Abe Lewison did not want to talk about possible goings-on between the actors during shooting. He knew very well that on-set romances sprang up and just as quickly dissipated. As long as the affairs did not disrupt the shooting, most people turned a blind eye. What could you do? The priority was always the shooting schedule and the movie. The actors knew not to interfere with that.

He noticed that Kim Seokjin had been behaving differently lately. A few times now, precious minutes had been wasted because he had been in Annelise's trailer rather than his own when he was called. He also stayed on set during her scenes rather than preparing himself for his next scene. Abe figured it was the usual stuff: his very beautiful lead actors were attracted to each other. Nothing uncommon about that.

He sighed and played back Norma King's visit to his office earlier. She had talked for longer than he cared to remember. He thought he'd seen the last of Norma King when she had been removed from the movie. But she was back, angrily ranting about the disruptive influence of having someone like Annelise Kane on set driving all the men crazy.

It would've been easy to dismiss Norma King's words as those of a jealous older woman afraid of being supplanted by a younger, more beautiful rival. He knew about Norma's relationship with his leading man and understood why the older actress was livid. It was only a matter of time before she lost her young lover to a younger woman. That, too, was common.

But then Kim Seokjin himself had asked for a few minutes after the day's shooting was done. Abe couldn't believe that Seokjin had also brought up concerns about Annelise's disruptive influence on the entire cast. Abe was told that Park Jimin kept flubbing his lines in the girl's presence and even how Sam Carson wanted to reshoot some earlier scenes to highlight Annelise's character.

He was tempted to put off Seokjin's complaints as sour grapes, possibly because he might be losing some of his screen time to Annelise. A star never wanted to lose out to a newcomer. But Abe had seen the dailies. The girl had a magnetic presence that drew the eye. Carson might be correct in wanting to expand her role, but Kim Seokjin was the star. He was the award-winning leading man that would draw in the crowds. Annelise Kane was an unproven quantity.

"Seokjin," Abe had told his leading man, "are you sure that you want me to approach the producers about this? Once I broach the topic, it cannot be unsaid. I, myself, do not see the problem. Annelise is doing an outstanding job despite being a newcomer. Is there no other solution to this issue?"

Seokjin had sighed and looked down. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, but I...well, I think it would be for the best if she wasn't here."

"I thought she was your childhood friend," Abe had said.

The young man glanced up. Abe saw pain and regret in his eyes before the actor masked it. "She was... I mean, she is. And I'm sure she'll be okay. She's not really into acting... really."

"Well, she's good, you know. I don't want us to be too hasty in this. She's going to be a star one day."

Seokjin visibly gulped. He straightened his shoulders. "Norma King is already a big star."

The next day during production meetings—the cast had the day off—Abe discussed the concerns with the producers and investors. The producers elected to stay with Kim Seokjin's star power, but some of the investors decided to pull their funding once it was decided to let Annelise go. The movie would be stalled.

Abe called Seokjin to tell him the verdict. After hours of wrangling back and forth, the final solution was to accept Norma King's large investment in exchange for giving her the role back.

"This is a huge gamble, son. I hope this cancels whatever debt you owe Norma," Abe told Seokjin, "because this could turn out to be the last favor you may ever be able to ask for."