TLICO 05

Chapter – 05

That evening, after returning home, I received a text message.

[Actress Ha Eun-rae. You passed the audition. I am truly happy to be working with you ^^ I will send you the reading and filming schedules soon. If you have any questions before then, feel free to ask me. For anything regarding the schedule, you can contact the staff member you met earlier.]How long has it been since a film director treated me this kindly…? I think it’s the first time since that damn “Debt-too” scandal. Feeling a strange mix of emotions, I opened the Wiki window that appeared earlier.

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Horror

Director/Writer: Jegal Seyeon

Cast: Ha Eun-rae, Seo Gyeong-bin

It changed. My name had been edited and was now sparkling. There was something else that changed, too. The filming period and production details seemed the same, but…

Awards: Editing…

Box Office: Editing…

Awards? I gulped. Is something changing because I’ve influenced this project? And could that “something” mean that this film—which originally didn’t even get invited to festivals—might actually win an award somewhere?

Just thinking about it made my heart feel like it was going to jump out of my chest. To be honest, I had a lingering dissatisfaction with my original film debut. That debut was a very commercial work. 

While it was a box office success, it was controversial for being too violent and having many scenes where actresses were exposed.

 Of course, I was grateful just to debut, but I often wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t debuted with a movie like that—

‘In this life, I’m debuting with Jegal Seyeon’s project.’

It’s an independent film, but I’m the lead. My career and my life are clearly changing. Part of me wanted to search for my own name in the Wiki window, but that seemed impossible.

[0 ‘Search Passes’ remaining.]

…Search passes, huh? Based on the formulas of countless regression stories, that’s a ‘foreshadowing.’ It seems like they come as rewards for achievements, but—

‘I don’t know what they are exactly right now.’

Besides, there is a more urgent problem right in front of me.

[Actress. Sending the script for from before the revisions. The director said she would likely revise everything after page 42, but I’m sending this for now.][.pdf]It was a text from Park Seo-woo. I recalled Park Seo-woo’s changed Wiki. It seems that when I have no ‘Search Passes,’ I can only see changes in the Wiki if my actions caused them…

‘And it seems I can’t see them unless it’s a very direct change. Seeing as I can’t view my own Wiki.’

Did my acting video influence Park Seo-woo enough to cause a direct change? Thinking that made me feel good. Of course, Park Seo-woo, the person, is still annoying, but the fact that Park Seo-woo, the director, likes me is a huge deal for an actress. A director who wins an Oscar likes me.

‘He even remembers me later when he does interviews.’

A smile formed on my lips at the thought. I was grinning ear to ear when it happened.

“Ha Eun-rae, what’s this? Who are you talking to that you can’t stop smiling? Give it here. Let your big sister check.”

Someone’s hand playfully lunged for my phone. It was my housemate, Yeoreum. For reference, this place was 21-year-old Ha Eun-rae’s ‘refuge.’

It was the day my father took all the money I had worked so hard to save from my part-time job at a meat restaurant for college tuition, claiming there was no money to send me to school. I had completely lost my temper, trashed the house, grabbed only my phone, and left. Then, I made a call.

— ……Hello?“……”To the friend I was close with until high school. To Kang Yeoreum, whom I hadn’t contacted after she got into a two-year fashion design college in Seoul because of some unknown inferiority complex. Even though I couldn’t say a word, Kang Yeoreum abruptly told me to come to her studio apartment and gave me the address. And from that day on, we lived together.

‘Thinking back, I was so shameless.’

Back then, I was too young to realise exactly how much I owed Yeoreum. ‘Well, was that the only thing I didn’t know?’ I also didn’t listen to Yeoreum when she tried to stop me from suddenly getting married after the “Debt-too” scandal.

“I don’t think you should get married when things are this hard. Observe what kind of person Do-un is a bit longer… and the idea that you must retire just because you’re marrying is also a bit…”
“Do-un is a good person. I’ll introduce you properly next time.”At my words, Yeoreum shut her mouth tight. She must have been speechless seeing me look like I had a screw loose. ‘How absurd must it have been for her—I vanished after the scandal only to suddenly reappear saying I’m getting married.’

Of course, we exchanged messages occasionally after the wedding, but the feeling of being close friends disappeared. There was even a bit of trouble. Yeoreum fell into debt when the internet shopping mall she ambitiously started failed, and when I tried to interfere by paying it off for her, she almost cut me out of her life.

“Do you think I’m a joke?”Looking back now, there were so many parts where I wasn’t sensitive. Kang Yeoreum always supported me silently whenever I was struggling, yet I couldn’t be that kind of friend to her.

Vowing to be different this time, I held my phone screen out toward Yeoreum.

“Eh…? I thought it was a guy. Well, it is a guy, but… what’s this? You got a script? Is someone asking you to be in a short film again?”

Kang Yeoreum asked, looking a bit disappointed.

“It’s a bit different this time. I’ll be getting paid, and I’m signing a formal contract.”

Once the money starts coming in, I’ll have to pay Yeoreum rent regularly, too. Ugh… me at 21, why was I so shameless?

“What? Then you’re really becoming an actress? You said you weren’t interested in acting. You even rejected that agency business card you got before.”

Ah. The agency business card. Right. I remembered receiving a business card from a large agency while walking on the street around this time. An unforgettable name.

Canna.

My first and last agency. It was also the place that left me with unforgettable memories. Later, after I got married, my manager Jong-ho came to me and told me this:

“That was right when your contract was about to end… That’s why the CEO gave separate instructions to Chul-hyun. To block you from entering the FA market (Free Agent). I only found out later. I quit Canna after finding out. How about going to Naru Stage with me even now?”Shockingly, my “Debt-too” scandal was a “surprise event” prepared by my own agency to force a contract renewal.

At Yeoreum’s words, I took out Canna’s business card—the one I had kept precious in my wallet—and crushed it in my hand.

“What’s wrong? You were so excited when you got the casting offer…”

“Casting…?”

I looked at Yeoreum with a bright smile.

“Who’s casting whom? I’m going to cast my own manager.”

I stood up abruptly as I spoke.

Hong Jong-ho. I’m coming to get you, you jerk.