Envy and Jealousy
The temperaments of managers who had put in a few years on the job were, more or less, the same.
Reasonably flexible, reasonably adaptable, reasonably sly.
There was a reason for that. The nature of the job was such that if you weren’t flexible, you couldn’t last long as a manager.
In back, you had to read the moods of celebrities; in front, you had to bow and scrape to producers and directors. How were you supposed to survive if you were stiff as a board?
It was a job that demanded constant vigilance. A position that forced you to walk a tightrope between celebrities, producers, and directors.
That was the place and status of a manager in the entertainment industry.
But the team leaders at Baekhak Management were different.
They didn’t walk a tightrope. They controlled the whole board.
At Baekhak, once you’re a team leader, it’s the celebrities, producers, and directors who start worrying about you.
A manager’s power depended on which star they handled. But the team leaders at Baekhak drew their power from their track records, their connections, and the years they had spent proving themselves.
The weight of value borrowed from others was never the same as the weight of value proven by your own hand.
Right, I’m not saying this just because I work at Baekhak. Objectively speaking, the team leaders there were on a completely different level from other managers.
Among the dozens of entertainment companies out there, Baekhak was one of the top three.
To survive there long enough to become a team leader meant there was no denying the skill it took.
And yet those Baekhak team leaders...
...were now watching me with sharp, guarded eyes.
Wait. Is this really happening?
Those team leaders at Baekhak were sizing up a chief manager who’d only been on the job for a year?
It was hard to believe, but the kind of stare that felt like it could split the back of my head open made it clear I wasn’t imagining things.
The Baekhak team leaders were watching me now.
Me. A chief manager with barely a year under his belt.
At that moment, a thrilling surge of exhilaration rose in my chest.
Had I really grown this much?
To be honest, I hadn’t quite felt how big my position had become.
That was only natural. Unlike celebrities, whose fame could be felt directly, managers had a hard time sensing any real change in their own standing even when they delivered results.
But seeing those looks from the Baekhak team leaders made it real at last.
Over the last few months, the scale of a manager named Kwon Chan had grown a great deal.
Enough to make Baekhak’s team leaders wary.
Just as I was barely managing to suppress a laugh at the thought, Team Leader Kim Hae-chan set down the plastic coffee cup he’d been holding and greeted me.
“Well, look at this. Chief Manager Kwon, showing up at a team leaders’ meeting?”
“Hello, Team Leader Kim.”
“You’ve been well?”
“Same as always, really.”
The corners of Kim Hae-chan’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Same as always, huh? The head office director didn’t call in Chief Manager Kwon for no reason.”
Kim Hae-chan leaned toward me.
“Seeing him call you to a team leaders’ meeting today makes me wonder if he’s planning to give you the empty Team 1 slot.”
At the bait Kim Hae-chan tossed out, Team Leader 4 replied in a slightly sharpened tone.
“Come on, Team Leader Kim. Chief Manager Kwon’s only been here a year. What team leader are you even talking about?”
“If you’re capable, you get the title. Since when did this business run on seniority?”
“Even so, there’s still a line somewhere. If someone with one year under his belt gets made a team leader, how are the rest of us supposed to feel like working?”
At Team Leader 4’s jab, Ho, the acting leader currently handling the vacant Team 1 seat, clicked his tongue softly.
“That’s aimed at me, isn’t it, Team Leader 4?”
“Huh? Did it sound that way? Sorry, sorry.”
Team Leader 3 cut into the exchange between Team Leader 4 and Acting Team Leader Ho.
“Hey now, Acting Team Leader Ho, this isn’t something to brush off. Chief Manager Kwon’s been on a hot streak lately, hasn’t he? Other than the Black Bride drug scandal throwing him off course once, he’s been hitting back-to-back home runs with the girl group he handles and with Lee Ha-eun’s Queen of Joseon, hasn’t he?”
In a greasy, coaxing voice, Team Leader 3 kept fanning the flames.
“If you sit there stupidly and space out, don’t be surprised when Chief Manager Kwon steals your team leader seat right out from under you.”
Goaded by that, Acting Team Leader Ho pursed his lips.
“Don’t worry about it, Team Leader 3. I’m not some idiot who...”
He trailed off and glanced at me.
“...can’t even protect his own bowl.”
“Oh? Acting Team Leader Ho, that wording got a little rough all of a sudden, didn’t it?”
Kim Hae-chan, Team Leader 3, looked back and forth between me and Acting Team Leader Ho with an amused grin.
Watching that, I snorted inwardly.
Was Kim Hae-chan always like this?
He was obviously trying to provoke Acting Team Leader Ho into picking a fight with me.
What should I do about this?
Normally, I would have ignored a provocation like this and hit back hard, but the timing was awkward.
Director Park Yu-hyeon would be arriving soon, and there was no real need to get dragged into a verbal scrap with Acting Team Leader Ho on Team Leader 3’s terms.
That was when Seok-du hyung, sitting beside me, spoke up.
“Hey, I’ve been listening quietly, and don’t you think you’re all going a little too far?”
Seok-du hyung glared as he spoke.
“Chief Manager Kwon hasn’t said a word, so why are the team leaders and Acting Team Leader Ho taking it upon themselves to put him on the spot and talk about team leaders this and that?”
A 160-kilometer fastball from Seok-du hyung, out of nowhere.
My eyes widened in surprise.
Apparently, the others were just as shocked.
Ma Team Leader, who was usually known for his easygoing nature, suddenly frowned, and Team Leader 4, flustered, began trying to smooth things over while reading Seok-du hyung’s mood.
“Oh, come on, Team Leader Ma. When did we ever put him on the spot? We were just joking a little because Chief Manager Kwon showed up at a place like this.”
Team Leader 3 joined in too.
“Right, right. Team Leader 5, don’t get worked up. We were just joking around a bit, maybe too much.”
Seok-du hyung still had his brow furrowed.
“A joke is only a joke if the person hearing it can laugh too. Isn’t that right?”
“Man, thinking about it again, Team Leader 5’s right. Sorry, Chief Manager Kwon. It was a joke, so don’t take it to heart.”
Team Leader 3’s gaze flicked toward Acting Team Leader Ho.
“Wait, why am I the only one apologizing? Honestly, it was Acting Team Leader Ho who put Chief Manager Kwon on the spot, wasn’t it?”
Acting Team Leader Ho, suddenly singled out by Kim Hae-chan, looked flustered.
“What? Me?”
“Huh? Why the reaction? Wasn’t it because Acting Team Leader Ho suddenly started glaring at Chief Manager Kwon and called him an idiot who couldn’t even protect his own bowl, and that made Ma Team Leader angry?”
With an air of ease, Kim Hae-chan shifted the blame onto Acting Team Leader Ho.
After a moment of panic, Acting Team Leader Ho gave in under the weight of everyone’s eyes and bowed his head in reluctant apology.
“...Yes, I’m sorry, Team Leader 5. Chief Manager Kwon, I’m sorry too. That was my mistake.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Since everyone’s apologized, let’s clear the air. We need to keep our faces straight before the director gets here.”
Under Team Leader 3’s lead, the situation was wrapped up for the moment.
But an uncomfortable silence had already settled over the director’s office.
Everyone kept their mouths shut and watched one another warily. And in that silence, I began to notice the quiet power struggle among the management team leaders, something I hadn’t really seen before.
As I turned over those subtle power balances and hierarchies in my mind, I murmured slowly, The most dangerous one, for now...
...was Team Leader 3, Kim Hae-chan.
Just as I was eyeing Kim Hae-chan, who was sitting there with a friendly expression, the door to the director’s office flew open, and the man standing at the top of the predatory chain known as the management division entered.
Director Park Yu-hyeon.
The old fox, the man who ruled over those team leaders from far above.
And beside him stood a woman in a strange, faint smile, someone whose position was even higher than Director Park Yu-hyeon’s.
All of the team leaders shot to their feet in shock.
“R-Representative!”
With a sharp bob of violet hair cut short and a full purple suit, the queen of Baekhak, Representative Baek Ji-won, smiled brightly.
“Hello, everyone.”
At that same time.
In the public relations office, wallpapered with posters of Baekhak’s celebrities, the head of PR sat with both feet on the table, humming to herself.
“Hmmm~”
Assistant Manager Seo from the PR team gave her a quiet rebuke.
“Living the dream, aren’t you, Team Leader?”
“Assistant Manager Seo, what kind of tone is that to use with your team leader?”
“Oh, sorry. Should I write a written apology?”
“You think a written apology is enough? Bring me a resignation letter.”
“I’ve got three mouths to feed. And I’m the eldest son, too.”
The PR team leader burst out laughing and complained at the same time.
“Ugh! Let me rest a little, will you? I was stuck at the company for a full week after the Kwon Ho-jun drug issue broke, and now you want me to loaf around on the company’s dime for once?”
Assistant Manager Seo brought over a tablet PC and handed it to her.
“Then take a look at this and loaf around afterward, Team Leader.”
“Hm? What’s this?”
“A making-of video for Black Bride sent over by Blue Pine Production.”
The PR team leader tilted her head.
“Why are they sending this to us? Can’t they just upload it?”
“They probably sent it for review since the Kwon Ho-jun issue blew up, and both leads are Baekhak talent.”
“Oh? But it’s a making-of video. Is there really anything to review?”
“Probably because Blue Pine Production has a fire under its ass right now.”
Assistant Manager Seo shrugged.
“Ha-eun’s fans already had plenty to say about her decision to take Black Bride, and after this incident broke, public opinion exploded, didn’t it?”
“Hmm... True. Maybe not everywhere, but with Lee Ha-eun’s fans especially, the mood definitely soured.”
“So they probably sent it over asking us to confirm there were no unexpected problems. You’ve seen how obsessed Lee Ha-eun’s fans get. They make idol sasaengs look tame. If they lose public support, they’ll get roasted to a crisp, so I guess they were scared of that.”
The PR team leader, who had been half-sprawled in her chair, suddenly sat up straight.
“How’s the video quality? You watched it first, didn’t you?”
“From the quick look I took, it seemed well made.”
“Really? Then let’s watch it first and talk after.”
The PR team leader pressed the play button with her index finger.
At that moment, the making-of video for Black Bride began to play.
The opening intro was made up of one-line impressions from the actors of Black Bride. The PR team leader ran her tongue over her dry lips and grinned.
Nice visuals.
Seo Tae-jun and Lee Ha-eun, of course, but even Kim Nam-seong and Go Ju-eun had faces that grabbed your attention immediately.
Then came the actors’ script-reading footage.
A low sigh escaped the PR team leader’s mouth.
Wow. Seo’s lines really do have a good flavor to them.
But it wasn’t just Seo Tae-jun who acted well.
From Lee Ha-eun in the lead to Kim Nam-seong and Go Ju-eun in supporting roles, every actor seemed alive on camera.
Why is everyone acting this well? Especially Lee Ha-eun... anyone seeing this would think she was possessed!
Black Bride was easily the highest-quality script reading she had seen lately.
The heat of that set practically radiated through the making-of video.
The corners of the PR team leader’s mouth rose.
“This is pretty good, isn’t it? Seems fine to release like this.”
Assistant Manager Seo sped the video up to 1.5x.
“You should still watch to the end. There are actor interviews left, so check those too and then give your approval.”
The PR team leader’s gaze returned to the tablet PC.
By then, the script reading had ended and the lead actors’ interviews were beginning.
Lead actress Lee Ha-eun was first up.
For a moment, the PR team leader watched Lee Ha-eun’s interview in silence, then her eyes widened.
“Huh? What’s this?”
She muttered in mild confusion.
“Why did they do Lee Ha-eun’s interview like that...?”
***
The director’s office was heavy with tension.
It didn’t seem like I was the only one who felt it.
Team Leader 2, already a man of few words, had gone completely silent, while the usually slick Kim Hae-chan, Team Leader 3, had a stiff expression on his face.
Team Leader 4 kept darting his eyes around nervously, and Acting Team Leader Ho, who was filling in for the vacant post, had gone so rigid he could barely breathe.
Well, of course. Representative Baek Ji-won had shown up.
Among Baekhak employees, Representative Baek Ji-won’s standing was absolute.
Baekhak itself belonged to Representative Baek Ji-won.
From the perspective of Baekhak staff, she was the kind of person you naturally felt uneasy meeting face-to-face.
Like even the fiercest hunting dog went meek the moment its owner gripped the leash, Representative Baek Ji-won was the owner holding Baekhak employees’ leashes.
But even with her standing right there, I didn’t feel especially tense.
Maybe it was thanks to the several times I’d met her one-on-one recently?
Even with Representative Baek Ji-won right in front of me, I somehow felt more relaxed than I should have.
So while the other team leaders sat in varying degrees of unease, I waited for the meeting to begin. Then Representative Baek Ji-won, who had taken the seat of honor in the director’s office in place of Park Yu-hyeon, finally spoke.
“It’s been a while since I’ve attended a team leaders’ meeting like this.”
Director Park Yu-hyeon, seated beside her, supplied an aside.
“It’s been almost a year since you last attended a meeting at this level, Representative.”
“Has it really been that long? I’ve been paying too little attention, then. Maybe that’s why...”
Trailing off, Representative Baek let her gaze drift across the team leaders.
“There’s a new face here I haven’t seen before.”
Director Park explained.
“This is Acting Team Leader Ho Seong-hun, currently carrying out the duties of Team 1 leader. It’s a team leaders’ meeting, but since he’s temporarily filling the Team 1 position, I brought him in. And as for Chief Manager Kwon...”
Before Park Yu-hyeon could finish, Representative Baek answered.
“Yes, I know. I called Chief Manager Kwon here myself.”
My eyes widened.
...What? Representative Baek called me herself?
Why?
While I was still tilting my head over it, Director Park Yu-hyeon quietly shifted his gaze and met the eyes of the team leaders. Starting with Team Leader 2 and moving to me at the very end, he held each of our gazes once before speaking slowly.
“You’re curious, aren’t you? Why Chief Manager Kwon from Team 5 was called to this team leaders’ meeting.”
“...”
“It’s because Chief Manager Kwon pulled off something huge this time. You all saw the Kwon Ho-jun drug issue tied to Black Bride, didn’t you?”
Team Leader 2 carefully answered while glancing at Representative Baek’s expression.
“Yes, we saw it, Director. I was surprised that it spread so much further than I expected.”
“I was on a business trip in China at the time too, and when I heard the news belatedly, my blood ran cold. As you all know, Baekhak invested 15 billion won in Black Bride, didn’t we?”
Director Park’s gaze returned to me.
It was a gaze faintly colored with amusement.
“It almost looked like 15 billion won was going to be flushed down the drain because of one drug addict, but Chief Manager Kwon cleaned up the mess, didn’t he?”
“!”
“The reason Chief Manager Kwon was called here today is to recognize that work on the company’s behalf.”
The team leaders’ expressions stiffened in surprise and confusion.
My own expression went a little blank too.
So they really called me here because of Black Bride?
Well... yes.
Honestly, I was caught off guard.
I had handled the matter, sure, but I hadn’t thought it was big enough to be brought up at a team leaders’ meeting like this.
They could’ve just called me aside for a separate word of praise if they wanted, couldn’t they?
That made me wonder.
The Park Yu-hyeon I knew was a man who put meaning into every word he spoke.
If he had chosen to start with this story, then there was a purpose hidden inside it.
Then Representative Baek spoke up.
“I’d like to start doing things like this more often.”
All eyes in the director’s office naturally turned to her.
“After the 1st team leader left over that incident, the company atmosphere got pretty uneasy, didn’t it? In situations like that, wouldn’t it make sense to praise employees who do something good for the company?”
Representative Baek fixed her gaze on me.
“Chief Manager Kwon?”
Having already braced myself, I slowly stood.
“Yes, Representative.”
The corners of Representative Baek’s mouth suddenly curved into a smile.
That unreadable smile made my shoulders twitch despite my will, and a nameless tension climbed up my spine. Then, from Representative Baek’s mouth, something unexpected came out.
“Two thousand shares of Baekhak stock.”
“!”
The mood in the director’s office instantly heated up.
“This is the gift I prepared for Chief Manager Kwon for resolving this incident. What do you think? Do you like it?”
The team leaders’ eyes went wide, their faces openly stunned.
Mine was no different.
The only time Representative Baek gives Baekhak stock as a gift is when someone is getting promoted to director.
And there was no way the other team leaders didn’t know that too.
So the fact that she was bringing up those shares...
...in a team leaders’ meeting, of all places, could only mean one thing, couldn’t it?
Is this Representative Baek publicly declaring support for me?
The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Within that, I could sense Director Park and Representative Baek’s hidden true purpose.
No way. Is Representative Baek...
Was she laying the groundwork to push me into a team leader position?
I could hardly believe it, but given the situation, that seemed to be exactly what was happening.
Otherwise, why would she hand me stock in such a formal setting?
My guess was right on the money.
“Ah, right. This must be a completely new gift for Chief Manager Kwon, isn’t it?”
With that light, offhand murmur from Representative Baek, all the team leaders’ eyes shifted to me.
“That makes sense too, since Chief Manager Kwon already received Baekhak stock from me as a gift before, didn’t he?”
Compared to a moment ago, the team leaders’ envy and jealousy were on an entirely different level, and my heart started pounding like crazy.