The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 309

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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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309

[Title: Did you guys see Seo Ho-yoon from Data Hub last…

I thought he’d be in it all the way through, but it looks like he’s not appearing anymore
Though it does seem like Season 2 might be coming out…

Why is this actor Seo Ho-yoon’s face so rare to see..
The CF offers came in like crazy and even made the news, but I can’t see any of them at all…
I also want to see Kim Woo-ho’s archery CF!ㅠㅠ

└└He’s like a completely different person from his previous work..
He’s just a completely different person from the previous work.
The emotional line is so understated that it makes people get even more invested in it lol

Title: Is Seo Ho-yoon Popular These Days?

It can’t be helped.

Do you live in a cave?
└└Go to the subway station. His billboards are plastered everywhere, and it’s not even his birthday—it’s for his debut anniversary
Go check out the subway station right now. Even though it’s not their birthday, the whole place is plastered with advertisements. Apparently it’s to commemorate their debut day.
└└Yeah, the variety show casting rankings shifted recently. Min Ji-heon is 1st and Seo Ho-yoon is 2nd
The entertainment show casting rankings just changed – Min Ji-heon is 1st and Seo Ho-yoon is 2nd.
Lol lol lol isn’t this too much of a publicity stunt lol anyway looks like they’re pretty popular thanks

[Title: Some of those billboards were actually hilarious

Goter Station Advertisement Board.JPEG

And contact me
And contact me.

Not like “congratulations on your debut” but “pay back the money”
Don’t even congratulate me on my debut—they’re asking me to pay back money.

└Is this really Seo Ho-yoon from the start??
└└I had no idea lol if a Seo Ho-yoon fan did this it’s genuinely hilarious
It’s literally that material, nephew, contact your aunt…
└This is genuinely insane, not just at Goter Station but also at Gangnam Station…
└└And at Hongdae Station too…
I don’t know who it is, but they clearly borrowed an enormous amount of money
└└OMG this is so funny lol the white background with Gulim font is absolutely unhinged]

[Title: I was a no-name actor, but in this other world I’m a top singer??

Sorry for the clickbait title
Seo Ho-yoon is appearing in Shining Star as a top star mentor

└???????
└Honestly the main content would’ve made better clickbait lol
└Right lol wait, so Seo Ho-yoon is really appearing in Shining Star…
└└It’s still just a rumor though]

[It’s ridiculous that everyone settled on “no-name.” There are still people here pushing the rabbit thing~ Seo Ho-yoon is Seo Rabbit

└If that’s what you believe, then sure
└└These people with their composure are so annoying]

***

“Oh! Seo Ho-yoon is here!”
“Hello.”

As I stepped into the Shining Star Studio, Director Joo approached with a broad smile. The dark circles that had hung beneath his eyes during our meeting had vanished completely, and somehow his complexion looked remarkably brighter.
I made the rounds greeting the staff alongside my Manager.

“Ho-yoon, thanks to you I’ve been feeling pretty proud lately~!”

My Manager seemed thrilled, as was natural in an industry where treatment and attention shifted with rising popularity.

“Oh right! Did you see this? There was a huge commotion with a billboard on your debut day.”
“…Yeah, I did.”
“One fan even wrote ‘Ho-yoon, pay back the money, and contact me’~!”
“Huh?”

I had only glimpsed the Community and SNS posts in passing, so the phrase my Manager conveyed was entirely new to me. I thought to myself that the fans’ expressions of affection here were quite creative.

“Our Seo Ho-yoon is skyrocketing in popularity~. You’re so firm about it that I haven’t spread the word, but there are actually tons of people looking for you. But you’re really not going to film any commercials?”

Of course not.
The System Window had said it would fix itself within two weeks before disappearing, so there was no reason to invite trouble.
I merely shrugged and walked toward the other cast members.
I had felt somewhat uneasy because of the “Shining Star” title, but there was no one who particularly resembled The Dun in appearance.

“Oh, Seo Ho-yoon! You dyed your hair?”
“It’s so fresh~! It suits you really well!”
“I was always fresh like this.”

Recalling Shin Hee-chan, I could sense a similar atmosphere in each role.
However, there was one person I needed to watch out for.
The actress playing Seo Ui-young.

“Oh!”

Upon seeing me, she showed a slight look of surprise, then smiled and extended her hand for a handshake.

“Hello, this is our first time meeting, isn’t it? I’m Ha Seo-yeon.”

It was Ha Seo-yeon.
She had risen to top star status through a youth drama several years ago and had served as the MC for Shining Star Season 2.

“Seo Ho-yoon.”

Another ex-girlfriend of Joo Woo-sung’s.
Somehow I had boarded this Hollywood-grade melodrama train, and internally I marveled at my spectacular life while outwardly grinning.

“I really enjoyed Dead After Hope. Your chemistry with Ji-heon was incredible. I was honestly so absorbed in it.”
“Thank you.”
“Your Manager mentioned that you wanted to play the lead role in Shining Star.”
“…You heard about that too?”
“Haha. I’m sorry for tactlessly stealing the role from you.”

Damn.
Ha Seo-yeon laughed as if amused.

“How did you find out about that?”
“Oh, come on. This industry’s so small. News travels fast.”

She came across as affable and easygoing.
Did Ha Seo-yeon know that Kang Ji-sung was modeled after Joo Woo-sung?
Had she dated Joo Woo-sung in this timeline too?
My skull throbbed with a dozen conflicting thoughts as Ha Seo-yeon swept her long hair back and spoke.

“I’m really looking forward to the Kang Ji-sung role. It’s quite a complex character, you know.”
“Complex?”
“Yeah. Fundamentally a good person, but sometimes you can’t tell what he’s thinking.”
“Ha ha.”

So they dated. They definitely dated.
And she seemed to know that Joo Woo-sung was the inspiration for Kang Ji-sung too.

“Anyway, it’ll be a short shoot, but let’s do our best together!”

She had nothing more to add, so she left after that single parting remark.

Ding!

I stared blankly at her retreating figure when the System Window’s notification chimed.

[What’s wrong?]

‘Kids these days really have some nerve….’

Even with a presumed ex-boyfriend in the picture, she appeared without hesitation.

‘…Wait a minute.’

That’s my story too, damn it.
The karma came crashing back on me—the one who’d brazenly inserted himself into a drama where my ex-girlfriend was the protagonist.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and shifted my gaze, finally spotting the person I’d been looking for.

“Screenwriter!”
“Yes, yes, yes!”

I quickly called out to the Screenwriter and approached her.

“Oh my! Oh my, aren’t you Seo Ho-yoon~?!”

It was rare for a screenwriter to visit the filming location, but she had come because the main cast members were gathering together for the first time.
She looked haggard from consecutive all-nighters during this period of active script writing, but her eyes gleamed with brilliant intensity.

“Wow, I’m finally seeing you in person! You’re much more handsome than on screen~?!”
“Screenwriter. I read the Shining Star script well.”
“How is it? Do you like the role you’re playing, Seo Ho-yoon?”
“It was challenging.”
“Haha, it is a bit, isn’t it? The role of Kang Ji-sung itself doesn’t have a huge presence, but I have great expectations for you as a scene stealer.”

The Screenwriter, who had been laughing with amusement, then let out a soft hum and examined me carefully from head to toe.

“But it’s really strange. Even just standing still, you give off an idol vibe.”

I am an idol, after all.

“To be honest, I did whine and complain to get the Kang Ji-sung proposal to you… but actually, it doesn’t fit perfectly.”
“Pardon?”
“The Kang Ji-sung I envisioned is more… how should I put it, because of the setting that he’s indifferent to everything, it might appear contradictory, but he has a strong warmth to him. In contrast, you have a calm and serene quality about you.”

Well, I never expected I could perfectly imitate Joo Woo-sung anyway.
However, in this place, in this world, no one knows him better than I do.

“But strangely, I’m looking forward to seeing Kang Ji-sung as you perform him. It seems like it’ll be fun.”

Of course, such things weren’t what mattered to me right now.

“Um, but Screenwriter, this is purely out of curiosity.”
“Oh, please ask away.”

After casting was confirmed, I received and read all the completed scripts. The entire time, it felt like crossing through an uncanny valley.
Especially since the stories of Sung Ji-won, Kim Sung-hyun, and Jung Da-jun were described in detail, yet in ‘Unknown Actor Tycoon’ those bastards who tormented them were peacefully active.
But the truly irritating part was,

“How on earth did you create such charming characters?”

The absence of Kang Yi-chae.

“Especially the cast members. Do they have real-life models?”
“Pardon? The cast members aren’t based on anyone at all.”

My jaw tightened without my realizing it.
I took a breath to settle myself and asked the Screenwriter again.

“Then… have you ever considered a character role for a rapper? Hip-hop is all the rage these days, after all.”
“A rapper? I never thought of that.”
“…Not even a little?”
“It’s interesting, but I don’t really feel it. It doesn’t click for me.”

I felt slightly deflated, but I couldn’t let it show.
The Screenwriter, scratching his head awkwardly, continued.

“Every writer is different, but I need to feel a certain vibe before I can write. One day, suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, characters flood into my head all at once. I simply transcribe them onto the page.”

Of course.
The fragment’s existence must have flooded in.

“At the root of that feeling lies a genuine belief that such a person truly exists somewhere. If that doesn’t resonate, I can’t write it.”

I’d heard something similar before.
From Kim Sook-hee, the Screenwriter of ‘Please Camera’.
She’d watched Shining Star, recalled the Lee Jung-hoon character, and the scenario was created in an instant.

“Ah! But if the characters were idols instead of solo singers, I might have calculated that balance more carefully when writing.”
“…Aha, idols?”

My instincts screamed that the next words from this Screenwriter’s mouth would be extremely important.

“Right now, the cast is missing exactly what a rapper would provide in terms of positioning. It would add external diversity too.”
“….”
“And these are talents that PD Seo Ui-young painstakingly gathered. If we fill in that missing piece perfectly, wouldn’t it be a combination that absolutely cannot fail?”

…A combination that absolutely cannot fail.
This Screenwriter was convinced that if such a group existed, they would definitely succeed, yet reality had them gathered at Dae Pa-sung doing nothing but “pop pop pop like pineapples.”

Now that I thought about it, the members’ stats were suspiciously high.
If I’d left them as they were, the group would’ve failed, but looking at each one individually, they wouldn’t seem out of place even in a major entertainment company.

‘Wait a minute….’

I wasn’t a vending machine of foresight, and the fact that only meddlesome guys had gathered together was something….

“Ah!”

As I was organizing my thoughts, I heard a small exclamation from the Screenwriter beside me.

“Right, that’s it. And the Director told me some news earlier—it’s huge.”
“Yes?”
“There’s a special guest today.”

The moment the Screenwriter finished speaking, commotion erupted near the filming set.
I could tell from my years of experience at the broadcasting station.
This kind of fuss was the spectacle that erupted when a top star appeared.

“They’re arriving right now.”
“Who?”
“Well, you know how it used to be done? A singer from the production company would give direct feedback on dramas. So we decided to get advice directly from active professionals to raise the quality of our drama. Since WH Entertainment is backing the production, it’s easy to secure resources.”
“….”
“…Though it’s really just for media play. Haha!”

An active professional from WH Entertainment?
Someone whose mere appearance could generate media buzz?
Though the face was obscured by the staff and equipment, just from the silhouette, I could get a sense of who it was.

“Seo Ho-yoon, you asked the Director if Kang Ji-sung had a reference model?”
“…Yes.”
“Right. Only Kang Ji-sung has a motif. We considered the personalities, appearances, and popularity of several celebrities, but… the main person serving as the basis is right there, that person.”

The Screenwriter pointed with a glance.
Even with multiple cameras following and filming, he greeted everyone with an air of composure. There was none of the exhaustion I’d glimpsed when we’d briefly crossed paths before.
His distinctive natural light brown hair shimmered under the bright studio lights.

“Joo Woo-sung.”

The Screenwriter wore a satisfied smile, remarking that today’s brilliance was absolutely radiant.
My gaze collided head-on with Joo Woo-sung as he turned his head.
For the first time since stepping onto the filming set, I failed to maintain my composure.

What?
This…

“People ask me so many questions about the role!”

This is completely chaotic.

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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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