Chapter 162:
Chapter 162
People were lining up to cast that handsome guy.
The members who had gone to their hometowns after spending a joyful Lunar New Year with the others also returned to the dorm one by one.
“Wow, amazing.”
“Our fridge is going to explode.”
The members brought back a lot of food after the holiday and filled up the dorm fridge.
“As expected, Joo-young brought the most.”
“We could open a restaurant with this.”
Ian smiled broadly as he helped the members with their luggage.
“You’re all back. I thought I was going to die of boredom alone.”
“Is that why you’re dressed like you’re going out right now?”
Kim Joo-young scanned Ian from head to toe. He looked unusually neat and tidy.
“I have a meeting with Director Park.”
“Oh, the director of ‘Heebin Jang’s Family’? Wow, are you going to join another hit drama?”
Park Jin-hyuk put his hand on Ian’s shoulder.
‘Z-Day’ was indeed a hit drama. It was a drama that reached the second place in the Mplex World Best ranking. But Ian shrugged his shoulders and said.
“I don’t know.”
He hadn’t signed the contract yet, so nothing was confirmed. He only knew that Director Park was making ‘Z-Day’ through Jin, but nothing else was decided yet.
‘Did I drink the soup too early?’
[No way? Director Park is so happy to cast you right now?]
‘…Really?’
That would be a relief. Ian grabbed his coat and headed for the door. Kim Joo-young and Park Jin-hyuk followed him to the entrance.
“I’ll be back.”
“See you.”
Ian was able to leave with the members’ farewell for the first time in a long time.
***
The place Ian headed to was a high-end Chinese restaurant with a separate room.
“Hello, Director. You came early.”
“Ian, come on in.”
Ian sat down across from Director Park.
“Did you have a good holiday?”
“Yes, I went to Tae-woong’s grandmother’s house with the members.”
“Really? Wow, you guys are really close.”
“Here, this is for you, Director.”
Ian handed over a belated holiday gift to Director Park. Director Park received the gift with a touched expression.
There was another seat set up next to Director Park. It must be the writer of ‘Z-Day’. Ian pretended not to know and asked.
“Who else is coming?”
“It’s Lee Joo-hee, the writer who’s going to work with me on this drama.”
“She’s already working on a new project after ‘Heebin Jang’s Family’? What about Writer Yoon?”
“Writer Yoon said she wanted to take a break this year.”
Director Park shrugged his shoulders. Unlike Yoon Mi-sook, who took a long break after finishing a project, Park Pyo-hyun always took on new work without rest.
“Director, don’t you take a break either?”
“I don’t know why, but I feel restless when I’m not working.”
“You’re a workaholic.”
“So are you, Ian.”
“I have to work like a cow when there are places that call me.”
Ian shrugged his shoulders. He had a lot of work to do, from scripts to commercials, pouring in from his agency.
Someone was running in a hurry, and then the door flung open.
“I’m late! I’m sorry… Huh…!”
Lee Joo-hee, the writer, covered her mouth with her hand as soon as she saw Ian. She turned red up to her neck and froze on the spot like a statue.
Director Park smiled softly at her reaction. He also felt dazzled when he first saw Ian. It was as if there was a spotlight around Ian, even among the same men. How would it feel to meet him for the first time?
“Writer?”
“Ah, hello!”
The writer came to her senses at Director Park’s words and hurried to her seat.
“Hello, Writer. I’m Choi Ian.”
“Wow, I think my heart will burst if we shake hands now, so let’s do it later.”
Lee Joo-hee, the writer, hid her face with the script she brought and sat next to Director Park. She drank a glass of water and took a deep breath.
“Phew, I’m sorry for being rude on our first meeting… I’m Lee Joo-hee.”
“No, it’s okay.”
Ian smiled. This reaction was more common than he thought.
When a survey was conducted among the industry people about who was the face genius of the entertainment industry, Ian never missed the list.
‘He’s handsome and good at his job, so how can you not fall for him.’
‘I’ve met many beautiful and handsome celebrities, but Choi Ian is on a different level.’
‘He’s incomparable. I felt my heart flutter for the same man for the first time.’
‘I ran into Ian in the hallway earlier. Wow, he was glowing from behind…’
A celebrity who had exchanged a brief greeting with Ian had started the opening of his radio show with Ian that day, as if to brag about meeting him.
“Wow, his smile is amazing…”
“Since the writer is here, shall we have a meal first?”
It seemed like it would take a while, so Director Park pressed the call bell on the table.
“What do you want to do for your next project, Ian?”
“I want to do something like a romance or a rom-com…”
“Wow, wouldn’t your fans cry if you did that?”
“They might like it more, you know?”
Writer Lee Ju-hee had no idea whether the food was going into her mouth or her nose. She knew that Ian was coming through Director Park.
‘How about Choi Ian for this role?’
‘The idol guy?’
‘Do you have a prejudice against idols, writer?’
‘No, it’s not that. Isn’t he too… handsome?’
She was also one of the viewers who watched ‘Heebin Jang’s Wife’ live, so she knew that Ian could act well.
But when she saw the reviews of the dramas that Ian starred in, some of them said that they couldn’t focus on the drama because of his face. Some said that his acting was good, but only his face remained in their memory.
She felt that her ambition for her first debut work would be dampened if such a small reaction occurred in her work.
‘People are lining up to cast that handsome kid. You should be grateful to me.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, you should.’
As soon as the notice of Awi’s team activity suspension came up, ironically, the phone at the agency became hot with incoming calls.
Most of the calls were about the whereabouts of Jo Tae-woong and whether individual activities were possible if the team activities were suspended, and what Choi Ian’s schedule was like.
‘To be honest, I want to avoid people with handsome faces. He’s too handsome, even for a handsome guy.’
She thought that Ian was too handsome for a zombie role, but she decided to meet him once because Director Park recommended him so strongly.
“Please eat a lot, writer. You can’t eat properly because there’s something like a sun in front of you, right?”
“Director Park, please be quiet.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Lee Ju-hee glared at Director Park with a murderous look. Director Park shrugged his shoulders. Ian smiled and said,
“You two seem close.”
“Writer Lee was an assistant writer for Writer Yoon.”
“Oh, really?”
She didn’t participate as an assistant writer for ‘Heebin Jang’s Wife’ because she was preparing to stand on her own. With the active support of Writer Yoon, she was finally able to complete ‘Z-Day’.
“Shall we talk about the work now? You know why you were called here, right?”
“I do.”
Director Park smiled meaningfully. Writer Lee took out the script from her bag and handed it to Ian. As the work was mentioned, the writer’s expression became serious.
“That’s the role you’re playing.”
K, Kim Jun-hee
Ian glanced at Jin.
[He’s not the main character. He’s a villain, if you want to be picky.]
‘Really?’
[He has a backstory.]
‘Really?’
[He dies in one season, but he’s better than the main character of season one. The main character of season one is unattractive.]
There had been a lot of zombie movies and dramas lately. ‘Z-Day’ was riding on that trend, but it also had a new worldview.
The world was on the verge of destruction because of zombies. After fighting to the end, humans succeeded in developing a vaccine.
But the vaccine was only half-effective. Zombies who regained some of their sanity while their bodies remained zombie-like started to adapt to society in the midst of hatred and disgust from people who had lost everything because of zombies.
‘He must have a lot of screen time, right?’
[He does, he carries the first season. Didn’t you watch this drama in your previous life?]
‘I didn’t.’
He couldn’t even get a glimpse of the script. He thought he would watch it someday because it was a famous work, but he was too busy surviving and forgot about it.
“Can I read it for a moment?”
“Of course, you’re the first one to read it after Director Park.”
“Really?”
He wasn’t the main character, but Ian read the script seriously.
To be honest, the role that Ian was playing was full of clichés. The class difference between humans and zombies, humans who treated zombies like slaves. And zombies who endured and waited for a complete vaccine made by humans.
And the zombies, who could not endure any longer, declared war on the humans. K was at the center of it.
[Isn’t this too childish?]
‘I have to convince them with my acting.’
In other words, this story implied the issues that were happening at this moment, such as the racial conflicts or the gap between the rich and the poor.
[Who was the original actor for this role? He wasn’t that good at acting, but the final product turned out well. The story was okay, but the action and the direction were amazing. The word of mouth was also because of the action.]
‘I need to go to an action school. My vacation is over.’
He was not confident in using tools, let alone performing intense action scenes. He even had to use a gun, and a zombie who could handle a gun was quite novel.
The author looked nervously at Ian’s face, who was immersed in the script. He felt anxious to show his work to someone other than Director Park.
‘Good enough.’
The author clenched his fist as he saw Ian enjoying the script.
“The script is really good, author.”
“Really?”
“Especially this part here.”
“Oh, I put some extra effort into writing that part.”
Ian praised the author generously. The author smiled brightly and talked enthusiastically about his intentions and expectations for the work.
“I also liked this part.”
“Oh, right. The director also thought a lot about that part.”
“Is there any part that you didn’t care about, author?”
Director Park joined the conversation. They maintained a friendly atmosphere as they finished discussing the work.
“There are a lot of action scenes, but I don’t know if I can do well.”
Ian hesitated to accept the role, and Director Park smirked.
“You did well last time, didn’t you? The game advertisement.”
“Oh, that?”
Director Park decided to cast Ian as K after seeing the game advertisement he starred in.
“Where did you learn that? It looked like you had a separate action director.”
“No? It was improvised.”
“Really?”
It looked quite convincing for an improvisation. Director Park and the author were surprised and looked at each other.
***
“It’s already paid for.”
Ian smiled awkwardly and put his card back. Director Park had handed his card to the counter as soon as they entered the restaurant.
“I was going to pay for it…”
“What are you talking about? I should treat you, actor.”
“You already treated me a lot before.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Do you know this?”
Director Park whispered in Ian’s ear.
“This is paid by Emflix.”
This drama was an Emflix original drama. Ian already knew that, but he pretended to be surprised.
“…Really?”
“What? You already knew, didn’t you?”
Director Park looked disappointed.
When you get an Emflix original, the production cost was different from the start. There was no pressure on the shooting period, so the schedule was generous, and the budget was overflowing, so the shooting environment was almost the best.
Many actors and staff wanted to work on an Emflix original, unlike the hectic drama shooting environment where you had to move from one scene to another.
“It’s a zombie drama. There are a lot of them these days. I thought it might be.”
“Anyway, our actor has a keen sense.”
Ian smiled sheepishly. Director Park laughed and patted Ian’s shoulder.
“Let’s see you at the reading.”
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