Click.
“Oh? Sunbae?”
From a few steps away, I deliberately called out to Gi Juye.
“What brings you here? Are you in the sa project as ... did you get cast too? Right? I’m here for a eting about it.”
= I get cast everywhere. Unlike you.
“I was honestly a bit bothered last ti during 〈The Great Garland〉.... What a relief. Looks like we’re in the sa project this ti!”
= You rember losing to , right? Lolol
Even though I struck first, Gi Juye couldn’t say a word and just trembled. She couldn’t completely ignore , so her manager forced an awkward smile.
“No, we just have a personal schedule.... Have a good eting.”
Of course they couldn’t very well say, “We ca to forcibly schedule sothing to steal your coordinator, what eting are you talking about, don’t mock us.”
But my turn wasn’t over yet.
I smiled and opened my mouth.
“Ah, yes! Then enjoy your rest—.”
= Forever.
Whether she understood my aning perfectly or not, Gi Juye exploded on the spot.
“Hey! Who do you think you are picking a fight? I was wondering why you were acting up— this is all because of you—”
“Juye, shh! Quiet!”
Who am I? A skilled leading actress.
“Ah.... Sunbae....”
I noticed staff mbers in the distance glancing this way. I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear with one hand. Making sure my completely innocent expression was visible.
Ding—!
The elevator arrived.
The manager hurriedly dragged Gi Juye inside.
I looked at him frantically pressing the close button and bowed again.
Extrely politely.
“Have a good rest—!”
With Gi Juye’s shrill scream, the elevator doors shut. Her frantic voice echoed behind the descending tal doors. The staff standing at a distance must have seen it too.
The finishing touch is important.
“Whew....”
I put a period on my performance of pitiful Han Yeoreum, exhausted by her senior’s tyranny.
‘By dawn, this will probably circulate as a witness account.’
I quietly returned to my room and closed the door.
“Nice.”
Gi Juye would be resting well now.
For a very, very long ti.
* * *
This was the MBS Drama Departnt in Ilsan.
The Center Director, unusually serious, grabbed So Yesol by the arm.
“...You absolutely have to secure her.”
“I want to....”
“If you bring her in, I’ll give you a Golden Ti slot imdiately.”
The terrestrial drama market, including MBS, was shaking. The capital that had supported it so solidly had collapsed. Naturally, the latter halves of dramas were crumbling.
[WagleWagle Spring / Why do dramas suddenly feel like club pork-cutlet chaebols these days?]
Feels like they all live in a crumbling mansion so I can’t imrse myself
– I was so happy thinking we finally got a masterpiece but the CG quality went insane toward the end
ㄴ You don’t even need to say the subject ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
The mont it was judged impossible to secure a global fandom, the total production cost had to be drastically cut. OST quality dropped first. Then wardrobe. Then CG.
And on top of that, the overall board beca unstable.
“Star writer! And pair them with a rookie actor! In the end, it’s the story. The story!”
“The Chinese ban might not end anyti soon and you want to take that kind of risk? Not necessarily a top star, but at least soone moderately known—”
“Then gather as much PPL as possible, no, you know— those actors desperate to climb up a tier! If we gather them—”
etings continued every single day.
No one knew how to respond to this unprecedented situation.
“Go! So Yesol!”
The Center Director dispatched Director So.
In a quiet room, sitting across from Yeoreum, Director So calmly explained the project.
“We’re going low-budget.... The backgrounds, the props — we’re aiming for visuals that feel like sothing you’d actually see in real life....”
MBS had devised the best strategy.
A once-verified rookie director.
A rising actress with both star quality and acting skill.
And finally—
“What about the cast?”
Audience relatability.
“The casting director is still shaping the supporting roles first. Yungyo and Heejeong should really feel like early-sester freshn....”
While others focused on star writers and star actors, the MBS Center Director and Director So focused on potential.
On that faint possibility that the public would recognize the real thing.
“We’re bringing in unfamiliar faces. So it really feels like starting university life....”
And Han Yeoreum was the real thing.
‘Sotis an actor like this appears.’
The more successful the actor, the more calculating they beco.
The director’s na value. The star writer’s prestige. The co-stars’ rank. Filming locations good for headlines.
One choice could earn tens of billions.
It was natural.
But Han Yeoreum wasn’t like that.
She wasn’t just another celebrity.
‘She goes purely for the acting.’
There had been plenty of internal debate.
But there was a reason they ultimately chose to bet on Han Yeoreum.
“She went to Daehakro!”
At a ti when she should’ve been raising her market price, Han Yeoreum chose a small theater in Daehakro.
So called her foolish. So clicked their tongues.
But everyone reached the sa conclusion.
Han Yeoreum is sincere about acting.
That conclusion quietly shook the industry.
Work-life balance had long since been shattered here. Anyone still remaining did so because they loved this job.
Han Yeoreum earned the industry’s favor without difficulty.
“Well, if Han Yeoreum’s doing it, then I’m in.”
The lighting director who had watched her from 〈ParCheHi〉 to 〈Strange Tales〉 accepted without hesitation. Contacting an external filming team wasn’t difficult either.
“She barely does NGs. She’s never flubbed a line even once, so among us she’s practically a legend.”
“Every ti we pull a cut, it saves ti. Work finishes faster.”
Without realizing it, Han ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Yeoreum had beco an actress with na value.
Soone who drew people in.
“The current script is in the final stages of episode four. If you accept the role of Na Yuna, we’ll show you the rest right away.”
Director So took out the prepared script. Yeoreum’s eyes lit up. Director So had already sensed her heart leaning toward it.
“This script.... What did you think while reading it?”
Han Yeoreum seed to recall sothing. The faint smile at the corner of her lips was sohow bittersweet.
“I related to all three, but especially Yuna. When I was twenty, I thought everything would work out too. But your twenties don’t really go the way you expect....”
Anyone listening might think she’d wasted her twenties away.
She stroked the script.
“I’ll do it. This project.”
The pure-white script without a title yet. But even in that short ti, the edges were worn from repeated reading. Post-it notes stuck here and there.
Director So pushed the remaining three volus toward her. A thick stack of white pages.
“Good.... Thank you. Then here.”
So Yesol tapped the very front page — where the title should have been.
“Will you decide what goes here?”
“The title?”
“Yes. The title. Just tell what you want to call this work.”
Han Yeoreum thought for quite a long ti. Director So waited patiently.
Compared to the two sumrs she had waited for Yeoreum to arrive, this was nothing.
After a long pause, Yeoreum spoke.
Director So lifted her pen and wrote on the first page.
[Youth Disqualified!]
* * *
“Wahahahaha! Wahahahaha!”
The MBS Drama Center Director stuck Han Yeoreum’s photo in the middle of a large whiteboard. Then he wrote the drama title in bold letters.
“〈Youth Disqualified!〉. Ah! What a great title, huh?”
What So Yesol wanted to depict wasn’t the vivid green most associated with youth.
It was a gray filter layered over it. A suffocating color that still retained traces of blue.
“Good, good! Just two more!”
Already smiling as if production had begun, the Center Director looked at Han Yeoreum’s photo.
Now they needed actors to stand beside her and portray university life together.
“Who would be good—.”
He folded his arms and stared.
Sothing almost ca to mind, but not quite.
“Fresh face, fresh face....”
Sighing, he sat down.
It was 9:59 p.m.
Ti for a drama to start.
“I can worry about that at dawn.”
He turned on the TV.
There were three televisions in the office — each tuned to a different terrestrial network’s drama.
Protecting the live broadcast wasn’t just about MBS.
Know the enemy and know yourself, and you’ll win every battle.
‘Even though right now....’
MBS hadn’t produced a proper hit for three consecutive years.
It was closer to losing every battle.
Clutching at that bitter truth, the Center Director watched the chaotic moving screen.
His eyebrow twitched.
“What is this?”
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