An Unexpected Offer
After I opened the office door and stepped inside, the managers from Team 5, who had been working, looked up in surprise and came rushing toward me.
"Chief Kwon!"
"Wait, what on earth is this about the Busan International Film Festival, Chief Kwon??"
"Is it true that the actress Go-eun Choi, whom you were managing, won the New Actress Award?"
Maybe because of all the noise, the managers gathered in the office for the regular meeting turned their attention this way too.
Surrounded by the Team 5 road managers, I heard the Baekhak managers who had spotted me begin to whisper among themselves.
"...So the rumor was true?"
"What? The Busan International Film Festival New Actress Award winner, Go-eun Choi, was really under Chief Kwon?"
"Then the unknown actress Director Jun-ho Na had been asking around about was the one Chief Kwon discovered?"
"Wow, whether it's a project or an actor, it feels like everything Chief Kwon touches is blowing up these days."
I could feel the envy and admiration in the management team’s gaze on my skin. Just as my shoulders started to lift with it, I caught sight of Manager Jae-min Lee glaring at me from far away.
His brow was twisted, his lips jutting out in a sour line.
Before I knew it, I muttered, "Delicious."
"Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, I was talking to myself."
Holding back a laugh, I thought, God, this is insane.
At Manager Jae-min Lee’s expression, dopamine burst in me like fireworks. The self-esteem and confidence filling me from the inside only made my shoulders rise higher.
"Come on, Chief Kwon. Don’t just grin like that, explain yourself."
"Huh?"
"Where did you even find this actress, Go-eun Choi? According to the roster, she used to belong to Team 1. Did you personally bring her over?"
At one manager’s question, I shook my head.
"No. When Team 1 got blown apart last time and we redistributed the celebrities under them, I brought her with me."
"Oh, when Team 1 was dissolved?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa... so you saw Go-eun Choi’s potential back then? A completely unknown actress with no career to speak of?"
Instead of rattling off an explanation, I just lifted the corners of my mouth in silence. Watching me, the Team 5 managers clicked their tongues in amazement.
"Wow... Chief Kwon, what kind of eye for talent is that?"
"I was a little suspicious when you took some unfamiliar unknown actress at that meeting, but you’d already seen the seedling back then?"
"Are you suddenly blessed or something? How did you spot an actress like that at a glance?"
Honestly, the cooler move would have been to act modest right now.
But... damn it.
My twisted personality would not allow it.
"Even if someone’s unknown, you can tell when you see them act, right? You get a feel for it. I just had that feeling."
Even to my own ears, my voice sounded pretty arrogant.
The line was a bonus level of shameless vanity, too.
But maybe because it had paid off, the Team 5 managers let out awed sighs as if they were under some spell.
"Damn, that’s kind of cool."
"You get a feel for it when you see them act... maybe I should start looking at theater actors from today."
"So is Go-eun Choi going into Director Jun-ho Na’s new project, Chief Kwon?"
Only after the embarrassment hit me late did I think, This is getting dangerous. I can’t keep going.
I had no control over what my dopamine-addled mouth might blurt out next. Waving a hand, I slipped away from the spot.
Then, as if possessed by something, I stopped for a moment without meaning to and turned my head back.
At just that moment, I met the eyes of Manager Jae-min Lee, who had been looking this way.
After locking eyes with him for a brief second, I said nothing and only smiled faintly.
"!"
Manager Jae-min Lee’s mouth opened and closed in disbelief. I stored that expression away in my head, then laughed softly and left the office.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Once I got up to the rooftop smoking area and felt the cool autumn wind on my face, my head finally cleared.
As I lit a cigarette and enjoyed a rare moment of ease, Manager Jae-min Lee’s face came back to me.
"Haa, this is ridiculous."
Just thinking about his expression sent the corners of my mouth, which had barely settled, tap-dancing up again.
Still, there was nothing I could do about it. That man had poked at my pride more than once or twice.
Now he can’t call me some guy who only succeeded because of actors, right?
Yeah. He couldn’t.
I’d done it with unknown actors and short films.
With that thought, I tapped the twitching corner of my mouth with my hand.
"If my mouth stays like this when I go into the meeting, that’s going to be a problem."
Forcing myself to shake off the dopamine and excitement filling me from head to toe, I changed my train of thought.
I needed to think about something constructive if I wanted any chance of controlling my expression right now. Naturally, that led me to the rights meeting for Multicultural a few days earlier.
"The final price we settled on at the negotiation table was eighty million won, right?"
But the money I could make from Multicultural wouldn’t come from the distribution rights alone.
If you add in the prize money from the New Actress Award and the Rising Star Award this time...
Even rough mental math said I’d made at least four times my investment, maybe as much as five. Considering it was my first investment, that was pretty... no, it was absurdly huge.
"Well, this doesn’t feel very real."
Even though quite a bit of time had passed, I still couldn’t quite feel that I had made money investing in films.
But one thing was unmistakably clear.
"Movies make money."
Whenever I heard stories about production company heads who’d become billionaires through film investment, I’d always thought they sounded unreal. But after experiencing it myself, it turned out it wasn’t a completely impossible story after all.
If a short film can do this much, then just how much could an indie film or a commercial blockbuster make?
Of course, the larger the scale, the bigger the risk if the investment failed. But I had a good eye for quality work.
I’ve got the foresight of future text messages.
If I used that foresight properly... wasn’t my film investing basically impossible to fail?
I drew a long drag from the cigarette and sank into thought.
Looks doable. But I don’t want to decide too hastily in my current state.
Maybe I should test the waters a little more?
It wasn’t urgent anyway, so I figured I could afford to think it through at my own pace.
Then my smartphone rang.
My shoulders jerked as I muttered, "What is it? Don’t tell me, a future text message?"
At this time, in this situation, if my phone was ringing, wasn’t it supposed to be a future text message?
I hurriedly reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. But the sender was not an international number.
A headhunting firm had sent me a job offer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
My eyes went wide.
"I got a job offer?"
My expression stiffened into something dubious.
Meanwhile, my eyes slowly read through the message.
A little later, after I’d finished reading it all, I shouted in shock, "SAG?"
The company that had sent the offer was SAG, one of the entertainment industry’s three giants, rivaling Baekhak.
...SAG wants to scout a Chief Manager from Baekhak?
Why?
Just then, the smartphone in my hand vibrated again.
"!"
A call was coming in.
Checking the number, I saw it was the same DoubleX headhunting company that had sent the message.
After a moment of indecision, I decided to answer.
"Hello?"
"May I ask if this is Kwon Chan from Baekhak Team 5?"
"Yes, that’s right."
The voice I took to be the headhunter brightened at once.
"Ah! Hello, Chief Kwon. I’m sorry for the sudden call; I contacted you quickly after seeing that you’d checked the message, so do you have a moment?"
Instead of answering, I asked back, "Are you a headhunter?"
"Something like that, but a little different. We’re intermediaries. Middlemen who make sure both the company that hired us and Chief Kwon can come out ahead."
"Isn’t that just a headhunter?"
"Well, if you put it that way, yes. Are you uncomfortable with that?"
I moved my right hand and slowly scratched my chin. I could feel the rough stubble there.
"Not uncomfortable, just surprised. This is my first time."
"Haha, I see. It seems the other scouts hadn’t recognized your true worth."
The headhunter asked in a subtle voice, "If you don’t mind, may I explain the situation a little?"
"What kind of explanation?"
"As I mentioned a moment ago, we only move when we’ve received a request. SAG would like to explain the terms they’re offering if you’re considering a move, Chief Kwon."
At the explanation, I tilted my head.
They’ve done well lately, but not enough for SAG to be making an offer like this.
I couldn’t make sense of what was happening.
At the same time, curiosity stirred in me. I wondered what my current market value was in the industry’s eyes.
But I didn’t open my mouth carelessly. From Baekhak’s perspective, this situation was ripe for misunderstanding in a hundred different ways.
As if the headhunter could read my mind, he smoothly laid out the terms.
"If you move to SAG Entertainment, you’ll be able to take a Team Leader position right away. As for salary, it would be an additional twenty million won on top of what you’re currently earning at Baekhak. That would be the offer if you moved alone, Chief Kwon. If you moved together with the celebrity you currently manage at Baekhak..."
The headhunter’s voice grew calm and easy.
"We may even be able to provide a bonus signing fee worth several years’ salary."
"..."
"Even by industry standards, these are pretty good terms. Wouldn’t you consider sitting down for a meeting, Chief Kwon?"
At the offer, my eyes lifted sharply.
A Team Leader position plus a salary increase? That’s better than I expected.
But it was only good in the plainest sense. Feeling my rising curiosity and interest cool off quickly, I answered, "I appreciate the offer, but I’m not thinking about changing companies."
There was regret in the headhunter’s voice.
"Wouldn’t you at least consider a meeting? If you’re concerned about rumors inside the company, it could be a private meeting with me rather than anyone from SAG."
I refused once more, firmly.
"I’ll have to decline."
"..."
At my blunt refusal, the headhunter fell silent, seemingly taken aback.
But from where I stood, the refusal was obvious.
Team Leader, salary, bonus? Fine. All good.
But Baekhak could do all of that for me too.
Besides, once I wrapped up the work I’d already started, bonuses, salary, and Team Leader status? That was nothing.
Our Chairman Baek would give me something even bigger than that.
I could feel the tension from this unfamiliar situation drain away completely.
In a relaxed voice, I asked, "Anything else you wanted to say?"
The headhunter replied, unable to hide his disappointment.
"I hope we can meet again under better circumstances next time, Chief Kwon."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After ending the call, I headed down to the meeting room. Once Team Leader Ma Seok-du’s Team 5 meeting was over, I carefully pulled Seok-du hyung aside and told him what had happened a moment earlier.
After listening quietly, Team Leader Ma Seok-du suddenly shouted, "What?"
With his mouth hanging open, Seok-du hyung grabbed my shoulder.
"You... aren’t you thinking of leaving?"
His reaction was so much more intense than I expected that I blinked at him in surprise.
"Why would you think I accepted the offer?"
"No, the way you’ve been lately..."
Seok-du hyung shot me a quick look and answered, "It’s obvious the terms came in good."
Hmm.
It was true the terms had come in pretty well, but was I really that untrustworthy?
I grumbled back, "When have I ever abandoned you and gone anywhere?"
"...Right?"
"And yet you’re the one abandoning me without warning?"
"Hey, hey! That’s not what I meant!"
Seok-du hyung sounded anxious as he asked, "So where did the offer come from?"
"SAG."
"...What? SAG?"
"Yeah. They said if I moved, they’d give me a Team Leader position and raise my salary."
Seok-du hyung’s face turned grave.
"Look at this. SAG really made an offer like that?"
Seok-du hyung turned in a circle on the spot and muttered, "Lately, there’ve been a lot of job offers going out to senior managers."
My eyes widened.
"From SAG too?"
"From SAG and a bunch of other places. Baekhak’s gotten huge ever since we brought in actor Kwon Hyun-bin, right?"
I nodded.
In the entertainment industry, which had exploded under the Korean Wave boom, three companies stood out above the rest.
Baekhak, SAG, and YN.
People in the business called those three companies the Big Three. They were giant agencies that handled everything from idols and actors to entertainers and even nutubers.
But lately Baekhak’s pulled ahead after bringing in Kwon Hyun-bin, and that’s thrown the balance off.
Having thought that far, I finally understood and let out a snort of laughter.
"Looks like SAG and YN are feeling the heat, so they’re tossing out offers like this."
"Probably. YN mostly handles idols and singers, but SAG manages actors like we do at Baekhak."
Seok-du hyung frowned.
"Still, to be this blatant and use a headhunter for a scouting offer? I can’t just let that slide."
Seok-du hyung shot to his feet and said, "No choice. I need to report this to the Head of Department."
"I’m not getting dragged off somewhere just for receiving an offer like this, right?"
"What did you do wrong? You didn’t go around fishing for bids or anything, did you?"
"Right. I turned them down flat."
Seok-du hyung thumped my chest lightly.
"Then don’t worry, idiot. You think your hyung can’t cover our Team 5 ace?"
That made me laugh.
Honestly, he really does like to show off in all the useless places.
But then again, that was part of Seok-du hyung’s charm. I nodded and stood up.
"Then I’ll trust our Team 5 leader and head out for external work."
"External work all of a sudden? You... wait, are you..."
Trailing off, Seok-du hyung suddenly blurted, "You’re going to meet with SAG, aren’t you?"
"I’m going to work. Work."
"What work?"
As Seok-du hyung asked, I picked up my car key.
"To.Any is almost done with the final round of promotions for its first album, right? So I’m heading to the training center to discuss the goodbye mini concert they’ve got lined up for the end of the year."
"Oh, that’s what it was?"
"Now I feel a little disappointed."
"So our Chief Kwon was really going out to work? Hurry back! I’ll write the log in your place!"
I shook my head and left, then got into the car. With my hands on the wheel, I drove toward the Baekhak training center for the first time in nearly five months.