Moving Day
"Your CEO's actually pretty famous in this industry. You could say there's nowhere his branches don't reach."
Jung Hyun explained it in a curiously offhand tone. His face always wore that soft, easy smile, so the unfamiliar expression felt strangely new.
"He's a textbook example of someone you don't want for an enemy. But! If he's on your side, no one will guard you more reliably. From the moment you sign with Wooyeon, I'm on your side too."
CEO Jang shot back the half-compliment, half-curse with a laugh. There was something refreshing about a man who didn't bother with a single word of flattery and just said things straight.
In a sense, I get why they called him a 'decent schemer.'
I liked that the purpose of the conversation was laid plainly on the table. No need to second-guess or read between any lines.
After that, the talk stretched on through vast territory — the support services Wooyeon provided its actors, how much say I'd have in choosing projects, the signing bonus, the contract term. At one point a man called Chief Han came in to hand over the contract papers. Jung Hyun, perhaps worried I wouldn't follow along, sat beside me and walked me through it line by line.
But I'd already looked up predatory contract clauses the night before using the Fog's search function, so I had a fair sense of what I was reading.
'This is considerably favorable to me, actually.'
They'd warned me to watch for penalty provisions lurking like traps, but no matter how many times I reread it, I couldn't spot a single unfair sentence.
Since I was a minor, the contract wouldn't carry legal force without a guardian's signature — the Director's, in this case. Jung Hyun wrapped up the conversation at just the right moment, telling me to discuss it with her once more before signing.
"If you do sign, is there anything special you'd like to ask for? Anything you need?"
"Jinbae. If it's possible, I'd like to keep my manager as is. Ah — that is, assuming Manager Jinbae is fine with it too."
From the look on his face, he seemed to be, but hearts are hard to read. I added the condition just in case, and CEO Jang threw back his head in a hearty laugh and nodded. Nothing had been signed yet, but the whole room already hummed with a settled answer. If I was going to keep acting anyway, I wanted to be where Jung Hyun and Manager An Jinbae were.
Aside from having Jinbae assigned as my dedicated manager, I had nothing else to request.
We'd been talking for a while when a knock sounded at the door.
"Hello. I heard someone was asking for me…"
It was Manager An Jinbae, looking uncharacteristically tense. I wondered about his face for a moment before I noticed where his sidelong glances kept darting — toward the CEO. Fair enough, I suppose. Facing your boss is never easy.
Regardless of who was nervous in front of him, CEO Jang didn't spare it a thought. He smiled and spoke up easily.
"First day back at the office in a while — must've been buried in work."
"Not at all, sir! Chief Han looked after everything… I just went around greeting the other teams."
"You don't have to cover for anyone. I've heard plenty about how much the Team 2 leader talks, believe me. You've had it rough. You'll be reassigned to Team 1, so keep that in mind."
"……I'm sorry?"
Manager An Jinbae asked him to repeat it, as if he couldn't trust his ears. At that reaction, CEO Jang — and Jung Hyun too — both burst out laughing. I was the only one who lacked the context and just sat there quietly.
"Yeonjae is coming in as a Team 1 actor. Which means, naturally, his dedicated manager has to be Team 1 as well. You're not planning to manage Yeonjae?"
"N-no, sir! I am! I'll do it. I'll do it well!"
He stumbled over his words for a beat, then came back with a bright, sturdy answer. The stiffness that had frozen his face all this while melted into pure sunshine.
When I said I'd be counting on him going forward, he insisted he'd be the one counting on me and launched into yet another endless round of thanks, so I cut him off before he could go on. I didn't know who the Team 2 leader was or what kind of work conditions he'd endured — but the expression on Manager An Jinbae's face said it all, and I was glad for it.
He was trying not to show it, but his eyes were shining. Hm. Yeah, I think this really is a good thing.
"What about housing? Feels a bit too early for you to live alone, though."
"Sorry? My… house?"
When I asked back in surprise, he looked even more astonished — what, did you plan to stay at the orphanage forever?
Oh… right. If I stay, the teachers and the kids will have a harder time because of me.
"Plenty of people find out where celebrities live and come looking, reporters included. My advice? Move before any article breaks. Get ahead of it."
Right — that would be the sensible thing.
I knew he was right. But the word yes didn't come out of me easily. It hadn't been the only home I'd ever known, yet it held the largest share of any place in my memory. The people there too. When I hesitated, Jung Hyun smiled gently and patted my back.
"Yeonjae, you don't have to decide right now. Take your time thinking it over."
"You can take your time thinking, sure, but the move itself should probably happen fast."
And with that, CEO Jang barreled straight in. Not a trace of delicacy in his voice.
"……"
The manager's broad frame blocked most of him from view, but even through the silence hanging in the air, I could roughly guess what kind of face Jung Hyun was making. A short sigh escaped, and then Jung Hyun asked quietly,
"Is it leaving the orphanage that worries you? Or the idea of living alone?"
"The latter. It's just — I've never lived on my own before."
I'd never assumed I'd stay at the orphanage my whole life. Once I turned eighteen, I'd have to leave regardless. I just hadn't expected it to come this soon. What should I even say to the Director? Maybe she'll be relieved? It's possible, I suppose.
"Then why don't you live with me?"
"I'm sorry?"
The thread of my thoughts snapped clean. I looked up in surprise and found Jung Hyun smiling at me.
"I'm fine with it if you are. My place is big — one more person won't make it feel crowded."
"Jung Hyun, what happens when your overseas schedule kicks in? You'll leave the kid on his own?"
"Ah. Good point."
Chagrined, Jung Hyun then said breezily, "Well, then I'll just avoid overseas shoots from now on." Avoid them? This is the guy who flies abroad once every two months even with an empty schedule.
I was trying to pick my train of thought back up when Manager An Jinbae, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up carefully.
"If it's all right with you, Actor-nim… how about living with me?"
"Oh! Yes, that would work. Easier when you have to move around for shoots, too."
Color bloomed across CEO Jang's face, and he started clapping like a seal — until Jung Hyun reeled him in with a quiet hold on a moment.
Living with Manager An Jinbae? I couldn't picture it at all, so I couldn't summon a single thought.
As I sat there staring blankly, he went on with a nervous face.
"As you saw when you visited my place, we have rooms to spare, so I don't think it would trouble you much. And on your days off, I'll make sure we never so much as cross paths!"
"No — please don't go that far…"
At my flat reply, Jung Hyun laughed and cut in. "Haha, I like the enthusiasm, but living at Jinbae's place is out of the question. The CEO will find you a place of your own. That's just standard. Isn't that right, CEO?"
"Ah… yeah. Right, of course."
CEO Jang nodded with a plainly disappointed look on his face. It wasn't so much that his thoughts showed on his face — he simply had no intention whatsoever of hiding them.
I turned it over for a while and decided that living with anyone would probably feel the same, so I said yes. I'd have my own room, after all. It wouldn't be so different from living at the orphanage.
"Then I'd say we're settled. Bring back the signed contract and I'll start hunting for a place immediately. We'll move as soon as you're ready — within a week or two, give or take?"
"Is there really a need to rush like that?"
"Because I have a plan already brewing."
CEO Jang answered Jung Hyun's remark with a grin — a hearty laugh, but one that somehow didn't look altogether clean. I wasn't the only one who noticed; I stole a glance sideways and found Jung Hyun's face clouded over with unease.
Astonishingly, the move happened the very next week. I handed over the signed contract the day after our talk, and two days later came word that a place had been found. It was vacant, they said, so I could move in that Saturday — furniture and appliances were already installed, nothing left to prepare. Packing my things the night before, I still couldn't quite believe it. Even the morning of the day itself, I couldn't.
Teacher Lee Sihyun, whose eyes were already puffy and swollen from crying a long while, pulled me into a fierce hug. Since our talk during the final shoot, she'd been gentler with me than ever, but this was the first time I'd ever been held like that.
Aside from a few of the kids, I'd see everyone at school anyway, so I wondered if goodbyes were even necessary — but every single one of them burst into tears, and I honestly didn't know where to look. Apparently once one started crying, the rest followed like dominoes. The more startled I got and dabbed at their tears, the louder they wailed.
Even Choi Sanghoon stood there with eyes brimming. You're in the other class. Why are you crying?
"Take care out there. If it gets hard, come back any time."
"I will. Director, please look after your health too."
With the Director, it was a brief, quiet exchange, and the goodbye was over. She stroked my head slowly, and only then did something strange begin to stir in me. On paper, she was still listed as my guardian, so this was by no means our last meeting — that status wouldn't change until I turned eighteen.
Even after leaving the orphanage as an adult, I'd planned to visit often when I could, so leaving now or leaving then wouldn't make much difference. Whether the Director and the teachers would actually welcome me back was another question entirely.
"I really should get going. Everyone, please go inside."
After the last goodbye, they loaded my meager pile of luggage into the car. Right. Time to leave, more or less.
The teachers stood rooted to the ground as if their feet had been nailed down, and I smiled helplessly. Truthfully, I wasn't the only one who couldn't seem to take that first step.
"Yeonjae, you promise you'll come next month?"
"I promise. We agreed, didn't we?"
"There are plenty of beds. If anything comes up, come whenever you like. You don't even have to call first."
"I will. Don't worry about me."
Only after a long stretch of conversation with Teacher Sihyun, who had started sniffling all over again, could I finally turn my back. The Director gave my shoulder a quiet pat.
Once I was in Manager An Jinbae's car, I gazed back at the orphanage as it shrank into the distance.
"……"
It was all far too long ago to be crisp, but a faint memory remains of the day I first arrived. The day my mother left, I had sat on a park bench until late into the night. The sky had gone black, and the cold had settled in. Whether my memory serves me right, I can't be certain, but I think I spent several days at a police station afterward. I have a dim sense of how much the grime under my fingernails bothered me — I hadn't been able to wash properly the whole time.
But the image of the Director, smiling as she took my hand without a flicker of hesitation, is vivid even now. The inside of the station wasn't particularly cold, and yet, strangely, I remember being stunned by how warm it was the first time I stepped into the orphanage. That air, thick with a warmth I couldn't forget.
The car was quiet. Manager An Jinbae didn't try to make conversation. But it wasn't uncomfortable.
And so we drove toward our new home.