Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Payday
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“This could become a public issue, so be more careful from now on. You're not nobodies anymore. You're famous.”
“…”
“Look at all those gifts that came to the company. Seventy percent of them are for you. No matter how many times we ask fans not to send them, they keep coming. And there will only be more.”
The Director pointed to about twenty boxes piled up beside her desk.
Gifts were an unexpected worry. It was a small amount now, but for Answer at their peak, the volume would be immense. It was an issue that needed to be managed to avoid scandals, like fans’ gifts ending up on second-hand markets.
We could put them in a charity bazaar, but we couldn't stop people from buying them there and reselling them.
“We’re back!”
“We’re baaack!”
Seol-ah, who had just returned with Choi Yoo-jun after finishing a broadcast, was still in her heavy makeup, a stark contrast to her casual jeans and jacket.
While that look might be familiar to the public, to me, who was used to her bare face, it looked suffocating, as if her skin couldn't breathe.
“Oh, good work. Go wait in the planning office. I’ll bring the settlement statements.”
“Thank you!”
“What’s there to thank me for? You’re the ones who earned the money.”
The Director said with a faint smile at Seol-ah's gratitude. Yi-na and Seul-bi, who had just been scolded by her, ran up and hugged Seol-ah as if grateful for her timely arrival.
“Hey? What’s with you two?”
“Hmph. We got scolded by the Director.”
“We got lumped in and scolded because of Yi-na!”
“Ah, what are you talking about!”
“Ah, what are you talking about!”
Watching the two bicker in Seol-ah’s arms, Ro-si let out a small laugh.
“How was the acting coach?”
Seol-ah asked as Ro-si approached her.
“It was great. It was amazing to see someone I’ve only seen on TV in person. He’s quite old, but his voice is incredible.”
“Yeah, that’s great. Keep up the good work, Ro-si.”
Following Seol-ah, who had her hands on Seul-bi’s and Yi-na’s waists, Ro-si also entered the planning office.
“Let’s go.”
The Director, who had gathered all the settlement statements, said to me.
“Me too?”
“Are they strangers to you?”
I should have just given her a vague answer when she asked about the settlement details. As I followed the Director, Choi Yoo-jun came up beside me.
“Yoo-jun, why are you following?”
“Ah! Oh, I thought I was supposed to come too. My apologies.”
“Yoo-jun, let’s you and Producer Min-jun talk separately in a bit.”
“Yes, Director!”
Choi Yoo-jun exclaimed energetically with an embarrassed expression and sat down in front of his computer. The kid still lacks a bit of tact.
I entered the planning office with the Director. The Answer members’ expectant gazes were fixed on the settlement statements in her hands.
“The CEO originally wanted to be the one to tell you, but something important came up, so I’m here in his place.”
“Yes, Director!”
Come to think of it, the CEO hadn’t shown his face since meeting President Gu. He was the type to always take credit for good news like this.
“Normally, even a manager shouldn’t know the artists’ financial details, but Producer Min-jun isn’t your typical manager. He’s here for the sake of transparency and your right to know.”
It seemed the Director was trying to bolster my authority.
“Yeees!”
“Do you really understand what I’m saying?”
“…”
The Answer members just exchanged glances.
“Producer Min-jun has landed more important contracts than you realize.”
“Ooooh!”
The Answer members exclaimed, looking at me.
Seeing a rare, playful side of Seol-ah made me chuckle.
“First of all, everyone, you’ve worked hard.”
“You’ve worked hard too!”
“You’ve endured so many ups and downs over the years to get to this point. I’m not just saying this—I’m truly proud of all of you.”
“Thank you.”
“Ro-si, your situation is different, so you know your payment will be calculated differently, right?”
“Yes, Director.”
The Director handed each of them a sheet of paper.
Ro-si got 12 million won? I thought she wouldn’t get paid this period.
Yi-na got 28 million won.
Seol-ah and Seul-bi each got around 35 million won.
“This is insane!”
Yi-na exclaimed in shock, but Seol-ah, Seul-bi, and Ro-si, though clearly just as surprised, were trying to maintain their poker faces.
“You already know our payment system, but I’ll explain it again. Payments are quarterly, so the next one is in three months. I’d love to pay you monthly, but as you know, our company’s systems aren’t quite that stable yet. Once the company is on solid ground, we plan to switch to monthly payments.”
“Thank you!”
The Answer members’ faces twitched with delighted smiles.
“The detailed breakdown is there, so review it and sign.”
The members looked over their statements with overwhelmed expressions, but it wasn't in an atmosphere of verifying the numbers.
They were probably just enjoying seeing the value assigned to every single event they had participated in.
The Director also wore a subtle smile, as if she understood exactly how they felt.
“Take your time. This is my favorite part, too. And this payment is actually on the smaller side since we had to deduct the remaining investment costs. That’s all been covered now, so your next payment will be much larger.”
“Thank you!”
I left the members, who were filled with elation, and exited the planning office. Seeing them so focused on their statements was incredibly satisfying.
“Yoo-jun, Mr. Min-jun, shall we have some tea? In the break room.”
I called Choi Yoo-jun, and we went to the small break room together.
I saw the Director on the phone with someone while checking the inside of the small refrigerator.
“…Yes, sir. This is JD Enter. There’s no Oriental salad left at all?”
-…
“No matter how popular it is, please stick to the ratio I mentioned at the beginning. The cheese sauce has too much sugar.”
She was the kind of director who had to manage every little detail. I wondered how much stress she must have lived with before I joined.
CEO Park Jae-yong was one of the better CEOs in the industry, but seeing Director Lee Sun constantly on edge sometimes made me find him a little detestable.
Choi Yoo-jun seemed to be thinking the same thing as he waited for the Director to finish her call.
All the employees at our company probably felt the same way about her. She was like a mother bustling about to save a struggling family. That was likely why everyone lowered their heads and listened intently whenever she spoke.
The call ended, and the coffee was ready.
“This is your payslip, Yoo-jun.”
“…Gasp! For re…?”
The Director brought a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.
Aside from ensuring Choi Yoo-jun’s loyalty to me and the company, I wanted him to learn with more passion and diligence. It seemed my repeated appeals to the Director had paid off.
5.5 million won.
The amount printed on Choi Yoo-jun’s payslip was double the salary of a manager at his level.
“Team Leader Min put in a good word, and I also included a partial incentive from the event contracts you were involved in.”
“Whoa… Thank you. I pledge my undying loyalty!”
“Don’t overdo it.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
It was a much smaller amount compared to what Answer received, but the overwhelmed look on Choi Yoo-jun’s face was no less intense than theirs had been.
“Starting next month, payslips will be sent by email instead of on paper, so you know.”
“Understood!”
I suspected the switch to email payslips was because of the conflict between me and Team Leader Lee.
“We’re also in the process of hiring a fan manager, so don’t worry.”
“Hahaha! A fan manager? No rush! You can take your time hiring one! I’ve got everything under control!”
He was overflowing with passion, clearly ecstatic about receiving a much larger salary than he’d expected.
“That’s a good attitude. I’m looking forward to seeing you excel as an A&R someday, so always stay on top of the trends.”
“Ah, right. I’m learning everything well. And I’m studying English hard in my own way.”
“Don’t just do it in your own way. Do it well.”
“Yes, ma’am! And thank you, Team Leader!”
“You’ve already forgotten that I told you to be quiet.”
“Ah!”
Choi Yoo-jun bowed with an awkward expression and started to head back to his desk, but then turned around for some reason.
“I thought I should take my coffee with me.”
The Director and I both chuckled at Choi Yoo-jun’s unabashed expression.
As she watched Choi Yoo-jun back away, the Director handed me a manila envelope.
“This would be a lot of money to some, but I’m not sure if you’ll be satisfied, Mr. Min-jun.”
I opened the envelope with a calm expression.
38 million won.
It was an incredible amount of money.
I had secured an unusual number of high-value contracts this month, but this was still nearly three times my previous record since joining the company.
“It’s a lot. Thank you.”
“Since it’s payday, don’t go out somewhere nice and splurge…”
“…”
The Director’s eyes glinted as she met my gaze.
“…You’re not the type to do that, are you, Mr. Min-jun.”
“No. I have a lot of work to do, but I don’t enjoy splurging anyway.”
“Right. I tried my best not to miss a single thing. Thank you for all your hard work.”
“I know you did. Thank you.”
I sensed a touch of emotion in the Director’s smile. It seemed she could tell that I trusted her.
“You don’t need to check it more carefully?”
“No.”
“Alright, then. Let’s head out.”
Back outside, the Director printed out the payslips for the other employees with a calm yet happy expression.
The face of every employee who received a payslip from her lit up with unexpected joy.
“Listen up while you check your payslips for any errors. The CEO wanted to be the one to tell you this, but I’m filling in for him today due to an important meeting.”
The Director cleared her throat slightly and spoke again.
“I know many of you were disappointed not to receive performance bonuses last year. It was the third year in a row, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Someone answered in an understanding tone.
How must it have felt for these employees to go without a year-end bonus? And for three years straight.
“Yes, I feel terrible about that. The average salary in this industry isn’t high to begin with, and on top of that, we had no bonuses. I promised that if things improved, I’d arrange for a consolation payment since I couldn’t give out bonuses at the end of the year. I’m so glad I can finally keep that promise.”
“Woohoo!”
A few employees cheered quietly.
“Employees with over five years of service will receive 4 million won. Those with over three years will get 3 million, over one year will get 2 million, and those with less than a year will receive a flat 1 million won. The company’s situation is steadily improving, and it looks like we’ll be able to pay out actual performance bonuses starting at the end of this year, so please continue to work hard.”
“Yeees!”
The employees, excited by the unexpected money, replied enthusiastically.
“Producer Min-jun?”
“Yes.”
When she suddenly called my name, the employees exchanged glances.
“Until now, our company was sustained solely by Kim Sung-hoon. A one-trick pony, as they say these days?”
The Director was young enough to use a word like ‘one-trick pony,’ but it still felt slightly out of place coming from her, as she usually spoke so formally.
“A huge reason for this improvement is Producer Min-jun, who re-launched Answer. He personally secured high-value contracts and expanded the scale of deals that had already come in… It’s hard to list everything he’s done. Let’s all give him a round of applause.”
“Woooah!”
The employees cheered and applauded for me.
*Director, why are you embarrassing me like this?*
“Want to say a few words?”
“No.”
*What is there to say?*
“Speech! Speech! Speech!”
“…”
But the cheerful employees clapped and chanted, and among them was Team Leader Lee, who looked genuinely happy.
This wasn’t a company retreat.
The atmosphere suggested their voices would only get louder if I didn’t say something, so it was better to just get it over with quickly.
I stood up from my seat.
“So handsome!”
“Hey, that came out of nowhere.”
“Heehee.”
A colleague from the marketing team chided the female employee from the PR team, but the mood was festive.
“I haven’t been with the company for long, but it’s true that I’ve worked hard.”
“Booo!”
The employees booed playfully.
“However! If it weren’t for all the senior staff members who remained loyal and worked tirelessly during JD Enter’s difficult times, we never would have been able to build this foundation for our leap forward. That must be why the Director and the other executives urgently arranged for this consolation payment.”
“Ooh.”
The Director smiled with amusement at my words and the employees’ reaction.
“I will continue to work my very hardest on the foundation you’ve all laid. Please continue to work hard so that my salary—and yours—can get even bigger. Thank you.”
“Woooah!”
The employees laughed and cheered joyfully.
The door to the planning office creaked open, and Yi-na’s face appeared. She seemed to find the atmosphere in the office quite fascinating.