Chapter 105
I’m translating the chapter now and preserving the in-universe formatting as HTML, including the special framed content where it appears.CHAPTER_TITLE: Possession
Heavenly possession.
CEO Park Su-chan hurled the tablet PC in his hand with a savage motion.
The screen of the tablet lying on the floor was showing an article about the sponsorship scandal involving Park So-yeon, SAG’s leading actress.
Rubbing his brow, CEO Park Su-chan muttered, “Do you think this can be cleaned up?”
Across from him, Team Leader Kim Su-ji’s throat bobbed.
“It’ll be difficult, I think.”
“What about the Beijing fan meeting in China?”
“I’m still in contact with the local contacts, but honestly, cancellation seems likely, sir.”
Park Su-chan snapped, “Do you have any idea how much money that is, and you’re telling me it might be canceled? Is that the kind of thing you sit in a team leader’s chair and collect a salary for?”
A cold silence settled over the SAG executive office. Kim Su-ji stared at him, stunned.
Park Su-chan didn’t care. His face was flushed with rage as he fumbled out a cigarette and clamped it between his lips. Pale smoke soon filled the office.
When the cigarette had nearly burned down, he crushed it out and let out a long sigh.
“Hah, damn it. The doctor said I’ve got high blood pressure and shouldn’t get angry...”
Trailing off, he walked over to the mirror mounted in the executive office.
With both hands raised, Park Su-chan began twisting the corners of his mouth this way and that.
The moment Kim Su-ji, watching his back, felt a strange chill rise over her arms, Park Su-chan turned around.
“Sorry, Team Leader Kim Su-ji. I shouted all of a sudden and startled you, didn’t I?”
He smiled brightly as he said it.
Kim Su-ji, who had been at a loss, hurriedly answered, “...Not at all, sir.”
“The cigarette smell’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Goodness, let’s open the window.”
Park Su-chan swung open the window in the SAG executive office, which looked down over Gangnam, and only then glanced at Kim Su-ji’s expression. He let out a short laugh.
“Why are you looking at your CEO like you’ve seen a ghost, Team Leader Kim Su-ji?”
“...I’m sorry, sir.”
“Forget it. Sit down.”
“...”
“Let’s see... Park So-yeon. What do you think we should do?”
Kim Su-ji’s lips parted.
“...I think we should give up on Actress Park So-yeon.”
“You really don’t think there’s a way?”
“Public opinion is terrible. There’s too much detail in the material that’s been exposed already to bury it now, and the advertisers are pushing back hard as well. At this rate, the penalty fees Actress Park So-yeon will have to pay on contracts alone are expected to reach 2 billion won.”
Park Su-chan let out a long, heavy breath.
“Damn it. I shouldn’t have debuted those girls who used to sell their bodies as actresses.”
“...”
“I told her plainly I’d make a place for her as long as she kept the right people happy, but she had to make a mess of things. Or what, did she just offer herself up for free? Hell, she only ever brought in ads that were above her level.”
Kim Su-ji’s face went pale. Park Su-chan, across from her, paid no mind and muttered a string of filthy insults under his breath before pulling out a document file from somewhere and handing it to her.
“It’s a shame, but if this can’t be fixed, we drop her. Take it.”
“This is...”
“The medical certificate proving Park So-yeon illegally received propofol.”
“!”
Park Su-chan rested his chin on one hand and spoke slowly.
“Terminate the contract first, then release this source immediately. For this incident, we pin it down entirely as Park So-yeon’s personal wrongdoing, not SAG’s.”
Kim Su-ji hesitated, drawing out the end of her words. “...Sir, surely there’s no need to go this far.”
“This is how you cut off the tail.”
“...”
“What? Can’t do it, Team Leader Kim Su-ji?”
At Park Su-chan’s question, Kim Su-ji forced her trembling hands still.
Isn’t this too much?
Wasn’t a company supposed to protect its artists? Then why...
She swallowed the words that had risen to her throat.
I have to do it.
I can do this.
What had she come this far for, if she was going to give up over something like this?
After she had spent a long while rebuking herself inwardly, her lips finally parted.
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
Park Su-chan wore a satisfied look and slipped another cigarette into his mouth.
“Come to think of it, you’ve been busy lately. What’s on your schedule?”
“I’m handling K-1 exclusively for K-Singer-Songwriter.”
“K-Singer-Songwriter? Ah... that TAN survival variety show?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If he wins, that K-1 kid might actually be worth investing in. What do you think? Does he look like he has a shot?”
Kim Su-ji answered in a voice full of certainty. “The odds are high. Unless something unexpected happens, I think K-1 can take first place.”
“That so? It’s been a while since I’ve heard you sound that sure of yourself. Does that mean there isn’t some kid from a major agency muscling in?”
At Park Su-chan’s question, a faint hesitation flickered in Kim Su-ji’s eyes.
“Well... there is one artist from Baekhak.”
Park Su-chan’s eyes widened.
“An artist from Baekhak? Who is it?”
“Park Ga-eul, the leader of Baekhak’s girl group To.Any.”
“To.Any? Wait. To.Any as in...”
Park Su-chan’s eyebrows twitched like worms.
“The member managed by that manager called Chief Manager Kwon Chan, right?”
***
After the year-end results announcement, the team leader meeting kept going.
“Competition between entertainment companies will only get fiercer from here on out. To survive that competition, the celebrities matter, of course, but all of you also need to run hard at the front line.”
General Manager Park Yu-hyeon slowly turned his gaze and looked at me.
“Someone once told me that team leaders are Baekhak’s pride.”
“...”
“That line left quite an impression on me, and thinking about it, I believe it’s true. You’re Baekhak’s pride. So I hope you’ll carry that pride well this year, too.”
At General Manager Park Yu-hyeon’s words, the other team leaders turned to look at me as well.
...Under the rising tide of shame and embarrassment, my head sank toward the floor.
Fortunately, the attention on me didn’t last long. General Manager Park Yu-hyeon clapped his hands and said, “All right, you’ve all worked hard since early this morning. Go back now and take care of your own work.”
The team leaders stood and bowed to General Manager Park Yu-hyeon. A little late, I rose as well, bowed to him, and left the general manager’s office.
The team leaders who had gone out first were surrounding Team Leader Ma Seok-du and teasing him.
“Heh heh... Team Leader Five?”
“Please don’t, Team Leader Four.”
“Don’t do what? I think I just saw you shed a tear or two, didn’t I? Right? Come on, admit it.”
At Team Leader Four’s words, Ma Seok-du answered flusteredly, “Don’t exaggerate, Team Leader Four. Why would I cry over something like this?”
“Ah, but you did! I saw it myself. Right, Team Leader One?”
The taciturn Team Leader One nodded slowly.
“From the look of it when he spoke, I’d say his voice did catch a little.”
“See that! If Team Leader One’s saying that, then our Team Leader Five really had a hard time, huh? There there...”
I considered jumping into the fun myself, but after seeing the thick muscles on Ma Seok-du’s face turning red and purple, I neatly gave up.
Just as Team Leader Five, surrounded by the others and being mocked, was about to go back into the office, I tapped his shoulder lightly.
“Team Leader Five.”
“...You came here to tease me too?”
“Tease you? Want a cup of coffee?”
Brother Seok-du nodded. We went up to the rooftop smoking area, sat side by side on a bench, and opened our canned coffees.
“If second place gets us bonuses and incentives, how much are we talking about exactly?”
“Probably about your annual salary.”
“Whoa, that much?”
“That’s why everyone’s obsessed with performance. If you do well, they basically double your pay.”
Brother Seok-du let out a long sigh.
“Feels a little unreal.”
“What, are you that excited about the bonus?”
“Well, the bonus is exciting, sure... and it finally feels like I can hold my head up a little.”
Brother Seok-du broke into a snort of laughter.
“Honestly, our guys in Team Five must have had a rough time all these years. They were stuck under a useless team leader and never got to see a proper bonus or incentive even once.”
“I haven’t exactly had a rough time.”
“Hm? Really? That’s a relief. I was the one I felt worst about, anyway.”
“?”
Brother Seok-du muttered in a voice that sounded like it was crawling into a mouse hole.
“Sorry, Chan. This second-place finish was all yours, and Team Five got to take it...”
I frowned hard.
“Why are you worrying about something like that?”
“...You punk, I do have a conscience and I can read the room.”
“Was I not on Team Five?”
“You were, but not anymore. This was supposed to go to your team, originally...”
Brother Seok-du trailed off and kept sneaking looks at my face. Seeing that, I felt a little pressure in my temples.
No, seriously, why does this brother care about this stuff?
Of course, like Brother Seok-du said, Team Five’s second-place result this year owed a great deal to the earnings share of the entertainers I was currently handling.
Lee Ha-eun’s box office success with Queen of Joseon and To.Any’s event revenue accounted for almost 40 percent of it.
But last year, I had been working as part of Team Five.
It was only natural for my results to belong to Team Five.
Besides, was my relationship with Brother Seok-du really something that could be judged by a simple numbers game like this?
I genuinely felt hurt and fixed him with a steady glare.
Brother Seok-du was so alarmed he flailed his hands.
“Okay, okay. I won’t be sorry.”
“Too late. You already were.”
“...Jesus, you really are a strange one.”
“And who was it that kept going while raising that strange one? And listen, Team Leader Ma.”
To change the mood, I tossed out something half sincere and half joke.
“By the time the next quarterly results come out, our Team Six is going to overtake Team Five, so what exactly are you sorry about?”
Ma Seok-du’s eyes widened.
“W-What? Team Six is going to beat Team Five?”
“Of course. You think I’m still assigned to Team Five?”
“...”
“If we just sit still, we’ll get passed. You should be thanking me instead of wasting time feeling guilty.”
Brother Seok-du’s expression shifted into bafflement.
But sorry to Brother Seok-du, what I had just said wasn’t pure joking at all.
To turn the temporary team leader into a permanent one, I had to deliver results.
That meant our bottom-ranked Team Six had to climb by beating Team Five and every other team.
In that race, I had no intention of showing mercy even to Team Leader Ma.
By then, Ma Seok-du must have realized my words weren’t empty either, because he let out a dry laugh.
“I really did raise a tiger cub.”
The corner of my mouth lifted.
“Then you should be prepared to get eaten by it.”
“You’re still a hundred years too early to beat me, punk! Your brother’s going to keep a tight lid on you from above, so go on and suffer a bit.”
Back to normal, the two of us bickered until laughter spilled out at the same time.
Leaning back on the bench, we looked up at the winter sky and talked about nothing in particular.
“Chan.”
“Yes, brother.”
“...Life’s pretty strange, isn’t it?”
“What’s with that all of a sudden?”
“Who would’ve known that you and I would end up as team leaders, talking shop side by side like this?”
“There you go again, getting sentimental.”
“Maybe I really am getting old... lately, I keep reaching for sentiment over everything.”
January, the month that announced the beginning of a new year.
At last, a new year had begun.
***
After the results came out, the management department began to buzz with energy.
“Wow... Team One ended up taking first place after all.”
“The Team Two leader moved to Team One, remember? Team Two was a bit smaller in scale, sure, but Team Two’s leader isn’t someone lacking in ability.”
“More than that, isn’t it insane that Team Five pulled second place?”
The new year had dawned. New momentum, new people.
In the changed atmosphere, the managers were trading stories here and there.
“Chief Kwon... ah, right, Team Five taking second place was basically thanks to Team Leader Kwon.”
“Even so, Team Five coming in second is impressive.”
“Even Team Five, which used to be dead last every year, is charging up... and Team Leader Kwon has put together Team Six now, so this year’s performance race is going to be absolutely brutal.”
“At this rate, aren’t we in danger of getting completely left behind?”
Under that atmosphere, each team started moving in earnest.
The major projects that would define the year usually began in January.
Our Team Six was no different, and I gathered my team members in the meeting room for the first time as acting Team Six leader.
As soon as the meeting started, Jeon Hyeong-u, the road manager sitting across from me, raised his hand.
“Team Leader, I have a question.”
“Go ahead, Hyeong-u.”
“Team Five took second place this time, so what happens to our bonuses and incentives?”
I couldn’t help snorting a laugh.
“If there are no bonuses, are you going to transfer to Team Five?”
“...Well, I suppose I should at least consider it?”
“Relax. They’re coming. So don’t worry and just wait a little.”
When Hyeong-u nodded in satisfaction, Choi Cheol, sitting next to him, asked cautiously, “Road Manager Jeon Hyeong-u, how much do year-end bonuses usually come out to?”
“Hm. Since we took second place this time, at the very least it should be about your annual salary.”
Park Ho gasped. “Wh-What? Really? It’s that much?”
“Why else would Baekhak be Baekhak? It’s the best agency in the industry, so this much is only natural.”
Park Ho and Choi Cheol both widened their eyes. Seeing how they still hadn’t shed their rookie look, Road Manager Jeon Hyeong-u chuckled and pointed at me.
“Though Team Leader Kwon’s bonus will probably be even bigger than ours.”
“...More than double?”
“Think about what Team Leader Kwon did over the past year. At the very least, it’s got to be in the hundred-million range...”
Since he was saying something unnecessary, I cut him off in the middle.
“All right, enough chatter. Let’s start the meeting.”
At that, the four managers, including Road Manager Jeon Hyeong-u, looked at me.
For a team meeting, there were only four of us.
Seeing it that way, Team Six really was... modest in size.
Team Five alone had had three chief managers and more than ten road managers.
But the small headcount didn’t make me want to complain.
In the end, this industry was all about one big break, a winner-takes-all structure where one superstar could sweep everything.
Having fewer people doesn’t mean you can’t produce results.
Right. This was manageable.
If I only gathered the seeds I had planted last year for the year ahead, I was confident I could seize the upper hand in this bloody performance war.
After sorting out my thoughts, I opened with the first words as the team leader attending the meeting.
“Today we’re going to talk about the major projects Team Six will handle this year.”
As expected after the many things I’d set in motion last year, several projects were waiting in the wings. But the most important one was obviously this.
I wrote the title in large letters on the whiteboard.
The four managers watching me all went wide-eyed.
Black Bride.
The corners of my mouth lifted.
“Black Bride, starring Lee Ha-eun and Seo Tae-jun, has finally wrapped filming, everyone.”
---
After the year-end figures were announced, the management department had begun to hum with activity.
“Wow... Team One really did end up in first place.”
“The Team Two leader transferred over to Team One, after all. Team Two’s scale may be a little smaller, but the Team Two leader isn’t lacking in skill.”
“Still, Team Five taking second place is incredible, isn’t it?”
The new year had arrived. New currents, new people.
In the altered mood, the managers kept talking among themselves.
“Chief Kwon... ah, right. Team Five getting second place was basically because of Team Leader Kwon.”
“Even so, Team Five landing second is impressive.”
“Even Team Five, which used to be dead last year after year, is climbing up... and Team Leader Kwon has gone and assembled Team Six too, so this year’s performance race is going to be a total bloodbath.”
“At this rate, aren’t we going to get completely steamrolled?”
With that atmosphere in place, each team began moving busily.
The important projects that would shape the year usually started in January.
Our Team Six was no exception, and as acting Team Six leader, I gathered my team members in the meeting room for the first time.
As soon as the meeting began, Jeon Hyeong-u, the road manager sitting opposite me, raised his hand.
“Team Leader, I have a question.”
“Go ahead, Hyeong-u.”
“Team Five took second place this time, so what about our bonuses and incentives?”
I let out an involuntary snort.
“If there are no bonuses, are you planning to move to Team Five?”
“...Well, I suppose I should at least think about it?”
“Relax. They’ll come out. So don’t worry and just wait.”
When Hyeong-u nodded with a satisfied look, Choi Cheol, sitting beside him, asked carefully, “Road Manager Jeon Hyeong-u, how much are year-end bonuses usually?”
“Hm. Since we got second place this time, at the very least it should be about your annual salary.”
Park Ho looked shocked. “Wh-What!? Really? That much?”
“Why else would Baekhak be Baekhak? It’s the top agency in the business, so that much is only natural.”
Park Ho and Choi Cheol both had round eyes. Seeing the two of them still carrying that fresh rookie air, Road Manager Jeon Hyeong-u chuckled and pointed at me.
“Though Team Leader Kwon’s bonus will probably be even bigger than ours.”
“...More than double?”
“Think about what Team Leader Kwon did over the past year. At minimum, it’s got to be in the hundred-million range...”
Since he was babbling pointlessly, I cut him off.
“All right, enough small talk. Let’s start the meeting.”
At that, the four managers, including Road Manager Jeon Hyeong-u, looked at me.
For a team meeting, there were only four of us.
Seen that way, Team Six really was... small.
Even Team Five had had three chief managers and more than ten road managers.
Still, I had no intention of complaining about the small number of people.
In the end, this industry was about one big hit, a winner-takes-all system where a single superstar could sweep the board.
Just because there are fewer people doesn’t mean we can’t produce results.
Yes, this was doable.
If I simply reaped the seeds I had planted over the past year for the year ahead, I was confident I could seize the lead in this blood-soaked performance war.
Having settled my thoughts, I spoke first as the team leader attending the meeting.
“Today, I’m going to talk about the major projects Team Six will handle this year.”
As expected, after everything I had set in motion last year, several projects were lined up and waiting. But the most important one was naturally this.
I wrote the title in large letters on the whiteboard.
The eyes of the four managers watching me opened wide.
Black Bride.
The corners of my mouth rose.
“Black Bride, starring Lee Ha-eun and Seo Tae-jun, has finally finished filming, everyone.”