Chapter 11
THE EXCITEMENT OVER brYAN’S AND MY “RELATIONSHIP ” dies down after the next two episodes, and with that, so do our ratings. They don’t drop as low as they were before our amusement park date, but they’re still pretty bad.
Things must be far worse than I thought, though, because I overhear a production assistant gossiping with an assistant director during one of our breaks.
“Is it true that the director isn’t satisfied with the scenes we’re shooting?” he asks as he nibbles on some snacks from craft services.
“Shh! No, that’s not it at all,” the assistant director replies.
“The ratings aren’t as good as the higher-ups want them to be, so the creative team is looking for more ways to change things up to increase the show’s popularity.
There’s probably going to be a few shifts here and there. Not necessarily all bad ones.”
I was in the middle of a school reading on how to best perform monologues, and I keep my eyes on my paper as I make my way toward them.
But the moment I step in their direction, the two immediately stop talking.
Darn. Acting like I’m just really thirsty, I grab a bottle of water from the craft services table and walk away.
Once I’m out of earshot, I take deep breaths.
Anxiety looms over me like a colossal wave.
I know it’s not entirely my fault that the show isn’t doing well, but I still can’t help but feel bad that we’re underperforming.
This is my first time being the lead actress.
Even though most people are watching the show for Bryan, I can’t stop feeling somewhat responsible as the co-lead.
I wish I knew what the assistant director meant by “shifts.” I’ve never liked change, especially when I have no idea what it’s going to be.
Sophia doesn’t look up from her tablet when I walk over to her. She just holds up my phone so I can check it, which is our usual routine during breaks when she’s on set with me.
“I’m not here for my phone right now,” I say. “Thanks, though. Have you heard anything about the changes that the higher-ups are making with the show?”
Sophia frowns. “Sorry, I haven’t. I’ll tell you as soon as I do.”
Things stay the same for the next two days.
I reluctantly fall back into my regular routine of showing up to set on shooting days and studying at home on our days off.
Even at the end of the week, everything seems normal.
My parents, who regularly watch Fated Destiny whenever they’re not working, thankfully seem more invested in the show now.
The fact that they care what happens to Hyun and Sora gives me hope that other viewers will, too.
But by Thursday, everything changes.
“Attention, everyone!” says one of the assistant directors when I get on set.
“We have the latest revisions of the script for episode ten. There are quite a few new additions to the main storyline with this script, so we will be having a quick script debriefing meeting tomorrow at the Sangam-dong office before we shoot the next episode. Please be sure to have read over the script before tomorrow morning. We’ll shoot out a text with more logistical details by the end of today. ”
There’s a mumble of confusion from everyone as she passes out copies of the script.
I didn’t even know they were making changes to the main storyline, and from the surprised looks on everyone’s faces, neither did anyone else.
Even though the storyline is bound to change at least a little bit in any live production format, this is the first time we’ve had a significant change on this show.
When I get my script, I do a double take. There’s a new name on the script, right below mine.
Kim Danbi—played by Park Minjee
A sense of betrayal flares up inside me.
I’ve been texting on and off with Minjee ever since our video call, mostly sharing memes and talking about new Korean music, but not once did she mention that she’d be joining the show.
Or that she had even auditioned for another role.
But why? I can’t help but wonder. Why would she keep this a secret from me?
I skim through the script, and the sickening feeling only grows worse.
Not only did the creative heads add Minjee to the script without giving us much of a heads-up, but they also changed the whole arc of the show so there’s now a love triangle between Minjee’s character, Bryan’s character, and mine.
A small note in the beginning of the new script explains how Minjee’s character fits into the new storyline.
Danbi is Hyun’s lover in his other lives.
Hyun ended up with Sora for some of his reincarnated lifetimes, while he ended up with Danbi in the others.
This new and exciting addition is sure to keep audiences watching until the very last episode while they try to guess who Hyun will end up with in this lifetime!
Just like that, Minjee is our third co-lead.
A pit opens up in my stomach. Even greater than the disappointment I feel about Minjee is the one I feel for myself.
I can’t help but think all of this wouldn’t have happened if I’d somehow been a better actress.
Maybe if I’d been better at playing Sora, my performance would have captivated more viewers enough to not need another female lead.
The assistant director must have seen the expression on my face, because she comes over to talk to me.
“Hana... I’m sorry,” she says. “The writers just thought that a love triangle would spice things up a bit. Minjee is joining us tomorrow morning so we can have a table read with her.”
“A table read?” I ask.
When we get new editions of the script, we usually don’t do table reads because we’re already short on time.
We only did a table read at the very beginning of the process, before we started shooting.
Afterward, we’re expected to show up on set having memorized our lines.
It’s unusual for us to meet up and go over lines together so late into the game.
“Yes. The director wants Minjee to try reading her lines with everyone before she gets in front of the camera. She was runner-up for your role, so I think the company reached out to her right away when this spot opened up.”
“When was she officially cast?” I ask, still scrambling to make sense of everything.
“About two weeks ago? I’m not sure, honestly. The decisions were all made above my paygrade. I only found out about them this Monday.”
Bryan and I went on our first date almost two weeks ago, on the tenth of December. Why would Mr. Kim and the rest of the higher-ups decide to make this huge change at the same time Bryan and I agreed to his fake-dating scheme? And why didn’t Minjee tell me that she was joining the show?
You can’t trust anyone in this business.
It’s something I’d heard one of my classmates say before, and now I wonder if it’s true.
Despite everything he said, Mr. Kim didn’t think Bryan and I were enough to make this show succeed.
And even though we’ve been talking for the last couple of weeks, Minjee couldn’t even tell me the major fact that she was joining our show as my rival .
Although I was heartbroken when Minjee and I stopped talking, one silver lining in losing my best friend was the fact that my classmates and teachers would stop pitting us against each other. But now we’ll have to compete again as co-leads, with millions of viewers tuning in every week.
The next morning, I sit down at the table just as Minjee walks into the conference room.
Everyone in the cast and crew gets up to greet her, bowing profusely.
Some people even ask Minjee for an autograph when she walks by them.
Minjee’s parents are Korean drama royalty, since her dad was one of the first Hallyu stars of the nineties and her mom has been playing the role of the “rich, scandalous housewife” on practically every daytime show since I can remember.
Even my dad knows who her parents are, which is saying a lot since he doesn’t really watch TV.
Despite all the attention she’s getting from everyone else, I stare straight forward, making sure to only watch what’s going on with Minjee out of my peripheral vision.
Under any other circumstances, I would have said hi and given her a hug, but knowing what I know now, I’m at a total loss about how to interact with her.
I’m determined to ignore Minjee for as long as I can, which proves to be impossible when she stops right beside me.
Since I don’t want to create a scene in front of everyone else, I finally look up at her face.
Minjee takes off her sunglasses and grins down at me, just as warmly as she did when we video chatted.
Only now she looks way different, with her long curls now cut in a short, sleek bob.
Compared to how soft and gentle she looked with her bare face and pink pajamas, she’s now all dramatic contours and sharp edges with her intense makeup and studded leather jacket.
I’m so shocked by how different she looks that I find myself staring at her, jaw slack, until she meets my gaze.
“Long time no see,” she says, giving me a wink. “Have you been well, Hana?”
“Have you been well?” is usually an innocuous Korean greeting in and of itself, but the edge in Minjee’s voice makes me wonder if she means it as a threat.
It’s so weird seeing Minjee here. And it’s even stranger that after all we talked about during our video chat, we’ve been cast in opposing sides of a love triangle where we’re going to have to “fight over” the same guy on-screen.
If only we weren’t being reunited because of some glorified cat fight.
“I’ve been great!” Now’s definitely not the time to reveal how I’m really feeling. “How about you?”
Minjee shrugs. “Been better, been worse.”
Why didn’t you tell me you were joining the show? I intently meet her gaze, wishing she could somehow read my mind.
My expression must have given something away because Minjee reaches out to squeeze my arm.
She briefly leans down, like she’s about to say something to me, but doesn’t get the chance before Director Cha says, “All right, everyone, let’s get started.
Since we only have a few scenes to film today, we thought it’d be a good idea to do a table read with Minjee-ssi so she can get a feel for everything before she starts her own scenes.
Please feel free to ask me or any of the ADs if you have any other questions. ”
Bryan, who’d been sitting on the other side of me, gets up and goes around me to pull Minjee’s chair out so she can sit.
Since when has he ever been the perfect gentleman? I wonder. Bryan and I have been working for several months now and I’m supposedly his fake girlfriend, but he’s never once done something like that for me.
If he noticed that Bryan’s acting weird, Director Cha doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just remarks, “Please turn to page four, when Minjee-ssi’s character is first introduced. Bryan, please start us halfway down that page, where Hyun starts talking.”
“Sure thing.” Bryan begins to read in character. “You look really familiar. Have we met before?”
The question’s meant to be genuine and not a pickup line, since Hyun’s supposed to recognize Danbi, Minjee’s character, from his past lives.
Even though he’s just reading off the script at this point, Bryan executes the confusion and wonder in his voice perfectly, and Minjee returns his authenticity with believable confusion of her own as she cocks her head to the side and reads, “That seems highly unlikely, considering that I just moved from Busan. Have you ever visited there?”
Even though Minjee is from Seoul, she somehow manages to pull off the twang of a convincing Busan satoori.
I feel a spark of jealousy. It takes all my effort and energy just to sound natural in Seoul standard Korean.
I can probably pull off a good American Southern accent, but I can’t even imagine speaking in different dialects of Korean like Minjee is doing.
Don’t let all of this get into your head , I remind myself. Just because Minjee is a great actress doesn’t mean you’re not good enough.
“No, but...” Bryan continues.
“Hyun-ah!” I exclaim, since it’s my turn to come in. “What are you doing after school today? Do you have plans for this weekend?”
God, she sounds so desperate , I think, feeling bad for my character even as I’m reading my lines.
Things were going so well with her and Hyun before this, too.
But now he has a whole other love interest more than halfway into the series because people didn’t think just Sora alone was interesting enough.
Even though my character is not a real person, I feel like I somehow failed her, too.
“Oh, Sora-ya, I’m busy this weekend,” Bryan says as Hyun. “I’ll see you around?”
“Oh, okay, sure.”
If we were acting out the scene, I would have walked away with some of my dignity intact. But since we’re all sitting at the same table, I have to just stay there and watch as Bryan and Minjee continue on with their lines.
“If you want, I can show you around the school,” Bryan reads. “I know everything must be overwhelming, being at a new school and all that.”
“Thanks,” responds Minjee. “I’d appreciate that.”
I feel really uncomfortable as I watch Bryan and Minjee grin at each other. It’s like watching two of my worlds converge in the most unpleasant way.
Despite the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions going on inside my head, I manage to come in naturally for the lines in my next scene. It’s a new day, and Sora, having now caught on that Hyun’s acting really weird, asks him, “Are you okay? You’re a lot quieter today.”
Since Sora is supposed to be oblivious to the fact Hyun’s even thinking about another girl, I make sure to sound genuinely worried. I won’t be helping anyone, least of all myself, if I mess up my lines in this table read.
“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Bryan reads. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”
We continue down the page, with Bryan and me going back and forth. I don’t have much to work with in this scene, but I still give every line my all without sounding overly dramatic.
“All right, good job, everyone,” Director Cha says when we finish the scene, clapping his hands. “The call time for today is at two p.m. We’re going to be over at the school again. Hope everyone has a great lunch!”
When we all stand up from our seats to leave, my eyes meet Minjee’s. She looks away, and I exit the room.
I am not going to let Sora be left in the dust , I think as I walk down the hall. She deserves way better than that. I deserve better than that.
May the best actress win, Minjee.