One-Two Punch
Maybe it was because I’d just taken care of a huge headache.
My tension was running high.
And then Lee Ha-eun blew through that ceiling with a single line.
"Are you okay?"
Without meaning to, I held my breath.
Is Lee Ha-eun... worrying about me right now?
I could hardly believe it, but strangely enough, that seemed to be exactly what was happening.
Her voice was lower than usual, and the end of her sentence trembled just a little.
That arrogant top-tier actress who only ever cared about herself...
was worrying about me.
My heart started hammering like crazy.
More dopamine surged through me than when I got a future text.
At the same time, something in the corner of my chest welled up all at once.
What is this feeling?
Joy? Happiness? Flustered embarrassment?
I didn’t know.
But one thing was certain.
The concern of top-tier actress Lee Ha-eun...
wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.
Maybe that was why.
For once, I blurted out a joke I would never normally say to her.
"Are you worried about me right now, Lee Ha-eun?"
"..."
Lee Ha-eun fell silent on the other end of the phone.
The woman who’d been breathing quietly let out a snort a moment later, then laughed.
"Your ego's gotten a little out of hand, hasn't it?"
Just like that, Lee Ha-eun was back to being the proud, imperious actress I knew.
"I was asking if the project was okay. You’re the one who handled this incident, right?"
I couldn’t help laughing at how suddenly she’d changed.
"Who told you that?"
"I just talked to Representative Baek Ji-won."
"So Representative Baek Ji-won told you?"
"Yeah. She said you handled the whole mess yourself."
"...I didn't exactly solve it. I just dug up the case."
Lee Ha-eun paused before answering.
"Isn't digging up a drug case pretty impressive?"
The corner of my mouth lifted a little.
"So, that was a compliment?"
"Yeah, it was. A compliment."
"..."
Her unexpected answer froze me with my mouth still half-curved upward.
...What?
Why was she answering a joke so seriously?
Something's off.
Today, she really didn’t seem like the Lee Ha-eun I knew.
But then again, I was acting strange too.
Her sincere praise made me...
feel oddly good, enough that the corners of my mouth twitched on their own.
Since when was I this weak to compliments?
Then Lee Ha-eun lowered her voice and whispered,
"You know that psycho Kwon Ho-jun was hitting on me?"
My eyes flew open.
"Kwon Ho-jun was hitting on you?"
"He kept calling Hyungwoo and asking to set up a meeting, didn’t he?"
My voice dropped at once.
"You were seriously thinking about going?"
"Like hell I was. You know I hate those kinds of gatherings."
"Good. Keep avoiding those as much as you can."
"I will. I’m a very proper woman, you know."
Lee Ha-eun gave a laugh whose meaning I couldn’t quite pin down.
There was so much ease in that laugh that I could feel the balance of the conversation tipping in her favor.
I didn’t exactly mind, but still. I hated giving up the upper hand over something small like this.
So I asked lightly,
"Then doesn’t that mean I saved you, Lee Ha-eun?"
She agreed without hesitation.
"I guess so."
"Well, don’t I get a reward or something?"
"A reward? Out of nowhere?"
"I saved you, didn’t I?"
"...You want a reward from me?"
"If you’re giving one, I’m not refusing."
Lee Ha-eun let out a string of soft chuckles.
"You're fun, Kwon Chan."
"I’m being serious here."
At that, Lee Ha-eun abruptly changed the subject.
"The fashion show I attended today was the Eclat d'Or F/W fashion show."
"?"
"I just met with the Eclat d'Or representative a little while ago. I’ve been chosen as their ambassador."
"!"
My eyes widened at her bombshell.
Lee Ha-eun became an Eclat d'Or ambassador?
A luxury brand born in Paris, France.
It was a brand Hollywood fashion stars loved to death for its unique, highly original designs, and one of the most successful high-end fashion brands of the twenty-first century.
By sheer scale alone, it stood shoulder to shoulder with the world’s three major luxury houses, and Lee Ha-eun had become its ambassador.
Isn't Lee Ha-eun the first Asian celebrity Eclat d'Or has ever chosen as an ambassador?
Eclat d'Or had always been a stubborn, narrow-minded brand that only ever used Hollywood fashion stars as models.
And now it had offered the ambassador role to an Asian actress, not a Hollywood white actress.
Once this news spread, it would draw huge attention not just from the fashion world, but from the entertainment industry too.
Because right now, Eclat d'Or is the hottest luxury brand going.
Then Lee Ha-eun whispered to me,
"You’re the first person I’m telling, Kwon Chan."
At the word first, a strange shiver rose through me. I forced it down and answered.
"If that’s true, then this is the perfect source to bury the drug scandal."
"Figure it out yourself. I’ll trust you and wait."
Lee Ha-eun’s voice drifted farther and farther away.
"I’ve got to go to the fashion show, so I’m hanging up. See you on set."
There was a smile hidden in her fading voice.
Was she happy about becoming an Eclat d'Or ambassador, or happy because she’d talked to me?
Maybe both.
I set the phone down and drew a long breath.
For a moment I let that warmth in my chest drain away with my exhale, then muttered,
"Is this really okay...?"
Lee Ha-eun and I were sworn enemies.
And yet...
for the first time in our lives, we’d laughed on the phone together.
Does that kind of atmosphere even fit between us?
I didn’t know.
A call like this, with a woman who had only ever filled my life with tension and crises?
And yet, I didn’t feel bad about it.
If anything, my chest had turned a little soft.
And in that softness, I realized something.
"Things are changing."
The relationship between Lee Ha-eun and me had changed again.
I still wasn’t sure exactly how.
The good part was that this change felt positive.
As I turned that over in my head, I muttered,
"But the only thing that’s changed isn’t my relationship with Lee Ha-eun."
A new future text had arrived.
Given how violently my life had shifted every time one of those messages came in, this one would probably bring another major change too.
I opened it with rising anticipation.
My eyes widened.
"Seol Chae-i?"
Inside the message, remarkably, was To.Any’s youngest member, Seol Chae-i, showing off her doll-like looks.
***
The Baekhak CEO’s office sat under low lighting.
Representative Baek Ji-won poured a glass of Romanée-Conti, a premium Burgundy wine, for Director Park Yu-hyeon and asked,
"How was the business trip to China, Director Park?"
Director Park Yu-hyeon savored the wine’s aroma before answering.
"The results weren’t bad, Representative."
"So Kwon Hyeon-bin is signing with us?"
"It’s still the first round of negotiations, so we’ll need to watch a little longer, but Actor Kwon Hyeon-bin’s side has responded very positively."
Park Yu-hyeon’s lips curved slightly.
"I think the effort of following him all the way to his China schedule played a major role."
Representative Baek Ji-won let out a snort of laughter.
"Come to think of it, this is the first time Baekhak has followed an actor around even to outside schedules, isn't it?"
"Yes, but if we can bring in Kwon Hyeon-bin as a free agent, I think it’s well worth it."
Park Yu-hyeon replied with a rare note of certainty.
"China, Southeast Asia. And the MBN drama Song of Love he filmed last year is getting a strong response even in North America. Right now, I’d say Kwon Hyeon-bin is the only male actor with that kind of ticket power."
Baek Ji-won rolled her glass and asked,
"So Director Park thinks we absolutely have to sign Kwon Hyeon-bin?"
"If possible, yes. We need to get him no matter what."
"If we do bring him in, we can push forward with Lee Ha-eun on the actress side and Kwon Hyeon-bin on the actor side?"
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Park Yu-hyeon’s mouth.
"That makes a pretty good one-two punch, doesn’t it?"
"Yeah. I like it."
"I’ll also take the lead on the second round of negotiations myself."
"Thanks for that. Ah, and one more thing..."
Baek Ji-won let the sentence trail off, then asked casually,
"Did you see the drug case that blew up with Black Bride this time?"
"Yes. I monitored it in real time while I was negotiating with Actor Kwon in China."
Park Yu-hyeon’s brow furrowed.
"Watching it made my stomach drop. A drug scandal at a time like this... and not just a one-off lapse, either. It turns out he was a habitual offender."
"That was close, wasn’t it?"
"Yes. If things had gone wrong, even the release of Black Bride itself might have become uncertain."
The smile on Baek Ji-won’s lips deepened.
"Should we call that lucky?"
Park Yu-hyeon nodded slowly.
"...In a way, yes. If the drug case had been exposed after filming ended, our fifteen-billion-won investment could have gone straight down the drain."
Representative Baek stood and looked out the window. Park Yu-hyeon silently watched her back, and then Baek Ji-won murmured,
"The person who reported this drug case was Manager Kwon."
"!"
"He said he got the source from a reporter he was on friendly terms with."
Park Yu-hyeon’s eyes widened in surprise.
"What? Is that true?"
"Yes. He apparently negotiated with a reporter who had solid evidence that Kwon Ho-jun was a drug criminal. Thanks to that, it was much easier for us to respond."
"..."
At Baek Ji-won’s explanation, Park Yu-hyeon’s expression turned strange.
Manager Kwon again?
Lately, whenever something happened, Kwon Chan from Team 5’s management was somehow involved.
And this time, he was involved again.
Should I call this a coincidence?
I didn’t know.
Given the way Kwon Chan had moved so far as a manager, coincidence seemed like the right answer, but...
Could something that kept happening over and over really be brushed off as simple luck?
Even Baek Ji-won across from him seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Isn’t it strange? He handled Kim Jang-hun’s mess last time, and now this too. Manager Kwon solved the whole thing. But should we really chalk that up to luck alone?"
Baek Ji-won gave a low chuckle.
"There’s something there... but if I go opening the gift box to find out what it is, maybe the luck will disappear, so I can’t bring myself to do it."
Park Yu-hyeon steadied his confused thoughts and answered,
"Whatever the process was, Manager Kwon did accomplish something major in the end."
"Exactly. At the end of the day, he saved a film with a fifteen-billion-won investment."
Baek Ji-won turned back to face Park Yu-hyeon.
"So I think he deserves some kind of reward."
She drew out the next words lightly, but the meaning was anything but light.
"At the next team leader meeting, I’m thinking of putting Manager Kwon forward as a candidate for Team Leader of Team 1. What do you think, Director Park?"
At the unexpected proposal, Park Yu-hyeon gasped.
"You want to promote a one-year manager to team leader, Representative?"
An unprecedented, radically bold personnel decision.
But Baek Ji-won’s expression was nothing but calm.
"Why not? What’s the problem?"
***
The next day.
As usual, I got to work and stopped by the coffee shop in the first-floor lobby before heading to the management office.
Baekhak employees were already gathered there, using coffee to drive away their morning drowsiness.
While I waited after ordering two cups at the kiosk, I naturally caught snippets of their conversation.
"The world’s really going to hell these days."
"I asked a reporter friend, and apparently the prosecution is going to take Kwon Ho-jun apart this time."
"Well, if there were two drug scandals in a single month, I’d be digging in hard too."
"What kind of drug-free country is Korea supposed to be? This is a pharmacy, not a country."
"But even with everything this bad, there’s barely any mention of Black Bride, so our PR team is seriously something else, isn’t it?"
I listened without meaning to, since I knew the topic well.
"I’ll give them that. Kwon Ho-jun’s role in Black Bride is supposedly pretty big, so for there to be so little mention in spite of that, we have to acknowledge our PR team’s response ability."
"I looked up a few articles, and they framed the lead beautifully, didn’t they?"
"Oh, I saw that too. About Black Bride 'escaping' crisis, right?"
"Damn, isn’t that wording kind of genius? Not Black Bride 'caught in' crisis, but Black Bride 'escaping' crisis! Just changing one word makes the whole thing feel completely different!"
The corner of my mouth twitched.
Yeah, I’ll admit it. The lead was pretty damn good.
Suppressing a laugh, I headed to the PR team’s emergency meeting room with two cups of coffee in hand. When I opened the door and stepped inside, the PR manager flung both arms up and shouted,
"It’s over!"
For someone who’d pulled a week of overtime, the PR manager sounded weirdly cheerful.
Just the voice, though.
If the world had turned apocalyptic and zombies had shown up, this was probably the PR manager’s face.
"It’s over! It finally calmed down! The Kwon Ho-jun drug issue is done!"
"You worked hard, PR Manager."
"Manager Kwon worked hard too... so I’m heading out now!"
I grabbed the PR manager by the shoulder as he tried to escape the emergency room.
His voice trembled.
"...Manager Kwon."
"Yes, PR Manager."
"Please, don’t say another word. Every time you open your mouth these days, my life gets harder."
Hm.
Hearing that made me feel a little guilty.
But this time, I had good news for him too.
I told the PR manager about the Eclat d'Or ambassador news I’d heard from Lee Ha-eun the night before.
The PR manager blinked at me like an idiot for a second, then shouted,
"What, what!? Actress Lee Ha-eun became an Eclat d'Or ambassador?"
Flustered, he asked,
"No, where the hell did you get that source?"
"I heard it directly from Actress Lee Ha-eun."
"...Directly from Lee Ha-eun?"
"Yes. So, PR Manager."
"Yeah?"
"Isn’t this source enough to bury the Kwon Ho-jun drug issue for good?"
The PR manager’s eyes widened.
"...You want to bury the Kwon Ho-jun issue with Actress Lee Ha-eun becoming an Eclat d'Or ambassador?"
"Yes. Right now Eclat d'Or is huge, not just in Hollywood but here in Korea too, isn’t it?"
"It is. Eclat d'Or is known as the kind of brand celebrities can’t get enough of."
"And Lee Ha-eun is the first Asian celebrity Eclat d'Or has ever chosen as an ambassador."
The corner of my mouth lifted slightly.
"And Lee Ha-eun’s next project is Black Bride, so isn’t now the perfect time to tie this source in and make a strong picture?"
At that, the PR manager’s mouth curled upward.
"That’s good."
"Right?"
"Yeah, really good... but, Manager Kwon."
The PR manager looked at me with a strange expression, still smiling.
"Why did Actress Lee Ha-eun tell you about this herself?"
"..."
"No, wait. Even the director hasn’t told me something like that yet. How does it make sense that Manager Kwon knew first?"
The PR manager’s expression turned sly.
"I’ve had this feeling since the last reading, but isn’t there something going on between you and Actress Lee Ha-eun?"
Hiding my flustered expression, I answered,
"What would there be? We’re just an actress and her manager."
"Heh... no, no. There’s definitely something."
"Stop making weird assumptions and get to work, PR Manager."
Standing up from my seat, I declared,
"Let’s tie this new source in well and bury the Kwon Ho-jun issue completely if we can."
After handing the PR manager a fresh job, I went up to the rooftop smoking area.
I took a seat on an empty bench and put a cigarette to my lips. Leaning my back against the bench, I muttered,
"Hah... yeah. This feels like a human life now."
It was peaceful.
The frantic company life of the past few days felt like a lie.
After looking up at the crisp autumn sky for a moment, I muttered,
"Still, I’m not really free, am I."
I flicked the ash from my cigarette, then pulled out the future text that had arrived last night.
Scratching my chin slowly, I muttered,
"Seol Chae-i is going to become a CF queen?"
The newly arrived future text. Inside it, astonishingly, was To.Any’s youngest member, Seol Chae-i.
Domestic jewelry brand Daon.
Seol Chae-i was showing off her doll-like beauty while wearing Daon’s earrings and necklace.
"...Does this mean Seol Chae-i becomes Daon’s new brand model in the future?"
That was a pretty interesting piece of news.
Aside from Ga-eul, who had already gained the title of genius lyricist and composer through Youth Travel, the other To.Any members still had relatively low recognition.
In that situation, Seol Chae-i becoming Daon’s brand model and taking off like a storm was an entirely unexpected possibility for To.Any.
"If this is true, we can push them with a one-two punch."
To.Any leader Ga-eul on the singer-songwriter competition show circuit.
To.Any’s youngest, Seol Chae-i, as Daon’s brand model.
Perfect for raising To.Any’s recognition, which is ridiculously low compared to their music performance.
Without thinking, I tapped the future text twice.
"Yeah, how nice would it be if you just kept sending future sources like this?"
Not a headache like drugs.
I wanted only easy, simple, and pleasant news like this.
With the corner of my mouth raised, I checked the next future text.
"The problem is that this second future text is the real issue."
The voice that slipped out of my mouth came out sounding puzzled.
"Why is Hallyu star Kwon Hyeon-bin standing next to me?"
More importantly, the place he was standing with me.
The Baeksang Arts Awards. At the most prestigious all-around arts awards ceremony in Korea, I was standing side by side with Hallyu star Kwon Hyeon-bin in the photo line.