Chapter 30
Reporter Lee Cheolsu was 100% certain that Noh Hye-young’s behavior had been completely intentional.
Her panicked expression and trembling voice distracted everyone around her, but her body had remained perfectly calm—pressing down on Daeun and hurting her without the slightest hesitation. Cunning and calculated, to say the least.
The reporter, relying on his professional instincts, filmed the scene with his phone.
In the footage, right after Daeun fell, Hye-young’s face was captured in stark detail, brimming with the exhilaration of having things go exactly as she’d intended.
He didn’t know when or how it might be used, but he decided to keep it.
“Let’s begin the reading for Jackpot. I’m Director Ji Seung-gyun.”
Director Ji stood up and introduced himself. The cast greeted everyone in turn—from veteran actor Park Byeong-geun in his seventies, to Moon Sook-hee, Gil Jae-man, and Choi Hee-seong. Then the youngest among the leads, Daeun, stood and bowed.
“I’m Kang Daeun, playing the role of Siho.”
Her lightly made-up face looked young.
Hmm. Isn’t she a little too young to be playing someone in their early thirties?
Reporter Lee briefly wondered, then shrugged it off. That was up to the production team to handle.
“In the cold, damp prison cell, Guyong mutters…”
Rustle, rustle. As the pages turned, Director Ji read the narration from the first page.
“Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine…”
Choi Hee-seong, playing Guyong, delivered his lines with emotion.
Reporter Lee half-listened as he drafted a simple press note.
The plot was still confidential, so he added just a line or two about the film’s concept and cast, and included plenty of photos. With such an impressive lineup and a trusted director, it would surely get high engagement.
Lastly, he added a photo of Kang Daeun, the hot new rookie everyone had been talking about.
Hmm. But films take time to shoot and release, don’t they?
Noh Hye-young seemed to be jumping directly into another drama. She’d started gaining recognition with We Must, and this new drama was likely a move to boost her profile.
Was she planning to seize the spotlight during Daeun’s hiatus?
Thinking of Hye-young, the reporter shook his head. That girl had quite the sly streak.
Not long ago, at a drinking gathering with CEO Hong Mu-seok, Lee had seen her—her eye smiles and gestures overflowing with flattery.
He had asked her then whether she was close with Daeun, since they came from the same school.
Hye-young had answered with just one line:
“I have more star quality than her.”
Her answer was practically see-through.
Her eyes had burned with jealousy as she openly declared her desire to outshine Daeun.
Hong, who seemed to have met Daeun before, chimed in and praised Hye-young as well.
Hye-young was unmistakably the fox type.
Daeun looked more like the bear type.
If he were Daeun, he thought, and someone who disliked him enough to crush his leg wanted to compete—he’d want to win no matter what.
Movies could take years to release if things went wrong, so dramas were the better option for fame.
So far, Daeun had debuted first with Secret Letter and had the lead in We Must.
But during her filming hiatus, the rise of Noh Hye-young—who had CEO Hong behind her—could drastically shift their market value as actresses.
Unless Hye-young was truly terrible at acting, a successful drama would skyrocket her popularity.
No matter how he looked at it, the relationship between the two was not ordinary.
Interviewing their classmates from college would probably yield a lot.
He should go today.
Rediscovering his intrigue, Reporter Lee let out a small whistle.
* * *
The final episode of We Must was about to air.
The production staff had rented a large BBQ restaurant with a TV so everyone could watch the finale together.
“Everyone, great job!”
Hearing the opening song of the drama, Director Shin Jung-geun stood and raised his glass.
“The sudden schedule changes, and Daeun getting hurt—all sorts of things happened, but thanks to everyone, we made it safely to the end!”
While the director shared a short speech, everyone filled their glasses.
Daeun sat with the group of actors.
Tonight, she was bound to drink a lot. She wasn’t good with alcohol, so she had poured herself half a glass of beer—yet Hye-young, seated beside her, secretly added soju to it.
Daeun turned at the sound of sudden giggles, and Hye-young whispered:
“Come on, it’s a night for somaek!”
“As expected of our Hye-young! Beer alone won’t do. You have to drink until your nose gets crooked!”
Su-hyeok, who played the second male lead, chimed in, drawing Daeun’s attention. Hye-young nodded and poured soju into his glass.
Daeun didn’t understand why they were acting so over the top and tilted her head.
Just then, Director Shin wrapped up his remarks and called for a toast.
“The year-end awards are coming. Our network doesn’t have one, but the response has been so good—we might even get a reward vacation. Let’s hope for great news, and here’s to the reward vacation!”
“Cheers!”
Glasses clinked all around.
Daeun lifted her drink, only to be startled by how strong it tasted—the beer had far too much soju. She put it down without finishing a sip, but Hye-young nudged her with a smile.
“Daeun, what are you doing? You have to finish it!”
“Yeah, everyone did a one-shot! Come on, one-shot, one-shot!”
Su-hyeok clapped along, drawing the attention of the staff nearby.
“One-shot! One-shot!”
Even the staff joined in. Not wanting to kill the mood, Daeun shut her eyes tight and drank it all.
Hye-young and Su-hyeok cheered loudly, then began refilling people’s glasses—one pouring beer, the other adding soju in perfect harmony.
“Wow, Su-hyeok and Hye-young are the mood-makers tonight!”
The staff laughed and accepted their drinks.
Daeun easily guessed that those two had spiked her glass earlier.
When Su-hyeok tried to add soju to her glass again, Daeun discreetly moved it away.
“Sorry, I’ll just drink beer.”
She declined with a smile, but Su-hyeok insisted with a sly grin.
“You can’t do that on a night like this!”
He reached out, grabbed her glass, and poured in soju by force.
“Who even forces drinks anymore?”
Siwon, who had been grilling meat, pushed Daeun’s glass aside and handed her a fresh beer.
“What, the male lead taking care of the female lead?”
Hye-young teased in a nasal voice, pointing dramatically.
Everyone burst out laughing at their playful back-and-forth.
“That’s right!”
“The male lead has to protect the female lead!”
More cheers and clinking glasses followed.
“……”
The final episode of We Must was airing on the big TV, but neither the staff nor the actors were watching.
For three months, the We Must team had run themselves ragged—shooting and editing non-stop, barely sleeping or eating.
Now that it was finally over, they let loose, drinking and celebrating as if all restraints had snapped.
“Thank you for all your hard work.”
After drinking with the actors, Daeun stood and went around to different tables.
Partly because she didn’t want to stay near Su-hyeok and Hye-young, who kept trying to spike her drinks,
but mostly because she wanted to personally thank the staff who had worked endlessly without rest.
“Aigo, Daeun-ssi, you’re the one who worked the hardest.”
She chatted with the camera team, lighting team, audio team, and many others.
Even though she purposely stuck to low-alcohol beer, she was fairly drunk.
Hardly anyone forced drinks other than those few, so she enjoyed the conversations and was able to properly thank everyone.
“I’m going to get some fresh air.”
If she drank any more, she felt she might fall asleep right there, so Daeun walked outside.
“You okay?”
Someone sat beside her at the convenience store bench and handed her a bottle of water.
“Oh—thank you, sunbae.”
It was Jung Siwon. After drinking a sip, her head felt a little clearer.
“You drank quite a bit. How about heading home?”
“I think I should.”
She still felt floaty and dazed.
Staring blankly into the street, she pressed the cool bottle to her flushed cheek.
“Ahh, that’s nice…”
At her absent-minded mumble, Siwon let out a low laugh and poked her cheek.
“Your cheeks look like apples, Daeun.”
