Chapter 147

After the fan meeting ended, Seoyeon belatedly realized she hadn’t properly thanked him.

The precise reason why he had offered her the coffee remained unclear to her.

She could only speculate that perhaps he had noticed a hint of sadness in her demeanor and had attempted to console her.

Nevertheless, leaving that aside for a moment,

‘I just took a sip of the coffee and that was it.’

The only thing she had said after receiving the coffee was, “Why are you here?”

Since she happened to have something to discuss with Park Jung-woo anyway, she thought she might treat him to a meal sometime later.

And since she’d thought of it, she decided to contact him right away.

— Are you crazy?

She received that sort of reply.

The actor was fearful of any scandals that might arise from being seen alone with a female actress.

Moreover, she was still a minor.

Under no circumstances, Park Jung-woo, the actor, thought, should they be seen together in isolation.

‘Guess there’s nothing I can do about that then.’

She thought she’d treat him to a meal at some point in the future then.

Since Park Jung-woo had said nothing further, she let the matter go.

Actually, the reason she had wanted to treat him to a meal had nothing to do with gratitude.

‘It was to ask him about Min Se-hee, the writer.’

Given the current filming of *Sky Garden*, even without going through Park Jung-woo, there were ample opportunities to converse.

Still, she felt awkward about doing so directly, and had planned to ask him about the writer’s preferences but had failed.

‘Could he have noticed?’

Indeed, befitting an actor, he seemed quick to perceive things.

Perhaps he had sensed there was something she wished to ask.

Park Jung-woo was definitely the type to pick up on such cues.

At any rate, this fan meeting had certainly left an impression on Seoyeon too.

Who would have thought they’d meet there?

“……”

To be honest, when she thought about it, it made her emotions complex.

‘I’ll deal with that later.’

Seoyeon thought this and turned her gaze elsewhere.

Currently, she was riding in the car of her manager, Eun-ha.

It was today, of all days, that she had a meeting scheduled with the chair brand, *Aids*.

***

“Hello, I’m Kwak Hyun-woo, the team leader of Aids Advertising Planning.”

“Hello, I’m actress Sooyeon Joo.”

They greeted each other thus, and she could sense the other side sizing her up.

This was quite familiar to Seoyeon.

There had always been many people who gave her looks like this.

She knew the reason why.

Firstly, because she was young.

And secondly, because her previous lack of experience had once led to doubts about her abilities.

Although that was roughly the case in the past, now there was a different kind of skepticism.

In fact, Seoyeon had experienced this sort of suspicion before.

‘It was the same gaze the PD gave me during the audition.’

A gaze filled with the thought, “Why is this person here?”

But this time was slightly different. Previously, it had stopped at “Why is this kind of actress here?”

Now it carried the weight of, “Why is this kind of actress here? What is she hoping to gain?”

‘Since *Aids* doesn’t typically hire expensive models in line with its brand reputation.’

Apparently, hiring pricey models didn’t yield much effect.

This wasn’t something known from her past life but rather gleaned from a recent internet article.

On the other hand, the company’s recent business was expanding.

The domestic chair market competition was fierce, so they seemed to be finding their niche in a small way.

“Recently, I’ve seen a lot of you on TV. The Eclat Étoile commercial you previously filmed was excellent as well.”

Once inside the meeting room, Kwak Hyun-woo began by saying this.

Flattery was a given.

One needed to make the other party comfortable first to better gauge their intentions.

Kwak Hyun-woo, as Seoyeon suspected, was indeed analyzing her on multiple levels in this manner.

‘Why has she come to our company?’

He couldn’t outright ask that.

Moreover, Seoyeon, despite being right in front of him, didn’t seem like someone to joke around with.

‘She’s definitely still in high school, about to turn eighteen, right?’

She was a very young age for an actress.

But neither her appearance nor her aura belonged to a young actress.

Her lack of expressive changes made it difficult to read her thoughts.

Her crimson-tinted eyes were calm, as if piercing through one’s soul.

As Kwak Hyun-woo continued to bring up the movies or dramas she had acted in, Seoyeon merely nodded her head, showing little reaction. This made him feel increasingly uneasy.

‘The manager seems to trust the actress a great deal.’

Every decision seemed to be made by the actress herself, as the manager only quietly listened. Usually, a young actress’s manager would dominate such meetings, but this was an exception.

“…By any chance, could you tell me the reason behind setting up this meeting?”

Eventually, Kwak Hyun-woo asked this first.

After all, if the ad proposal were rejected, they would need to turn it down politely.

Since he had already complimented her, she wouldn’t harbor much resentment.

He didn’t plan to use her as a model in the future, but one never knows.

It is always best to maintain good relations with everyone.

At that moment, Seoyeon finally began to speak.

“First, let me say this – I am somewhat interested in becoming the advertising model for Aids.”

Of course.

When Seoyeon said this, Kwak Hyun-woo inwardly thought “That makes sense.”

Now, he pondered how to diplomatically turn it down.

“*Sky Garden*.”

“Huh?”

“Currently, *Sky Garden* is looking for sponsoring brands. The announcement has been posted recently.”

Why was she telling this to them?

Why would an actress mention drama sponsorships?

But even if that spot was open, advertising chairs in the drama would be tricky.

Moreover, he had no clue what *Sky Garden* was.

After all, he wasn’t an industry insider; how would he know about the contents of a drama that hadn’t yet been revealed to the public?

“*Sky Garden* is a drama mainly about students.”

Specifically, it satirizes private education and academic elitism.

Naturally, scenes of students studying appear quite frequently.

In school and at home.

By this point, Kwak Hyun-woo was starting to develop some interest.

He began to understand why Seoyeon had brought up *Sky Garden*.

‘She’s probably suggesting that sponsoring *Sky Garden* would be effective.’

However, Seoyeon didn’t explicitly say this. Asking for sponsorship in a drama wasn’t something an actress should say.

Instead,

“I will be playing the lead role in this season of *Sky Garden*.”

“…The lead role?”

“Yes.”

Kwak Hyun-woo quickly reviewed the information he knew.

‘Surely, until now, Su-yeon has never played the lead.’

He had heard that in her most recent movie audition, she had secured the lead role.

That final round had sparked quite a bit of conversation.

However, she had only secured the lead position and had not yet officially starred in a lead role movie.

All the movies she had appeared in so far could not exactly be called “main protagonist” roles.

One was a villainous role, and the other, while classified as a lead, really wasn’t significant enough to truly count as such.

Unless one considers it a “lead-supporting” role.

“But this time, she’s the protagonist.”

Clearly, she was doing well lately; the speed at which she was securing roles was remarkable.

Just how many projects does she work on in a year?

Broadly speaking, such thoughts arose.

But even successful actors sometimes appear simultaneously in all three broadcast networks’ dramas, so Seoyeon wasn’t particularly unique.

“*Sky Garden* lead role with chair sponsorship…”

Indeed, there was clear merit.

The problem was gauging the extent of that merit.

“Is it alright to talk about this role openly? Aren’t these details restricted?”

“Since it was announced yesterday, it’s fine.”

Oh, is that so?

A quick check on her smartphone for online articles confirmed it. The headline indeed mentioned the confirmation of Sooyeon Joo as the lead for *Sky Garden*.

Since the announcement was prominently published, there was nothing secretive about it.

Even the sponsorship announcements had been posted, so there was no confidentiality issue.

Seoyeon had merely mentioned publicly available information.

Rather, the fact he had been completely unaware of these details until now was somewhat embarrassing.

‘Timing is peculiar.’

It just so happened that Aids was planning to launch a line of student chairs.

The development was complete, and all they were debating was the release date.

Naturally, since the advertising model hadn’t been decided yet either,

‘Surely, this product launch is important.’

Recently, the Korean chair market had reached saturation.

Brands from overseas were flooding the market.

In such a situation, Aids was seeking its niche. Given that their core product had been office chairs,

they aimed to shift focus and explore children’s chairs this time.

Considering this, *Sky Garden* was undoubtedly an attractive project. The leading actress of the show, Sooyeon Joo, required even less elaboration.

‘But…’

Kwak Hyun-woo sank deeper into thought. Did they really need to spend extravagantly on a high-priced model?

Seoyeon observed the deliberation on Kwak Hyun-woo’s face.

‘This is good.’

She sighed in relief, noticing his contemplative expression.

What Seoyeon knew about *Aids* was limited to their launch of student chairs in a previous lifetime, being utterly crushed shortly after by a competing brand due to the timing of *Sky Garden*.

Why had they been crushed? Simply because of *Sky Garden*; the chairs advertised in the drama successfully redefined their brand identity, leaving no space or chance for Aids to compete.

‘But that brand had its troubles…’

First, three years later in the future, the brand would be exposed for cheaply importing Chinese parts, which triggered public backlash and tarnished the images of all models associated with it due to accusations of abuse and misconduct.

Thus, Seoyeon hoped for Aids to secure that position in its place.

By the way, *Aids* itself had been the chair she used while working in her first office after barely securing a job after school.

‘If Aids takes that spot, there shouldn’t be any issues.’

Moreover, Aids seemed more suitable image-wise. Its performance had been positively reviewed, and the upcoming launch was unambiguously branded as “student-specific.”

Perhaps, it could have a larger impact this time around compared to her past life.

Seoyeon considered this and spoke.

“I don’t plan on asking for a high contract fee.”

She drove her point home to the pensive Kwak Hyun-woo.

“You can pay me the same as the other models you’re featuring in your current ads.”

“What? Is that really true?”

Kwak Hyun-woo’s eyes widened.

What is going on?

If so, why hesitate? He should snatch it up immediately.

There’s no need to wait around for *Sky Garden*; they must contract immediately.

“However…”

“Ah, yes.”

The mention of “however” prompted Kwak Hyun-woo to recompose himself.

Of course, this would come with conditions. If the condition was unreasonable…

“I want you to take very aesthetically pleasing pictures.”

“…Yes?”

“Especially precise shots, please.”

“…??”

Kwak Hyun-woo thought it might be a joke.

However, when he observed the earnest expression on Seoyeon’s face, it seemed she was serious.

“Umm…are there any other conditions?”

“No.”

“Well…”

“It has to be really, really good-looking.”

“Of course, we’ll do that.”

What did she mean by emphasizing this so much?

‘This is all she’s asking for? To make the advertising pretty?’

Kwak Hyun-woo was baffled. Wasn’t asking for good-looking advertisements a given?

Despite his thoughts,

“Ah, yes yes. Understood. Of course, that’s a must.”

In any case, getting the current star at such a low cost was an opportunity not to be squandered.

***

Thus, Seoyeon concluded the negotiation.

She was hopeful that Aids would indeed provide sponsorship for *Sky Garden*.

‘Definitely, it was filled at the last minute, wasn’t it?’

Even news articles covered this.

Without any designated sponsor, they were about to use any old chair, but then Aids came in at the last moment.

And, against expectations, it turned into a huge hit.

Following that, all student brands were monopolized by the brand that originally sponsored the show.

With high hopes, Seoyeon was filming *Sky Garden* one day.

“Oh, we’ve got another sponsorship.”

Min Se-hee, the writer, voiced this with a somewhat worried face.

As it turned out, Aids had indeed come on board as a sponsor, just as Seoyeon had hoped.

“Anyway, PPL will be directed by me, so don’t worry too much about the script.”

Director Kim Il-soo chuckled heartily and said.

Since PPL would naturally require inclusion in the plot, the screenplay would be affected one way or another.

Of course, some writers cared little about such additions.

In such cases, the director would handle it with their direction.

‘That’s good.’

Seoyeon let out a sigh of relief internally at the ongoing conversations.

Since Aids had followed her request and included the PPL effectively,

“This ad features you, Seoyeon, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’ve seen the poster recently; it’s really well done.”

Director Kim Il-soo said this with a smile.

It’s fairly common for actors in dramas to appear in commercials for the product.

“Ah, so that’s why the PPL was included.”

Min Se-hee seemed to finally understand after some delay.

Certainly, it was a great opportunity given that the drama would be successful.

Still, Min Se-hee was honestly uncertain.

‘…But will it really succeed?’

She lacked confidence that her own script would be a hit.

Though everyone praised it, it still felt distinctly different from the general vibe of public broadcasting.

“Haah.”

While lost in such thoughts and letting out a sigh,

She suddenly noticed an odd gaze coming from nearby.

“…?”

Turning her head, she saw Seoyeon staring at her intently, completely surprising Min Se-hee.

At least, some subtle noise would have been appreciated.

“Writer Min Se-hee.”

“Yes, yes?”

“…Can we talk a bit?”

At those words, Min Se-hee froze entirely.

---