Just 30 seconds for the elevator to reach the top floor.
In a very short time, I was on the same floor as Lee Minjoo.
Creeeak—
The door to the CEO's office opened, and the CEO of Rainbow Entertainment greeted me.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Jang Kyungjoon, the CEO of Rainbow Entertainment."
A young businessman in his early 40s.
In front of him sat Lee Minjoo, who looked to be of a similar age.
"Are you not even going to say hello now?"
"There's no reason to. We're on different sides."
"What?"
Without another word, I walked to the seat across from Lee Minjoo.
Plop—
"Ms. Lee Minjoo, don't speak to me so informally. I'm not your errand boy, Kim Jinwoo."
"Hah, you still haven't come to your senses..."
Soon, I ignored her, took out my phone, and played a recording.
「You bitch, just because I call you an assistant writer, do you really think you're a writer? I told you to have the materials ready by this morning! You should have brought them even if you had to stay up all weekend!」
A file containing a recording of Lee Minjoo's clear abuse of power.
As she listened to the audio, her face turned pale.
"Wh-what are you trying to do..."
"I have nothing to lose, and you have a lot. You should think carefully before you act."
"D-do you think you can do anything with something like this? If you want to sue, then go ahead and sue!"
"Why would I do something so troublesome? If I just put 'Lee Minjoo' in the title on YouTube, a million people will watch it."
"You..."
"You don't seem to understand. I told you not to speak informally."
"..."
I turned my head and looked at CEO Jang of Rainbow Entertainment.
"CEO-nim, what did Ms. Lee Minjoo say?"
"Ah, w-well..."
"A major supporting role in Lee Minjoo's next project... That's great. As long as she keeps her promise for sure."
At that moment, Lee Minjoo, who had met my eyes, turned her head away.
Seeing that, CEO Jang Kyungjoon gulped.
"In this industry these days, you're dead if you're slow on information."
"Pardon? What do you mean by that..."
"Director Sung Kihoon has agreed to take on my project."
"Pardoooon?"
CEO Jang Kyungjoon gasped, a look of bewilderment on his face.
Director Sung's name value was by no means inferior to Lee Minjoo's.
No, more than anything, he had been told the project would be dropped soon, but the reality was completely different.
"CEO Jang, it seems you don't quite understand the opportunity I've given you."
"N-no, it's not that..."
Ring, ring, ring, ring—
At that moment, the phone in the CEO's office rang.
CEO Jang was contemplating whether to answer it or not.
"Take your time."
I recommended he take the call, as I had a feeling I knew what it was about.
"A-actor Ji Seongho? Why is he coming here?"
"I called him. I should probably tell him to go back. I was thinking of having him practice his lines with Semi-ssi."
"N-no. Writer-nim, please calm down..."
Scrape—
Lee Minjoo, unable to endure it any longer, stood up without a word and stormed out of the room.
In reality, Lee Minjoo had never worked with JTBS, so she wouldn't be able to exert much influence there.
'Game over.'
Now that she had left like that, I was the only one CEO Jang could cling to.
There was a high probability that the Purple Girls' cameo filming would also be off the table.
Honestly, what do I care?
They were the ones who broke the promise first.
"Aigoo, Writer Kim, what can I do to make you feel better..."
"It seems the Purple Girls' cameo is off the table as well."
"Ah, that's... a cameo is just a cameo. Haha."
Appearing in Lee Minjoo's drama would have raised their name value quite a bit.
It was obvious that he was trying to hide his pained heart.
"CEO-nim, we're in the same boat now. Let's work together."
"Ah, yes. Of course."
"The Purple Girls' cameo. Since it's come to this, let's have them in our drama instead."
"Pardon?"
At Rainbow Entertainment, Purple Girls were one of the top three flagship stars.
In particular, they were the only successful girl group, excluding the boy groups.
"It's the first time a Purple Girls member is the main female lead, isn't it?"
"Previously, Jae-eun was with Writer Lee Minjoo..."
"Hey, that was a major supporting role."
"Haha... right. Then. Let's do that."
If I pushed CEO Jang any further here, I would be the only one to lose in the end.
"And I'd like to borrow the Purple Girls' dance practice room for a bit."
"Pardon? For what reason..."
"I'd like to go over the script with actor Ji Seongho there."
"Ah, yes. Please do."
CEO Jang gave his permission more easily than I expected.
I had been worried about what to say if he asked why the dance practice room of all places.
「You've entered my heart~♬」
The members were sweating and dancing in the choreography practice room.
I stood in front of them for a long time, wondering if it was okay to go in.
"I made a mistake."
I forgot to ask them to clear the members out just for today.
"No, if I did that, it might cause problems for Semi-ssi."
"Writer-hyungnim, what are you talking about?"
"Ah, Ji Seongho-ssi. You're here?"
To be called "writer-hyungnim" by a top-tier actor, I've really made it.
However, the top-tier actor, without a shred of courtesy, flung open the door to the dance practice room and went inside.
"Hello!"
"Huh? It's Ji Seongho!"
"KYAAAAAAH!"
I had been agonizing for over 5 minutes, and he solved my problem in 1 second.
Worse, the Purple Girls members inside all seemed happy to see him, which made me feel somehow wronged.
'Is the source of this feeling of injustice my timidness, or my face?'
I watched the chattering members and Ji Seongho with a vacant gaze.
Someone slowly approached me as I loitered near the entrance.
"Hah, hah. Writer-nim, I heard you're practicing here today."
"You already know."
"My manager... hehe."
Semi approached, catching her breath as if she had been practicing for a while.
Even slightly drenched in sweat, she looked pure and charming.
"Writer-nim? What's wrong?"
It seemed I had been staring at her blankly without realizing it.
"Ah, did you not hear from your manager?"
"What..."
"Semi-ssi almost got cut from our project..."
"What? Why! I can do well!"
"No, I'm saying it almost happened, but it's all sorted out now."
"Ah, ah..."
Semi blushed and looked embarrassed.
It seemed that Lee Minjoo's visit had been so sudden that she hadn't known about it yet.
"You know our meeting with the director is tomorrow, right?"
"Yes!"
"Try practicing with actor Ji Seongho today. You'll have to do some improv in front of the director tomorrow."
"Yes. I'll work hard."
Soon, I found the spot in the corner that was shining with light.
After confirming that Ji Seongho and Semi were greeting each other, I made my move.
"If it had been in the middle of the practice room, I would have died of shame."
Plop—
I took a seat in a corner and turned on my laptop.
Soon after, the light began to seep into my mind.
"The music isn't as distracting as I thought."
It didn't matter if other noises overlapped with the dialogue I was hearing in my 'memory.'
Literally, the memory was just a memory, separate from the music playing now.
Clack-clack, clack-clack-clack—
As I was concentrating on writing the script, I felt a presence around me.
"Um, hello, Writer-nim."
"Ah, Reimi-ssi. Hello."
The idol who writes and composes her own music, Reimi.
A significant portion of Purple Girls' songs were born from her hands.
She had a very exotic look, with Western blood from either her father or mother.
With her unique girl-crush vibe, she was the only member in the group in charge of attracting female fans.
"Writer-nim, I heard from my manager oppa."
"Yes?"
"That our cameo got canceled?"
"Ah... I'm sorry about that."
"I don't mind, but Jae-eun seemed a little resentful."
I glanced over at the members, and Jae-eun was sneaking glances at me.
As Reimi had said, her gaze didn't seem very friendly.
"I guess we'll never be able to appear in Writer Lee Minjoo's works."
"I'm sorry about that too, but..."
Originally, Writer Lee Minjoo wasn't the type to reuse actors.
"You'll definitely succeed with another project. Since Jae-eun-ssi is a good actress."
"Um, Writer-nim, there's something I'd like to ask of you personally..."
I listened to Reimi's proposal and wondered for a moment how to respond.
She had expressed her intention to participate in the OST with another member.
I looked at Yuna, who was practicing her singing in a corner.
'The drama I saw didn't originally have music...'
In truth, the musical aspect was an unknown territory for me as well.
The system wasn't equipped with a function to insert an OST.
"I'll have a word with the music director once they're confirmed."
"I know it's an unreasonable request. I'm not expecting much, so please don't feel burdened."
"Yes, Reimi-ssi."
Reimi's music was at an amazing level even to my untrained ears.
And the main vocalist Yuna's skills were comparable to any solo singer.
"Maybe it's because it's my first project, but it's a lot of work."
Clack-clack-clack, clack—
In Part 5, the mood was set for the love line to begin in earnest.
The main male lead, wanting to confirm his own feelings, made a move on the female lead.
A scene where he is shocked by the female lead's complete lack of interest in him.
"The acting has to be good."
The key point to watch was his genuinely baffled expression, wondering how he could have been rejected by a woman.
I wasn't sure if Im Jaejun, who had never lived as a star, could act that well.
"By the way..."
The director's meeting was tomorrow, and I had a lot on my mind.
It would be a relief if Director Sung Kihoon's personality didn't make him just start cursing.
Semi at least had name recognition, but it was difficult to even bring up Im Jaejun.
At that moment, a figure practicing her singing calmly in a corner of the practice room caught my eye.
The member in charge of being the main vocalist and the cute one, Yuna.
A person who received the support of male fans for her moe-face and cheerful atmosphere.
Thanks to that, she was the most popular member in Purple Girls along with Semi.
I slowly walked over and spoke to her.
"What are you doing right now?"
"Ah, I'm preparing for a singing competition audition program."
"Why of all places in the dance practice room..."
Hearing my words, Yuna raised her hand and pointed to one side.
There, Semi and Ji Seongho were exchanging lines.
The rest of the members were gathered in a circle, watching them.
"I'm sorry. It seems I've broken the practice mood because of me."
"It's okay. Miryung unni and Jae-eun unni also practice acting here from time to time."
"Ah, really?"
"Yes. And me too, sometimes..."
My goodness, how many acting hopefuls are there in Purple Girls?
I had thought their potential was different from the moment I heard they were all making a cameo.
"I hope you pass the audition program... Ah."
At that moment, the word "audition" stuck in my mind.
It seemed I had found a solution to my worries.
'...A way to get Jaejun in.'
If the system's ability is real, it's a method with a high probability of success.
It was extremely rare to cast the main male lead through an audition in the fast-paced drama world.
Even that wouldn't be easy, but couldn't I, as the writer, somehow guide it?
Soon, I turned my gaze to Semi, who was exchanging lines.
I became curious about the extent of her talent, which the system had chosen.
"Am I the only friend you have?"
"If you knew who I was, you wouldn't be able to say that."
Semi and Ji Seongho were exchanging lines one by one, and the scene was not at all unfamiliar.
'It's definitely a scene I saw in the drama.'
The female lead's line, teasing the sub-male lead who had come to visit her during her part-time job.
And the next line that followed was,
"I don't know who you are. But common sense is self-service, customer!"
"Hey, that's harsh to a customer."
"Were you a customer?"
Swish—
Semi looked at Seongho with a nonchalant gaze, as if she were slightly glaring at him.
She had perfectly recreated the image of the female protagonist 'Cha Yejoo' that I had seen in the drama.
'This... this is really it.'
Watching Semi act, I was certain.
If she could just show the same performance she showed in the drama I had seen, the protagonist of the audition would undoubtedly be Im Jaejun.
It was a much more convincing method than just picking a rookie for the lead role.
If I just leave an opening for a rookie to squeeze into the audition, won't the rest be up to Im Jaejun?
I immediately took out my smartphone and sent a message to someone.
［Manager Jung Saerom, do you have a moment?］