Chapter 70: Second Unexpected Talent (2)
There were more actors who also had singing careers than one would think, but Kang Ra-Eun had no desire to take on both roles. Just like how she was when she first started acting, she was not confident enough to take the first step in her singing career. Not only that, an acting career was more than enough for her.
“Forget it. I can’t debut as a singer with this.”
Ra-Eun did not want to make an even bigger deal out of it. She claimed that her singing voice was only a little above average, but she had not yet realized that had only been the case in her past body. Ra-Eun had not simply turned from a man to a woman. Park Geon-Woo’s voice and vocal cords had been completely switched with those of Kang Ra-Eun.
The singing skills of the former Ra-Eun were outstanding. Her voice was perfectly stable even when singing high notes. It was by no means a coincidence that Ra-Eun had talent in acting; her strong vocal cords had a large part in it. She also had absolutely no issues with vocalizing, which she was praised for by her acting instructors.
Ra-Eun had only just found out that her vocal cords had originally been specialized for singing, not acting. Not only that, it wasn’t just her vocalization that was outstanding.
“You’re so pretty when you sing, too,” Han Ga-Ae remarked.
“Pretty? What was I like when I was singing?”
“You held the mic with both hands and danced by shaking left and right while staring at the screen. You were so cute!”
“...”
It was her first time being praised for her cuteness rather than her beauty. In Ga-Ae’s eyes, Ra-Eun possessed the physique to even tackle some choreography while singing. Her figure was so good that simply shaking her body lightly looked amazing.
Ga-Ae made a rectangular camera angle with the thumb and index finger of both her hands, and put Ra-Eun in it. She then did an impersonation of someone completely unknown to Ra-Eun.
“Why don’t you try becoming a singer?”
Ra-Eun answered instantly, “No, thank you.”
She was busy enough with acting.
***
Ra-Eun headed to the meeting room where Chief Jung was waiting after ending her agency building tour with Ga-Ae.
“You’re a little late. Did something happen?” Chief Jung asked.
Ra-Eun made a half-assed excuse that she had some private business to tend to. A mountain of thick synopses were waiting for her.
Ra-Eun said while looking at Chief Jung sideways, “You sure got a lot.”
“It’d be a disgrace if I couldn’t get at least this much work for our agency’s top actress, don’t you think?”
Ra-Eun could only sigh in response. She had no blazing desire to succeed in the entertainment industry. All that she wanted was to form connections with VVIPs who could keep Congressman Kim Han-Gyo in check. She only wanted to be moderately famous, but reality never went as one wanted it to.
“Do I have to look through them all by today?” Ra-Eun asked.
“No. I only got ones that weren’t super time-sensitive, so you can take your time looking through them. And besides, didn’t you say that you would continue your acting career once your SATs were over?” Chief Jung expressed.
“I did.”
“I’ll make sure that it doesn’t affect your studies, so just try picking your next role for now. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Ra-Eun had indeed been comfortable thanks to Chief Jung having her back, but she sometimes got tired of his ambition of making her into a superstar in any way that he could, just like what he was doing right now.
The mountain of drama and movie synopses perfectly represented Chief Jung’s greed. Ra-Eun took the topmost synopsis bundle and sat down. Chief Jung said a few words as Ra-Eun looked through it page by page to understand her role in the work.
“That’s a romance movie about a nameless songstress falling in love with a male program director of a broadcasting station as she grows to become a top star. The title is still undecided. Filming starts in the second half of this year.”
“So, literally right after the SATs,” Ra-Eun stated.
“Exactly.”
The timing was cutting it a bit too close for comfort.
Ra-Eun couldn’t get Ga-Ae’s words out of her head while reading the synopsis. What exactly did she look like when she sang for Ga-Ae to praise her that much? Even Ra-Eun herself was curious.
‘It didn’t look like she was teasing me.’
Ga-Ae was not the kind of person who would tease others either. Her head was filled with curiosity about her own self. Ra-Eun then unconsciously asked, “Chief Jung. What do you think about me dancing on a stage?”
She flinched in surprise at her own question, but Chief Jung did not think it had any hidden meaning behind it. He simply thought that she had asked because of the movie synopsis that she was looking at.
“I think it’d suit you well.”
“Oh... really?”
“Yup. You might dislike it when I say this, but a girl of your figure looks rather great when dancing. You have long legs, slender arms, and you’re skinny and thick exactly where it matters. To be honest, you’re a sight for sore eyes... wait, I’m not sexually harassing you, okay? I’m just talking objectively. I’ll get in huge trouble if you misunderstand.”
Chief Jung urgently denied it. It would be a massive problem if rumors spread that a certain section chief of an entertainment agency sexually harassed an underaged high school girl. Ra-Eun assured Chief Jung that he did not need to worry about such a thing.
Chief Jung sighed in relief and asked while looking back and forth between the synopsis and Ra-Eun, “Are you interested in it?”
Ra-Eun answered immediately once again, “No. I think Yoo Hee-Yeon sunbae would be a better fit for the role.”
“Hee-Yeon? I don’t think she’s ever done a role with this kind of personality.”
“Give her a shot. You won’t regret it.”
Ra-Eun already knew exactly what movie this was and how it would fare when it aired. The title of the movie was Singer Kim, and the lead actress was Yoo Hee-Yeon.
Like Chief Jung had said, Hee-Yeon had never taken on a character with a personality like Kim Ju-Hyeon, the female protagonist of the movie. That was also the case in Ra-Eun’s past life. However, it turned out much better than expected. 4.5 million people in total had come to watch it in cinemas, reaching far beyond the break-even point of the movie production cost.
Ra-Eun was not done.
“And Chief Jung, about the movie here.”
“The Lady of the Umbrella Store?”
“Yes. I recommend So Wu-Myeong sunbae for the male lead role. I’m sure he can make this movie a success.”
Chief Jung had brought Ra-Eun these synopses for her to choose her own role, but she was suggesting who to cast in what movie like a casting director instead.
“You’ll probably earn a seat on the board of directors if you do as I say,” Ra-Eun stated confidently.
Chief Jung was more terrified than surprised whenever Ra-Eun acted like this, because he thought that things would actually go as she said they would.
***
Ra-Eun was driven back to her home. She dragged her fatigued body to the front door and went inside.
“I’m home.”
No one replied. Their father was normally not home at this time, but even her brother Kang Ra-Hyuk was nowhere to be found.
“Let me know if you’re gonna be late, for God’s sake.”
Ra-Eun’s complaints about her brother went through the roof yet again. She changed into something comfortable and plopped on the couch. She had no idea why she was so tired when she barely did anything today.
‘Actually, come to think of it, I did a lot today.’
Ra-Eun had bestowed several profound secrets upon Chief Jung today. However, she wasn’t sure whether or not Chief Jung would do as she had suggested. She was not a casting director; she was nothing more than an actress affiliated with GNF. It was only her second year of acting, and she still had much more to learn. She did not think that Chief Jung would unconditionally follow such an inexperienced actress’s casting suggestions.
‘I know I wouldn’t.’
Hence, Ra-Eun decided not to think much about it since it was not her problem. Not only that, but even if she didn’t force Chief Jung to do exactly as she said, the roles would naturally go to the rightful actors as they had in the future. In that case...
‘What should I take?’
Ra-Eun’s head already contained data of big-hit movies and dramas, and all she needed to do was to choose one of them. As long as she did that, she would once again naturally become a huge subject among the public without much struggle. But of course, she needed the appropriate level of acting skill to back it up.
‘Becoming a star is a piece of cake.’
She could easily reap the benefits as long as she effectively used her knowledge of the future.
‘I would’ve memorized lottery ticket numbers if I knew this would happen.’
No one would possibly expect that they would return to the past, especially as a high school girl. Ra-Eun reached for the TV remote and turned on the TV to organize her thoughts.
A singing program was on, and the popular four-member girl group Lemonetta was performing on stage. Ra-Eun quite liked Lemonetta’s music since her past life. As she watched the program, she once again recalled Ga-Ae’s words that she was really pretty when she sang.
“...For real?”
Her curiosity took over. She dragged the full-length mirror into the living room and followed Lemonetta’s choreography while singing, using the remote as a mic.
“Why don’t you understand my love for you~”
Creak.
At that moment, the bathroom door opened. Ra-Eun made eye-contact with Ra-Hyuk, who had just come out of the bathroom after finishing his business.
“Y-You... Wh-Why are you in the b-bathroom...?”
“I was doing a number two. That aside, my little sister,” Ra-Hyuk said as one of the corners of his mouth curled up meaningfully, “That was pretty cute. I think you’d be popular if you debuted as a singer.”
Ra-Eun’s face turned as bright red as an apple. Emotions of embarrassment, humiliation and shame stormed in her mind.
Unable to handle it, she exploded. “Hey!!! Erase what you just saw from your memory!!!”
“How could I forget something like that? And don’t be too embarrassed. It actually suited you really well.”
“Shut up, you fucker!!! I’ll fucking kill you!!!”
It had been a while since she had exploded with profanities.
1. This is a Korean meme used whenever someone does something related to a specific occupation. It’s worded like an elderly gentleman’s manner of speech.
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