I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 193: Time to Work (4)

Director Seo Yong-Mun had decided to accept all of Kang Ra-Eun’s conditions, which she had already expected since they were technically not bad at all. There weren’t any objections to the edits since it would push the production in the right direction, and the production team was overwhelmingly happy that Ra-Eun had caught errors that they had almost missed in the synopsis.

However, there was a bit of a weird aspect in regards to Ra-Eun’s first condition. Director Seo returned to the GNF meeting to talk about the events of their first meeting.

“I believe you’d said that you wanted to bring in more investors...” Director Seo remarked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Ra-Eun had a detailed plan in mind, and needed large amounts of money to realize it.

“The film won’t reach the level of quality that I’d set as a goal with our current funds, so that’s why I set it as a condition.”

It was also good for Director Seo to acquire more production funds since it would provide some leeway in their shoots.

“We’re already getting tons of calls because you decided to take on the lead role. Rumors sure do spread fast,” Director Seo expressed while slightly smiling.

However, Ra-Eun knew that rumors did not spread from complete baselessness without cause; someone had definitely dropped some crumbs along the way, and Ra-Eun had already figured out that it had been Director Seo who had done so. However, she purposefully pretended not to know.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect secret,” she expressed.

What Ra-Eun was more focused on was the investors that had contacted them.

“Were there any decent investors among them?”

“Yes! Let’s see, we were contacted by... Nescue, Ondigi Entertainment, and QRTS.”

Director Seo felt energized just from saying these company names since they were all quite famous investors in the film industry. However...

“The scale is a bit smaller than I’d expected,” Ra-Eun said.

“Sorry?”

Director Seo blinked repeatedly in surprise. This phenomenal lineup would amaze anyone, but it was still not enough by Ra-Eun’s standards.

“Just a moment, please,” Ra-Eun requested for a time-out and texted someone.

Having gotten a response immediately, she smiled while staring at her smartphone and remarked, “Director Seo. Are you free this Thursday at 6 PM?”

“Thursday... Yes, I’m free. But why...?”

He wondered if it was to have an additional meeting, but he was wrong.

“There’s this one investor that I know very well, and they’d like to meet you and me.”

“And which company is that?”

The corners of Ra-Eun’s light pink lips curled upward.

“TP Entertainment.”

***

TP Entertainment was considered a bigshot conglomerate of the film industry. They not only invested in films, but possessed a significant amount of influence in the industry as a whole. Director Seo had never even dreamed of visiting the TP Entertainment headquarters.

“Chung-Beom.”

“Yes, Director?”

“Could you pinch my left flank real hard?”

“...That’s enough, Director. I pinched your thigh because you’d told me to, and then you got mad at me for pinching too hard.”

“It’s because I still can’t believe how unrealistic all this is.”

“You create fiction for a living. How could you be shocked by non-fiction?”

Director Seo couldn’t say a word in response to his fellow staff member’s retort. This was not a dream; it was reality. Director Seo and the other staff members decided to wait for Ra-Eun and her team to arrive.

~

A few moments later...

“Good evening, Director Seo. I’m sorry for being late.”

Ra-Eun and Shin Yu-Bin arrived at the meeting place. The gazes of everyone in the area naturally shifted to Ra-Eun. She was wearing a yellow mini dress with flower patterns on it, as well as skinny ankle boots. Her outfit emitted a sense of radiance that had not been present during their last two meetings.

Director Seo remarked while chuckling, “You’ve really psyched yourself up today.”

“It’s a given, considering who we’re about to meet.”

Ra-Eun was referring to the vice president of TP Entertainment, Park Hee-Woo.

“This must be your battle dress, then.”

“Well, I guess you could say that.”

Hee-Woo’s level of energy varied based on what Ra-Eun wore to their meeting, hence she had worn a dress that she did not wear often.

‘It’s a bit annoying, but this is more than bearable if I can get TP Entertainment to invest.’

During her meeting with Director Seo, Ra-Eun had sent Hee-Woo a text, asking her to invest in her next film. Hee-Woo thought very amicably of Ra-Eun, but she was the kind of person to separate business and private matters entirely; she had replied that she would decide after checking what kind of production it was and how the shoots would be progressed.

Hee-Woo had only provided such an opportunity because it had been requested by Ra-Eun; if it had been anyone else, she would not have even replied the text.

Director Seo sighed deeply from anxiety on their way to Vice President Park Hee-Woo’s office. Ra-Eun giggled.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, Director.”

“But... I’ve heard rumors that Vice President Park is extremely stern.”

Such rumors had amplified his anxiety further. The rumors certainly were not wrong; in regards to her work, Hee-Woo was more serious and composed than anyone else. Ra-Eun knew this very well since Hee-Woo had once been her older sister. However, that fact was also the reason why Ra-Eun did not fear her. Not just that, Hee-Woo adored her very much.

Ra-Eun entered the office along with Director Seo and his team. Hee-Woo’s eyes sparkled as soon as she saw Ra-Eun.

“Oh my God! Why are you so pretty today, Ra-Eun?”

Ra-Eun laughed awkwardly in response to Hee-Woo’s compliment. Meanwhile, Director Seo and the other staff members were bewildered by Hee-Woo’s reaction. They had thought that she would be as stern as the rumors expressed, but they could see nothing but love and affection in her eyes. But of course, that love and affection was only aimed at Ra-Eun.

Ra-Eun stroked down her hair that had returned to black after her hair dye had faded. It was a preparation stage of sorts whenever she talked about anything important.

“You already know why we’re here, don’t you?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Yes, of course. I’ve already looked through the material that you sent me in its entirety.”

Ra-Eun had sent Hee-Woo the script that had been newly drafted with her edits included. Its level of completion was far higher than the first draft that Ra-Eun had read through.

“That aside, Ra-Eun. I guess you’ve ended up starring in a political film after all your interest in politics,” Hee-Woo expressed as if she had expected it to happen one day or another.

The eyes and ears of everyone in the room were focused on Hee-Woo to figure out whether she would invest or not.

She remarked, “But I don’t think I can invest in it.”

Not even Ra-Eun had expected such a response.

***

Ra-Eun had thought that she had already reached max affinity with Hee-Woo. However, she had been conceited.

“The story itself is good. Films with plain morals like ‘rewarding evil and punishing vice’ are prone to be full of typical cliches, but the large number of twists makes it entertaining.”

Hee-Woo’s assessment of the production was highly positive.

“But why won’t you invest in it?” Ra-Eun asked in curiosity.

“There’s nothing wrong with the production itself, but the problem is what would come of it. Ra-Eun, Director Seo, I’m sure you both know that touchy genres like this bring forth a ton of gossip.”

This was especially so for the political genre.

“Politics is, in the purest sense, a battle between factions. People are divided into different factions based on their political inclinations, and they fight one another for superiority. That’s politics. The female protagonist of Spokesperson?also has her own principles. In other words, one could say that her political inclinations put her in a specific political spectrum.”

Although the character was not strongly skewed to one side in particular, her inclinations definitely put her in a certain area of the spectrum.

“TP Group maintains complete neutrality. Ra-Eun. I’m sure you already know this, but my father is fully apolitical. The same goes for me. If TP Group invested in Spokesperson?and people found out about it, wouldn’t they think that the company is inclined to that specific side of the spectrum? I’m sure that other complications will follow as well. For example, people who are of the opposite political inclination might boycott all products related to TP Group. If something like that happens, the cons would far outweigh the pros of investing in this film.”

Hee-Woo wanted a safe success, not one riddled with risk factors.

“And I might just be imagining this, but doesn’t the villain of this story remind you of a certain Congressman Kim?” Hee-Woo remarked.

Hee-Woo was almost certainly referring to Congressman Kim Han-Gyo.

‘That’s noona for you. She’s way too goddamn quick-witted.’ Ra-Eun thought.

Hee-Woo was not one to be won over by Ra-Eun simply because she had dolled herself up as best she could. Ra-Eun lightly inhaled. The investment would go out the window if she withdrew now, so she decided to use a trump card that she had hidden all this time.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“And why is that?” Hee-Woo asked.

“Because many incidents will occur around this film’s release date that will allow the audience to sympathize with the film.”

Hee-Woo’s smooth forehead wrinkled slightly.

“Are you saying something big will happen in the political scene soon?”

“I wonder. I don’t know the exact details either. I only heard a snippet from Reporter Ahn Su-Jin,” Ra-Eun answered.

“Reporter Ahn Su-Jin...”

She was a specialist known for often taking shots at Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol. Ra-Eun made Hee-Woo think that Su-Jin had a huge story in her hands.

‘Well, it’s not like I lied.’

Ra-Eun was personally going to make it so.

“If things go as Reporter Ahn mentioned, I’m sure the film will grab the public’s attention,” Ra-Eun stated.

People would think that the film had foretold the future, resulting in massive profits. The final decision came down to Hee-Woo.

“Sigh...” Hee-Woo suddenly brightened after a light sigh. “Okay. It’s my loss. We’ll invest.”

Hee-Woo was a businesswoman before a woman of neutrality. If there was a path that could earn her money, she would walk down it without hesitation.