Eventually, the director gave up.)
(Wow, as expected of actress Jeon Yoo-jin. She had guts as a rookie. Thanks to her scene, her first work was a huge hit, right?)
(It was luck~ I don’t know how I did that now)
(Then what happened with the director then?)
Jeon Yoo-jin smiled silently on the screen. The reporter moved on to another topic naturally.
[What do you mean what happened, she’s trying to cast Jeon Yoo-jin.]
The rookie actress who was ignored became a top actress, and the director was barely surviving as a director without any decent hit works. Eventually, their positions were reversed and he was struggling to get her. People’s lives are unpredictable.
“Wow, how is Jo Tae-woong’s situation exactly the same?”
The director who Jeon Yoo-jin rebelled against was one of Yoon’s connections. Ian turned off the tablet pad screen.
“This is our business from now on.”
“Why?”
“Even if we get into trouble for this later, it will be over if our group becomes more popular than now. Like Jeon Yoo-jin.”
“Oh.”
That’s why he succeeded like that. He became famous because he stuck to his will like that. Something like that.
Kim Hyun agreed with Ian’s words excitedly.
“Once we become famous, people will clap even if we poop.”
“Let’s not poop anyway. It’s dirty.”
“Oh, it’s just an expression. Park Jin-hyuk, you’re so naive.”
Kim Hyun hit Park Jin-hyuk’s shoulder loudly.
“Ow, I’m sick.”
“You took off your cast a long time ago, are you still sick?”
Ian ignored Kim Hyun and Park Jin-hyuk who were bickering and looked at Jo Tae-woong’s face intently.
“How about it?”
Jo Tae-woong actually wanted to push through as Ian said. But every time he did something, he endured and endured the sight of Yoon PD saying ‘You’ve changed because you’re an idol.’, ‘Do your group members act like you too?’.
But there was no reason not to do it if the members said it was okay.
“Okay, let’s try it!”
Jo Tae-woong jumped up. Kim Joo-young patted Jo Tae-woong’s back and cheered him up, and Park Seo-dam, Lee Joo-hyuk, and Ian clapped their hands. Kim Hyun and Park Jin-hyuk who were bickering also stretched their arms to the ceiling.
“Yeah!”
“Let’s teach him a lesson!”
“Director Yoon, wait for it. We’ll become famous and smash everything.”
‘Don’t forget to follow him to the set and record it.’
[Okay.]
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