Chapter 198

Chapter 198. Can You Feel the Difference in Power?

I made up my mind.

I was going to give Serin 〈Geronimo〉 as a present.

And to do that, the Sarah Pullen scandal needed to explode as quickly as possible.

I immediately asked Chairman Kim Gyu-bong to release everything.

While waiting for the articles to appear, the day of Anna's recording arrived.

And for some reason, I saw a familiar face there.

"CEO Do Jun-hyeok, you're here! And Ms. Anna Maralak as well. I listened to the recording. It was excellent. Hahaha. I'm really looking forward to this project!"

"Even... Favreau, right? Have we met somewhere before?"

Where had I seen him...?

I stared carefully, but the memory hovered just out of reach.

Even Favreau tilted his head at my question.

Still, he didn't particularly look like he was trying to remember with me.

"We've never met. We were in the same place once, though."

"Oh? Where?"

"At the pre-Academy party."

Ah!

Right.

When we'd had that incident with Park Jae-hyun's wife, there had been a white man in the distance who briefly made eye contact with me.

He was the one who'd given Serin a thumbs-up.

"She really was as kind as she was beautiful. She must've been upset when her dress was stained, but she still made jokes to comfort the waiter who made the mistake."

"You thought highly of her then."

"I did. And of course, her voice was incredible too. The other girl beside her was very beautiful as well. Does she happen to be good at dubbing too? With a face that beautiful, her voice must be beautiful as well."

He meant Youngchae.

Serin might be our visual top, but the aura pouring out of Youngchae's beauty at first glance was something no one could imitate.

Among our Apollo fandom, there was even a rumor that Oh Soo had sealed Youngchae's true beauty by keeping her hair short because he was afraid of what would happen if it fully exploded.

"Ah... hahaha. Of course. That's Youngchae. Her voice is beautiful too, and she's a good singer. But she's not prepared to become a voice actress yet."

Even Favreau smiled warmly.

"Ah. I've gone and talked only about other people while the main character is right here. Anna, you must have been quite surprised when I requested you for casting. I played the recording expecting to hear Serin's voice, but yours jumped right into my ears. I wouldn't have asked to cast you otherwise."

Anna carefully controlled her expression and thanked him.

The recording began immediately.

Because they used several microphones in a completely soundproof environment, there had apparently been no need to match schedules with the other voice actors.

About five minutes into the recording, a woman entered the studio.

Even Favreau glanced at her while adjusting Anna's performance, then immediately turned his attention back to the recording.

The woman was Sarah Pullen.

I'd searched her name online several times, so I recognized her face immediately.

"You're Mr. Do Jun-hyeok, right? I heard you've also become acquainted with Director Jennifer McCarthy. I'm Sarah Pullen."

"Do."

I shook her hand lightly.

I was wary of her.

She'd heard that I'd become connected to Director Jennifer?

We hadn't confirmed a single casting deal yet.

Had Jennifer told Sarah about Serin?

No.

Jennifer didn't seem like the type to run around talking carelessly.

Sarah must've picked it up somewhere else.

Probably...

From DeAndre, since they shared the same broker.

Sarah folded her arms and listened to Anna's recording like she was casually watching a variety show.

But little by little, her expression became more serious.

"You're dubbing my character, Anne, right? This character is simple by nature. She's simple, so she's pure, and that's what makes her charming. Anna is doing well right now, but she doesn't need to make every line sound this emotionally burdened."

Anna and Even Favreau quietly listened and nodded.

It was annoying interference.

But the advice itself was valid.

The audience would already know Anne's backstory.

Because she'd suffered something heartbreaking, the more energetic she acted, the more poignant the character became.

The story itself already explained her personality well enough.

Anna simply needed to show that lively side.

After that, Sarah Pullen continued giving Anna various pieces of advice.

Each time, Anna properly reflected them and adjusted her acting.

Even professionals found it difficult to change their acting tone instantly like this.

As expected, our Anna was a national-treasure-level idol who excelled not only at rap, vocals, dancing, and visuals, but acting too.

Sarah Pullen, you're a professional.

You're supposed to be good.

"This isn't going to work. Anna's voice is too cute. She can express the personality, sure, but she doesn't sound very brave. This character has to go save the prince at the end. Does she really sound capable of that?"

"We won't know until we record that part. We haven't even bought the lottery ticket yet. How can you know whether it'll win?"

"But if her voice suddenly changes then, that's a problem too. Director, surely you can already predict that much."

Even Favreau told Anna to wait for a moment.

Then he finally took off his headset.

"I'm the director, and I'm saying it's fine. What's the problem? And Sarah, even if you're technically Anna's senior, nitpicking every little thing like this isn't polite. Anna is an adult and a professional entertainer. She knows what she's doing. Why do you keep doing this?"

"I just want the project to succeed..."

"I like you a lot, Sarah Pullen, but today you're going too far. If you came to watch, then just watch quietly."

Exactly.

If you came to watch, then just watch.

Even Favreau put the headset back on and resumed the recording.

But even after that, Sarah kept muttering.

"I don't know about this... I think either the dubbing or the singing needs to be prioritized."

This woman...

Does she know she's about to die?

Is she struggling one last time before the end?

I could roughly guess what was going through her head.

She knew her close friend Jennifer McCarthy had become interested in our Serin.

So she'd come here to harass Anna for no reason.

Maybe she had some detailed plan behind it.

But harassment was harassment.

And Kim Gyu-bong had already launched hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missiles toward America.

What would be the point of finding out how brilliant Sarah Pullen's plan had been after she'd already been flattened?

The thing she needed to save wasn't the dubbing.

It wasn't the singing.

It was her career.

Even Favreau, who had been recording, removed his headset again and turned toward Sarah.

He seemed slightly annoyed, but he didn't actually show anger.

"All right. Sarah is also someone helping create the same character as Anna. I shouldn't do everything my own way either. What do you think?"

Sarah glared at Anna for a moment before answering.

"I know Anna's dubbing is very good, but I don't think it matches my vocals. In other words, I think it's a miscast."

"..."

"But I can act too, can't I? I'd like to try dubbing the role myself, and let Anna try the vocals. Then we can build two versions of the character and choose whichever works better."

Even Favreau looked first at me, then at Anna.

"That would've been difficult because Sarah's schedule didn't allow it. But if Sarah herself is suggesting it, there's no reason not to try. What's important is what CEO Do Jun-hyeok and Anna think."

"Fine. Let's do it."

Sarah Pullen.

You think Anna's vocals must be weak because she's a rapper, don't you?

What a shame.

Serin is famous for ballads, and Youngchae for rock, so Anna's ability has been somewhat overshadowed.

But you probably don't know that Anna is the biggest vocal powerhouse in Blue Moon.

She's also the member who can say tongue twisters the most accurately.

"Anna."

"Yes?"

I spoke to Anna in Korean.

"Let's go easy so Ms. Sarah doesn't get hurt."

Anna smirked.

"Then I'll only release about thirty percent of my power."

"What did she say? You spoke Korean and I think I heard my name."

Sarah asked with a confused expression after listening to us.

"Nothing. I told her she should consider it an honor to record alongside you, Ms. Sarah. Anyway... I'm a little nervous that we might have come all the way to America only to go home empty-handed, but if it's for the sake of the project, we should try. Let's finish Anna's dubbing first, then record Sarah's dubbing, and afterward put Anna back in to record the vocals."

Sarah and Even Favreau both agreed.

Even Favreau said,

"Sounds good. Anna's throat will probably be sore after finishing all the dubbing anyway. She should rest a little first."

Anna's throat getting sore?

Have you ever seen a monkey fall from a tree?

[Are you on your way now? Where should I come pick you up? You're coming through JFK, right?]

Choi Gyu-sik received a social-media message while traveling on the plane.

It was Do Jun-hyeok.

[I don't think you need to come pick me up. Just send me the address of where you're staying and I'll find you.]

After replying, Choi Gyu-sik returned to reviewing the script for 〈Do Hyeok-jun Runs Through Time〉.

He was afraid the project might get rejected if he made one wrong move, so he'd decided to bring the script all the way to America himself.

He had also finalized the acting cast.

For the lead role of Do Hyeok-jun, he wanted Do Jun-hyeok himself.

That would obviously never happen.

So he'd already prepared a very popular male actor who was also fairly skilled at acting.

The story ended with Do Hyeok-jun putting the members on the Super Bowl Halftime Show and creating a spectacular performance.

There were plenty of impressive directing ideas.

And since they still had access to the Arabia Pictures Urban Set they'd secured while filming 〈The Stranger〉, quality was already guaranteed.

At first, Choi Gyu-sik had planned to simply visit Universe in Korea and talk things over.

But then he heard they were in America, so he'd ended up on this flight.

Why were they in America?

After persistently asking, he finally heard that it was because they wanted to experience World Dizn dubbing and New York Broadway.

World Dizn was one thing.

But Broadway?

Choi Gyu-sik knew very well how prestigious Broadway was.

It was an extremely proud and exclusive market that didn't let just anyone enter.

Of course, Hollywood, where they'd visited before, was the same.

But Broadway was arguably worse.

Still, just as Do Jun-hyeok had climbed the wall into Hollywood, he apparently intended to cross America's Broadway wall too.

He'd heard Serin would probably do either 〈King of the Savannah〉 or 〈Geronimo〉.

Of course, it might be neither.

Choi Gyu-sik had looked into it because he was thinking of extending the ending of 〈Do Hyeok-jun Runs Through Time〉.

He needed to know which musical Do Jun-hyeok would insert Serin into so he could revise the script accordingly.

According to what he'd found, 〈Geronimo〉 had already completed its casting.

Then it had to be 〈King of the Savannah〉.

Would Serin appear dressed as a Bengal tiger or something?

He was already looking forward to it.

In any case, if 〈Geronimo〉 was fully cast, then 〈King of the Savannah〉 seemed like the only possible conclusion.

Yet he'd heard nothing about a final decision.

Which meant she might do something completely different from either of them.

Maybe there was a smaller but excellent production she could choose instead.

That certainly sounded like something Do Jun-hyeok would do.

After reading through the entire script once, Choi Gyu-sik searched Do Jun-hyeok online.

Various articles appeared.

Among them were countless reports that Serin had been cast in the Korean dub of a World Dizn project.

As expected, searching Do Jun-hyeok's name directly wasn't a very efficient way to figure out what he was doing.

It was faster to search using keywords related to his current activities.

Choi Gyu-sik switched between terms like World Dizn and 〈King of the Savannah〉.

Then he found several fairly shocking articles.

[Renowned 〈King of the Savannah〉 Director Revealed to Be Involved in College Admissions Corruption]

[Major Washington Universities Face Flood of College Admissions Bribery Allegations]

[Washington University District in Chaos. 2036 Olympic Bid Now Uncertain...]

[Sarah Pullen, Named Among College Admissions Bribery Suspects: “My Son Was Accepted Because He Was Talented”]

Sarah Pullen?

Choi Gyu-sik searched her name again.

[Sarah Pullen, Implicated in Admissions Bribery, Responds to Demands She Withdraw From Musical 〈Geronimo〉...]