A Night Soaked With You - Chapter 15
His sudden shift in tone made Yeong-won uneasy. She’d heard this kind of setup before, and it was always followed by the same dreaded words.
‘Is he going to ask me to drop out?’
Now that they had an investor, there might have been pressure.
They could have demanded a full cast replacement, or maybe they wanted to bring in someone more to their liking.
“I’m afraid we have to give your role to someone else.”
Of course, she thinks it in her mind. She had expected it. Yet again, she was losing her role to someone else.
Yeong-won silently nodded after processing his words a couple of times.
While it stung, she knew she was always on her way out. At least the director had caught his big break—she could be happy for him about that.
Suppressing the bitterness, she flashed him a wide, bright smile.
Yeong-won was just about to say how glad she was that the movie was getting made when the director spoke up again, beating her to it.
“And Yeong-won, you’re going to have to take the lead role.”
Her movements froze completely. She stood there, unable to blink, before finally managing to stammer, “What?”
“Surprise!” the director exclaimed, before repeating himself.
“Yeong-won, you’re going to be the lead in ‘Distress’!”
“Me? How…… how could I be…… the lead?”
While Yeong-won stood there, stunned and at a loss for words, the director gave her a hearty pat on the shoulder.
“Honestly, from the very beginning, I wanted to ask you to take the lead, but I knew your situation, and I needed to secure investors. But now, none of that matters anymore. Of course, you should be the lead actress.”
“But……”
Yeong-won had never once played a lead role before. She had been more than grateful just to be a secondary lead.
And now, all of a sudden, she was supposed to be the main character, carrying an entire film.
“You’ll do it, right?”
“Can I…… do it well?” she hesitated.
Even though it was something she had always dreamed of, Yeong-won couldn’t immediately embrace the opportunity when it was finally handed to her.
Being the lead actor meant being the core of the movie, and she worried whether she could really carry that weight.
Sensing her hesitation, the director grinned.
“Yeong-won! Do you know who was the only person to read the script from start to finish when I first started this project?”
Yeong-won silently stared at him, wondering if it was really her. The director’s expression turned a bit more serious as he continued.
“It was you, Yeong-won. If you think about it, I’m the bad guy for asking you to be in a movie like this, knowing your situation.”
“Director.”
As Yeong-won’s voice quivered with emotion, the director responded with a warm smile.
The staff, who had been watching the exchange, came over to congratulate Yeong-won.
The once-quiet set quickly became bustling with activity. Yeong-won wiped away her tears and smiled brightly.
This could be the opportunity she had been waiting for—a chance to finish her 8-year acting career on a high note, not as someone who fades away in defeat, but as someone who steps away with pride.
Thus, Yeong-won became the lead in the movie ‘Distress’, a film everyone had confidently predicted would flop.
| Jae-young drinks the cold valley water. The sounds of wild animals echo through the darkened mountains. |
Yeong-won sips on the almost expired milk while flipping through the script.
Now that she’s taken on the lead role, the script she had read several times feels strikingly new.
The protagonist of “Distress”, Lee Jae-young, gets lost in the mountains while hiking with his team members from work.
It was a thriller movie where people suddenly disappeared in an accident, and suspicion grew among them as the story unfolded.
As Yeong-won was deeply focused on the script, a tube of ointment was tossed onto her desk.
Not realizing a customer had arrived, Yeong-won hurriedly stood up and scanned the barcode.
As she calculated the total and reached out for the items, she heard,
“I expected you wouldn’t be too pleased to see me, but I didn’t think you’d ignore me completely.”
Startled by the familiar voice, Yeong-won looked up in surprise.
She froze in place.
Unable to breathe as if the flow of air had stopped.
‘Why is this man here……’
As Yeong-won stared blankly, Tae-geon smirked, lifting the corner of his mouth.
“Why are you so surprised? Are you perhaps too happy to see me?”
Who wouldn’t be surprised in this situation.
Yeong-won had been trying to forget Tae-geon. Forgetting him was both easy and hard. He had been such a dreamy figure in her life.
The sight of him standing against the night sky, along with that sweet kiss, flooded her mind.
But that man had appeared in reality. A strikingly handsome face devoid of warmth, an expensive suit, a large frame, and his characteristic cold gaze.
He looked exactly the same as he did on that day, the first and last time she had seen him.
There couldn’t possibly be two people like him in the world, so it had to be Seong Tae-geon.
Yeong-won, with her eyelashes fluttering, finally managed to speak.
“Hey, what brings you here?”
“I just, happened to pass by.”
His answer was very simple. Of course, it was anything but simple for Yeong-won.
“You happened to drop by here while passing by?”
“Yeah.”
Did he really expect her to believe that he just happened to come across this convenience store among countless others in Seoul?
To be honest, she couldn’t believe it, but Yeong-won decided not to press the issue. Sometimes ignorance was bliss.
Suppressing her rising curiosity, Yeong-won nodded her head slightly.
“Well, then, have a good day.”
If he had just happened to stop by, he would buy his items and leave right away. Yeong-won even pushed the ointment toward him, urging him to go.
But, of course, Tae-geon didn’t leave. He picked up the ointment and struck up another conversation.
“I happened to come in, but seeing you, Kim Yeong-won, reminded me of something I needed to do.”
Yeong-won immediately went on high alert. Just as she had suspected, Tae-geon hadn’t come by by chance.
