When PD Song Manwoo asked, "You're going to watch Jungmin's… performance?" Director Kwon Gitaek laughed over the phone before answering.
"That's right. I could just ask you directly, PD Song, but I'm the type who isn't satisfied until I see it with my own eyes."
"You mentioned his acting ability. You mean his actual acting?"
"Yes, exactly. But I'll also be watching his delivery and overall aura. It's been quite a while since I last worked with Ryu Jungmin."
It was not unusual for a Director to visit a filming set to evaluate an actor's current form.
Even a master Director like Kwon Gitaek did that from time to time.
Still, to Song Manwoo PD, it felt a little strange that he was coming specifically to see top star Ryu Jungmin.
Ryu Jungmin was already so skilled there was no need to verify him separately.
His acting had already been proven through countless projects and years of experience. Sometimes, actors even found that kind of thing irritating. Usually, casting Directors met famous actors quietly in private instead.
But Director Kwon Gitaek had chosen to visit the set in person.
At that moment, Song Manwoo PD felt like he could vaguely grasp Director Kwon's personality.
He's meticulous. Stubborn, too. And he values acting skill over name value.
Then—
Ah.
A faint smile appeared on Song Manwoo PD's face as Kang Woojin's indifferent expression flashed through his mind.
Then there's no way he'll be able to ignore that bizarre monster.
Back on the third floor of the large salon in Cheongdam-dong—
The Kang Woojin reflected in the mirror looked like a completely different person.
He seemed that upgraded.
"Wow!"
Of course, that was only what Woojin thought.
Wow, this is seriously amazing. Can a person really change this much? This salon is incredible.
Then the blonde designer ran her fingers through Woojin's hair and began explaining.
"Woojin-ssi, you've got a lot of hair and really defined features, so pretty much any style suits you. Since this is for your profile shoot today, I went with something clean."
But for Kang Woojin, whose entire salon vocabulary basically began and ended with "please trim it," her explanation went in one ear and out the other.
In a situation like this, the best answer was a cynical one.
"Yes, it looks good."
"The side hair looked a little awkward, so I gave the lower part a soft perm. For the bangs and the top, you can just touch it up roughly like this. Got it? If it looks a little flat, just do this. Understand?"
"I understand."
He understood absolutely nothing.
Anyway, the designer focused on Woojin's voice.
"My, for a rookie, the way you speak is pretty cynical. Were you always like this?"
No. It's all acting.
Kang Woojin looked at himself in the mirror again, taking in the finished result. His short hair had been neatly trimmed, and the bangs were lightly lifted to reveal his forehead.
I thought only magazine models had hairstyles like this.
Looking more closely, Kang Woojin grinned inwardly. He looked better than expected. The designer then removed the cape draped over him.
"Woojin, your features are already strong, so even a slight change in styling completely changes your image. Now I'll just touch up your makeup a bit."
At that moment, Woojin felt tired, but with so many eyes on him, he had to maintain a professional attitude.
"Go ahead."
Just then, the designer, lightly clapping her hands while preparing his makeup, spoke up.
"Oh, and CEO Choi asked me to have you try this on too."
She handed Kang Woojin something.
It was a suit cover stamped with a luxury brand logo.
"This is a suit, right? For the profile shoot. Ah, and there are shoes too."
Looking at the suit cover and shoebox placed beside the chair, Woojin glanced around. CEO Choi was nowhere in sight. Then the designer stepped closer again and smiled.
"CEO Choi should be in the lobby on the first floor. Tell me the color of the suit. I need to match it to your skin tone."
The blonde designer was a true professional.
She handled everything smoothly, and all Woojin had to do was sit still. In any case, after briefly checking the suit inside the cover, she nodded.
"Mm, navy. Nice suit. Then let's get started."
About forty minutes later, in the salon's first-floor lobby—
As expected of a large salon in Cheongdam-dong, the first-floor lobby was spacious. Employees moved around constantly. In one corner stood a white sofa for waiting guests, and Choi Sunggeon, with his short hair, was sitting there.
Flip.
He sat with his legs crossed, reading a magazine.
The interesting part was—
"Ah, why is it taking so long?"
For some reason, Hong Hyeyeon was there too, sitting on the sofa across from him. She looked like she had a schedule soon, with flawless makeup and long hair styled in soft waves. Her beauty stood out immediately.
As Hong Hyeyeon grumbled, making that beauty stand out even more, Choi Sunggeon answered casually without even lifting his eyes from the magazine.
"Are you an amateur? This is normal, so why are you whining? When PD Song called earlier, you looked like you were about to leave. Why are you hesitating now? If you're busy, then go."
"Wow, look at this. So now that you've got one more actor, you're treating me like leftovers? Should I move to another agency?"
"Go ahead and do it. How many years have you been threatening that? Ugh, I told Woojin to try on a suit, so it's taking a little longer."
Hong Hyeyeon, who had been pouting, lightly pressed her lips together.
"Then why didn't you get him a custom-made suit? Are you already trying to save money?"
"Ah, seriously, that's annoying. No, I just had to grab one in a hurry because he needed his profile photos done today."
"Well, whatever."
Resting her arm on the table, Hong Hyeyeon suddenly changed the subject.
"So that weird guy really turned down Director Woo Hyunkoo's offer?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I still don't understand it. He turned down Director Woo Hyunkoo over some feeling or instinct… It's crazy. Absolutely crazy. Both you and Woojin are strange. Woojin's way more intense, though."
"What are you talking about? Anyway, I agree. Woo Hyunkoo is a pervert."
Hong Hyeyeon propped her chin on her hand and muttered,
"Seeing how he joined a major drama and then chose the short film The Private Investigator, he seems to have a clear sense of his own projects. And The Private Investigator really was a good film."
Since she had been watching Kang Woojin from the beginning, she understood it to some extent.
Just a little.
"You can't be good at everything, but having a firm opinion is a good thing. Of course, rejecting Director Woo Hyunkoo purely on instinct is still insane."
It was right then.
Ding!
The elevator at the end of the lobby opened on the first floor.
Standing inside was a man in a perfectly tailored navy suit.
Click, click.
His dress shoes made crisp sounds as he slowly crossed the lobby. A few of the female employees in the salon glanced over as he passed. In any case, the man looked around the first-floor lobby.
"Ah."
He spotted Choi Sunggeon on the sofa and walked straight toward him. Then, standing behind the sofa where Hong Hyeyeon was seated, he called out to Choi Sunggeon in a low voice.
"CEO."
At that, Choi Sunggeon, who had been reading his magazine, quickly looked up.
He immediately spotted the man.
"Oh my, who are you? Wow, you look great. Didn't I say so? Woojin, you're actually pretty handsome too. With the suit and makeup, your face looks way more alive."
The man in the suit was Kang Woojin.
His face remained expressionless, but inwardly, he was grinning.
Nice compliment. The designer upstairs said I was handsome too. Mm. This doesn't feel bad at all.
Meanwhile, Choi Sunggeon rose from the sofa and gave him a thumbs-up.
"He totally looks like a lead actor. Totally."
Hong Hyeyeon, who had been resting her chin on her hand, turned her head.
Kang Woojin, standing behind her, lowered his gaze as well.
Soon, their eyes met.
Woojin reacted first.
Inside, he was startled.
Wow. Is that really Hong Hyeyeon? Wow, she really is insanely beautiful.
On the outside, he stayed stern.
"You're here."
But—
"…"
Hong Hyeyeon said nothing. She only stared blankly at Kang Woojin. She looked a little stunned.
Just then, the female staff members who had first guided Woojin earlier gathered around him.
"Oh my? This is amazing!"
"That hairstyle suits you so well. The whole look is so much better now!"
"You really are an actor. You're handsome, but your aura feels kind of heavy. Is it because of your vibe?"
It might have been flattery. It might have been lip service.
Still, it was praise.
Kang Woojin felt awkward.
No—he was mortified.
But he had to stay calm.
"That's because the designer is highly skilled."
Hong Hyeyeon, still turned toward him, continued staring fixedly at Kang Woojin. She said nothing.
Seeing that, Choi Sunggeon lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Startled back to herself, Hong Hyeyeon gave a small cough and picked up a nearby magazine.
"Ahem. You look much better than usual."
From behind her came Woojin's low voice.
"Thank you."
But Hong Hyeyeon gave no visible response and absentmindedly flipped through the magazine. Inside, however, she was extremely unsettled.
What's wrong with me? Am I okay? I completely spaced out without even realizing it.
Later—
Time passed unbelievably fast.
At least, that was how Kang Woojin felt.
Before he knew it, the profile shoot was already over. At first he had been a little stiff, but once he relaxed, he handled the poses well enough.
As a result, his profile was uploaded to the BW Entertainment website.
Naturally, his public profile was complete as well.
At the moment, his filmography only listed two projects. Even so, Kang Woojin felt strangely moved.
My profile is fully out there now.
It felt completely different from the resume he used for job hunting. There was nothing stiff about it. It only showed Kang Woojin's chic image.
Every time I looked at my resume before, it was always disappointing.
That alone was enough to satisfy him.
Meanwhile, the internet was buzzing with all kinds of news.
Among the countless promotional materials flooding the web, two topics stood out the most.
One of them was Profiler Hanryang.
"[News Check] Most anticipated drama of the first half of the year, Profiler Hanryang, confirms first shoot on the 25th!"
Once the date of the first shoot was confirmed, the amount of promotion increased rapidly. It was not just direct promotion for the drama either. The lead actors' daily lives were also being actively shared through social media.
Director Woo Hyunkoo's new project also became a major topic.
"A film industry source working with master Director Woo Hyunkoo stated, 'Many top stars are expected to join this project.'"
With several famous actors being mentioned, film media outlets enthusiastically poured out articles.
Because of all that buzz, the weekend vanished, and Monday arrived in an instant.
The date was the 23rd.
In other words, only two days remained until the first shoot for Profiler Hanryang on the 25th.
At that very same time—
Three elderly men had gathered at a high-end Chinese restaurant.
It was lunchtime.
The three old men were seated in a VIP room, eating jajangmyeon, sweet and sour pork, and spicy fried chicken. One of them was a familiar face.
It was the master Director Woo Hyunkoo, with streaks of white in his brows. He picked up a piece of spicy fried chicken from the center of the round table.
Swish.
Then he spoke to the two elderly men seated across from him.
"I'll be starting my project soon, so I probably won't be able to meet up for a while."
The first to respond was an old man with glasses perched at the tip of his nose.
He was also a Director.
His name was Director Lee Gilju.
He was not exactly a master Director, but he did have a respectable filmography.
"Haha, right, right. I saw the articles about your new project. People are really interested in it. Don't worry too much, my friend. You've already started preparing the set, haven't you?"
The next to speak was a slightly chubby old man with a protruding belly.
It was Director Kwon Gitaek.
He was clearly a master Director, and he was also the same man who had recently called Song Manwoo PD.
"I'm preparing too, so mine will probably be possible sometime next year."
Director Kwon Gitaek's voice was gentle.
In any case, the three seemed to meet often, and they clearly knew each other well. Then Director Woo Hyunkoo frowned and continued.
"I recently had to deal with something ridiculous. Some nobody turned down my audition."
Director Lee Gilju, who had been stirring his jajangmyeon, burst into laughter.
"Haha, what a shameless bastard. He turned down Director Woo Hyunkoo's audition?"
"He's unbelievably rude. How can someone insignificant be that rude in response to an offer? At the very least, he should have come to me in person and spoken politely first."
"That's true. Now that you mention it, you do have a point. Times have changed, but there are still things that deserve respect. So what was that nobody's name?"
"Kang Woojin. I hear he's preparing for some drama right now, and if he shows up on one of your sets, just throw him out. Someone with no basic manners shouldn't succeed, even if his acting is decent."
At Director Woo Hyunkoo's cold statement, Director Kwon Gitaek asked mildly,
"Was there no special reason? Honestly, I think it's fine as long as an actor can act well."
Director Woo Hyunkoo flared up immediately.
"Hey! You! People like that need to be crushed from the beginning! They ruin the set!"
"So what? You called another Director out just to badmouth someone named Kang Woojin? That's pretty childish."
"…Director Kwon Gitaek, what's with your tone?"
As the atmosphere turned ugly, Director Lee Gilju quickly stepped in.
"Alright, enough. Let's just eat. I'm going to the restroom for a moment."
Soon, Director Lee Gilju grabbed his phone and left the VIP room.
Silence instantly fell over the table.
Director Woo Hyunkoo and Director Kwon Gitaek continued eating without a word.
About five minutes passed like that.
Then Director Lee Gilju returned from the restroom.
Strangely, his expression looked awkward.
He seemed a little flustered.
Suddenly, he grabbed the coat draped over his chair.
"Ah, something urgent came up, so I think I need to leave early."
Director Woo Hyunkoo tilted his head.
"Already? What could be so urgent?"
"Ah, I'll see you later."
After that brief farewell, Director Lee Gilju whispered something to Director Kwon Gitaek.
Irritated by that, Director Woo Hyunkoo furrowed his brows.
"Why are you whispering?"
Director Lee Gilju quickly left the room as if nothing had happened.
Director Woo Hyunkoo frowned and spoke to Director Kwon Gitaek.
"Heh. What did our friend whisper to you, huh?"
Right then—
"Woo Hyunkoo."
Director Kwon Gitaek, who had been looking at his phone, spoke in a calm voice.
"I don't think you're in any position to worry about someone as unknown as Kang Woojin."
Director Woo Hyunkoo stared across the table at him in disbelief.
"What?"
"This isn't the time for criticizing other people. It looks like your life is about to collapse."
Director Kwon Gitaek, still looking at his phone, held it out toward Director Woo Hyunkoo.
Woo Hyunkoo's eyes dropped to the screen.
An article was displayed there.
"[Exclusive] The filthy truth hidden behind master Director Woo Hyunkoo's reputation… A YouTuber with 900,000 subscribers exposes the Director's dirty hands"
Director Woo Hyunkoo's face twisted instantly.
"What is this? What is this?!"