NOVEL NEXT Ch 10
Director Kang Woo-hyun’s
The film
The production company ‘J Company’ officially announced today the audition schedule to cast new actors for the vacant roles.
In addition to the role that was confirmed for Choi Hong-seo, they plan to find new owners for several other roles. This is because many of the actors who were originally cast are already appearing in other works due to production delays of several months.
Meanwhile, “Cream Mansion” once had difficulty raising production costs.
This is because, as befitting Director Kang Woo-hyun’s ambitious work that emphasizes aesthetic perfection, it is known that more than 15 billion won will be needed just for the set production. There was an analysis in the industry that the fact that Director Kang Woo-hyun’s works, which focus on artistry rather than popularity, have not had much of a box office hit so far, may have also worked against attracting investment.
Fortunately, production was able to begin after the film investment company ‘Hee-tsiot’ decided to invest, but the lead actor’s sudden accident made the future uncertain. However, ‘Hee-tsiot’ recently announced that they will support production as is without terminating the contract, and ‘Cream Mansion’ is able to see the light of day once again.
The interest and anticipation of domestic and international movie fans is already growing as to who will take on the lead role following Choi Hong-seo.
I must have fallen asleep at some point.
When I opened my eyes to the sound of people coming from the living room, the sunlight through the blinds had become much softer. The sound of footsteps dragging their slippers, the sound of people moving around busily, putting something down and putting it away. Those little noises made by people were pleasant to hear. It made me feel safe.
Choi Hong-seo, who had gotten up, went out to the living room.
Even though he said it was okay, Yongjae was organizing things in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, probably because he bought something to eat.
“Brother, are you feeling unwell? Your complexion doesn’t look so good.”
“It’s okay. I was a little tired so I lay down and I feel better now.”
“Please drink this. You haven’t had any water since you got home, have you?”
“thank you.”
After hearing Yongjae handing him a glass of water, he suddenly felt thirsty. While drinking the cool water in several gulps, Choi Hongseo glanced at the carrier on the Irish table. To be exact, he was looking at the cat wriggling inside the carrier.
“I think this guy wants to come out now. Tiffany, he’s home. Hyung-ah’s home too.”
Yongjae put the carrier on the floor and opened the door.
The cat wandered around the outside of the carrier and then walked out cautiously. The cat came straight up to Choi Hong-seo and circled around him, but then turned around without hesitation and ran straight to Yong-jae. The little cry of the cat as it rubbed its body between Yong-jae’s calves was pitiful.
“Inma, you’re my brother. Why are you crying when you see me all the time?”
Yongjae, who was flustered, picked up the cat and approached Choi Hongseo. However, the cat did not seem to be interested in Choi Hongseo.
“Huh? Why is this guy acting like this?”
“It’s unfamiliar, but I can see it.”
“Huh? How could you be a stranger? Inma, Tiffany, look. I told you, he’s the older brother you like.”
Even though he didn’t have a single close friend, he must have liked Yoon Hye-an at least as much as the cat he raised.
Yongjae tried to comfort the cat a few more times as if he found it strange, but when it continued to show resistance, he had no choice but to put it down.
“I guess it’s because it’s been a long time since you came home,” he said, with comforting words.
The liberated cat then ran up to his cushion next to the sofa, rolled over, and began to leisurely lick his front paws. Choi Hong-seo, who had been staring at the peaceful sight of the cat, turned his head back to Yong-jae.
“Mr. Yongjae, I’m still a member of ENA, right?”
“yes.”
“How much time is left on the contract?”
“There’s just over a year left until next year.”
“Then please give up this house for now. Since there’s still time left on the contract, I think the landlord won’t say anything if I say I’ll pay the brokerage fee.” “The house?”
“My bank account is empty… I have a mic at work. I have to pay it back quickly.”
Choi Hong-seo showed his cell phone screen to Yong-jae, who had a reluctant expression.
“And here. I’ll be auditioning. Get ready.”
Needless to say, it was an audition notice for “Cream Mansion.”
“Brother, no way…”
Choi Hong-seo smiled and shook his head.
“No, I still don’t think about myself as Choi Hong-seo. I don’t know why I suddenly did that back then, but… I guess I panicked because I had no memories of myself. I still feel anxious now, but… But I don’t have crazy thoughts like that anymore.”
No matter what I thought inside, I decided to stop insisting in front of others that I was Choi Hong-seo, not Yoon Hye-an. It wasn’t something that would work even if I insisted anyway.
Yongjae’s stiff expression brightened again.
“I can help you with other things. In fact, since you woke up, I’ve been getting a lot of offers from all over the place.”
A washed-up idol turned actor who woke up several months later after jumping off the Dongho Bridge and falling into a coma.
It was a topic that people would be interested in. But even if they had tried to recruit her, it was obvious that it would be a low-level talk show focused on gossip. It was not the time to waste time on something like that.
“No, I’ll take this. And please give me acting lessons from a good teacher.”
“But bro, why do you keep calling the company debt miking?”
“yes?”
“The host bar players and room salon girls owe money to the store, but Mike King just pays it back.” My brother borrowed it from the company.
The tone and expression were that this and that were completely different, as different as heaven and earth.
“No, that’s what I mean… I’m not trying to contradict what you said… ”
“… … ”
“I was trying to say, ‘Don’t treat your brother the same as those people.’ Celebrities and those people are completely different.”
Whether he took Choi Hong-seo’s silence as unpleasantness or not, Yong-jae was unable to shake off his old habit of treating Yoon Hye-an and kept making excuses while sweating profusely.
The term “micing” was one of the slang terms I was familiar with during my hosting days.
However, there were quite a few people in the entertainment industry who lived a luxurious life on credit but ended up becoming dependent on debt owed to the company and became puppets of the company. The number of entertainers who earned a stable income of tens or hundreds of billions of won was less than 5% of the entire industry.
They erase debts and prevent people from getting out, and they control the other person as they wish.
In that context, there was no difference between the entertainment industry’s micing and the entertainment industry’s micing. At least, that was what Choi Hong-seo thought.
Choi Hong-seo, who had been standing there with a bitter and ambiguous smile, walked towards the sink holding the cup he had finished drinking from. Yong-jae’s voice, still not convinced, followed him.
“And this house is the one you said you wanted to live in no matter what. But are you really going to move?”
Choi Hong-seo put the cup down in the sink and turned on the faucet to wash his hands.
“Whether it’s miking or not, I’m sick of debt now.”
“… … ”
It wasn’t.
“I hate credit card installments so much.”
He turned around, shaking off his wet hands, and smiled as if he was joking, but there was a bitter taste in his mouth.
After Yongjae left with a greeting that he would come back again tomorrow, Choi Hongseo sat down some distance away in front of the cat cushion.
I brought a toy from the storage room and waved it in front of him. He showed interest in the toy, but he didn’t try to get down from the cushion. His eyes, full of curiosity and caution, just looked back and forth between Choi Hong-seo and the toy.
I’ve never raised an animal, whether a cat or a dog, but the way it twitched its ears and tilted its head was so cute that it made me laugh.
Choi Hong-seo, who had been shaking the toy while grumbling weakly, rested his chin on his raised knees and sighed.
‘Hietsiot’, the investment company that supported the production of ‘Cream Mansion’.
‘Heeutsiot’ was a film investment company run by Lee Hae-seong, the next head of ARA Group and the current vice president of ARA Electronics, with personal funds. Before, it was Lee Hae-seong’s personal activity rather than a company. Then, after deciding to invest in ‘Cream Mansion’, Lee Hae-seong properly established a business and named it ‘Heeutsiot’.
It was a name derived from the initials of Haesung and Hongseo.
【“The investment in the movie has already been decided, and no matter what Hongseo says, I won’t change my mind. So, there’s no longer any suspicion that I’m trying to sleep with Hongseo by holding the movie hostage. Right?”】
During our time together, he never lied even once.
If only there was one person like that by my side, the world would have been bearable and worth enduring. I didn’t know that then. I think I know it now, after making a foolish decision, losing everything, and then coming back and seeing with my own eyes that I had lost everything.
It would have been easier, and more worthwhile, to get down on my knees and beg him not to hate me.
The cat, who was conflicted between curiosity about the toy and wariness toward Choi Hong-seo who was disguised as Yoon Hye-an, chose to remain wary. Choi Hong-seo waved a treat in front of the cat who had completely collapsed on the cushion.
“Want a snack?”
The guy who saw the fish in the transparent cylinder raised his head. It seemed like he was finally getting down from the cushion, but he snatched the snack from Choi Hong-seo’s hand and immediately went back to the cushion.
The guy started to eat the fish from the head with skillful skill. He didn’t forget to glance at the person who looked like the owner every now and then to be on guard. Choi Hong-seo sat with his knees up, rested his arms on them, and rested his chin on them, watching the guy’s actions blankly.
The setting sun was shimmering orange on the living room floor.
“But you know.”
The cat looked this way, licking its lips with its small tongue.
“That I am not Yun Hye-an.”
The cat that didn’t come to my side was actually a comfort.
Because at least this guy seems to know that I’m not Yoon Hye-an.