Chapter 59
I’m translating the chapter directly into HTML-formatted prose, and I’m keeping the in-universe article/comment blocks in styled `
`s so the output stays consistent with the rules.CHAPTER_TITLE: The Day the Scandal Broke
My lips curved up before I even noticed it myself.
The entertainment world turned upside down over a drug article that came out of nowhere.
High-top’s sub-vocalist, Kwon Ho-jun.
The scandal surrounding a Hallyu star with a huge K-pop fandom not just in Korea but overseas sent the entire industry into a frenzy.
The Kwon Ho-jun scandal took over every SNS platform and online community in an instant.
Then Seoul of the Forest, Kwon Ho-jun’s agency, released its statement.
The agency drew a clean line between itself and Kwon Ho-jun, and the drug scandal burned even hotter.
The piranhas that had been waiting for their chance swarmed in.
Abusive traffic articles and rumor pieces originating from China started tearing Kwon Ho-jun apart piece by piece.
As this drug scandal spread, Kwon Ho-jun’s past behavior was revealed one after another, and the issue kept growing.
Kwon Ho-jun, who had been watching all of it from his hotel in Thailand, finally shouted.
"Fuck."
Fallen from Hallyu star to drug addict, Kwon Ho-jun screamed again.
"Fuuuuckkkkkk-!"
The cry that best captured Kwon Ho-jun’s current state echoed through Bangkok.
***
The day after Reporter Seo’s exposé went up, I started real-time monitoring with the public relations team in the emergency conference room.
"Team Leader, A News is openly taking shots at Black Bride!"
"What? Are they insane? Why the hell are they taking shots at Black Bride? Who wrote that article?"
"Reporter Kim Woo-jung!"
"I’ll call him myself and give him a piece of my mind. You keep an eye on SNS and community trends!"
Calls were pouring in from every direction, along with protest calls made to reporters targeting Black Bride. The public relations team was practically fighting a cyber war, monitoring response articles and counterpieces, and tracking the most talked-about posts across SNS and online communities.
Amid that fierce struggle, I was fighting my own little war too.
"Yes, reporter. This incident has absolutely nothing to do with Black Bride."
Maybe because Black Bride was rumored to be a project I’d handled myself, the phone rang every few minutes. I had more than a hundred unread messages, and my personal inbox was plastered with interview requests from every major media outlet imaginable.
I spent three full days just explaining the situation to important mainstream media and relevant contacts.
And then the third day came.
I dragged my slightly exhausted body into the company and headed for the emergency conference room. The public relations team leader looked half dead amid mountains of plastic coffee cups. I held out the fresh coffee I’d brought in my hand.
"Are you all right, Team Leader?"
"...No, I feel like I’m going to die."
The PR team leader muttered while gulping down caffeine like it was life itself.
"At this rate, am I going to work myself to death?"
"People don’t die that easily."
"You really have a talent for saying terrifying things like it’s nothing, Chief Manager Kwon."
"I’m only saying it for your sake, Team Leader."
"I hate that... I want to stop working... I want to stop working!"
The PR team leader snapped his head up.
"...But, Chief Manager Kwon."
"Yes, Team Leader."
"Doesn’t it feel like the fallout is a little smaller than we expected?"
"You mean Black Bride?"
"Yeah. The Kwon Ho-jun issue got way bigger than we expected, but strangely enough, Black Bride isn’t getting mentioned much."
The corners of my mouth slowly lifted.
"It is true that the issue has been leaning less toward Black Bride than we expected."
Of course, that only meant less than expected. The film was still being mentioned steadily, mostly in rumor articles.
Still, at this level...
I could call it a solid showing.
Public anger toward Kwon Ho-jun was at its peak right now.
If we had gone into filming with Kwon Ho-jun still attached, Black Bride would never have escaped the backlash.
"Blowing it up before that happened was a godsend."
Maybe that was why.
Compared to how urgent the situation was, I felt fairly relaxed.
The PR team leader threw me a question out of nowhere.
"But are the actors all right?"
"The actors?"
"Yeah. This issue got bigger than expected, so I thought they might be worried."
My eyes widened.
...Huh. Now that he mentions it, yeah.
Between putting out fires nonstop, I’d forgotten my actual duty as a manager.
Shouldn’t I contact the cast, and Director Park Jun-seo too?
Hmm...
This might actually be a bigger problem than I thought.
After finishing that thought, I stood up.
"I’m going to work outside today."
The PR team leader waved instead of answering. After leaving the company, I turned on the smartphone I’d kept off for two days.
-[15 missed calls: Seo Tae-jun]
"Tsk."
...I wanted to go back to the company again, but that wasn’t happening, was it?
Scratching my head, I called him.
"Mr. Seo Tae-jun? Let’s have a meal together today."
Seo Tae-jun answered in a cold voice.
"Does Chief Manager Kwon only have meals as a reason to meet me?"
Hmm...
This felt like trouble had found me in an unexpected place.
***
I took a taxi to the eel restaurant where I’d arranged to meet Seo Tae-jun.
When I entered the reserved room, Seo Tae-jun, wearing a cap, was sitting there with his arms crossed and a blank expression.
"Tae-jun."
Seo Tae-jun, who had been lost in thought, slowly turned his head and looked at me.
Cold as ice.
Still, I was the one with something to feel guilty about, so I had no excuse. I decided to tease him a little instead.
"There’s still time before the appointment. Why did you come so early?"
Seo Tae-jun narrowed his eyes at my question.
"Is that really the thing to say after disappearing for two days?"
"Tae-jun, look at these dark circles under my eyes."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"No, I’m telling you to look at the proof that I couldn’t receive your calls."
I answered with a deliberate non sequitur. Seo Tae-jun let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Wow... Chief Manager Kwon. Were you always this shameless?"
"I’m sorry."
"I’m not the kind of person who just takes an apology with words."
"Then should I kneel?"
When I actually started to stand, showing that I wasn’t kidding, Seo Tae-jun jumped in alarm.
"Don’t. I’ll really get angry if you do that."
I didn’t want to see our Tae-jun angry, so I sat back down obediently. Seo Tae-jun let out a heavy sigh.
"Ha. Looking at you, I can’t even get mad."
"See? I really did work hard."
"Did you eat yet?"
"How was I supposed to find time to eat?"
"This eel place is really good, so eat a lot. And also..."
Seo Tae-jun trailed off, then changed the subject.
"I need to know too now, so explain it to me."
Seo Tae-jun narrowed his eyes.
"Kwon Ho-jun really was a drug addict, right? What’s happening with the project?"
I calmly explained the situation.
Seo Tae-jun listened in silence.
Now and then I glanced sideways to check his expression.
Even as he tried to act like nothing was wrong, fear and unease showed through Seo Tae-jun’s face.
To ease that fear, I added something I hadn’t planned to say.
"I’m still piecing things together too. But, well..."
I let my words drift off, then smiled.
"I don’t think it’s going to turn into some huge disaster."
"This incident doesn’t look small enough for that kind of reassurance."
"It’s only a disaster for Kwon Ho-jun’s side. Black Bride is fine."
"..."
"Honestly, to put it bluntly, if this had happened after filming started, that would’ve been a real disaster. But it blew up before filming, right? So think of it as bad luck being taken out in advance."
Seo Tae-jun looked at me steadily.
"Chief Manager Kwon."
"Yes."
"Just tell me one thing."
His voice trembled faintly.
"This project isn’t getting shelved, right?"
Without hesitation, without even thinking, I forced strength into my voice and answered.
"It’s not getting shelved. I guarantee it."
"Really?"
"Really."
Seo Tae-jun stared at me for a moment, then the corners of his mouth lifted.
"Seeing the dark circles under your eyes, I guess I can trust that."
Just then the eel rice bowls arrived. Seo Tae-jun handed one to me and shook his head.
"That guy Kwon Ho-jun... no, that bastard just had a bad face."
"Tae-jun, you can read faces too?"
"No. But he looked kind of like some other bastard I know who’s always full of bad luck."
"Who’s that?"
"Lee Seung-jun."
I let out an involuntary exclamation.
"Oh... now that you say it, he really does."
"Right? They’re both idol-turned-actors."
"Hmm, they probably don’t resemble each other all the way down to the drugs, though?"
"Hey, listen to our Chief Manager Kwon casually say terrifying things."
For a meal I’d almost ruined by ignoring fifteen calls, dinner with Seo Tae-jun went surprisingly smoothly. After eating enough eel to get some of my strength back for the first time in a while, I left the restaurant.
I saw Seo Tae-jun off all the way to his sports car in the nearby parking lot and said, "The company is throwing everything into damage control right now, so don’t worry about anything and just focus on your role."
Seo Tae-jun looked at me quietly and asked, "So I just have to trust you, Chief Manager?"
"Well, you can think of it that way. Either way, don’t worry too much."
Seo Tae-jun grinned.
"If you only kept in touch properly, our Chief Manager Kwon would be absolutely perfect as a manager."
"Mm, I’m expensive."
"How expensive are we talking? I’ll buy you, our Chief Manager Kwon."
Seeing him joke like that, it seemed like his mood had fully cleared.
"Get home safe, and I’ll call you again."
"You take care of yourself too, Chief Manager."
Seo Tae-jun left first. Watching his back as he went, I nodded to myself.
"...Seo Tae-jun’s side is handled."
Now what remained was Director Park’s side. I picked up my smartphone and placed a call.
After a few rings, Director Park answered.
"Ch-Chief Manager Kwon!"
At the director’s frantic call of my name, I kept as much ease in my voice as I could and said, "Yes, Director Park. Have you been well?"
***
The Blue Pine production office was in an uproar over the drug issue surrounding supporting actor Kwon Ho-jun.
Team Leader Choi swallowed hard and looked at Director Park.
"Yes, yes, Chief Manager Kwon."
The unexpected call went on for ten minutes.
Team Leader Choi couldn’t even breathe properly as he stared only at Director Park.
How long had it been like that?
At last, the call ended, and Director Park let out a long sigh.
Team Leader Choi shouted immediately, "Wh-what did Chief Manager Kwon say, Director Park?"
After gulping down the cold water in front of him, Director Park answered slowly.
"...Seems fine?"
"Huh? Fine?"
"Yeah, Chief Manager Kwon sounded better than I expected."
Team Leader Choi let out a low groan.
"Really? He seemed okay?"
"Yeah. He sounded so okay that I thought he might be pretending to be fine..."
Director Park trailed off, then muttered in a voice loosened by the tension leaving his body.
"But after hearing what Chief Manager Kwon said, I don’t think that was it. The situation seems better than we thought."
Wiping at his cold sweat, Team Leader Choi asked, "We can trust that, right?"
"We have to. But doesn’t it actually make sense?"
"What does?"
"No, think about it. For a supporting actor to get tangled up in a drug issue, isn’t Black Bride being barely mentioned kind of strange?"
"!"
Team Leader Choi’s eyes went wide.
...Is it?
Now that he thought about it... maybe it was.
Right now every terrestrial network news show and cable news program was talking about Kwon Ho-jun, but Black Bride, the project Kwon Ho-jun had been confirmed for, was being mentioned with bizarre scarcity.
Team Leader Choi tilted his head and muttered, "No, but this was a nine o’clock news-level incident. How could it not be mentioned?"
"That’s what makes it strange..."
Director Park scratched his chin slowly and shrugged.
"For something tied to drugs, doesn’t it all flow so neatly, like somebody’s controlling the board? Maybe..."
He trailed off, and his eyes glittered.
"Maybe somebody blew this up in advance? To create the flow we’re seeing now?"
Team Leader Choi stayed silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"Good grief. Just because you’re an occult director doesn’t mean you have to start tossing out conspiracy theories."
Team Leader Choi shot back, "What kind of insane bastard would stage a drug scandal to move the board around? Cut the nonsense and focus on filming!"
***
After calling Director Park, I returned to the company after making the calls that needed to be made right away.
While I was checking the live response in the emergency conference room with the PR team leader, sleepiness came crashing over me, so I went up to the rooftop.
I put a cigarette between my lips and stared blankly at the sky as the sun began to set.
By the time the filter had burned halfway down, the drowsiness had faded.
I opened my mouth and muttered slowly, "Looks like it’s more or less under control, right?"
...Yeah.
At this point, it seemed like we’d gotten through it without a major problem.
The reason I felt confident about that was the article that had just gone up.
Kwon Ho-jun had finally stood at the photo line.
The public’s attention peaked with that one photo.
And yet there was far less talk than expected about his next project, Black Bride.
That must mean the PR team’s response strategy at Baekhak worked.
At that moment, the tension that had been taut and sharp began to unravel.
As I savored the sense of relief I hadn’t felt in a long time, I laughed without meaning to.
"At last, it’s over."
There was still more to tidy up, but... yes.
At this point, I could probably say the drug scandal was settled.
Just like that, the pressure in my chest burst open, and the knot I hadn’t even realized had been sitting in one corner of my heart disappeared.
The anxiety I’d felt over what might happen if this unexpectedly huge drug issue went wrong suddenly felt absurd, as if it had been a lie.
"We already took the hit, so now all we have to do is film properly, right?"
There were two weeks left until principal shooting.
That should be enough time to fill the gap left by Kwon Ho-jun.
Just as my lips twitched at the feeling that Black Bride had gotten back on track, the smartphone in my pocket rang.
"!"
The tension that had just faded came rushing back. I lifted my eyes and muttered, I’ve put everything except truly urgent calls on silent.
The urgent calls had already mostly been dealt with anyway when I phoned Seo Tae-jun and Director Park.
So the reason my smartphone was ringing now was... probably only one thing, wasn’t it?
Swallowing dryly, I pulled out my phone.
Then I let out a cry before I could stop myself.
"It’s here."
...At last, a new Future Text had arrived.
My heart began to pound.
[Attachment placeholder]
The dopamine I hadn’t felt in a long time started bouncing through my bloodstream.
Just as I was about to take a long breath and click on the Future Text, the wallpaper on my smartphone changed, and a call came in from a familiar number.
-[Actress Lee Ha-eun]
My eyes widened again.
"Look at this?"
Now the top-star actress Lee Ha-eun was calling me on top of the Future Text?
For a moment I stared at the phone in silence, then gave a pleased, disbelieving laugh.
...I was just thinking things had calmed down a little, and now it’s turning out like this again?
Ah. I was a little afraid.
But my heart was already pounding wildly from the dopamine of the new stimulation.
I exhaled slowly and muttered, Lee Ha-eun, or the Future Text?
Which one should I check first?
After thinking it over, I made my choice and moved my hand slowly.
"Hello?"
A low whisper reached my ear.
["Kwon Chan."]
In a voice much lower than usual, Lee Ha-eun asked me, ["Are you okay?"]
My lips curved up before I even noticed it myself.