2
# Chapter 2
## 2
"Crazy."
Why am I there?
The moment I saw myself on TV.
I was utterly stunned.
I mean, seriously.
A world-famous top star and I were having such a passionate kiss.
How could I possibly not be shocked?
I sat there, completely dazed, watching myself on the TV.
* Haa... haa...
* Hng...!
Whoa.
The intensity was getting higher and higher.
At this rate, it was really going to turn into a bed scene.
Was it because it was me on the screen?
For some reason, I was getting even more immersed.
The me on TV began taking off the actress's top.
That crazy bastard.
...Gulp.
I unconsciously swallowed hard.
Just when the scene was reaching its climax—
Click.
"...Huh?"
The TV turned off.
Are you kidding me right now?
You're cutting it off here?
This was unbelievable.
The remote! Where's the remote?
I frantically searched for the remote and turned the TV back on.
[Here is today's weather report.]
[Clear skies will continue across the country today, but the southern regions and Jeju Island will become increasingly
cloudy from the afternoon due to the influence of a trough, with a possibility of showers—]
...Agh.
A wave of disappointment washed over me.
I considered flipping through the channels to find it again.
But—
"...No matter how I think about it, that's just too pathetic."
Anyway, what the hell had that been?
My heart was still pounding.
Was I dreaming right now?
I pinched my cheek.
"...It does hurt."
Over the past few days, one unbelievable thing after another had happened.
First, I suddenly inherited 50 billion won, and then I saw some bizarre video.
...I wasn't developing some kind of problem with my head, was I?
At this point, it was a perfectly reasonable suspicion.
Should I go to the hospital?
"...Phew."
My thoughts suddenly became complicated.
Come to think of it, what was that actress's name?
It was on the tip of my tongue, and it was driving me crazy.
Then, one name flashed through my mind.
"...Ah!"
I remembered.
Do Gahee.
The actress who had taken South Korea by storm this year.
The undisputed top female star in South Korea.
An actress who had captured the hearts of the public with her outstanding beauty and excellent acting skills.
'I'll admit, she is pretty.'
But she wasn't really my type.
Regardless of my personal taste, I still remembered her face.
'It's even stranger now that I remember who she is.'
I felt uncomfortable.
It was as if I'd done something wrong.
For some reason, I couldn't settle down.
Was that some kind of deepfake?
I turned off the TV and was lost in thought when—
Ring!
My phone rang.
Who was it?
When I checked, a familiar name appeared on the screen.
[Hyung Ho-cheol]
"Oh, what's this guy calling about?"
Just seeing the name brought a smile to my face.
Baek Ho-cheol.
He was my senior in the military and a close friend.
He was also the traitor who had escaped the military before me.
After Ho-cheol hyung got discharged, my already miserable military life became even more miserable.
It wasn't until after he left that I realized how hard it was not having someone to smoke with and badmouth other people
with.
* You know, right? As soon as you get discharged, call your hyung first. I'm leaving, punk.
I remembered him leaving the unit with that characteristically refreshing smile.
Seeing his name again after so long naturally made me smile.
I answered the call.
"Hello—"
* Hey, brother! How've you been?
"...You're going to blow out my eardrum."
* You bastard! If you've been discharged, shouldn't you call your hyung first?! You still haven't learned your manners,
huh?
"Good grief. Hyung? What kind of hyung abandons his younger brother and gets discharged all by himself?"
* ...You bastard! I had my reasons for doing that... Whatever! We need to see each other's faces!
"When?"
* When? When else? You still haven't come to your senses! Get your ass out here right now!
"Okay. Where should I go?"
We decided on a meeting place and hung up.
'His personality hasn't changed at all.'
He could be ridiculously headstrong at times, but there was no one as warm-hearted as Ho-cheol hyung.
'And he looks exactly like a gangster boss.'
He was a huge man, well over 180 centimeters tall and weighing close to 100 kilograms.
His fierce build and intimidating face often caused people to misunderstand him, but he was gentler at heart than anyone
I knew.
"I wasn't doing anything anyway. Might as well."
My mind had already been unsettled.
Hearing that familiar voice had put me in a somewhat better mood.
Even if I couldn't trust other people, I could trust that guy.
I grabbed a few things and left the house.
---
A pojangmacha in Yeouido, Seoul.
I lifted the red canvas flap and stepped inside.
I saw Ho-cheol hyung sitting alone, sipping his drink.
'He still looks as intimidating as ever.'
His frightening build and rough-looking face.
It was a good thing he'd become a soldier. If he'd gone down the wrong path, he would have become a major figure in that
world a long time ago, just based on his appearance.
"Seriously, you're still as impatient as ever. You couldn't even wait for me, so you started drinking?"
Ho-cheol hyung looked up and broke into a wide grin when he saw me.
How did that guy manage to look so intimidating even when he smiled?
"You bastard! Try showing up earlier! Is it right to keep your senior waiting?! What a useless punk!"
"Oh, really? Mister, I've been in the military longer than you."
"You going to keep talking back to me? Then that's how it is! But why does your face look even more intimidating now?
Did you get discharged and go kill someone?"
"...If someone else said that to me, I'd let it slide, but hearing it from you is genuinely ridiculous."
Even so, hearing that I had a nasty-looking face from a guy who looked like a gangster boss was crossing the line.
"Bullshit! You're still saying that? I'm telling you, your face looks worse!"
"...Forget it."
That stubborn bastard hadn't changed at all.
He was so damn insistent that I was too tired to argue with every single thing he said.
'Still, it's nice seeing him again.'
I sat down and accepted a glass of soju.
The moment I received it, I downed it in one go. The distinct bitter aroma of soju's alcohol traveled down my throat.
"Ahhh."
This was it.
The taste of this cheap green bottle.
Even though I now had 50 billion won in my bank account, I preferred this familiar soju to expensive whiskey or wine.
Good things were good.
"After calling your little brother out after so long, shouldn't you have taken me somewhere nice? What's with a
pojangmacha?"
"Is the first thing you do after seeing your hyung criticize and complain? A pojangmacha has its own kind of charm.
You're so devoid of sentiment... Tsk, tsk."
"...It's creepy hearing you talk about sentiment with that face. And this is all you're giving me for food? Tofu kimchi
and spicy whelk salad?"
We bickered back and forth several times as we drank, and the number of green bottles on the table quickly increased.
We didn't have any particularly special conversations.
What could two former soldiers possibly talk about?
We simply repeated stories we'd told each other countless times back in the military.
Who cared if we kept repeating the same stories?
As long as we were having fun, that was enough.
The alcohol began to give me a pleasant buzz.
Just the right amount of drunkenness.
Ho-cheol hyung was getting thoroughly drunk too, his tongue beginning to slur.
"...You bastard! I knew I'd get out before you! You weren't cut out to be a soldier, no matter how I looked at you!"
"Yes, yes. How many times are you going to say the same thing before you're satisfied?"
"Hic! When did I ever say the same thing... Anyway! What are you going to do for a living now? The little money you
saved in the military will be gone in a few months."
"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? I told you I inherited 50 billion won."
"Hey! Enough with the bullshit! Little brother, we're having a constructive conversation about your future right now,
okay? You need to know when to stop joking."
"......"
It was hopeless.
He clearly had no intention of listening.
I knew from experience.
Once Ho-cheol hyung got this drunk, there was absolutely no point trying to reason with him.
"...So what exactly is it you want to say?"
"Just wait, punk... Hic!"
Good grief.
He was really drunk.
It was understandable, though.
The table was covered with soju bottles, leaving barely any empty space.
I'd lost count after twenty bottles.
"What, are you looking for a tool or something?"
I'd been wondering what he was searching for so intently.
"...Here. Take this!"
"...A business card?"
I looked at it, wondering what it was.
￣￣￣￣
[G&J Entertainment Management Team 2]
[Manager Baek Ho-cheol]
￣￣￣￣
Black letters on a white background.
So this was what the guy had been doing out in the real world.
He worked for an entertainment agency?
That was unexpected.
Very unexpected.
Perhaps Ho-cheol hyung noticed my expression, because he gave a sly grin and curled up the corner of his mouth.
"Punk, see it? The manager title?"
"...Did you give this to me just to brag?"
"Half right. The other half is because I want to save my poor little brother from going down the wrong path."
"Don't make such a big deal out of it. Why are you talking as if it's a foregone conclusion that I'm going to go down
some bad path?"
"Don't I know your personality? Anyway, the timing is perfect. We have a vacant road manager position. Work for me for a
while."
Road manager?
Was he seriously telling me to become a road manager?
When I had 50 billion won in my bank account?
"...Why should I? I don't want to."
I didn't know much about the entertainment industry, but I knew roughly how exhausting and demanding a road manager's
job was.
I wasn't short on money. I had 50 billion won sitting right there in my bank account. Why would I deliberately take on
such a difficult job?
"Ah, come on! Just do it! This is driving me crazy right now."
Figures.
"So all that talk about consulting and whatever was really just because you needed someone to fill in?"
"...That's not entirely wrong."
"I knew it. Anyway, I'm not interested, so find someone else..."
I was about to get up from my seat when—
"...Hey, would it really be that hard if I asked you like this?"
"......"
Ho-cheol hyung looked at me with a pitiful expression.
...Fuck.
Don't make me feel bad like that.
If it had been anyone else, maybe.
But when Ho-cheol hyung looked at me like that, I couldn't bring myself to coldly refuse him.
I owed him more than one favor from our time in the military.
And they weren't ordinary favors.
I owed him my life.
If it had been some casual request, maybe I could have brushed it off. But when he asked me so seriously...
Sigh.
"...Let's hear it, then. Why exactly do you need me? You're a manager, aren't you?"
"...I knew you'd say that."
"I never said I'd do it."
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, here's what happened—"
"...Are you kidding me?"
After hearing his explanation, I stared at him in disbelief.
To summarize the situation:
There was a celebrity on his team with an absolutely terrible personality, and no manager was willing to put up with
her.
The experienced managers said they'd rather quit than take responsibility for her, while the rookies ran away after just
one day.
So he was telling me to take care of that crazy woman?
Wait.
This was basically...
"...So, in simple terms, you want me to take care of the problem nobody else wants?"
"Bingo!"
"Bingo, my ass!"
I snapped at Ho-cheol hyung as he gave me a thumbs-up.
Agh! I couldn't even hit the guy.
"Hey, you may have no manners, but everyone knows you've got a strong mentality. I'm asking you for a favor. Do you
think I'd be asking you if I weren't desperate?"
"...How long would I have to do it?"
"If possible, I'd like you to keep handling her for—"
"I'm going home."
"Th-three days! Just three days! Please!"
"...Exactly three days? You know what happens if you change your story later, right?"
"Of course! Do I not know your personality? It's obvious you'll raise hell at the company, so why the hell would I be
crazy enough to—"
"......"
"...Ahem! Anyway, then it's a promise?"
"...Fine. So who exactly is this actress? At least let me hear her name."
Ho-cheol hyung looked around as though he were checking for enemies before lowering his voice to a whisper.
Who could she possibly be for him to make such a fuss?
At this point, even I was starting to get curious.
The moment I heard the name from Ho-cheol hyung's mouth—
My eyes widened.
"...You know Do Gahee?"
...Do Gahee?
The same Do Gahee I'd just seen?