Chapter 621

Eun Baekhap had laid out a yoga mat and was stretching with a foam roller. That infuriating face kept drifting across her pristine white ceiling.

-The Korean-style apocalypse series <Seoul Metropolitan City>, which captivated audiences around the world, has made history once again. It has now held the No. 1 spot on NetHolics Global for five consecutive weeks, completely conquering not only Asia but also the North American and European markets. At the same time, media outlets around the world have turned their attention to the stars who led this phenomenal success.

That damn brat had made the news again after visiting NetHolics headquarters.

Early January because of <Seoul Metropolitan City>. Mid-January because of its success. Late January and early February because of <Faster Than the Law 3>. And now, all the way into the second week of February, because of <Seoul Metropolitan City> again.

Even when it wasn't about a project, the whole world revolved around that damn brat.

-This afternoon, the main cast of the blockbuster hit <Seoul Metropolitan City> paid a special visit to NetHolics Global Headquarters in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The event served as proof that the status of Korean content has gone beyond a temporary phenomenon and firmly established itself as a major pillar of the global mainstream. There is even growing optimism that <Seoul Metropolitan City 2> may enter production...

Eun Baekhap tried to relax.

Peaceful classical music. A body free of tension. The soothing aroma drifting into her nose.

She desperately tried to focus on those things. Yet when she opened her eyes again, that damn brat was still floating across the ceiling of her house.

"Fuck..."

Before long, <Faster Than the Law 3> would surpass ten million admissions.

The figures released by the Korean Film Council didn't lie.

A triple ten-million record that neither Eun Baekhap nor Hong Suryeon had ever achieved.

The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. She rolled her tongue across her dry lips when—

Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.

Her manager was calling.

"What is it? Didn't I tell you not to call after eight in the evening and to leave a message instead?"

-Uh... This is really urgent. A script just arrived. Th-The moment I saw it, I started bringing it over! Aaaah!

Screeeech!

The sound of tires scraping across the parking garage echoed through the phone. Eun Baekhap frowned at the piercing noise.

"What could possibly be worth making this much of a fu—"

The call had already ended.

Apparently her manager had parked recklessly and run straight upstairs, because the doorbell rang almost immediately.

"What now?"

She had been about to say, You'd better pray this is worth it, but the words caught in her throat.

The name printed on the very front of the script was all too familiar.

Writer: Ahn Junmyeong

"Even if Baekhap only played an extra?"

A conversation from long ago resurfaced vividly in her mind.

"Even if it was just the role of some kid's mother?"

Eun Baekhap snapped irritably at the manager, who had already shoved the script against her chest.

"What is this? You made all that fuss just to bring me this?"

Yet something felt strange.

She hadn't even opened the first page, but her heart was already racing on its own.

"Unni, you have to read it. You'll understand once you do."

"What exactly am I supposed to—"

The first page.

Her eyes landed on the synopsis clipped to the front.

<Those Who Deserve to Die>

Exactly one year after her seven-year-old daughter is murdered, Huiseon spends another entire day at the columbarium. When she returns home, a church deaconess appears at her door...

Her eyes flew through the synopsis from beginning to end.

Only then did Eun Baekhap finally understand why Ahn Junmyeong had once asked whether she could play the role of a mother.

An indescribable thrill crashed over her.

Jeong Huiseon, who had lost her child and longed to take revenge on the world.

Jeong Namok, who had spent more than thirty years searching for her missing daughter, fueling herself with nothing but rage.

And Jeong Uigyeom, a runaway girl obsessed with that burning, twisted maternal love.

"Unni. See? I told you, didn't I?"

Her manager was even more excited than she was.

At that moment, the phone inside the manager's pocket began vibrating.

"Huh? Who is this?"

The number wasn't saved.

But for some reason, Eun Baekhap already knew who it was.

"Answer it."

It had to be the person who had sent her this script.

If this manuscript had been in preparation since then, production would surely be entering its final countdown soon.

"Unni. It's the writer."

Before the sentence was even finished, Eun Baekhap had already taken the phone.

For some reason, the device pressed against her cheek felt burning hot.

Or perhaps it was her own body, housing a heart that felt ready to burst.

-Have you read it?

"...Yes."

-You're doing it, right?

The arrogant tone made it obvious he knew she had no other choice.

And Eun Baekhap could only submit.

"...Yes..."

Wanting to say something—anything—she answered over and over, stumbling through her words.

"I want to do it. I'll do it. Please let me be in this. I have to play Jeong Huiseon."

A cheerful laugh came from the other end of the line, as though he had expected exactly that reaction.

Eun Baekhap let out a shaky breath.

-Yeoreum said something, you know.

"..."

-She said if it were me, I wouldn't let this one slip away.

Maybe that damn brat really did have an eye for these things.

-You once said you'd even shave your head if I asked. I still remember that.

"...Ha. So you were nearby back then."

-Just happened to be. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop.

"Of course."

Eun Baekhap inhaled deeply.

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

Laughter rang through the receiver.

The corners of Eun Baekhap's lips lifted as well.

"But... who's playing Jeong Namok?"

-Ah, about that...

* * *

Seeing your student on the nine o'clock news was quite a wonderful thing.

Watching the setting sun witness the rise of a new one was only natural.

But why?

Why couldn't Noh Jeongyeon simply feel happy?

-This footage was uploaded to NetHolics' official social media. The cast of <Seoul Metropolitan City> signing a transparent display...

America.

The land of opportunity.

There had once been a day when she dreamed of making it there.

She had wanted to become an actor worthy of her name and show the world the kinds of works she could never make in Korea.

But now she knew it had only been an impossible dream.

Noh Jeongyeon switched off the television.

Reflected in the darkened screen was the face of an elderly woman who had spent her entire youth pursuing acting.

Ding-dong.

And then, just as she had convinced herself it was time to give up—

A ticket to America arrived.

<Those Who Deserve to Die>

Jeong Namok | A mother whose entire life has been worn away over more than thirty years spent searching for her missing daughter. Clinging to nothing but the hope that her little girl might still be alive, she wandered everywhere, driving an old van draped with banners bearing her daughter's face. There wasn't a single place Namok hadn't searched. One day, she crosses paths with Huiseon.

Instead of holding onto hope that her daughter is still alive, she begins thinking about all the people she had forced herself to ignore until now. Among the countless places she searched, wondering whether Eunji might be there... (excerpt omitted)... Her desire to slaughter every bastard who might have encountered Eunji isn't confined to her thoughts alone. She no longer knows what to do with the fury consuming her heart.

If that's the case... then perhaps she should spend whatever remains of her life as a mother who takes revenge on the world alongside Huiseon.

The wrinkled hand clutching the script tightened.

It was almost laughable.

The youngest had gone ahead first.

And now the old woman would follow behind.

"Good. I should go brag to Bitgang that the little chick is my student now."

In the end, Noh Jeongyeon decided to challenge herself one more time.

Even if it was only at the very end of her career, she wanted to step onto a bigger stage.

America.

The land of opportunity.

A stage where a woman who had embraced the weight of time could finally perform to her heart's content.

* * *

On the first day, I slept like I had passed out. I lay down on the bed, and when I opened my eyes again, it was already morning.

“Uuugh....”

My head felt foggy and my eyes refused to open properly because I still had not adjusted to the time difference. Dok Gogyeol took one look at my face and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Bring a face mask! A face mask!”

As I had my hair styled with a cold sheet mask stuck to my face, I thought back on the previous day.

‘When I’m on the verge of death someday, I’m definitely putting that scene in my life flashing before my eyes.’

I had actually exchanged greetings with Andrea, who had previously visited the set of <Seoul Metropolitan City>. I still remembered vividly how tense everyone on set had been back then.

Director O Seonyul had probably been under immense pressure as well, even though he had never said it out loud.

‘And yet, with someone that important...’

I had leisurely held a conversation with the head of NetHolics. I had been seriously cool yesterday. I had looked exactly like a stereotypical “popular” actress.

‘Champagne in one hand....’

And Andrea’s hand clasped in the other... That relaxed, professional handshake we exchanged....

Jihwa’s performance was quite impressive. It caused quite a sensation at headquarters as well.

Oops, really?

I’m looking forward to the next series.

I’ll work hard....

Up to that point, it had been real....

NetHolics has decided to build a statue in your honor, Han Yeoreum. Every member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and even the president, unanimously insisted that a statue of Han Yeoreum should be erected beside the Marilyn Monroe statue. Then D-sney picked a fight, asking why NetHolics should be the one to do it when we were the first to recognize your talent through <Funny Bunny Harmony>. They insisted they would produce the statue themselves and install an identical one in D-sneyland....

Oh my God, please don’t fight over me....

Hahahaha, hohohoho, hahaha, hohoho....

This part was slightly delusional....

“Darling! Stop laughing! You’re wrinkling the face mask!”

Dok Gogyeol exploded in anger.

Only after I slipped into the role of a truly, genuinely “popular” actress, one recognized even in America and capable of treating situations like yesterday’s as part of her “everyday life,” did I manage to lower the corners of my mouth.

“Then it’s finally time for me to step forward....”

“I tell you this every single time, but you have always been stepping forward, Yeoreum.”

Today was my second day in America and my final day in LA.

Yesterday, we had taken photographs and videos that would be uploaded to NetHolics’ official archive and participated in a brief interview.

Today’s schedule was meant to show the world more seriously who Han Yeoreum was.

A photo shoot for a global web magazine at an LA studio.

I climbed into the car NetHolics had prepared and headed toward the studio again.

Once again, there was one car per person. Four cars moved together in total, including the ones assigned to Myeong Jeha, Do Gyeoul, and Tak Jeongyun.

I still had no idea what model the car was, but it was black, enormous, and looked incredibly expensive, so my shoulders naturally rose with pride.

‘So this is what a “popular” actress’s schedule in America is like....’

I looked out through the window.

“What are you looking for?”

“I was wondering whether there were any paparazzi....”

“There’s no way they’d already be here.”

Could a passerby perhaps look inside the car and recognize me?

I lowered the window.

“If you keep letting cold air hit your face, your makeup will start separating! Put that window back up right now!”

At Dok Gogyeol’s shout, I raised the window again.

Someday, I hoped the day would come when our car could not even move because of the paparazzi in America.

* * *

“I think I just saw my daughter.”

Marcus thought he had seen Jihwa passing him on the other side of the crosswalk. His vision was 0.3 in his left eye and 0.3 in his right, but for that brief instant, he possessed the accuracy of someone whose vision had suddenly become 3.0 in both eyes.

Unfortunately, a truck passed directly in front of him at the worst possible moment.

Hooonk-!

He screamed where he stood.

“Jihwa! Jihwa!!!”

By the time the truck had passed and he looked across the crosswalk again, the car carrying Marcus’s daughter had disappeared.

He frantically whipped his head around with a devastated expression.

“Oh, come on, Marcus. There’s no way Jihwa would just be wandering around on the street.”

“No. I’m beneath the same sky as my daughter right now!”

That was right.

This was LA.

The city where Marcus lived.

“You probably played games all night and started seeing things. Either that, or a demon briefly manipulated you into getting hit by a car. Stop trying to run into the road and let’s go where we’re supposed to.”

“Sniff... My daughter....”

As befitted a gaming Intuber, Marcus lived with his days and nights completely reversed from everyone else’s. He had not even heard that Jihwa had visited NetHolics headquarters until dawn, and the problem was that today marked the end of his daughter’s LA schedule.

“If I’d known in advance, I would’ve gone to pick her up at the airport...! Idiot Marcus! While you were lost in your games, how desperately must that poor child have searched for her father all alone at the airport!”

“She has a manager and a coordinator with her. Stop talking nonsense.”

With his heart torn apart, Marcus tried to forget his sorrow by going out to eat something his daughter liked.

After staying up another entire night in anguish, Marcus chose the following for breakfast.

“Korean food.”

“Wait. Isn’t this Chinese food?”

“My daughter is Korean.”

“So?”

“Jihwa liked it, which makes it Korean food. Insult my daughter any further and I’ll shoot you, even if it’s you.”

After presenting that miraculous logic, Marcus also ordered something called panda potato noodles.

“Sleep tight... Sleep tight....”

Then he covered it with a blanket made of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) fried tofu.

Just as his daughter had done.

He took a photograph of it together with the photo card of his daughter that he had received after ordering pizza.

“Fucking hell.”

The editor sighed at the familiar sight of his deranged employer’s antics.

* * *

The first schedule was a group photo shoot.

Amid a system so meticulously organized that it made her head spin, Dok Gogyeol counted the number of staff members present that day.

‘Hmmmm-. I smell money....’

It was the scent she loved more than anything else.

A set constructed with overwhelming capital.

Dok Gogyeol had never once worked at a poorly equipped location, not even among famous Korean studios or broadcasting stations.

She had only ever visited the best places, so her standards had risen as high as they possibly could, yet even she could tell that this place existed on an entirely different level.

Dozens of state-of-the-art lighting devices hung from the gridded ceiling of the enormous studio, and there appeared to be roughly sixty people filling the set at that very moment.

On a Korean set, the entire crew accompanying an actor would normally consist of a small elite group made up of makeup artists, hairstylists, stylists, and a manager.

Here, however, everything had been prepared as though they were determined to demonstrate exactly why America was called the land of dreams.

Apart from the coordinators and makeup staff, there were separate teams for the executive producer, directors, and lighting technicians.

There were also set designers, digital technicians, dedicated welcome-catering staff, interviewers assigned specifically to the actors, interpreters, photographers, NetHolics employees, and, most importantly, private security guards.

‘So this is their weight class.’

In this industry, being treated on this scale meant one simple thing.

They believed you possessed that much value.

Hollywood’s calculations were never wrong.

Even for Dok Gogyeol, who had spent years personally attending to top actors, a production of this scale felt unfamiliar and exciting.

It made her realize that she had entered a much larger world.

‘When I first met her, I never imagined she would grow this quickly.’

She recalled the twenty-year-old Han Yeoreum, who had been somewhat intimidated because she could not afford much.

That youthful face, slightly tense.

And those eyes that had somehow carried an inexplicable certainty.

‘I really did buy in at the bottom.’

Dok Gogyeol’s salon, <Gogyeol>, now stood unquestionably at the very top of the industry.

In the past, there had been other salons that could claim to stand shoulder to shoulder with hers.

Now, however, she occupied the throne without dispute.

After all, she had Han Yeoreum, the actress with the greatest momentum in the industry, and Eun Baekhap, the actress who left everyone spellbound.

‘And it isn’t as though she’s only made one or two products go viral!’

Not only hairstyles, but lip gloss, blush, and eye shadow as well.

The entire current lineage of color-cosmetic trends was being carried forward by Han Yeoreum.

Dok Gogyeol was certain.

‘Why else would D rush to prepare an outfit for New York Fashion Week?’

The moment Fashion Week ended, Han Yeoreum would no longer be merely a beauty ambassador for D.

‘She’ll definitely become a global house ambassador.’

She would truly become the face of the brand.

It was obvious that she would represent every product category, including fashion, beauty, and jewelry.

“We’re beginning the shoot! Everyone, please gather inside the frame!”

Han Yeoreum’s smile shone beneath the brilliant lights.

Her eyes, brimming with excitement, drew in everything around her.

Dok Gogyeol could already see the future in which D adored Han Yeoreum for the soaring sales and unprecedented popularity she brought them.

It was not difficult to imagine at all.