[Everyday V10]
[Date: January 5th, 2020.]
-06:00 PM (Report) Embezzlement of gift funds by Petite Angels' leaders. Meeting to review similar cases at Golden Road. Second Floor.
Recalling that day's meeting, I cornered the two of them. They argued and denied my accusations at first, but started to waver as I dished out specific details.
Kim Seung-Ae shut her mouth and Lee Jin-Ah began to apologize. Their cockiness soon faded away and was replaced with humility as they politely bowed their heads.
Seeing their pale faces, I issued a final warning.
"Return all the embezzled money and take down the tweet about Yoo-Jin. You should be able to clean up all the negative comments from the other Petite Angels, right?"
The two of them quickly nodded.
"I'll give you five minutes. If I catch you doing it again, I won't show any mercy. Understood?"
"Okay, oppa."
"Yes, oppa. We'll have it deleted immediately."
In an instant, their attitude towards me had shifted from referring to me as 'this man' to 'oppa.' Having warned them, I returned to the van.
"Woah. What did you do to make them so docile all of a sudden?" Oh Duk-Gu asked in astonishment.
"I didn't say much. I just told them I'd sue if they didn't delete the tweet."
"You expect me to believe those crazy idiots became that quiet just from a warning?"
At that moment, A call came from deputy manager Kim Mi-Hye, saying that the malicious tweets about Yoo-Jin were being taken down one by one.
Oh Duk-Gu looked at me in surprise.
"No, but seriously. What did you really do?"
"I just talked to them. That's all," I reiterated.
To think I managed to tame the ferocious Petite Angels with just a few words. This made the fact that I had traveled back in time felt more real than ever. Before long, the record of their embezzlement in my planner also disappeared.
'I guess I won't need to report them.'
Now, all I had to do was wait for Lee Ji-Yeon.
***
A moment later, a pink Rose-Rise pulled into the set.
Lee Ji-Yeon got out of the luxurious car and headed straight toward our van. As I quickly got out of the van to greet her, she asked for a briefing on what had happened on set without a change in her expression.
"Hey, you~. Give me an update," Lee Ji-Yeon demanded in a cold voice.
In a firm tone, I summarized the entire incident in one simple sentence.
"Park Doo-Shik messed around with your script, Ms. Lee!"
I had grown adept at succinctly summarizing events since traveling back in time.
"I see. What's your name again?"
"I'm Jung Yoon-Ho from Hoop Entertainment, ma'am."
Lee Ji-Yeon nodded as if she were trying to commit my name to memory.
"U-know~, huh? I love U-Know Yun-Ho[1]. Alright. I'll remember you."
Wearing a leopard print coat, a red dress, and red leather high heels, Lee Ji-Yeon led the way with her heels clicking against the ground.
Maintaining a slight distance, we followed behind her.
***
"Hahaha! Good, good. You are doing much better, Ms. Eun-Bin. Let's do one more take and we'll use the best one."
"Okay, Mr. Park."
The atmosphere between Park Eun-Bin and Park Doo-Shik seemed peaceful and harmonious.
Click, click.
But when the sound of Lee Ji-Yeon's heels echoed throughout the set, the ongoing shoot came to an abrupt halt.
"Ms. Lee Ji-Yeon…? What is she doing here?"
"Did anyone know that she was coming to set today?"
Everyone on set looked visibly perplexed by Lee Ji-Yeon's sudden and unexpected arrival.
"PD Park, I'm here. How's the shoot going?"
Park Doo-Shik's eyes trembled nervously, clearly caught off guard by Lee Ji-Yeon's unexpected visit.
"U-uh, Ms. Lee. What brings you here today without notice…?"
Park Doo-Shik discreetly signaled to the surrounding staff with his eyes and gestures. After all, he wasn't naive enough to think there wouldn't be consequences for messing around with the script.
'He must have already known the risks were high with the payment promised by TK Entertainment.'
AD Jung Ju-Chul and production PD Oh Hyun-Seok led the staff crew to greet Lee Ji-Yeon.
"Oh, my. Ms. Lee! It's chilly out here. What brings you here without calling?"
"Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and bring Ms. Lee in. How long will you let her stand out here?"
Lee Ji-Yeon smiled in a calm manner despite the staff's flattery.
"It's okay. Continue with your work and I'll watch here. I just wanted to see how the shoot was going."
"O-oh. About that…um…"
"Hm? What is it? Am I not allowed to watch?"
The flustered Jung Ju-Chul glanced at Park Doo-Shik. It was clear that chaos would ensue if Lee Ji-Yeon saw that they were proceeding with the original script after discarding the revised version.
"Tell me. Are you preventing me from observing the shoot after receiving all the scripts from me?"
Sweat dripped from Park Doo-Shik's forehead despite the cold weather.
"Why are you sweating in this cold weather? Are you okay?"
"Ms. Lee. It's not like that. It's just that…we are almost done for the day, hahaha. So…"
Park Doo-Shik was trying to think on his feet, but Lee Ji-Yeon was no pushover.
"Weren't you planning to shoot up to scene 279 today? That's the sunset scene."
Somehow, Lee Ji-Yeon had acquired a printed cue sheet[2]. With the cue sheets in her hand, Park Doo-Shik had no way out of this situation.
Perplexed, Park Doo-Shik began to make an excuse.
"W-we were going to shoot that scene in advance and process it with computer graphics. Isn't it standard these days to handle backgrounds with computer graphics?"
Park Doo-Shik let out a sigh of relief, thinking he had dodged a bullet.
But Lee Ji-Yeon wasn't done just yet.
"You're using computer graphics instead of natural light for the sunset? Wow. MBS must have a lot of money."
Seeing this as a way out, Park Doo-Shik puffed out his chest.
"Of course. There is substantial support with me in charge. Our viewership ratings have been great recently, so we have a lot of support. Hahaha!"
Upon seeing Park Doo-Shik's arrogant attitude, Lee Ji-Yeon smiled and retorted.
"Oh, is that so? I'm sorry, Mr. Park. I didn't know that the high viewership ratings were all thanks to you. Maybe I gave myself too much credit. Don't you think so?"
"I-I didn't mean it that way, Ms. Lee."
When Lee Ji-Yeon spoke sarcastically, Park Doo-Shik quickly waved his hand to deny.
But Lee Ji-Yeon pulled out her phone and dialed a number with an emotionless face.
Ding, ding, ding.
Every staff member on site focused on Lee Ji-Yeon's actions. Upon hearing her call out someone's name in a friendly manner, everyone froze.
"Myung-Hak~. It's me, Ji-Yeon."
'Myung-Hak? Could it be Kim Myung-Hak? Did she just call the chief producer of the MBS drama department?'
Kim Myung-Hak was the second in command, set to be the next department head. While all staff froze in place, Lee Ji-Yeon continued speaking to Kim Myung-Hak nonchalantly over the phone.
"Yes, it's been a while. By the way, PD Park was telling me that MBS has a lot of money these days. Is it true? Yes. He said you guys can splurge on computer background for the backgrounds. No, for real. He has been ignoring me and even edited my script on his own…am I washed-up now or what?"
Park Doo-Shik's face slowly turned pale as the call went on.
"Oh, you think I'm doing well? Alright, then double the fee for my next script. Haha, yes. What? You don't know who PD Park is? You know, Park Doo-Shik. He's the producer of the Morning Takes Off. Don't you know him?"
Lee Ji-Yeon ignored Park Doo-Shik and played another move.
"Just a moment. There seems to be an issue with my earphones. I'm putting you on speaker now."
'Wow. She is indeed clever.'
Soon, the flustered voice of Kim Myung-Hak echoed from her phone.