Chapter 39. Double Casting?
It had taken slightly longer because several lower-level accomplices escaped.
But Top Prime's crimes were still revealed to the entire world after only about one extra day.
The small clue that exposed them was the fact that the factory's official owner was registered as the sales team leader of Top Prime's San Jose branch.
The products manufactured there were sent to China for final processing and packaging.
From there, they were distributed worldwide.
Honestly, I wasn't sure public outrage would've burned this hot if it had been an ordinary company.
The information currently known to the public was already horrible enough.
They had forced children to work without pay.
When the children died, their bodies were roughly burned in an incinerator.
The missing thumbs, the columbarium, the children with no registered births, and Oh Su's kidnapping weren't even public yet.
Then again, maybe everything had been uncovered and the media was simply softening it.
Terrifying. They're a global company. How much could properly running one factory possibly cost?
Europeans be like: Asians aren't even human to them.
Who are these Korean tourists Mr. Do and Mr. Oh? LOL. Bet they're huge dudes in real life.
I always hated Top Prime's guilt-marketing nonsense. Glad I never bought anything.
┗ Maybe you should care a little more about the environment.
┗┗ By not caring about the environment, I personally saved hundreds of Filipino children.
Top Prime was one of those brands where people practically wore the company name itself.
And now that I was being completely honest, their products had never been very attractive.
They looked aggressively recycled.
At best, they were slightly better than something I could make at home by ripping apart a seat belt and sewing it together with my grandmother's sewing box.
Of course.
If the products didn't look recycled, customers wouldn't get the same sense of satisfaction.
Most of Top Prime's existing customers wanted to feel proud of themselves for being enlightened enough to care about the environment.
That was exactly why the child-abuse scandal now threatened the company's very existence.
People were even joking that if you really cared about the environment, you should carry your cosmetics in a foldable strawberry shopping bag instead.
Furious consumers began filing lawsuits against the company's executives.
Like some druid hostile only toward humans, Top Prime was being forced back into the forest by people who wanted to protect their children.
"Manager! Is this really true? Is the Mr. Do in this article you?"
Serin asked with sparkling eyes, cookie crumbs around her mouth.
"Yeah. That's me."
"You're the Mr. Do who single-handedly wiped out one hundred Filipino gangsters armed with homemade guns?"
"No, that's..."
This time Anna asked.
Where the hell had the hundred armed Filipino gangsters come from?
Even after years in entertainment, I'd never experienced exaggeration this disconnected from reality.
It was probably nonsense that had started in some overseas community.
"Nothing like that happened. The CEO and I just got lost near a tourist area, received a tip, and reported it. Reporters exaggerated everything."
I tried to make it sound as insignificant as possible.
The other members were one thing.
But Serin had been in the Philippines with me.
If she learned exactly what happened that day...
She might blame herself for living comfortably while I was going through that.
Maybe next time she'd even insist on coming along.
Not that there was ever going to be a next time.
"I always leave one last bullet. For the enemy... or for myself..."
Aran glanced at my cast and pretended to fire a gun.
"What are you talking about?"
Youngchae asked, completely confused.
Aran furrowed her brows dramatically.
"It's a line from 〈A Better Tomorrow〉 when Chow Yun-fat lets the traitor Leslie Cheung live. Doesn't it totally fit CEO and Manager?"
"What movie is that?"
How had a movie more than forty years old come out of Aran's mouth?
That wasn't even an actual famous line from 〈A Better Tomorrow〉.
At this point, I couldn't tell whether I was Chow Yun-fat or Aran was a time traveler.
"If something like this happened, you could've told us. Did you hide it because you knew we'd worry?"
Youngchae asked.
I had known this would become public eventually.
But what was I supposed to say?
I crushed my arm while trying to find opportunities for your schedules, and the CEO got shot with a nail.
Even if nobody blamed themselves, people had a habit of feeling guilty anyway.
Especially our members.
"I didn't tell you because it really wasn't that serious."
"Maybe you didn't need to tell the others, but you could've told me. I can keep a secret..."
Youngchae murmured almost under her breath.
Then she suddenly looked at me sharply.
"Come to think of it, you already looked like you didn't like the Top Prime ad when you were talking to Teacher Hong Eun-hye before. Did you know something in advance?"
Did I?
I hadn't realized it myself.
Maybe my dislike had unconsciously shown on my face.
The brand itself was famous, but I'd never thought the products looked especially pretty.
Apparently, Youngchae suspected that I'd somehow known about the human-factory scandal and stepped in to stop it.
That was basically true.
But there was no reason to make them worry more.
So I covered it up.
"Come on. How could I possibly have known that? Of course not."
I lowered my head calmly and added,
Time to change the subject.
"Anyway, have you decided which company you want for the sponsorship instead of Top Prime?"
"Ah."
Youngchae pulled out her phone like she'd almost forgotten.
Then she cautiously checked the other members.
She covered her mouth and whispered,
"I want this one."
She secretly showed me her phone.
A Personstar DM window was open.
It was a sponsorship offer.
[Hello, Youngchae! We contacted you after watching 〈Hong Eun-hye's Fashion People〉. We're the clothing brand Musashi. We're reaching out urgently because we'd like to recommend you for the main-model selection currently taking place at headquarters...]
The offer came from a brand called Musashi.
It was a very famous clothing-distribution company in Korea, though it also produced some of its own clothes.
If you listed the five biggest clothing distributors in the country, Musashi would definitely be included.
Plenty of celebrities worked with them too.
Its influence in Korea was far stronger than Top Prime's.
They even wrote that Youngchae was the only model they'd contacted separately, so she could take her time considering it.
This opportunity was practically built for her.
There was no reason to actually take her time, though.
"I haven't told the members yet. What do you think, Manager?"
It was a great opportunity.
For one thing, the clothes were pretty.
And at the very least, they probably weren't running a human factory.
"Whoa... Youngchae, congratulations..."
"Shh! I haven't told the members yet. I was going to casually mention it later."
Maybe she thought that because she'd protected me from Hong Eun-hye with the fake-girlfriend story, I should repay her by protecting her secret too.
I had absolutely no intention of doing that.
"Everyone, listen up! Youngchae got an offer from Musashi to become a promotional model!"
"Seriously...! Manager!"
Youngchae hid her panic behind a smile.
If something this good happened, she should've told us right away.
Then we could all celebrate together and buy cake again.
Keeping this secret was unforgivable.
At the same time, Han Seo-hyung, the female lead of 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉, felt as if Kim Serin had slapped her three times across the face.
Or maybe the entire world was lying to her.
Only twelve hours had passed since she'd happily learned that she'd been selected as Top Prime's model for Hong Eun-hye's 〈Fashion in Journal〉.
"How is any of this my fault? Did I burn those children's bodies? Did I know what was happening when I used their products? Tens of thousands of people around the world buy Top Prime, so why am I being removed from the lead role?"
Right after Hong Eun-hye told her that she'd been removed from the magazine again, Director Moon Pil-su called.
"You didn't do anything wrong. I know that. Everyone knows that. But this is basically an industry custom. The issue is too big. And you weren't just some ordinary Top Prime fan. In Korea, people practically called you the Top Prime girl. If you don't apologize, even though there's nothing you actually need to apologize for, people will attack you anyway. At least if we make the proper gesture now, you'll earn some protection from criticism later."
"Then how expensive is this 'proper gesture' supposed to be?!"
She'd shouted so much that her head hurt.
The live episode of 〈Hong Eun-hye's Fashion People〉 scheduled for that night had already been canceled.
That week's sponsor had been Top Prime Eco Fashion.
The Top Prime theme was also the reason Han Seo-hyung had been invited in the first place.
But canceled was canceled.
Then she lost 〈Fashion in Journal〉.
Now they wanted her to give up the lead role in 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉, even though filming had already started.
There were far too many cancerous people in Korea who loved lecturing celebrities despite their own lives being nothing special.
"Wouldn't this be better than having hate comments flooding every broadcast? You only move from lead to supporting actress. If we say you're doing it as a reflection on the Top Prime issue, people will fall for that explanation. I don't like strategically redirecting public anger either, but when people are attacking you over something that isn't even your fault, what else can we do? Look at the bigger picture, Seo-hyung."
Intellectually, she understood Director Moon perfectly.
Hate comments had already started appearing on old photos where she wore Top Prime products.
Unni, you knew, didn't you? You were practically acting as a Top Prime ambassador. You must've known more than normal people.
You care about environmental issues but don't care about labor issues?
You spent years calling everyone else ignorant and pretending to be enlightened LOL. Guess your outrage is selective.
Wow. Children died and you haven't even posted one line of apology.
Her follower count was falling too.
Normally, those same people would've browsed Han Seo-hyung's account for Top Prime release information and posted their own photos using the products.
Now that the scandal broke, they acted like they'd never supported the company and instantly became haters.
She even recognized some usernames.
She hated all of it.
Everyone had wanted to satisfy their vanity together.
Yet because Han Seo-hyung was a celebrity, the entire blame was suddenly being dumped on her.
She was beginning to feel disgusted by the public.
People seemed desperate to tear her apart just to reduce their own guilt.
"This is perfect. 'Because of my ignorance, I caused concern to many people. For that reason, I have decided to withdraw from all my current schedules. However, we concluded that suddenly leaving 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉 after filming had already begun could cause greater harm to the production, so after discussion, I will continue in a smaller supporting role.'"
"You're saying I'm ignorant..."
"It's just wording. I own several Top Prime products myself."
Wait.
If she was moving from lead to supporting actress...
Didn't that mean someone else was moving from supporting actress to lead?
"Then who's playing Gyeong-a?"
"For now, Kim Serin has the closest amount of screen time, so she'll probably take over. If you think about it, Su-hyeon actually suits you well. She's the character who ends up with the male lead, and she gets to show lots of different sides. That makes her perfect for building a more approachable public image. Just think of it as double casting."
Kim Serin.
Even if the entire world hated Han Seo-hyung, the person she hated most was Kim Serin.
No.
Not only Kim Serin.
She hated that entire failed idol group called Blue Moon.
How much suffering had Seo-hyung endured to achieve her dream of becoming an actress and reach this position?
Yet women like Youngchae and Kim Serin simply used idol popularity to get invited onto 〈Hong Eun-hye's Fashion People〉 and 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉.
Seo-hyung remembered why she'd been pushing Top Prime products so aggressively in the first place.
Episode 1 of 〈Hong Eun-hye's Fashion People〉 had received far too many views.
She couldn't simply sit back and watch some random idol invade the fashion world.
She had a duty to crush the attention Youngchae was receiving.
"How is this double casting?!"
"What else can we do? Seo-hyung, you'd be better off thinking of it that way. It's not like stepping down from the lead means you're retiring."
Pil-su spoke like it had nothing to do with him.
"I don't care! Do whatever you want!"
"...Later, you'll realize this was the right decision. You know how long I've worked in broadcasting."
Most of that time had been spent failing, yet he was acting like some grand veteran.
Do Jun-hyeok was apparently willing to cause chaos just to create opportunities for his idol girls.
If Moon Pil-su had cared about Han Seo-hyung even half as much, he never would've committed the outrage of changing her from lead to supporting actress.
Seo-hyung simply hung up on him.
Moon Pil-su stared at the disconnected call and quietly sighed.
There was nearly a twenty-year age difference between Han Seo-hyung and Moon Pil-su.
Han Seo-hyung was already a skilled actress.
But Moon Pil-su wasn't someone who had to lower his head anywhere as a director either.
And she had the nerve to act that arrogantly toward him.
Was he offended?
No.
If anything, he welcomed it.
He'd already been wondering when to tell her that he'd decided to change the roles.
Who could've predicted that such a huge scandal would explode while he delayed the conversation?
If nobody chose to treat something as a problem, then it wasn't one.
But once someone did treat it as a problem, few things became bigger.
And in this situation, the person who had decided to make it a problem was none other than Moon Pil-su himself.
