I blinked.
The Cannes Best Screenplay Award…? And it's going to win Best Actress, too…?
Eureka!
The South Korean film industry was simply too small for coincidences; a masterpiece like this didn't come around twice. This was undeniably the exact script that would crown Ina with the Best Actress award at Cannes.
Well… I am still technically on the clock.
I decided to strike up a conversation with CakeLover.
"Hello. I'm Chanwoo Lim, a manager at Star Entertainment. I am in charge of Actress Hyunah Lim."
"Ah… yes."
"Are you the author, by any chance? Thank you for offering our actress a shot at such a great project."
"I wanted a different actress, not Hyunah Lim. The platform completely ignored my input and pushed for her just because she's cheap."
"…"
I swallowed my pride and decided to play nice.
"I really enjoyed The Secret Temptress. It was truly a masterpiece."
"The Secret Temptress isn't a masterpiece. It's just cheap slop I wrote. It only blew up because it got lucky."
"…I think even 'cheap slop' webnovels can be great. Personally, I love it when things like S-rank or EX-rank show up."
"Even for cheap slop, aren't S-rank and EX-rank just absolute brainrot? Especially EX-rank. I seriously don't know how cooked a writer's brain has to be to churn that garbage out. Do they not feel any shame toward their readers?"
Do you even know the thrill of seeing an S-rank on an appraisal window?!
She was a tough nut to crack!
For a moment, I wondered if I should just quit.
What did it matter to me whether Ina won the Cannes Best Actress Award or not?
Before calling it quits entirely, I mustered one last ounce of patience and spoke.
"By any chance, are you thinking of writing a screenplay?"
"…How did you know that?"
"I saw your interview."
CakeLover might have dismissed The Secret Temptress as cheap slop that just got lucky, but it was an undeniable mega-hit.
Its massive success had even earned her a featured interview on the platform, where she had mentioned wanting to try her hand at writing a screenplay.
"You should think about it carefully."
"…What?"
"Because the film industry isn't a joke. A script from a writer who trashes their own work as 'cheap slop' will never make the cut."
"!!!"
CakeLover's face turned red.
"That's…!"
Hmm… was I too blunt?
But I had to consider one thing.
[There is a possibility it could win the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival.]
This meant winning at Cannes wasn't a guaranteed future. It was merely a possibility.
Also—
[CakeLover]
[Special Note: Suffers from a deep-seated inferiority complex as a trash novel writer. Her insecurities have recently spiked to an extreme degree.]
With an inferiority complex this severe, she won't even be able to write properly. Everyone carries a bit of insecurity, but letting it spiral like this will completely ruin her work.
This was true for artists and celebrities as well. Whether they were struggling to make it or already wildly successful, people in those fields constantly battled insecurities for any number of reasons.
There were two ways to deal with people like her.
The first was to tread lightly, as if walking on eggshells, managing their fragile egos while carefully coaxing them.
This was usually the standard method, but seeing her prickly attitude, it didn't look like that approach would work very well.
Instead, the second method was to bypass the pleasantries entirely and pull no punches.
"Honestly, I'm disappointed in you."
"What… did you say? You keep—?"
"I really enjoyed reading The Secret Temptress."
"!!!"
I had only intended to skim through it since it was a project my artist was attached to, but I ended up binging the whole thing on the clock, straight through to the final chapter.
I lost track of time reading it and almost had to work overtime.
"I believe you'd write an excellent screenplay too. But you won't get anywhere if you stay consumed by an inferiority complex like this. Take pride in your work—what you're writing right now is completely worth being proud of. Once you believe in yourself, your writing is going to reach a whole new level."
* * *
Hmph. He's not even a writer, so what does he know?
Joo-ah Lim, the author known as CakeLover, fumed inwardly after Chanwoo left.
Of course, every single word he said had been entirely correct—from her crippling inferiority complex to the prickly defense mechanism she had developed because of it.
But she couldn't help it.
She hadn't graduated from a prestigious university, and the only skill she possessed was a knack for writing.
Yet, even though her books sold well, the reviews were always harsh.
↳Certified slop novel.
↳legit just regurgitating the same old trash. does the author only know how to ctrl+c ctrl+v?
↳Literal garbage, only good for killing time.
She knew her own flaws better than anyone, but having them pointed out directly to her face didn't feel good.
Then—
"Miss CakeLover, how was the commercial shoot?"
"Ah… it was wonderful."
Hyunah's acting today had been perfect—enough to make Joo-ah's past disapproval look utterly foolish.
"Actress Hyunah Lim, thank you for the wonderful acting today," the director said.
Hyunah quickly shook her head, offering a surprising reply.
"No, it's all thanks to Manager Lim."
"If it's Manager Lim… ah, do you mean the rising star of Star Entertainment, Midas Lim?"
"Yes, that's right."
Midas Lim?
It was a cringeworthy title that Joo-ah absolutely despised—right up there with S-rank and EX-rank.
"I was reborn as an actress all thanks to Manager Lim."
"So I've heard."
"You see, here's how it all started—"
Hyunah began to chatter excitedly, like an obsessive fangirl shamelessly gushing over her favorite idol.
Is this seriously the same actress from a minute ago?!
Hyunah spoke endlessly about how she received help from Chanwoo and how great Chanwoo was.
"He can be brutally honest sometimes, which definitely stings, but every single word he says is with our best interests at heart!"
"Oh, I see."
"I'm definitely not the only one who got reborn after hearing his truth bombs."
"Ah… yes."
"He cares so much about the artists, and he's such a good person—so nice it actually makes me angry sometimes. He makes you fall head over heels, only to neglect you while he runs around caring for God knows who else. Honestly, I wish he only had eyes for me instead of those other bitches… Oops! Please pretend you didn't hear that last part."
"Ha… ha…?"
"Actually, this is a secret I'm only telling you, director. You said my acting was wonderful earlier, correct? I acted while thinking of Manager Lim the whole time. Picturing myself stealing him away from the other bit— ah, no, I mean, artists… the emotions just came pouring out on their own!"
I don't care! TMI! It feels like my ears are about to bleed, so stop it!!!
Even so, there were details that managed to stick in her mind.
"He can be brutally honest sometimes, but every single word he says is with our best interests at heart!"
Was he doing the same for me? Maybe he was… Because not a single word he said was wrong.
After returning home, Joo-ah searched online for Chanwoo Lim.
Several other artists were saying similar things to what Hyunah had said.
There was no longer any room for doubt.
Chanwoo had done that for her sake.
I had no idea he was such a good person. I was so incredibly rude to him.
Her initial hostility toward Chanwoo wasn't simply because of her poor social skills. Seeing him smooth-talk his way into acting friendly had simply raised her guard, making her wonder if he was some kind of con artist.
And yet, Chanwoo's intentions had been entirely pure. He had done it solely for her sake.
Suddenly, the words Chanwoo said came to mind.
"Take pride in your work. I believe you'd write an excellent screenplay too."
…Let's give it a shot.
In reality, she'd only been hesitating because she lacked confidence.
But now, she decided to summon the courage.
However…
First things first, I want to be recognized by Manager Chanwoo Lim.
She looked up the number from Chanwoo's business card and found his profile on KaTalk.
Taking a deep breath, she sent him a message.
Since it was still 4:35, she figured it wouldn't be inappropriate to reach out.
「I'm thinking of writing a screenplay. If a rough draft comes out, would you be willing to take a look at it?」
The read receipt popped up instantly.
But even after waiting ten, twenty minutes, no reply came back.
And his profile picture changed.
[Off the Clock]
"…"
Joo-ah looked at the clock.
It was still 4:55 PM.
* * *
I'm not even an editor. So why on earth would you show me your screenplay?
In any case, it was a good thing that CakeLover had finally decided to write the script.
Granted, she still faced an uphill battle. Making up her mind to write was only the very first step, after all.
Most importantly, would Ina even want to star in it? CakeLover might be an established author in the web novel scene, but she's a total rookie when it comes to screenplays.
I decided not to think too deeply about it.
My role ended with just casually passing it along to Ina.
Whether the script actually becomes a Cannes-winning film, or whether Ina decides to star in it—that's up to them to figure out. It's none of my business.
I looked at the clock.
Hmm… Have I been abusing flextime too much lately?
The only good thing about Star Entertainment was its flexible hours. Since I kept leaving early and arriving late without a single minute of overtime, I was starting to feel a little guilty myself.
Then a good idea came to mind.
「Food?! With you, manager?! We'd love to!!!」
To clock some overtime of my own, I decided to treat the Ebony girls—who were currently grinding away late—to dinner!
"Uh… isn't this a premium BBQ restaurant?"
"It's fine. Let's go in."
"If we eat at a place like this, won't the company refuse to reimburse us…?"
"I'm treating you out of my own pocket."
As a wealthy man myself, I'd grown a bit bolder.
I could afford to splurge a little.
"M-Manager! We'll make sure to treat you like a king when we make it big! We swear!!!"
[The Ebony girls are deeply moved once again by your care for them!]
…To think they'd be this moved over some beef.
I noticed it every time, but they really were incredibly easy to please.
Or not? Beef is definitely something special.
Glistening with rich marbling, the gorgeous cuts of beef began to sizzle on the iron grill.
My mouth watered.
Truth be told, even after striking it rich, I'd rarely ever gone out for beef.
Premium Jeju pork belly was about as lavish as I got.
"Shall we eat?"
The girls seemed to share my sentiment; their eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their heads.
Even Hena looked ready to tear into the beef. All her recent suffering seemed to have completely erased her usual aristocratic elegance.
"Thank you for the—!"
Just as the wild feeding frenzy was about to begin—
A voice rang out that instantly killed everyone's appetite.
"Look who it is. Aren't those the Flop-bony girls?"
"!!!"
Turning my head, I spotted a group of cute young girls sitting nearby who were clearly anything but ordinary.
Next to them sat a burly man, likely their manager.
[Berry Chu]
Type: Idol
Rank: B
[Special Note: A girl group two years into their debut under Melrose Entertainment.]
Melrose Entertainment was an agency on par with Star Entertainment.
It was too large to be considered mid-sized, yet still fell just short of the Big Three giants.
Being in the same league, they were frequently compared to Star Entertainment in many aspects.
They're known as the entertainment industry's twin pillars of trash—though everyone knows Star Entertainment has the absolute worst reputation.
But that wasn't what was important.
Aren't those girls juniors compared to Ebony?
Ebony had debuted roughly half a year earlier.
A difference of this much was practically the difference between heaven and earth.
Of course, I considered myself an open-minded senior colleague, so I didn't believe juniors were strictly obligated to give special treatment based on seniority.
However…
"Oh? You're still a thing? My bad, you've been so invisible I assumed you broke up ages ago~"
"Jeez… if our group flopped that miserably, I'd be way too embarrassed to show my face outside~"
"I mean, controversies don't just pop out of nowhere, right? There's gotta be some truth to it~"
They were crossing the line way too much.
Granted, the two groups always had bad blood.
Just as Star Entertainment and Melrose Entertainment were constantly compared, Ebony and Berry Chu had frequently been pitted against each other as rivals ever since their debut.
This kind of psychological warfare wasn't uncommon in the entertainment scene.
However…
…Now I'm getting pissed.
I looked at the Ebony girls, who kept their mouths tightly shut. They weren't even thinking of talking back; they were just nervously glancing around.
It probably wasn't their first time experiencing something like this.
Right… I was working overtime. Time to get to work.
It was time to show these 'fakes' exactly why Star Entertainment was so notoriously infamous in the industry.
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