DOS
After New Year, Irene joined a new film crew.
That sageuk movie with the huge investments and huge production had an exceedingly sentimental title. Back when they were discussing film contracts, they had agreed on dual female lead. Irene would play the graceful lord of a distinguished family, while another big name actress would play the wide eyed youngster. Both had fallen in love at the same time with the male lead who was in league with the antagonists.
And then it was just various schemes and conflicts, emotional entanglements... What came as a surprise though as the script was changed every which way, was that by the time filming had formally started, Irene's role was cut significantly. She had turned from the female lead in name to the female supporting character in actuality.
That wasn't the most critical issue though. Most importantly was that the distinguished young lord she would be playing would have her looks destroyed for the sake of the male protagonist, with a long, long scar remaining on her face. She would become poor and destitute, down in the dumps. By the conclusion, she would end up giving her life for the male protagonist. The white-clad, dapper, rich young lord of renown only appeared in the memory sequences, with less than five minutes of total film time. The vast majority of the time, she had to act while bearing that disfigured face.
This wasn't easy for Irene at all.
After all, her current popularity was mostly built up through her pretty looks. Now that the face, the biggest selling point, was concealed, it would only draw attention to her weak acting. Plus, the audience had long become accustomed to her beauty on the silver screen. It would likely be impossible for many to accept her now, with a sudden scar on her face.
But the contract was already signed, what else could she do?
Not as if she could throw the script in the director's face, right?
If she was still with Lisa, there was no way she would have encountered something like this. But now that she was without a sponsor, she could only bear with whatever came her way.
The moment the photo of Irene in costume was posted, it caused a great sensation online. In the photo, she was wearing an old cheongsam, holding up a worn-out metal sword. The long, long scar on her face was particularly glaring. The cast had previously put out another photo, one of her white-robed young master appearance with jade flute in hand. When putting the two side-by-side, the difference was stark.
The fans divided into two camps over this, and were up in arms about it over the Internet. Some thought that the stylist was taking pleasure in ruining her image, and were stubbornly refusing to accept it. There were also the ones who thought that Irene wasn't getting any younger, and it was time for her to go the method acting route, and expressed their undying support... Either way, the film attracted a lot of eyeballs before filming had even begun.
Her sufferings only really started after filming began.
To create that disfigured face, Irene had to spend several hours just putting on makeup and removing it. On some days, she had to get up before the sun even rose to get her makeup done in the morning, while her scenes were always filmed last, so she had to wait until the middle of the night to finish work. Her face would sport a fake scar the entire day, and by nightfall, her skin was always about to break out, but the next day, she'd have to do it all over again.
And that role she was playing was truly too prone to misfortunes, being beaten, injured, and spitting blood left and right. None of the scenes she acted in were easy to do. She no longer had that beautiful face to support her and couldn't simply be a flower vase, so she suffered a torrent of scolding and abuse from the director daily.
After acting like this for a few days, Irene could tell that something was fishy. Someone had definitely thought she was an eyesore and purposely did all this to teach her a lesson.
"Eonni, did you offend someone recently?" Even the dense Ye-rim had also realized something wasn't right.
Irene startled
Ye-rim then continued, "Miss Manoban hadn't been at the company for these past two months, I heard that lots of decisions were called by her sister."
Irene wasn't at all surprised at this.
This immature way of messing with someone could only be done by Lil Bear Seulgi.
She saw Ye-rim's fretful face, and couldn't help herself as she reached out to pinch those round cheeks, "It's nothing, don't worry yourself silly. You've had a rough couple of months too, I'll give you a raise next month."
"But the company pays my wages." Ye-rim had a blank look on her face.
"What, I can't give you a bonus out of my own pocket?" Irene said in an amused voice.
Only then did Ye-rim start cheering.
Irene smiled briefly, she thought that there were still lots of little joys in life.
▒ ▒ ▒
They had been just talking about Seulgi that day, and only a few days later, Miss Kim appeared at the film location with a swagger. She had dumped the model girlfriend, and was recently putting all her efforts towards chasing the female lead in the film, Giselle.
Giselle was a young actress who was currently at the top of her fame, with a pretty face and a sweet singing voice. Most importantly, she knew how to handle herself, she was amazingly sociable, and had someone backing her at every turn, everything she appeared in became popular.
So if this low-EQ Seulgi wanted to pursue her, then she probably had a long, slow road ahead of her.
Perhaps Seulgi took Irene's joking words that day seriously, whenever she saw her, she always got the willies; she was terrified that she would really go and seduce her own old man. She no longer dared to provoke Irene directly, but she hated her to the point that her teeth gnashed. So, she would always love walking back and forth in front of Irene, with an arrogant attitude of "I'm screwing with you".
Irene realized that Seulgi was really an efficient tool for regulating her mood. No matter how tough filming was, she could always be amused by seeing Miss Kim.
But a small incident happened when Seulgi came to hang around the set that day. A wooden stand used for holding props fell down and almost landed on her. Irene had been standing close by at the time, and quickly gave Seulgi a push. Although that made her stumble a few steps and almost fall to the ground, at least that bear face wasn't injured.
Seulgi froze up right then, and it took her a long time to come back to her senses, she was still shocked while she stared at Irene. But not only did she not have a word of thanks, she became so angry her face turned red, and she yelled at Irene about not minding her own business. She had originally come to ask Giselle out for a meal, but she didn't even mention it at all, and left in a huff.
Irene was completely baffled by this behavior.
The even funnier thing happened afterwards. For two whole days, Seulgi didn't appear. On the third day, her previous model girlfriend rushed onto the set, also with a face full of anger.
Irene remembered her, with long legs, a thin waist, and a very delicate appearance. But this time, her hair was in complete disarray, her eyes red and swollen, and her makeup completely wiped off.
What else could a woman lose composure over? Most likely it was a jealous quarrel.
Irene had figured she had come to make trouble for Giselle, and others in the film crew thought so as well. Yet she finally came to a stop in front of Irene, and said with her teeth clenched, "It's was you!"
Irene was momentarily befuddled.
"Seulgi was right, that face of yours looks quite good at seducing people..." The other measured her up and down with her arms crossed.
It was only then that Irene realized that she probably mistook her for someone else. She was just thinking about explaining when Seulgi's former girlfriend yelled again.
"You think Seulgi would really like you? She's just playing with you."
"Miss..."
"She dumped me just now, later on she's gonna dump you the same way! What's so great about you? It's just that pretty face!"
Irene was just preparing to film the scenes before the disfiguration, her all white ensemble was quite dashing, and she was rather satisfied with her own face.
"That's right, at least I'm pretty."
This indifferent attitude lit the fuses.
"You... shameless!" The woman's voice immediately rose up to a crescendo.
Smack.
With that sharp sound, Irene got a slap to her face.
This was too much of a new experience, and she was briefly stunned. To be honest, the slap didn't have too much force behind it, but her skin was very fair, and the finger marks quickly appeared on her face as her cheeks became slightly swollen.
Irene didn't say a single thing, she only frowned slightly, and slowly turned around to reach for something inside her bag. The crew blanched in fright, they all thought that she was going to pull out some kind of weapon, and hurriedly rushed over to intervene.
How ridiculous, how could she raise her hand to a random person?
Plus, her own hand will hurt if she hits someone, it's not a bargain deal at all.
Irene rummaged through her bag, then finally found a business card from inside her wallet, and lightly tossed it towards that young model.
"Regarding the compensation fees for slander and assault, please speak to my lawyer."
This scene was filmed by certain interested parties, and appeared in the entertainment section of the newspapers the very next day.
The pictures were a little blurry, but it did have a gimmicky headline – "Lovers? Rivals? A Battle Between Insults and Fists on Set!!!"
The exclamation mark at the end was startling to see. It could give someone a fright if they just happened to catch a glimpse. The report made no mention of Seulgi, only insinuating that Irene led an indecent private life, and had murky relations with multiple men and women.
If Lisa was here, no media would post this. Now... now of course, it was no longer like that.
Irene felt that she was really wronged, she'd never even touched a single hair of Miss Kim's, and now she'd gotten this reputation all for nothing.
▒ ▒ ▒
It was barely two days after the scandal had hit the news when Irene received a phone call from a dear friend. "Superstar, I didn't give my card to you just for you to could use it to mess with people!"
The woman's clear voice was full of indignation.
Irene had been watching TV on the couch just then, she hurriedly pulled the phone handset away from her.
"Lawyer Son, please be mindful of your professional image."
Son Wendy snorted a few times on the other side of the phone, "Tell me, how are you going to make this up to me?"
"A free advertisement for your services wasn't enough? I haven't even charged you any shout-out fees."
"Irene!"
Irene had a good laugh before she cleared her throat, "Do you have time Wednesday night? My treat."
"Used to be I could never get a hold of you, how come you're free now?"
Irene went a bit quiet, "My work schedule isn't as packed as before."
The busy round of work from New Year's was mostly what Lisa had scheduled for her from before. Other than the movie that she was filming now, most of her work was completed. Her manager hadn't called her for a long time either, chances are, she would have more and more free time after this.
Irene thought to herself as she told her the address for a certain high-class restaurant.
That restaurant was located in the hottest district downtown. It had an elegant name, and was very tastefully furnished. Most importantly, the dishes were exquisite yet original. It was packed almost every single day; if there wasn't a prior reservation, it was difficult to get a table at night.
When Lawyer Son rushed there to meet her on Wednesday night, Irene was already sitting in a private room on the second floor, and was looking at the view outside the window through her sunglasses.
"Is it not going to be an issue for a superstar to come to such a busy place? Wouldn't you be recognized by your fans?" Lawyer Son took a deliberate jab at her as she flipped open the menu, "Since it's your treat today, I'm not gonna be holding back."
Irene took off her sunglasses and smiled, "No worries, just order whatever you want to eat."
Lawyer Son had always had a straightforward personality. She still was as energetic as ever, even now that she was a working professional. As expected, she didn't hesitate at all and ordered a full table of dishes.
Irene didn't have too many friends on account of her own personality, and Wendy was one of her rare dear friends. The two of them casually chatted about what was going on recently in their lives. Of course, they mentioned that scandal as well, Irene brushed past it with a simple "a misunderstanding", and so Lawyer Son didn't continue to question her.
Halfway through the meal, Irene tapped the tabletop with a finger as she threw out a sudden question, "What do you think about the menu here?"
"It's decent, really good. Hmm, it can't compare to your cooking though."
"Do you want to meet the chef here?"
"Huh?" Lawyer Son was a bit confused, "No, it's fine."
Irene continued to ask, "Then, do you want to meet the owner of this place?"
Lawyer Son was becoming even more confused, she raised her head, but instead saw Irene with a hand under her chin as she gazed at her with a half-smile on her face. She was no fool, and immediately understood, she pointed a finger towards Irene.
"You bastard, you...!"
Irene was afraid that Wendy would choke, she hurriedly poured a glass of water and handed it over.
Lawyer Son just kicked at her under the table, "This is your restaurant? When did this happen?"
"I've been saving up for it forever, and when I had enough, I opened it." When you make a living in that industry, you never know what'll happen tomorrow, obviously you'll need to find more than one path for yourself.
Lawyer Son criticized her for not being a good enough friend, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I only asked you to come after everything was settled. Else, if there wasn't much business, and this place didn't have any customers, then how embarrassing would that be for me." Irene picked up her chopsticks to get some food, she smiled.
Irene was never the type to hold onto her pride, but she did have a mind of her own, and knew what she wanted. Once she'd made a decision, she'd stick to it until the very end, and no one could stop her.
"Well, whatever, you've always been like this." Lawyer Son knew her all too well, she flapped her hand at her, "You've always wanted to be a chef, but then you went into acting without even saying anything. And you even became a huge star without anyone noticing, it's something amazing."
"It's just good luck." Irene didn't mention the various complications that came in between.
"Oh yeah, the money that your family owed from before..."
"It was paid off years ago."
"That's good." Lawyer Son raised the wine glass to toast her, "Either way, congratulations on becoming your own boss."
Irene touched her glass to hers, "Lots of celebrities invest their savings, it's not a huge deal."
"It might not be worth mentioning for others, but it means something different for you. I know that this has been your dream since childhood. Oh, right, right, I also need to congratulate you on your dream coming true."
Irene thanked her, and slowly drank the wine in the glass. She didn't give her usual smile, but only leisurely narrowed her eyes – that was her expression when she was actually happy.
"Since we're so close, you can give me a VIP card, right?" Lawyer Son's eyes flitted around.
"Okay", then she continued, "There's something else I'll have to trouble you with."
"Hmm? What is it?"
― 17 ―
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