[crow]

"A drama?"

Ji-won was seated in the director's office, in the lounge chair that had, over the years, become his customary seat. The director smiled at him from behind the grand dark-wood desk.

"Yes. The timing is right, and I think you're ready. Nova's been debuted for... oh, about a year now, hasn't it?" The director turned a questioning look to Ji-won, who nodded, though Ji-won wasn't fooled. He'd been with the company since he was still in elementary school, and knew better than anyone how well the director knew their operations.

[crow]

Back then the director had merely been a talent scout, and then a manager, but even now, his attention to detail hadn't slacked. It was merely that he was no longer in a position to address the minutiae of individual artists directly.

But he had always attested that it was knowing the full scope of the company--- and, to a lesser extent, the industry--- that made him good at his job. It had been true when he had been on the bottom, and it was still true now that he was on top.

[crow]

There wasn't a chance that he would have forgotten how long Ji-won had been with the company, even if he spoke like that. In fact, since he had been responsible for Ji-won specifically, the likelihood was even lower--- likely closer to zero than anything else.

But having been with him for so long, Ji-won was also familiar with the type of manner that the director liked to affect, and knew this to be simply a part of that. Perhaps he thought it put people at ease.

[crow]

But then, perhaps it really did put people at ease. Ji-won, who had never occupied anything similar to the director's position, could only guess at all the things the director needed to do for his job.

As far as the news went, though, Ji-won wasn't sure how he felt about it. He didn't know what he was supposed to feel either, which felt even more important. He could feel the weight of the director's gaze on him, observing, waiting for a reaction...

[crow]

The director must have been expecting something. Ji-won just wished he knew what it was, so he could deliver it.

But the director was a patient man, and he must have wanted to see what Ji-won's reaction would be without that kind of guidance. The director's own face betrayed nothing of his thoughts beyond the polite attentiveness that Ji-won knew well.

Ji-won stared down at his hands, at the script that he had been handed, and tried to marshal his thoughts, scattered though they were.

[crow]

Even he wasn't sure what his reaction was. It took a moment of searching to even come up with the beginnings of an answer. Thinking about it, he supposed his feelings were mixed.

Dramas were the things that had gotten him into the company in the first place, as a child actor, back when he hadn't really known anything about the world. Back then, it was simple, and things were easy. Very young child actors were mostly chosen based on their looks, but even then, they had to have certain basic abilities.

[crow]

And past a certain age, they were picked first and foremost for their aptitude for the job, irrespective of whether they were the kind of TV pretty that a director would have wanted.

Child acting was a tricky thing--- after toddlerhood, it became much more obvious if a child was bad at it, but they also hadn't been alive long enough to receive much training. Time and money was one thing, but their relative maturity and ability to absorb those lessons weren't on par with an adult's either.

[crow]

So the fact that Ji-won had managed to break into the industry at that age spoke to his skill... Even if it did seem to imply that he was maybe not a very attractive toddler, if one chose to look at it a different way.

But because he had been chosen based on aptitude, acting had been easy for him. He had only been doing what came naturally to him at that age, with nothing more than some guidance and coaching from his managers and directors.

[crow]

He had gotten used to it, learned to have fun with it, and even done it to the point where he was sick of it because he had been doing it so often... And then, as a teen, he'd decided to pursue music instead.

To do that, he had become a trainee, and broke off ties with acting so he could learn all the things he needed to know to become a singer. This was a different world, with only a little overlap.

[crow]

The conduct of a fledgling celebrity had some basic core rules that everyone had to follow across the industry, but the expectations placed on an idol, the types of gigs they received and what they would bring to these things, these were all different. And that wasn't even going into the difference in types of skills required for the job either.

He didn't have much natural talent to speak of there. But he had already built a rapport with the company, and they supported him through this transitional phase...

[crow]

Thinking back on it, they probably offered more support to him than they had some of their other trainees of a similar level on account of that relationship. Ji-won had worked hard, and gotten into a group, and that group had made its debut.

In that way he could be considered incredibly lucky, to have succeeded twice. Many young actors and trainees didn't even achieve success once, let alone two times. He knew that even as a trainee, before he had been selected to debut, there were those who would whisper about favoritism behind his back.

[crow]

He had always ignored those trainees as best he could, knowing they were only jealous. But they weren't necessarily wrong in terms of their accusations either. Even Ji-won was aware of that.

But the truth of it still stood that he hadn't acted in quite some time. How long had it been since his last drama? He could ask the director, and he was certain that the director would have the answer, but it troubled him more that he couldn't remember it himself.

[crow]

He felt, somehow, that it was a bad omen--- that he had left his acting life too far behind, and that he had neglected to think about it after he decided he wanted something else.

"The title looks interesting." In the end, that was all he could think of to say on the matter. The troubled thoughts in his mind were hard to put into words, and moreover, he didn't want to show such ugly, petty doubts to the man who had essentially fostered his entire career.

[crow]

Such weak words weren't worth wasting the director's time with, and Ji-won knew it. If there were hardships, he would simply have to endure them like he had before, and get through them with that same perseverance.

Nothing had really changed. He was just being given a new task, that was all. He assured himself with these thoughts, and turned a more attentive eye to the script.

The director smiled at his words. "Do you think so?" was all he said in response.

[crow]

As soon as he spoke, Ji-won realized why he had said that. Ji-won hadn't actually read the title yet when he had commented on it, which had been his mistake, but looking at it now... The script read, 'School 20XX'. There wasn't really anything interesting about this title.

Still, it was what he had said, so he decided to carry on with the topic. "It says 20XX... Is this set in the future?"

"Are you not familiar with the 'School' series?" said the director.

[Wild Pet Found]