The Face Genius Actor

Episode 049

At the present time.

The chief designer of otoño had not yet been legally and definitively branded as a child sex offender.

The indelible dishonor would come, as I remembered, three years from now.

‘And in the meantime, otoño would gain worldwide popularity. Quite sensational, you could say.’

It was set to be actively introduced in Korea next year and become very popular.

This was because the ‘zipper two-way tote bag’ that otoño would soon produce became widely known through celebrities on social media.

At that time, the zipper two-way tote bag was the most easily found product on Instagram or YouTube.

Of course, along with that, rumors about the chief designer’s unsavory incident circulated.

But no one seemed to care.

It wasn’t that they heard the rumors and pretended not to know.

The popularity of the zipper two-way tote bag was so great that the story was completely buried.

‘The reality is that not many people know the name of a fashion brand’s chief designer in the first place.’

Let alone an unproven crime of a chief designer, so it was natural that there was no interest.

After receiving attention for a while, news broke that the Spanish government had arrested otoño’s chief designer.

After that, when the verdict of child sex crime was announced, a backlash began.

Not only the social media celebrities who had widely promoted the zipper two-way tote bag,

But even the fashion magazines that had introduced otoño before couldn’t escape criticism.

‘The decisive factor was when the zipper two-way tote bags flooded the secondhand market and prices dropped.’

I didn’t know if And You was included in this criticism.

Too many people were involved to remember in such detail.

But if tomorrow morning’s shoot proceeded according to the script, there was a possibility of being included in the criticism.

In fact, even if they became targets of criticism, there would be no defense.

After all, it was problematic to introduce otoño without properly researching.

‘So, in truth, I’ve wanted to talk about otoño ever since I checked the script…’

But I couldn’t find the right opportunity.

Of course, I could have created an opportunity if I wanted to.

However, I wasn’t sure if changing the outfit would be possible just because I said so.

If handled poorly, it could have been dismissed as the whim of an immature actor, like just before.

In reality, there were people who delayed shoots for hours because they didn’t like the outfits on set.

Most of these people were models from the entertainment industry.

I didn’t want to cause unnecessary misunderstanding in an uncertain situation.

So, I first tried to understand what kind of people Celia and Im Seung-yeon were.

As they say, it’s like reading sutras to a cow’s ear.

Even if I secured evidence, it would be useless if the two didn’t listen to me.

So I worked all day while closely observing the two who had the decision-making power over outfit changes.

And I came to a conclusion.

If these two people truly loved their work and were passionate about it,

They would listen to my story.

However, I couldn’t accuse otoño’s chief designer of being a child sex offender without any concrete evidence.

That could cause another problem.

For this reason, I asked Yeo Kyung-chan and Song Jin-ah to find articles separately.

I knew there had been controversy from around this time, even though there hadn’t been a legal verdict yet.

It was natural.

If there hadn’t been this kind of controversy in the first place, there would have been no reason for social media celebrities or fashion magazines that introduced otoño to be criticized later.

So, Yeo Kyung-chan and Song Jin-ah managed to find a local article in Spanish with difficulty.

It seemed there weren’t many articles yet, as it was before the misconduct was fully revealed.

Im Seung-yeon, confronted with the evidence, muttered,

“To think there was such an issue with this designer…”

Celia, who was checking the Spanish article together, cried out while pulling her hair,

“Ah! We’re ruined! Why didn’t we discover this earlier?”

Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed that otoño’s outfit wouldn’t be used, as I had expected.

The article only mentioned that the designer was suspected of child sex crimes.

But from And You’s standpoint, there was no reason to take on the risk of introducing otoño.

It was easier to make the decision as the zipper two-way tote bag wasn’t yet creating a buzz domestically.

Of course, a more authoritative editor or photographer might not have cared about this issue.

But as I thought, these two weren’t that type.

So the conversation naturally moved on to how to deal with this situation.

“What should we do? It looks like we’ll be short one outfit for tomorrow.”

As Celia said, being short one outfit was a big problem.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t run the special feature just because they were short one outfit.

But it was inevitable that the script would become somewhat sloppy.

To think the quality of the special would drop after coming all the way to Guam at great expense.

Celia couldn’t help but feel disappointed and frustrated.

“There were many B-cuts of the actor that were too good to just leave out. How about selecting a few of those to include in the magazine?”

Im Seung-yeon cautiously suggested, and Celia responded.

“That’s a realistic alternative… But originally, I was planning to include all the A-cuts as they are, and release the B-cuts separately. With the feeling of ‘the face completes the fashion’, on platforms like YouTube.”

To think they were planning to release the B-cuts separately.

Hearing that answer, I felt disappointed too.

It showed how satisfied Celia was with this project.

And You occasionally released B-cuts separately on channels like YouTube.

But it wasn’t a common occurrence.

It was only possible when the editor was highly satisfied with the result.

After all, re-editing B-cuts to create content for social media took a lot of effort.

“I was hoping for that too, so you were already picturing it…”

“Yes. Besides, B-cuts are B-cuts after all. The quality will inevitably be lower than filling the special feature with all A-cuts.”

“That’s certainly true. So what should we do? We can’t find outfits in a hurry either.”

“If it weren’t for the ‘Living in Guam for a Month’ concept, we could have searched duty-free shops for outfits, but we can’t do that either… Sigh…”

The two couldn’t hide their troubled expressions, seemingly deep in thought.

Meanwhile, several ideas came up.

“How about selecting something usable from the male staff’s personal outfits?”

“That’s a common method, but everyone wore famous brand clothes because we’re on a business trip to Guam.”

“Then that won’t work. By any chance, what spare clothes did you bring, actor?”

“I brought sponsored clothes for the actor, but there’s nothing that fits the concept. I brought clothes from famous domestic brands.”

After Song Jin-ah’s answer, silence fell over the restaurant.

I felt like a criminal for bringing up the topic unnecessarily.

As if she knew what I was thinking, Celia quickly waved her hands and spoke.

“Ah, I’m absolutely not blaming you, actor. Rather, I’m really grateful that you informed us about the otoño issue that I failed to catch.”

“It’s nothing. I was lucky. As I said earlier, I just happened to find out while looking for articles out of curiosity about what kind of brand otoño was.”

I answered like this while glancing towards Yeo Kyung-chan and Song Jin-ah.

In fact, they wanted me to say that I had known about the otoño issue in advance.

They seemed to think it would prove how much interest I had in fashion.

But I told them I’d prefer not to do that.

I felt sorry for Yeo Kyung-chan and Song Jin-ah who worked hard searching for internet articles during the flight without rest.

But I didn’t want to be praised for my efforts in that way.

This was especially so because otoño wasn’t yet a very famous brand even in Europe.

While it was unlikely that knowing about otoño would reveal that I was a returnee, I thought it’s better to keep secrets well hidden.

Knowing the future was my big weapon after all.

Moreover, I had prepared one more thing in anticipation of this situation.

Because of this, there was no need to say that I knew about the otoño issue in advance.

I slowly brought up the topic while observing Celia and Im Seung-yeon’s expressions.

“Um… If you’re short on outfits, would it be okay if I recommend a brand?”

Hearing my words, Celia reacted first.

“Outfit recommendation? That would be great!”

Im Seung-yeon more cautiously pointed out the important part.

“I hope it’s an outfit that fits our concept. The situation is so tricky…”

I nodded as if understanding Im Seung-yeon’s thoughts and answered.

“Living in Guam for a month. A casual but put-together feel. I’m not certain, but I think this brand might fit the concept.”

I opened a new site on my phone and showed the screen to the two of them.

I had found this English site relatively easily by myself.

Celia and Im Seung-yeon put their heads together to check the site on my phone.

Fortunately, unlike when I showed them the Spanish local article earlier, their expressions brightened.

“To think there was such a brand locally in Guam! This is amazing! Right, photographer?”

“Indeed. It’s really surprising how you know about this brand. The concept even seems to fit better than what we originally prepared?”

“Actor, if you give me the site address, I’ll contact them right away to see if we can get the outfit!”

“Yes, I’ll give you the address.”

Having found hope, the two began modifying tomorrow’s shooting schedule.

And You employees who had gone up to their rooms came down to the restaurant one by one.

The schedule adjustment continued late into the night.

* * *

The next day.

We moved towards Pago Bay Overlook early in the morning for sunrise shooting.

However, some of the And You shooting team, including Celia, were not seen in the group.

They had decided to move separately to purchase the ‘NM’ outfit I recommended.

Yeo Kyung-chan asked with a worried voice in the moving car.

“Will the outfit arrive in time?”

I looked at the still dark Guam scenery, thought for a moment, and answered.

“We’ll have to hope so.”

Just before leaving the airport.

Today’s key objective was to receive the ‘NM’ outfit I introduced and do the final shoot.

However, it wasn’t a situation where we could be certain things would go as planned.

‘I wonder how it will turn out…’

I thought, casting my gaze out the dark car window.