"—So what do you think, Yeo Ri-ah? Is there anything that caught your eye?"
Yeo Ri, Kwon Tae Yang, and Park Soo Yeon sat around a table piled with scripts. Yeo Ri had been lucky that she was exclusively managed by the President of Hope Entertainment herself, and enjoyed an abundance of resources. Paired with her current popularity, there was no end to the offers and invitations that the young girl received.
Since she was almost finished with the filming for [Runaway Kids], Park Soo Yeon wanted to see if there were any future projects she was interested in since the offers kept rolling in.
Of course, she had her own preferences.
Park Soo Yeon sent a secretive glance at the young girl who was reading one of the scripts. Once she finished skimming through it, she placed it down and turned to look at the older lady.
"How was it?" she smiled.
"There's so many good ones that I don't know what to choose," Yeo Ri replied neutrally. If it was possible, she wanted to stack up as many work as possible, but she was only one person and a few of the offers might overlap with one another in terms of timing.
"It's okay, there's still time for you to decide. Take your time, Yeo Ri-ah, and don't stress about it." As she spoke, Park Soo Yeon began cleaning up the messy pile of scripts, stacking them in an orderly manner. She glanced back at Yeo Ri for a moment as she picked up one of the scripts and purposely placed it at the very top.
—It was her husband's newest script, and the man had specially written it with the girl in mind. He wanted Yeo Ri to play the protagonist, and as both his wife and a veteran in showbusiness, she also supported his wish.
"For now, shall we separate the ones you're interested in?"
"Okay," Yeo Ri nodded. She looked at the scripts one by one, sorting them into two separate stacks. On the left was the 'maybe' group, and on the right was the 'discarded' group.
Seeing her husband's script on the discarded pile, Park Soo Yeon struggled to keep still. She picked up the script, "Um... Yeo Ri-ah, you're not interested in this one? I know it's a bit different than what you've been doing, but the story itself is interesting and it would be a good challenge for you to grow as an actress."
Yeo Ri looked at the script in her boss' hands and shook her head, "I don't like it."
"W-why? Is it too scary because it's a thriller? Which part didn't you like?"
"..." Yeo Ri opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. Words couldn't describe her disgust when she went through the script.
It was a story about an orphan girl who was kidnapped by a man who brainwashed her into doing unspeakable things and made her call him 'father'.
While it was different than what she had experienced, some of the scenes had hit too close to home. The main character felt too relatable to her and it made her angry.
"It's just... I don't like it."
"Ah... Yeo Ri-ah, you see... Can't you consider taking this project? I'm sure you'll do great at it." Park Soo Yeon hesitated for a moment before telling the truth, "Actually, my husband wrote this script. He wrote it especially for you! He's been in a thriller binge right now, so the storyline might be a bit dark, but I have confidence that you'll succeed!"
Yeo Ri froze. "He wrote it... Especially for me?"
Park Soo Yeon's eyes flashed brightly, thinking that Yeo Ri would be ecstatic to hear the truth. "Yeah, yeah! Right! See, this is a really special opportunity for you, Yeo Ri-ah! It's not every day that you get this kind of chance in this industry, you know? So... can't you consider it?"
Yeo Ri lowered her head as if in thought. She clenched her hands imperceptibly, a cold light flashing in her eyes.
Secretary Kwon tensed beside her. He had noticed the way she reacted, and he was sure she was planning to murder this lady in front of them.
Yeo Ri closed her eyes, silently taking deep breaths to calm herself down. She couldn't be mad at Park Soo Yeon. She was both her boss and the parent of her brother's friend.
It would be bad if she hurt her, right?
It was a surprise that Director Choi had written such a script for her, as though he knew what she had been through. Did Da Na tell him, then? Or did he find out from the news? The media had protected her identity very well during the aftermath of the incident, but if Min Chae had been able to recognise her so easily, who's to say that there weren't other similarly observative people who did too?
Yeo Ri raised her head and gave the older woman a shallow smile. "I'll think about it."
"Will you?" Park Soo Yeon beamed excitedly, as though her answer meant it was a done deal. "I'll tell him to refine the script more, and if there's anything you want to change, you can just tell him directly, okay? You have his number, right?"
"Right."
Kwon Tae Yang could practically hear the girl grind her teeth. He reflexively placed his gloved hand on her arm as if telling her to hold back.
Yeo Ri glanced at his hand, then up at him with a soft smile, gently pushing his offending hand off of her.
Kwon Tae Yang almost flinched at her reaction. It was never good when she smiled like that, and he hoped that the girl wouldn't take her anger out on him.
He cleared his throat.
"President, I think it's about time we end this meeting. Miss Yeo Ri still has unfinished plans after this."
"Oh, okay. Take these scripts back with you," Park Soo Yeon gathered the 'maybe' pile in her arms, including her husband's script, and placed them in a bag for Yeo Ri to take home. "Ah, right, I got a call the other day about a drama for you. The production team named you for the female lead's teen-aged version, and you don't need to audition for it. They say you can join the cast as soon as you accept. It's not too heavy since you'll only appear in a couple of episodes, so I thought it would be good for you. I'll email you the details later, okay?"
"Yes, president. I'll be going," Yeo Ri smiled and bowed courteously towards the older woman, keeping her true feelings buried deep inside her.