Chapter 52 of 60

Chapter 52

Chapter 52. Excellent Attorney Kim Serin

After finding Jeong Un-young, I returned and immediately spoke with Serin.

Personally, I'd reached the conclusion that Writer Go Won-hee was the better choice.

A famous name alone couldn't create a successful drama.

But I still believed experience mattered.

Yoon Jin-seo wanted the film version of 〈Good Pro〉 to succeed too, but there was no way he could devote as much love to it as Go Won-hee, a full-time professional writer.

In both proven skill and passion, Go Won-hee had the overwhelming advantage.

And if both versions were going to succeed anyway, it was better to choose the one people could repeatedly rewatch.

The Go couple's dramas had a huge number of binge-watchers.

"Anyway, it looks like we can choose between these two. What do you think, Serin? Would you rather do a courtroom movie or a romance drama?"

Serin said she still felt a little nervous about suddenly attempting a role with a completely new image.

She was talking about Yoon Jin-seo's 〈Good Pro〉.

The Go couple's version also featured serious detectives, prosecutors, and lawyers.

It simply wasn't as heavy.

That alone could still give Serin a solid image transformation.

My opinion and Serin's matched.

There was nothing left to debate.

Under the condition that Serin would audition for the Go couple, I bundled Jeong Un-young into the deal too.

They knew nothing about Jeong Un-young.

Still, Go Won-hee and Go Won-jun were the type who had no problem casting an unknown actor if his acting was good enough.

Go Won-hee said that as long as I arranged the audition and sent him, they would properly evaluate him and cast him if he deserved it.

I was turning down Yoon Jin-seo's offer, which guaranteed a role, to choose the Go couple's audition.

If we thought purely in probabilities, Yoon Jin-seo's offer was one hundred percent.

The Go couple's was probably around ninety.

Still extremely high.

But there was no reason not to be careful.

While waiting for the audition, we focused entirely on raising Serin's acting ability even further.

It was also time to think farther ahead.

She wasn't planning to quit acting after one drama.

If she handled this role well, viewers would truly accept her title as the Nation's First Love.

This wasn't the time to relax just because a strong opportunity had appeared.

Apparently, I was the only person in the company confident about the audition.

Dae-hun wandered in and out of the practice room every day like a parent supporting a child preparing for college entrance exams.

He watched both Serin and Un-young practice.

Especially Serin.

He looked even more nervous than she did.

Oh Su was the same.

He worried on Serin's behalf like an overprotective parent.

Whether he'd realized it or not, he had once allowed himself to get hit in the nail incident because he wanted Blue Moon to succeed.

My first impression of him had been poor.

But lately, Oh Su had worked hard enough that I could honestly acknowledge him.

He was also the person who'd brought us 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉.

"Serin's audition is tomorrow, right?"

Oh Su suddenly called me to the rooftop and asked.

"Yes. She's training strictly with Yeo Eun-joo, and I've been helping a lot too. She'll probably pass."

"I suppose so. You said you helped Writer Go Won-hee and her husband a lot too... and Serin isn't a bad actress."

Oh Su leaned against the railing and stared silently down at the parking lot.

He looked like he had a lot on his mind.

Until then, I'd assumed he was simply nervous about Serin's audition.

If she did two major dramas in a row, calling her a trending actress would almost be an understatement.

Maybe he was staring at Serin like someone watching a first-prize pension lottery ticket.

Then Oh Su suddenly said something completely unexpected.

"At first, this company felt very comfortable to me. Sitting in the CEO's chair felt good too. Like I was inside a giant robot. Of course, there was responsibility, but the more responsibility I had, the more it almost felt like freedom."

"It looked that way. You practically never left the CEO's office."

I answered with a joke.

Oh Su laughed lightly.

"Was it that obvious? Still, I'm not like that these days. These days, the company feels suffocating. I heard Choreographer Yang Seung-tae said the company building was small."

Well, he was comparing us to Pantheon.

Of course it was small.

But a large building didn't automatically mean a good company.

When I comforted him like that, Oh Su said,

"You're right. I'm just saying that it feels suffocating to me too."

"Even though we're finally doing well?"

"Maybe that's why it feels suffocating."

What was he trying to say?

I had work downstairs too.

If I kept asking, he would probably continue saying mysterious things forever.

So I simply stayed silent and waited.

Finally, Oh Su said it.

"I want to quit the company."

"What?"

Was he giving me a resignation letter?

Now?

Just when everything was going well?

Even if he wanted to resign, what kind of CEO announced it to an employee?

"You mean you're closing the company?"

"No. I can't do that."

Obviously not.

We'd finally started succeeding.

There was no reason to shut the business down.

"Team 1 and Team 3's projects have both failed. Team 2 is all that's left, but there's nothing I can do for Team 2. All I really do is provide a home for them. And as everyone knows, aren't you managing everything for Team 2, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok?"

"You help sometimes. You brought us 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉."

Oh Su said he didn't think he could be much help to Blue Moon.

He didn't have special expertise in actor management or other fields either.

If anything, he thought he was becoming an obstacle.

I could have comforted him and told him that wasn't true.

But I didn't.

Oh Su must've thought deeply before reaching this decision.

If he were the sort of person who got motivated when I praised him and discouraged when I criticized him, the Blue Moon contract issue never would've happened in the first place.

"I'm thinking of stepping down and giving my position to you, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok. I have a family too, so I'll find stable work and earn a salary. Take over as CEO. Work little by little and eventually buy Universe. I think that's better for the girls, and better for you too."

"..."

"We'll need an analyst and an accountant to properly value everything, but even though the company has been operating at a loss, there are copyright royalties, relationships with various businesses, and other assets. I estimate Universe is worth around three to four billion won. Wouldn't it also be better for you to simply buy the company instead of managing one where other people's money is tied up?"

Even though this had to be an extremely important personal decision, Oh Su spoke without changing his expression.

This was a company he'd run for a long time, regardless of whether it succeeded.

And recently, it had finally begun doing well.

Giving it up now couldn't have been easy.

Oh Su had once talked about terminating Blue Moon's contracts.

Now he was choosing to resign for Blue Moon's sake.

I listened quietly until he finished.

When silence returned to the rooftop, I spoke.

"CEO."

"Yes, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok."

"Three or four billion is way too expensive. I think about half that would be reasonable."

Maybe that sounded cold-hearted.

But what could I do?

No matter how you dressed it up, he was basically asking me to immediately take on several billion won in debt.

Of course I was confident in raising Blue Moon.

I was certain they would grow even bigger.

And now that the spam system had upgraded, I would probably receive even more future messages.

If I could reduce the installment money owed to Oh Su by another billion or so and keep that money inside the company instead, wouldn't that be even better?

Oh Su agreed to settle around two billion won.

However, he said lowering the price too artificially could cause problems later.

So he would close out Teams 1 and 3 first and reduce the official valuation.

He would clean up his own unfinished business before leaving.

It was sudden.

Still, Oh Su wasn't planning to stop working forever.

With two billion won in cash, he could invest in real estate and live a fairly comfortable life while working an ordinary salaried job.

Universe had worked like a disaster in the past.

Still, it had enough industry history that PDs and writers would reply to our emails.

I had nothing to lose.

If anything, I had gained an opportunity to put even more power behind Blue Moon.

Even so, I felt a heavy sense of responsibility because Oh Su was sacrificing his own position and entrusting everything to me.

I had to support the members even harder.

The role Serin was auditioning for was a lawyer falsely accused of murder.

In the original script, the early and middle parts would've been filled with her desperately clearing her name.

Eventually, she joined forces with the male prosecutor protagonist.

But after the script became more romance-focused, she cleared her name much earlier.

After that, she and the prosecutor constantly bickered.

Naturally, countless romantic hints were planted between them.

The main appeal of the role was that it required seriousness when things were serious, and lightness when the scene was playful.

I told Serin to focus on showing that contrast.

The next morning, Serin and I left for the audition.

"You chose the suit well."

"...I thought a lawyer who can't work because she's busy defending herself from a false accusation would dress like this. Like she wouldn't even look in a mirror."

Serin lowered her head, apparently embarrassed by the sudden compliment.

The suit wasn't freshly dry-cleaned and perfectly pressed.

It looked like something that needed to go to the cleaners tomorrow.

That plainness only made her looks stand out more.

As expected of Serin.

Sitting in the passenger seat, she constantly practiced the part she would perform.

Even listening casually, it already sounded complete.

But she couldn't simply throw it aside because she thought it was done.

Serin probably kept practicing because if she got nervous, she might forget lines she normally knew perfectly.

"Nervous?"

"Yes. Last time, with 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉, I got the role without an audition."

Serin answered while still staring at the script and taking deep breaths.

When we entered the audition room, Go Won-jun and Go Won-hee stood to greet me.

It was my first time seeing Go Won-jun since the hospital.

Standing beside the couple was the famous actor cast as the male lead, Kim Chang-wook.

He greeted us a little awkwardly.

The instant Serin saw Kim Chang-wook's face, I heard her swallow.

Bae Jeong-hwan, the male lead in 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉, was also a fairly successful actor.

But Kim Chang-wook was different.

Bae Jeong-hwan had become famous mainly through his looks and a certain level of public buzz.

Kim Chang-wook had drawn attention through acting skill alone.

Of course, he was still very handsome.

"It's been a long time. You didn't have trouble coming here, right? This is Actor Kim Chang-wook, who'll be acting opposite Serin. Of course, assuming she passes the audition."

Director Go Won-jun smiled as he introduced him.

Kim Chang-wook bowed.

He didn't smile even once.

It looked like he'd already begun immersing himself in the role.

The Drama Center Director watching nearby seemed slightly overwhelmed.

A completely unplanned drama had suddenly been scheduled because of me and Go Won-hee.

Now the casting was also moving quickly.

In principle, production should've been handled entirely by the Go couple's studio.

Yet the Center Director had come personally.

He seemed fairly responsible.

"All right. Everyone's busy, so let's start immediately."

At my suggestion, the Go couple sat back down.

I no longer needed to care how nice they were or how talented they were.

In this room, they were simply an audience that needed to witness how good our Serin was.

In technical terms, this was aggressive home-base promotion.

Serin carefully watched everyone's expressions and stepped onto the audition floor.

To help the Go couple, the Center Director, and Kim Chang-wook imagine her in character, Serin had paid particular attention to her clothes.

From her shoes to her overall tone, everything needed to communicate both sides.

A professional lawyer.

And a potential romantic partner for the protagonist.

"Do you have evidence that I killed someone?"

Serin's crisp line began the audition.

Her character was a lawyer.

But in this courtroom, she wasn't standing as defense counsel.

She was the defendant.

It was a dramatic scene where she personally defended herself.

When Yoon Jin-seo heard about this scene, he'd yelled that it made no sense.

But what could I do if it was entertaining?

As a fan, I also wanted to see Serin boldly defending herself while standing in the defendant's position.

He should worry about making his own movie.

"Three years ago, when my client committed another crime after killing someone, ten billion won was suddenly deposited into that client's account. Who gave him that money? You of all people should know, Chief Prosecutor."

Serin stared directly into Go Won-hee's eyes as she delivered the accusation.

The character Serin was playing, Lee Se-gyeong, had been an elite lawyer three years earlier.

She worked at a prestigious firm and had an extremely high win rate.

She took the case of a chaebol heir who had killed someone.

But because of a prosecutor with a strong sense of justice, Lee Se-gyeong's defense began collapsing.

The current Chief Prosecutor, who had been a senior prosecutor at the time, accepted money from the chaebol family.

He manipulated evidence and framed Lee Se-gyeong for her client's murder.

Now Lee Se-gyeong had gathered the evidence again and was pressuring the Chief Prosecutor sitting at the prosecution table.

"Wow. I'd believe it if someone told me she was a real lawyer. Your role in the last drama was an announcer, right?"

Director Go Won-jun applauded after Serin's scene ended.

"An aspiring announcer."

"Right. You spoke so neatly like a real announcer back then, so I already had expectations. But I didn't realize you were this good."

"I agree. She fits the romantic side, but she also looks professional. It's exactly Serin's role."

Writer Go Won-hee agreed.

Then Serin moved to a later part of the script.

A scene after her character had become involved with the prosecutor played by Kim Chang-wook.

They bickered constantly.

Since Kim Chang-wook was already there, he casually read opposite her.

"Exactly. After that case got me fired from my law firm and nobody wanted me as their attorney, do you know how hard I worked? If I were incompetent, I couldn't survive like this. But everyone thinks I only succeeded because I'm pretty."

"I see. Nobody thought Attorney Lee Se-gyeong was pretty, so whoever started that ridiculous rumor should be punished. Shall I prosecute them?"

"...I've been told I'm pretty plenty of times, you know?"

Even lines written dryly needed to be performed in a way that properly delivered the comedy.

In some ways, comedy acting was one of the hardest kinds of acting.

The Go couple looked even more interested in Serin's current performance than in the courtroom scene.

In 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉, Gyeong-a wasn't a comic supporting character.

She was one of the leads.

Most of the scenes meant to get laughs had gone to Seo Hyeong, who played Su-hyeon.

This was everyone's first time seeing Serin perform full romantic comedy.

"Then that person is the culprit."

The scene eventually led into a surprise kiss.

Passionate OST music would begin.