Chapter 9
“What?”
Sara said casually as she drank sparkling water.
Mira, realizing the meaning of her words a bit too late, stammered as she asked,
“You’re not… saying you did it to make Kim Se-yeon suffer in the drama, are you?”
“Partly that. And also, I get to appear in Seong’s drama.”
“Hah.”
Mira’s mouth dropped open, and she couldn’t find words for a long moment.
“You really put your heart into it. You should just film a drama where you’re the lead instead, Sara. A minor role isn’t even worth the money.”
“I will. After this. I got a call from Director Choi recently—he said filming could start in the summer.”
“This summer? Are you sure? Won’t it get canceled again?”
“Don’t jinx it. You know how long I’ve been waiting for this.”
“Well, the rumors sounded a bit…”
When Sara asked what she meant, Mira hesitated and changed the subject awkwardly. Just then, Ju-young called to say they had arrived at the parking lot, so Sara didn’t press further.
When they arrived at the set, the director, looking hungover with dark circles down to his jaw, greeted her.
“We drank together, so why does your face look so smooth, Seo? Did you go to a spa this morning?”
“Ah, my face is puffy too, Director.”
Unlike yesterday, there were no scenes where Kim Se-yeon and Sara had to directly interact, so filming went smoothly.
“Director, can we reshoot Scene 32?”
“Why? Se-yeon did fine. She did well.”
“It’s hard to maintain the emotion. The part where I talk to Naju feels off.”
“Hah. Se-yeon, are you saying this for me to hear now?”
Of course, this didn’t make the set friendly. Jang Hee-jin, who plays Naju, glared at Se-yeon with narrowed eyes.
“Uh? No, that’s not it.”
“Why say something after the cameras start rolling when you didn’t mention it during rehearsal? You could’ve just synced from the beginning.”
“Senior, I didn’t want to say this, but the tone of the lines is so different from rehearsal.”
“Se-yeon, that’s funny. If you didn’t want to say it, then don’t.”
The calm argument quickly escalated. Director Kwak sighed deeply and waved at the camera crew filming the behind-the-scenes shots, telling them to stop.
The two actors huffed and raised their voices before storming out of the set. The director buried his head in his hands.
“Haa… really. All they do all day is argue. I don’t even have behind-the-scenes footage to release.”
“Director, your face looks half your size now.”
“Haa… Sara, I think I’m going to spend more time editing the behind-the-scenes than the actual drama.”
Sara patted the whining director on the shoulder and got up.
“Sorry, Director, I’ll go ahead.”
“Seo, where are you going? Leaving me in this chaos?”
“I’m going for vocal training. I have a stage scene as Chae Min-seo next week.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, go ahead. Hah, I want to go home too. Ugh.”
Sara left the suffocating set with a light smile.
“Okay, tighten your core a bit more. I’ll start from this part again.”
Sara drank half of the water in her bottle and nodded. The vocal trainer had just sat at the piano.
“Sara!”
Mira rushed into the practice room, looking flustered. She was holding Sara’s phone—actually, she was carrying it very politely with both hands, as if escorting it.
“You’ve got a call. Pick it up, quick!”
“Who is it? CEO Park?” Sara raised the phone Mira brought with a bored expression.
<Yoon Seung-tae>
Sara understood why Mira had been so flustered. She stared at the screen, her expression complicated. It was probably because of the text sent yesterday.
“Pick up quickly. What if they hang up? They’re waiting.”
Mira treated it like it was a call from the president. It was ridiculous, but Sara didn’t show it. She left the practice room, found a relatively quiet spot, and pressed the call button.
“Hello?”
[This is Yoon Seung-tae.]
“Yes.”
[I just saw your message.]
“Tell me when you’re free. I’ll buy you a meal then.”
Sara answered curtly, and a low chuckle came through the receiver.
“Why?”
[It’s just… I’ve never been forced to a meal like this before.]
“Then forget it.”
[But why did you suddenly change your mind? I thought you’d never eat with me again.]
“That’s because you’re unnecessary.”
— Hey, at least pretend to be grateful to him. Don’t make him dislike you and risk losing endorsements or appearances. You know him, right? Kang Mina? She got completely kicked out of the industry for offending the youngest daughter of Visen.
Mugeom’s words flashed through her mind. After all, this man did help her, and it’s right to maintain a smooth relationship if possible.
Sara immediately softened her tone.
“Of course I’m thankful. Rockstar, I got in thanks to your help.”
[That doesn’t sound like it.]
“What do you mean? I’m being polite.”
[Really? Want to do a video call?]
“Are you crazy?”
Her serious expression made him laugh again. His laughter sounded better than she expected, and Sara pursed her lips and quietly listened.
He asked kindly,
[Do you want to eat anything in particular?]
“Nothing specific. Let’s meet somewhere not crowded.”
[Sure. How about next Friday around 4 PM?]
Next Friday. Sara smirked, recalling her filming schedule.
“You know that, right?”
[Know what?]
“That’s almost my only day off.”
[Oh, what a coincidence.]
It was hard to tell by his voice alone, but Sara had a gut feeling he had her schedule.
“Okay. Fine.”
It’s just paying a debt. Once this meeting ends, it’s over. No more entanglements, no more meetings.
[I’ll send a car to pick you up at the agreed time.]
The call ended. After vocal practice, when Sara returned to the car, Mira was waiting, eyes sparkling excessively.
“What? Why did you call? What’s going on?”
Sara hesitated, wondering if she should tell her manager everything. Hiding anything from someone who watches her every move was impossible.
“We’re just going to have a meal together.”
“Oh my, oh my, oh my!”
Mira, excited, slapped Sara’s arm.
“Wow! He must really like you.”
Instead of scolding, Mira seemed genuinely happy. Sara pouted and grumbled.
“Aren’t you worried that your actress is dating a man? And a chaebol third generation at that.”
“Why can’t an actress date? As long as it’s not public. These days idols date too. And he’s a chaebol. He has too much to lose, so even if you break up, he won’t cling. If any photos leak, he’ll handle the cover-up himself.”
Mira’s reasoning was surprisingly logical. Sara licked her lips and turned her head.
“Don’t tell CEO Park.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want him to get ahead of himself like you. Did I say we’re dating? I just said we’d meet once.”
“Oh, you never know.”
Mira wasn’t discouraged by Sara’s rebuke. Even though Sara insisted it would just be once, Mira kept pushing her to meet a few more times.
“What, did Yoon Seung-tae give you money? Why do you keep pushing me to meet him?”
“Heck no. I’ve never even seen his face.”
“But?”
“No… I just… want you to have a little life outside work too…”
Her trailing off and avoidance seemed suspicious. When Sara glared and questioned her, Mira finally confessed.
“Actually, I heard Kang Han-seong has been asking about you recently.”
“What? Kang Han-seong came back to Korea?”
“Uh… he came back a month ago.”
Hearing the name of that garbage ex made Sara’s blood pressure spike. Her face crumpled like paper.
Noticing this, Mira quickly comforted her.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it. By the way, how was training? Tonight, let’s have your favorite hotpot. I bought the ingredients.”
“…Okay.”
