“Uh, what do I do?”
What was she supposed to do now? Was she really going to get cut from the drama and the agency?
Now that Senior Isia knew she had gotten cast in the drama because of Lee Dowoo...
Her thoughts grew more and more tangled.
“Seo Yumi.”
Looking at Seo Yumi as her face rapidly paled, Camilla did not need to hear her thoughts to know exactly what she was thinking.
“How about trusting yourself a little?”
“...What?”
Seo Yumi turned to look at her as if she could not understand what Camilla was saying. Camilla gave her a faint smile.
“The Director Gil Sangyeop I know doesn’t put just anyone in his dramas. He’d rather not make the drama at all than bow to outside pressure.”
“What do you an...?”
“What Lee Dowoo told you was a complete lie, so don’t believe it.”
“...A lie?”
Maybe Lee Dowoo had been gaslighting her for even longer than Camilla had thought. There was no strength in her voice.
Camilla gently patted her on the shoulder.
“The acting I saw from you wasn’t bad.”
“...!”
“I rember thinking a pretty decent rookie had shown up.”
At those words, Seo Yumi’s eyes widened as far as they could go. Countless emotions flickered across them. A mont later, her eyes reddened at once.
She stood there blinking for a long ti without being able to say anything, then suddenly bent deeply at the waist in greeting.
“Th-thank you, Senior!”
In an unusually spirited voice.
Then she clenched her fists tight and shouted as if making a vow.
“I... I’ll really work hard!”
After bowing once more, Seo Yumi ran off as if fleeing the spot.
“Much better.”
Wasn’t that far better than the way she had been walking with her head hanging low beside Lee Dowoo just monts ago?
Camilla let out a light laugh.
“Then I should start wrapping this up...”
Left alone after everyone, including Seo Yumi, had disappeared, Camilla scrolled through her phone contacts and placed a call.
“Oh my! Sia!”
The call connected almost imdiately.
“It’s been a while, Reporter Kim.”
“It really has. I keep telling you to call more often!”
“I have to stay busy.”
Reporter Kim was the journalist Isia had built the strongest relationship with during her life in the entertainnt industry. Sharp instincts, quick on the uptake. Their relationship was the sort where both sides benefited.
She was also the one who had actively helped Isia get support from the press when her biological father had threatened her over money.
“Haha, I heard you started a new drama.”
“That’s actually why I’m calling.”
“Hm? Why? Is sothing wrong with the drama?”
Her playful tone changed at once.
How many major stories had she broken already using information that ca through Isia?
“I heard a rumor. It sounds like one of the actors I’m working with caused so trouble recently. Could you look into it for ?”
“Trouble? What kind of trouble? Who is it?”
“You know Lee Dowoo, right?”
“A woman issue, then.”
The mont his na ca up, Reporter Kim seed to get the idea instantly and spoke first.
“I heard he reached a financial settlent with so woman about two weeks ago.”
“Oh...”
Even without hearing more, she seed to grasp the general shape of it. Lee Dowoo’s ssiness with won was already fairly well known among reporters.
It was just that there had only ever been rumors, never enough solid information to make a real investigation worth attempting.
“I heard they t at XX Club.”
“XX Club? You an the one in Gangnam?”
“I just don’t like the idea of noise starting before the drama’s even begun. If you find out anything, please call .”
“Don’t worry. I’ll look into it and call you right away.”
“Okay. Let’s grab a al soti.”
“I’d love that. Talk soon, Sia.”
As if she were in a hurry, Reporter Kim ended the call imdiately.
Camilla looked down at her phone and gave a small snort of laughter, thinking of Lee Dowoo from a mont ago.
[You idiot! That girl from XX Club two weeks ago! Did you already forget how much trouble you got into for ssing with her? Did you forget how much money that cost you? When are you ever going to co to your senses?]
The old man ghost that had been following Lee Dowoo around.
He was probably Lee Dowoo’s grandfather, and Camilla had rembered every word the furious ghost had shouted before calling the reporter.
Reporter Kim can do the rest with just that much.
She was the kind of reporter who was every bit as relentless and capable as a paparazzo. She would definitely dig all the way through Lee Dowoo’s ss and blow the story wide open.
“All right, next...”
Camilla picked up her phone again. Not long after, another voice ca through.
“Isia?”
“Hello, President Kim. You’ve been well, I hope?”
“I’m always the sa. Just waiting for the day you sign with my company.”
“You know I still have a long ti left on my current contract.”
“And you know perfectly well I’d wait no matter how much ti is left.”
Camilla let out a small laugh. The person on the other end laughed lightly too.
“So what is it? Our Sia doesn’t call without a reason.”
“Lee Dowoo.”
“Lee Dowoo?”
She could feel the other person stiffen.
“Don’t tell that bastard did sothing to you.”
“No. Not to .”
The tension that had flared at once eased a little when he heard it was not Isia.
“Then what about him?”
“I just got word from a reporter I know. It sounds like a scandal is about to break.”
“...What?”
President Kim Cheoseon. The head of Louis Entertainnt, the agency Lee Dowoo belonged to.
At the mont it was only a mid-sized entertainnt company, but it had enough funding and a solid enough roster of actors that it had a very high chance of soon growing into one of South Korea’s representative entertainnt companies.
“Don’t tell that bastard pulled sothing again—!”
“I told you before, didn’t I? Lee Dowoo can’t act, and all he’s got is his face. Keeping him around won’t help you in the slightest.”
“Haa.”
As if he had already dealt with Lee Dowoo’s issues with won before, President Kim Cheoseon let out a groan.
“He’ll probably get kicked out of the drama soon too. You know Director Gil Sangyeop doesn’t hesitate to cut actors who bring problems.”
“When is the article dropping? Didn’t you hear anything else?”
“I only heard it won’t take long. I was worried you might end up taking damage for no reason.”
At her vague answer, the man on the other end let out a long sigh.
“Thanks for telling . Let’s have a al together next ti.”
“Of course.”
As if he were in a hurry, he ended the call right away. Camilla tucked the phone away with a broad grin.
That alone was enough. The fact that he did not press her for the identity of the reporter who had passed along the news ant he was thinking about cutting Lee Dowoo loose rather than stopping the scandal.
He’s not the type to give a third chance.
He could overlook one mistake, whatever it was. But not two. And Lee Dowoo was not soone anyone would keep covering for after he had already caused one problem involving won.
Thunk.
“Good riddance.”
Camilla rcilessly tossed the can she had still been holding into a recycling bin set off to one side of the parking lot. That felt refreshing.
Rustle.
“...!”
As she brushed off her hands and turned back around in a good mood, Camilla flinched at the sudden sense of soone there.
She hurriedly looked toward the sound, and her face froze solid.
“Ha.”
There was soone laughing out loud, unlike himself.
It was Choi Sihyeon.
She had no idea how long he had been standing there. He even looked far too comfortable, leaning against the wall the way he was.
Why him of all people...
At the appearance of the single most awkward person she could have run into, Camilla let out a sigh inwardly.
The mont their eyes t, he strode toward her.
“You...”
? what?
The distance between them kept shrinking. Before she even had ti to flinch, he smoothly leaned his face in close and continued.
“How do you manage to never leave a chance to help?”
Camilla stared blankly at his face right in front of hers without avoiding it in the slightest. Then the corner of Choi Sihyeon’s mouth tilted up.
After that, he clicked his tongue lightly, as if this was exactly what he had expected, then took a step back and walked away as though nothing had happened.
“...What is wrong with that man?”
Left there alone, Camilla kept knitting her brows as she watched Choi Sihyeon disappear into the distance.
“Haa...”
Was it because she had been a little tense?
Only after he was gone did she finally let out a long breath, then hurriedly pulled out a piece of paper.
And on the note she was leaving for Isia, she added one more line.
Lee Dowoo ➜ Piece of shit. Stay away from him.
Choi Sihyeon ➜ Person to watch. Unpleasant bastard.
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