Im Jaejun felt a little dazed.
Considering his level of recognition, it was surprising that there was someone willing to go to such lengths for him.
Even more, he was grateful for the fact that there was a writer who thought of him for the lead role in a 16-episode drama.
Of course, it seemed the writer was in a situation just as hopeless as his own.
"Hmm, less of a writer... and more of an aspiring one."
A bundle of A4 paper that looked like it had been printed at a PC bang or at home.
Even when he was cast for a minor role in a web drama, it wasn't done like this.
The brief excitement he had felt was now almost embarrassing.
"Jaejun, table 5 needs to pay."
"Ah. Yes. Father."
Being the son of a barbecue restaurant owner was a position that had its own perks for getting by.
Sometimes, there were customers who would give him tips for being handsome.
"Keep it, student."
"You really don't have to do this..."
"I'm giving it to you because you're like a son to me."
"Thank you."
Bow—
Jaejun bowed politely and brought over a drink.
"This is on the house."
"What a well-mannered young man."
A female customer gave him a lingering look, but he did his best to ignore it.
Truthfully, this kind of thing was so common that it didn't even hurt his pride anymore.
A short while later,
Jaejun finished his daily routine and began cleaning up the restaurant.
"You go on ahead. I'll finish up."
"Alright. Thanks for your hard work."
"Yes, Father."
Seeing his father's slightly stooped back, a wave of emotion washed over him.
"What am I doing with acting? If I'm not here, the restaurant will have to close."
Suddenly, the script he had received today came to mind again.
The two-part screenplay he had set aside in a corner of the restaurant.
"If I were to do it... would it be my first leading role?"
Honestly, it didn't seem likely to ever get produced, but the writer's passion was beyond ordinary.
It's not an easy thing to seek out an actor who hops from one minor role to another and repeatedly try to persuade them.
"It feels wrong not to even read it."
Fliiiip—
At first, he had only intended to skim through a few scenes.
But, to his surprise, the moment he read the first scene of the script, he was captivated by its irresistible charm.
He was just reading words on a page, but the scenery of Jeju Island unfolded in his mind, and he could picture himself driving the sports car.
A script that flowed smoothly even when read without much thought.
Following the initial incident where he meets the female lead, a series of chance encounters were drawn out one after another.
"He only used the words that were absolutely necessary."
Perhaps because he used precisely the right words with exquisite timing.
It was easy to take in, even without overly detailed descriptions.
"This is fun..."
The desire that Jaejun had hidden deep in his heart peeked its head out.
Even if a famous writer had offered him a leading role, it wouldn't have moved his heart this quickly.
"So this is what he meant when he said he wrote it thinking of me."
The chaebol role from "Lovers in London" that he had endlessly practiced and dreamed of.
How did he recognize a side of me that I've never shown in any project?
After instantly reading through the two parts of the scenario, the first person who came to mind was Semi.
The image of her was exactly as he had imagined.
He felt like he understood why the writer had specifically mentioned her.
On the front of the script were the writer's three-syllable name and phone number.
Jaejun picked up his smartphone and searched for the saved contact.
Then, without hesitation, he contacted someone he had worked with in the past.
Ring, ring, ring—
The editor of the web drama in which Purple Girls' Semi had starred.
Even though he was just a minor actor at the time, this was the person who had taken care of him and given him his number.
-Hello.
"Dongcheol-hyungnim, have you been well?"
-Oh, have you been well? What's up?
"It's about something..."
Park Dongcheol, a YouTuber with 670,000 subscribers and a web drama editor.
He was a man with the amazing resourcefulness to have cast Semi.
Even at that time, Purple Girls was, by name and in reality, a star-level girl group.
I stayed up all night searching for contests and production companies.
Major broadcasting station contests where hundreds of works are submitted every year.
And famous drama production companies where one could submit a synopsis.
"No, this one also needs four whole parts."
I had thought that besides the major broadcasting companies, most would only require about two parts.
But excluding the contests that were too small-scale to be of interest, most of them demanded four parts.
"I wonder if it's okay to just submit this to a drama production company."
Submitting directly was one of the widely used routes for a writer's debut.
But seeing posts on writer communities cursing production companies for allegedly stealing their work made me a bit fearful.
On the other hand, could contests be considered completely safe?
"People definitely have their own tastes."
If a judge's taste was the complete opposite of mine, my work could be instantly rejected regardless of its quality.
After all, even the most interesting writing can be worse than trash to someone.
"Or, since I have six years of experience, maybe I could become an assistant writer for another major writer..."
I shook my head, putting that method on hold.
First, I had cursed out Writer Lee Minjoo before leaving, so rumors might have already spread.
And more than anything, the desire to get this project produced somehow was dominating my brain.
The strongest feeling was the desire to see if this absurd ability I'd been given was real or fake.
Click, click—
The list of small-scale contests that I had already looked at dozens of times.
I checked it once more to see if I had missed anything.
I had looked into all the contests that would accept a 2-episode submission.
As expected, a contest of a satisfactory level was not going to suddenly pop out of nowhere.
"I don't know when the ability will activate, so maybe I should try writing parts 3 and 4 on my own..."
It was then.
Ding-dong—
A notification sound that was now becoming a bit familiar.
I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
[Content: The Chaebol Heir is a Pure-hearted Macho, Part 3] [Genre: Romance, Chaebol] [Location: Tempest Entertainment 1st Floor Cafe] [Time Limit: 18 hours] [※ Bronze Promotion: 110-110101-1011 (Virtual Account, W Bank)] [※ Deposit Amount: 0 won / 10,000,000 won]
"Tempest Entertainment...?"
The company where the woman I met at the cafe a while ago worked.
But the biggest problem was something else entirely.
"No, only employees can enter that place. This system does its job like shit. Seriously."
The next morning.
［Writer-nim. This is Im Jaejun. I really want to do this project.］
Seeing the actor's message, my gloomy mood lifted a little.
It was a little past 10 AM, so I figured he would be awake and gave him a call.
"Jaejun-ssi, you've made a good decision."
-I will work hard.
He seems like a model student type, so I probably won't have any trouble with him.
-Ah, um. Writer-nim.
"Yes, Jaejun-ssi."
-Please speak comfortably with me.
"Ah... um, is that okay?"
-Yes. You're much older than me.
"Alright then. Should I?"
With his respectful and easy-going personality, it seems unlikely that he'll be involved in any school bullying scandals later on.
Then, Im Jaejun's next words felt like a precious gift to me.
-I'm asking around to see if I can contact Purple Girls' Semi.
"Really!?"
-Yes. We only exchanged greetings when we were filming the web drama, but.
"Do you have her number?"
-No. But I think I can get in touch with her through a mutual connection.
"Right. Well then, don't push yourself too hard."
Please push yourself insanely hard. Please.
-Yes. Writer-nim, I'll contact you again then.
"Uh. Okay. You can hurt your leg, but you can't hurt your mouth."
-Excuse me?
"You can't use a stunt double for delivering lines. The mouth is an actor's life."
-Ah, yes! I'll keep that in mind.
Click.
"His mouth has to be in good shape to persuade Semi."
Going to Im Jaejun first was a stroke of genius.
They had filmed a web drama together, but since he was a minor actor, I hadn't expected anything.
It seems that because of his friendly and sociable personality, he still had some connections.
My dear actor is running around working so hard for my project.
"A writer is only a writer when they write."
I thought of the project and checked the remaining time.
I was getting a little used to utilizing the system now.
"About 10 hours left, so there's plenty of time."
It seemed like I'd have to go near the Tempest Entertainment building to figure something out.
The ancient sage, Pythagoras, once said this:
"There is no solution."
The murderous gaze of the massive bro guarding the building's entrance became a barricade in itself.
I'm not lying, what am I supposed to say to a man who is three times my size?
Should I say that I'm an outsider but I'd like to visit the cafe on the first floor?
"Ah shit, I made eye contact."
I wandered around the building, pretending to wait for a friend.
I snuck another glance at the massive bro, and he was stretching.
It looked like he could lift me with one hand and snap my neck with the other.
"Ah, now that I think about it, Semi comes first. I got the order wrong."
If I've acquired the main male lead, I need to secure the main female lead. What am I even doing here right now?
There are still 9 hours left, so maybe I can stop by another entertainment company and come back?
"If that guy's shift just ends by then, it's totally possible."
A man's confidence comes from his build.
In that sense, that man is a talent too great to remain in Korea.
"What kind of company posts a gangster at its front door?"
"Hey, calling him a gangster is a bit much."
Flinch—
I turned my gaze to the man's voice coming from my side.
A rookie actor with a playful expression.
He was an actor that Tempest Entertainment was promoting as a new talent.
"His name is..."
"You don't know me? I'm super hot these days."
"I know. Mr. Ji Seongho."
This guy is a rising star, is it okay for him to be wandering around like this?
"But why have you been snooping around our company for a while now?"
"For a while now?"
"I saw you from the window. You've been standing there for the past 30 minutes."
Ji Seongho pointed his finger upwards and spoke.
I looked up and saw an open window at a location with a good view of this area.
"I want to go to the company cafe here, and I'm just trying to figure out how to get in."
An opportunity like this doesn't come often, so I just answered honestly.
"Why?"
"Because I'm a writer. I need it for authenticity."
"Oh, a writer?"
Now, whenever I opened my mouth, lies came out automatically.
"I worked in Lee Minjoo's studio for six years."
"Wow, then the recent hit drama too..."
"She entrusts me with a lot of the dialogue."
"You're the real deal."
I brought up a sore subject to draw his interest.
Writer Lee Minjoo's official website, where my name hasn't been removed yet.
Showing him my ID on top of that, a strong wave of reality hit me.
"Excuse me, Mr. Ji Seongho. If it's not too much trouble..."
"No can do, sir."
"Come on, let's not be so rigid. We're in the same industry."
"Hmm..."
This little punk acted all friendly and then rejected me flatly.
A strange sense of betrayal washed over me.
It felt like being at a foul-mouthed grandma's restaurant, where she's only polite when you're paying the bill.
"Actually, I don't really have anything to do today anyway..."
"Oh, then...!"
"Can I watch you work? I've always wanted to see."
"I'm the type who prefers to work quietly alone, but."
"Aha, then let's just forget about it..."
"Hey, hey, let me finish my sentence!"
"Deal?"
"Deal!"
A moment later,
with Ji Seongho's help, I was able to obtain a temporary visitor's pass.
I walked past the massive bro's piercing glare and entered the building.
"I heard that all menu items at the 1st-floor cafe are free. Is that right?"
"Of course. Since it's originally only for employees."
He was like a super nice and friendly puppy.
It's absurd, but he'd be perfect for the sub-lead in my project.
'In the first place, casting Semi is already absurd.'
There was not a single reason for someone like her to appear in a work by a no-name writer like me.
If that was the case even for Semi, with her scant acting experience, what more could be said for a rising star like Ji Seongho?
Especially since I heard that Tempest Entertainment values the company's opinion more than the actor's.
Still, they say their eye for picking projects is so impeccable that even the actors have no complaints.
"It'll probably be boring. It's just me writing alone..."
"Huh? You said earlier you needed it for authenticity."
"I'll look up the parts I need as I work."
Thanks to his useless curiosity, I managed to get into the cafe.
But trying to write in front of Ji Seongho made me feel a bit embarrassed.
Just then, a notification rang on Ji Seongho's smartphone.
Tiring—
"Ah, I have to go. My manager is looking for me."
"Your manager?"
"There is one. She's super strict."
Even without hearing the name, I strangely felt like I knew who it was.
Soon, Ji Seongho turned to leave as if he had no choice.
"I was so cool today. Praise me."
I wasn't quite sure what was so cool about it.
The actor disappeared, indulging in some strange self-praise.
"He's not normal either."
As expected of an artist, he's different.
Soon after, I entered the cafe required by the system.
I immediately looked for the seat emitting a pure white light.
"Ah, why did it have to be a table near the entrance?"
Since it was a place only employees could enter, I had hoped it would be as deep inside as possible.
I don't know if this was also the system's choice or a random draw.
"Please, just for five hours..."
Hoping not to run into anyone, I took the seat.