Team Leader Han Sang-woo made a fuss as though his feet were on fire.
Park Geon-ho did not panic.
He had dealt with situations like this countless times.
The meeting with Writer Woo Yeon-hee was scheduled for noon.
It seemed they had intended to discuss casting over lunch.
The upscale Korean restaurant Team Leader Han Sang-woo had sent him to was a five-minute drive from Wooju Entertainment's headquarters.
Even at a leisurely walk, 20 minutes would be enough.
But being asked to stall her for another hour meant Jo So-hee had unilaterally blown off her schedule.
"It's one of two things. Either this was a meeting Jo So-hee didn't want, or something pissed her off."
Park Geon-ho searched for the name Woo Yeon-hee on his outdated smartphone.
As expected, a provocative headline appeared.
[Exclusive] Rom-Com Queen Kim Hye-rin Likely to Star in Writer Woo Yeon-hee's New Drama <First Skin>.
"Wow."
When he tapped the headline, an article posted less than 30 minutes ago appeared, still piping hot.
[2025.04.01. 10:37, Star Enter News, Reporter Kim Ha-young]
Actress Kim Hye-rin, 27, known as a surefire ratings draw, is under strong consideration for the role of female lead Go Ha-neul in Writer Woo Yeon-hee's next drama, <First Skin>.
According to an industry source, another actress was initially under consideration, but Kim Hye-rin's representatives actively sought the role after reading the script, reportedly swaying Writer Woo Yeon-hee.
<Omitted>
<First Skin> is a beauty-themed office romance set against the backdrop of a global cosmetics company and is aiming for an SBX broadcast in late September.
Park Geon-ho scrolled down and examined the comments.
The article did not mention Jo So-hee anywhere.
Yet every comment was taking a shot at her.
└RomComMom) Rom-Com Queen Kim Hye-rin and melodrama master Writer Woo Yeon-hee! I'm definitely watching it live!
└Dio) Kim Hye-rin is better than Jo So-hee, who has nothing but a pretty face!
└Happy) Nothing but a pretty face? By that logic, doesn't Kim Hye-rin look old for her age?
└Kkobugi) Kim Hye-rin does look a little mature, but does she look old enough for people to say that? LOL
└StopIt) If Kim Hye-rin looks old, then what does that make me? T_T
└Dio) Jo So-hee's fans are so cute when they get all worked up.
└song***) It's not that we're worked up. Isn't Jo So-hee better than Kim Hye-rin? Isn't she younger and a better actress too?
└kkh7***) I heard Jo So-hee rejected Writer Woo Yeon-hee's debut drama. Guess it was true. LOL If I were the writer, I'd give the lead to Kim Hye-rin, who approached me first because she liked my work, instead of the actress who rejected me.
└Nervous) Jo So-hee really ought to thank her mother for giving birth to such a pretty face.
└billy***) Wow, Jo So-hee's antis are holding a convention in here. Holy crap.
No one would have dared post comments like these during the years when she was revered as South Korea's greatest actress.
But perhaps because she was currently trying to break free of her child-actress image and establish herself as an adult actress, no one held back.
"If she saw this on her way to meet Writer Woo Yeon-hee, she'd have every reason to be angry. Sang-woo must be trying to smooth things over somehow."
Park Geon-ho picked up his tacky notebook and tried to dredge up his memories from 15 years ago.
He flipped through its pages without much thought.
"What is this?"
Neat handwriting that looked utterly out of place caught his eye.
DB #87192C3511
Title: First Skin (2025)
Genre: Romance / Office Melodrama
Broadcast Period: September 22, 2025–October 28, 2025
Network: SBX (Mondays and Tuesdays, 22:00)
Episodes: 12 total
Production Companies: Blue Media / Mountain Pictures
Written by: Woo Yeon-hee
Directed by: Min Jeong-ho
Main Cast:
-Kim Hye-rin (as Go Ha-neul)
-Do Jun-hyeok (as Han Jae-hyeon)
-Oh Ji-won (as Kang Hae-jin)
-Sia (as Lee Seo-woo)
Ratings
-Episode 1 rating: 8.7 percent
-Peak rating: 9.9 percent (Episode 10)
-Final rating: 8.3 percent
Industry Assessment
-Attracted attention as Writer Woo Yeon-hee's comeback, but produced disappointing results.
-The publicity gained from the Jo So-hee casting controversy seemed to do more harm than good.
-Kim Hye-rin alone lacked the gravitas to carry the drama.
Viewer Reactions
-Kim Hye-rin was solid overall.
-The story was relatable, but its emotional through line was erratic. The director's limitations were apparent.
-Every appearance by former idol-group members Oh Ji-won and Sia broke the immersion.
IF Report
Scenario A: What if Jo So-hee had played Go Ha-neul?
-She would have created a lively, bouncy character unlike Kim Hye-rin's.
-Projected rating: 12–13 percent. (Likely to attract more interest from women in their 20s and 30s.)
Scenario B: What if Jo So-hee had played supporting female lead Lee Seo-woo?
-Her striking looks and acting ability would have allowed her to stand toe-to-toe with female lead Kim Hye-rin.
-Removing the Sia and Oh Ji-won pairing would have increased viewer satisfaction.
-Projected rating: 15–20 percent. (Managing Kim Hye-rin's mental state would be key.)
"Is this what he meant when he said he'd pay more attention to me?"
Park Geon-ho pressed a finger against the neatly printed lettering.
Had it been a tablet, following the hyperlink would have taken him to another page.
But the letters embedded in the notebook did not budge.
Park Geon-ho examined the contents again.
It was not particularly user-friendly, but the information it provided was enough for him to immediately picture the future of <First Skin>.
First, the ratings.
As he recalled, Writer Woo Yeon-hee was a popular writer whose last two works had both surpassed 10 percent in the ratings.
But <First Skin> peaked at only 9.9 percent.
The difference was just 0.1 percent, but single-digit and double-digit ratings carry very different meanings.
"It wasn't a flop, but both SBX and Writer Woo Yeon-hee must have found it bitter."
There were many reasons for its disappointing performance.
They had reversed the decision to cast Jo So-hee, turning her fans against them.
They had made the reckless choice to force idol-group members into supporting roles.
And the production companies had not worked well together.
"SBX is bad enough about interfering, but Mountain Pictures can't be controlled at all. It's a miracle the ratings reached nearly 10 percent."
Blue Media was a production company that liked Jo So-hee enough to later invest in SH Entertainment.
There was a good chance Blue Media had recommended Jo So-hee for the female lead.
"SBX probably wasn't too fond of Jo So-hee. She'd really screwed them over on their previous production."
In 2020.
Jo So-hee had debuted at 16 and swept the youth acting awards with <A Season Like You (SBX, 2020)>, <Winter Stop (KBX, 2021)>, and <Mom Disappeared (MBS, 2022)>, announcing the arrival of a monstrous new talent.
Then, the following year.
She gave mature performances in the miniseries <White Blood (MBS, 2023)> and the 30-episode weekend drama <Our Family (SBX)>, even securing the rookie award that supposedly required a stroke of luck to win.
The only thing Jo So-hee had left to claim was the KBX rookie award.
After rejecting the lead role offered by SBX, Jo So-hee appeared in rival network KBX's <Our Year> and succeeded in completely shedding her child-actress image.
It achieved an average rating of 11.1 percent and a peak rating of 12.7 percent.
She had achieved those numbers while competing against popular Writer Choi Ah-hyeon, who had joined forces with SBX.
At the year-end awards ceremony, Jo So-hee swept the Best New Actress, Popularity, and Excellence in Acting awards, rewriting Korean broadcasting history.
Winner of the youth acting awards from all three networks: KBX, SBX, and MBS.
Winner of the rookie awards from all four networks: KBX, SBX, MBS, and JTBS.
"They don't call her the Trophy Hunter for nothing."
At any rate, the success of Jo So-hee's <Our Year> meant SBX's ambitious <At Summer's End> had been forced to swallow defeat.
The production company that had filmed <At Summer's End> was Mountain Pictures.
Problems had been inevitable once SBX and Mountain Pictures, both burned by Jo So-hee, joined forces to make a drama out of spite.
"But what's an IF Report? Is it some kind of guideline?"
If this had been a script, it would have been called a direction.
But the contents written in the notebook felt as though they had been copied from an online encyclopedia.
"It's not like someone predicted the future."
Park Geon-ho searched for <First Skin> on his phone.
A page titled <First Skin (2025)> had been created, but most of its information was still listed as undecided.
The same was true when he entered database code #87192C3511.
Nothing appeared.
"Should I see this as information that hasn't come true yet?"
Even as Jo So-hee's personal manager, he could not have memorized every scrap of information about a drama that had flopped 15 years ago.
"Fine, let's accept that. It's telling me to choose between the two......."
The notebook offered two paths to making <First Skin> a success.
Make Jo So-hee the female lead.
Or make Jo So-hee the supporting female lead.
"But can you really call this a tip?"
It was only natural to expect better results if Jo So-hee, one of the hottest actresses in her 20s, joined the production.
The issue was the final scorecard.
Making her the female lead would raise the rating by up to about 3 percent.
But putting her in as the supporting female lead could make the rating explode to twice its original level.
"They want me to put an actress who just starred in a miniseries into a supporting role? And beneath Kim Hye-rin, no less?"
Had he not regressed, he would have let loose a string of obscenities.
An actor's career was over the moment their market value fell.
And their market value was proportional to the importance of their roles.
Even if he conceded a hundred times over and Writer Woo Yeon-hee rewrote the script to make the supporting female lead nearly as prominent as the female lead.
Even if SBX offered compensation comparable to Kim Hye-rin's.
The name announced first at the drama's press conference would still be that of Kim Hye-rin, the female lead.
"How am I supposed to persuade her to do this?"
A peak rating of 20 percent was tempting, but it was an impossible mission in practical terms.
But...... after he checked Jo So-hee's alternative project, his thinking changed.
"Ah....... Fuck. Was this when that happened?"
After being rejected by <First Skin>, Jo So-hee had chosen <Remember Your Name>, which MBS was preparing to produce.
It was the network's annual profiler drama, and the production had been drifting because they could not find a suitable female lead.
"The female lead was so unhinged that the company tried desperately to stop her, but she insisted on doing it anyway. Then the school-violence controversy broke."
Jo So-hee had chosen <Remember Your Name> for one reason.
It could be scheduled against <First Skin>.
The two shows had ended up slightly out of step when <First Skin> premiered two weeks earlier than planned.
Even so, <Remember Your Name> had topped the Monday–Tuesday drama slot with a peak rating of 11.2 percent.
In the end, Jo So-hee had been the one who prevented <First Skin> from reaching a 10 percent rating.
But Jo So-hee had lost more than she gained.
After Episode 6 aired, a rumor spread that Jo So-hee was the cast member embroiled in a school-violence scandal.
Fortunately, Wooju Entertainment and MBS responded aggressively and the truth came to light.
But the school-violence controversy followed Jo So-hee for some time.
"Our Actress Jo may do whatever she pleases, but she isn't the type to treat just anyone like garbage."
After a brief moment of thought, Park Geon-ho rose from his seat.
They had been together for years. He could not simply stand by and let Jo So-hee suffer.
He could quit Wooju Entertainment afterward. It would not be too late.
"Right. Let's solve this problem first. Am I doing this because I'm afraid of someone? I've always been loyal, haven't I?"
Once he made up his mind, Park Geon-ho went into the bathroom and tidied his hair.
Then he changed into the most presentable clothes in his wardrobe.
This might be the first time he would meet Jo So-hee since regressing. He could not let her see him looking shabby.