Capítulo 111: To Find a Path within a Fog (2)
round fifteen people gathered in the large waiting room at Pan Production. The actors and their managers, who were vying for the same role, were looking at each other with wary eyes. A Pan Production employee's voice could be heard from outside the door.
"This is the waiting room. I'll call you when it's your turn so you just need to wait here, chief. Euah, that's awkward."
"I still find it awkward as well. Then we'll be waiting here."
The employee's tone when he talked to the person known as chief was very friendly. The people inside the waiting room watched the closed door. They looked nervous as if worrying that a top-ranked actor would be participating.
Soon, the waiting room door opened. The one who entered was a man wearing a hoodie. Their gazes scanned his face. "Who is he?" "It's my first time seeing him?" "Maybe he's unknown, don't worry about him." Various whispers leaked out.
The eyes that flashed with competitiveness died down when they figure out that their new competitor was an unknown actor. However, the next moment, a tall man with an unordinary appearance entered behind the actor.
While he wasn't an actor, a few instantly recognized his face.
"Isn't he that guy? From W&U?" "He is, Manager Jung Sunwoo." "What the heck? So he's a rookie actor W&U's training?" When the whispering voices grew louder, Jung Sunwoo look around the waiting room. The chatting people shut their mouths.
When the two of them sat on empty chairs, a manager who was sitting in the corner approached them.
"You're Nam Joyoon… right?"
"This industry is quite small."
The unknown actor known as Nam Joyoon replied. When Jung Sunwoo looked at them, Nam Joyoon said,
"He's someone who worked at my previous company."
"Ah."
Jung Sunwoo nodded while making a weird expression. The manager asked again,
"So Mr. Joyoon is still acting. Is your company W&U?"
The people listening in perked their ears.
Under their gazes, Nam Joyoon casually said,
"No."
"Then, why…?"
When the manager glanced at Jung Sunwoo as he trailed off, Jung Sunwoo smiled as he replied,
"I'm personally following him since I'm interested."
At those words, sighs of relief came out throughout the room. If he had a large company like W&U backing him, then he would be a worthy competitor, but if there wasn't, then he was simply a common, unknown actor.
Even the manager who struck a conversation with Nam Joyoon revealed a smile of relief.
Director Park was on the toilet for ten minutes now.
The auditions would start soon, but the poop that was coiled up in him for the past few days showed no indication of coming out. He squeezed his sphincter as he checked the time.
"How did you get someone like him? That guy's really bad at picking people."
He had heard footsteps approaching, but a conversation suddenly started.
"Since you caused a fuss in our company like some crazy person, I thought that you would quit acting. Well, it's probably difficult for you to find some other job at your age. But do you think something good would happen if you keep sticking to this industry?"
"I know, right? This bothers me as well as I stay in this industry. Constantly seeing people I hate."
The second voice was dry, yet also contained a bit of cynicism.
Director Park, who had been unintentionally eavesdropping, perked his ears.
"What? Bastard, what the fuck did you just say? You…!"
"What? You want to punch me again? If we ran into each other a while ago, we might have had some fun, but too bad. I can't leave a bruise on my face right now. The chief who you said is bad at picking people got this audition for me so I don't want to disappoint him."
"You bastard!"
"Stop there. I have a knife in my pocket. I brought it as a prop for the audition, but like you said, you never know what kind of a crazy act a crazy person will do, right?"
The moment this threatening voice entered his ears, Director Park had a eureka moment the same time as his bowel movement.
"It hit me. It was like fate."
Director Park mumbled like someone under a spell. CEO Kim Pansuk clicked his tongue.
"What fate? You said you didn't even see his face."
"He wasn't there when I went out. I should have stopped mid-poop."
"Don't be obsessed with an actor when you didn't even see his face. Just conduct the auditions properly."
CEO Kim Pansuk sharply glared at him.
As the auditions progressed, Director Park's expression gradually became worse. There were a few actors that CEO Kim Pansuk and other judges looked favorably upon, but that was it.
Maybe it was because the voice, tone, and the dark, cynical mood from a few words left such a powerful impression, but the other actors didn't meet his expectations.
Time passed like this when someone said,
"Next, Mr. Nam Joyoon."
"Nam Joyoon?"
CEO Kim Pansuk's eyes shined. He poked Director Park's side.
"Director Park, at least act sincerely with this person."
Director Park flipped the profile over with an unsatisfied face.
"This actor is that guy? The one Lee Songha's manager brought over? Don't tell me you unofficially decided without me or anything, right? Don't think about casting him by force. This is an important role."
"Of course, you need to pick an actor by his skills. Still, I'm saying don't make them feel disappointed by auditioning him half-heartedly. We owe Mr. Jung Sunwoo a lot with Cat Guardian Ghost. Also, if that project didn't make a profit, we wouldn't have been able to start this movie."
"Okay, I get it. Let's see then."
Director Park nodded his head with disinterest.
Soon, the audition room door opened and two people entered. Director Park's gaze first landed on Jung Sunwoo, who he had seen while browsing the internet. Among the actors who came to audition, his appearance suited the criminal role the most.
Next, he turned to look at the actor who accompanied him.
Director Park's eyes shined. He wasn't bad either. While he was quite handsome for a criminal, there was a wild aspect to his eyes. The outfit, which seemed like he picked out for this role, suited him well.
However, the voice from the washroom kept echoing in his mind. Director Park licked his lips with regret. He hoped that that actor gave off this sort of mood as well.
"I am Nam Joyoon. Please take care of me."
The pen Director Park had in his mouth dropped.
He opened and closed his mouth a few times before asking,
"Do you happen to have a knife in your pocket?"
When Nam Joyoon tilted his head and took out the folding blade from his pocket, Director Park made a joyful expression. Then when Nam Joyoon skillfully handled the knife while saying his lines, Director Park kept poking CEO Kim Pansuk in the side as he whispered,
"That guy, let's go with him."
***
I was very dazed.
"The washroom?"
"That's where the director became fixated on him."
CEO Kim Pansuk looked as dazed as I was.
Just what did Nam Joyoon and the director do in the washroom for the director to pick him? Since my thoughts became weirder the more I thought about it, I shook my head. I should ask Nam Joyoon when I leave.
"To be honest, as long as he wasn't terrible, we were planning on casting him in a minor role at least. We wanted to repay you for everything, but…"
CEO Kim Pansuk grinned in the middle of speaking.
"I think I might have to thank you this time as well."
"Thank you for looking at us favorably."
"Well, you aren't the type to bring along weird actors. You said he wasn't under W&U?"
"Yes, I am personally overseeing him."
CEO Kim Pansuk gave me a strange look.
"I recalled how you brought Ms. Songha for an audition a few months ago. No one knew Ms. Songha then, yet who could have known she would be so successful in a few months?"
I didn't say anything and smiled. CEO Kim Pansuk grinned as he said,
"I hope that I can say this again. About how anyone could have known Mr. Nam Joyoon would be so successful."
*
"The press release has been sent, right?"
"Yes, we sent it out and so did Well-Made Production. As soon as the broadcast starts, articles about Ms. Songha's next project will pop up like crazy."
The female employee of the PR Team replied to Kim Hyunjo's question.
The closer it came to the broadcast time, the more people gathered in front of the TV in the lounge. The Neptune members, who had been practicing in the basement, sat in the middle, and the new recruit, Kim Hyunjo, the PR Team employees and I sat around them.
Damn it. I wanted to see this broadcast quietly in my home.
"What is it? Is something going on today?"
"'From Now On, We're' is broadcasting."
"Ah, the one that appeared on the news? It's today?"
Other employees gathered with interested faces. Someone might think the World Cup was on.
The problem was that it probably wasn't only my company that was like this. My relatives were probably sitting with my parents in front of their TV as well, and the quadruplets probably brought their school friends over to watch at my brother's place.
Even the internet was bustling. Talks about the incident died down with time, but because of today's broadcast, my name was being mentioned on social media and community sites.
How did they edit it? I hoped it was edited with Neptune as the focus.
Even now, my face burned so much when I walked down streets that I needed to wear sunglasses. Sometimes, it reached a point where I was confused whether I was a manager or a TV personality. I truly didn't need more attention than this.
"Quiet, it's starting."
When Team Leader Park made a hand gesture, everyone quieted down. While fixing my gaze on the TV screen, I inwardly desperately hoped that my face didn't appear often.
God damn it.
"Oh my, Mr. Sunwoo is second on the real-time search rankings!"
"Wow, Mr. Sunwoo's names on all the headlines of spam articles."
The PR Team employees were happily discussing something I didn't really want to hear.
The Neptune girls were losing their minds laughing, and the employees gathered around us kept alternating between the screen and me while mumbling, 'I got chills!' I lost count how many time 'chills' popped up in the captions.
"Wow, look at the goosebumps on my arms. Chief Jung, maybe you actually see something? How can you be like that?"
"I don't see anything. That's an entertainment show."
"Which drama did Mr. Sunwoo choose for Ms. Songha's next project?"
"… Royal Family."
"They are probably still auditioning supporting roles, right? I might tell my actor about it."
I felt like I would go crazy. For real.
The show was edited to make me look like some superhuman that observed danger through my extreme senses and stopped the incident. On top of that, they brought up how I said Neptune would get first place on a music broadcast and how the drama and title track I pushed were successes, making it seem like there was really something to me.
How could I go outside from now on? My future looked bleak.
Sighing, I looked at the netbook on my lap. Before soul left me, I planned on escaping from reality by monitoring sites. We spread a press release as bait for today's broadcast to break the news of Lee Songha's next project at the same time.
But the headline of the main internet article was quite the spectacle.
{Lee Songha's Next Project 'Royal Family', A Promising Project Picked by 'Midas's Hand' Jung Sunwoo{1}. This Time As Well?}
-What Midas's Hand? The media manipulations for Lee Songha's new project is cringy.
-It's understandable if you're watching From Now On, We're's broadcast. It's not cringy, but chiiiilling.
-What 'chiiiilling'. Watch entertainment shows for entertainment, don't take them so seriously.
-But seriously, when you think about how things started going well for Neptune ever since Manager Jung Sunwoo was assigned to them, it doesn't seem like just an entertainment show. Next K, Cat Guardian Ghost, Lee Taehee's title track, they're all successes. Both entertainment shows he appeared on are hits. At this point, it's true his senses are amazing.
-Damn, if that's all true, isn't he using up the luck for the rest of his life? Buy a lottery ticket, man!
-It's not just that everything goes well, there are rumors that he's a demon at figuring out projects that will fail!
-Just keep the first part. Any more, and he must be possessed by a god.
-If Royal Family is a success, then I'll acknowledge he possesses Midas's hand.
I closed the window after reading a few comments. I wanted to see netizens' reactions on Lee Songha's next project, but there were more discussions about me. How long would it take for this to quiet down? No, would it even quiet down?
Just as I sighed, the clamoring noises suddenly became distant.
My vision went dark.
The moment I saw the noisy static, my heart tensed.
It was the future. The future I had been longing for while pondering over sleepless nights.
What was this? Was it a future about the new drama? Considering the timing, this was most likely.
I quickly examined what I could see. I saw a soju glass in front of me.
I was at a bar.
It seemed I already had a few drinks as a bitter taste swirled in my mouth. Because I had my chin propped up and was looking down, all I could see was the wood patterned table, half-empty bottle of soju, and what looked like fried chicken.
I focused my eyes and ears to find anything that could be a hint.
"How can a person always succeed? There'll be times when you fail."
I heard a voice that seemed to be trying to cheer me from across the table. It was a woman's voice, but who was it? I couldn't tell who it was because her voice was mixed with static. Just as I hoped she would speak a few more words, she said,
"It's not like Royal Family flopped because of you anyways."
{1} Referring to King Midas who turned everything he touched into gold
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