Chapter 191: Time to Work (2)

The unsolved massage mystery continued to linger in Kang Ra-Eun’s mind.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

No matter how much she thought about it, she had no idea. It got on her nerves even more from how reluctant Je-Woon was to tell her the reason even when she asked him about it.

‘They’re all so weird.’

Ra-Eun got out of the car in confusion.

Team Leader So Ha-Jin asked, “Should I go up with you?”

“No, it’s okay. Even the most daring stalker wouldn’t follow me into the agency building.”

Even if Ra-Eun was tailed by a second or third stalker, she just needed to beat them down like she had done in Busan. She told Ha-Jin that she would contact her around twenty minutes before the meeting ended, entered the elevator and pressed the button for the seventh floor where Chief Jung was waiting for her.

The elevator stopped on the first floor, and a familiar face energetically greeted her as soon as the door opened.

“My, oh my, if it isn’t Ra-Eun!”

“Argh!” Ra-Eun expressed.

Rita’s bright smile soon turned into one of frustration.

“Do you dislike me that much?”

“I don’t dislike you, I just... feel a bit of aversion to you.”

“That’s the same thing.”

Ra-Eun couldn’t refute Rita’s words since they were the truth.

Rita stood alongside her beloved junior and asked, “Where are you going?”

“I got a call from Chief Jung, so I’m off to meet him.”

“Oh, it must be about that.”

“That?”

“Can I spoil it?”

Ra-Eun nodded as if she didn’t mind. She would find out once she met Chief Jung anyway, so she thought it was fine as long as it was something that she wouldn’t lose out on just from getting spoiled in advance.

“I happened to hear Chief Jung talking to your manager. It was about how you should ride the momentum of the hit streak from One of a Kind of Girl and Shuttered

.”

In other words...

“He must have a job for me,” Ra-Eun said.

“I assume so.”

Ra-Eun had somewhat expected it since she had taken a long break after Shuttered. She had enough time to recharge, so Chief Jung was likely hoping for her to get back into the fray. Seo Yi-Jun’s words from this morning popped up in her head.

‘He’d asked me when my next production was.’

His words had become truth. However, Ra-Eun did not have much attachment to her entertainment industry career. Even if she were to star in something, she would hold off on it until a massive hit came her way.

‘I'm making far more than enough money right now.’

Ra-Eun already had countless things to do other than her duties in the entertainment industry. She recalled the list of hit films that she had made inside her head while on her way to the fitness center.

‘There aren’t any films that stand out this year and the beginning of next year.’

Hence, if Chief Jung was going to bring up her next production like Rita had predicted, she was going to refuse immediately.

The elevator bell rang and stopped on the fifth floor. Rita got out and waved at Ra-Eun with her right hand.

“I’ll see you next time, Ra-Eun.”

“See you, sunbae.”

Rita was as energetic as always. Ra-Eun liked everything about Rita apart from her excessive love for her. It was truly a shame.

***

“It’d be great if you could choose your next production...” Chief Jung uttered carefully.

Ra-Eun was not surprised since she had fully expected it.

“I’ll do it if I see a good script, but I haven’t seen any that especially stood out.”

Ra-Eun calmly explained the reason why she had not been resuming her acting career. However, Chief Jung had expected her to say that.

“I’m pretty confident in this one,” he remarked and proudly placed a thick bundle of paper on the meeting room table soon after. “I’m 100% sure you’ll like it.”

Unlike the confident Chief Jung, Shin Yu-Bin maintained her skepticism.

“Chief Jung. I told you that’s not Ra-Eun’s style of production.”

“That’s for Ra-Eun to decide, isn’t it? Just give it a read.”

Their opinions already seemed pretty divided. Ra-Eun had not looked through its contents yet, but Ra-Eun had the same thought as Yu-Bin. Not only was it highly unlikely that a hit film would be released at this point in time, but the fact that opinions were already polarized within the agency meant that it would be difficult to satisfy the public upon its release. The more polarizing a film was, the less likely that it would do well in cinemas. Ra-Eun already had a preconception of the film being a flop before even looking through the script.

‘Well, I’ll just pretend to read through it and then refuse.’

Chief Jung wasn’t the kind of person to force people into starring in a film that they didn’t like, so Ra-Eun decided to skim through it without much pressure placed on her.

Flutter—!

Ra-Eun’s eyes slowly turned sharper the more she read through the story. Soon after...

“Chief Jung,” Ra-Eun closed the script and said. “I’ll do it.”

“See?! I told you! Didn’t I say Ra-Eun would definitely do it?” Chief Jung exclaimed in delight as if he had won a bet.

However, that was not the end of it.

“But I have a condition,” Ra-Eun expressed.

“A condition?”

“Yes, a very important condition.”

Her large smile carried deep meaning behind it.

***

Director Seo Yong-Mun was completely scatterbrained because of the sudden establishment of a meeting with Kang Ra-Eun.

“D-Did Ra-Eun really say that she would star as the lead role?” he asked the assistant director while on their way to the meeting location.

The assistant director, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, sighed deeply.

“Director. Do you remember how many times you’ve asked me that exact same question since this morning?”

“I don’t know... Around five times?”

“Twelve times. Twelve! Over forty times including yesterday!”

The people at the office had to suffer through his constant barrage of the same question. Director Seo also felt sorry for his employees.

“That’s just how unbelievable it is. Just think about it. Kang Ra-Eun is starring in our film! No, she’s descending from the skies to grace our production!”

“Well... It’s not like I don’t understand how you feel.”

Director Seo had never made a single hit film in his entire career. He thought of things that other people considered a regular achievement, a huge success. That was how quenched he was for success, and an opportunity for such a success had finally come his way.

He had somewhat successfully acquired enough funds for production thanks to a decent investment, and he also personally thought very highly of the synopsis. All that he needed was a top star actress to take on the lead role.

“You said from the start of making the synopsis that Ra-Eun was number one on the list of actresses you wanted to entrust the lead role to, didn’t you?” the assistant director asked.

“I sure did, but I’d never expected her to actually agree to it.”

Director Seo knew that a top star actress like Ra-Eun would be receiving offers from directors far more famous than himself, hence he honestly had little hope that she would choose his production among all others.

“This is no less than a miracle, isn’t it?” he said.

The assistant director laughed bitterly.

“It is, but isn’t it way too early to be happy?” he remarked.

“What do you mean?”

“We decided to finalize the casting offer after we heard Ra-Eun’s condition.”

“Oh... right.”

Director Seo had been momentarily blinded to reality due to his extreme joy. Ra-Eun had technically not fully agreed to their conditions; she had decided to accept the offer if they accepted a condition of her own. The problem was...

“We don’t know what Ra-Eun’s condition is, do we?” Director Seo asked.

“No. I haven’t heard anything either.”

“Who was it that answered our call?”

“Chief Kim, but he said that he also hadn’t heard.”

“Hmm... really?”

Director Seo couldn’t tell what Ra-Eun’s condition could be at all.

“Maybe it’s about a raise in appearance fee?”

“That’s the most plausible, isn’t it?”

Director Seo’s production, Spokesperson (Working Title), did not have much funds to work off of unlike other films. Although it was a fairly large amount by Director Seo’s standards, it was nowhere near enough to afford an actress like Kang Ra-Eun. Hence, they had not been able to offer Ra-Eun a large appearance fee, which was why Director Seo had not even hoped for her to star in their film.

However, there were some actors who prioritized the production itself over the money that they would make. They would star in a production because they fell in love with the synopsis, irrespective of the appearance fee. Hence, they wondered if Ra-Eun also corresponded to that instance.

“But even if that’s the case, we offered a fairly low amount,” Director Seo remarked with a guilty conscience.

The assistant director could only laugh awkwardly in response since he wasn’t wrong. They arrived at the GNF building where Ra-Eun was waiting for them.

“I guess a famous company is in a league of its own.”

GNF had developed from a run-of-the-mill agency to one of the top three entertainment agencies in Korea, all thanks to Ra-Eun. There were also stars that wished to sign a contract with GNF from time to time because they were so inspired by Ra-Eun’s accomplishments.

Director Seo and the assistant director were guided to the meeting room by an employee. Ra-Eun greeted them with a radiant smile once she saw them.

“Hello. I’m Kang Ra-Eun. I enjoyed your synopsis, Director Seo.”

“N-No. You have no idea how shocked we were when we got the call that you enjoyed it... To be honest, we thought that you wouldn’t even give our production an ounce of attention.”

That was how low their expectations had been, but a miracle had occurred. However, they needed to clear a prerequisite for that miracle to fully bear fruit.

“Do you mind if I get straight to the point?” Ra-Eun asked.

Director Seo and the assistant director nodded as if they had been waiting for it. Meanwhile, the faces of Chief Jung and Yu-Bin sitting next to Ra-Eun did not look too good. The reason was because of the conditions that Ra-Eun was about to place.

“I have two main conditions. First is to secure more funds by bringing in another investor. In other words, upping the ante.”

“That’s not difficult. I’m sure we’ll be able to get plenty of investment offers if you decide to take on the lead role.”

“And as for the second condition, this is the dealbreaker. I’d like for the scenario and character settings to be edited.”

“By edit, do you mean... the entire thing?”

“Yes.”

Director Seo finally understood why Chief Jung and Yu-Bin had been making such faces.

The assistant director asked, “Exactly how much are you asking to be edited?”

“Not much.”

Ra-Eun smiled and gave them a rough number for them to easily understand.

“Around... eighty percent?”

In other words, she was telling them to change mostly everything.