Master
On the morning of Thursday, July 9, in the Leon Entertainment CEO’s office.
The wood-toned office held two men. One was CEO Han Taeseong, seated in the place of honor on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other. His hair was neatly slicked back, and even this morning he was exuding that unmistakable aura of his. He gave a small smile and looked over at the man sitting quietly beside him, his face blank.
It was Kang Jaeha. After ending his two-day vacation, Jaeha had reported back to work, only to be called in by CEO Han Taeseong first thing in the morning. Han Taeseong spoke first.
“How do you feel?”
Kang Jaeha answered in a tone stripped of much emotion.
“About what?”
“About blowing up the board you set. You didn’t just shake things up—you turned the whole place over.”
“I was lucky.”
“Luck and timing. Both matter, sure—but skill has to come first. Without that, you wouldn’t even know whether you had an opportunity or not.”
Han Taeseong let out a quiet snort and folded his arms.
“And besides, you’ve touched this too much for me to call it luck. Strange. I didn’t think you were the type to play humble.”
“If that’s how you see it, I’m not offended.”
“You’ve blown up not just the Busan International Film Festival, but the entire entertainment industry. That’s not something just anyone can do.”
As he looked at Kang Jaeha, Han Taeseong muttered inwardly, He’s unusually sharp, and he isn’t afraid of anything. Exactly the kind of temperament an owner needs.
After gauging Jaeha’s expression for a few seconds, Han Taeseong spoke again.
“All right. If you’ve brought Leon this far, then you should get what you’ve earned. A raise and a bonus are obvious. What else do you want?”
Kang Jaeha met his eyes calmly and thought, Tell me whether you’re a believer in Saebit Jinrihoe.
Of course, he didn’t say that aloud. There was no point in creating suspicion just for the sake of it. He could have had Lee Chanhoo use Search on Han Taeseong, but that wouldn’t have yielded much for now, either.
Search only lets you glimpse the moment itself when it happens to line up.
If Han Taeseong really was tied to Saebit Jinrihoe, he would be extremely cautious. Unless the timing was perfect, it wouldn’t be very useful. Besides, Lee Chanhoo had plenty to do. Wasting him on Han Taeseong, who wasn’t all that important yet, would be inefficient.
If he causes me trouble, that changes.
For now, though, Han Taeseong was the one offering Jaeha a reward. Jaeha had already concluded that Han Taeseong was connected to Saebit Jinrihoe in some way, and then he said what he wanted.
“If you’re going to give me a generous bonus, I’d appreciate it. And I’d like you to keep your hands off me from here on out.”
“I haven’t really touched you until now, have I?”
“Even more freedom.”
“I’m not stupid enough to clip the wings I’ve already spread for you. Go ahead and run wild however you like. If I feel like it, I might even put you in charge of Team 4.”
He meant a promotion to team leader. Kang Jaeha refused at once.
“That’s fine. I like things as they are. I’ve got plenty of free time.”
“You’re the first person I’ve ever met who turned down a promotion.”
Promotion? Just an illusion of progress. If Jang Hyeongsu were removed and Kang Jaeha became team leader, his status would rise, sure—but so would his responsibilities. Right now, Jaeha needed to focus his responsibility on MEG. Taking on Team 4 as well was unnecessary.
“Jang Hyeongsu is there, and he’s good at his job.”
Han Taeseong stared at him for a moment, then nodded.
“Fine. I get it. You can go.”
After offering a short farewell, Jaeha left the CEO’s office. Han Taeseong rested his chin on his hand and murmured softly, “So he’ll take money, but not power—”
About two hours later, in Management Team 4.
Jang Hyeongsu, who had just arrived in Team 4, called Kang Jaeha over. This time it wasn’t the CEO’s office, but the team leader’s office. Jaeha found the whole thing irritating, and Jang Hyeongsu—who somehow looked tired even today—spoke up.
“I met with the CEO.”
“Yes.”
“Your position’s the same. You’re free to move around however you want, not tied down to any one team.”
Jaeha nodded, and Jang Hyeongsu changed the subject.
“And An Jihee. Her contract’s been extended, so it runs until early next year, but—hmm. I think it’s time to start talking about renewal. There’s still time, sure, but we should set the direction early, don’t you think?”
“……”
“After the Busan International Film Festival bump, people are going to be swarming all over her. Since you were the one who discovered An Jihee, she’ll listen to what you say. Meet with her and start laying the groundwork for a renewal.”
“I’ll talk to her, but the choice is ultimately hers.”
“Hmm?”
“Leon neglected her and was ready to throw her away.”
He meant that Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee probably didn’t have much affection left for Leon.
“I’ll talk to her first.”
That afternoon.
Kang Jaeha met An Jihee in Leon’s meeting room sometime in the late afternoon. Seated across from him, her short hair tied back tightly, An Jihee looked at him expectantly, and Jaeha asked,
“What did you do during your two days off?”
“Huh? Ah! I just slept. I think I slept the whole time! I was so tense, and then I guess it all came out at once.”
Kang Jaeha gave a small smile.
“Good. Your parents must have loved that.”
“Totally. They started crying the second they saw me, and then I cried too. My eyes look swollen, don’t they? I cried so much the puffiness still hasn’t gone down...”
“Yeah. They are swollen.”
“Eh! No, they’re not supposed to be!”
Suddenly serious, Kang Jaeha continued.
“There’s something called the ‘Single-Act Project’ starting on Netflix Korea.”
“Ah! Yes, yes!”
“Since it’s a one-act, you can jump in and out of it quickly, or fit it in alongside other schedules. For now, just think of it as something you’ll be doing.”
“Yes! Manager!”
“You may have to audition. But it’ll probably be less about acting and more about checking your image, and there’s a good chance Netflix will just offer you the role directly.”
Even though it was a short-film category, An Jihee had won Best New Actress at the Busan International Film Festival, so she was unquestionably one of the hottest rookies around. Naturally, Netflix would be interested. The same went for Yoon Dayeon.
“And you’ve been getting a lot of calls from agencies, right? You’ve probably already collected quite a few business cards.”
“Yes... I was really, really shocked. It was my first time, so I was confused. I didn’t know what to do, so I even turned my phone off. And then I found all these messages waiting for me...”
“What do you think about Leon?”
“Ah! If you tell me to renew, Manager, I’ll do it right away!”
Her eyes were clear. One word from Kang Jaeha, and An Jihee would renew her contract with Leon immediately. Jaeha delivered the line he’d already prepared.
“You still have time anyway—your contract runs until around March next year, so there’s no rush.”
“Really?”
“Nothing urgent. For now, forget about contracts and renewals and focus on acting.”
“Yes! I will! I’ll focus only on acting!”
Jaeha nodded and gave a faint smile.
“I’ll let you know what to do when the time comes.”
After that.
Several days had passed since the Busan International Film Festival ended, but the media and public were still in an uproar. There had been far too many things worth talking about, worth making headlines over. Among them, the Gyeollo story was especially hot.
As expected, the public loved the stories of Yoon Dayeon, An Jihee, and Director Kwon Seongmin.
Their stories tugged at emotion and sentiment alike.
It almost felt like a single film with a properly told story.
Because the festival had detonated so spectacularly, it was only natural that broadcasters, agencies, production companies, and the rest of the entertainment industry were all in motion. Rumors spread, and interest surged.
What made it interesting was that Kang Jaeha’s standing was rising, too.
“That manager making waves at the Busan International Film Festival—wasn’t his name Kang Jaeha? Find out where he’s from.”
“Yes, sir. He’s confirmed as being with Leon.”
“Leon... So he’s under Han Taeseong.”
“But the strange thing is, Kang Jaeha is apparently in Team 4.”
“Team 4?”
“Yes.”
“...Was he left there? Or did they put some exceptional guy there to revive the dead weight?”
“I’m not sure about that part—”
“For now, make contact with Kang Jaeha. If we can bring him in, bring him.”
And so the festival’s fallout looked like it would last for at least several weeks. In the middle of it all, Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee were getting attention from one agency after another, and thanks to them, Leon’s Management Team 4 became busy.
No—more precisely, only those two in Team 4 became frantic.
First, Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee each got their own proper teams set up. Unlike before, there was no more patchwork rotation of personnel. Their teams were fixed. Chief Manager Kim Daeyong was assigned to Yoon Dayeon, and the members of An Jihee’s team were selected as well.
Out of everyone, only Kang Jaeha could move freely between them without being tied to any one team.
Call him a fourth-year manager, but he was basically a control tower. In some ways, he had more authority than the team leader or the chief manager.
Anyway, offers came flooding in for Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee.
“Yes, this is Team 4—oh, Yoon Dayeon? Sorry, but we can’t do the interview right away. Looks like next week at the earliest!”
“Variety show? For Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee? Then could you send the details by email?”
Not just television stations, but YouTube channels too. There were plenty of media interview requests as well. They filtered out only the programs that seemed worthwhile, and Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee ended up with an entirely different kind of schedule before and after the festival.
Team 4 couldn’t help being shocked.
“Wow. One hit at the festival and everything changes like this?”
“The bomb they dropped at Busan International Film Festival was huge. This is about the level of response it should get.”
Their previously slack schedules exploded exponentially. This month, they were booked solid with variety shows, talk shows, interviews—there wasn’t a single day off.
Of course, Director Kwon Seongmin’s situation was much the same.
No matter what anyone said, he was a director who had won the grand prize at an international film festival. Offers for variety shows and talk shows were pouring in for him as well.
The funny part was this:
“Jaeha, you know that talk show, right? SBC’s Music Talk. They want you on it—”
“I’m not doing it.”
“R-right, of course you’re not?? Haha, got it.”
Kang Jaeha was getting plenty of offers too. He’d risen as one of the festival’s hot topics, after all. But Jaeha turned down every single one of them.
Gaining more recognition would just be a hassle.
Once the media and public took notice of him, troublesome things would inevitably multiply. That was nothing Jaeha particularly welcomed.
So a few more days melted away.
Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee kept receiving more offers for projects as well. Jaeha passed along every script and scenario that came to them. Reading a wide range of materials would help them grow.
“Read them at least. The more scripts and projects you read, the better.”
Still, while he widened the range of what they could act in, Yoon Dayeon and An Jihee only seemed to move in the direction Jaeha set for them. The more that happened, the deeper their trust in Kang Jaeha became.
Then Déjà vu hit Jaeha.
This time, it smelled like money. It was a stock, overseas. A U.S. stock, and one he hadn’t seen in a while. The target was a major American game company. After confirming the powerful upside, Jaeha smiled.
If this overseas trade goes through, we’ll be past ten billion won.
And that wasn’t all. Another seven hundred million won from the fifth pension payment had already come in back in June, and another seven hundred million was scheduled to arrive in July as well. On top of that...
And Day Moon House is about to release too.
The animated film Day Moon House, for which MEG was the main investor, was also nearing release. If Day Moon House hit as Déjà vu suggested it would, Kang Jaeha’s capital would swell even further.
Then Jaeha picked up his phone.
He was calling the new money man he’d just brought in—Cha Chunghyun.
“Yes, yes—Chairman.”
Jaeha was planning to hand off the overseas stock move he’d seen through Déjà vu to Cha Chunghyun. From the moment Chunghyun had been recruited, it made more sense for him, the financial man, to handle it rather than Jaeha himself.
“I’ve got something to put money into.”
On the afternoon of the 13th, at a filming studio.
It was a moderately sized studio. This was the set of a YouTube channel with one million subscribers, and among dozens of staff members stood Yoon Dayeon in full makeup.
Lately she’d been pretty busy, and as she was talking with the staff, her phone rang.
-♬♪
When she checked the caller, Yoon Dayeon’s expression sharpened a little. Fair enough. The caller was Director Yu Giltae, the master filmmaker she had met at Busan International Film Festival as well. She took a small breath and put the phone to her ear.
“Yes, Director. Hello.”
Yu Giltae laughed on the other end.
“Dayeon. You’ve been busy lately, haven’t you? I wasn’t sure if you’d even have time to talk.”
“Even if I’m busy, I have to answer your call, Director.”
“Haha, that’s kind of you.”
Soon, Yu Giltae asked to meet her. As if she’d been expecting this all along, Yoon Dayeon swallowed. Then, just as Kang Jaeha had instructed, she delayed the meeting.
“Ah—sorry, Director. This week is just really insane. Would next week be difficult?”
“I understand. I had an overseas schedule myself, anyway—”
Yu Giltae accepted it pleasantly.
“Then let’s meet next week after I’m done with the overseas schedule.”
A few hours later, near Hongdae.
It was late at night. It wasn’t as crowded as a weekend, but there were still plenty of people around Hongdae. In front of a famous club, a foreign car that looked expensive beyond reason pulled up and stopped. Out stepped a tall man wearing a mask.
-Swish.
The moment people around him saw him, screams broke out.
“Eek!!! What the hell? Is he a celebrity??”
“He is, right?! Who is it?”
“Even with the mask on, he still looks insanely handsome. Damn.”
Of course he did. Even masked, the man was radiating celebrity aura in full force. Ignoring the crowd, he passed quickly toward the club entrance under the guidance of a staff member. Only then did he remove the mask.
“Ugh—why are there so many people? If it’s going to be like this, they should’ve told me to park at the back.”
Once his face was visible, the man was none other than top actor Woo Jeongcheol.
Meanwhile, in another car that had followed Woo Jeongcheol’s foreign vehicle, two familiar figures sat inside.
“Did he go into the club?”
“Yeah, he went in. Let’s pass for now.”
Lee Chanhoo was in the driver’s seat, and Ha Yeonji in the passenger seat. They were carrying out one of Chairman Jaeha’s orders. The instruction was to tail top actor Woo Jeongcheol, and there was also the bait of drugs. After slipping past the club, Lee Chanhoo and Ha Yeonji parked in a nearby lot.
Lee Chanhoo asked Ha Yeonji at once.
“You got the photos?”
Ha Yeonji checked her camera and answered casually.
“Got them.”
About two hours later, Lee Chanhoo seemed to decide the time had come, and he closed his eyes. He was using Search on top actor Woo Jeongcheol, who had gone into the club.
Not long after, Chanhoo opened his eyes again, a crooked grin spreading across his face as he saw Woo Jeongcheol’s location and what was happening to him in that moment.
“This bastard’s high as a kite right now.”