Recruiting PD Lee Hyo-young
Tuesday.
Perhaps because he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol the night before and had gone home early for a proper night's sleep, Young-hoon felt refreshed and limber. After eating the breakfast Su-jin, who was on morning duty that week, had made for him, he headed off to work. Once again, he was the first one in the office. The thought that this routine wouldn't last much longer sent his years at the company flashing past like a lantern show.
As always, Park Dae-ri would be bringing coffee this morning. Young-hoon was waiting for word from President Lee Jae-man, but no text had come. It seemed like something must have gone wrong. And since they say the desperate man digs the well first, Young-hoon picked up the phone and called him himself. Sure enough, no answer. The very moment he was about to leave a message, a text from President Lee Jae-man arrived.
The instant Young-hoon finished sending his reply to President Lee Jae-man, Park Dae-ri walked into the office carrying the coffee.
"By the way, who's this person you're texting with every morning? Don't tell me it's a girlfriend."
"No, it's President Lee Jae-man. He keeps texting me about yesterday's results and things we need to discuss."
"So I should be filing reports to you now, is that it?"
"I'd call it sharing updates rather than filing reports. It's not like it happens that often, either. You said you went to Girin Entertainment with Manager Kim yesterday, didn't you?"
"That place is insane. I've never seen so many casting calls pour in. Five Girls really is the it thing right now."
"Manager Kim says you two split up a lot of the work?"
"Eh, all I did was take a few calls and sort some paperwork."
"You going again today?"
"Looks like I'll have to drop by whenever I find the time. I'm taking Jin-man with me today, too."
"You know to be careful nobody notices, right?"
"Yes sir, CEO!"
"That's exactly what I told you not to do…."
Before long, all the employees had arrived at work. For some reason, even that rascal Deputy Hong showed up on time today. With Deputy General Manager Cho having resigned, some of the swagger had drained from Hong's neck as well — without anyone left to cover for him, it seemed he could no longer run wild as he pleased.
Soon Manager Kim called a meeting.
"With the Team Leader resigning so suddenly, I'll be handling things in his place until the regular personnel rotation. It shouldn't last more than a couple of weeks, so I ask for everyone's cooperation. The day after tomorrow is the November closing, and I don't anticipate any problems with sales. Let's make sure the delivery documentation audit is thoroughly prepared. Deputy Hong, have you finished organizing everything?"
"Don't worry about my work. I'll handle it myself. If there's nothing else, I'll be going. Wonder if it'll snow — my body's all achy. Might as well hit the sauna."
That rascal Deputy Hong definitely had something backing him up. Otherwise, there was no way he'd be that brazen.
"He's the reason this whole mess happened, and I have no idea what that punk has to be so confident about."
"We'll find out what that backing is tomorrow, I suppose."
"Manager Kim, I'm taking Jin-man to Girin Entertainment today. I want to talk over what tasks to give him."
"Sounds good. I'm busy again today."
"Right. Then let's all get to work. Oh — Park Dae-ri, pass along a message to Kim Gi-hyun: have him come over to the Synergy Building by two o'clock this afternoon."
"Got it. You having a meeting there today?"
"Yeah. Trying to move things forward with the coffee team and the tea team."
The moment Young-hoon stepped out of the conference room, he called PD Lee Hyo-young. The man was apparently working at the broadcasting station right then, so they set up a lunch date and agreed to meet near the station.
With everything urgent squared away, Young-hoon passed the time in a daze. This was usually the hour when he'd be trading group messages with the Five Girls girls, and with no KakaoTalk coming in, he couldn't help feeling something was missing. He slipped out of the office at a reasonable point and met PD Lee Hyo-young almost immediately. They had a quick lunch of bean-sprout hangover soup at a place near MBS, then moved next door to a coffee shop.
"I think I drink more than ten cups of coffee a day. I wonder if I'm addicted."
PD Lee Hyo-young opened with a joke and a light laugh.
"I drink quite a bit myself, but not quite to your level, PD-nim. You must be very busy these days?"
"With the premiere coming next week and the preview screening the day after tomorrow, I'm buried in preparations. For the screening, I have to put together a two-hour film that isn't quite a film."
"I'm afraid I don't quite follow…."
"Aha — that's right, you said you don't know the broadcasting business well, CEO Kim. We've shot about eight episodes' worth so far, and for the people attending the preview, we typically compress it into roughly two hours as a demo. That's what I'm working on right now."
"Ah, I understand. On top of editing the filmed episodes, now you have to produce a demo as well — you must be run off your feet."
"But if CEO Kim says he wants to see me, I come, no questions asked. I told you that before. Oh, by the way — you're coming to the preview screening, right?"
"Yes. PD Shin Hye-yoon contacted me about it."
"Then let's hear the real reason you asked to see me today."
Young-hoon pulled a script out of his bag and handed it over to PD Lee Hyo-young.
"So it's finally arrived."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, as it happens, I spoke with PD Shin Hye-yoon on the phone this very morning. She said you gave her a script yesterday and she stayed up all night reading it. She said the work was so good she cried her way through it. She's been asked to join the drama's production, and while her heart wants to jump in right away, reality is complicated, so she came to me for advice."
"And what did you tell her?"
"I said that CEO Kim would probably be making me the exact same offer around today, and that we should think it over together. And sure enough — the moment you called, I knew it."
"Then I'll give you this script. Read it and give me your honest assessment. And please let me know as soon as possible whether you'll join the production."
"Reading the script will be a mere formality — no problems there. When is the shoot scheduled to begin?"
"Chairman Jang is pressing hard, but we probably won't start until February?"
'Love After Separation' ends in early February, so editing should wrap by late January… that leaves us a bit of breathing room. But that means I'll have to resign from the broadcasting station."
"If you join forces with me, PD-nim, you'll have plenty of work ahead. You'll need to work on at least one drama a year, no exceptions. In fact, I've already started writing the next one."
"Understood. Then I'll get back to you as quickly as I can, together with PD Shin Hye-yoon."
"I know you're busy — you should head back up. Let's meet at the preview screening the day after tomorrow. I'll be waiting for a good answer."
"Of course. Take care, CEO Kim."
Young-hoon reckoned he'd won more than half of PD Lee Hyo-young's commitment. If PD Lee Hyo-young and PD Shin Hye-yoon both came on board, that would all but complete a dream team. The meeting time was fast approaching, so he had to head over to his office on Teheran-ro.
But the moment he walked into his own office, he found Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi waiting for him in the empty room.
"Well now, what brings the two of you to an empty office?"
"Ah, we knew you'd be coming, so we were waiting."
"Why? Is something the matter?"
"Well, no, it's not exactly…."
Chairman Choi hemmed and hawed. Unable to watch any longer, Chairman Jang spoke up.
"Choi here screwed up. Director Park found out."
"About what? Don't tell me — going to ride the Chinese horse[馬]?"
"Apparently he went and bragged to Director Park."
"About what? Please, give me the details."
"Hmhm～ Well, yesterday I got the results of my full checkup at Director Park's hospital. Just as expected, my body age came out at early fifties. So I was so delighted I had a drink with Director Park. And in that moment, I slipped up and… honestly, I'd rather just sew my own mouth shut."
"Anyway, Director Park will come running over any minute now. That's why we were waiting for you, CEO Kim — to figure out how to handle it."
"Then why not just bring him along? Surely there's room for Director Park on the plane."
Chairman Choi brightened at Young-hoon's suggestion.
"So we tell Director Park to come with us?"
Before long, Director Park arrived at Young-hoon's office along with a man in his mid-thirties. Like father, like son, as they say — one look told you this was Director Park's boy. The moment the son saw the two chairmen, he bowed his head in greeting.
"It is an honor to see you, Chairmen."
"Oh～ yes. Been keeping well, have you?"
Chairman Jang asked with a hint of curiosity. "And why did you bring your son along, Director Park?"
"Chairman Choi told me to bring him yesterday, sir."
"Right. The reason I asked him to come is… we have a meeting today, and it seemed wise to have someone on hand to analyze the results. Introduce yourself to CEO Kim."
Young-hoon rose from his seat and bowed politely. This was Team Leader Park Sung-ho's older brother — practically a friend of his own, after all — so regardless of rank, courtesy demanded respect.
"Hello, I'm Kim Young-hoon."
"I've heard a great deal about you from Sung-ho. I'm Park Myung-ho."
"No wonder you look exactly like Sung-ho."
Director Park cut in slyly. "Well, somebody had to scatter the seed, didn't they?"
"Aigoo, honestly— Dad."
"Am I wrong? If I'm the one who planted the seed and the field is your mother, then brothers should look alike. It'd be stranger if they didn't. And I hear you're going to be working with our second boy? He comes home and brags about it endlessly — I can't stand to watch."
"Seems that work suits Team Leader Park."
"He got promoted to team leader?"
"Not yet, sir. At the company he's moving to."
"Myung-ho, you wait in the conference room for a moment. The chairmen and I have something to discuss."
The instant Director Park confirmed his son had gone into the conference room, his true colors emerged.
"Chairman Choi, how did it go?"
"CEO Kim says we should bring you along."
"Thank you, CEO Kim. Thanks to you, I'll ride the Chinese horse[馬] free of charge."
"But will it be all right, leaving the hospital empty?"
"Do I see patients myself these days? I'm just the face of the place now."
Young-hoon had no objection to Director Park tagging along. Then it suddenly struck him: the language barrier. He only spoke English, and the two chairmen couldn't manage even that much.
"Chairmen, are we sure we can go without an interpreter?"
Chairman Choi, too caught up in the prospect of riding the Chinese horse[馬], seemed not to have given the interpreter a single thought. At that, Director Park broke into a wide grin.
"That's precisely why I need to come. I happen to speak Chinese quite well. Leave the chairmen's interpretation entirely to me."