I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 48 - The reading.

At Road Jeon Hyeong-woo’s question, my expression soured.

…Whether Lee Ha-eun was into animals?

Not at all.

She didn’t even like other humans, so why would she like animals?

In the meantime, Seok-du hyung tilted his head.

“Lee Ha-eun watches animal videos? Like, real animal videos?”

“Yeah. Why the reaction, Team Leader?”

“No… it’s just strange that an actress who barely likes other people watches that kind of NutTube stuff. But why predators of all things? Don’t people usually watch cat or dog videos?”

Seok-du hyung said exactly what I’d been thinking.

Road Jeon Hyeong-woo blinked.

“Really? Are you sure you’re not mistaken? Lee Ha-eun watches animal NutTube stuff like crazy.”

“…What is this. Did she turn into a different person?”

Watching the two of them talk, I crossed my arms.

‘Like Seok-du hyung said, did her taste change while I wasn’t looking?’

Don’t tell me she’s gotten a pet?

That would explain the silence…

If her attention had just shifted somewhere else, should I count that as a relief…

While I was thinking that, Seok-du hyung got up from his seat.

“Ugh, I don’t get it.”

“Where are you off to, Team Leader?”

“Got a meeting this afternoon, so I’m heading out. You two have fun.”

Team Leader Ma Seok-du rose from his seat.

In the meantime, having pulled myself out of the swamp that was Lee Ha-eun, I checked the time.

‘Guess I should head up too.’

I had a meeting scheduled today.

If I went and got ready now, I wouldn’t be late.

I stood up and said,

“Hyeong-woo-ssi, should we head up too? I’ve got a meeting at the office today.”

“Ah, sure! I need to write up a report too… Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me irritated. I’ve got to get almost a month’s worth done today!”

I headed to Baekhak’s head office with Road Jeon Hyeong-woo.

I passed through the first-floor lobby and pressed the elevator button.

While I waited quietly, a voice both familiar and unfamiliar hit my ears.

My head turned.

“A, ah, hey, Seung-jun!”

“Don’t say my name, it’s irritating.”

“…Ugh. That, I’m sorry. About this ad meeting thing.”

“Why are you always sorry? If you’re sorry, do your job right. Want me to list off the last ad you botched too?”

It was the voice of Chief Lee Jae-min, from Management Team 3.

Next to him… I saw actor Lee Seung-jun.

A former idol turned actor, an A-lister who’d landed a lead role in a terrestrial weekend drama on the strength of his good looks and acting.

With his idol fandom now joined by a drama fandom, he was an actor riding quite a wave lately.

I found myself clicking my tongue.

‘Of all people, I run into that duo.’

My relationship with Chief Lee Jae-min wasn’t great to begin with, thanks to that talking-behind-my-back thing before…

and Lee Seung-jun wasn’t exactly someone I wanted to run into either.

‘A little Lee Ha-eun.’

If Lee Ha-eun was the real deal, all-out madness… then Lee Seung-jun, well.

He was your typical case of celebrity-disease personality, one with real flaws.

Should I call it a case of sudden fame eating his personality alive?

The rumors didn’t seem to be baseless, since Chief Lee Jae-min was sweating buckets while reading Lee Seung-jun’s mood.

I forced myself to ignore the tension flaring up and looked away.

In the meantime, Chief Lee Jae-min and Lee Seung-jun, walking this way, spotted me and stopped their argument.

Lee Seung-jun stared blankly at me and asked.

“Aren’t you the star manager?”

…Damn it.

Star manager again?

In the meantime, Lee Seung-jun, who’d been snapping at Chief Lee Jae-min, started showing interest in me instead.

“Aren’t you the manager from Star Watch!? Pretty sure that’s you.”

I lifted the corner of my mouth and turned my head.

“Yes, Lee Seung-jun-ssi. Not a star manager, but I am the manager that appeared on Star Watch!.”

“Wow… nice to meet you. I watched Star Watch! You showed up like Superman on there.”

“Guess the editing exaggerated it a bit.”

“Is that so? For an exaggeration, the picture looked kind of suggestive though.”

Lee Seung-jun smirked slyly.

“What’s her name? Twenty? That girl’s face looked totally smitten with you, Manager.”

My eyebrow twitched.

…Should I just tackle him?

While I was weighing it without meaning to, I belatedly noticed Chief Lee Jae-min’s expression, smirking beside Lee Seung-jun.

I let out a short breath.

‘Right.’

Let it go, just this once.

The Priest in Black’s reading was right around the corner, I couldn’t afford to cause a scene.

Summoning superhuman patience, I ignored Lee Seung-jun.

But this troublemaker didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving me alone.

Lee Seung-jun stuck close to my side and said,

“Now that I think of it, Star Manager… you’re Seo Tae-jun’s road, aren’t you?”

“…”

“How’s that guy doing lately? I heard he took the lead in an occult project instead of sticking to romance like he should, without knowing his place.”

The corner of my mouth lifted.

In the meantime, Lee Seung-jun’s mouth kept running without a break.

“Honestly, seems like he’s caught the art-house bug and wants to broaden his range, but doesn’t he have zero sense?”

“…”

“I mean, what’s he going to do if he takes on a project out of his own greed and it flops? Doesn’t he think about the company, or the project? And on top of that, his pride’s disgustingly high. You’ve had to put up with his crap too, right, Star Manager? That bastard, he’s been famous for his personality since forever…”

Hm.

Right.

Holding back any more here would make me an idiot.

I turned my head and met Lee Seung-jun’s eyes.

“Lee Seung-jun-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Even if Seo Tae-jun’s personality isn’t great, wouldn’t he still be better than you, Lee Seung-jun-ssi?”

Lee Seung-jun’s shoulders jerked.

“…Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

I smiled brightly.

With the widest smile I could manage.

“He’s got to be better than a celebrity who chews out his own manager for losing an ad because his own stock dropped, right?”

Lee Seung-jun’s eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open.

At the change in his expression, I knew instantly.

I’d really gone and hit him where it hurt.

But I didn’t particularly regret it.

By my own standard, sitting quietly through someone trash-talking my own actor was the bigger idiocy.

In the meantime, Lee Seung-jun, having frozen up, belatedly let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha? The hell? What do you think you’re doing right now? You picking a fight with me?”

Wasn’t he the one who started it?

Just then, Chief Lee Jae-min, who’d been quietly watching the situation, cut into the conversation.

“Hey! Chief Kwon! What kind of thing is that to say to Seung-jun!”

“…”

“So Seung-jun said something a bit harsh, does that mean you get to talk like that too? You’re a chief, aren’t you? Have some flexibility.”

Well, would you look at that.

Grabbing the chance to bark at me right away was less scary than it was pathetic.

But the situation wasn’t exactly in my favor.

“Star manager? No, what’s your name?”

Properly fired up now, Lee Seung-jun glared at me with murder in his eyes.

Looking at his glaring eyes, he clearly had no intention of backing down quietly.

I crossed my arms and thought it over.

How should I handle this…

Or should I just go all the way and ram into him harder?

Just as I was weighing it carefully, an unfamiliar hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

As I instinctively stumbled back a step, Seo Tae-jun, who I was supposed to meet today, walked up.

My eyes went wide.

“Seo Tae-jun-ssi?”

“One second, Chief.”

Seo Tae-jun had a look on his face I’d never seen before.

It was a look past anger, like he might explode.

“Lee Seung-jun.”

A cold chill leaked out of Seo Tae-jun’s voice.

“What’s some has-been who’s dropped a rank, like someone said, doing grabbing my manager?”

At that razor-sharp glare, the troublemaker who’d been running wild without knowing his place flinched and stepped back.

“S, Seo Tae-jun? What? Where’d you come from?”

“That’s what I want to ask.”

Seo Tae-jun’s cold gaze turned to Chief Lee Jae-min.

“I’m curious why the two of you showed up as a pair to have a go at my manager. Anyone want to explain?”

Belatedly taking in the scene, I flinched.

…Seo Tae-jun’s tightly clenched fist looked far from ordinary.

This time, I grabbed Seo Tae-jun’s shoulder and said,

“Let’s calm down, Tae-jun-ssi.”

“Ah, let go, Chief.”

“Everyone’s staring, you know? If you’re going to fight, take it outside.”

Seo Tae-jun’s head snapped around.

Belatedly noticing the stares of people standing at the lobby entrance, Seo Tae-jun clicked his tongue and stepped back.

Once I confirmed Seo Tae-jun had calmed down, I tilted my chin toward Chief Lee Jae-min.

“You should get going, Chief Lee.”

Chief Lee Jae-min, who’d frozen up at Seo Tae-jun’s outburst, flinched.

“W, what? Get going?”

“Yes. Or should we keep going instead?”

The corner of my mouth curled up in a cold smile.

“I’m confident, so should we settle this all the way?”

At my provocation, Chief Lee Jae-min pressed his mouth shut.

‘I crossed a line too, but they were the ones who crossed it first.’

Knowing that, Chief Lee Jae-min probably couldn’t argue back either.

In the meantime, Lee Seung-jun, who’d been watching the situation beside him, scrunched up his face hard and disappeared into the elevator.

Chief Lee Jae-min, beside him, belatedly came to his senses and scrambled after Lee Seung-jun.

Road Jeon Hyeong-woo, who’d been holding his breath and watching from beside me, let out a sigh.

“…Whew. What was that with those guys?”

That’s what I want to know.

Picking a fight out of nowhere, then vanishing out of nowhere.

What was even with them?

In the meantime, Seo Tae-jun fussed irritably with his bangs.

Though with a buzz cut, there wasn’t much bangs left to fuss with.

Seo Tae-jun let out a heavy sigh and muttered.

“Ugh, damn it. I forgot all about that guy. He’s with Baekhak too, right?”

I whipped my head around and glared at Seo Tae-jun.

“Seo Tae-jun-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“I mean, showing up like that looked cool and all, but were you actually about to hit him?”

Seo Tae-jun shrugged.

“No way. However out of control I get, I’m still a guy who follows the law, you know.”

“Then why was your fist clenched that tight?”

“I was pissed off, okay.”

“Getting mad and wanting to hit someone, what are you, a kid?”

“No, I really was pissed off, okay? Then why didn’t you hold back and just stepped in, Chief?”

My eyes went round.

What.

Don’t tell me he heard all of it?

In the meantime, Seo Tae-jun pushed his lips out like a duck and grumbled.

“That guy’s a lunatic, no telling what he might do. You’re the one who should really learn to hold your temper, Chief.”

…I had nothing to say to that.

Looking at it this way, I wasn’t exactly in a position to lecture him.

Road Jeon Hyeong-woo, watching Seo Tae-jun and me blankly, muttered offhandedly.

“Manager and star, cut from the same cloth.”

Seo Tae-jun’s face and mine both scrunched up at the same time.

---

We moved the meeting location.

We took Seo Tae-jun’s sports car to a nearby Japanese restaurant.

True to Seo Tae-jun the foodie’s pick, a savory smell drifted out from the entrance.

Once we sat down, Seo Tae-jun’s griping began.

“This was back when I did a KBN project with that Lee Seung-jun guy.”

As expected, Lee Seung-jun and Seo Tae-jun really did have bad blood.

Though, should I even call it bad blood?

“I was the lead and that Lee Seung-jun guy was the supporting role, but the original lead was actually him. He got pushed down to supporting because of me, and ever since, he’s been snapping and picking fights every time we meet.”

Just from the story, it sounded like one-sided inferiority complex on Lee Seung-jun’s part.

Well, of course…

“But do I look like the type to just take it?”

“…No, you’re not.”

“I doubled it back on him and gave it right back. That’s the whole story with that Lee Seung-jun guy.”

So it was our Seo Tae-jun who’d fed that envy and jealousy after all.

A disbelieving laugh burst out of me.

“Learn to hold your temper.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Chief.”

“…Fair. Come to think of it, I can’t hold my temper either.”

While we talked, the pork cutlet we’d ordered arrived.

Seo Tae-jun set the cutlet down in front of me first and said,

“Don’t clash with that Lee Seung-jun guy. It’s not that you’re scared of dealing with him, you just don’t want to get dirty.”

“Got it, so quit nagging.”

“After seeing you today, I don’t buy that at all. Anyway…”

Seo Tae-jun picked up his water cup and tilted his head.

“What’s the occasion, you reaching out to see me first?”

I stared blankly at Seo Tae-jun’s face for a moment, then brought it up abruptly.

“You’re not doing drugs, are you, Seo Tae-jun-ssi?”

“Pfft-!”

Seo Tae-jun spat out his water and looked at me like I was out of my mind.

“Chief. Are you crazy?”

Hm.

Guess not.

If Seo Tae-jun could put on a reaction like that and still be on drugs, I’d have to take my hat off to him.

I lifted the corner of my mouth and smiled brightly.

“Kidding, I’m kidding.”

“What kind of joke… is that even a joke you make?”

“No, it’s just that things are noisy with drug issues lately, so I asked just in case. Anyway…”

I trailed off and shifted the mood.

“The reading’s right around the corner now, how’s it going? Is the acting practice going well?”

Seo Tae-jun wrinkled the tip of his nose.

“Well… by my own standard, it’s going fine.”

“But?”

“I’m not so sure, though. Acting’s a relative thing, isn’t it?”

True.

That’s why lead roles usually get cast with actors of a similar caliber.

Acting that has to sync up with a scene partner shows its flaws more sharply than its looks, once one side’s level drops too far below the other.

In the meantime, Seo Tae-jun muttered in a low voice.

“This is my first time acting in this kind of genre… but Lee Ha-eun, damn it. I hate to admit it, but she’s got a ton of experience in this kind of role, doesn’t she?”

My eyes went wide.

The one and only Seo Tae-jun, worrying about something like this?

“It’s not that I don’t have confidence… I’m just a little unsettled. I mean, it’s Lee Ha-eun, after all.”

I crossed my arms and thought it over.

‘Should I encourage him? Or should I stoke his competitive streak instead?’

Thinking about Seo Tae-jun’s personality… right.

This wasn’t even a question worth agonizing over.

I opened my mouth right away.

“You’ll get eaten alive.”

Seo Tae-jun’s eyebrow twitched.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If you act carelessly, Seo Tae-jun-ssi, Lee Ha-eun’s going to drag you around by the nose.”

“!”

“From what I’ve seen of Lee Ha-eun’s acting up close… yeah. She doesn’t hold back for anyone. If her scene partner can’t keep up, she just covers for that too, all on her own.”

I raised my head and quietly checked Seo Tae-jun’s expression.

Competitive fire was burning in Seo Tae-jun’s dark eyes.

“Our Chief Kwon, provoking me again?”

“Ah, did that sound like a provocation?”

“Playing dumb. I’ve got your personality figured out by now, you know.”

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

“But then again… I can’t just let a provocation like that slide, can I? Me, getting eaten alive by Lee Ha-eun?”

The corner of my mouth lifted.

Yeah, this was the Seo Tae-jun I knew.

I laughed to myself and shrugged.

“So I can look forward to it, right?”

I leaned forward.

“On the reading day… Seo Tae-jun devouring Lee Ha-eun with his acting. I can look forward to that picture, right?”

Seo Tae-jun snorted.

“Just eating her alive is enough? I was thinking of crushing her flat.”

At his answer, I finally burst out laughing.

‘That’s such a Seo Tae-jun answer.’

This much, well…

seemed like enough to give a confidence-lacking Seo Tae-jun some real motivation.

In that moment, I suddenly grew curious.

‘What about Lee Ha-eun’s side, I wonder?’

The reading day was right around the corner now, with her schedule so packed, had she even gotten proper practice in?

Mulling it over, I shook my head.

‘No, come on, it’s Lee Ha-eun.’

Whatever else I might not know about her, this much about Lee Ha-eun I acknowledged.

‘An acting monster.’

The Lee Ha-eun I knew was… yeah.

someone who could act better than anyone else in the world.

And someone who worked harder at it than anyone else, too.

Worrying about the quality of that Lee Ha-eun’s acting was a luxury I didn’t need.

The corner of my mouth quietly lifted.

‘Now I’m starting to look forward to it.’

The Priest in Black, right around the corner now.

Just what kind of performance would the top-star actress show us?

---

Two days passed since the meeting with Seo Tae-jun ended.

-[HOT!] From most-anticipated to most-talked-about of the quarter, “The Priest in Black”…!

The nonstop flood of promotional articles for The Priest in Black had finally started to die down.

But the interest was still very much ongoing.

The Priest in Black kept coming up steadily through NutTube Shorts and social media tweets.

Especially Lee Ha-eun’s fandom, which showed enormous interest in this reading for The Priest in Black.

-Ahh, T_T

-I really want to see our queen’s next project soon, can’t wait

-They’ll release stills from the reading, right…?

-If they don’t release them, that’s basically a crime…

-They will. Our queen’s number one on the actor attention rankings right now, they need to milk those views!

-Guess I’ll rewatch Queen of Joseon while I wait…

-Saw her airport fashion last time and she looked like she lost some weight, maybe that’s why she got even prettier!

The more I checked those reactions in real time…

the more my own anticipation started to explode.

It wasn’t even the actual shoot, just a reading, but… still.

If the reading itself gave off a good feeling, that feeling for the actual shoot would come rushing in too.

‘And there’s something I need to do, too.’

As the first reading, every actor would be gathered in one place.

I…

meant to catch the druggie’s tail at that reading, with every actor gathered in one room.

Time passed like that, and at last the day arrived.

-Breaking) The quarter’s hottest topic “The Priest in Black” holds a closed-door reading today at Cafe A in Jongno-gu…!

The long-awaited reading for The Priest in Black is finally happening today.