“Did you not buy macarons?”
Director Kang, who particularly enjoys sweet food, held a caramel macchiato in one hand while looking for macarons. The combination of macarons and caramel macchiato never crossed my mind. Even the thought of it made my mouth feel sugary, but well, that’s a matter of taste.
“Oh, I didn’t buy macarons… Should I go buy them now?”
Mijeong placed the coffee tray she was holding on the table and began preparing to run out. Director Kang finally stopped her with applause.
“No, it’s okay. Don’t bother going to buy them now. Skipping macarons once is good for losing weight. Eating macarons while drinking coffee has become a habit, just a habit.”
I nodded my head ever so slightly, enough not to attract attention.
Knocking sounds echoed beyond the closed gray door.
“Oh, come in! Did you bring the profile pictures?”
In response to Director Kang’s lively greeting, a young man who looked like an intern entered with a basket.
Soon, the table began to be stacked with the actors’ profile pictures. Each photo seemed to carry the earnest wishes of its owner who participated in the casting audition.
As thick as the pictures, their delicate hopes piled up. Except for a very few, the photos on the table would soon lose their meaning.
I sniffed for no apparent reason.
“Director Kim, don’t you want to change your mind even now?”
Pretending to look at the profile photo at the top, Director Kang subtly asked Jun.
“What do you mean?”
“Hey, Director Kim, you’re pretending not to know even though you know. We gathered today to discuss the casting audition for this movie. Of course, Director Kim’s thoughts on the lead actors of this movie. What else could it be?”
Predicting how Jun would react to Director Kang’s words, I glanced at him. He was brushing his bangs aside, slightly wrinkling his eyes. Judging by Jun’s personality, it seemed like Director Kang had brought up this topic to him several times before.
“Oh, if that’s what you’re asking, my feelings remain the same, of course.”
The slightly wrinkled face disappeared, and when Jun spoke, he returned to a neat expression. The statement was firm, clean, leaving no room for interpretation.
Director Kang became anxious.
“Of course, since Director Kim has his own vision, I don’t want to force him to change his mind or anything. I can’t and shouldn’t do that. However…”
Taking out a handkerchief from his back pocket, Director Kang wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Some of the actors who are among the best in Korea have been contacting the production company, expressing their desire to read Director Kim’s script. They are actors with outstanding acting skills that won’t be overshadowed by their fame. Although, of course, art should be pursued first in movies, honestly, we can’t ignore commercial viability.”
Despite the assertive tone trying to push forward, Director Kang’s index finger keeps bouncing off the corner of an actor’s profile picture, seemingly unable to hide his anxiety.
However, sadly, it seemed that Jun’s feelings wouldn’t easily sway towards Director Kang’s side.
“I understand that discussions with the production side have already concluded. For this movie, I want to rely more on the strength of the story itself rather than leveraging the fame of established top actors. Director Kang, I believe I’ve mentioned this several times before.”
Jun confidently expressed his opinion without losing his calm smile.
“Considering the nature of this movie that takes the story of real individuals, I think it’s unnecessary to build and adjust each character in collaboration with established actors. Rather than the ability to portray flatly drawn characters in the script in a three-dimensional way, if you can discover a rookie actor who can vividly implement the emotions of this author and me at the age of twenty. I believe that would be a more excellent card.”
Except for Director Kang, everyone, including Jeongeun, Hyunsoo, Mijeong, and Manager Jo Jinho, lightly nodded in agreement.
As if it were a habit, Manager Jo, who was rolling a pen silently with his finger, added a word.
“Director Kang, should I go get some macarons now? You seem to be quite down at the moment.”
The conference room was briefly filled with bright laughter. Surprisingly, Director Kang’s expression was gentle.
“It’s okay. When I push, I push hard, but I know when to back off like a professional boxer. I thought I might as well throw it now, even though it might not go down well. I threw it well. I feel relieved today.”
While Jun had a much firmer expression when expressing his opinion a moment ago, he now looked apologetic, smiling lightly in response to Director Kang’s neat reaction.
Amidst the distinct temperature difference between his recent appearance that could be felt by those around him, I couldn’t help but burst into a small laugh. In that moment, as if he had suddenly remembered, Director Kang casually asked.
“But, what about this author? Does the author share the same opinion?”
“…Yes?”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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