Departure to São Paulo
Director Lee Yong-su was overjoyed when he received word that Hong A-yun had been cast as the female lead.
For his first feature film, both leads were the actors he had wanted. The production company had solid finances that meant no fretting over the budget.
It couldn't have been better.
Director Lee Yong-su set off for work with a spring in his step. Though "work" was really just climbing the twenty-odd steps from the first floor to the second, his stride was lighter than ever.
These days he was refining the dialogue in the screenplay and fleshing out the story here and there. Before diving into the real work, he brewed a simple cup of coffee and settled onto the sofa.
While reading the news on his smartphone to organize his thoughts, Director Lee Yong-su clicked an article that had appeared on both the social and entertainment pages.
Hmm? Plus10... that was the company Hong A-yun was with.
Even if a commercial film director wasn't exactly deep in the industry, he wasn't unaware of the ugly rumors that had been spreading lately.
Director Lee took a sip of coffee and clicked the article.
Byeon Hak-gyu (54), CEO of Plus10, who was indicted on six charges including bribery, embezzlement of public funds, and tax evasion, has fled to the Philippines, and his whereabouts remain unclear.
A police official explained, "We are checking everything we can domestically, but we have no choice but to wait for contact from Interpol."
If the suspect currently under a red notice is arrested, South Korea, as a member of the Southeast Asian cooperation network, can have the fugitive extradited.
However, since Byeon Hak-gyu's trail has gone cold after leaving the country, investigations will begin in cooperation with local Philippine police.
To the general public it was just another social-page news item of little interest, but in this industry it was quite the big deal.
Even in the café on the third floor of Saebyeol, talk of the vanished CEO Byeon Hak-gyu was on every employee's lips.
Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon, seated at Yeon-woo's table, shook her head.
"We should have waited a little longer. If we'd known Plus10 would collapse on its own like this, we wouldn't have needed to cover Hong A-yun's penalty fee..."
Yeon-woo smiled.
"The investigation has already started. If any illegality is confirmed in the contract between Hong A-yun and Byeon Hak-gyu, that means they defrauded us."
"Hmm, true?"
"Then Saebyeol will have to file a civil suit against Plus10 and claim damages."
"Can we actually collect? I heard Byeon Hak-gyu laundered all the money and wired it overseas before he fled."
In truth, it wasn't Byeon Hak-gyu who had laundered it—Baeksol had framed him and siphoned it off.
There was no way they would find Byeon Hak-gyu in the Philippines when he might already be at the bottom of the South Pacific somewhere.
But that was exactly what Yeon-woo was after.
He had never cared about the penalty money they had paid out. No—he was hoping they wouldn't get it back.
What Yeon-woo ultimately wanted to get his hands on wasn't money, but information.
"Then we'll also apply for a compensation order and seize movable property. We need to take every last piece of furniture left in the Plus10 building. Get our company's law firm to prepare everything in advance."
He planned to pursue a damages claim, force the seizure of Plus10's computers and private servers, and secure them legally.
Baeksol had probably used various methods to erase their own traces from Plus10's network, but as he had said before, once things went digital, perfect security didn't exist.
It wasn't for nothing that Han Hae-un had braved a blizzard to deliver reports by drone and kept paper files in cabinets rather than Windows folders.
If they had a clear keyword to search for, they could recover a good portion of the discarded data from the seized computers.
And while Baeksol would never dream that their identity was known, Yeon-woo and his agents had the clear keyword: Baeksol.
Han Hae-un is one of the top experts in that field, after all.
Watching Yeon-woo organize his thoughts, Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon tilted her head.
"Does the economics department at Korea University teach things like that? Compensation orders, movable... what was it?"
"...Yes, they do. The world is a rough place these days."
"Actor Ryu, you only attended school for a year."
"Ahem. Director Yoon. I'll go prepare for the Brazil schedule, then."
Leaving Director Yoon's suspicious gaze behind, Yeon-woo hurriedly stood up.
What could he do? She would just think he was a bit clever.
Hong A-yun began receiving systematic acting lessons at Saebyeol Entertainment.
She already possessed outstanding talent, but sitting through "real classes" that explained theory in detail, she could feel herself improving.
The lessons she had taken at Plus10 as a clueless kid had been lessons in name only; she had never even known what kind of background the instructors had. She had learned because she was told to, but looking back now, it hadn't been proper acting instruction at all.
The tuition the company paid had simply ballooned like a snowball in a collusive game between the hired instructors and the company footing the bill.
The classes she was taking at Saebyeol were on an entirely different level.
Most of the instructors who came to Saebyeol were familiar faces—established actors—and among them was Jeong Cheol-min, a fellow Saebyeol actor.
The people taking classes with her were impressive as well.
"I'm so glad you came to our company, Unnie."
"...Su-yeon. I feel like I'm dreaming every single day. When I wake up in the morning my heart drops, wondering if it was all a dream."
Su-yeon, who used to chase after her in a middle-school uniform calling "Unnie, Unnie" back at Plus10, had already grown this much.
"Do you still keep in touch with Ju-yeong Unnie?"
"Mmm, no. We talked now and then the year I left the company, but it stopped pretty quickly."
"Still, now that Plus10 has gone under, once the legal issues are sorted out, maybe she'll try the entertainment industry again?"
"Yeah. Ju-yeong was a trainee for a singer, so idols might be tough because of her age now, but if she went solo..."
Besides Jeong Su-yeon and Hong A-yun, there had been countless trainees at Plus10 who had given up on their dreams.
Because she was directly involved, Hong A-yun had searched out every single article pouring out about the case.
Saebyeol had cleanly settled her debt, so she could start working again right away without problems. But for the other trainees, even if the contracts were illegal, there was no telling how long it would take for the matter to go to trial and be resolved.
It was always the victims who were in a hurry; the perpetrators could drag their feet in peace.
They had expanded octopus-style into acting, singing, modeling, and more without any real intention of nurturing talent, so the number of victims would be considerable.
Just then Han Byeol, still in her school uniform, came into the lesson room.
"Unnies, when class is over, want to go downstairs and grab something to eat?!"
"Shall we?"
Hong A-yun, who had already grown close to the other actors under the agency, smiled and welcomed Han Byeol.
"Seeing Byeol in her uniform is just like looking at Su-yeon back then."
But the foundation was different.
She had only been here a few days, yet she felt certain that Saebyeol could raise her into a truly fine actress.
"Unnie, Unnie! What should we eat? The restaurant right downstairs always has a huge line, so it'll be hard to get in."
"Want tteokbokki?"
"Tteokbokki!"
Just then Jeong Cheol-min entered the lesson room to start the acting class.
"All right, all right, let's get started, kids."
"Teacher! We're going for tteokbokki after. Want to come with us?"
At Han Byeol's words, Jeong Cheol-min pointed a finger downward—not at the floor, but at the floor below.
"The company cafeteria opened on the third floor today. Have you kids been yet? It's incredible."
The three actresses' eyes sparkled.
"Really?!"
While the trio of actresses who would become Saebyeol's future sat through class, Yeon-woo was packing.
"Yes. So I'm planning to head to Brazil for about a week of schedule."
"Alright. Since it's a big corporation, I'm sure they'll take good care of you, but the news is always full of dangerous stories, so I worry. Always take care of yourself. And the gochujang..."
"I packed it."
Yeon-woo answered with a laugh at his mother's words.
Her love for gochujang was truly consistent.
"Then the airport will be packed with people again."
"Well, this time the departure schedule is private, so I should be able to leave quietly."
"Is that so?"
It was not.
The next day, when Yeon-woo arrived at the airport, fans and reporters who had somehow found out were waiting for him.
"It's a good thing I contacted SL's security team just in case."
"It is."
Yeon-woo nodded at Kim Min-su's words.
Men in black suits approached Kim Min-su's car and knocked gently.
Whirr—
When the window came down, a man who appeared to be the security team leader spoke politely.
"We'll provide security from here all the way to the local site. Shall we go?"
"Yes. Understood."
When Yeon-woo and Kim Min-su got out of the car, one of the SL security staff took Kim Min-su's van and headed for the parking lot.
Yeon-woo raised a hand in greeting to the reporters clicking shutters and the fans, and cheers erupted.
Hmm. Our actors are going to be leaving the country more and more often. Saebyeol will need its own security team.
As he walked toward check-in, Yeon-woo sketched out a rough plan.
Building a security team inside Saebyeol itself would be inefficient, and there was no one suitable to manage it.
I'll pull one of the agents from the fifth floor and have him set up a security firm.
If Saebyeol subcontracted to that firm, management would be much smoother.
While he was turning these thoughts over, Yeon-woo finished check-in and entered the gate.
Meanwhile, at that same hour, Lee Gyu-jin and Park Jung-hyeon, who had also arrived at the airport, tilted their heads and pushed through the crowd.
"Hey, looks like some idol showed up at the airport. Why are there so many people?"
It wasn't an idol but their actual employer, though Lee Gyu-jin, who had no idea, only tilted his head.
"There's so many people we're going to have to hurry. We'll be cutting it close for boarding."
"Does that mean we can't eat the airport yukgaejang?"
"...We just ate before we left."
"Still, when you come to the airport, you have to eat yukgaejang."
Watching Park Jung-hyeon somehow weave his massive frame through the crowd, Lee Gyu-jin sighed and shook his head.
The thought of carrying out an overseas mission with that bottomless pit made the future look foggy.
His skills were outstanding, of course, but living with him somehow drained your energy.
"Haa, I miss Team Leader Kim Su-hyeok. Or if Alpha-Beta came along, that would be nice..."
He didn't know it yet because the word hadn't reached him, but just as Lee Gyu-jin wished, Kim Su-hyeok was already en route from Hawaii to São Paulo, and the real Alpha-Beta—not Han Hae-un—was currently going through boarding procedures at the same airport.
And so the agents, each setting out on their own, headed for São Paulo.