An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 66

#14 – Being Recognized (5)

After Baek Young-hoon left the lounge, I was left alone.

And Baek Young-hoon’s voice lingered in my ear.

Was Baek Young-hoon cast instead of me?

No way….

Of course, Baek Young-hoon is also good at acting.

Regardless of who it is, whether they are good or bad at acting.

I thought someone who matched the role’s color would be chosen.

But the fact that Baek Young-hoon was chosen instead of me was enough to surprise me.

Click.

At that moment, the tightly closed lounge door opened, and Manager Kim entered.

“Hee-sung.”

He had a cell phone in his hand.

Manager Kim’s expression was not bright.

Rather, it was closer to dark.

He twitched his chin as if it was hard to speak, even while calling my name.

His gaze was not directed at me.

I could already guess what he was going to say.

Looking at Manager Kim approaching me, I handed him the coffee with steam rising from it.

“Here’s coffee, hyung [older brother or close male friend],”

“Thanks.”

He said, taking the coffee I handed him.

“Shall we sit down and talk?”

“Sure.”

Manager Kim and I took seats at the lounge table.

He swallowed hard and warmed his hands with the hot coffee.

He seemed to be looking for the right timing to speak, examining the table instead of me.

“Hyung, I failed the audition, right?”

His eyes widened.

He immediately raised his head and looked straight at me.

“That character just didn’t suit us.”

I nodded at Manager Kim’s words.

He sighed deeply and continued.

“I got a call coming to the lounge a little while ago. Let’s look for other projects.”

Actually, this isn’t the first time I’ve failed an audition.

I’ve auditioned countless times, and I’ve failed just as many times.

It’s impossible to pass every audition.

But failing is one of those things that you never get used to, no matter how many times you experience it.

I smiled as if to say it was okay.

Manager Kim noticed my expression.

And as if there was another piece of unfortunate news left, he sighed briefly and opened his mouth.

“Baek Young-hoon got the role.”

As expected.

Baek Young-hoon’s annoying tone of apology.

He must have said that because he got the role.

When I nodded without being surprised, Manager Kim asked me.

“What, did you know?”

“Young-hoon was in the lounge earlier.”

“Ah….”

It was something I already knew.

But I wasn’t completely comfortable.

Damn it….

To think that a member of the same company would snatch that spot.

But I can’t just be discouraged.

The results have already been announced.

It’s not like I can reverse the results by being disappointed.

I bit my lower lip.

I felt a sudden jolt of clarity.

I have to get my act together.

I know too well that if I fall into the swamp of despair and sadness, there’s no end to it.

I have to find another project quickly.

“Hee-sung, shall we have a drink today?”

I released my bitten lip and nodded.

“Let’s.”

***

“Here, let’s have a drink.”

“Okay.”

Manager Kim and I took seats at a small bar near my house.

Clink.

The overflowing glasses clinked together.

We both downed our drinks at the same time.

The cold alcohol flowed down my throat.

It felt like the upsetting feelings were being washed away lightly.

Thud.

Manager Kim put down his empty soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] glass on the table and opened his mouth.

“There are many things like this. Let’s shake it off and get up, Hee-sung.”

“Of course. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve failed an audition.”

He filled my empty glass with soju.

“The bigger the agency, the more you compete with other members of the company.”

“Well, since there are so many actors, it can’t be helped.”

I took the soju from him and poured it into Manager Kim’s glass.

“That’s right. Everyone picks and brings in actors who are the best in their respective fields.”

We drank one after another.

“I can’t say that there won’t be cases like this in the future.”

I nodded at his words.

There will be times when auditions overlap like this time.

“Don’t be too uncomfortable about it.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to win the role so I don’t feel uncomfortable.”

Only then did Manager Kim smile.

“Yeah, you can win the role.”

Manager Kim picked up a snack and continued.

“From what I see, Young-hoon doesn’t seem like a completely bad guy.”

I nodded at his words.

Manager Kim asked another question as if to change the atmosphere.

“Hee-sung, would you like to rest for a day tomorrow and come to the company the day after tomorrow?”

He’s being considerate of me.

But I didn’t like the sound of it.

A project I chose after looking at many scripts.

I auditioned with that script, and the result was not good.

I couldn’t take a break with just this one obstacle.

Because there are so many paths I have to take.

It wasn’t like me to waste a day just because I fell into a small ditch.

“No, I’m going to the office early tomorrow.”

“A day or so is fine.”

I shook my head at Manager Kim’s words, who was trying to persuade me.

“I want to act soon, hyung.”

Manager Kim was speechless at my firm words.

Soon, his eyes sparkled.

He must have read my sincere expression, as he downed his drink alone and replied.

“I’ve picked out some more good scripts. Let’s look at them together tomorrow.”

Manager Kim soon raised the corners of his lips.

“Okay.”

***

Several scripts that Manager Kim brought.

Even after reading them all, there was no script that caught my eye.

Of course, the contents of the scripts were excellent.

There were scripts with shortcomings, but most of the scripts he recommended were above average.

But I couldn’t find a script that really grabbed my attention.

“Hmm….”

As I turned the script and made a puzzled expression.

Manager Kim opened his mouth.

“Is that the last script already?”

I peeked over the script and looked at the scripts placed on the table.

“Yeah, this is the last one.”

As I said, raising my eyebrows, he made a tsk sound and replied.

“You don’t like that one either?”

He seemed to know my feelings just by looking at my expression.

There were still a few pages left.

But in fact, I didn’t have to read the back part.

Because this script had already left my heart.

Eventually, I put the script down on the table and asked him.

“Hyung, is there anything else that’s really… compelling?”

He stroked his chin and rolled his eyes.

He seemed to be deep in thought.

I raised one corner of my mouth and stared at him intently.

Thinking deeply means that there are more scripts.

“But there are so many scripts these days… I haven’t read them all yet either.”

“There are so many, why?”

Manager Kim leaned forward and opened his mouth.

“KTS [Korean Television System] held a drama contest a while ago.”

I nodded my head and replied.

“Oh, I heard. I heard it was huge?”

“That’s right. So the number of scripts that came in is enormous.”

My eyes widened at his words.

“So that’s why there are so many scripts piled up.”

“Yeah.”

“Besides, if it’s KTS, can’t you trust it?”

At my question, Manager Kim wrinkled his nose.

“That’s true for the Grand Prize and the Top Excellence Award. The company pushes those from the start, so the actors are all high-profile.”

I lowered my eyebrows at his words.

“Ah, I guess so….”

A work selected from its own contest.

In order to make that work successful, the casting of actors will also be flashy from the beginning.

In other words, there will be no place for me.

No matter how great the quality of the work is, the actors are also important.

“The problem is the rest.”

I tilted my head at his words.

“Even the Excellence Award after that is still okay.”

Manager Kim frowned and spoke.

I listened to his words seriously.

“Anything below that, like the Encouragement Award, is a bit ambiguous.”

“Why?”

Manager Kim shrugged his shoulders and replied.

“The Encouragement Award is just that. They’re not good enough to make themselves, but they’re too good to give away.”

“Exactly, a white elephant.”

He nodded at my words.

“Still, they must want to hold on to it, so they’re giving 1 million won each under the name of ‘Honorable Mention’ and keeping all the copyrights.”

As it is a work that came to the contest.

KTS handed over 1 million won, which could be said to be a small amount, and gave an award under the name of ‘Honorable Mention’.

Then they won’t be taken away by other broadcasting stations.

If they need a script urgently, they can use it themselves.

“Are there many of those works?”

He rummaged through his diary.

“Let’s see… oh, there are about thirty works combined for Encouragement and Honorable Mention.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

Thirty works is a lot.

If you think of each of them as a mini-series, it’s an enormous number.

“Anyway, the material is good, so they’re tying it up even if they give 1 million won each, right?”

“That’s true. But it will be difficult for all of those works to be made into dramas.”

Manager Kim shook his head and continued.

“After all, a drama has to make money.”

“That’s right.”

“So there’s an expectation in dramas. That is, there’s an expected profit. If they judge that it won’t meet that, they won’t even start production.”

It’s cold, but it’s true.

Broadcasting stations that have been making works for a long time will be able to see it at a glance.

Whether this script will make money when it is made into a work, or not.

If it’s an ambiguous script from the beginning, they won’t even try.

It’s natural.

The expected profit of the drama is determined in advance.

If it’s obvious that they won’t be able to make that, who would start it?

“If they don’t produce it, we won’t get cast in the end.”

Manager Kim raised his eyebrows at my words.

“I thought that would happen….”

I perked up my ears at his words.

Did another number come up?

Manager Kim tapped his diary with his finger and said.

“Citizen and KTS have signed an agreement this time.”

Citizen.

Citizen, an OTT [Over-The-Top] platform, is a place where our HS Entertainment has recently invested.

“So they’re making a lot of things and spreading them out.”

I was tempted.

KTS, a public broadcasting station, has a fixed number of dramas to air.

But Citizen, an OTT platform, has a different system than public broadcasting.

It’s a place that can accommodate and produce many works.

“Then the works that received the Encouragement Award and the Honorable Mention can go there?”

Manager Kim nodded at my words.

“That’s right. But well, 80% of them will be web dramas that are hard to make a career out of.”

He stuck out his lower lip and continued.

“The copyright contract period is 5 years. But they even handed over the scripts that are about to expire.”

I opened my mouth wide and replied.

“So that’s why there were so many. So all 30 of those works are going to Citizen?”

Manager Kim waved his hand in the air and replied.

“Some will go here, and some won’t. Anyway, it seems like we received the script first because we invested in Citizen.”

When I raised my eyebrows at his words, Manager Kim closed his diary and said.

“But we don’t have to worry about it.”

“Why?”

“Why, they’re already ambiguous works, so they have nothing to do with us.”

I had a slightly different idea from Manager Kim.

I opened my mouth to him.

“Hyung, isn’t there a good script here too?”

At my words, Manager Kim frowned and replied.

“…You don’t mean you’re going to look at all the scripts?”

He distorted his face as if I had said something he couldn’t do.

“It could be a pearl in the mud. And I might be the one to find that pearl.”

Manager Kim nodded at my words, then waved his hand and said.

“Hey, but there are really a lot of scripts.”

“Can’t I take a look?”

At my serious question with no jokes, he erased the small smile left on his face.

“…Really?”

“Yeah, I want to see.”

Manager Kim hesitated for a moment.

I didn’t turn my gaze away from him.

At my gaze, Manager Kim sighed briefly as if he had lost and replied.

“Ugh, okay. Wait.”