The minute given to Tae-il had long since passed, and Writer Shin could not press the end button.
Letting out only short breaths, Writer Shin found her voice again after the time was well gone.
-Tae-il. Did you think I was going to put Do Jeong-min out? The one I picked, my own?
"An actor who got in on the pull of the production company, or more precisely the investors behind it."
-There's a sharp side to you as well.
At the exact hit, Writer Shin worked her mouth.
A handsome boy who liked sport and had health coming off him.
The role had originally been going to another actor, and the investors' pull had turned it to Do Jeong-min.
Because she picked Do Jeong-min, the investors put their weight behind Writer Shin.
It was a compromise, made to carry the production along more easily.
'Team Leader Ong's information is as good as ever.'
It was the conclusion that came out of putting what he had known before together with Team Leader Ong's information.
Writer Shin's voice, which had stopped for a moment, went on.
-So what you want is Do Jeong-min's share, is that it? You're cunning.
"The truth is, whether Do Jeong-min leaves or whatever happens to his share, it makes no difference to me."
-Then what's the reason for a proposal like that?
Tae-il moved the phone to his other ear.
"Because it's going to be hard for Do Jeong-min to be part of this production for a while."
-And?
"The share that should have gone to Do Jeong-min will sit empty. I'm asking you to allot that time to me."
-That's the same thing. Why should I?
"I'll take on the negative opinion about Do Jeong-min and settle it."
Writer Shin found it absurd.
-That's nonsense.
"......"
Whatever the words said, Writer Shin's instinct was telling her something else.
That the gambler's proposal was not simply nonsense.
'He's saying he'll hold down the feeling about Do Jeong-min with the interest in Do-hwan.'
People were more interested in Ju-hwan's brother, Do-hwan, than in the handsome boys' stories.
It was the result of Eun Tae-il's unchanged looks and a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree changed ability working together.
Writer Shin, knowing it, had been increasing Do-hwan's share already, and......
Eun Tae-il was asking for one more step.
-......Eun Tae-il.
Then a thick sigh came down the phone.
-And if I raise the share and the reaction isn't good enough, what then? Can you carry that?
He could take the whole of the negative opinion that Eun Tae-il was Eun Tae-il after all, and the fallout from Do Jeong-min's drink-driving on top of it.
He would become, in plain words, the ugly duckling.
"Like an actor, I'll say it with acting."
-......
What was left now was only Writer Shin's decision.
Tae-il shut his mouth, and beyond the phone it stayed quiet.
'Eun Tae-il, this...... he's like somebody who's rolled around here for ten years. Haa......'
Writer Shin's deliberation was short, and long.
Could she trust Eun Tae-il?
The Eun Tae-il up to now had been an actor worth trusting enough.
But a great deal was going to be different from here.
Even so, could she trust him......
-Let me ask one last thing.
"Please."
-Why go this far? Carrying on as you are, none of it would have touched you.
The production could shake, but the reaction to Tae-il was solid.
Which is why she was curious.
Why Eun Tae-il was going this far.
Tae-il breathed deep for a moment and went on.
"An actor shouldn't let a chance to show something better go past."
-......I see. All right.
As though she had decided something, Writer Shin's voice went firm.
-All right. As you want it, this week and next week, the time that would have gone to Do Jeong-min is yours.
"Thank you, Writer Shin."
-In exchange, you'll have to show me something real.
After the call, Tae-il lay down on the bed.
'Of course I'll show you.'
Not long after, Team Leader Ong rang again.
When Tae-il told him what had passed with Writer Shin, Team Leader Ong shook his head.
-Haha...... And here I was about to tell you Do Jeong-min was going to be cut from two weeks of the edit.
"You're late."
-You're fast, Tae-il. Ah, more to the point......
Tae-il shrugged, and a quiet laugh came down the phone from Team Leader Ong.
-I've made an appointment with CP Seong for tomorrow. Let's go together.
The next day.
Tae-il went with Team Leader Ong to a Japanese restaurant near the broadcaster.
It was a meal CP Seong had arranged himself, to thank Team Leader Ong for solving the location business the other day.
When Tae-il's party stepped inside, CP Seong and PD Choi had arrived first and were waiting.
The four of them sat, and neatly arranged sashimi began to be laid out one dish at a time.
"......I'm sorry a thing like this has blown up out of nowhere. How is it going?"
Team Leader Ong asked about the Do Jeong-min business indirectly.
CP Seong shook his head.
"......For now we have to wait until it dies down. Do Jeong-min is out of the picture for a while."
By rights, drink-driving is sufficient grounds to be dropped.
But everyone here knew that dropping him was difficult because of Do Jeong-min's agency, which had come in as an investor.
There was no reason to raise it aloud when it would only sour the air, so they all stayed quiet.
CP Seong put his chopsticks down roughly and shook his head.
"Do Jeong-min, the idiot, refusing the test......"
"I'd heard it went as far as a blood test. So it was true."
Talk about Do Jeong-min went back and forth a while, and then CP Seong turned his eyes to Tae-il.
"I hear there's going to be a lot of shooting with you this week and next."
Tae-il nodded evenly, and CP Seong picked up his chopsticks again.
"I'll give it everything."
"Do that. Ah, PD Choi."
Something came to him, and CP Seong let out a short breath.
"How is that protein drink business going? With the Do Jeong-min article out......"
"They're at a loss too. It isn't as though there are actors with bodies like Do Jeong-min's......"
Team Leader Ong asked, lightly.
"The PPL. The one launching now."
PD Choi answered.
"Yes. It was going to be Do Jeong-min......"
Because of what a protein drink is, the PPL condition was somebody with a good body drinking it refreshingly.
But Do Jeong-min could not appear for a while, and the PPL that had to go out this week was left hanging.
"Save the work talk for the office."
CP Seong got busy with his chopsticks again.
Tae-il and Team Leader Ong talked about a number of things too, and the lunch hour went by.
***
A few days later.
Tae-il was leaving the house to catch the dawn bus when a compact saloon was standing in front of the building.
Team Leader Ong, standing beside it, tapped the bonnet lightly.
"Team Leader Ong."
"I thought I'd said to graduate from the bus."
At Team Leader Ong's small reproach, Tae-il got into the passenger seat with an awkward laugh.
He pushed the seat back to stretch his long legs, sank into it, and fell deep into the script.
There is no better time for reading a script than the small hours.
Team Leader Ong drove as smoothly as he could, too.
Stopped at a light before going onto the motorway, Team Leader Ong asked, indirectly.
"Is it not uncomfortable?"
"It's comfortable. It feels full."
Team Leader Ong went awkward.
When he first started the management business he had carried performers in a Starcraft van; the second time, a Carnival.
And what was left now was only this small compact saloon.
'I'd heard he was fussy about cars.'
The more he saw, the more there was that did not match the rumors, and Team Leader Ong shrugged.
The first location was a clearing not far from the set.
In the clearing, with dawn just breaking, the setting up of cameras and every other kind of equipment was under way.
'The air is heavy.'
Unlike the warmth of the week before, the mood on the location was heavy.
The crew gathered in little clusters were smiling on the surface, and every one of them felt the weight.
Because everyone knew that this week's material was the crux.
Especially......
"Hye-in. Your face is terrifying."
Tae-il sat down beside Yu Hye-in, in the middle of her makeup.
Perhaps because she was a lead, the shadow lay especially thick on her face.
Yu Hye-in opened her eyes to slits, saw Tae-il and gave a bitter smile.
"Ah, senior."
Tae-il glanced at the blackened script lying beside Yu Hye-in.
She worked hard at the best of times, and today her script was especially black.
'She'll be anxious. She's the lead.'
Rookie or not, a lead is a lead.
It is no exaggeration to say a lead is the one who carries the production.
For a rookie, a sudden situation like this would be strange and cruel.
Tae-il spoke in a lighter tone than usual.
"Hye-in. Going by your face you could lead a thriller. Send your profile in."
"Ah, senior! What are you saying."
A laugh finally broke out of Yu Hye-in's serious face.
Kang Seong-jin, beside her, snorted too.
"Hyung, honestly...... I'm setting a mood here and you're being funny?"
"Push all you like, what's going to come out but crap?"
Yu Hye-in mimed holding her nose and laughed despite herself, and Kang Seong-jin worked his mouth.
"Honestly...... Hyung's right, though."
"Both of you stop putting force into your faces. Flower Boy House is going to turn into Thriller House."
"......"
"Did we drink and drive? Did you commit a crime?"
Tae-il's voice was quite loud, and it carried.
He knew eyes were turning, and Tae-il's mouth did not stop.
"Let's not behave like criminals. We haven't done anything wrong."
"......That's right."
At Tae-il's words Yu Hye-in nodded hard.
"......"
But Kang Seong-jin was still set hard.
'Seong-jin looks as though he needs time.'
Still, thanks to the conversation, some of the shadow had gone from the leads.
They were in the middle of running lines when he felt someone behind him.
"That's a relief. I thought you'd be sunk."
The one standing behind them was Writer Shin, looking gaunt.
The actors rose from their seats.
"Stay sitting. I didn't come to interfere."
Writer Shin's eyes were full of dark circles.
Tae-il pointed at the men talking with CP Seong.
CP Seong was bending slightly at the waist as he talked with them.
"Those gentlemen seem to have given you a fair amount of grief."
"You're quick, Tae-il."
Writer Shin shook her head with the face of a woman who had had enough.
"I escaped. Escaped. Tae-il, you've seen the script?"
Tae-il nodded, and Writer Shin said, with a set face:
"I did what you wanted. From here it's down to you."
"Thank you, Writer Shin."
"You'll have to forget what you were judged on before. Once this week's footage goes out, there's no telling what will be said."
Writer Shin went back and every crew member took their place, and still the shoot could not begin.
Because Kang Seong-jin had suddenly clutched his stomach and run out of the frame.
"......Is Seong-jin still not back?"
"He says to wait a little longer......"
At CP Seong's words PD Choi could only lower his head.
Team Leader Ong looked at Tae-il and sighed too.
"Seong-jin must be very nervous. Irritable bowel syndrome, flaring at a time like this......"
"It'll be the pressure."
Today's scene was one where Ju-hwan's feeling had to come out.
Because there was a scene where Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin) and Yu-na (Yu Hye-in), growing closer, run into Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il).
Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin), who freezes the moment he sees Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il), cannot control the shaking, and Do-hwan (Eun Tae-il) sneers at that Ju-hwan (Kang Seong-jin) for it.
Yu-na (Yu Hye-in), seeing a cruel side of the CEO, wavers; it was a complicated scene.
How much time went by.
"PD Choi. It's no good. Go and get him."
CP Seong glanced at the investors watching the location and gestured to PD Choi with his eyes.
PD Choi was about to leave when Tae-il, inside the frame, raised a hand.
"CP. I'm sorry, I'll just use the toilet."
"......You as well. Be quick."
Tae-il ran out for a moment and headed for the car park.
'......'
He thought he knew where Kang Seong-jin was.
Knock, knock—
He tapped on the window of an SUV, and the window came down.
"Ah, hyung......"
Kang Seong-jin, his face gone haggard.
"Open the door. Let's talk a minute."
Looking at Kang Seong-jin, Tae-il smiled gently.