Chapter 40

Chapter 40. "Top Model" Jin Youngchae Said This

I told Hong Eun-hye about the sponsorship offer from Musashi.

She was delighted, saying Musashi had already been one of the candidates.

Then she scheduled the shoot for that very same day.

That date had originally been reserved for the Top Prime sponsorship shoot.

But because of the scandal, the filming crew's schedule had suddenly opened up.

Hong Eun-hye said there was no point wasting the entire day.

We might as well shoot 〈Fashion in Journal〉 immediately.

"Standing here like this makes me feel as if I've entered the afterlife. Is this a dream?"

Oh Su spoke while looking around the set.

There were staff members.

Hong Eun-hye.

Musashi employees.

And most importantly, Youngchae, shining under the lights in a semi-formal outfit.

"Are you sure your head is okay?"

"I even got a CT scan. They said it's fine."

So much for claiming he didn't need a hospital.

Oh Su turned around and showed me the stitches on the back of his head.

It looked like someone had smashed him open with a metal pipe.

I was amazed his skull had remained intact.

When I looked more closely, some of the hair they'd shaved around the stitches was already falling out.

I decided to pretend I hadn't noticed.

"What did they say about Serin becoming the lead?"

Oh Su had still been sick for several days.

He'd recently started leaving work early because he was scared of walking outside at night.

And now he was even following member schedules he normally never bothered attending.

Apparently, getting hit in the back of the head really had hurt.

"I heard Han Seo-hyung, the original lead actress, willingly agreed. That's all you need to know. I already told Yeo Eun-joo on our behalf."

"Han Seo-hyung willingly agreed?"

"Yes."

That Han Seo-hyung?

The same woman who'd been rude to Serin and looked down on Youngchae?

And she willingly accepted losing the lead role?

Some people said supporting actors and leads could shine equally.

But anyone could see that Han Seo-hyung was the kind of person who'd obsess over being the lead.

Of course, I wasn't going to make the mistake of deciding she was actually nicer than expected.

She had probably screamed at Director Moon Pil-su that she refused.

And Moon Pil-su had probably ignored everything she said and forced the change through anyway.

Served her right.

She looked down on Serin.

She looked down on Youngchae.

Now look what happened.

"Then are they going back to Cebu to reshoot the scenes they've already filmed?"

I asked.

Oh Su looked horrified.

"Ugh. I'm done with the Philippines... Filming there costs a lot too. They probably changed the roles because they already saw a way to save the existing footage by adjusting the characters a little."

"I didn't see the footage from that day. Did they say that's actually possible?"

"Even if it isn't, they have to make it possible. That's more realistic than dragging the production budget back out for another overseas shoot."

In other words, Serin could simply begin playing Gyeong-a from the next scenes onward.

I quietly imagined Serin's voice delivering Gyeong-a's narration.

I'd already thought several times that Gyeong-a suited Serin better than Su-hyeon.

The character's personality was somewhat similar to Serin's.

And Serin's voice carried a natural seriousness.

If I'd known this drama from the beginning, I would've pushed Serin for Gyeong-a no matter what.

But the original casting had happened through personal connections.

Nobody had even gotten the chance to think about which role suited Serin best.

"Oh my Mr. Do Jun-hyeok, there you are?"

Hong Eun-hye called loudly as she approached from a distance.

Before she appeared, a man had been walking toward me and politely bowing his head.

The moment Hong Eun-hye showed up, he quickly disappeared.

"Of course I came. I'm her manager. It's also Youngchae's fashion-model debut."

"You must be extremely capable. I wasn't sure at first, but you pulled in another sponsorship this quickly. Did the Musashi people show any dissatisfaction?"

Hong Eun-hye asked without even pretending to lower her voice.

They hadn't complained.

Musashi only needed to bring over products already on sale.

Hong Eun-hye would handle all the styling herself.

To put it simply, they already had a great designer and a great model.

There wasn't much Musashi needed to prepare.

"Everyone needed this arranged quickly. You must've had plenty of trouble because of the Top Prime scandal too, Teacher Hong."

"Call me Eun-hye noona."

There was no realistic way I could pretend the "Korean entertainment planner Mr. Do" mentioned in the news wasn't me.

So I gave her the same explanation I'd given the members.

I had merely reported the human factory.

I claimed I'd only learned through the news afterward that the factory belonged to Top Prime.

Otherwise, I'd have to spend forever explaining why I'd known everything and still hadn't warned Hong Eun-hye beforehand.

"Yes, Eun-hye noona... Anyway, I know you're busy. Thank you for accepting the design change in only one day."

"I didn't really have a choice either. And we're practically family now, so next time you need something, don't hesitate to ask."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Hong Eun-hye answered like I was being frustratingly slow.

"I mean if Youngchae or any of the other members needs help with clothes, feel free to ask me. Don't entertainment agencies usually have dedicated stylists anyway?"

No, that wasn't the part I was asking about.

Since when were we practically family?

She wasn't my mother.

After surviving another round of Hong Eun-hye's flirting, I sent her back toward the wardrobe room.

She was exhausting.

Still, she seemed genuinely serious about helping style the members from time to time.

The problem was that her other comments seemed equally serious.

"All right, Youngchae! You don't need to look at the camera every time. If we shoot ten photos, think of it as looking directly into the lens for only one."

"Understood."

"And everyone here knows this is your first proper magazine shoot. Even if you run out of pose ideas, nobody's going to criticize you. So don't panic."

The photographer was trying to make Youngchae comfortable.

But Youngchae had read more fashion magazines than I could count.

Even if she simply copied poses that came to mind, she could probably work fairly quickly.

Of course, speed alone wasn't everything.

After getting fired from Pantheon, I'd worked all kinds of temporary jobs during that short gap.

One of them involved taking first-birthday photos of children in wealthy neighborhoods famous for demanding customers.

You had to soothe children who burst into tears the instant they saw a camera flash.

"Could I try taking some?"

"What? You, Manager?"

"Yes. If I take the pictures at first, she might relax more easily."

The photographer nodded as if my suggestion made sense.

"That's actually a good idea. What are all of you doing? Move aside."

"We were already moving..."

The staff muttered as they stepped away from the camera.

I stood behind it.

The moment Youngchae saw me there, she gave me a small smile as if she understood exactly what I was doing.

I didn't miss it.

I pressed the shutter.

"All right, Youngchae. Focus. Hands in your pockets. Think, 'I'm so lonely. I earn twenty million won every month and men line up for me. I go to fancy clubs, buy expensive drinks, and dance all night, but deep inside I'm an urban woman with an emptiness nobody can fill.'"

"What is that?"

"I'm telling you to get into character."

Youngchae smiled slightly, then followed my direction.

From there, I was able to draw out a huge number of poses very quickly.

The photographers watching from behind couldn't hide their surprise when they saw the results.

"Wow. I'm already surprised you know how to use the camera, but why are you this good? We could probably finish with these shots alone. Did you work at a studio before?"

"Not really. Everything was already set up. I just pressed the shutter."

These days, I was properly learning that being busy could also be a kind of peace.

Hong Eun-hye occasionally came to the company's wardrobe room and tormented me.

But she also freely let us use items from her own wardrobe.

She even visited the music-video set and interfered with the sponsorship staff on our behalf.

If she thought the quality dropped even slightly, she'd immediately remove an outfit and replace it with something from her own collection.

The sponsors sometimes looked irritated.

But none of them wanted to challenge Hong Eun-hye, who held considerable influence in the fashion industry.

Please let me be Blue Moon's honorary stylist.

After receiving that much help, it almost felt like Hong Eun-hye was making that proposal to me herself.

Speaking of which, the music-video production team, including Hong Eun-hye, could honestly be called a legendary assembly.

First, we had a song from top-tier composer Im Sori.

Then choreography and basic performance direction from genius choreographer Yang Seung-tae.

On top of that was Choi Joo-hong.

He could be a little pathetic sometimes, but his skill was unquestionable.

And we had also managed to recruit Director Lee Cheol, who happened to know both Im Sori and me.

Of course, Lee Cheol hadn't agreed to direct this music video because of his friendship with us.

He wasn't the type to choose work based on connections.

That was usually how truly skilled people operated.

Only people without ability had to cling to personal relationships.

Someone at Lee Cheol's level had probably received endless calls from companies begging him to shoot their music videos.

To explain it simply, his position in music videos was similar to Im Sori's position in composition.

There probably wasn't a major idol group that hadn't tried hiring him at least once.

No matter how strong each individual member of a project was, someone still needed to plant the flag and gather everyone.

Even if you were assembling a super team, someone had to shout, Assemble!

I took that role.

On set, I sat beside Lee Cheol and explained each member's individual charm in detail.

Lee Cheol had been skeptical when I first asked him to shoot Blue Moon's music video.

I'd only managed to persuade him by throwing around the names Yang Seung-tae, Im Sori, and Seed.

But now he'd personally seen Blue Moon's appeal on set.

There should've been more than enough inspiration.

As planned, the concept kept Serin behind the wheel, driving down the road.

That part was filmed among the coastal reeds in Seocheon.

We shot in Seocheon during the day.

A Gapyeong set later.

Then an outdoor night shoot on the Gimpo coast.

By arranging the schedule efficiently, we managed to finish everything in one day.

Still, the music-video shoot had been exhausting in its own way.

As a planner and as someone responsible for the singers, I'd spent several nights unable to sleep properly while waiting for the final result.

Today, that result arrived.

"It's here, it's here, it's here! The email came!"

Dae-hun shouted after receiving an email from Lee Cheol Studio.

Choi Joo-hong, who had been cleaning one corner of the office, spun around in surprise.

The album cover and music-video design work were already finished.

The only work Joo-hong had left was retouching the photo book that would be included with the album like merchandise.

He had made it painfully obvious that he wanted us to hire him permanently by doing every possible menial task.

We'd been pretending not to notice.

Hiring him would be great for us.

But Choi Joo-hong was someone who could become far more successful as a comic artist.

For the sake of his future, I told him to think carefully and let us know whenever he reached a decision.

"Joo-hong. Go bring our goddesses over. Let's all watch the music video together."

"Should I order chicken too?"

"No."

Choi Joo-hong dropped the cleaning cloth and rushed out of the office.

One or two minutes later, the members charged inside like special-forces soldiers conducting a suppression operation.

They gathered around Dae-hun's desk.

Then we watched the music video.

It was incredibly good.

The opening section, where Serin drove alone, used a rearranged version of the instrumental as an intro.

It made the scene feel like the beginning of a full-scale youth movie.

Once every member, including Anna after finishing her rap section, climbed into the car, the song entered its highlight.

From there, the video shifted to the choreography.

They danced rhythmically on an impressive set.

You could feel the affection in the editing of each individual member.

The solo shots scattered throughout made each girl look as if she carried her own story.

Every member's voice was especially distinctive too.

Even without forcing their faces constantly onto the screen, it felt like every voice came with a name tag.

Then came the final scene.

They arrived at the sea at night and looked up at an enormous moon.

That was where the music video ended.

It was the part I'd worried about most.

But the CG didn't look unnatural at all.

Even perfect CG could only make something feel like a Hollywood movie.

What truly made this work was the direction.

The directing made the CG shine.

As expected of Lee Cheol.

Watching his music video almost felt like watching a condensed version of the members' real lives.

He'd even inserted small moments of them having private conversations between takes.

I appeared occasionally too.

No wonder he'd kept the cameras rolling even during breaks.

Lee Cheol understood exactly what kinds of details pulled at a fan's heart.

"What do you think?"

The music video ended.

But the members remained completely silent, their expressions frozen.

The silence continued for a while.

Then Youngchae finally broke it.