Chapter 173

Chapter 173. Ms. Jin Youngchae Can Come With Us

They said if you paved the road properly from the beginning, there would be fewer problems later.

And wasn't divide and conquer a perfectly useful strategy?

I told the person in charge at the advertising agency, Yeyoung Planning, about Director Park Chan-deok's advertising film.

And so, distribution through the World Boxing Center would go through Yeyoung Planning.

At first, the man seemed wary.

But the moment I said I'd hand them a film they could use as the advertisement, he looked like he was about to die of happiness.

Of course, if I were him, I really would be dying of happiness.

Yeyoung Planning had probably been put in an extremely difficult position after Youngchae pulled out of the advertisement.

Much more so than Woosung Pharmaceutical.

The actual advertising contract was between Universe and Woosung Pharmaceutical.

Yeyoung Planning, acting on behalf of Woosung Pharmaceutical, would then sign contracts with the broadcaster and the boxing center.

Naturally, if the model they had contracted suddenly disappeared, they could complain.

But if they wanted to complain, they'd have to come after us, Universe.

And since most of their losses came from lobbying expenses, they couldn't exactly hold us responsible for all of it.

It wasn't like they could march over and grab Lee Woosung by the collar either.

The best move Yeyoung Planning could make at that point was a public-opinion campaign.

They could claim that Universe was abusing its power and bullying a "small" company like theirs.

And with entertainment companies already desperate for an excuse to bite into Universe, would they stay quiet?

Of course not.

They'd make things extremely annoying.

I didn't intend to damage the relationship between Yeyoung Planning and Woosung Pharmaceutical either.

I offered Yeyoung Planning Park Chan-deok's advertisement while promising to keep the arrangement secret from Woosung Pharmaceutical.

That way, only Universe and Woosung Pharmaceutical would fight.

Yeyoung Planning would suffer no financial loss.

And they'd still get a fantastic first terrestrial-TV advertising portfolio out of it.

Unless they were insane, it was a very difficult offer to refuse.

Lee Ye-won ultimately lost her chance to appear in Park Chan-deok's film because of her own loose mouth.

Almost like something out of Greek mythology.

Choi Gyu-sik went to Park Chan-deok and spent quite a while telling him just how sharp and vicious her personality had seemed.

I'd heard the story from Choi Gyu-sik afterward, but apparently Park Chan-deok had already been leaning toward Youngchae anyway.

In the end, Lee Ye-won's threat to "bury" Youngchae was what removed Lee Ye-won herself from the casting.

If Choi Gyu-sik hadn't told him, she might really have made it to the audition.

Though with Youngchae's absurdly powerful looks, she probably would've bewitched Park Chan-deok anyway.

After arranging acting training for Youngchae, I headed to the planning office of 〈Bad Product Busters〉.

Everyone looked surprised when I showed up.

They weren't the kind of producers who usually dealt with celebrities, so my visit probably seemed unexpected.

"Are you here to expose abuse of power by an entertainment company?"

"N-No. I don't spend every waking moment hunting for that sort of thing."

What do these people think I am?

I asked the production staff if I could meet the main PD.

After waiting for a while, I was introduced to PD Kim Woo-geon.

He wore a black dress shirt.

He had a beard, but his features were sharp and he looked fairly young.

"I heard you were looking for me... Is there something about entertainment-company abuse you want to report?"

"No. That's not it..."

Seriously.

What do these people think I am?

"I was wondering if you're currently investigating anything. Would you be able to tell me?"

"What? Ah."

Kim Woo-geon looked flustered before answering.

"If we reveal what we're investigating beforehand, most of the time the issue gets 'fixed' before the broadcast. Of course, that's good in one sense, but usually it's just a cover-up, so..."

Instead of explaining for a long time, I simply showed him the photos I'd taken there.

Kim Woo-geon examined them with a serious expression.

"This place... Is this Cheonil Dyeing?"

"That's right. You're investigating them, aren't you?"

I told him what I knew about Woosung Pharmaceutical's fake "natural" hair dye.

Judging by the fact that he didn't look surprised, he already knew.

"So you know about that. How did you find out?"

Then he asked me where I'd gotten my information.

I got a message saying my health checkup was complete, clicked the link to look at the results, and found out.

"But they said they've written the ingredient properly on the label, so there's no problem. Is that true?"

"Hmm. No."

Kim Woo-geon shook his head.

"If they falsified the ingredient label, that's a different matter entirely. Straight to handcuffs. That's beyond false advertising."

"What if they write poly... whatever it was on the ingredient list, but still advertise it as natural?"

"Legally, that needs a closer look. If everyone using the word 'natural' falsely could be arrested for false advertising, then every restaurant owner who puts 'Original' on their sign would be in prison."

Then what exactly were they going to do?

"Since you seem to know everything anyway, I'll tell you. We're simply going to report the facts. 'WS Soo contains PPXD. Yet it was promoted as a natural hair dye.' That's all. We'll use a tone like, 'Apparently that's the case~.' Just like we can't necessarily attack the word 'natural' legally, they won't be able to accuse us of illegally damaging their image either."

Sorry, but I wasn't particularly curious about how 〈Bad Product Busters〉 planned to defend itself legally.

They'd probably been through this plenty of times.

They could handle it.

"But viewers won't think like lawyers, will they? What do viewers hate the most?"

"Deceiving consumers."

"Exactly. Especially deceptive tricks aimed at consumers. That's what they hate most."

Right.

I'd heard that for people running businesses, star ratings could be scarier than the law.

"I'd like to help with the filming. I know the layout of Cheonil Dyeing to some extent. Secret reporting should be possible."

The moment Youngchae and I entered the planning room, both Choi Gyu-sik and Park Chan-deok brightened.

Youngchae had been nervous since earlier that day.

She'd looked suspicious from the moment I first told her to start acting training.

Still, according to Yeo Eun-joo, she'd worked extremely hard.

Youngchae was the kind of person who prepared for everything from vocal obstacles to lighting landmines even if all she was doing was killing a mosquito.

If she'd approached this the same way, I wasn't particularly worried.

Even if this wasn't officially an audition, they were obviously going to make her act.

"Oh...! Ar— No. Ms. Youngchae. It's very nice to meet you!"

"Hello, Director Park Chan-deok."

Youngchae greeted Park Chan-deok, then gave Choi Gyu-sik a slightly simpler greeting and bow.

Park Chan-deok noticed and asked curiously,

"You've met Director Choi before?"

"Ah. Yes. He comes by the company sometimes. We greet each other whenever we pass."

"Really?"

Park Chan-deok scratched his chin with a dissatisfied expression.

Choi Gyu-sik laughed.

"Among directors, I doubt anyone can compete with me in terms of familiarity."

"Really?"

While Choi Gyu-sik and Park Chan-deok chatted quietly, Youngchae took a deep breath roughly once every ten seconds.

"Nervous?"

"Of course. These aren't just ordinary directors. They're legendary directors. Even Serin unni hasn't had an experience like this."

"You'll do fine. Don't worry. You know I don't make you do things you can't handle."

Youngchae nodded.

The truth was, it wasn't that I never asked them to do things they couldn't handle.

It was that every time I asked them to do something, they somehow succeeded.

Still, there was no reason for her to be nervous.

"Are you nervous?"

Choi Gyu-sik glanced over while talking to Park Chan-deok.

Youngchae shook her head.

"No. I'm fine."

Maybe because Choi Gyu-sik kept showing off how familiar he was with her, Park Chan-deok jumped in.

"Don't be nervous. What actor is perfect at everything? Actors only show their strengths. I'll find your strengths today and adjust the character around them, so just relax."

"Thank you."

"There's a script placed in front of you. Read through it, and tell us when you're ready."

Youngchae listened and walked forward.

There was a script I'd never seen before.

She looked briefly flustered when she opened it, then quickly regained her composure and started reading.

"By the way... Director Choi told me something. I heard you've already been looking into distribution for my film?"

"Ah, yes. I was going to tell you once it became certain. If you win the contest, the film gets theatrical screenings, right? Before that, I thought we might be able to show a special trailer during a boxing match."

Park Chan-deok nodded.

"What fight?"

"You know the place that awards championship belts? The World Boxing Center is holding a special match. You probably don't know them, Director Park, but fighters named Mayway and Pakwis are having a special bout. Apparently, people are very excited."

I dressed up my words in the kind of modesty that went:

I wasn't a very good student.

I only entered Korea University second in my class.

Park Chan-deok's eyes widened.

"Pakwis? My God. Isn't that a championship-level fight?"

"Well, people say it's the fight of the century everyone's been waiting fifty years for. What would I know? Everyone said it was a good opportunity, so I just secured it."

"I-I'm ready!"

Park Chan-deok, still looking stunned, turned toward Youngchae.

"Go ahead."

Youngchae closed her eyes and seemed to think carefully about something.

Then she began acting.

There was no dialogue.

She gradually smiled as though she were becoming intoxicated by something, staring quietly at someone who wasn't there.

Every now and then, she touched her ear.

Apparently, she was imagining hearing an incredibly beautiful piece of music.

I'd been too busy to attend most of her acting lessons.

But she was pretty good.

Was that Yeo Eun-joo's influence?

Or were our members simply good at everything?

Youngchae's pretty face obviously helped enormously.

But even in terms of pure skill, she was excellent.

Her expressions alone made a hundred lines of flowery dialogue unnecessary.

"Next."

This time, Youngchae began to cry sadly.

The emotional shift happened within seconds.

Yet she didn't make the face of someone crying.

Nor did actual tears fall.

That meant she couldn't rely on obvious acting like sniffling or wiping her eyes.

Her expression was closer to someone who was merely hurt.

Yet somehow, an intense grief came through clearly.

Was I overreacting because seeing Youngchae upset naturally made me feel worse?

Or had Yeo Eun-joo taught her all of this too?

"Oh... My God."

Park Chan-deok rubbed his face with both hands.

"What's wrong?"

"She's too good."

She hadn't even spoken yet.

Youngchae, still wearing the sad expression, seemed to take a breath and looked toward me.

I quietly gave her a thumbs-up.

Then she asked Park Chan-deok,

"Did you like it?"

"I deliberately wrote down the kind of acting I think is hardest for rookies. And she's doing all of it. I don't think I need to see anything more. Ms. Youngchae! This is excellent."

"Thank you."

Choi Gyu-sik, sitting across from her, looked even happier than Youngchae and rubbed his chest in relief.

"I've always said an actor's face itself is part of the mise-en-scène. Youngchae is excellent. It's almost a shame there isn't any dialogue."

"There isn't any dialogue?"

Park Chan-deok answered.

"Our female lead is deaf, so she doesn't speak."

She doesn't speak?

And she's deaf too?

I stood up and walked over beside Youngchae.

Then I looked at the script with her.

[(Enjoys herself while imagining beautiful music.)]

[(Cries like a bird, without tears.)]

I'd heard Park Chan-deok was famous for giving actors difficult scripts.

But I hadn't expected this.

A character who can't hear anything has to act as though she's listening to music?

She has to cry miserably without shedding tears?

What kind of instructions are these?

And yet when I thought about it again...

Youngchae had actually done it.

She really was good at acting.

She had even acted beautifully enough that she seemed to sparkle.

"Wow... Youngchae, you're seriously incredible. First rock vocals, and now acting too."

"I couldn't do that twice."

"You have to do it at least twice. There's filming."

With her tension finally easing, Youngchae gave a small laugh.

"Ms. Youngchae. I'm currently debating whether to include a dream scene where she actually speaks. Could you try it once? It's a slightly comedic scene."

"Ah, a speaking scene? What page?"

"Page fifty-six. Just read the longest line on that page."

I helped Youngchae find page fifty-six.

There was a five-line passage.

Youngchae slowly read through it, stumbling a little as she memorized the line.

"You absolutely can't laugh at me."

Youngchae sounded timid.

Park Chan-deok answered with a solemn expression.

"I never work with people who laugh at someone's acting on set. Even if the acting is terrible. I hate people who mock other people's performances more than anything."

Choi Gyu-sik nodded in agreement.

Youngchae carefully studied the script.

Then she began.

"I-I'll smasssh you...! I'm gonna smasssh you for betraying me!"

...

It was devastating.

How was this possible?

Should I be grateful that she'd been cast as a character who didn't speak?

"I'm done."

Now we needed to see the important reaction.

Park Chan-deok and Choi Gyu-sik were both quietly staring down at the floor.

"What's wrong with you two? Raise your heads."

"Just give me a moment like this... Pfft! I'll stay... like th-this..."

Laughter leaked through Park Chan-deok's answer.

Youngchae covered her face with both hands.

He said he never worked with people who laughed at someone else's acting.

Now I understood why those two directors never worked together.