Chapter 1490: Contributing (5) |
“Client? As in, the client?”
“Yeah! This cafe is supposedly a new franchise, and that dude is the one who set this company up.”
“Holy cow…!”
The female crew members all stared at Kang Jin-Ho, their eyes wide open.
A man with a face that could slap the cheeks of most actors—and then, even climb on top of them to perform a vicious ground-and-pound—even owned a large company like this, too? How could they not be surprised by that revelation?
“Wow. Miss Choi sure is lucky, isn’t she?”
Until a few seconds ago, these crew members all thought Choi Yeon-Ha had fallen for that man’s looks, but this story took on an extra dimension now.
“Someone once said that a man shouldn’t rely on his looks to survive. I guess that’s true.”
“But, uh, I think he could have relied on his looks just fine?”
Giving a man with a face like that a role in a commercial was like committing a foul, no?
Naturally, everyone here was curious about the man who had successfully seduced the one and only Choi Yeon-Ha. Working in this industry would inevitably acquaint you with the subtle and not-so-subtle whispers of love lives of the rich and famous. And the more one heard about those salacious tales, the more one would be inclined to use the term “Animal Kingdom” to describe this industry.
For instance, one would hear about an actress who had built a career on her innocence and pureness of her heart switching boyfriends every week. Or another actor who roused maternal instincts in their audience with their cute baby face would turn out to be a wild party animal instead!
Since only the most gorgeous folks tended to join the entertainment industry, things would always be boisterous in this neck of the woods, to say the least. However, one could safely say Choi Yeon-Ha was the rare exception.
Countless brave men boldly tried to seduce her over the years, but their only reward was getting verbally abused before getting their asses kicked. Some got their humanity and personality so badly destroyed by her that they were forced to retreat from public life altogether for several months, too!
So, yes, everyone here couldn’t help but wonder how amazing the man Choi Yeon-Ha had chosen for herself would be.
“Wow. He’s even more amazing than I thought.”
“A bit too unfair, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, that too.”
While womenfolk were turning green with envy at Choi Yeon-Ha, the menfolk were trembling in indignation right now.
“What the hell! Having a face like that wasn’t enough for him? Why did he have to be a gold spoon, too?!”
Of course, Kang Jin-Ho was definitely not a gold spoon, but strangers who didn’t know his story would inevitably think that way. After all, a twenty-something launching a cafe franchise was a historic achievement that not even the god of commerce had pulled off, wasn’t it!
There was simply no way that someone with nothing to his name could’ve come this far, unless his family had been the actual financiers backing this business venture. At least, that was what common sense said.
“A face like that is also a gold spoon, and Choi Yeon-Ha is his girlfriend on top of that, too?”
Wasn’t that too unfair? Simply too immoral?!
“A slap! Yes, a slap to his face is just the ticket!”
Who cared if he was Choi Yeon-Ha’s boyfriend or not?! If only they could slap that dude just once…!
Even as other men were sorrowfully fantasizing about such things, the sweaty director busily explained what would happen during the filming to Kang Jin-Ho. And watching this sight unfold triggered a moment of clarity in everyone.
That director, whose name was Bak Gang-Seong, was rather infamous for being cold and uncaring. No matter how much of a superstar he was dealing with, he would mercilessly pressure them and would never make compromises with anyone, either. Perhaps that was why so many in the industry avoided working with Bak Gang-Seong, regardless of how good the salary on offer was.
But a director like that was sweating bullets while explaining the shoot to someone who couldn’t even be called an actor right now.
Oh, well. Even he can’t help it, I guess.
Bak Gang-Seong would never lower his head, not even by a millimeter, even if the advertising agency’s president had shown up to the film set. But that young man was the client. The client!
In the advertising industry, the client was the true boss, not the usual landlord or whatever!
“Still, is there a need for the director to go that far?”
“Looks like you haven’t heard, then?”
“Heard what?”
“That today isn’t the end of the filming?”
“Eh? But I heard it’d be a one-day shoot, though? When did it get extended?”
“No, that’s not it, but they wanted to shoot more than one ad, apparently. It sounded like they wanted to shoot a whole bunch of ads and hit the public with a super-intense ad campaign.”
“Really? They had that much money?”
The hiring fee for Choi Yeon-Ha alone would have been prohibitive enough for most companies to say “No, thanks” on the spot. Besides, she wasn’t the type to sign on to whatever role just because the pay was good, anyway.
“Hang on? Does that mean Miss Choi will show up in those ads, too?”
“That’s what I heard, you know?”
“Are you seriously saying Miss Choi said yes to such a job? I thought she restricted the number of ads she appears in because too much would burn the public’s goodwill toward her.”
“I guess you also didn’t know this. Miss Choi’s agency is an affiliate of this cafe franchise.”
“Heol?! Really?”
Like an onion, unpeeling one layer of this story led to another, more lore-rich layer!
“And that’s why our director is behaving like that. You know a director will become as worthless as a fly if the client hates the ad or the ad itself bombs.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Replacing a director is pretty easy, isn’t it? It’s not like he’s the only director who can shoot ads, after all.”
“That’s why we should just close our eyes and pretend we saw nothing. I mean, think about it. How desperate must he be for him to do this, even with us watching?”
“Yeah… The cost of living these days has gone through the roof, after all.”
Bak Gang-Seong bit his lip after sensing all the gazes of pity landing on his back.
Those bastards!
They could afford to be lackadaisical because they were mere crew members.
Clients rocking up to an ad shoot and turning the whole thing into a disaster happened far too often. That was because the clients would look at the unedited footage already shot and, despite not understanding a single damn thing about the process, would say whatever they felt was right and try to take over the filming itself.
That was usually the reason for all those disastrous ad campaigns appearing every once in a while. Sure, directors failing to read the trend and being too stubborn for their own good could also ruin the ads. However, those events more often than not became the talk of the town, while the ads ruined by the clients rarely got a mention in the media.
One could say that was, quite literally, flushing money down the toilet.
Some people might think there’s no need to care about any of that, since the client was throwing their own money away by ruining the ads. But the problem was that the blame would always fall on the director’s shoulders. Needless to say, it was also the director whose career would go down the drain as a result!
That was why Bak Gang-Seong simply had to install a more agreeable attitude in this wet-behind-ears client when he had the chance!
“And so, you only have to sit here and stare at each other with deep affection. Hints of awkward smiles would be great, as well. If I’m being honest, we only set a rough outline of a story, you see? Rather than a storyline, this ad’s success hinges on the tone and the overall vibe, so improvisation will play a crucial role.”
Kang Jin-Ho stared dazedly at Bak Gang-Seong. “But I thought all I have to do is sit still like a statue? That’s why I said yes to this…”
“Y-yes, that was the original plan, but… But this felt like a much better option, you see?”
A few minutes ago, Bak Gang-Seong couldn’t help but freak out while looking at Kang Jin-Ho and Choi Yeon-Ha sitting together through a monitor. Why? Because Choi Yeon-Ha was getting crushed on-screen!
One’s looks were subjective, in a way, so when two attractive people shared a screen, more often than not, it’d become easier to see who was prettier than the other. This phenomenon happened much more frequently when idols were involved.
After being told how pretty they were, some idols would inevitably try to break into acting. But when they shared a screen with actual actors, these idols would inadvertently prove why actors were actors in the first place with alarming frequency.
In that sense, Choi Yeon-Ha’s beauty made it so much harder to find someone suitable to act in a scene with her.
Most average folks just couldn’t hold a candle to her. Even those with looks that could more or less stand up to her beauty still got crushed far too often by her irresistible aura and how comfortable she looked in her own skin.
That was why most of Choi Yeon-Ha’s ads only had her in it. But here was an unexpected catastrophe where the client, who was only brought in as a living prop, utterly crushed Choi Yeon-Ha’s looks on screen!
Nope! I gotta save this scene somehow! Without a question!
So the storyboard for the ad got revised on the spot. The original plan was to set the camera up behind Kang Jin-Ho in an oblique angle, but now, the shot should be framed in such a way to give both of them as equal screen time as possible… No, if it was possible, make sure Kang Jin-Ho’s face showed up most of the time, instead!
After all, the primary demographic for a cafe was females aged between twenty- to thirty-years-old. Since that was the case, Kang Jin-Ho should prove more effective than Choi Yeon-Ha.
I’m gonna shoot the ad of my lifetime today!
Of course, all these things depended on the client being cooperative.
Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Choi Yeon-Ha while being somewhat nervous. She smiled gently at him. “Don’t worry, you can do this.”
“But I completely suck at acting, so…”
“That’s not true. Mister Jin-Ho, you’re a better actor than you give yourself credit for. It’s just that you are terrible at delivering lines of dialogue. That’s all.”
“…”
“Thankfully, there are no lines for you to remember this time.”
“That’s true…”
“So, you can do this. I’ll guide you like the professional that I am. Let’s do this properly and contribute to MK’s revenue, okay?”
Kang Jin-Ho’s brows twitched slightly at the mention of contributing to MK’s revenue.
Choi Yeon-Ha was right. They didn’t come here to fool around. This ad was absolutely necessary for the successful launch of the cafe franchise.
It probably is necessary. It, uh, must be, right?
Kang Jin-Ho still wasn’t sure, but since everyone said it was, it had to be true, no?
In any case! Since MK’s success depended on this ad shoot, he must do his part in creating something memorable, something that the public would remember for a long time. The lives of over a hundred former Martial Assembly members were at stake here.
“Okay, I… I’ll try my best.”
“Keuh~! Thank you so much, mister client, sir!”
“…”
Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t sure about being called that title, but chose not to say something about it. Even he could tell that if he insisted on people calling him by his birth name, the director might keel over from a heart attack on the spot.
“Then~! Let’s get started, everyone!”
“Yes, director!”
Bak Gang-Seok rushed back to his spot behind the monitors, then began discussing this and that with the cinematographer. Kang Jin-Ho scanned the somewhat chaotic scene all around him before sighing deeply.
He glanced at Choi Yeon-Ha. “I’m still not sure if I’m doing the right thing.”
“Not sure? About what?”
“This and that.”
“Like… Being in an ad? Or your face being plastered all over TV screens?”
“Both, actually,” said Kang Jin-Ho. “But if you want me to choose, I’d say the latter worries me the most.”
This ad shoot was the same as breaking the boundary between the two worlds.
Martial artists must do their best not to get exposed in public. That was the unwritten rule, the “common sense” everyone accepted. But here was Kang Jin-Ho, willingly breaking that rule.
I mean, think about it.
Imagine Kang Jin-Ho sitting at home watching TV with a can of beer in hand. But then, the face of the Crimson King suddenly popped up in an ad for a Chinese beer. It’d be a miracle if he didn’t spew all the beer out of his mouth in that situation.
What Kang Jin-Ho was doing right now was as absurd as that hypothetical scenario.
Choi Yeon-Ha shook her head. “It’s only a matter of time, anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve already announced that you’re my boyfriend, after all. How long do you think the reporters will hold themselves back? Actually, they deserve some cookies for being so patient until now.”
Kang Jin-Ho grinned awkwardly.
That had nothing to do with the reporters’ patience level, of course. No, they should thank the Korean government for that.
The government had warned the reporters to stay away from Kang Jin-Ho and his acquaintances, after all. But some reporters couldn’t give up that easily and still tried to sneak around his vicinity. Thankfully, though, the Assembly-affiliated bodyguards always found those who dared to snoop around and talked to them nicely (?) before sending them away every single time.
“Mister Jin-Ho, it’s too late to do anything about your face being plastered everywhere now. Since that’s the case, you should try to separate the two personas as completely as possible.”
“Separate the two?”
“Yes. I meant Kang Jin-Ho the MK Chairman and Kang Jin-Ho the Assembly Master of the Martial Assembly. Don’t you think that will be enough? Isn’t this what you’ve been thinking about all this time?”
“Yes, that is… true.”
“If you never had plans to do that, you probably wouldn’t have taken on the role of MK’s chairman, either. So, just give up now. It’ll become impossible for you to avoid people recognizing you on the street, after all.”
Kang Jin-Ho sighed deeply.
“Since that’s how things will be, let’s show them our bestest, coolest sides when we have the chance, okay?”
He stared into her eyes, then chuckled gently. “Got it. Let’s do that.”
That was when Choi Yeon-Ha hurriedly covered her face with both hands.
Aaaaah! This is so crazy!
How! How could he be so devastatingly handsome?! Why was his smile so gentle and inviting!
She couldn’t help but wonder if Kang Jin-Ho deliberately walked around in shabby clothes to seal away his super-dangerous looks.
“Yes, yes! That’s it! That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Bak Gang-Seong the director yelled in excitement. “Don’t be conscious of the cameras and just chat like you usually do! We’ll take care of the rest, so just think of it as going on a date! And… What the f*ck?! Who the f*ck forgot to place the coffee on the table?! Hey, you! Aren’t you the stagehand?! What the f*ck are you doing!”
The director roared like an enraged lion after realizing that the footage they shot secretly was ruined now.
Kang Jin-Ho watched the angry director yelling at his crew before sighing deeply again.
I still don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but… It’s kind of fun, isn’t it?
Kang Jin-Ho spotted his reflection in the cafe’s window and smirked softly.
Trying something like this at least once isn’t such a bad experience, is it?
Still, it should remain as a one-time experience only.
It better be.
