Chapter 7
Ha, acting team leader, huh.
For someone like me, who’d spent my whole life wondering if I’d live and die as a low-level manager, the word ‘temporary’ might have been attached, but it was still incredibly sweet to hear.
Well, reality was……
[Absolute Beef]
[Strawberry Flying-Fish-Roe Rice Bowl]
Even though there was a huge, fancy beef restaurant right above us.
“Wow, Hyeon-woo. They’re running a special for a week starting today, so they’re giving us 500 won off the al-bap at lunch. Isn’t that an amazing deal? Ha, I might have to come again tomorrow.”
The fact that we were this thrilled just to get a 500-won discount and eat al-bap for 6,500 won summed up the state Won-seok and I were in.
“Well, where else can you get al-bap for under 7,000 won? Let’s go. Order something expensive!”
Even if I was buying al-bap, I could still show off a little, right?
Rattle—.
When we opened the door and went inside, the place was packed with people.
There were people who lived nearby, office workers, and—wait, there were even high school students?
“Well, when I was younger, I used to sneak out a few times during lunch with my friends because I didn’t want to eat in the school cafeteria.”
“Oh, those students over there?”
Yoon Won-seok, who was being treated to lunch, set a spoon and chopsticks at my place, then leaned forward to look at the students sitting in the corner. Won-seok gave a small shake of the head.
“Let’s see. That’s Hanbit High School’s uniform. And, um, judging by the yellow name tags, they’re probably seniors about to graduate. Maybe they didn’t skip class—they might’ve come after school let out. It’s already late January. Graduation’s coming up, so they’ll probably only have to show up at school now and then before the ceremony.”
“Oh, really?”
All I remembered was that school usually started in March.
Oh, come to think of it, I think my own graduation ceremony was in February, too.
“You know a lot about it.”
“I went to Hanbit High, so I know. They’re pretty strict there. Maybe it’s because kids from rich and poor families are all mixed together, but some pretty rough things have happened.”
“Come on, if that’s the standard, all kinds of crazy stuff happened when I was in school, too.”
“Anyway, kids these days really are all so pretty. They haven’t even been getting the kind of regular grooming trainees at a management company do, so why are there so many beautiful ones?”
“Well, being pretty doesn’t mean you’ll succeed.”
“At least it gets you halfway there. Of course, these days, you can’t succeed on looks alone.”
There are already so many celebrities that everyone’s standards have gone through the roof.
Of course, I knew celebrities from older generations had also had to walk a thorny path.
Honestly, compared to the quality of the stages and things like that back then, it was a fact that things had gotten harder in all sorts of ways.
“And how many trainees are there these days? Two million? How does that even make sense? South Korea’s population is 55 million.”
“They probably just made up the stats. Oh, ma’am, two large spicy flying-fish-roe fried rice, please. For the side dishes…… Right, we can help ourselves? Thank you.”
Yoon Won-seok scooped some fish cakes and pickled radish from the side dishes right beside us, then cautiously asked me,
“By the way, I’m just asking in case……”
“Yeah?”
“Team Leader Park isn’t having lunch here too, is he? I’m only asking just in case. If he happened to be here, he’d get mad at us just for talking like this.”
“Ha……”
That damn Team Leader Park.
Park Ju-yong, that son of a bitch. Whenever I heard his name, I found myself sighing or feeling my throat tighten up.
Won-seok probably felt the same way.
The guy was a straight-up psychopath—especially by military standards.
Of course, he was that capable, too.
I could admit that much.
Still, his personality was so shitty that I really didn’t want to have to deal with him for long.
“I mean, it’s not like we’re badmouthing him to his face. We’ve both been managers here for at least two years, right? We should be allowed to talk about this kind of thing.”
“That’s true, but, haha…… Maybe I’ve developed a bit of PTSD. When Team Leader Park calls me somewhere quiet and lectures me, I’m so worn out I can barely function that day, and then I can’t sleep at night, either. Hahaha.”
“Is that something to laugh about?”
“Well, it’s not like this place is the only one like that. I worked as a manager somewhere else for about a year before I came here, and that place wasn’t any better.”
At Won-seok’s words, I clicked my tongue and said,
“I don’t know why there are so many demons in this world.”
As I crunched on a piece of pickled radish.
“To be frank, I can’t say I’m a good person, either, but Team Leader Park? That guy’s a demon. A demon. Heh heh.”
For some reason, it was funny once I started talking about it.
[Please, feel free to talk even more freely, hehe.]
Wasn’t the most entertaining thing in the world gossiping about other people?
College students gossiped about their professors.
Office workers gossiped about their bosses.
We completely lost track of time.
Especially when a piping-hot, delicious serving of spicy flying-fish-roe fried rice—large portions, no less—landed right in front of us, making our tongues happy, too.
It got me saying things I didn’t even need to say.
“You know……”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been doing this job for a few years now, and I’ve started to think……”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Maybe I have a better eye than that guy, Team Leader Park. I think I’m pretty good at taking care of celebrities, too. So, to be frank, Team Leader Park just told me to try putting together an idol group myself, right?”
“Come on, he just said that to fuck with you, Hyeon-woo. Is it really as easy as it sounds? If it were, they’d all succeed and get their names among the top four management agencies in Korea.”
“No, I think I could do it.”
“Huh, are you serious? Are you thinking of leaving the company?”
When Yoon Won-seok asked with a dumbfounded look, I shook my head.
Right, that was what most people would think.
“Ah, that might be difficult. All I’m saying is that, from what I can tell, I’d do a better job than Team Leader Park.”
“Come on, even Team Leader Park didn’t just rise to that position by doing nothing……”
“What’s the matter? You were saying something, and then you stopped. One of the things Koreans hate most is being interrupted, and the second is……”
That was when it happened.
I felt a murderous presence behind me.
On top of that, a strong, seasoned hand had somehow clamped down hard on my shoulder.
And finally, I heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, come outside with me for a minute.”
“……”
At that moment, I honestly felt as if someone had smashed my heart with a hammer and knocked it all the way down to my navel.
Because the person who’d just spoken was Team Leader Park, the man I’d spent the entire meal happily tearing down.
It felt as if time had stopped, but for some reason, cold sweat was pouring off me like crazy.
“What are you doing, fuck? Get out here. Pay first.”
“Yes……”
Honestly, this time, I couldn’t exactly blame him for chewing me out.
I had to admit that.
They say you should never gossip about other people in the first place.
I was the one who’d said something I shouldn’t have.
[No, no. This is actually good. This was absolutely the right answer. If Master had awkwardly pretended to be a good person here, he wouldn’t have reached the right answer.]
‘What the hell does that mean……’
It was true that Nobel had helped me succeed once, but I just couldn’t believe that this situation was the right answer.
I swallowed a deep sigh and quietly followed Park Ju-yong into the alley right beside the al-bap place, immediately standing at attention, ready for punishment.
“Hey, Kim Hyeon-woo.”
“Yes.”
Park Ju-yong poked me in the chest with his index finger, as if it were only natural.
It felt like he was poking right through to my heart.
“I’m sorry.”
“Cut the crap. I was eating right beside you and heard everything. You made me feel like I’m going to live a long time. Fuck, I might make it to 120.”
“I’m sorry, heh!”
“Hey, you little shit. You think I’m a joke?”
“No, sir.”
“What do you mean, no, you fuck!”
No, I really don’t think that.
How could I think you were a joke?
Fuck, you’re a demon. You’re scary, you know. Terrifying.
“You sure had a lot to say earlier, huh? You’ve got a better eye? You’re better at taking care of celebrities? Hey, you came into this company and have done nothing but reap what I and the other team leaders built. You think this industry’s a fucking joke?”
“No, sir.”
“What do you mean, no, you fuck? Are you a damn recorder? You keep saying the same thing all day long.”
“……”
Ha, I’m going to lose my mind.
I had to admit, the guy was seriously good at tearing people down.
Maybe he’d built up the company with that skill.
“The fact you still don’t get it is proof you’re incompetent, you little shit.”
Poke, poke, poke—.
Park Ju-yong was poking my chest with his index finger, and now he was jabbing me in the forehead, too. I wasn’t some Kkokkokkok stir-fry ramen.
At this rate, I was going to start bleeding from my head.
“You think the management business is a joke? You think the entertainment industry is easy? You must think so, or you wouldn’t say that.”
“……”
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not mute. Say it again. Do you still think that if you put together an idol group yourself, you’d do a much better job than me?”
This was one of those questions where the answer was already decided.
The answer was set, so I was supposed to say only what he wanted to hear.
But I didn’t want to give him the right answer.
It was a little stubbornness on my part.
“Yes.”
“What?”
I gave him a bold answer that was nothing like what Park Ju-yong had expected.
Right, if I hadn’t had Nobel, I never would’ve dared to push back like that.
But, you know.
I had Nobel.
“I think I’d do a better job.”
“……”
“Actually, if you just put me in charge, I might even be able to turn this company into the best management agency in Korea.”
Shouldn’t a man have that much ambition?
“Oh, really?”
For once, Park Ju-yong applauded as if he was impressed.
Could it be that even this bastard was moved by my ambition……
「Clap, clap…… SMACK!!」
“……”
I quietly clamped my mouth shut, even as my head snapped to the side and my cheek burned.
Park Ju-yong, who’d just slapped me as hard as he could, grabbed me by the ear and snarled,
“You should know when to stop talking bullshit. Fuck, if I just let you say whatever you want, do you think I’m going to suddenly lose my mind and give you some kind of authority? Get a grip, you little shit. You’re just a low-level manager who got a little lucky. Do you think N&P would be affected if you got fired right now? You and I are nothing alike, kid.”
This fucking sucked.
I scoffed.
“Then don’t ask me.”
“What?”
“You won’t give me a chance, and all you do is yell at me. How am I supposed to prove myself? What, should I debut as a solo artist?”
He seemed to think I was some kind of pushover.
But I was the type who’d push right back if I got pissed—or, hell, who didn’t mind quitting a company like this.
I leaned in toward Park Ju-yong and said,
“Give me a chance before you start yelling at me. I really can do it, so stop talking like that when you won’t even give me the chance. Aren’t you the one who’s afraid, Team Leader? Maybe because I really could pull it off.”
Honestly, even if I threw a tantrum like this, the reality was that nothing would change.
But……
[It’s magic time.]
You never knew what might happen in this world.
“Did you mean what you just said?”
Just as the door of the beef omakase restaurant right above the al-bap place opened with a chime, a voice unlike any other I’d heard came from inside.
But it was also a voice that no N&P employee could possibly fail to recognize.
“C-CEO?”
N&P’s CEO.
Cheon Tae-oh stood there with Han Hye-eun beside him, watching us with an intrigued look.
“If I give you a chance, you can really make our company the best in Korea, Manager Kim Hyeon-woo?”