I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 34 - A dilemma.

Composing my startled nerves, I grabbed the shaved-head Seo Tae-jun and pulled him along.

“Wait, Tae-jun-ssi. You came here looking like that without even a hat?”

“It’s hot enough to die out there, why would I wear a hat?”

A disbelieving laugh burst out of me, at a loss for words.

But then again, since it was Seo Tae-jun… it made sense.

Would this arrogant actor ever care what other people thought of him?

Thanks to that, all those stares were pouring down on the back of my head.

Curiosity. Interest.

And shock and disbelief.

Exaggerating only a little, every single employee in the management office had their eyes on the back of my head.

Not that strange a reaction, given that the crown prince of romance had shown up with his head shaved.

‘Isn’t some weird rumor going to start over this?’

I was already getting attention for the Mercedes the company gave me, and now this Seo Tae-jun business stacking on top of it too?

… Just imagining it was awful.

I hauled Seo Tae-jun along and shoved him into a meeting room.

I let out a heavy sigh and said,

“Tae-jun-ssi. You really don’t know how to back down, do you.”

Seo Tae-jun snickered.

“Someone made me this way.”

“… Wait, was asking you to audition really unfair enough to make you shave your head?”

“It’s not about being unfair, it’s a matter of pride. And…”

Trailing off, the corner of Seo Tae-jun’s mouth curled up.

“The more I studied Kang Ji-hu, the more I liked him, enough to shave my head over it.”

“!”

“It’s been a really long time since I got this hooked on a role, you know? So you’d better start cooperating too, Chief. No matter what, I’m doing this role.”

A disbelieving laugh burst out of me again.

This time, it was a disbelieving laugh in the good sense.

Ha… seriously.

Seo Tae-jun, this guy.

Why is he so charming the second acting’s involved!

Working hard to keep my expression in check, I said,

“So you must’ve prepared a lot for the Kang Ji-hu character, huh?”

“Isn’t the answer obvious, looking at my hair?”

“… Right. Then should we take a look at the acting you’ve prepared first?”

“If you like it, you’ll set up the meeting right away?”

“Of course. As long as your schedule allows, Tae-jun-ssi, I could set it up as soon as today.”

Seo Tae-jun nodded, satisfied.

“Read the lines opposite me. I’ll get into it more that way.”

Instead of answering, I pulled out the script for The Priest in Black.

I set one copy in front of me and handed the other to Seo Tae-jun.

Seo Tae-jun raised a hand.

“Ah, I don’t need the script. I’ve got all of Kang Ji-hu’s lines memorized.”

… Ha.

What is with this guy today, seriously!

“Just point to any scene. I’ve got pretty much every Kang Ji-hu scene in my head.”

Whatever last trace of worry I had evaporated.

Anticipation, exploding, filled the space it left behind.

I moved my hands quickly and found the scene that had stuck with me the most, out of everything I could remember.

“Scene 6. Should we start with the conversation scene between Seo Rin-bi and Kang Ji-hu, right as they head out to fight the demon?”

Seo Tae-jun’s gaze dropped low.

He was sinking into the role of The Priest in Black’s Kang Ji-hu.

His eyes, low and gloomy, so unlike his usual self, sent a chill down my spine.

“Ready. Go ahead.”

My Adam’s apple bobbed.

So as not to break Seo Tae-jun’s concentration, I whispered in a low, gloomy voice fitting Seo Rin-bi’s role.

“Ji-hu, this child is possessed by a demon.”

Hearing Seo Rin-bi’s line, Seo Tae-jun’s expression changed in an instant.

Eyes brimming with sorrow, as if tears might spill any second.

But the corner of his mouth, trembling slightly, poured out rage instead.

The moment my eyes went wide at that delicate expression work, Seo Tae-jun’s mouth opened.

“God is our refuge and strength..”

From that first word, that first line, I could tell instantly.

“From here on, I’m going to beat that demon down. Get ready, Seo Rin-bi.”

Seo Tae-jun, this guy.

He’d come fully prepared to play a wild-card priest, Kang Ji-hu.

---

Seo Tae-jun’s performance ended.

Working to calm my excitement, I proposed,

“Let’s set up the meeting for tomorrow, right away.”

“Oh? Guess you liked what I prepared.”

“Yes. It was too perfect.”

“What if Director Park doesn’t like it?”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen, but even if Director Park watches your acting and says no, I’ll land you the role by whatever means it takes.”

The corner of Seo Tae-jun’s mouth curled up.

“Now it finally feels like we’re on the same team. Our Chief Kwon.”

The next day.

I contacted Director Park and Team Leader Choi and set up a meeting with Seo Tae-jun.

---

Green Pine Productions, meeting room.

Director Park Jun-seo muttered, unimpressed.

“This is a real headache. Why does it have to be Seo Tae-jun, of all people…”

Team Leader Choi, preparing snacks and drinks for the guests, shot back.

“Someone like Seo Tae-jun has solid ticket power, so what’s the problem?”

“What good is ticket power. His whole vibe doesn’t fit The Priest in Black.”

“Oh my god… you’re the only director in this day and age who’d care about something like that!”

“Do you know art? Do you know film? Actually, forget that, do you even know occult?”

Team Leader Choi clicked their tongue.

“I don’t know about that, but I do know occult doesn’t make money, you idiot!”

Team Leader Choi glared and warned,

“Stop overthinking it and just bow and take him! For an occult film lead, someone like Seo Tae-jun is a blessing!”

Director Park scoffed.

Take Seo Tae-jun without question? Not so sure about that.

Sure, someone like Seo Tae-jun was a top-tier actor.

In the romance genre alone, his acting held its own against any S-grade actor.

But if factors like an actor’s name value or ticket power actually mattered to him, he wouldn’t have written an occult script in the first place.

‘He’d have just kept churning out commercial films that made money.’

To some people, this would look like an artist’s stubborn pigheadedness.

But it was precisely because of that pigheadedness that Director Park made films at all.

‘Watch Seo Tae-jun act, and if he fits the project, cast him.’

If not, he intended to politely turn him down.

Having settled on that course, Director Park psyched himself up like a general before battle.

“When did Chief Kwon say he’d get here?”

“The appointment’s at three, so… he should be about here by now.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the meeting room door opened.

Director Park and Team Leader Choi’s heads turned.

A man with a sharp, edged look about him overall stood leaning against the doorway, looking this way.

It was Chief Kwon Chan of Baekhak Management Team 5.

And beside him…

stood a soldier with a shaved head and sharp, striking features.

“… Huh??”

Team Leader Choi and Director Park blinked, flustered.

Meanwhile, Kwon Chan greeted them with a smile.

“Have you been well, Director Park, Team Leader Choi?”

Team Leader Choi came to their senses belatedly and answered.

“Uh, yeah… I’ve been well. But, Chief Kwon?”

“Yes.”

“That person next to you… don’t tell me that’s actor Seo Tae-jun?”

Instead of answering, Kwon Chan gave a look.

The shaved-head soldier stepped forward. No—

The crown prince of romance, Seo Tae-jun, held out his hand.

“Director Park Jun-seo, this is our first time meeting like this, right? I’m the actor Seo Tae-jun.”

Director Park muttered, startled.

‘I, it’s really Seo Tae-jun!?’

Unable to hide his dazed expression, Director Park shook Seo Tae-jun’s hand.

“Good to meet you, Tae-jun-ssi. But why is your head shaved…”

“I read the script and Kang Ji-hu’s bald, isn’t he?”

“!”

“A priest with a cross tattooed on his scalp, Kang Ji-hu. That description read like his key visual to me. Am I wrong?”

Director Park held his breath.

“That’s right, but… don’t tell me you shaved your head over that?”

Instead of answering, Seo Tae-jun grinned.

At that smile, Director Park let out the breath he’d been holding.

‘W, wait, what is this situation?’

The crown prince of romance, Seo Tae-jun, shaved his head because of The Priest in Black’s Kang Ji-hu?

He could’ve just used special makeup, so why bother?

Wait, but with his hair looking like that, is Seo Tae-jun’s commercial work even going to be fine??

The situation had come on so suddenly that Director Park couldn’t quite get his bearings.

But separate from all that…

anticipation was creeping up inside his chest.

Director Park barely managed to open his mouth.

“… Well, shall we sit down for now?”

At Director Park’s invitation, Seo Tae-jun and Kwon Chan took their seats.

Team Leader Choi, who’d been spacing out, quickly set out the prepared drinks and snacks.

Just as an awkward silence was about to settle in, Kwon Chan spoke up.

“Director Park. You must’ve been quite surprised, huh?”

“?”

“I told him to just come as he was, but Tae-jun-ssi shaved his head out of nowhere.”

Sitting beside Kwon Chan, Seo Tae-jun tilted his head.

“When did you say just…”

“It just goes to show how much Tae-jun-ssi liked the character Kang Ji-hu in The Priest in Black.”

“…”

“You know as well as I do, Director, that even for the sake of a role, an actor at Seo Tae-jun-ssi’s level shaving his head isn’t an easy call to make.”

The corner of Kwon Chan’s mouth curled up slightly.

“I’d be grateful if you’d keep that in mind while you watch the reading.”

Seo Tae-jun, who’d been glaring at Kwon Chan, grinned at that last line.

Watching the two of them quietly, Director Park muttered to himself.

‘Don’t tell me this whole thing was Chief Kwon’s setup?’

Not knowing the exact details, he couldn’t be sure.

But seeing the trust in the way Seo Tae-jun looked at Kwon Chan…

the possibility didn’t seem entirely off the table.

‘If that’s really the case…’

Chief Kwon.

Wasn’t he a genuinely scary person?

In a way, the character Kang Ji-hu was just one role among countless others in scripts everywhere.

And yet, this meant there was a chief who’d gotten an A-list actor to shave his head over one such run-of-the-mill role.

The look in Director Park’s eyes as he watched Kwon Chan turned strange.

“All right. Let’s watch the acting first and talk after.”

Seo Tae-jun crossed his legs and said,

“Which scene should we do?”

“Scene 15. Should we start with the scene where Kang Ji-hu sees the child possessed by the demon and breaks into tears?”

Director Park held out the script to Seo Tae-jun.

Kwon Chan, beside him, took the script instead and said,

“Ah, he won’t need the script.”

“… Sorry?”

“Seo Tae-jun-ssi has the whole script memorized.”

“!”

“Isn’t that right, Tae-jun-ssi?”

Seo Tae-jun nodded, haughty.

“Well, not all of it, but Scene 15 has a lot of Kang Ji-hu lines, so I’ve got that one down for sure.”

Director Park’s mouth fell open again.

He’d memorized the whole script in that short a time??

Surprise and confusion.

Caught between those feelings, Director Park’s gaze wavered hard as he looked at Seo Tae-jun.

“…Shall we go straight into the reading, then?”

“Read the narration and I’ll start.”

“Scene 15. Seeing the child possessed by the demon, Kang Ji-hu breaks into tears and swears revenge.”

The moment the narration ended, the look in Seo Tae-jun’s eyes changed.

At that shift, Director Park’s shoulders jolted as he stared, transfixed, at Seo Tae-jun.

“And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.”

… He’s different.

He’d only heard the first line, but the Seo Tae-jun in front of him now was nothing like the image Director Park had of him.

The cheerful expression that was Seo Tae-jun’s trademark was nowhere to be found on his face right now.

In its place, a glimpse of the shadow that was Kang Ji-hu, the demon-hunting exorcist.

That facial acting fit the role of Kang Ji-hu far better than he’d expected.

Director Park scratched hard at his goosebumped forearm.

“Child. Do not tremble in fear. I am beside you, and God is beside you…”

The longer Seo Tae-jun’s performance went on, the deeper the certainty grew.

Sure enough, the Seo Tae-jun in front of him right now…

fit The Priest in Black’s Kang Ji-hu far too well.

Was it because of the shaved head, matched to fit the role of Kang Ji-hu?

“In God’s name, I swear I will tear apart and kill that demon possessing you.”

No.

The shaved head was just one device for conjuring the mood of the character Kang Ji-hu, nothing more.

What was dominating the room right now was Seo Tae-jun’s acting ability.

Seo Tae-jun’s high-level acting had summoned the character Kang Ji-hu into reality.

In that moment, Director Park couldn’t hold back and burst out in admiration.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. From here on, I’m going to go twist that demon’s neck off.”

The crown prince of romance’s blazing transformation.

The meeting room’s mood burned hot.

---

I crossed my arms, at ease.

Stepping back one pace like that to take in the scene, things I hadn’t noticed a moment ago came into view.

‘Director Park Jun-seo’s expression, for instance.’

Director Park Jun-seo, who up until just a few days ago hadn’t thought much of actor Seo Tae-jun.

That very man now couldn’t take his eyes off Seo Tae-jun.

‘Honey’s practically dripping from his eyes.’

Well, sure.

Not only had he memorized the script, he’d even shaved his head to fit the character’s look, then delivered acting of matching caliber. What director wouldn’t fall for that?

The corner of my mouth curled up.

‘Well, that settles the meeting.’

As of today, Seo Tae-jun wasn’t the crown prince of romance anymore, he was the crown prince of thrillers.

Just then, Director Park Jun-seo, who’d been left dazed by Seo Tae-jun’s performance, raised a hand.

“… Let’s take a short break.”

“?”

“Whew, my nerves can’t take any more of this. I need a sip of water. Have some too, Tae-jun-ssi.”

I raised my eyes slightly and cut into the conversation.

“How is it, based on what you’ve seen so far, Director?”

“… You’re asking how it is?”

“Yes. The Kang Ji-hu character Tae-jun-ssi prepared, do you like it?”

Director Park’s mouth twitched at the corner.

“I like it far too much.”

“!”

“Ah, seriously… I’m not usually someone who makes decisions this fast, but this time I want to be a little hasty. The Kang Ji-hu Tae-jun-ssi’s acting out, I like it a whole lot.”

“…!!!”

The corner of my mouth twitched.

Riding the momentum, I pushed forward.

“Can I take that as the casting being confirmed?”

“Ugh, after saying all that, if I turned around and said no, would I even be human?”

“!”

Director Park Jun-seo said, not bothering to hide his excitement.

“With that in mind, I’d like to see a reading of some other scenes too, if that’s possible? Actor Seo Tae-jun?”

At Director Park’s confirmation, I quietly turned my head.

The corner of Seo Tae-jun’s mouth was twitching just like mine.

That was pretty infuriating to see… but well, what could I do.

Today, Seo Tae-jun was allowed to be a little arrogant.

He was an actor that very Director Park Jun-seo had recognized for his thriller acting, after all!

After that, the meeting went smoothly.

Seo Tae-jun and Director Park kept talking nonstop about the project and the role, while I, as his manager, sat down with Team Leader Choi to discuss contract matters.

I don’t know how much time passed like that.

Director Park showed up, having finished the reading with Seo Tae-jun.

“Whew… if I’d turned down Chief Kwon’s proposal, that would’ve been a disaster.”

At Director Park’s bluster, I could tell instantly.

The reading had gone well even while I wasn’t there.

“I’m the one who should thank you, for giving him the chance.”

“Oh come on, chance my foot! If it weren’t for you, Chief Kwon, I might never have seen Tae-jun-ssi’s acting at all. And on top of that, you even got an actor like Tae-jun-ssi to shave his head just to put him through an audition.”

…huh?

Something about that last part sounded off.

Just as my head tilted on its own, Director Park proposed, his tone suggestive.

“Now that Kang Ji-hu’s casting is confirmed, we’ll be moving on to casting the other roles soon enough. Still…”

Trailing off, Director Park grinned.

“I’ll hold the role of Seo Rin-bi open until the very end.”

“!”

“Listening to you got me Tae-jun-ssi, Chief Kwon, so wouldn’t it be right to trust and wait this time too?”

Catching the hidden meaning in Director Park’s words, I nodded.

“I’ll get you an answer as soon as I possibly can.”

“All right, I’ll be waiting, then.”

That day, having locked in Seo Tae-jun’s casting in The Priest in Black, I thought.

‘This side of the picture’s basically drawn out too.’

My chest swelled a little, full.

Thanks to Seo Tae-jun’s performance, I’d landed one of The Priest in Black’s lead roles.

The dizzying mess of a situation had started flowing exactly under my control.

But not every situation was wrapped up.

One lead role still remained.

I hadn’t landed the role of Seo Rin-bi yet.

‘…As for that side, well.’

It wasn’t a problem I could decide on rashly.

Unlike the other problems, it was tangled up far too much.

But I wasn’t worried.

Because once this Sunday came, I’d be able to untangle that mess.

And so, the last weekday, Friday.

I came into work at headquarters with a small meeting ahead of me.

“Choi Go-eun.”

The rising star winning Best New Actor at the Busan International Film Festival.

It was a meeting with child actress Choi Go-eun.