“That’s nonsense! Who exactly said that? Perhaps they said it out of jealousy?”

“She’s a middle-aged woman, so it’s definitely not jealousy. The truth is that she probably has really high standards. That’s why I am going to work even harder, to please people like her.”

Woo-Jin clenched his fists and got into a fighting stance to show that a small setback like this would not make him collapse. Song Jae-Hee struggled to hold back her laughter upon seeing that. She had kind of guessed what kind of person he was during the get-together - he was not stupid, but he was rather slow-witted and naive when it came to his own matters. Hence, she was slightly worried.

“Woo-Jin, which agency are you from?” 

“I am not signed with any agency right now.”

“Then, have you decided which one you are going to sign with?”

“No. I am planning to be on my own for now.”

Song Jae-Hee shook her head upon hearing Woo-Jin’s answer. Even for famous celebrities, it would not be easy for them to land as many jobs without an agency. Not being signed to an agency might have been fine in the past, but in present times, the entertainment industry worked very closely with agencies. The presence of marketing and management had been a measure of one’s status as a celebrity for the longest time. 

“It’s not a bad thing if you are satisfied with continuing with minor or supporting roles like you are right now. But if you want to succeed, or if you even want to continue taking on various roles in the future, you will need an agency. Information and details about auditions for drama or movie roles are first delivered through agencies. Actors who aren’t signed with any agencies, such as yourself, will only be able to come into the picture and take on those roles when no one can fulfill those roles. Naturally, there’s bound to be limited roles for you in the future.”

Of course, if one was lucky enough to be in a one-hit-wonder movie, their chances of success would increase. But how long would sudden, lucky fame last? Public opinion changes very easily, and they tend to have a short memory span too. Furthermore, huge agencies had a tendency to trample on rookies that did not belong to their agency without remorse. So many actors who were meant to make it big had ended up disappearing from the entertainment industry as a result.

“It’s a world where a single line in an article can destroy you. Agencies can protect you as much as possible from such external threats. It’s not just about acting for actors. There are so many things to deal with, do you think you can do it all by yourself?” 

Song Jae-Hee continued to praise agencies. Above all, she specifically highlighted sponsorship and styling management. For example, if an actor were to play a role of a wealthy person in a drama or movie and the clothes did not match the role, the blame would rest solely on the actor. There was a limit to what the production crew could prepare for them. 

“Fortunately, for this movie, CEO Choi had already prepared the styling and clothes from start to end according to your taste for each scene. In the case of Actor Kwon, he would have been very concerned about sponsorships because of his role as the son of a wealthy family. Agencies are the ones who do all the troublesome and difficult work such as styling behind the scenes.” 

When she saw the way Woo-Jin looked at her, Song Jae-Hee could feel that she had almost convinced him. Hence, it was dangerous to leave him as he was, without an agency. He looked like someone who could be won over very easily by any random passerby. 

“However, not all agencies are good,” said Woo-Jin. 

His past experience was the reason behind his hesitation. 

“Of course! You’re better off being alone than signing with a random sub-par agency.” 

“In that case, which agency is the best? Just because an agency is well-known doesn’t mean it’s a good one. Most importantly, if you can’t trust them, there’s no point in joining it.”

Woo-Jin’s first agency was also a well-known agency in Korea. However, all he had gotten from that agency was the ugly side of the entertainment industry and a bitter sense of betrayal.

“Exactly. This is why I recommend DS.” 

“DS?”

“Yeah. My agency! It’s abbreviated as DS, which stands for Divine Shadow. There is a diverse array of artistes - both actors and singers included. Most importantly, the CEO is the son of a wealthy family, so he has a lot of money, which is why he will not make our artistes do anything weird.”

Upon hearing the name of the agency that Song Jae-Hee confidently recommended, the good-natured Woo-Jin frowned immediately. Of all public exams, the bar exam was ranked one of the highest in terms of difficulty, and there was a similar exam in the broadcasting industry. On the other hand, in the entertainment industry, there was something called the ‘DS exam’. In other words, that meant that entering DS Entertainment was more difficult than passing any auditions, or becoming a Hallyu star [1]. 

First of all, the CEO of DS Entertainment was the son of a second-generation wealthy family, and thus had some distance from the internal conflicts of his family. However, he had already gained trillions of won through inheritance, gifts, as well as his own business. Perhaps, that was the reason behind the good welfare and management of his employees and artistes. He was good at media marketing, and he did not try to turn the company’s artistes into famous celebrities by overworking them. 

Not all artistes wanted to become famous celebrities. DS Entertainment’s CEO provided an environment where all the artistes could do what they wanted, be it acting or singing, even if they were not celebrities. In a way, he was similar to CEO Choi of G&C Entertainment. DS’ CEO firmly wanted to help the actors and musicians that he liked to continue with their work without being hindered by economic difficulties or unconducive environments. 

Hence, the biggest challenge and the most difficult part of the DS exam was whether or not one suited the CEO’s taste. Regardless of how talented an artiste was, if they were not the CEO’s cup of tea, they would not make it into DS. 

“What’s with that look on your face? It’s as if you’re telling me that you’re bound to fail.” 

“That’s right. I won’t be able to make it.” 

“Umm… I can’t be 100% sure, but there is a high chance that you are what the CEO is looking for.”

“Does your CEO like toads?”

“Maybe…he might like golden toads?”  

Because no one in the world hated them. Song Jae-Hee’s eyes darted around to avoid making eye contact with the teary-eyed Woo-Jin. That was because she felt that she would not be able to hold back her laughter if she were to make eye contact with Woo-Jin, who looked so serious. It was so fun to tease him that she could not stop herself from doing so. 

“Na Mi-Yeon, scene 72 is about to start!”

The staff calling out to her was akin to salvation. She hurriedly got up from her seat and patted Woo-Jin’s droopy shoulders.

“You don’t know how it’s going to turn out to be yet. Don’t be prematurely disappointed! I will recommend you to our CEO. Even though not all recommendations end up going through, it still gives you better odds than going through a regular audition.”

Having been with DS for more than ten years, Song Jae-Hee was qualified enough to say that she was confident that she knew the CEO’s taste. In truth, no agency with a keen judgment would reject someone like Chae Woo-Jin. On top of being very good-looking, he was also charming. He had an unforgettable appearance and he was good at acting. He had checked all the boxes — young, good-looking, great acting skills. He was also from a prestigious college, and most importantly, he had already been discharged from the military. 

***

After she was done with shooting, Song Jae-Hee went straight to the DS headquarters instead of going home. She went to look for the CEO, Jang Soo-Hwan. 

“Oho~ It’s Actress Song, who said she did not want to see me for a while. What’s up?”

CEO Jang Soo-Hwan was personally acquainted with CEO Choi of G&C Entertainment. They were such close friends that they called each other terrible people. Hence, when CEO Choi picked Song Jae-Hee as the female lead of Glooming Day, Jang Soo-Hwan grumbled but did not object to the decision. 

If CEO Jang had protected her, they would have been able to reject Witch Choi’s request. Hence, Song Jae-Hee could not contain her anger, cursing in CEO Jang’s face and declaring that she did not want to see his face for some time.  However, Song Jae-Hee had come to visit Jang Soo-Hwan on her own accord. This was a situation that perfectly depicted the saying that “you’ll never know what will happen in life’’. 

“I did not come here to see your face.”

In order not to go back on her words, Song Jae-Hee sat down and faced away from Jang Soo-Hwan. 

“What can I do? I’ve been friends with the Supreme Witch since we were children. How can I reject a friend who asked me for a favor? However, from what I’ve heard from Manager Kim, the movie’s coming out really well. He said that this movie will be better than any run-of-the-mill piece, right?” 

“I don’t know about that. If everything went as expected, how would it not fail?”

Despite what she was saying, there was a subtle tinge of confidence in her voice. Even if she was not certain about how well the movie would be received by the public, it did not seem like the movie would receive much criticism. Of course, the editing was always the key to a movie’s success, but since Choi Yi-Geon was the director of the movie, they had nothing to worry about. 

Jang Soo-Hwan chuckled upon seeing her calm response. According to the information, regardless of the success of the movie, it was important for Song Jae-Hee to boost her image as a woman instead of a girl. Since Song Jae-Hee had been a child actor, even though she was now in her mid-twenties, she still could not escape from her image as a little girl. There was a strange separation between personas as the vibes she gave off to the audience did not match her adult appearance. Regardless of how many roles she took on as an adult, she did not exactly have any chemistry with the other actors. The main reason was that it felt as though she was a young girl trying to act as an adult. 

Both parties were worried because there were several child actors who failed to get past the stage of transitioning from child to adult. However, it felt as though the movie could be a turning point for Song Jae-Hee as an actress. 

“We are both busy people so we should stop beating around the bush. Tell me, what brings you here, Actress Song?” 

“When are you going to hold auditions for the rookies? The first audition of the year should be around now, right?” 

“I decided not to do it this year, haven’t you heard?”

“No, but why!” yelled Song Jae-Hee as she turned her head to look at Jang Soo-Hwan. 

“Even if you hold auditions for thousands of people, only one or two people end up getting selected. What is this? Looking for pearls in a muddy field? To make it worse, the rookies who ended up getting selected are getting lower in quality by the year. I’ll be honest with you, the purpose of holding auditions is gradually disappearing. However, if nobody gets selected officially, the amount of backlash we’ll get is no joke. I’d rather take a break this year and have auditions only once a year next year onwards.”

DS, which was already difficult to get into, had grown even harder to get into. However, for Jang Soo-Hwan, as the CEO of DS, they were not in a hurry to hold auditions as they did not lack artistes. Furthermore, there were quite a number of rookies and trainees who were preparing for their debut. Additionally, in many cases, the talents he had personally scouted tend to be better than the ones selected officially via auditions. 

“In that case…”

“In that case?”

“What about recommendations? There were times when people signed with the agency after auditioning due to somebody’s recommendation.” 

“It depends on who’s recommending and who’s recommended. For instance, if an idol who debuted this year recommended his younger brother, he would be rejected. Do you think our company is some sort of flea market?” 

Jang Soo-Hwan did not look too happy, questioning if there were really such instances.