In This Life, I Want an Oscar, Not a Husband - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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This life, I choose The Oscars over a husband
Chapter 30

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[XX University Gallery]
Title: Has anyone seen HER in person?
I saw HER on the bus earlier and she was absolutely gorgeous;;;;
People were talking about some “cat-like beauty” thing, so I thought that’s what they meant, but forget the cat comparison—she’s literally angelic.
And when people recognized her, her face turned so red. It was adorable.
[Comments]
– Who is HER?
└ The actress from the MillionX music video
└ Never heard of her lol
– I’ve been using old photos of this actress as my wallpaper lately. She’s the definition of pure beauty, and her acting is seriously good
└ Isn’t it hard to judge acting skills from just one music video?
└ Her delivery in the commercial was solid too;; Are you by chance a theater major? Theater majors always seem desperate to defend rookie actors
└ Arts school is brutal
– I saw her in person too. She really is angelic

Oh Ji-young, a university student, discovered through a community post that Ha Eun-rae had appeared at her school, and she nearly beat herself in regret.
‘I should have been on that bus…!’
Having already created a fan account for Ha Eun-rae, she gazed at a photo people had taken titled “That’s just my afterimage.jpg” showing Eun-rae fleeing the scene.
‘She’s too cute…!’
Eun-rae really is an extreme introvert. When she makes it big later, I’ll open a birthday café and torment her with it.
With such wicked thoughts, Oh Ji-young let out a sigh.
‘Sigh… When will her next project drop?’
Maybe she was still too much of a rookie for major roles.
I wanted to see her act in something beyond commercials and music videos.
‘Of course, she mentioned filming a movie, but that won’t release for a while.’
So she must be going to auditions constantly.
Just then, an SNS notification popped up.

[Silver_is_coming has posted a new update.]

…!

[@silver_is_coming

(photo)

😱]

Three photos uploaded alongside the emoji.
Ha Eun-rae beaming brightly in the interrogation room and minimal filming equipment.
The moment Oh Ji-young saw it, she thought to herself.
‘My actress filmography is coming!’
Because beneath it were hashtags like these.

#ShortFilm #ShortMovie #ReleasingNextWeek #CheckItOut

I can’t believe our rookie used “check it out”—it’s so touching….
Then, I noticed the account that had commented first.
When I clicked into that account, there was a video of Eun-rae in the account history.

【Senior Ha, how are you feeling right now?】
【…I feel good.】
【You’re lying. Your face is so pale!】

One actor chattering away endlessly while Eun-rae’s face looked completely drained.
The text written beneath it was this.

[When Extreme I Met Extreme E
@silver_is_coming
Senior Ha, I learned so much!
【To my dear Kim Ji-hyun】 Check it out!]

Oh Ji-young realized something.
So that’s where she learned the phrase “check it out”!

* * *

Film director Park Chang-sung finished his meeting with the production company and headed to his studio, organizing his thoughts.
It was because of the visually impaired character ‘Soo-hyun’ who would appear in his new film 【Apartment】.

“Since Do Eun-hee is the lead, it would be better to fill the remaining roles with skilled actors. Kim Byul, for instance, or Kang Soo-ah would work well too.”

Dongbaek, the production company, had recently sold all its shares to Bee Entertainment, effectively placing it under Bee Entertainment’s umbrella.
For that reason, the management division under Bee Entertainment had begun subtly inserting actors they were developing into the cast.
Kim Byul and Kang Soo-ah among them.
Of course, I didn’t doubt their star potential.
They were rising talents picked up by major agencies, after all.
But….
‘Their acting leaves something to be desired.’
The role of ‘Soo-hyun’ was a character with visual impairment, yet one who was never weak-willed.
I needed an actor with enough creativity to break free from the stereotype of visual impairment and create their own unique character.
Both Kim Byul and Kang Soo-ah had the acting chops to lead romantic comedy dramas on television, but—
‘That’s where it ends.’
Faces tailored for rom-coms, acting honed for that genre, polished vocal delivery.
If such actors took on the role of ‘Soo-hyun’, they would inevitably deliver only the level of performance that the agency’s acting coaches had analyzed and taught them.
Park Chang-sung’s philosophy on casting was clear.
Actors are ‘creators’ too.
If ten actors played the same role, ten different characters should emerge.
But Kim Byul and Kang Soo-ah simply didn’t have the depth to portray such a character.
Of course, if the production company kept pushing, Park Chang-sung couldn’t refuse indefinitely, but he had one reliable ally.

“Director, you’re not happy with Kim Byul and Kang Soo-ah? Don’t worry. I’ll cover for you. Take your time thinking it through.”

Do Eun-hee.
An actress who had swept awards at both domestic and international film festivals, now in her forties and still regarded as top-tier in the Korean film industry.
She had chosen this project and trusted Park Chang-sung enough to lead it herself—she could do any work she wanted.
I was grateful for that alone, but Do Eun-hee was genuinely invested in this film.

“I have a good feeling about this project.”

To live up to Do Eun-hee’s expectations, Park Chang-sung wanted to make the right casting choices.
With that resolve, when Park Chang-sung entered the studio, that’s when it happened.
The Adaptation Writer muttered something while staring at the monitor.
“What is this… Is this the end?”
“What do you mean the end? Our project’s casting is just beginning.”
At Park Chang-sung’s words, the Adaptation Writer looked up sharply, eyes widening.
“Director, do you know the director in this? With this level of skill, I’m pretty sure you’d definitely know them. Right?”
On the Adaptation Writer’s monitor, the credits were rolling past a blurry image of a woman sitting alone in an interrogation room.

[Director Park Seo-woo
Scenario Park Seo-woo
Ha Eun-rae
Maeng Hye-seung
…
…]

…What is this?
It was then that Park Chang-sung realized it was a YouTube video, and he felt a slight sense of resistance.
Weren’t all these films and dramas being made on YouTube just flooding people’s brains with dopamine, preventing them from watching full-length movies?
Yet for the Adaptation Writer, someone with such refined taste, to make such a fuss about it—I found myself oddly curious.
‘Park Seo-woo?’
A name I didn’t recognize.
The actors listed below were all unfamiliar names as well.
‘Might as well clear my head and give it a watch.’
With that thought, I clicked play from the beginning.
The video was eighteen minutes long—nearly the length of a short film.
Well, eighteen minutes wasn’t much.
And what first captured my attention was the face of a woman.
A face without a trace of makeup, hunched and withdrawn.
An expression tinged with fear.
How to describe it—
It was the kind of face Park Chang-sung would have written into a screenplay.

A face worn down by defeat.

Before that face, a woman wearing a prosecutor’s badge sits down.

【You said you remembered something about Kim Ji-hyun?】

Kim Ji-hyun.
At that name, a smile suddenly blooms across the woman’s face.
Her lips tremble, her eyes sparkling like a child’s.
As if someone had just handed her candy.
She had become an entirely different person.

【It’s just that…】

The moment the woman opened her mouth, a title overlaid her face.

【To the dear Kim Ji-hyun】

Sensuous writing, rapid-paced editing.
This is no amateur’s work.
But the Director aside….
That actress just now.
That expression, that gaze… intense.
I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before—
“She was in a chicken commercial. We ordered from there before, remember? Gyodong Chicken.”
Gyodong Chicken? I vaguely recall catching a glimpse of a beautiful face on the side of a chicken box.
Park Chang-sung asked a question.
“Did she do any dramas?”
“Nope.”
“…?”
“She’s basically a complete rookie. One music video, one commercial.”
Then I won’t be able to expect much from her acting going forward.
Her face is lovely, but her acting will surely be terrible.
However—

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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