NOVEL NEXT Episode 020
Episode 020
The person I spoke with on the phone was an employee from Festa Entertainment’s New Talent Development Team.
Although the manager had given me his business card, when I actually called, I heard the voice of a New Talent Development Team employee.
Moreover, it was the voice of a team leader-level employee from the New Talent Development Team.
This was an indication of how much Festa Entertainment was looking forward to contracting with me.
‘It was a bit burdensome. But I should think positively since I’ll get good terms because of it.’
With these thoughts, I made my way to the cafe that the New Talent Development Team employee had scouted in advance.
When I arrived at the cafe, a neat man in a suit who had been standing in front of the door spotted me and approached.
“Pleased to meet you, Actor Lee Si-joon. I’m Kim Jun-man, team leader of Festa Entertainment’s New Talent Development Team.”
Kim Jun-man was a middle-aged man with a clean appearance that matched his suit.
Impressed by Kim Jun-man’s likable first impression, I bowed in return.
“Hello, I’m Lee Si-joon. Thank you for arranging this meeting despite your busy schedule.”
Kim Jun-man waved his hands as if he had been waiting for this and replied.
“It’s my honor to get a meeting opportunity with Actor Lee Si-joon, who’s the hottest right now. Shall we go in?”
Kim Jun-man skillfully guided me into the cafe.
It seemed we could have a comfortable conversation as the cafe had separate rooms for privacy protection.
In fact, the cafe itself was so quiet that we could have talked comfortably even without a private room.
While I was taking in the cafe’s atmosphere, Kim Jun-man came with a tray holding two cups of coffee.
“Here’s your iced Americano.”
“Thank you.”
“I heard you finished re-shooting three episodes today. You must have worked hard.”
“The staff worked harder. I’m rather in a position of receiving a good opportunity.”
“To say such things even after just finishing a difficult shoot. You’re as humble as I’ve heard.”
“Well, it’s the truth… But what do you mean, ‘as you’ve heard’?”
“Ah. Before the meeting, I asked Actor Goo Kyung-mo a bit about you. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. I understand. The story of
As I said this, Kim Jun-man shook his head with a serious expression.
“That’s part of it, but I asked about Actor Lee Si-joon out of personal curiosity.”
“Personal curiosity?”
“Yes. Honestly, I didn’t think the
“Ah…”
“And I’m certain that Actor Lee Si-joon’s presence played a big part in that. The hot response towards you is proof of that.”
I also felt that the atmosphere was flowing in a strange direction, different from what I had expected.
It was inevitable since the ratings were better than before my regression.
However, hearing such things from someone else’s mouth felt a bit awkward.
As if reading my mind, Kim Jun-man immediately smiled and changed the subject.
“I’ve started with too serious a topic. Shall we talk about something else? I heard you attend Double U Acting Academy run by Actor Seo Myung-hee…”
The conversation with Kim Jun-man started with Double U Acting Academy and naturally moved to detailed stories about Goo Kyung-mo.
Kim Jun-man seemed to treat Goo Kyung-mo like a close younger brother.
As it turned out, Kim Jun-man was originally Goo Kyung-mo’s manager at the director level.
Now he was in charge of the New Talent Development Team due to an internal personnel appointment.
‘I can see why they put Kim Jun-man in charge of the New Talent Development Team.’
After talking for almost 30 minutes, I could somewhat gauge what kind of person Kim Jun-man was.
Kim Jun-man was someone who could act politely while making the other person feel comfortable.
But it wasn’t like he didn’t talk about agency-related matters at all.
There was a strong feeling of subtly infusing Festa Entertainment’s strengths in a comfortable atmosphere.
I felt that if I were to work in such a place, I could also entrust important matters with peace of mind.
‘It’s not like Festa Entertainment is small in scale either.’
Festa Entertainment’s scale was among the top ten in the country.
At this scale, I could receive scripts for most of the works I wanted.
Even if I missed something, it was possible for them to directly obtain scripts for me.
‘Above all, Festa Entertainment is famous for not making unreasonable demands on its actors.’
This was natural for top-tier actors.
But for rookie actors, agencies sometimes made unreasonable demands depending on the agency.
It was unavoidable from the agency’s standpoint, needing to recover their investment within the contract period, but sometimes this went too far.
Festa Entertainment was an agency with no bad rumors in this aspect.
‘This atmosphere is probably why Goo Kyung-mo can act comfortably on set.’
While I was forming these positive impressions about Festa Entertainment,
Kim Jun-man’s talk had already reached its final stages.
“Thank you again for giving us this opportunity. We’ll be waiting for your call.”
I shook hands with Kim Jun-man, thinking that I should definitely contact him even if I didn’t choose Festa Entertainment.
The first meeting with an agency was more successful than I had worried.
As they say, well begun is half done, and just making a good start was meaningful.
* * *
For several days, I continued to meet with employees from various agencies.
Although each company had different organizational structures and rank systems,
Generally, it could be said that team leader-level employees from the New Talent Development Teams came to the meetings.
The meetings went smoothly as almost all agencies actively courted me.
Some emphasized their good relationships with renowned production companies.
Others relied on the reputation of top-tier actors within their agency.
The team leader-level employee from ‘Lala Actors’ sitting in front of me now was a similar case.
“It’s not for nothing that our company has top stars like Actor Kwon Jung-wook. It’s our quick and accurate care and discerning eye for good works that created Actor Kwon Jung-wook. If Actor Lee Si-joon were to come to our company…”
Certainly, Lala Actors, where Kwon Jung-wook belonged, was a bit appealing, to be honest.
Kwon Jung-wook was a top-tier actor who came from the Sorisaem Theater Company where I had belonged.
As such, I was well aware of the rumors about his skills.
And it was clear that if I could learn even one thing by being near such an actor, it would be helpful.
‘But…’
Unfortunately, just being in the same agency didn’t mean I could easily learn acting from him.
It might be possible to exchange greetings once or twice around the agency.
But learning acting was out of the question, not even in my wildest dreams.
‘Unfortunately, Lala Actors doesn’t have any other merits besides this. So, pass…’
With that, all agency meetings concluded, ending with Lala Actors.
My heart naturally leaned towards Festa Entertainment.
Although I had meetings with dozens of agencies, none had conducted the meeting in such a comfortable atmosphere as Festa Entertainment.
Yang I-deum’s agency, ‘Flower Factory’, wasn’t bad either.
But it was slightly smaller in scale compared to Festa Entertainment.
I heard it was a newly established company by a director from Tree Actors who brought a few actors with him.
‘Flower Factory is probably struggling just to care for their current actors. So the answer is clear… Is this the end of my agency search?’
I certainly thought so, but Seo Myung-hee delivered unexpected news.
When I answered the phone, Seo Myung-hee’s voice on the other end sounded slightly excited.
-Are you doing well with the agency meetings?
“Yes, teacher.”
-Tree Actors says they want to meet Si-joon. Are you interested?
I couldn’t believe Tree Actors was being mentioned here.
I could understand why Seo Myung-hee’s voice was excited.
I couldn’t help but ask back, not believing what I heard.
“…Really?”
-Yes. I was surprised too. It’s rare for Tree Actors to contact first like this. They’re quite famous in this industry.
Seo Myung-hee regained her composure and confirmed once again that it was indeed Tree Actors who made contact.
‘I never thought I’d be involved with Tree Actors again in this way…’
As mentioned earlier, Tree Actors was the company I belonged to before my regression.
Not all memories of Tree Actors were happy ones.
But most of the memories weren’t bad.
After all, it was Tree Actors that led me on the path to becoming an actor.
While I was thinking this, Seo Myung-hee continued.
-They’re not a big company for nothing. It seems like it wouldn’t hurt to have a meeting with them as they’re good in many ways. What do you think?
If I were to have a meeting, what would happen?
Could I possibly reunite with familiar faces?
Feeling an unexpected sense of anticipation, I answered.
“Yes. That sounds good. Please give Tree Actors a positive response.”
And the next afternoon.
I was able to meet with a Tree Actors New Talent Development Team employee right away.
Surprisingly, the person who came to the meeting was ‘Yoo Da-won’, the New Talent Development Team employee who had led me into the entertainment industry in the past.
‘Yoo Da-won… The person who scouted me for Tree Actors after coincidentally watching a Sorisaem play when I was wandering around playing the role of a prison guard…’
Unlike other agencies, a team leader-level employee didn’t come to the meeting, but I didn’t mind.
Considering Tree Actors’ scale, it wasn’t strange at all.
Above all, I was so happy to meet Yoo Da-won.
I barely hid my joy as I greeted Yoo Da-won.
“I’m glad we could meet like this despite arranging the meeting in a hurry. I’m Yoo Da-won, an employee of Tree Actors’ New Talent Development Team.”
Perhaps because it was a familiar face, I felt at ease instantly.
Honestly, it felt even more comfortable than during the meeting with Kim Jun-man.
From my perspective, it was like meeting someone I had known for a long time, so it was natural.
Moreover, even objectively speaking, Yoo Da-won was a capable employee.
This was even more evident considering that she would secure the position of Tree Actors’ New Talent Development Team leader in four years.
‘They say old friends are the best… Am I truly connected to Tree Actors by an unbreakable thread of fate?’
Yoo Da-won, perhaps thinking the atmosphere was set, began to speak in earnest.
However, as Yoo Da-won’s talk progressed, I had to revise my earlier thoughts.
At the same time, I felt my expression hardening gradually.
It was clear disappointment.