Chapter 41: Script Reading

Chapter 41: Script Reading

“Hello, writer. I’m Lee Soo-ji, the director of ‘Dreaming’.”

“Hello! I’m Jeong Da-hee!”

Jeong Da-hee greeted Lee Soo-ji, the director of ‘Dreaming’, before the script reading.

“Please feel comfortable, I’m no different from a rookie...”

Lee Soo-ji mainly directed short dramas, and ‘Dreaming’ was her first 16-episode drama.

“I feel a bit pressured.”

“Me too.”

‘Dreaming’ was promoted as JSTV’s anticipated work in no time. It was famous for its ‘virtual reality’ gate, and the cast was splendid.

“I was surprised that Jin Soo-ho said he would do it first.”

“It would be nice to debut with a bang. How is the script writing going? Don’t give it to me too late because of the pressure.”

“Of course.”

Jeong Da-hee nodded with enthusiasm at Lee Soo-ji’s playful words. It was the debut she had been looking forward to. She wouldn’t do a sloppy job because of the pressure from the top star casting.

“By the way, how is Yoo Yeon Seo? You’ve met him, right?”

“Yes.”

There was a witness report on the day Yoo Yeon Seo suggested JSTV. There was even a rumor that he was making a woman cry at a cafe, but when it turned out that the woman was Jeong Da-hee, the writer, the rumor disappeared quickly.

“Is he as nasty as the rumors say? What if he doesn’t let you direct properly?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. You can’t trust the rumors.”

“Really?”

Lee Soo-ji, who had heard a lot of bad reputation from many seniors, couldn’t believe Jeong Da-hee’s words.

“He pretends not to, but he takes good care of me.”

“Really?”

“That’s why ‘Dreaming’ was decided so quickly for production and scheduling.”

Jeong Da-hee had heard the rumor that Yoo Yeon Seo handed the script to Choi Yoo-jin. It was no wonder that the scheduling was done, since he sent it directly to the vice president.

“You can direct as you please, director.”

“Don’t joke with me.”

“Seriously.”

You think I’ll take it all with a dumb face? Jeong Da-hee held back her laughter.

“Yeon Seo! Seung-hyun!”

“Long time no see.”

As Jeong Da-hee approached Yoo Yeon Seo with a friendly smile, the extras who had worked with him and the people who knew the rumors lowered their heads. And they prepared for the loud noise that would soon come.

‘He’s smiling?’

‘What’s going on?’

But things were going differently than expected.

Yoo Yeon Seo was known for putting up a wall against everyone around him, regardless of gender or age.

Especially when someone he didn’t know well came close to him like Jeong Da-hee, he would get angry with irritation, but now he was smiling softly and accepting her.

‘Are they dating?’

That’s what some people thought.

The people who were shocked by the unexpected sight saw the actor walking behind Jeong Da-hee and jumped up.

“Did I come too late?”

“Teacher.”

Jin Soo-ho also got up and greeted her. She was Lee Seon-ja, a veteran actress who would play Jin Soo-ho’s mother in the drama.

“No, we came early.”

“Is that so? I thought I was late because he was already here.”

Lee Seon-ja smiled at Yoo Yeon Seo. Yoo Yeon Seo arrived at the scene just in time, but it was close to being late.

When the others got up, Yoo Yeon Seo followed suit and narrowed his eyes at Lee Seon-ja’s face. Even that looked unpleasant to the others.

‘I’ve seen her a lot.’

She was a veteran actress who had appeared in countless videos he had seen. And...

‘She was in a drama with Lee Hee-seo.’

She played Lee Hee-seo’s mother in ‘Under the Persimmon Tree’, a weekend drama that achieved 60% ratings after ‘Happy Farewell’.

“Hello, teacher.”

“...Yeah. Long time no see.”

Lee Seon-ja looked displeased as she looked at Yoo Yeon Seo and sat next to Jin Soo-ho. Lee Tae-gyeom came over and whispered to Yoo Yeon Seo.

“You met her when you did ‘Doll’. She played the role of a hat.”

“Oh, really?”

Lee Seon-ja was famous for taking good care of herself, as she played the mother role for both Lee Hee-seo and Yoo Yeon Seo.

Lim Seung-hyun looked at Lee Tae-gyeom with a strange look.

Everyone who would participate in the reading arrived, and the assistant director grabbed the microphone.

“This is Lee Soo-ji, the director of ‘Dreaming’.”

He didn’t know how many times he had bleached his hair to make it silver. What if his hair falls out?

“It’s done.”

After a long bleaching, he got the hair color she wanted.

Yoo Yeon Seo jumped out of his seat and stretched.

“Wow, your hair must be damaged.”

“It still hurts.”

Yoo Yeon Seo frowned.

He was already feeling unwell because of the aftereffects of memory synchronization, but he had to sit for hours to bleach his hair.

“Let’s go to the set right away.”

“We still have time, don’t we? Fine.”

Yoo Yeon Seo lay down on the chair and closed his eyes.

The memory synchronization she did in the morning was fruitless.

He only remembered staring blankly at the air in the classroom in his freshman year, and Yoo Geon-min crying and hugging his.

I felt bad...

The synchronization had gone too far, and I could vaguely feel Yoo Yeon Seo’s emotions at that time.

I felt like I was being consumed by sadness.

After taking a short nap, I arrived at the set of ‘Dreaming’ and greeted the staff who passed by.

“Hello.”

“Hello. You came early, Yeon Seo.”

Me too?

As I entered the set, Jin Su-ho and Lee Seon-ja were already sitting on chairs and looking around.

Jin Su-ho was the lead actor, so I understood, but Lee Seon-ja had more scenes in the latter half of the play. She was really experienced.

“Hello.”

“Yeon Seo, hello. Your hair suits you well.”

“But, you came early?”

“I wanted to get a feel of the shooting atmosphere and flow. How about you?”

I nodded vaguely.

Jin Su-ho and Lee Seon-ja looked at me with surprise.

They had been talking about Yoo Yeon Seo’s bad attitude in ‘Doll’ just a while ago.

“You’ve changed?”

"My hair? Or my personality?

“Both.”

“...That’s good, right, teacher?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Seon-ja had become more hostile since the script reading.

I sighed softly and crossed my arms next to Jin Su-ho.

“So, what are you shooting now?”

“They’re shooting the insert for the memory room.”

‘Dreaming’ was a 16-episode drama, and the early part was an omnibus format that showed how Park Si-hwan, a virtual reality solver, pulled people out of reality.

And in the play, the ‘memory room’ was a device that showed people’s past memories, and it was a place where they collected information about the cases beforehand.

“...Huh?”

I furrowed my brows.

It was probably a scene that showed a case’s trauma.

The staff brought a mannequin with clothes on and tied it in the air.

Around the neck, as if it was hanged.

My heart pounded.

I covered my mouth with my right hand.

“Wait...”

“What’s wrong?”

Jin Su-ho looked at Lee Seon-ja in confusion.

Lee Seon-ja also got up awkwardly and examined my face.

I felt nauseous from the aftereffects of memory synchronization.

I lowered my head.

It was hard to breathe, as if someone had twisted my neck.

“Do you have to shoot that now?!”

Finally, the staff stopped their work and looked at me when I shouted.

The noisy set became quiet in an instant.

“...Fuck.”

I swore and ran out of the set.