Guardian Angel

Guardian angel.

My eyes flew open at the smartphone notification.

"What’s this?"

A new future text had arrived this fast?

Had a future text ever come this quickly before?

The intervals between future texts weren’t fixed, but there was usually a fairly long gap before the next one arrived.

And yet this new one had come in in less than a week.

I stroked my chin and muttered, "So that’s it? This time there’s only one article, not two?"

When two future texts arrived, I could only see the titles of the future articles. But when there was only one future text, I could read the full article.

Thanks to that, my smartphone now displayed a full news piece about an event that hadn’t happened yet.

"An MBN drama scheduled for next fall, The Wise Life of a Namhae Intern Doctor, is hitting 13% viewership?"

Next fall meant exactly one year from now. From the details, it looked like a genre drama, and the title alone made the premise easy to guess.

A healing story set in the countryside of Namhae, with a doctor as the lead, so a genre piece with a medical layer.

After roughly sizing up the work, I tilted my head.

"It’s not bad, but for a future text source, isn’t this kind of weak?"

Of course, 13% wasn’t a low rating. This was an era where some dramas, despite budgets of more than ten billion won, barely managed to post a decimal point.

In that world, a terrestrial rating of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠13% was the sort of result that didn’t exactly scream failure, but didn’t quite qualify as a triumph either.

Still, I couldn’t shake my disappointment.

"It only sends me spicy stuff like drugs and scandals, and now I’m supposed to be satisfied with this?"

Hm. Maybe I needed a dopamine detox?

People said your head cleared up if you stayed off your smartphone for just a week...

But in a job that required living with a smartphone glued to your hand, wasn’t dopamine detox the kind of thing I’d never get to do for the rest of my life?

I shrugged and read on.

A moment later, my voice came out a lot louder than before.

"The Wise Life of a Namhae Intern Doctor becomes a national drama in Japan?"

Now that was interesting.

The future text made my eyes sparkle again with curiosity and anticipation.

A 13% drama becoming a national drama in Japan?

To be honest, it was hard to believe.

It wasn’t easy for a drama that had earned 13% at home to become a national hit in Japan.

But domestic performance doesn’t always line up with overseas performance.

Some works hit it big overseas because they struck a chord with foreign viewers rather than the local audience.

The most obvious example was TAN’s A Lie Without Love.

A Lie Without Love had only pulled 3% in Korea.

But it became a massive hit on overseas OTT, reaching number one in viewing share across 141 countries.

Thanks to that, Studio Flower, which produced A Lie Without Love, had apparently been struck by a literal flood of money.

After that, the goal of domestic studios shifted overseas.

Even if a project failed at home, the scale of the money earned overseas could be entirely different. The global market was simply that much larger than the domestic one.

In that sense, there was definitely a chance The Wise Life of a Namhae Intern Doctor could do well in Japan.

As I thought that through, I slowly muttered, "Now that I look at it, this is a goldmine, huh?"

And the best part was that this time, I didn’t have to rack my brain.

When two future texts came in, they only gave me the title and made me tear my hair out trying to piece it together. But now I don’t have to do that, do I?

The broadcast period, the title, the hit status, the content. It was all in the full article.

The corner of my mouth slowly rose.

"Is it really okay to get a Japanese national hit this easily?"

I felt a little guilty, but I’d always been the sort of person with a fairly thin conscience.

Humming under my breath, I sank into thought.

How should I use this?

Lee Ha-eun and Seo Tae-jun were already filming Black Bride, and Choi Go-eun had gone into production ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on Multicultural.

Did that mean I should hand this over to the actors in Team 5?

"...That feels like a waste."

I had already declared that I’d show Representative Baek some results, and it felt too precious to hand such a good source to someone else.

After a long while spent thinking about how to use it, one person suddenly came to mind, someone who was neither one of my assigned actors nor a Team 5 actor.

"Kwon Hyeon-bin?"

Hallyu star Kwon Hyeon-bin. A top-tier actor who, in some far-off future, would stand in the photo line with me at the Baekhak Arts Awards.

If Kwon Hyeon-bin really did become one of my actors in that future...

"Wouldn’t it work to put Kwon Hyeon-bin in The Wise Life of a Namhae Intern Doctor?"

What kind of popularity would a drama that became a Japanese national hit get if its lead role were played by a Hallyu star?

***

The next day, after arriving at Baekhak headquarters, I clicked away with the mouse and searched the internet.

Reading the article about Kwon Hyeon-bin on my monitor, I stroked my chin.

"Hallyu star Kwon Hyeon-bin, huh..."

Thanks to the future text, I was already interested in the actor Kwon Hyeon-bin.

And now that interest had picked up the possibility of something bigger.

"Giving a Hallyu star the lead in a Japanese national drama..."

Just imagining it made the picture look convincing.

The pairing made sense, and the synergy was excellent.

Kwon Hyeon-bin already had considerable recognition in Japan.

If he were to take the lead in The Wise Life of a Namhae Intern Doctor, which would become a Japanese national drama...

Maybe it wouldn’t just be a national drama. Maybe it could even write a new chapter in Japanese drama history.

"Mm, that’s too far."

That much was overdoing it.

Still, even if it didn’t rewrite history, couldn’t it at least set a new ratings record?

Dramas, more than films, were sensitive to the brand power of the actor himself.

Someone at Kwon Hyeon-bin’s level could change the scale of a drama entirely.

The corners of my mouth twitched upward.

"Not bad. The picture of giving Kwon Hyeon-bin the lead in The Wise Life of a Namhae Intern Doctor?"

The problem was when Kwon Hyeon-bin would become one of my actors...

After checking his schedule, I saw that an Asia world tour fan meeting was being planned, beginning in China.

"If that’s the case, does Baekhak only bring Kwon Hyeon-bin in after this world tour ends?"

I drummed my fingers against the desk.

The picture was all drawn up, but depending on when Kwon Hyeon-bin became my actor, I might not be able to use it at all.

I can only recommend The Wise Life of a Namhae Intern Doctor once Kwon Hyeon-bin is my actor.

Before that, some other actor might snatch the lead role away, so time was tight.

The broadcast is next fall, and if they’re filming in advance, casting will start according to the lineup as soon as next month.

I was folding my arms and thinking about how to solve the problem when I overheard a conversation from the road managers across from me.

"Hey, did you see the stock today? Our company’s share price went up again."

"Seriously? Again? One drama hits and it’s no joke."

"Queen of Joseon was a hit, but not just any hit. They say the 30% drama sold out every CF and ad slot."

"So that’s why this quarter’s revenue spiked like crazy? I checked the disclosure and it was almost double."

...Baekhak stock went up?

"Damn! If I’d known, I should’ve bought Baekhak instead of Samsung Electronics!"

"What floor are you stuck on with Samsung?"

"Ninth."

"Oh... my God. There were actually people who bought Samsung Electronics on the ninth floor?"

"The outlook looked good. But now I kind of want to get out. When’s the rescue team coming?"

I slowly scratched my chin at the road managers’ conversation.

"...Come to think of it, have I ever actually checked the stock I was given?"

I had never checked it once. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten; I’d simply been too busy with everything going on, and stock wasn’t exactly something I cared about in the first place.

"But Baekhak stock went up..."

Should I check it once?

Representative Baek had already said he’d throw in another thousand shares with this gift, and if that happened, it would amount to 130 million won worth of Baekhak stock.

This isn’t pocket change. I should at least check whether it’s gone up or down.

I opened the stock app installed on my phone. Following the unfamiliar app’s prompts, an app I’d only installed and never once opened, I checked my holdings.

And then.

"?"

A giant question mark floated up in my eyes.

"What is this?"

...I was looking at this right, wasn’t I?

Stock I’d done nothing with, just left sitting there, had gone up ten million won?

"No, wait, this means it actually went down??"

Looking at the stock chart, this wasn’t even the peak.

If I had sold exactly a week ago, I could have made a full 15 million won in profit.

At that moment, dopamine burst through me and hammered wildly at my veins.

With a voice hot from excitement, I muttered, "Wow... what? Should I sell now?"

If I sold now, I could recover the ten million won I’d put into Multicultural.

Considering that Multicultural isn’t the kind of investment likely to fail, that would basically be ten million in free money.

Before I knew it, my finger moved toward the sell button.

Sell, or not? Sell, or not?

As my mind wavered back and forth like reeds in the wind, another thought suddenly surfaced.

If Baekhak stock rose because of Queen of Joseon, wouldn’t it rise even more after Black Bride is released?

The market’s expected score for Black Bride was 3 million.

That was only just enough to clear break-even.

But my estimate was double that, 6 million.

It might even exceed the 5 million the future text sent me. There’s no way it’ll go down.

And if the timing was right...

I was even looking at a final score of 10 million for Black Bride.

If that happened, wouldn’t Baekhak stock rise even more than it had now?

"Look at this?"

This picture was pretty interesting.

Pulling my finger back from the sell button, I muttered, "Should I wait a little longer?"

Come to think of it, I also needed to check the vesting period, and in any case, selling right now was a bit of a stretch.

Besides, even if I pulled out 100 million won right this second, it’s not like I could do anything especially useful with it.

Just as my mind was leaning toward holding Baekhak stock a little longer, a KakaoTalk message arrived from the head of PR.

Reading the KakaoTalk message from the PR team leader, confusion colored my eyes.

"Lee Ha-eun got into trouble?"

No.

What sort of trouble could the woman currently touring overseas fashion shows possibly get into?

***

I barely managed to pull my mind away from stocks and headed down to PR.

Opening the door to the PR office, which was plastered wall to wall with posters of Baekhak’s celebrities, I looked around for the PR team leader.

But I couldn’t find the team leader’s permed hair, the PR team’s mascot, anywhere.

Where did you run off to after calling me here, Team Leader?

As I stood there in the PR office with a bewildered expression, a man with a friendly face got to his feet and walked over to me.

"You’re here because of the team leader, Manager Kwon?"

Who was this?

A face I’d never seen before.

But he seemed to know me.

Had the absent team leader tipped off one of the PR staff?

"Ah, yes. I got your message, but it looks like the team leader stepped out?"

"CS called her urgently, so she had to go out for a bit. She should be back soon."

...She called me down saying it was urgent, and she went to CS?

I let out a long sigh inside and gave a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠short nod.

"Thanks. By the way, you are...?"

"Ah, I’m Assistant Manager Seo Hyowon from PR."

So this guy was a Seo too. Was there some kind of connection between the Seo family and PR, or what?

Suppressing my rising smile, I asked, "Do you know why the team leader called me, Assistant Manager Seo?"

Assistant Manager Seo shrugged.

"Probably because of actress Lee Ha-eun’s interview video."

Interview video?

Then maybe it was a making-of film?

"It’s not actually a huge issue, more of a check-up. Public sentiment around Black Bride is a little shaky right now, so we’re checking a few things."

My eyes widened.

"When you say the sentiment is shaky, do you mean because of the drug case?"

"Well, that too. But honestly, even before the incident, Lee Ha-eun’s fandom wasn’t exactly in a great mood. The drug scandal just dealt the finishing blow."

So the reaction to Black Bride from Lee Ha-eun’s fandom had been bad...

Without thinking, I nodded.

Well, sure. Maybe other actors’ fandoms are different, but Lee Ha-eun’s side definitely wasn’t happy about it.

Truthfully, for an actress of Lee Ha-eun’s stature, she should have been appearing in a work on a higher level than Black Bride.

Lee Ha-eun was the sort of actress people talked about as having a Hollywood future.

So when someone like that signed on for an occult film, it was only natural that fans would feel like their stomachs were turning inside out.

Especially Lee Ha-eun’s fandom, which was so intense it made even idol fandoms look tame.

And now Lee Ha-eun had supposedly caused some trouble in a making-of interview?

A sense of crisis and a strange curiosity both rose in my chest at once, while my brain spun at full speed.

But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t picture what kind of trouble Lee Ha-eun could have caused in that interview.

Then Assistant Manager Seo pointed toward the PR office entrance and said, "Ah! Team Leader! Manager Kwon’s here!"

The PR team leader hurried over, wiping sweat from her face as she joked around.

"Whew, I thought I was going to die running over here! You waited long, Manager Kwon?"

"..."

"Hm? You mad?"

"I’m not mad."

"Aw, come on! You’re mad because I made you wait, right? But I couldn’t help it! I got an urgent call from CS out of nowhere!"

If it was urgent, then there was nothing to be done. I let my expression soften slightly and said, "Buy me coffee later as an apology."

"Oh, sure, sure. I’ll buy you a big size."

"I’ll accept it gratefully. But..."

Trailing off, I went straight to the point.

"What exactly happened? You said actress Lee Ha-eun caused trouble in an interview?"

"Ah, well, you see..."

The PR team leader held out a tablet PC to me.

"Blue Pine sent over the making-of film, and, um... just watch it first, then we’ll talk."

My eyes fixed on the tablet PC.

The video played, and top-star actress Lee Ha-eun appeared.

Her skin was porcelain white, her features were flawless, and her long black hair, cascading like a waterfall, radiated an irresistible allure and presence even through the screen.

I was distracted by Lee Ha-eun for a moment, unable to look away, and then the top-star actress’s interview began.

Lee Ha-eun answered the ordinary questions calmly. At least up to this point, nothing looked wrong.

Maybe that was why the tension I’d been feeling began to ease a little, and then, just as it did, Lee Ha-eun’s voice on the screen suddenly turned serious.

The corner of Lee Ha-eun’s mouth tilted crookedly.

My eyes widened.

She chose the Black Bride script herself?

Impossible.

I was the one who recommended Black Bride to her.

Then Lee Ha-eun continued her explanation.

"!"

My heart started beating to a strange rhythm.

"!"

I hurriedly clapped a hand over my mouth.

In the meantime, the PR team leader grumbled, "The Black Bride script was the one Manager Kwon recommended to Lee Ha-eun, wasn’t it?"

"..."

"I thought the two of you were getting along well, so I figured she’d give us a little lip service like she did with Queen of Joseon, but then she suddenly gave this kind of interview and I was a bit thrown. That’s why I called you, Manager Kwon. In case you felt bad after seeing the intervi..."

None of it reached my ears.

My whole attention had been stolen by Lee Ha-eun on the tablet PC.

I forced down the blood and heat rushing to my head and muttered, What is this woman?

So right now...

Was Lee Ha-eun covering for me?

Huh?

It was hard to believe, but that seemed to be exactly what was happening.

The top-star actress was standing alone at the center of every criticism, protecting me.

Only I, who knew exactly what feelings Lee Ha-eun held toward me, could be certain.

Right now, that top-star actress had given this interview to protect me.

Lee Ha-eun is the kind of woman who hates having anything she can be pinned for when it comes to a project.

And yet that same Lee Ha-eun had made a comment that would invite debate and controversy, taking all the criticism and blame onto herself.

The reason was easy enough to guess.

Because Lee Ha-eun didn’t know.

Whether Black Bride would succeed or fail.

Whether it would even break even.

No, maybe no one in this world knew except me.

To put it coldly, this was different from Queen of Joseon.

Queen of Joseon had been the year’s biggest anticipated drama, but Black Bride, frankly speaking, wasn’t even close to a quarterly expected hit.

If a project like that failed...

All the criticism would come back to me for recommending Black Bride to Lee Ha-eun.

So Lee Ha-eun was even willing to tell a lie and make the criticism her own.

To protect me.

This woman had stood alone atop the criticism and condemnation, even if it meant lying.

At that moment, my heart dropped with a dull thud.

My chest tingled.

The heat that surged up from inside colored even my ears red.

Like a guardian angel, a woman trying to protect me in a place no one else knew about.

For the first time, my heart began to flutter at that kindness.

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