Iseul's Jealousy
Last night, Iseul had clearly been angry.
Most women would have stayed mad for days, but by morning she was greeting me with a smile again — the same way she had after I'd told her not to overstep.
Still, I figured I ought to smooth things over.
"Iseul, about yesterday…"
"You're going to be late. You should get going. Be careful out there, Oppa~"
"Uh… yeah…"
Smiling, she shooed me out, waved, and shut the front door. I stood blinking blankly in front of the elevator.
"This isn't going to be easy…"
With a sinking feeling that the day ahead would be anything but smooth, I rode my bike to work.
And sure enough, it wasn't smooth at all.
Was the light broken?
Why wouldn't it change?
"Eunho…"
"Jesus—!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the half-dead voice behind me. Turning around, I found Shin Yena slumped like a corpse among the crowd, her body swaying unsteadily.
"Don't throw up here!!"
"Urgh—!!"
Thankfully, she didn't throw up.
Not on the street, anyway.
"Bleeeegh!!! Ugh…!!"
"……"
I shook my head, picked up Shin Yena's bag, and headed into the office.
I set my own bag down at my desk first, then placed hers at her seat — and that's when the little calendar on her desk caught my eye.
"So it was her birthday…"
Under yesterday's date, the word birthday was written out, surrounded by a mess of star stickers.
So that was why she'd looked so close to tears yesterday.
"You could've just said it was your birthday."
"How did you know…?"
"Ah — sorry. It was written on the calendar."
"Oh…"
"How's your stomach, though? Feeling any better?"
"No… urgh—!!"
"Sunbae!!"
"Pfft! Just kidding~"
"Hah… she's alive again."
"Yeah! I should've just thrown up earlier! Heehee~"
An awkward silence hung between us for a moment. I gave a slight nod and returned to my seat.
Her birthday, huh.
Should I get her a present?
No — she'd said she only had thirty-six thousand won left in her account.
Just give her cash, then?
3,261,598,135 won.
Thanks to cutting U-INVESTMENT's capital by five billion, I still had plenty of money left.
But handing a coworker cash as a birthday gift felt a little off…
If I were a department head, maybe. But as it stood…
Ah, whatever. Should I just tell her I'm the CEO this time and give her the money?
"Yoo Eunho, could I see you for a moment?"
"Yes, sir."
I shelved the pointless thoughts and stepped into the president's office.
"What is it?"
"I need to discuss the casting for Hidden with you."
Hidden.
The title of the project President Hong Mincheol and I were investing in — a Korean superpower drama.
But was there really anything left to discuss?
"Wasn't that already settled?"
"For the adult lead roles, the writer already has specific actors in mind, so those conversations are essentially done. And we don't have anyone on our side who'd fit those parts anyway."
"So the real question is how many of our actors we can place in the remaining roles."
"Exactly."
"Can we put in as many as we want?"
"Since you and I are the only investors, if we apply pressure, yes — it would be possible."
"But the fact that you're consulting me about it means we probably shouldn't do that."
"Correct. And I don't believe you care for that kind of underhanded practice either, Representative."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm referring to that assistant director."
"Ah… that was just plain harassment. This is a right that comes with investing. You have to draw a line somewhere. We're running a business, after all."
A smile tugged at the corner of President Hong Mincheol's mouth — he seemed to like my answer.
Of course, with Korean, you always have to wait for the full sentence.
"Even so, I'd rather we not force a casting through sheer power. I'd prefer we proceed only as far as the director and writer can agree to. That's how you get a good production."
"I feel the same way. Though if the candidates are roughly equal, I'd like our actors to get the nod."
"Perfect."
"Then may I take the lead on this?"
"Of course. Please do."
"Is there any actor you personally have in mind, Representative? Even a casual recommendation — someone who struck you as right for a role while reading the script — would be fine."
There was one.
One of the lead characters — the high school girl role.
But she'd already said she didn't want it, so there was nothing I could do.
"No one."
"Understood. I'll keep you updated as things progress."
"Alright."
After wrapping up the brief conversation, I stepped out of the president's office — and found Manager Choi Jinwoo standing in front of the break room, holding a fragrant cup of coffee and smiling at me.
Was he calling me over?
Somehow that felt like a lot of pressure.
"Did you need something from me?"
"Please, have some, Representative."
"Why the sudden coffee…?"
"You treated me to one, didn't you? And just a moment…"
"……"
Manager Choi Jinwoo stepped into the break room, and the second I followed him in, he shut the door and bowed at the waist.
"I pledge my absolute loyalty!"
"What — what are you doing??"
"I could die without regrets now! The thrill of landing that punch on that bastard…!!"
"Haha…"
Apparently yesterday's events had put him in a very good mood.
At least he was younger than me — if someone older had bowed like that, it would've been incredibly uncomfortable.
"Please, stand up."
"Yes, sir! Then enjoy your coffee and come down whenever you're ready! I'll have the air conditioning blasting!"
"Ah — I don't think I need to tag along anymore."
"Pardon??"
"I only planned to dip my toes in from the start. Does that make me sound like a jerk?"
Manager work wasn't particularly difficult once you set aside how grueling it was. Following him around any longer wouldn't teach me anything useful.
"Oh, not at all! Perfectly reasonable! Then I'll be off!"
"Haha… yeah…"
I watched Manager Choi Jinwoo stride out of the office with renewed vigor, then returned to my desk.
So what should I learn next?
I should go ask.
"Manager Park Eunmi."
"Yes, Representa— Eunho. What is it?"
"I want to learn some of the work. What should I start with?"
"Work… well, what you really need to learn is accounting."
"Accounting??"
"There's even a drama line that goes, 'Accounting is the language of business.'"
"Hmm…. Numbers and I aren't exactly close…"
"Then how about starting with the PR team's work? There's someone over there who desperately needs the help."
"……"
I followed Manager Park Eunmi's gaze and found Shin Yena at her desk, clutching her head in both hands.
Working with her seemed like it would be exhausting in its own way — but still easier than dealing with numbers.
"Alright."
"And I'll recommend a few books for you."
"Books??"
"Accounting textbooks."
"……"
"You need to learn it. You have to understand at least the basics if you're going to spot when something's going wrong."
"Huu… fine. I'll leave it to you."
Manager Park Eunmi smiled and nodded, and I headed over to Shin Yena's desk.
"Sunbae, let's work together."
"Huh?? Is that okay??"
"Yeah."
"Ah…. But which department are you actually in, Eunho?"
"Well… for now, I'm just learning a bit of everything."
I still couldn't bring myself to say I was the CEO.
Because of what Shin Yena had said — that she didn't want to look like an incompetent junior in front of her sunbae.
If I told her I was the CEO, she wouldn't work with me at all. She'd just stay up all night grinding through everything alone.
And then I'd learn nothing.
"Oh~ so you decided to go with this?"
"Yes! All thanks to you, Eunho!"
"I didn't do anything. I just said the idea you'd prepared looked solid."
"Still~ hee."
"But isn't this already done? What are you fretting over?"
"Ah, for this one I just need to outsource the video editing… it's something else that's bothering me…"
"Something else?"
"There are three actors whose contracts are up for renewal… and none of them seem interested in re-signing…"
Contract renewals?
Why was Shin Yena worrying about that?
"Aren't you in marketing, Sunbae?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I'm in management support. And we handle PR, marketing, finance and accounting, business planning — all of it. I didn't know that when I joined, though…"
"Haha…"
Shin Yena's hiring had brought them up to four people. Until then, one person had been doing the work of a hundred.
Manager Park Eunmi was even more impressive than I'd thought.
Did that mean there was no need to look outside for a professional executive?
"Ah — who handles our legal counsel?"
"Taeguk Law Firm."
"Hmm… give me a second."
I went back into the president's office.
After a quick conversation with President Hong Mincheol, we agreed to move our legal counsel to Hanul Law Firm — the firm where Attorney Park Daehan worked.
Hanul was the bigger firm, and the monthly retainer was the same as what we'd been paying Taeguk.
For the same money, better to go with the larger firm.
The case fees would be higher, of course — but still.
"……"
"Why are you staring at me like that, Sunbae?"
"Why do you go into the president's office so often, Eunho??"
"Huh…?"
"I've only met him once — at my hiring interview. Never since."
"Ah… I've got a lot of gaps, so he looks out for me on various things."
"Is that so? I've got plenty of gaps too…"
This wasn't good.
Time to change the subject, fast.
"Then let's go meet them in person."
"Meet who?"
"The actors whose contracts need renewing."
This, I was confident about.
Reading people, stroking egos, and closing deals — that had been my specialty.
"……"
"Eunho… don't take it too hard… we can try harder next time!"
I'd failed.
I'd gone in full of confidence, buttered them up, made my pitch — and come back with nothing but a "we'll think about it a bit more."
"More importantly, let's not go straight back up! Let's grab lunch!"
"Why don't we just head up and eat with the others?"
"We need a hangover cure, don't we!"
"Ah… how about miyeok-guk, then?"
"Seaweed soup??"
"Yesterday was your birthday. My treat."
"What… you're so sweet!!"
"Sunbae. Could you let go of that?"
"Heehee~ I'm just in a good mood, so don't mind me~"
"That's my arm. How am I supposed to not mind?"
"Heehee~ don't mind~"
"Hah…."
"Let's go! Seaweed soup!"
Shin Yena clung to my arm and pointed ahead like a captain announcing departure, shouting at the top of her lungs.
But what was this?
This sudden chill?
Instinctively, I turned my head slowly toward the direction I felt the gaze coming from.
And I met it.
Eyes like a predator crouched in the dark.
Though for a predator, she was far too beautiful — full makeup, dressed more prettily than I'd ever seen her.
"Iseul…"
"Wow… she's gorgeous…"
"……"
Iseul walked out of the company building we hadn't gone back into yet, a lunchbox bag held in both hands at her sides.
She strode right up to us without a word and stared hard at the arm Shin Yena was clinging to.
"……"
"Ah—! S-sorry!"
"It's fine. Oppa, here's your lunch."
The moment Shin Yena let go of my arm, Iseul lifted her head, looked straight at me, and held out the lunchbox.
"Ah… thanks…"
"……"
As I took the bag, Iseul turned toward Shin Yena — who had edged a little to the side — and spoke with a faint smile.
"I'm Han Iseul. Eunho Oppa's little sister. Not by blood, though."
"S-Shin Yena! I'm Eunho's sunbae at the company!"
"I see. Then please take good care of our Oppa going forward."
"Ah… yes…"
"Though the lunch is only for one person. What should we do?"
"I-I'll just eat with everyone at the office!"
"That's a relief."
Finished talking, Iseul walked over.
There was plenty of space beside me, but she deliberately squeezed herself right between me and Shin Yena — as if determined to drive a wedge between us.
Then she boldly hooked her left arm through mine, pulled it against her chest, rose onto her tiptoes, and whispered into my ear.
(Your coworker is pretty cute.)
"Uh…?"
Her face, which had been tickling my ear, began to drop — not pulling away, but descending straight down.
And her lips brushed the collar of my shirt.
"Ah, sorry. I got some on you by accident."
"……"
That did not seem like an accident.
Having stamped a lipstick mark on my collar, Iseul looked up at me with wide, round eyes and a fresh, bright smile.
"I'll do it."
"Do what…?"
"Act."
"F-for real??"
"Yes."
Why the sudden change of heart?
Don't tell me… because of Shin Yena?