Seunghyun ~~ When fate screws you up

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Park convinced me to take on the TV drama project about an alien getting stranded on Earth and then falling in love with a superstar actress. I admit the male lead’s character looks intriguing and besides, Jun Ji-hyun is going to play my love interest and who is going to say no to that, right? I am feeling good about this project especially after we’ve signed the contracts and had a secret meeting with the director, writer and producers and lead casts. Nothing final has ben released to the media yet but I am expecting the confirmation to hit within the week.

It has been a couple of weeks since then and I was surprised to get a call from the main director himself about an emergency meeting in his office. He asked if I could come right over but I told him I’m in Jeju wrapping up Tazza’s last day of shoot. He told me it was really important and sensing the unease in his voice, I told him that I’ll drop by tomorrow as soon as we land back in Incheon.

Getting back on the set, I joined some of my cast mates gathered around a shaded area drinking coffee. It’s a chilly weather and strong winds have incessantly blown all day. It doesn’t help that we are atop of a hill overlooking the ocean. The rest of the crew members are busy piling up the various props and equipment moving them to a nearby location where the next scene is going to be shot.

I gratefully accepted a coffee cup that was handed to me by one of the staff and as I was carefully sipping the hot and much needed caffeine in my veins, I felt a gentle nudge from one of the supporting actors. He tossed his gaze towards the direction of the leaving crew and I noticed that Park is among them.

“Look at her” he said, smiling  fondly. “Seems like she’s climbing Mt. Everest.”

I looked. Park’s thin body is struggling against the wind as she walks higher up on the hill towards the next shooting location. Her shoulders are hunched down, back almost curved as she clutched on my clothes against her body. She tries to climb up but the wind is delaying her progress whenever she takes a few steps forward, she takes a couple steps back. At this rate, a strong bellow would probably blow her away to the Pacific Ocean like a kite.

“Are you sure she’s not looking for a boyfriend?” he asks.

I didn’t answer but instead hands him my half empty cup. I jog over to Park and as soon as I reached her, I took the clothes in hangers from her hands and she momentarily loses her balance. My hand holds her arm and steadies her. “Careful.”

“Give me those” she says, reaching out but I turn the clothes away and turn around.

“C’mon, let’s go together” I say. “Walk behind me.” 

I kept my pace so Park can walk directly behind me, sparing her from the brutal wind. I hid my smile when I felt her fingers gently holding on the back of my jacket as she followed my lead.

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There was a terse silence in the director’s office as we sat around a long table with the main writer and producer. The bomb that Jun Ji-hyun has backed out of the project due to her pregnancy has just been dropped and I thought that it couldn’t get worse than that.

But it did.

They looked expectantly at me when they announced that I shouldn’t worry because the project will still go through as planned and that they’ve taken care of the ‘minor hiccup’. Their words, not mine. They said that they’ve found the perfect replacement for the leading lady. In fact, she’s on her way up right now, the director said after he received a text message.

“Here she is!” the director beamed after a while and the people sitting all stood up to greet her and me and Park who is sitting beside me, followed their suit. My back was against the entrance so I turned around. And my heart dropped.

Shin Minah.

.

I don’t know how I got through that meeting. Everything was a blur. I kept my cool and silence as they discussed how the production will go with the new dynamics. I wanted to storm out from that room because I felt like I was ambushed and trapped but I remained professional and civil the whole time. I even returned Minah’s greeting.

She was smiling at me like she was happy to see me … to work with me. I wanted to rip that smile off her face. I refused to see her dimples and the way her eyes lights up when she’s excited about something. I refused to remember how I used to live for that smile of hers and how it made me so happy when she looks at me with those eyes. I refused to look at her for the remainder of that agonizing hour. 

In the car, I was still lost in my thoughts and silent rage. How dare she. How dare she. How can she smile and look at me like that? Like she didn’t break my heart and tear it to pieces? I bury my face in my hands.

“Are you okay?” came Park’s voice. She’s driving and I sit at the back of my car. I look up. She’s looking at me from the rear-view mirror.

“What do you think?” was my snarky reply.

“I’m sorry” she said in her tiny voice. 

I know that I’m directing my anger at her unfairly so I said in a conciliatory tone, “I don’t think I can do this. I’m just going to back out.”

She turned her head briefly to me. “You can’t.”

“What do you mean I can’t? Of course I can. The filming hasn’t started yet and besides if Ji-hyun can back out, why can’t I?”

“You’ve already signed the contract” she reminded me.

“But I signed when I thought I have a different leading lady.”

She shook her head. “There was no stipulation about the actors or actresses you have to work with, I checked.”

“What do you mean you checked?” I asked suspiciously. When did she have the time to check? I was with her all this time. She didn’t answer and I knew she was not telling me something. “Park” my tone has a warning to it.

“I heard about it yesterday” she began hesitantly. “I got a call from the company. Someone in the entertainment department got a tip that Shin Minah was offered the role and they told me about it.”

“And you didn’t tell me about it?” I asked incredulously.

“I wasn’t sure …”

“Still!” I thundered. “Damn it, Park! I was completely blindsided in there. Couldn’t you at least have given me a head’s up? What kind of manager are you?!” I slammed my palm on the leather seat and the sound made her flinch.

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