A New Era in the Making
We wish you a Merry Christmas.
Out of nowhere, Representative Baek appeared.
At that moment, everyone, including Team Leader Kim Hae-chan, cried out in shock.
"R-Representative?"
At Lee Jae-min’s exclamation, Representative Baek tilted her head slightly.
Her pale brown eyes, almost gray, locked onto the team leader.
At that cool gaze from Representative Baek, cold sweat broke out across Kim Hae-chan’s back like rain.
How... how is Representative Baek here?
I didn’t know.
Had word leaked from somewhere?
If so, how?
Kim Hae-chan’s mind could not make sense of the situation at all.
Then Representative Baek, still looking at him, murmured in a low voice.
"Team Leader Kim Hae-chan. Choose your words carefully."
"!"
"Because what you say from here on out will be the last words you leave behind as Team 3 leader."
Kim Hae-chan’s muddled mind snapped back to attention.
Representative Baek came here knowing everything.
He didn’t know how Baek Ji-won had found out, but she had shown up here knowing everything.
Then who was the culprit in this situation?
Kim Hae-chan’s head turned on its own.
"Kim Deok-pal!!"
He roared the name.
Kim Deok-pal, the headhunter, gave a servile smile and said, "Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry, Team Leader Kim Hae-chan."
Leaping up from his seat, Kim Deok-pal hurried out of the room.
Kim Hae-chan, his face red, tried to grab him, but Representative Baek stepped into his path.
"So your last words are Kim Deok-pal?"
"..."
At her words, Kim Hae-chan squeezed his eyes shut.
"Would you believe me if I made excuses?"
"No."
"Then what could I possibly say to you, Representative?"
Representative Baek slowly tilted her head.
"Is that so? Well, I suppose there’s nothing left to say between us."
Baek Ji-won stepped aside from the path she had blocked.
"Go on, Team Leader Kim Hae-chan."
"..."
"You worked hard all this time, and I doubt we’ll be seeing each other again."
At her final goodbye, Kim Hae-chan clenched both fists tightly.
An indescribable knot of resentment and rage surged in his chest.
Fortunately, a single shred of reason held that knot and rage down.
Grinding his teeth, Kim Hae-chan passed Representative Baek and left the room.
A cold autumn wind, as though it had been waiting, swept over his whole body.
Maybe because of the chill, some of his reason returned.
What happens to me now?
He didn’t know.
If he had been caught by Baek Ji-won before he even betrayed her, it would be hard for him to get a foothold anywhere in this industry.
That bleak future stirred Kim Hae-chan’s anger back to life.
Then a familiar voice came from beside his ear.
"Team 3 leader."
Kim Hae-chan turned his head.
The superior he had served for sixteen years was looking at him with a complicated expression.
"President Park Yu-hyeon."
Park Yu-hyeon closed his eyes tightly and said, "Why on earth did you do it? Why?"
At his rebuke, Kim Hae-chan could not answer.
***
An alley swallowed in darkness.
Park Yu-hyeon held out a cigarette to Kim Hae-chan.
"I thought you’d quit."
"Thanks to someone, I started again."
Park Yu-hyeon lit the cigarette.
Kim Hae-chan took the cigarette and turned it over in his hand without lighting it.
"When did you figure it out?"
"A while ago."
"Then why didn’t you move against me right away?"
"Because I wanted to give you a chance."
Within the drifting smoke, Park Yu-hyeon’s complicated feelings were laid bare.
"I trusted you to the very end, Team Leader Kim Hae-chan."
"So that’s why you handed Backstreet Police to me."
"And yet you were trying to hand that chance over to SAG."
Kim Hae-chan murmured in a low voice, "I’m sorry."
"Why, exactly, did you do it?"
"To survive."
"And the way you chose to survive was to betray the company you’d worked at for sixteen years and sell out your own family?"
At Park Yu-hyeon’s words, Kim Hae-chan’s voice rose.
"From my position, then what was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to handle this, President?"
"..."
"Sixteen years. Sixteen! I’ve given my life to this company for sixteen years, and I’m still just a team leader!"
The cigarette Park Yu-hyeon had handed him snapped in two in Kim Hae-chan’s hand.
"All the peers who started at the same time as me have been promoted to directors. My junior assistant got promoted before I did and was sent overseas, and I have to live every day in fear that my own desk will disappear from under me. Am I supposed to accept that?"
As Kim Hae-chan vented his grievances, Park Yu-hyeon slowly closed his eyes.
Seeing that, Kim Hae-chan’s anger only grew hotter, and he poured out the resentment boiling in his chest without restraint.
"Fine, I get it. Results matter, and you have to prove your ability. That’s Baekhak’s policy. But let me tell you something, President. I can put up with everything else, but this? This I could never swallow."
Kim Hae-chan let out a hollow laugh.
"'Kim Hae-chan, the eternal team leader.' That’s what they call me at the company."
"..."
"I have my pride, President. How am I supposed to keep working here when I hear people say things like that?"
Kim Hae-chan’s raised voice had already turned into a sob.
"Did I ask for so much? Was it really that hard to acknowledge the time and life I gave this company?"
Listening in silence to Kim Hae-chan’s grievances, Park Yu-hyeon said in a low voice, "A company is not a place for playing family."
"..."
"You should have done better. You should have earned more recognition. And you say you weren’t given a chance... but I gave you more chances than anyone, Team 3 leader."
Park Yu-hyeon looked at Kim Hae-chan steadily.
"It was you who failed to make use of them."
"So you’re blaming me until the end."
"Because it’s the truth."
Kim Hae-chan did not argue.
Park Yu-hyeon said nothing further either.
That silence continued until Park Yu-hyeon ground out his cigarette.
"You don’t need to come to Baekhak starting tomorrow, Kim Hae-chan."
At Park Yu-hyeon’s final order, Kim Hae-chan removed the badge pinned to his chest.
The Baekhak badge he had never once taken off since the day he joined the company.
"Thank you for everything until now, President Park Yu-hyeon."
"..."
After bowing politely to Park Yu-hyeon, Kim Hae-chan walked out into the alley swallowed by darkness.
Staggering.
With a gait that looked like he might collapse any second, Kim Hae-chan kept moving forward.
Park Yu-hyeon watched him until his back disappeared from sight, then rubbed his lined face with a wrinkled hand.
"This is hard."
Park Yu-hyeon put a fresh cigarette between his lips.
"I must be getting old. Getting old..."
With the burning cigarette, the memories were burning away too.
Memories built over sixteen years with a man named Kim Hae-chan.
***
After finishing every cigarette, Park Yu-hyeon returned to the shop.
Baek Ji-won, who had been waiting for him, asked slowly, "Did you send him off properly, Park?"
"Yes, Representative."
"Your face looks bad. You smell like cigarettes too."
"I’m sorry."
Without a word, Baek Ji-won patted Park Yu-hyeon on the shoulder.
"Let’s go."
Her voice was warm in a way that did not quite suit Representative Baek.
Park Yu-hyeon gave a bitter smile and escorted her.
After opening the rear door of the waiting car and helping Baek Ji-won inside, Park Yu-hyeon turned his head.
He saw Lee Jae-min’s face, as if he had lost his soul.
The shock must be severe. His direct superior betrayed the company.
Just as Park Yu-hyeon was about to say something, Representative Baek called to Lee Jae-min first.
"Manager Lee."
Lee Jae-min, still dazed, answered in a panic. "Y-yes? Representative?"
"I saw you again today."
"...?"
"Team Leader Kim Hae-chan trampled on my pride, but Manager Lee restored it for me."
Startled, Lee Jae-min bowed his head.
"Thank you, Representative."
"Mm. See you at the company."
"Yes, understood, Representative!"
Park Yu-hyeon, who had silently watched the exchange, lightly patted Lee Jae-min on the shoulder.
"Good work, Manager Lee."
Lee Jae-min looked completely at a loss and flustered.
Leaving him behind, Park Yu-hyeon got into the driver’s seat and asked, "Where shall we go, Representative?"
"Let’s go to the company."
Park Yu-hyeon started the engine.
Moving smoothly through the night, the car carrying Representative Baek headed toward Baekhak.
Then Baek Ji-won, who had been resting her eyes, opened them and murmured in a low voice, "Handle that headhunter, Kim Deok-pal, quietly."
"Yes, understood, Representative."
"And SAG’s sponsor case with Jang So-yeon."
Baek Ji-won’s voice dropped even lower.
"As soon as we’re back at the company, blow it open. Don’t give SAG even a chance to respond, Park."
***
The first shoot for K-Singer-Songwriter ended without a hitch.
My impression after watching the first shoot was this.
It’s better than I expected.
The program’s structure, the lineup of cast members, and the characters.
It was a competition show with a solid foundation, something I hadn’t seen in a while.
If they add the usual provocative storylines that come with competition shows, then the success of K-Singer-Songwriter is practically guaranteed, just as I predicted.
The problem was still K-1’s plagiarism.
Of all people, this bastard had plagiarized one of my artist’s songs. How was I supposed to deal with him?
My first instinct was to cut him down immediately, but I decided not to move in a hurry.
If he had the guts to plagiarize on a competition show, then he’s probably careful too.
Men like that had to be taken out in one strike, with solid evidence, before they had time to respond.
With my handling direction for K-Singer-Songwriter settled, I was startled the next day while getting ready for work.
"Jang So-yeon was a sponsor?"
The very symbol of innocence, Jang So-yeon, involved in a sponsor scandal...?
Only then did I remember, belatedly, that Jang So-yeon’s agency was SAG.
My expression shifted subtly.
"Wait. Did Representative Baek set this off?"
That was a fairly reasonable conclusion.
There was no way Jang So-yeon’s sponsor scandal would break without a source.
Looks like Representative Baek moved to hit SAG.
After roughly piecing together the situation, I clicked my tongue.
"As expected of Representative Baek."
Baek Ji-won, the head of Baekhak, who had not only handled the case but taken revenge too, all from the hint I had thrown her.
Feeling her fearfulness all over again, I mulled it over for a moment.
"Should I dip a toe in?"
After fitting the situation together from every angle, I shook my head.
It was already too late to get involved now.
Putting the SAG matter out of my mind, I headed to the management office.
On the way there, thoughts of work naturally rose up.
Year-end settlement, managing my assigned celebrities, preparing year-end gifts...
With December approaching, the list of things I had to do was piling up fast.
If I didn’t work diligently from now on, it was obvious I’d spend the holidays not in the happy comfort of home but in the hell of the office.
As I sorted through everything in my head and opened the office door, I found a guest already at my desk by the window on the far right.
"?"
Representative Baek.
She was sitting at my desk, looking a little more tired than usual.
Startled, I blurted out, "R-Representative?"
At my call, Representative Baek slowly turned her head and looked at me.
After studying me for a while, she suddenly smiled.
"Looks like everyone who needs to be here has arrived."
Representative Baek stood up from my seat.
"I have something to say, so gather up, everyone. Management people."
At her summons, every employee in the management office came together.
***
It took less than ten minutes for the management department road managers to gather in one place at Representative Baek’s call.
Most of the managers, aside from those out on external assignments or handling schedules, had assembled in the office.
Among them was Team Leader Ma Seok-du, with a cowlick sticking up as if he had just woken up.
"W-what is this?"
"..."
"W-why is the Representative... in the office?"
At Team Leader Ma’s question, my eyes swept across the office once.
Team 3’s seat is empty.
And then, almost as if on cue, the Jang So-yeon scandal broke.
Putting the clues together, I inferred the situation and let out a dry laugh.
"Whoa... so the rat was Team 3 leader?"
"Huh? What do you mean, Manager Kwon?"
Ma Team Leader asked, bewildered.
I didn’t answer. I looked at Representative Baek instead.
Coincidentally, she was now the center of everyone’s attention in the office, and with a faintly tired look, she finally spoke.
"Park, sir."
"Yes, Representative."
"Explain yesterday’s situation to the managers."
Park Yu-hyeon walked forward.
"Management department, listen carefully."
In a calm voice, Park Yu-hyeon began explaining the situation.
The Team 3 leader who had colluded with SAG,
the transfer offer delivered through a headhunter,
and the Team 3 leader and managers who were exposed and fired this morning.
As I listened, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
As expected, Team 3 leader was the culprit.
Honestly, I was a little surprised.
I had thought the rat hiding inside Baekhak was not Team 3 leader, but Lee Jae-min, who was under him.
From my perspective, that was a reasonable deduction.
But looking at the situation now, it did seem possible that Team 3 leader had been the culprit after all.
He did have a slimy side to him.
Kim Hae-chan, who had been subtly driving a wedge between Lee Jae-min and me.
When I remembered the mask hidden behind that friendly smile, I couldn’t say the present situation was entirely incomprehensible.
But unlike me, the management department, which had never seen Team 3 leader’s hidden side, was thrown into shock and fear by Park Yu-hyeon’s story.
"...What?"
"T-Team 3 leader really did that?"
"No, there must be some mistake. Why would Team 3 leader do something like that..."
"What did Team 3 leader even stand to gain from getting in bed with SAG?"
"Whoa! Something about this doesn’t add up..."
The Baekhak managers, who had always held Team 3 leader in high regard, were now pouring out sighs and groans over the shocking corruption.
The atmosphere in the office naturally sank.
"..."
No one could speak.
But looking at the situation now, they couldn’t really help it.
The betrayal of a Baekhak team leader they had trusted.
This wasn’t just a single employee’s act of corruption.
A Baekhak team leader is the pride of the management department.
That pride had been cracked.
As a result, not only the ordinary managers but even Baekhak’s team leaders could not shake off the shock.
Watching the heavy mood, I looked back at Representative Baek.
How will Representative Baek get through this?
I was curious.
She had come here personally, so she must have had a move prepared. How would Baek Ji-won restore the cracked pride of Baekhak’s management department?
Then, after remaining silent the whole time, Representative Baek finally spoke.
"I don’t expect loyalty to the company."
Her cold gaze swept over the entire office.
"But you shouldn’t stab it in the back. That much conscience and manners, as a human being, ought to be kept."
At her words, the atmosphere in the office grew even heavier.
Within that suffocating silence, Baek Ji-won suddenly called my name.
"Manager Kwon."
My eyes widened.
...Huh?
Why all of a sudden...
Is she calling me??
Still standing there in a daze, I heard Representative Baek call me again as she turned her head.
"Come forward."
Only then did I come to my senses and hurry forward.
I could feel the managers’ sharp gazes stabbing into the back of my head.
A shiver of tension ran down my spine.
Fortunately, by the time I stood before Representative Baek, I had managed my expression.
She looked at me for a moment, then spoke again.
"Team 3. Manager Lee, come forward too."
"!"
This time, the gazes that had been on me shifted to Lee Jae-min.
I was included in those gazes too.
...Huh? Why Lee Jae-min?
I tilted my head and secretly stole a glance at him.
"Uh, uh...?"
At Representative Baek’s summons, Lee Jae-min looked bewildered.
Seeing that, it seemed he himself didn’t know why she was calling him either.
What is this? What exactly is Representative Baek thinking?
What kind of board was she setting up to call both Lee Jae-min and me at the same time?
As my curiosity surged higher, Lee Jae-min came to stand beside me.
Representative Baek looked back and forth between us, then muttered casually, "A new era has come, so we need to decant new wine."
She brushed a hand lightly over my shoulder once and over Lee Jae-min’s shoulder once, then declared, "From now on, these two will be promoted to temporary Team 6 leader and temporary Team 3 leader, respectively."
"!"
The audacious declaration came straight from Representative Baek’s mouth.
Lee Jae-min and I both widened our eyes in shock.
But we were not the only ones stunned by her announcement.
"...What?"
"T-temporary team leader?"
"Then that means there’ll be six team leaders?"
"W-what? Is the whole organization getting reshuffled all of a sudden?"
The stagnant atmosphere in the management office began to stir.
My heart started pounding with it, and then Representative Baek poured oil on the fire.
"That doesn’t mean these two are really becoming team leaders."
Representative Baek moved slowly.
The managers’ eyes in the office followed her movement.
As though she were enjoying their attention, Representative Baek walked at an unhurried pace and stopped in front of Team 3 leader Kim Hae-chan’s empty desk.
"We’ll leave the Team 3 leader position vacant for the time being."
Her one sentence.
"So prove yourselves. Rank and seniority don’t matter. Whoever brings in results that anyone can recognize as convincing will be promoted to team leader."
That one sentence breathed a new wind into the management department.
"Managers are in sales, right? Then you have to speak with results. Whoever brings in those results gets the Team 3 leader seat."
That fresh wind lit a fire in the chests of the Baekhak managers, myself included.
"So go on, everybody. Run for it. Aim for the team leader seat."
A new era had opened in Baekhak’s management department.
***
Representative Baek’s declaration was nothing short of revolutionary.
Maybe that was why the office atmosphere was still blazing even after she left.
"Wow... what on earth happened first thing in the morning?"
"Team 3 leader got his head chopped off, and now there are two temporary team leaders?"
"But from what the Representative said, they really do seem temporary."
"She said whoever brings in results gets the Team 3 leader seat. Doesn’t that mean whoever delivers the results gets the real team leader spot?"
Watching the scene, I clicked my tongue.
Wow... Representative Baek.
I’ll give her that.
No, I had no choice but to give her that.
She’s turning Kim Hae-chan’s betrayal into something like this?
By making the managers compete over the vacant team leader seat and pushing the office atmosphere into overdrive.
Who else but Representative Baek could make a decision like that?
Shaking my head again, I thought it through slowly.
...But competition is competition, and if this is how it goes, then I’m basically a team leader now, right?
I felt dazed.
I had expected that one day I’d become a team leader, but I had never imagined it would happen like this.
But thinking about it again, I was only a temporary team leader. I still wasn’t a real one.
Right. It’s still temporary. I’m not really a team leader yet.
Representative Baek had said it herself.
Anyone who brought in results could become a team leader.
In other words, even managers who had never been hungry for results until now would jump into this race.
"Too early to feel safe."
A competitive race with everyone taking part for the vacant team leader seat.
To seize the real team leader position, I would have to prove my worth once again in that race.
As the pressure from that suffocating situation sent my heart racing hard, familiar background music echoed from the rooftop where I had gone to smoke.
We wish you a Merry Christmas.
My eyes widened.
"A carol?"
I slowly lifted my head.
Over the clear autumn sky, thick clouds had gathered before I knew it.
Watching that sky in silence for a moment, I muttered, "December. Winter’s here."
It was truly the end of the year now.
And when December came, the first day that came to mind was, as always, Christmas.
At that moment, before I could stop myself, I muttered a woman’s name.
"Lee Ha-eun."
Top-tier actress Lee Ha-eun.
She would return with Christmas.