She must have worked hard on controlling her expressions back when she was a rookie too,
‘But now she’s got seniority, fans, and gets shielded no matter what she does—so she just lets it show whenever she’s annoyed.’
Just as I was about to speak again, Seo Eden, who had been standing beside , cut in with a smile.
“Ah, noona! I know you’re happy to see her, but Sumr-nim and I still need to run through our last set of lines together. We’ll head in first, okay—.”
Coordinator Hwang, whose arm was still being held by Gi Juye, continued to look completely at a loss.
‘Yeah. Honestly, I’d like to hit her a few more tis, but....’
I’ll let it go here today. Who am I, after all? Han Yeoreum—the woman who won the Jury Special Award at the Seoul Drama Awards, achieved 247% of projected web drama Blu-ray sales, and was selected as the MC for a six-hour MNAA broadcast at Kyocera Do Osaka. Calm down.
“Right. The live broadcast is starting soon anyway, so we’ll get going first.”
“Sure—. See you later.”
At the words “see you later,” Gi Juye pressed extra force into her tone. Still, I managed to escape from her and make it to the MC backstage.
‘Okay. Now let’s give Coordinator Hwang so ti alone.’
I spoke to Coordinator Hwang, who was still stiff as a board.
“Unni, I’m sorry, but I’m kind of thirsty.... That peach drink from the vending machine over there earlier? I want to try that.”
“Uh—okay.... I’ll be right back.”
Once Coordinator Hwang left, only Seo Eden and I remained in the MC backstage waiting room.
“Go on. Say it. You know sothing, right?”
As if yesterday’s hesitation had been because of this, Seo Eden nodded.
“Senior Juye is... kind of—no, honestly speaking, she’s pretty bad. She hid her true strength for a bit when she was a rookie, but once she made it big, she awakened....”
After that ca stories that were frankly better left unrembered. Terrible for one’s ntal health. To summarize briefly, it went like this.
[Gi Juye Personality Compilation_Summary_ver.txt]
Why didn’t you customize my drink exactly the way I drink it? I told you my sugar level is 70. Wait, this is 70? Then you should’ve calculated the arrival ti and put in less ice. Ugh, what is this... I haven’t had it in so long... huh? I spilled it on my clothes? Hehe. Unni, you know my personality—why do you keep bringing bright outfits? Unni, you lack sense—no wonder I didn’t like yesterday’s outfit. I’ll wear this today. Not the one in your hand, this one... (omitted) Endingsㅜㅜ I’m sorry, today’s outfit was so bad, right... When you work with a lot of people, it’s hard for my opinions to get reflected. But please understand that I just want to look pretty to my Endings.
“...Wow... that’s shocking....”
“The way I rember your coordinator noona, Sumr-nim, is that sotis we used the waiting room next door, and the yelling would co straight through the walls. And then her SNS comnts blew up so badly that she temporarily went private—but Senior Juye told her to reopen it, so she reopened it and got cursed at again.”
“No, why would she make her reopen it?”
“If she keeps it closed, people go to complain directly on Senior Juye’s SNS instead.... You need a punching bag so the comnt section doesn’t get dirty.”
This is insane. I couldn’t control my expression.
“Anyway, I thought we shouldn’t run into her, so I was going to tell you yesterday, but I wasn’t sure if I was overstepping. And then things turned out like this. I should’ve told you sooner.... I’m really sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. That was a nice cut earlier. I’ll be counting on you like that from now on too.”
Coordinator Hwang right now is about the sa age I was before my regression. The fact that she endured that level of abuse and still didn’t quit being a coordinator ans only one thing.
‘She must really love that job.’
Just like how I couldn’t leave the acting world no matter what happened to . Ah, damn it. My chest hurts.
“I’ve been on the receiving end of a bit of that from that senior too—being put in my place? Snide remarks? So I know it’s so serious CTSD. Because she does it with a smile, it’s even scarier and more miserable.”
“You an PTSD....”
“Anyway. From what I heard through the grapevine, she probably spent more money covering for ruined clothes than she ever earned in salary.”
Seo Eden glanced at and asked cautiously,
“So... what are you going to do?”
What do you think?
“We fight.”
Seo Eden looked horrified.
“You’re not thinking of doing sothing like half-assing the introduction before going on stage today, right? You can’t do that. I’m sorry, but that noona has a ton of akgaes. You might not know this, but ‘akgae’ is short for malicious individual fan—.”
“I’m not doing anything like that. And I know what akgaes are.”
“Oh. I figured you wouldn’t know since you’re an actress. Then are you going to harass her where no one can see? Like locking her in a bathroom and dumping a bucket of water on her from above so she can’t go on stage....”
“I’m not doing that either. And what on earth have you been watching?”
“Then maybe slap her first, and when people show up, collapse on the floor and pretend you got hit....”
Seo Eden kept rattling off examples without pause. I’d heard plenty of stories about idols spending all their waiting ti glued to their phones, but....
‘What exactly has this guy been watching while waiting?’
With talent like this, he could probably hit 30% ratings as a makjang drama writer. I cut him off.
“How do we fight? With acting.”
“You’re in the sa drama?”
“No. But just like how idols release albums at the sa ti and everyone pits them against each other, dramas are the sa.”
I know what drama Gi Juye is in, from my mories before regression. I also know roughly when it airs.
‘ is scheduled to air in sumr, so.... It’ll overlap.’
I took a deep breath to regain control, and Seo Eden spoke carefully beside .
“But.... a lot of people are already looking forward to the drama Senior Juye is joining this ti....”
Yeah. I know. The production was intense from the start. A flashy art team, a ridiculous lineup of actors, a solid story, and heavyweight sponsorship from a major brand.
‘This is what people an when they say “even if it flops, it’ll still do decently.”’
The ratings were in the mid-teens—nothing bad.
But so what?
“When one side is really bad and the other is really good, they get dragged out and beaten together no matter what.”
That’s how this industry works. When there’s one overwhelming standout, the rest don’t even get rembered. I recalled Gi Juye’s expression earlier. And Coordinator Hwang, trembling without being able to say a word.
‘Let’s see how long you can keep abusing people after your acting-ability controversy ruins you....’
I’d already been feeling stifled holding back on the theater stage, so this worked out nicely. Gi Juye. I’ll drag you out as a comparison and beat you senseless. Seo Eden looked at with sothing like awe.
“I’ll turn on my phone, my tablet, and my TV all at the sa ti to help the ratings! Fighting!”
Hey.... That’s not how ratings work....
* * *
Hwang Jihye pressed down hard on the vending machine button. It felt as though helplessness was weighing down on her shoulders. She kept getting the illusion that ti and space were warping, that she was being dragged back into the hallway where Gi Juye had been earlier.
‘I couldn’t say a single word....’
Sumr was much younger than her. And yet she had stood up for her in front of a towering senior like Gi Juye.
Hwang Jihye froze stupidly in place. Maybe it was because of the unique nature of a broadcasting station hallway. For her, it was practically a trauma trigger.
“Ah, seriously! You’re so frustrating as a person, you know that?”
Gi Juye’s voice, which had echoed through the hallway, still rang clearly in her ears even as ti passed. It felt like soone was pressing down on her lungs, making it hard to breathe. Hwang Jihye shook her head, trying to forget.
She hurried back almost at a run—and ended up overhearing the conversation between the two of them.
‘...How embarrassing.’
She had cut her bangs and put on glasses on purpose, to keep her past from being recognized. She’d even deleted her SNS. And yet it still felt like her days as Gi Juye’s coordinator were shackling her ankles.
‘Should I have just quit this job....’
Just like Gi Juye said, Hwang Jihye had no sense and was frustrating. She wasn’t good at anything, made nothing but mistakes. Liking sothing and being good at it were different things. While everyone else was building impressive portfolios, all Hwang Jihye was good for was brushing dust off clothes.
Despite having done nothing right, tears welled up foolishly in her eyes. Then—
“But it seems like your coordinator noona is doing well now, right? The outfits you wear every recording are nice.”
Seo Eden’s question, asked without malice, reached her ears. Hwang Jihye’s heart began pounding with anxiety. She waited tensely for Sumr’s answer.
“You know Director Ryu, right? Ryu Risa.”
“Ah, of course I do! I’m not that dumb.”
“Director Ryu praises our coordinator so much. Says she has innate sense? An eye for aesthetics? That kind of thing.”
At Sumr’s words, the tears that had pooled spilled down Hwang Jihye’s cheeks.
“Ah, really?”
A lie. There was no way Director Ryu would have said sothing like that.
No one knew that better than Hwang Jihye herself. Director Ryu was notoriously stingy with praise.
“So please go around telling people that.”
Sumr was acting. Skillfully. For Hwang Jihye’s sake. Her vision blurred again. Hwang Jihye hurriedly wiped at the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. It felt like a rusted lock inside her head was rattling loose.
Sothing she had forgotten began to stir again inside her heart.
‘Ah....’
Right. No matter what, she still loved clothes. Loved them enough that she couldn’t give up easily no matter what happened—loved them enough to stake her life on this work.
Hwang Jihye
[Artistry: B ]
The status window above Hwang Jihye’s head shone brightly.
* * *
As the mid-show comrcials were ending and the start of the MNAA drew near, Aetami stared at the screen with tired eyes and shouted,
“Editing done!”
The high-definition corrected video was completed at perfect timing. On Aetami’s computer screen was footage of , Team B’s stage.
“I was going to keep this just for personal collection, but.......”
Aetami searched Yeoreum’s na several tis a day. There was no way she wouldn’t know about the battles happening beneath the surface.
And as soone who worked at an advertising agency, she understood well the impact a single strong hit could have.
“Can’t be helped. Let’s release it!”
Sotis, one proof was worth more than a hundred words.
Having made up her mind, Aetami pressed the upload button with solemn resolve—unaware of what kind of ripple her video would cause, not only among Deduck users but also among theater and musical fans.
At the sa ti, music ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) announcing the start of the MNAA rang out, and Yeoreum appeared on stage.
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