Chapter 42: Busan (5)

Translator: Dreamscribe

An Ji-hee's name rang out across the vast Busan Cinema Center.

"Congratulations! Best New Actor Award, Short Film Competition Section!! Actress An Ji-hee of 'Condensation'!!"

Soon the thousands of audience members in the hall began looking around. The name An Ji-hee was unfamiliar to most of them. Only a handful managed to recall articles about the red carpet. So there was no way they'd recognize her face.

Except.

-Swish.

Director Kwon Sung-min, Lee Chan-hoo, Yoon Da-yeon, the entire 'Condensation' team, all stared straight at An Ji-hee with their eyes wide open. A look of fresh shock filled every gaze. Meanwhile, An Ji-hee...

"......Huh?"

Was visibly flustered. Her body froze and her thoughts ground to a halt. Of course. At the Busan International Film Festival, surrounded by countless famous figures from the domestic and international film world, she'd never even dreamed her name would be called.

But this wasn't a dream, it was reality.

The host on stage made sure to remind her of that.

"Haha, Actress An Ji-hee? Where are you??"

The frozen An Ji-hee suddenly shot to her feet.

"Yes!! H, here!! I'm right here!!!"

She looked exactly like a student leaping up at being called on by a teacher. The moment she stood, the spotlight swung onto her, and celebratory music spread across the entire hall. Then came the applause.

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!

But An Ji-hee had only managed to stand up; her body wouldn't function beyond that. Considering BIFF (Busan International Film Festival) was effectively her debut, and that she'd suddenly walked away with the Best New Actor Award at that very BIFF, even if it was only the short film section, that was only natural.

"A, uh... Sunbaenim, what do I do??"

To An Ji-hee's panicked, bewildered question, Yoon Da-yeon answered while clapping lightly.

"What do you mean, what do you do? Get up there, grab the award, and come back."

Then the 'Condensation' team showered An Ji-hee with enthusiastic congratulations.

"Congrats, Ji-hee-ssi!!"

"Seriously, seriously, congratulations!"

Slit-eyed Lee Chan-hoo clapped along while laughing inwardly.

'Commander said she'd amount to something, but to think she'd grab a Best New Actor Award the second she debuted.'

There was someone else with a similar thought. CEO Han Tae-sung, seated a little apart from the 'Condensation' team, legs crossed, was clapping in calm silence. As he watched An Ji-hee, his mind was on Kang Jae-ha.

'An idol trainee who was about to be cut. He personally pivoted that girl into an actress, debuted her at BIFF, and pulled a Best New Actor Award out of that debut stage.'

Even CEO Han Tae-sung, with decades of experience in the entertainment industry...

'The ripple effect will be more than double the Blue Dragon or the Baeksang.'

Was looking at a case he'd practically never seen before.

'Discovery, project selection, results, all of it shaped by that bastard Kang Jae-ha's hands. It's almost a shame I'm only making my move now.'

Just as he murmured to himself internally, An Ji-hee's story was unique and full of character. She'd ground away as an idol trainee for years and was rescued by Kang Jae-ha just before being cut. After an abrupt pivot to acting, she stood on this very stage receiving a Best New Actor Award not long after.

The public loves stories like this.

Once the press and public opinion got hold of it, it would spread fast.

In any case, An Ji-hee took her first steps with creaking, unsteady movements. Even now, she was still thinking, what's happening here? But everyone was waiting, so she headed for the stage. As she walked, photographers' flashes rained down, and the massive stage gradually loomed closer in her view.

Her heart, pounding like crazy.

'What do I do! What do I do!! Is this real? Really real?? Am I really getting an award up there??'

With her feelings spilling straight onto her face, the An Ji-hee captured by the cameras looked stiff. No, more like, deeply solemn?

At last, An Ji-hee climbed onto the stage.

She stumbled slightly on the steps but managed to make it up.

"Congratulations."

"Th, thank you."

An Ji-hee, taking the trophy.

By this point the green room where Kang Jae-ha was watching had descended into pandemonium. General Manager Kim Dae-yong and the entire staff were hollering at the top of their lungs.

"Insane!!! Whoa, this is huge! Huge!!"

"Aaah! I think I'm going to cry!!"

"Seriously, seriously, isn't Ji-hee-nim's story straight out of a drama?? Idol trainee turns actress and immediately wins Best New Actor at BIFF!!"

"Manager Kang-nim! Congratulations!!"

"Right! Manager Kang-nim must be the happiest of all!"

The attention swung to Kang Jae-ha, who was watching the monitor. The corners of his mouth were curved up, just barely. At that moment, Jae-ha was thinking back to An Ji-hee's 'Deja Vu'. An Ji-hee receiving a New Actor Award at some massive film festival.

He'd planned to make it happen within the year, but it had come faster than expected.

'This is how it's supposed to be.'

General Manager Kim Dae-yong came up to Jae-ha. His face, full of emotion.

"Jae-ha-ssi, congratulations. Da-yeon too, but Ji-hee-ssi is basically your creation, you know."

"I just pointed out the road, that's all. The actresses are the ones who put in the work."

"There you go again with that dry tone. Honestly, you're happy too, aren't you, Jae-ha-ssi."

"It doesn't feel bad."

At that moment, the monitor showed An Ji-hee in her dress, captured solo, fidgeting as she stepped up to the standing microphone. Her, briefly looking down at the trophy in her hand. About a few seconds. Then, with a face that said she still couldn't believe what she was seeing, An Ji-hee opened her mouth.

"H, hello, I'm new actress An Ji-hee. Um, first of all, this is so surreal. In case it's a dream, would it be okay if I pinched my arm a little?"

Laughter broke out here and there in the audience. Although she'd opened her speech a bit oddly, she had in fact received some advice from Kang Jae-ha. He'd told her to prepare a speech, since there was no telling what might happen. So she'd put together a rough one in her head, but the second she stepped onto that stage, she'd forgotten every word of it.

It wasn't strange.

The enormous stage, the burning heat, the floods of lighting and flashes, the rows of cameras stationed in front of the stage, the thousands of famous people in the seats before her, and so on.

Wasn't the whole scene almost surreal?

So An Ji-hee continued her speech in a half-dazed state.

"I... I was actually an idol trainee. I did it for years, but I never reached the results I wanted. So I'd almost given up. That's when Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim saved me. The words he said to me are still vivid in my mind. He asked if I'd try acting, and said he'd help me. I just did what he told me to do, and somehow, here I am, standing here."

The memory had been slightly polished, but in any case, the name Kang Jae-ha echoed throughout the entire hall.

"I, I'd like to first thank Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim, who showed me the path of acting, set my direction, and gave me the courage to believe I had talent! He's, like, like truly an incredible person! Oh! Am I going on too long? I'm sorry."

At the host's gesture that it was fine, An Ji-hee's words sped up.

"To my parents who believed in me, to Yoon Da-yeon-sunbaenim and Director Kwon Sung-min-nim! To the wonderful, wonderful 'Condensation' team, and to so many more people I'm grateful for! Thank you so, so much!"

An Ji-hee bowed over and over and over again.

A moment later.

After she finished, An Ji-hee, ending things with what amounted to a 'Can I go now?' question, stepped down from the stage. Applause poured down again.

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!!

Her speech must have moved the audience. Plenty of foreign attendees looked moved as well. Once she returned to her seat, Yoon Da-yeon gave her a thumbs up.

"You're a fox in bear's clothing, aren't you? You were stiff as a robot before, but you went up there and let it all flow, huh?"

An Ji-hee covered her face and let out a faint scream.

"Aaagh, I can't remember a single thing I said. Did I mess anything up? It was way too long, wasn't it??"

"No, it was fine. That's how it's supposed to go."

While An Ji-hee was once again being congratulated by the 'Condensation' team, the host on stage announced the next award. This time, an Indian music director rose. The interesting thing happened after his speech.

"This next one is a recently established award!! Congratulations!! Scene Stealer Award, Short Film Competition Section!! Actress Yoon Da-yeon of 'Condensation'!!"

A second award had come to 'Condensation' in the short film section. This time it was Yoon Da-yeon. Once again, applause swept through the hall, and An Ji-hee bounced up and down. Naturally, the green room watching all this lost it even harder. In the end, General Manager Kim Dae-yong, eyes welling red.

Smiling, Kang Jae-ha applauded inwardly.

'Niiice...'

Yoon Da-yeon, in her black dress, rose smoothly. She walked to the stage clearly several times more naturally than An Ji-hee had. After accepting her award, Yoon Da-yeon stepped up to the standing mic, and the very first words out of her mouth were these.

"Phew, took me a while, getting here."

Yoon Da-yeon's speech was peppered with appropriate wit, and she thanked the people she was grateful to, including General Manager Kim Dae-yong. It wasn't very long.

"I'll become an actress who craves nothing but acting."

It was near the end of her speech that Kang Jae-ha's name came out of her mouth.

"And to Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim, who took me to rock bottom and brought me back up to this stage. Thank you."

It was a slightly blunt remark, very much in her style. Either way, perhaps thanks to Kang Jae-ha being mentioned by both award-winning actresses...

"Kang Jae-ha? An Ji-hee mentioned him earlier too, right? Going by their speeches, this Manager Kang Jae-ha guy is the one who put both actresses up there."

"Hm. Sounds like a manager with real ability."

"You ever heard of him?"

"Not me."

"Which agency is he with."

Kang Jae-ha's name rippled through the audience here and there. But this wasn't the end. The finale of the short film competition section was still to come.

The host announced that finale.

"Now, the final award of the short film competition section! Best Short Film Award!!"

Each section of BIFF's competitive divisions had something equivalent to a Grand Prize, and the 'Best Short Film Award' was effectively the Grand Prize of the BIFF short film section. For a new director, the impact wasn't merely a gateway opening, but more like having a rocket strapped to one's back.

"Best Short Film Award!! Whoa, a triple crown from a single film! Truly, congratulations!! Director Kwon Sung-min of 'Condensation'!!!"

The Grand Prize of the short film section went to 'Condensation'. As a result, 'Condensation' had taken a triple crown in the short film section. Three awards from a single film. Perhaps thanks to that, the thousands of audience members rose for a standing ovation.

-Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!!!

Director Kwon Sung-min, who had climbed onto the stage with a dazed expression, only got teary-eyed once he had the trophy in his hands. As his past flickered through his mind like a panorama, Director Kwon Sung-min...

-Slide.

Pushed his glasses up and opened his mouth.

"I think this is a miracle."

Steeling himself, the young Director Kwon Sung-min carried on his speech with a surprisingly weighty posture and bearing. Brief as the shoot had been, he had grown during 'Condensation', and as a director, he had to thank everyone who had been a force behind 'Condensation'.

The start was 'MEG'.

When the investment company 'MEG' was called out, soft murmurs rose from the audience. It was an unfamiliar name. Regardless, hearing his own name called, Lee Chan-hoo in the audience couldn't help but puff up his shoulders a bit.

'It wasn't me, it was the Commander who fished it out, but, eh, this feels nice. So this is what being a figurehead feels like!'

Director Kwon Sung-min, oblivious to that, went down the list of the people he was grateful to, one by one. The production company's CEO Jeong Tae-woo, the staff, the actresses including Yoon Da-yeon and An Ji-hee, his parents, Leon Entertainment, and so on.

At the end, the name that had already come up twice in his speech was called out once more.

"And to Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim, who saw the potential in 'Condensation' and connected us with Actress Yoon Da-yeon and Actress An Ji-hee, thank you so much!"

Manager Kang Jae-ha. That made three times now. Once it had reached this point, Jae-ha's name...

"Huh, what's this? So this manager Kang Jae-ha guy is the one who spotted the project and slotted in two actresses?"

"Doesn't seem like just having an eye to me. The film he himself found just took a triple crown at BIFF."

"True. He got a rookie an award and debuted her here, and brought back that long-forgotten Yoon Da-yeon with her head held high. To pull off results like this, his form is straight-up monster-tier."

He'd left a mark on a fair number of people in the audience.

After that.

With the short film section's awards over, the closing ceremony of the Busan International Film Festival was moving on to the main course. Looking at the closing ceremony as a whole, the short film section was, frankly, no more than a dessert.

But Condensation's triple crown was no small matter.

It was a near-first at BIFF. On top of that, the story woven into the triple-crown 'Condensation' was a fascinating one. The comeback of Yoon Da-yeon, who had been forgotten by the public as a washed-up has-been; the debut of An Ji-hee, who, as a nobody, had been on the verge of being cut from her idol trainee program.

And on top of that, the Grand Prize for Kwon Sung-min, the only director in his twenties and an unknown.

So things were turning upside down everywhere.

For starters, the green room with Kang Jae-ha had been full of yelling and cheering for a while now.

"Wahhhhh! Triple crown! Triple crown!!"

"Is this for real??! Is this really happening?!!"

"Hahaha, of course it's for real!!"

"Slayed it!! Whoa, I've never seen anything like this!!"

General Manager Kim Dae-yong was so worked up that he was busy grabbing Jae-ha's shoulders and shaking him.

"Jae-ha-ssi! Jae-ha-ssi!! What is happening right now, seriously!"

Kang Jae-ha just gave in to the shaking.

Beyond Busan, things were chaotic in Seoul too. Especially at Leon Entertainment. With two of their actresses winning awards side by side, that was only natural, and 'Moonbak Film', the production company behind 'Condensation', was buzzing as well.

By this point BIFF was still ongoing, but the related articles had already started to break.

《[Film Festival] Short Film 'Condensation' Beats Out Numerous Domestic and International Shorts to Take Triple Crown!》

《'Condensation' Claims an Astonishing Triple Crown in BIFF Short Film Section, Showcasing the Strength of Korean Cinema Before Many Foreign Filmmakers》

The hot topic, of course, was 'Condensation'. Not just a triple crown, but one earned over numerous domestic and international short films, which made it that much hotter. Photos of Yoon Da-yeon and An Ji-hee, of course, were also being plastered everywhere nonstop.

《Long-Absent Actress 'Yoon Da-yeon' Makes Glamorous Comeback After Acting Recognized at BIFF / Photos》

《[BIFF] Best New Actor Award at BIFF on Her Debut? Newcomer Actress An Ji-hee Appears Out of Nowhere / Photos》

The notable thing was.

《[Film Festival] 'Condensation' Drops Triple-Crown Bombshell at BIFF, Interest Surges in 'Manager Kang Jae-ha' Mentioned Three Times in Winners' Speeches》

Kang Jae-ha's name was packing serious firepower of its own.