The Face Genius Actor

Episode 094

After confirming the problem with Scene 14.

I immediately took out my phone and checked my bank account balance.

As expected, the amount wasn’t much.

It was a number that others might envy.

But with this amount, I couldn’t make a proper investment.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have done more commercials…’

Actors don’t make big money from appearance fees for works.

It would be a lie to say they don’t make any money at all, but usually, significant income came from shooting commercials.

However, I hadn’t been active in shooting commercials until now.

I generally accepted proposals that could help promote my name.

It was unavoidable.

After all, focusing on commercials made it difficult to concentrate on my work.

Not only did it reduce time to review scripts, but it also took away a lot of time for acting practice.

Decisively, I didn’t have much greed for money.

But in this situation, I regretted not doing commercials.

Even if I had accepted all the offers and shot commercials, I probably wouldn’t have been able to help sufficiently.

But in a situation where every little bit helps, it was inevitable to feel regretful.

However, this wasn’t a situation where I could keep feeling regretful.

I had to find a way somehow, and for that, I called someone.

It was Kim Bo-mi.

-Yes! Actor!

“Hello, Team Leader. Do you have a moment to talk?”

-Of course! Go ahead!

“Actually… I have something I want to talk about regarding .”

I explained the situation of in detail.

Along with this, I added that investment was needed.

Kim Bo-mi seemed to think for a moment and then replied.

-Internally, we do judge to have a high chance of success. Above all, because it’s a project you chose.

Fortunately, it was a positive response.

But at the same time, I felt puzzled.

“I’m glad you think positively about it. But what does that have to do with my choice?”

-Of course it’s related. From to . You’re someone who has surpassed 10% viewership ratings with every project you’ve chosen.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t an easy feat.

Of course, I hadn’t starred in all of these projects.

But still, the probability of three consecutive projects exceeding 10% viewership wasn’t very high.

From a third-party perspective, one might think I had a good eye for projects.

However, I had never thought about it this way until now.

So I answered honestly.

“Ah, I see. I’ve never thought about it that way, so I didn’t realize.”

-I thought you might say that. Anyway, the staff will likely lean towards investing in out of respect for your choice.

“Is that so?”

-You may not know this, but the company is also interested in film investment and production to expand its business. However…

“However?”

-I’m not sure how the CEO, who has the final decision-making power on project investments, will think about it. He’s known for making decisions very cautiously.

“Ah… I see.”

Festa Entertainment had almost all of its work handled by the staff.

It was a company that thought this way of handling work was more efficient.

So I thought the matter of film investment could be concluded at the staff level.

I didn’t expect to hear about the CEO in the course of this conversation.

‘But…’

Thinking about it again, it seemed that the CEO’s decision would be necessary for film investment.

Because film investment involved an unimaginably large amount of money.

‘Right. Even a CEO who values staff authority wouldn’t be able to just let this pass.’

In the end, to receive investment from Festa Entertainment, the CEO’s permission was needed.

And to get that permission, I opened my mouth.

“The CEO said he wanted to have dinner with me once, right?”

-He did… Don’t tell me?

“Yes. I’ll meet the CEO in person and talk about the investment.”

* * *

That evening.

I was able to meet the CEO of Festa Entertainment faster than I had expected.

The fine dining restaurant I arrived at for dinner was called LAP GUSTUS, located in Hannam-dong.

It was quite a large fine dining restaurant, but the problem was that there were no private rooms.

‘Is it okay to discuss investment here?’

I was momentarily flustered, but this wasn’t the time to just stand around.

I had to greet Festa Entertainment’s CEO, Jung Yoon-seok, soon.

“Actor Lee Si-joon! Over here!”

“Hello, CEO.”

“Haha! Nice to meet you! Please sit here.”

I quickly shook hands with CEO Jung Yoon-seok and took a suitable seat.

For a moment, people inside the restaurant turned their gaze towards me and murmured.

The fortunate thing was that the interior of the fine dining restaurant was quite spacious.

Unless one deliberately tried to eavesdrop, it was difficult to hear even the voices from the next table clearly.

The music playing quite loudly seemed to be having an effect.

As I was busily scanning the interior of the fine dining restaurant.

CEO Jung Yoon-seok spoke up.

“Were you surprised that I called you to such an open place?”

“Yes, a little. But it doesn’t seem like conversation can be heard. There are just a lot of people.”

“Haha. This is a place I like. I almost always have meals here when meeting someone.”

“Even with other celebrities?”

I asked this because most celebrities prefer spaces isolated from people.

CEO Jung Yoon-seok answered with a smile.

“We’re not committing any crime, so why do we need to be in a private room?”

At that moment, someone tried to take a picture in our direction.

A restaurant employee approached the customer first and stopped them.

He pointed to a notice on one wall, which stated that photographing other tables was prohibited.

“And actually, this restaurant belongs to my father.”

CEO Jung Yoon-seok whispered this while covering his mouth with one hand.

At the same time, I could understand why he had set up the dinner appointment here.

Certainly, in a place with such a system in place, there seemed to be no need to hide in a private room.

Especially considering that private rooms can feel relatively stuffy.

‘There might be celebrities who prefer dining in such a spacious hall.’

Being loved by many people was a happy thing, but…

Sometimes this life could feel a bit suffocating.

Not only did you feel like you were under surveillance wherever you went, but even when going to a restaurant, you had to first check if there was a private room or hide in a corner.

Knowing that this was a restaurant where I could dine comfortably…

I felt much more at ease.

“I understand the feeling of inviting guests to your father’s restaurant.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. My father also runs a small restaurant.”

“Ah. Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard about it. Was it a whole chicken place?”

“That’s right. It’s in the Mangwon area.”

“I should have a company dinner there with the staff sometime.”

“I’d be grateful if you did.”

As Jung Yoon-seok and I were exchanging light conversation…

An employee approached and asked if we were ready to order.

“Yes, please prepare it.”

CEO Jung Yoon-seok answered.

Since it seemed to be a course meal restaurant, there didn’t appear to be a separate time for choosing menu items.

“Is there any food you can’t eat?”

The employee asked me, and I shook my head.

Unless it was something I particularly liked, there was no food in my dictionary that I couldn’t eat.

After the employee left, CEO Jung Yoon-seok spoke.

“I’ve already chosen a wine I like, but would you prefer something else?”

“No, wine is fine.”

“That’s good. Let’s start talking in earnest after the amuse-bouche arrives.”

A moment later.

The amuse-bouche appeared, with a grilled shrimp on top of a boiled cherry tomato.

The employee also opened a bottle of red wine for us to drink together.

When I put the amuse-bouche in my mouth, the distinctive aroma of truffle along with the freshness of lemon zest stimulated my appetite.

It seemed to be an amuse-bouche that matched perfectly with red wine.

“I’ve always wanted to meet Actor Lee Si-joon, but the opportunity didn’t come easily.”

“Is that so?”

“Even when I expressed my intention, Team Leader Kim cut it off completely in between. I once asked why she did that, and she said something like ‘don’t bother busy people unnecessarily.'”

Jung Yoon-seok was relatively young for an agency CEO.

Perhaps because of this, he seemed to get along comfortably with his employees.

You could tell his personality just by the fact that he had entrusted all practical affairs to his employees.

Usually, companies that set up their systems this way fell into one of two categories:

Either the CEO was too old and had stepped back, leaving all practical matters to the employees…

Or they had an open mindset and handed over all practical authority.

Naturally, CEO Jung Yoon-seok belonged to the latter category.

“Actually, there was a reason I wanted to meet Actor Lee Si-joon separately.”

“A reason?”

“It might be just my personal thought, but I felt that Actor Lee Si-joon’s career path was a bit different from ordinary people.”

“Different… I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

“You’re clearly a rookie, but it doesn’t feel that way. That’s the impression I got.”

I couldn’t help but be slightly surprised by CEO Jung Yoon-seok’s words.

I had never thought that someone would see through to the essence like this.

“Haha. It was just a thought. Don’t mind it too much. More importantly, you said there was a reason you wanted to see me today?”

I nodded, wiped my mouth with a napkin, and placed it back on my lap.

Then I spoke.

“Yes. I wanted to ask for investment in .”

“If it’s about investment, it must be a company-level request. Indeed, I’m interested in film investment for business expansion. However, investing in feels a bit burdensome.”

“May I ask why?”

“The reason is simple. The film director’s experience is too limited. As it’s our first investment, I’d like to play it a bit safer.”

CEO Jung Yoon-seok didn’t bring up any other topics.

And with that, it felt like he had perfectly hit the core of the issue.

In fact, the reason was struggling with investment now was also due to Director Kim Pil-sung’s short career.

I pondered how I could persuade CEO Jung Yoon-seok.

Fortunately, there was a way.

“You said I didn’t feel like a rookie, right?”

“Yes, I did. And in reality, Actor Lee Si-joon is no longer a rookie. You’ve successfully established yourself as a main actor through .”

“That’s right. I was able to do that faster than anyone else.”

“That’s what I was curious about. How you were able to establish yourself so quickly like this. Why none of the projects you choose ever fail.”

I smiled brightly at CEO Jung Yoon-seok and answered.

“It’s intuition.”

“…Intuition?”

“Yes. My intuition tells me. So, to add one more thing, will be a success. Absolutely.”

CEO Jung Yoon-seok’s face hardened.

As if wondering how I could be so certain.