Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 86

The Paris Show Stealer (1)

* * *

“Then, I’ll head in first.”

Roman Entertainment.

A meeting of the top executives had just ended. The head of the main office, who had gathered the scattered documents and tucked them under his arm, left.

The door to the CEO’s office soon closed firmly. From now on, there would be an important meeting, so Secretary Seo would absolutely not allow any other uninvited guests in.

Noh Joong-man looked at his wristwatch.

“…He’ll be here soon.”

21:00 [9 PM], the new business partner was never late for the appointed time.

When he turned on the video call on his laptop, a similar office scene appeared on the screen.

The meeting partner, sitting at his desk with a study in the background, was Jin Gyu-il, head of the C&J Content Business Division.

“Hello.”

“Yes, I hope you’ve been well, too.”

Both of them were busy, and now was the stage where close and consistent cooperation was needed. So, until now, the meetings had mainly been conducted via webcam.

The topic of the meeting went straight to the most important part from the beginning.

From branding CVN’s own OTT [Over-the-top media service, streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet] platform ‘CE-VING’ to the launch timing, the global rights of General Baek, and whether to pre-release it, etc.

After the main agenda items had roughly passed, Division Head Jin Gyu-il said, as if suddenly reminded.

“You’ll be leaving the country soon, I presume.”

“Yes, it will be tonight.”

“Is it okay to send you alone? We can still send a team with you.”

To the head of the alliance, who cares more about the actor than the agency’s CEO, Noh Joong-man smiled.

“I’m sure you’ve seen the video, too, Division Head.”

He was talking about the filming footage of him saving Baek Ha-ni. Jin Gyu-il across the screen chuckled.

“I think I said something unnecessary, especially since it’s him.”

“I understand. It’s such a turbulent time, after all.”

As the saying goes, the atmosphere around ‘Hyperion’ and the KBC-DG-Joinus trio these days is turbulent.

The viewership ratings, which had been steadily growing since the first episode, had stagnated, and in the meantime, ‘General Baek’ had risen to just below them.

In fact, in some time slots, they had even caught up in viewership ratings.

Even if the actors performing didn’t know, those behind them would be desperately seeking solutions.

“Yesterday, Actor Park briefly visited the company. He said that they would probably move when he was away, so he told me to prepare your side in advance.”

“When he’s not there…”

Jin Gyu-il’s eyes also narrowed.

‘Park Geon is an NIS [National Intelligence Service] agent disguised as an actor.’ Most fans were now pushing that meme as if it were a fact.

It was the physical ability he had shown since ‘The Dog of Seoul’ days, but he gained even more status by performing Non-wire stunts and even preventing this accident.

Noh Joong-man continued.

“He said that he was followed several times after filming General Baek. He didn’t follow and catch them, but he thought they were probably paparazzi from DG. Now that he’s gone, they’ll be even more daring in following him.”

“Now is the perfect time to reel them in.”

“I think so too.”

One is from the business world, and the other is from the entertainment industry, but the pros can understand each other just by looking at their eyes.

Division Head Jin Gyu-il, nodding, asked.

“Oh, by the way… Is this Fashion Week just for attendance? It would be good to show him briefly at the show to appeal to global fans later.”

“Of course not. He’s not the kind of actor who would leave the country just to be a background character in foreign media.”

At the nonchalant reply, Jin Gyu-il’s lips curled up, as if he had expected this as well.

Years… Just four or five years ago, there were times when exclusive ambassadors stood on the runway. It was the era when K-pop conquered the Billboard charts and Korean celebrities snagged global luxury brand models.

“I know that some Korean models are also walking the runway, so they’ll be quite surprised.”

“Because he suddenly came up?”

Trends come and go, and times change. This Paris show will be a signal flare announcing the re-invasion of K-culture, which had been faltering.

“No, because they’ll be confused whether he’s an actor or a model.”

The beginning is from Paris, the home of high fashion.

*

The flight was quite pleasant.

As befitting the reputation of the parent company, Director Shim Soo-jin sent a first-class ticket on behalf of the agency.

It was a direct flight, but it took a whopping twelve hours to get to CDG (Charles de Gaulle International Airport), during which Geon ate in-flight meals and watched several dramas in a row.

There were quite a few things worth watching when he browsed through the OTT platform with the iPad that Park Seon had packed.

Among them, the psychopath killer and the proxy assault service for victims of school violence were interesting, and as expected of OTT, the level of obscenity and cruelty was different from TV.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a plane.’

During his military service, he mainly did underwater infiltration rather than operations falling from the sky… Before that, he had never been abroad at all.

‘Hyung [term used to address older brother or male friend], want to go on a backpacking trip? These days, if you plan the course well, it doesn’t cost much to go to Europe.’

‘No, just go alone.’

Was it in his early twenties? After entering university, Park Seon begged him to go abroad every vacation, but he refused.

He made excuses that he was busy, tired, and had a lot to do, and in the end, he couldn’t even go on that domestic trip once.

And what he volunteered for was the military, and what he was dragged into from there was the Iron Kingdom of another dimension.

‘I did go on a trip. It’s just that I went too far.’

He departed for Paris at dawn.

When he finished the all-night shoot and arrived at the airport, quite a few fans and reporters who had heard the news of his departure had gathered despite the late hour.

Unintentionally, he was photographed for ‘airport fashion,’ had a small photo time before boarding, and then got on the plane, and his messenger was flashing.

Park Seon: [I really wanted to go ㅠ.ㅠ]

Park Seon: [But I’ll do what I’m told]

Park Seon: [Go and destroy Paris too (smash)]

Over the talk of his younger sister, who had parted ways with him in Buyeo an hour ago, a real-time message from a colleague came in this time.

Jin Ji-yu: [You must have arrived by now]

Jin Ji-yu: [That’s right, the on-site article is up]

Jin Ji-yu: [You dressed well today too! Be careful and come back… Be careful of Byun Hwi-seung]

Jin Ji-yu: [It’s hard for the PR team to stop a scandal with local models]

Jin Ji-yu: [(Sweating fox emoticon)]

“It’s past four in the morning, and she’s still not asleep?”

Leaving behind the actress who was suspiciously interested in her colleague’s scandal, he woke up from a short sleep and arrived at De Gaulle Airport.

After finishing immigration, Geon pulled his carrier and walked out of the airport entrance.

The human who was supposed to pick him up didn’t even need to be found by him.

“Yo, Jarmani King! Noh Joong-man’s secret weapon that devours terrestrial broadcasting, Korean God!”

“…Can I go back home?”

“No way. You have to be on the runway.”

Byun Hwi-seung, waving his hand, smiled brightly.

He was wearing a bizarre balmacaan coat with the Korean flag drawn on it instead of a banner, and it even looked like a designer brand, not self-made.

“Actor Park Geon, what is your first impression of Paris?”

“You’ve been selected as Jarmani’s global ambassador this time, and I’m curious about your feelings about your first overseas activity since your entertainment career.”

Perhaps because the number of Korean stars attending this Fashion Week was the lowest ever, the airport was deserted.

There were only two reporters from domestic news agencies carrying cameras, and only local resident fans waiting behind Byun Hwi-seung were squealing and taking pictures.

After a brief interview, Byun Hwi-seung skillfully cleaned up the scene.

“Then we’re leaving. Reporters, please post the articles well. We have to raise the drama’s viewership ratings even while Actor Park is away.”

“Of course. Don’t worry about it.”

“Then we’ll go to the venue first, we look forward to it on the day!”

A reserved taxi was waiting in front of the airport. As soon as he got in, Byun Hwi-seung threw off his coat.

“I can’t wear it twice, it’s hard to promote national prestige.”

“You can just not do it.”

“Hey, I have to stick with you, who has the best image right now, to get a good article. I bought it with a lot of money to wear at times like this.”

Geon pointed out the error of the celebrity senior and short-term guide.

“The reporters only took pictures of me.”

Byun Hwi-seung had the expression of someone who had lost a winning lottery ticket.

“Ah, I messed up.”

How have you been, isn’t this the first time we’ve seen each other since the end of the ‘Hoe-do Team’ wrap-up party, after a rough talk about recent events, the main point came out.

“So, what is it this time?”

“What is it?”

“You haven’t officially announced it yet. Is coming as an ambassador this time just for sightseeing, or are you really standing on the Jarmani show?”

“I wouldn’t have come if I was just going to sightsee.”

When Geon replied, Byun Hwi-seung pretended to be surprised.

He had been here for several weeks because of Fashion Week, and his tension was definitely higher than before.

‘No, rather than that…’

It’s closer to the side where the old worries… anguish has disappeared. The dark circles under his eyes had also faded, and his sunken cheeks had gained weight nicely.

As he was watching intently, Byun Hwi-seung touched his chin with a strange look.

“Why, is there something on my face?”

“No. Thank you for coming willingly despite being busy.”

“I came to play, so I’m not busy. Many of my friends who used to hang out are models, so I go around here and there every Fashion Week season.”

“Friends who used to hang out?”

“Yeah, to check my connections once in a while. Or else, why would I come here if I didn’t have anything to eat.”

Judging from Byun Hwi-seung, whom he knew, those ‘friends’ were probably the women he had met before.

Byun Hwi-seung quickly typed on the keyboard to contact someone and asked.

“Fashion Week has already started, and the Jarmani show is tomorrow. How many days did you say you’d be here?”

“I’m going back right after it’s over. Director Shim also booked my plane ticket back home.”

“That’s right, right after… what?”

He doesn’t have the leisure to leisurely enjoy Fashion Week in Paris or London.

When he said that he would return to the ‘General Baek’ filming set right away, not that he had other schedules, Byun Hwi-seung’s expression changed strangely.

“Then what about sightseeing? You said it’s your first time in Paris?”

“I’m not interested in that. I came to work.”

“No, it doesn’t make sense to just stand on that show and go back to filming… It does. That’s what Park Geon would do.”

In fact, the schedule that Park Seon had drawn up was full of plans in minute increments after arriving at the airport.

Geon, who was looking through the written schedule, asked.

“What are you going to do, senior? You can just take me to the accommodation and go see your work.”

“No, it’s the 4th largest Fashion Week, and all kinds of celebrities will be walking around. I should introduce the future Korean star to various places on this occasion.”

“A Korean star is a bit much.”

“The drama you’re in this time is also being broadcast on the OTT that CVN is launching. What about global fans, aren’t you going to advance into Hollywood again?”

There’s no way to argue if he says that.

Byun Hwi-seung, who had blocked his words with a few words, wore a sly smile.

“And don’t worry too much. All the people I know were clamoring to see you.”

“Me?”

“Of course. So look forward to tomorrow.”

*

Paris Fashion Week.

Among the Fashion Weeks held around the world, if the most prestigious four Fashion Weeks are New York-London-Milan-Paris, Paris is by far the top among the four.

The upcoming Pret-a-Porter [ready-to-wear] is the F/W [fall/winter] collection, where dozens of global luxury brands gather to hold a festival of stars.

“Jack, I heard that Jarmani brought in a new ambassador this time?”

“I heard. They even said they’re putting him on the show, who is it? There’s even a rumor that they’re giving him the first spot on the runway.”

“A Korean actor. I heard it’s a pick from a JMRY internal executive.”

Large Fashion Weeks have a huge basic scale in which events are held.

Backstage on the first day, rumors spread in the huge space where the heat of the show had not yet subsided.

A Dutch male model, who was erasing the special makeup on his eyes and cheeks, frowned.

“Korea? And an actor on top of that? They’re out of their minds.”

When one person spoke first, the other models added a few words without exception.

“What kind of Korean Wave is that? Especially in Paris.”

“The last time in London wasn’t good either, now it looks like they’re trying to sink into the ground.”

“They’re putting a non-model on the show? Celebrity business won’t work anymore.”

Most of these are top models who will also be on tomorrow’s show. Naturally, their pride as models is stronger than anyone else in the industry.

In fact, there was a time when global ambassadors often stood on the runway.

However, it was an event that was gradually disappearing due to internal complaints, external criticism, and the criticism that unprepared stars were ruining the show.

But even among them, a conservative brand with history and tradition puts an exclusive contract celebrity on the show?

No matter whose decision it was… the person who planned it will be held responsible.

A tall black model muttered.

“That high nose will be disgraced.”

* * *