The Scent of Sweat
People generally don’t like the smell of sweat.
Cheon A-ram lifted the entire bowl of seolleongtang laced with radish kimchi broth and gulped it down before exclaiming in delight.
“Kuhhh! This is killer.”
The luxury suit and the viper-like gaze both melted away, leaving behind nothing but the vibe of a construction site foreman. There was no CEO of an entertainment agency here—just one exhausted laborer who had finished a hard day’s work.
Seo Suyeon, who had been attending to Cheon A-ram since childhood, felt dizzy watching her and asked,
“I made a reservation at a fine restaurant. Are you sure this place is acceptable?”
“The one famous for escargot? This spot’s better.”
The more Seo Suyeon listened, the dizzier she became. She had no desire to continue that conversation, so she changed the subject.
“So, what kind of scent did that Seon Taeyang fellow give off?”
At first glance, her question seemed rude—evaluating someone by their smell—but Seo Suyeon and Cheon A-ram understood it differently. To them, scent carried another meaning entirely. They both knew Cheon A-ram could detect the true nature of selfish people through smell.
“…Actually, I’ve smelled him before today.”
“When did you smell him beforehand?”
“Before trying to recruit him, I wanted to check his scent first. So I went to the logistics center where he was unloading cargo and took a whiff.”
Seo Suyeon wondered how an outsider like her had even gotten inside.
“Are you acquainted with the center’s manager?”
“No, I applied for a part-time job and got in as a worker. While unloading, I approached him during break time and smelled him.”
Seo Suyeon felt dizzy again. The thought of Cheon A-ram, who had never done that kind of labor in her life, working as a cargo handler caused her cognitive dissonance. For now, she decided to pretend she hadn’t heard it.
“What scent did you pick up then?”
“…There was a scent. The kind of person I want is someone like you, Suyeon—someone who doesn’t give off any scent at all.”
Her talent was absolute. If she had smelled something on Taeyang, it meant his heart wasn’t entirely pure.
“Are you all right with that?”
Seo Suyeon asked whether recruiting Seon Taeyang, who carried such a scent, was acceptable. But Cheon A-ram seemed to interpret the question as whether the unloading work itself had been acceptable.
“My back and joints are killing me, but it wasn’t that bad. Luckily, the people I worked with didn’t smell too offensive either. …And there was this thick, sticky male camaraderie? Something like that. It was kind of fun.”
It was a world Seo Suyeon had no desire to know anything about.
“I learned this there too!”
Cheon A-ram poured radish kimchi broth into Seo Suyeon’s untouched bowl of milky seolleongtang broth.
“It tastes better like this!”
Looking at the pinkish broth, Seo Suyeon’s appetite vanished. Still, she couldn’t ignore her superior’s goodwill, so she took a spoonful. It was delicious. Which only made her angrier.
Watching Cheon A-ram slurp down the pink seolleongtang, Seo Suyeon said,
“What I was trying to ask was whether it’s all right to recruit Seon Taeyang when he gives off that kind of scent.”
Cheon A-ram finally understood and muttered, “Ah, so that’s what you meant.” Then, with a meaningful expression, she spoke.
“…The thing is, there is a scent, but it’s unique.”
“In what way?”
“How should I put it… It’s a stench, sure, but strangely addictive?”
Cheon A-ram tilted her head as if even she found it hard to define.
“Cheonggukjang is too much… Maybe it’s more like a man’s sweat? It falls under the stench category, but it’s not unpleasant to smell?”
Seo Suyeon gave her honest opinion.
“…People generally don’t like the smell of sweat.”
She was usually the ultimate yes-woman, but she refused to agree with that statement.
***
“This is the conference room!”
I exclaimed in admiration at the sight of the clean meeting room.
“Ma’am, you can speak casually with me.”
“Should I? All right, I’ll talk casually from now on.”
That was more comfortable anyway.
“This is the shower room!”
“Oh.”
“Whoa.”
“And this is the training room!”
Like a child proudly showing off a perfect test score, Cheon A-ram introduced the facilities of Two Bear Entertainment to Gyeowool and me one by one.
“You’ve invested quite a lot.”
“Does it show?”
I thought it was worth the pride in her voice.
“The overall scale is on the smaller side, but the structure and equipment are mostly top-tier.”
“I didn’t skimp when it came to that. I believe you get what you pay for.”
“I agree. Cutting corners on equipment won’t produce good quality.”
I nodded as I spoke.
“Honestly, since I’d never heard of this agency before, I imagined some tiny operation where trainees eat and practice in an undecorated room.”
That expectation had been betrayed—in a good way.
“Well, most new agencies that can’t even secure proper investment look like that.”
Two Bear Entertainment’s facilities were far from that image. In terms of equipment alone, it could hold its head high even against SS’s facilities. This wasn’t something you achieved with small investments.
“Seeing how seriously you’re investing in this, ma’am, I’m feeling motivated too.”
Cheon A-ram smiled contentedly at my reaction and asked Gyeowool,
“What do you think, Gyeowool?”
“…M-me? I like it so, so much!”
“Really? I’m glad you think so. It was worth putting in the effort.”
“…But I wish it were a little darker. I’m a bit scared of bright spaces.”
…Gyeowool, I understand, but let’s not show our loser vibes outside.
“You’ll adapt.”
“…Okay.”
I turned to Cheon A-ram, who had started muttering to herself about whether she’d chosen lights that were too strong, and said,
“I think we’ve seen enough of the facilities. I really like them. So, could you introduce the other trainees now?”
“Other trainees?”
Cheon A-ram reacted as if she’d heard a question she’d never considered before. Why was she responding like that to something so obvious?
“Yes, the other trainees.”
“We only have one trainee.”
“…You’re not talking about Gyeowool, right?”
“As expected of Team Leader Seon—you got it right!”
Cheon A-ram said cheerfully, raising her thumb.
Was she out of her mind?
“No, that doesn’t make any sense… Where are the other staff members? I think I need to talk to them.”
If the CEO was running things like this and no one had said a word, then the employees were the real culprits. I needed to see their faces.
“If you’re talking about staff, there’s Suyeon. But she’s at the main house filling in for me right now, so it’ll be hard to see her. Want me to call her?”
“Not that Suyeon person—what about the other employees?”
“Other employees?”
“Other employees?” my ass. Was this some kind of prank? A hidden-camera initiation for laughs? Ah, I get it—now the employees are going to come pouring out from behind.
“We have two employees.”
Reality was cruel.
“You mean me and the Suyeon you just mentioned?”
“As expected of Team Leader Seon—you got it right!”
I made a quick decision.
“I’m withdrawing my employment. It was fun while it lasted, ma’am.”
We hadn’t signed a contract yet, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. I was about to grab Gyeowool and flee this hellscape when Cheon A-ram spoke.
“Wait.”
“…?”
“If that’s what the team leader wants, I can’t stop you. But there’s something you don’t know, so I should probably tell you.”
“What are you referring to?”
“You haven’t been having much luck with job hunting lately, have you? You don’t think that’s a coincidence, right?”
Of course not. I just couldn’t figure out the reason.
“Do you know the reason, ma’am?”
“Of course I do. It’s because of my family.”
Family? …Don’t tell me.
“My oldest brother—Cheon Jonghun—gave every agency a heads-up about you.”
“…What kind of heads-up?”
“‘Any agency that takes in Seon Taeyang and Han Gyeowool should be prepared to become complete enemies with SS.’”
It was insane.
“Wow, even a diplomatic note from a superpower to a vassal state wouldn’t go that far. He’s my family, but he’s really something.”
“Has that Cheon Jonghun guy gone senile or something?”
He wasn’t even that old.
“I think he’s still pretty sharp.”
I rubbed my throbbing head and said,
“I know Cheon Jonghun pretty well, and he’s not the type to do something like that.”
“Right, he’s not that type.”
“Exactly. He’s the embodiment of pride and has a flawless track record. Why would he pull something like that? Is he actually crazy?”
“Maybe he felt threatened enough to do it?”
He created the crisis himself, so what the hell kind of threat was he feeling?
“The emergence of a powerful competitor, for example.”
“…You’re not talking about me and Gyeowool, are you?”
Even I thought that sounded paranoid. What kind of chaebol heir would feel threatened by one jobless guy and one bullied trainee?
Cheon A-ram didn’t answer and simply shrugged. It could mean yes, or it could mean no.
“Anyway, with things like this, job hunting won’t be easy going forward either. Do you have a plan?”
I turned on my heel, walked straight up to Cheon A-ram, and said,
“I want to make Two Bear Entertainment the best in the country, ma’am!”
“As expected of Team Leader Seon—you got it right!”