Chapter 37
I’m translating the chapter and keeping the in-universe text in styled HTML blocks where the source actually uses special content. Next pass is just about preserving the chapter’s pacing and making sure the details line up cleanly in English.CHAPTER_TITLE: Tempo (6)
From late morning on, Leon Entertainment had been buzzing. Employees were running around in a frenzy, and by lunchtime the commotion had only grown worse. By the morning of the thirteenth, a day later, it had reached a peak.
“You know Gyeollo, right? That short film Team 4 was supposed to be handling?”
“Huh? Was there something like that? Ah, wait, I think I heard of it.”
“It got an official invitation to the Busan International Film Festival—and it’s in the competition section, too!”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yeah, fact check it. And apparently the one who handled Gyeollo was Kang Jaeha from Team 4.”
“Kang Jaeha? That awkward guy?”
The rumor spread from mouth to mouth like wildfire.
“Kang Jaeha hit the jackpot.”
“Exactly! Did you hear it from the PR team? I nearly fainted when I heard.”
“He was the guy who got torn apart by Rayoon and then dumped in Team 4, right? Went over there and ended up giving the whole team a real breathing tube.”
“Whoa, I heard he actually reached out personally to that short film nobody cared about, Gyeollo. And he even shoved Yoon Dayeon and some unknown actress from Team 4 into it.”
“No, seriously, that’s the part that’s crazy to me. In my memory, Kang Jaeha’s manager was some kind of—really soft, maybe even kind of stupid? That sort of image. So what the hell happened?”
All over Leon, people kept bringing up Gyeollo and Kang Jaeha without pause.
“They say he personally dug up the project and handed it over to Yoon Dayeon. An Jihee? An Jihee? Anyway, one of Team 4’s unknown actresses.”
“No, they even made that ‘crazy psycho’ Yoon Dayeon audition for the short film.”
“What? She didn’t just get the part?”
“Nope. Even though it was a short film, they made Yoon Dayeon audition and win the role on skill.”
“It’s amazing she listened to him.”
“Looks like Kang Jaeha finally woke up. He used to look so limp.”
“How did he even do it? Anyway, the end result is that the work Kang Jaeha picked got invited to the Busan International Film Festival, right?”
Team 4, which no one had paid much attention to, suddenly surged upward, and the names Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee spread just as widely.
But the hottest name of all was still Kang Jaeha.
“Team 4’s manager, Kang Jaeha—what was it, an awakening? Anyway, he’s like a completely different person now!”
“I heard the same thing from Management Team 3 over there. They said Kang Jaeha’s body got better, too? Somebody said they nearly jumped when they saw his arms bulging.”
Jaeha had shot to stardom. Of course, that was only inside Leon Entertainment. Still, it was a major shift. Until now, no one had paid Kang Jaeha any real attention, and most people didn’t even know his name clearly.
He was just “that guy” or “the one who went off on Rayoon.”
That was why the upheaval hit twice as hard.
It was too big a reversal. And the one driving that reversal was none other than the usually overlooked, soft-looking Kang Jaeha.
Of course, all that attention was nothing but a pain in the ass for the man in question.
Hah. Annoying.
Because a bunch of employees had swarmed Team 4, which had been a lonely island no one ever came to visit.
“He really does seem different, doesn’t he?”
“Lemme see, lemme see.”
Thanks to the rumor, naturally, everyone had gotten curious about Kang Jaeha. And even if the rumor was based on facts, it tended to get exaggerated the farther it spread.
“They said he turned into a muscle guy, but he’s not that much, is he?”
“Still, compared to before, he really has changed a lot. Back then he looked all weak and shaky, but now he’s got that masculine vibe.”
Kang Jaeha felt like a lion or elephant in a zoo. He swallowed down his irritation, though. Making a move now would only make things worse.
I expected this much, but this is a little much.
Even Jaeha hadn’t expected the rumor to blow up this far. He thought of CEO Han Taeseong’s face.
Seems like that guy fanned the flames a bit.
Right now, all Kang Jaeha wanted was to punch Han Taeseong in the face for standing there and grinning.
Then—
“Hey, hey, aren’t you all supposed to be working?!”
It was the plump Chief Manager Kim Daeyong who brought order to the chaos.
“You never paid him any mind before, so why are you all making such a racket now?”
He forced the gathered employees back to their places. Jaeha mentally muttered nice, and as Kim Daeyong grumbled his way inside, he attached himself to Kang Jaeha.
“Jaeha, this is wild. From the lobby up, everyone’s talking about you.”
“Looks like I won’t be able to go out.”
“I mean, the Busan International Film Festival thing is huge, but honestly, the bigger story is that you changed. Even I was shocked.”
“Hm.”
“Looks like it’ll be noisy for a while.”
Kim Daeyong smiled ruefully, then said with real feeling, “But Jaeha, you really did change in a ridiculous way.”
He had been talking about the first time he’d met Jaeha, but then abruptly changed the subject.
“Oh, and Jaeha, I went ahead and arranged the dress shop.”
Why are you telling me that like you need my report? Kang Jaeha found it odd, but Kim Daeyong seemed not to care. In any case, he must have already checked the dress vendors for Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee.
“We should go soon and pick out dresses for Dayeon and Jihee, then have them try them on, right?”
At the same time, Jaeha’s vision swayed. A familiar sense of foreknowledge. Déjà vu. This time there was a protagonist to the déjà vu: Chief Manager Kim Daeyong. Which meant it wasn’t one of his subordinates’ premonitions. In an instant, the scene before Kang Jaeha’s eyes shifted into a third-person image, different from reality.
It was inside a van. The van was moving steadily down the road. Ryu Jinwoo was in the driver’s seat. In the passenger seat, Chief Manager Kim Daeyong was looking at his phone. He lowered his gaze to the screen with a rather serious expression, then turned his head.
“A Netflix one-act project? This looks like it’s blowing up.”
The answer came quickly from road manager Ryu Jinwoo, who was driving.
“Ah, that one. It’s been crazy hot lately on YouTube and everywhere else, too. It’s going viral all over social media.”
“People must really be watching it. It’s shooting up the rankings, too. It’s not easy for a one-act to get this much attention. Makes you wonder if slapping money on something is enough to make anything take off.”
“Well, the platform being Netflix is a big part of it, too. Netflix has been dumping a ton of money into original series lately.”
That was all. Soon after, Jaeha’s vision swayed again and returned to the present. Kim Daeyong, the main figure in the déjà vu, was still chatting away in front of him, and Jaeha replayed what he’d just seen.
A Netflix one-act project, huh.
After finishing a perfunctory reply to Kim Daeyong, Jaeha placed his hand on the laptop. He searched for the Netflix one-act project.
But—
Nothing.
There was still no information. Which meant the project hadn’t started yet. Jaeha clicked the mouse with his index finger, tapping out a quiet rhythm. Many names were passing through his head. First was Oh Jongman, who had shifted into writing.
Then he turned his gaze. Transparent file folders were laid out nearby.
They held information on various broadcasters’ one-act contests, which had been handed over to Oh Jongman.
In that case, there’s no need to go through a broadcaster.
Netflix. If he hadn’t seen the déjà vu, he might have kept weighing broadcasters, but Kang Jaeha’s mind was already leaning toward Netflix.
And—
It gives the actors room to rise, too.
He meant Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee.
Two days later, on the morning of the fifteenth, Jaeha was at a dress showroom.
He could be found on the second floor of the dress vendor’s building, sitting on a soft sofa and looking down at his phone. His expression was bland. Around him, though, the place was lively with noise.
“Ah! As expected, black suits Dayeon best!”
“Really?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Um, unnie, I think I—”
“Mm-hm, Jihee, I thought beige would be better, but white actually suits you even more, doesn’t it?”
Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee were in the middle of choosing their dresses. These were, of course, for the officially invited Busan International Film Festival. The opening ceremony red carpet was the main event, and the closing ceremony would also need dresses.
This showroom had been selected by Chief Manager Kim Daeyong together with the styling team.
Well, for actors who were already on top, brands would happily sponsor everything, but Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee had to rent theirs. Still, the two actresses seemed blissfully happy just to be there, endlessly picking dresses. An Jihee in particular had been making mistakes all afternoon.
“Ah! S-sorry!”
“Sorry?”
“I mean, sorry!”
Probably because it felt like she was walking through a dream. Chief Manager Kim Daeyong stood a few steps away, watching with a pleased smile.
By then, Yoon Dayeon brushed back her long straight hair and glanced at Jaeha, who was sitting on the sofa. Everyone else was excited, so what was that man doing all alone? Her curiosity piqued, she drifted over to him and cleared her throat.
“Ahem. What are you doing?”
Kang Jaeha kept his eyes on his phone as he answered.
“Something important.”
“Of course. You’re always busy with something important, aren’t you? You’ll at least watch us when we do our dress fitting in a little while, right?”
“What would I even be watching for?”
“No, I mean! Still.”
At that moment, An Jihee, her short hair swinging, slipped in close.
“I want Manager-nim to watch, too!”
Yoon Dayeon flinched and muttered,
“Jeez, you startled me. Jihee, at least turn the blinker on before you come in.”
“Ah—hehe, sorry. I think I’m just a little too excited right now.”
Kang Jaeha lifted his head with his usual calm and nodded.
“Yeah. I’ll look when you fit them on.”
The two actresses, satisfied, stepped away. To be honest, the dresses weren’t the important thing to Jaeha right now. Today was the fifteenth, and just a moment ago, a woman’s voice had sounded in his ear.
Good afternoon, Kang Jaeha.
Your fourth-month pension of 700,000,000 won has been paid.
Then 700 million won landed in his account as both salary and pension.
- [Deposit / 700,000,000 won]
Kang Jaeha rubbed his chin. Seven hundred million, topped up. On top of that, the 5,000-pyeong plot of land he’d bought had already tripled in value. He’d purchased it at 500,000 won per pyeong, and now it was worth 1.5 million.
That worked out to more than 7.5 billion won.
Taxes will take a bite, but still, I’ve made a lot by next year’s standards.
The land prices in the Baekam-myeon area of Yongin, which had been designated for the Yongin semiconductor cluster, had all skyrocketed. Nearby areas had gone up too. If he held it longer, it would likely rise further, but Kang Jaeha planned to sell.
The semiconductor cluster isn’t going to be built overnight. One year, two years, it’s going to take time. There are too many variables ahead.
Sell while it’s certain. Sell while it’s hot, then get out.
Whatever the case, once he added the land sale and this fourth pension payment together—
It’s over 8 billion.
Closer to 8.5 billion, probably. It was a jaw-dropping amount of money, but if he considered the future he was designing, he still had a long way to go.
Just as Jaeha was turning the money over in his head—
- swish.
Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee came out of the fitting room. Gasps burst from around them.
“Wow—”
“Amazing! You’re so pretty!!”
Chief Manager Kim Daeyong’s eyes even turned red around the edges.
“...Beautiful, Dayeon. You too, Jihee.”
Then, almost at the same time, the two actresses in their dresses asked the man sitting on the sofa,
“What do you think?”
“How is it??”
Kang Jaeha met their eyes and let the corners of his mouth lift slightly.
“It suits both of you.”
Only then did Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee smile in their own ways, bright and shy at once.
After that, Friday ended and the weekend arrived. In the morning, when Kang Jaeha reached the MEG office, he sent 50 million won to Go Chunseok first thing.
Almost immediately, Go Chunseok called him back.
“Thank you. Seriously, thank you so much, Commander.”
With a simple reminder to take care of his grandmother, Jaeha ended the call. Lee Chanhoo, standing beside him, grinned.
“You even gave him a pretty hefty bonus on top of his pay. Commander, loyalty, loyalty.”
“Don’t overdo it.”
He really had given him a good amount. Ever since his mercenary days, Kang Jaeha had held one belief firmly: compensation had to be clear, and compensation meant one thing. Money.
Nothing motivates people as reliably as money.
Everything else was secondary. That went not only for Lee Chanhoo, but also for Ha Yeonji.
But if the number of people keeps growing, I’m really going to have to make bank.
The situation was the same here as it had been in the other world. One reason Kang Jaeha had collected magic stones, artifacts, and resources with ruthless abandon back then was because he had subordinates.
Then Lee Chanhoo’s expression turned a little serious.
“But, Commander—what if Go Chunseok says he doesn’t want to work with us?”
“Then we leave it. You saw it. He won’t end up like Kim Ho-yeon. He’s got his grandmother, too.”
“I know that. But it’d be a waste, wouldn’t it? There’s no tank like Go Chunseok.”
“What are you, preparing for war?”
“Isn’t reality already war?”
Jaeha stared at him blankly, and Lee Chanhoo coughed.
“Anyway, I mean it’d be a shame if Go Chunseok didn’t come. A real shame. And I’m curious about his ‘ability,’ too.”
But the thing Lee Chanhoo had been worrying about never happened. About two weeks later, the massive Go Chunseok appeared in the MEG office again.
It was night, and Ha Yeonji was there with Lee Chanhoo.
“Commander.”
Go Chunseok, whose already short hair had gotten even shorter, bent at the waist ninety degrees toward Kang Jaeha.
“I’d like to work under you again, Commander.”
Ha Yeonji clapped silently, and Lee Chanhoo smiled. Jaeha let out a small breath.
“I told you, that’s too much. How’s your grandmother?”
“She’s in the hospital. Thanks to you, Commander.”
“Good.”
With a simple nod, Kang Jaeha said the first thing he needed to ask.
“You have an ability, right?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
After looking at Jaeha for a moment, Go Chunseok quickly scanned the surroundings. Then his eyes settled on the tumbler sitting on the desk. It was clearly made of thick stainless steel, the kind that looked damn sturdy just by looking at it.
Lee Chanhoo, who owned the tumbler, caught on immediately and nodded.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
It was a silver tumbler made of fairly thick stainless steel. Go Chunseok picked it up and returned to stand before Kang Jaeha. Then—
- swish.
With one huge hand, he casually wrapped his grip around the stainless tumbler in a single hand.
Then—
- crunch!
Go Chunseok crushed the stainless tumbler like it was a paper cup. He wasn’t even making a particular strain of it look hard. It was effortless. Not once, but several times. Crack, crack. Before long, the tumbler had been reduced to a tiny metal bead. Go Chunseok rolled that metal bead across the table.
Lee Chanhoo picked up the bead right away, looking puzzled.
“Huh? Where’d my tumbler go?”
With a dumbstruck laugh, Kang Jaeha looked at him, and Go Chunseok answered in a deep voice.
“That’s my ability.”
It was simple and clear.
“I’m very strong.”