Shall We Have a Drink?
Five of us in the conference room, myself included.
But that wasn't everyone.
A ghost visible only to my eyes was even more shaken than I was, tears welling at the corners of his eyes.
I told him so many times not to act on emotion. Really...
A faint flicker of exasperation crossed my mind, and I had to hold back the smile that almost came with it. I seemed to have a weakness for people like this.
Assemblyman Choi Giseok, Aide Yoon Myeongtae, the ghost standing beside me now... people who were intensely, almost painfully emotional. Born overflowing with everything I lacked. That's just how people work. We're drawn to our opposites.
It's all right. We're heading exactly where we need to go.
No — this had actually worked out well.
People try to reduce the variables they can't control. I do the opposite.
In politics, variables are a constant. The idea that you could get everyone to behave so stupidly that variables cease to exist — that you could control them all away? That's absurd.
The rule of politics is this: the ones who win are the ones who can take those variables and put them to use.
By that measure, this particular variable had just moved me to center stage. A little ahead of schedule.
Even without counting the ghost and myself, there were eight eyes in the room, so I couldn't so much as whisper to him. But by not panicking, I let the ghost know I was fine.
Meanwhile, Director Choi Yoona seemed to have found her answer, and she opened her mouth.
"We don't know if you'll be a harm or a help."
"Is that your answer?"
When I asked again, Choi Yoona faltered. The fact that she'd backed me into a corner and still couldn't throw the finishing punch only proved how powerless she was. Then again... I wasn't sure anyone alive could back me into a corner and land that last blow. I'd table that thought.
Look at the positives. If she doesn't know, I can teach her.
"What determines whether something is medicine or poison isn't the substance itself. It's the dosage."
"Th—"
"So said Paracelsus, the father of toxicology."
"...So you're saying you yourself could be either medicine or poison?"
Choi Yoona put on a stern expression, but it felt like being threatened by a high schooler. Not particularly intimidating. I smiled, all warmth.
"For an ordinary patient, perhaps. But does it matter to this company whether I'm medicine or poison? Wasn't this a critical patient that has to take whatever shot it can get?"
"...Wait, that's—!"
Choi Yoona couldn't hide her fluster. Her face went red. When you press on a bruise, it actually hurts. That's obvious — which is precisely why people expose their weaknesses so readily.
I like you people, too.
Good people. Even Kang Sangrok, who'd blustered around trying to play drill sergeant, looked like pure innocence in my eyes. Team Leader Park Munsu? Even from a short conversation, I could tell. He had passion. The fact that he'd chased a tiny scrap of bait all the way to putting me in this seat was proof enough.
"Use me."
I said it again before she could answer, turning on my phone and sliding it to the center of the table.
"Think of this as a belated welcome-aboard gift."
The reason I'd been late today. I'd just happened to wrap up a piece of business on the way in, and the timing couldn't have been better.
My stance never changes. I make the choices.
Choi Yoona was having enough trouble just keeping up with this man's pace. Not that he was browbeating anyone. He wasn't particularly slow, and he wasn't in any rush.
What is this, really?
She still hadn't gotten an answer to the questions she'd actually asked. Who he was. What he'd come here intending to do. What he was after.
And yet...
A scandal piece, still warm off the press. Judging by the timestamp and its placement on the front page, DH Sports had broken it first, and a thicket of urakkai — knockoff rewrite articles — had sprung up in its wake.
"Why is there a Yoon Jun scandal?"
Choi Yoona muttered, still lost even after checking her phone. Leave it to a veteran. Even a rotting hairtail is still a hairtail — General Manager Kim Misook was the fastest on the uptake once again.
"You there — Assistant Manager Lee. So this, Assistant Manager Lee... look, I don't know. My head hurts. I'll just go with Assistant Manager Lee. You're saying you did this? That's what this is right now?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Every pair of eyes in the room, Kim Misook's included, locked onto Lee Jaewook's mouth.
"Because they hit us first."
"...You're saying it was Yoon Jun's side that fabricated the Yoon Jun and Ha Eun-yul scandal?"
"That's correct."
"To cover this up? So they used Eun-yul?"
Lee Jaewook smiled again, and it was frightening. He didn't seem to be smiling to scare anyone... but that shift from calm to a sudden, sharp grin made him look like the ultimate villain out of a movie.
"Yoon Jun did as you just said — he followed his agency's orders to cover it up. And the agency used Yoon Jun. To shake Actress Ha."
Choi Yoona heard her heart hit the floor with a thud. It was probably her imagination, but that's how startled she was. She hadn't even considered Yoon Jun's side. Even for a male actor, she couldn't have imagined an agency planting a scandal at the cost of sacrificing their own talent.
She jumped in, questions tumbling out.
"Then what about Moon Cheol-sik? What's his deal? Don't tell me you stopped that too? Why?"
"Scandals, rumors — the moment they reach people's mouths, you have to resolve them immediately. Miss the window and they ride the gossip until they're beyond anyone's control."
"So you're saying you were the one who resolved it?"
"Yes."
"In a single day? Did you already know?"
"No. If I'd known in advance, I wouldn't have let the article run in the first place."
What is this man, really?
She set aside her questions about Lee Jaewook and went back to the urgent ones.
"And Moon Cheol-sik? Was there no connection?"
"Moon Cheol-sik did it. Took the photos, leaked them. But he didn't do it all on his own. As I said a moment ago, Yoon Jun was trying to hide his real lover. And Yoon Jun's agency used Yoon Jun. If we trace the causality a little more precisely, Yoon Jun's agency was acting on a commission from somewhere else. Yoon Jun's contract was about to expire and they weren't looking to renew, so from the agency's perspective, driving down his value made a renewal more attractive — and if it didn't happen, no loss either way. I don't know who commissioned it, but they certainly got something out of it."
"Ah..."
Her head was spinning. She could barely digest what this man was saying, but assuming it was all true...
While he was mapping all of that out in that much detail, I thought it ended with Moon Cheol-sik...
"So they hit 'us' for their company's sake, too."
"Strictly speaking, they shook us. So we'd startle at the rustle in the grass, lift our heads, and look around."
"...Ah... I understand for now. My head's too full... I don't think I can take in any more even if I keep listening. Let's talk about this again later."
Choi Yoona sank into her chair.
That's right. This man... she still didn't know if he'd be medicine or poison, but Nine Entertainment desperately needed him right now. He'd done something no one else could, as easily as breathing.
When a storm is coming, who cares if the covering is plastic wrap or a burlap sack?
No... this isn't a burlap sack. This is like poured concrete...
She hadn't felt the cold at all — hadn't even realized she was already inside a building. Only now, looking back, did it feel like she'd been indoors the whole time. If he hadn't been there... she didn't even want to imagine.
"The synopsis — can we talk about that separately? Possible?"
Team Leader Park Munsu's voice reached Choi Yoona's ears as the strength drained from her body. When Lee Jaewook nodded, Park Munsu's face lit up as if he'd just been handed a heavenly army.
...Same here, I suppose.
The current picture made it awkward to show open delight, but a full bow to the floor wouldn't have been too much. Just handling the Ha Eun-yul scandal alone was more than enough.
She glanced at Kim Misook to see what she was thinking, and the general manager was smacking her lips like someone whose real interest lay elsewhere.
Why?
"You there, Assistant Manager Lee — how did you get into Korea University? If you were an aide, you must've been a good student all along, right? Still that way?"
"When you have time, let's meet your son separately."
Smack!
Kim Misook clapped before she could stop herself, then let out an embarrassed laugh.
"Oh my! How did you even know that... wait, look at me, I'm a mess. Aigoo, but is it really all right to keep calling you Assistant Manager?"
"It's fine."
And then he smiled like a villain again. Like a man holding one more card he hadn't shown.
Ah... really. He's just smiling, so why is it so frightening...?
She no longer had the energy to ask what else he was hiding. Too many things had entered her head in a single day.
"For the time being, this stays a secret among the people in this room."
Everyone nodded at Choi Yoona's words. Everyone except the one person who actually seemed like he'd need the secrecy — Assistant Manager Lee Jaewook himself.
"We'll reconsider your terms. Not knowing is one thing, but now that we know, we can hardly treat you like a new hire. And... for now, we're watching. You should understand this isn't a hundred percent trust."
In front of the elevator, Team Leader Park Munsu came up alongside me.
"So there was a reason it was difficult."
"Is that so?"
"When are you going to look at the project?"
I glanced down. In Park Munsu's hand was a treatment booklet, rolled into a tube.
"Let's find some time."
"What about now? You don't have time?"
"I tend to respect clocking in, even if I'm not particularly good at clocking out. But it's a bit late now."
"Playing hard to get, honestly..."
The elevator doors slid open, and I pressed the button for the underground parking garage.
This man had been the fuse, after all. He'd picked up a single scrap of bait I'd dropped and turned it into everything that happened today. From the looks of the people in the conference room just now, I had a rough picture of how things had unfolded.
This man must have been curious about me. Short on internal networks but overflowing with passion, so he'd come into the office. With four people already gathered, Kang Sangrok must have talked. Not a difficult inference.
A chime sounded. The elevator arrived at the underground parking garage, and I spoke.
"The synopsis — who are you looking at it for?"
"For Taesu, of course. It came in for Actor Bong Tae-soo."
"Does Actor Bong Tae-soo need that project?"
"Huh?"
Leaving a bewildered Park Munsu behind, I got into my car.
"It did."
That was why I'd been late getting back to the office today. Detective Park Daesu had located Yoon Jun's actual girlfriend in Seoul — I'd thought she was in Busan — so I'd stopped by to meet her briefly. Before coming in, I'd tossed the source to reporter Ji Seung-min, and he'd apparently tossed it straight to a junior, because the article had gone up immediately.
I looked once more at Park Munsu, who was still tilting his head in confusion, while the ghost settled into the passenger seat as if seeping through the upholstery.
"Team Leader Park is worth teaching."
Passion is good. I'd confirmed that much. But he's impatient. Even Red Hare is useless as a warhorse if you don't take the reins.
I was about to pull out when Team Leader Park Munsu urgently knocked on the driver's side door.
See? I said he was impatient.
I rolled down the window, and Park Munsu opened his mouth as if to say, finish explaining before you go.
"What does that mean? Explain it. Does Actor Bong Tae-soo need this or not? You said this would work, didn't you? You wrote that down. Don't tell me it wasn't you who wrote it. When I said we'd talk about this later, you acknowledged it. Right?"
"That's correct."
"I rated the production prospects as low. It's a rookie project. I'll admit I don't have an eye for material. So I don't understand why this works without an explanation. And on top of not understanding that, I really don't get why you're asking whether Actor Bong Tae-soo even needs this. So explain it to me."
"......"
"I can't leave it like this. I came to meet you because of this one thing. And I haven't resolved a single thing."
A smile formed at the corner of my mouth as I watched Park Munsu fire off words like a machine gun.
Because I was satisfied. In a Nine Entertainment that had felt like a flock of sick chickens, I'd finally met a fighting cock. Passion enough to overcome even the flaw of impatience.
This much, I could grant him.