There's Always a Twist (3)

"You have to think about your own life, oppa! Sung Do-won and the rest of us aren't even in the same league!"

Lim Seoyoung thumped her chest, beside herself.

Lee Taehee spoke too, her face serious in a way they almost never saw.

"Don't worry about us. Think it over again. It's a really big opportunity."

"She's right. You said you wanted to manage actors, didn't you? Then there's nothing to agonize over. Obviously you should have said you'd be Sung Do-won's manager."

Even LJ, usually the playful one, piled on in complete earnest.

Lee Songha still hadn't said a word, but she was staring hard enough to burn a hole in his face. Hemmed in by all of them, the tangle in his head began, slowly, to empty out. Even if he hadn't seen the future—even if choosing the Neptune kids over Sung Do-won had been his decision and his alone—he might not have regretted it.

He answered with a smile.

"I decided this thinking about my life. The idea of managing Sung Do-won just gave me a bad feeling. And I happen to think you all are going to do better than he does."

The reply to his sincerity was short.

"You're out of your mind."

Kim Hyunjo shook his head.

"Aigoo. You've already done it. There's no taking it back now."

"Seriously? There's really no taking it back?"

"The bus has left."

Lim Seoyoung was the first to fold, sinking weakly to the floor. The others followed, Kim Hyunjo included, until they were all sitting down there with her. For a long while after that he had to listen to them go on about how he'd chucked his good fortune out the window, how he was a strange man.

Only once things had finally settled did anyone speak again.

"We're going to have to practice a lot more from now on... I'll really work hard."

Everyone nodded at Lim Seoyoung's words.

The kids got up, declaring they were going to practice more, and he told Kim Hyunjo everything he knew about Lee Songha and her lesson teacher, leaving nothing out. He mentioned Son Chae-young's name, carefully. When the others each added a word of their own, Hyunjo nodded, grave.

"All right. Young-hoon hyung and I will look into it."

Kim Hyunjo brushed himself off, stood, and let out a deep sigh as he looked at him.

"You go on home and rest today. Eat something good in the morning."

Right. What time tomorrow.

"Eat through lunch and come in at three."

"For real?"

He asked again, unable to believe it.

"Yeah. You came in on a holiday and pulled off something big. I'll look at this week's schedule and carve you out another day off."

"Thank you!"

Kim Hyunjo waved and was gone.

He said his goodbyes, turned around in high spirits, and nearly jumped. Lee Songha was standing right in front of him.

Right. I had something to say anyway.

He was about to get to it when she spoke first.

"Um, oppa."

"What. You hungry?"

"Yes. But it's not because of that..."

All at once, Lee Songha bowed her head.

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

"For always looking out for me. I'm sorry it took me so long to say it. Thank you, truly."

"...Songha."

He was just about to answer.

Huh. That's the second time.

Once again, a future more than twenty years off filled his vision. There was no room left to wonder at it before Reporter Song's question came through.

"You said you never know how a person's life will turn out, and that reminded me of a question. Among the people you met back when you were a rookie, CEO, who comes to mind first as someone you never imagined would end up like this?"

It was a question he was genuinely curious about himself, so he listened closely. But while his future self was still turning it over, Director Park cut in.

"Wouldn't that be Lee Songha?"

What?

"Even back when she was singing and dancing in Neptune, who could have guessed Lee Songha would suddenly go into acting—and make it in Hollywood, of all places? They say you never know which cloud will bring the rain in this industry, but in her case it was like rain falling out of a completely clear sky."

This was it. The wedge. The certainty that he hadn't been wrong drove in and held.

His future self shook his head, bitter.

"That's still the thing I regret most. After I stepped down as Neptune's manager, it was a long time after that before Songha even started acting. If I'd noticed when she was young how much talent she had for it and encouraged her to act, she might be an even greater actress than she is now... I've always regretted that."

"True. Lee Songha didn't start acting until she was past thirty."

"No use saying it now, but the truth is, the first time I saw Songha, I did think it."

Ah... I think I know what future-me is about to say.

Because I'd thought the same thing the first time I saw Lee Songha.

The next moment, Lee Songha was standing in front of him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again.

"Songha."

He opened his mouth, fighting to stay calm.

"The way I see it, the problem isn't you. It's the teacher who gave you lessons. I'll make sure of that. So if it isn't that you hate acting..."

From his bag he drew the synopsis of Cat Guardian Spirit, the one he carried with him everywhere.

"Want to read this?"

And—

"Yes."

Lee Songha smiled and held out her hand.

When he opened his eyes in the morning, he felt a tight, full happiness in his chest.

Sunlight spilled through the small window of the studio and tickled his face. The pillow was fluffy, the blanket soft, and the corners of his mouth curled up all on their own. For once, paying the rent felt worth it.

He stretched long and got up. The clock said one in the afternoon. He'd gone to bed past two, so he'd slept a ridiculous amount. How long had it been? A rare stretch of real sleep had cleared the head that was usually fogged from never getting enough, and his body felt light.

Yeah. This. This is what living like a person feels like.

A working adult who leisurely enjoys brunch and then heads in to the office. Not bad.

He eyed the dusty rice cooker and hesitated. Cooking was a pain. Ordering delivery wouldn't leave him enough time.

In the end he spun a pack of instant rice in the microwave, pulled a few of the side dishes his sister-in-law had packed for him out of the fridge, and set the table. It was the first home-cooked meal in a while and the spread looked a little plain, so he chopped scallions over the rice and steamed an egg besides. A feast fit for a king, if he said so himself.

Working his spoon and chopsticks, he opened the laptop and started the day.

First he searched Neptune on the portal, checking whether any new articles had gone up. Nothing much today, either. A single line of their name in some piece of news tied to Next K-Star, maybe.

He didn't stop at the portal's entertainment section. He made a full sweep of the community sites where netizens came and went.

Fortunately, there were no bad mentions. In fact, there were no mentions at all. Once the first broadcast went out, some kind of reaction would come, one way or another.

Next, the winter drama lineup.

Maybe he was drinking the kimchi soup before the rice was even on the table, but the truth was he'd been gathering information ever since the day he got the Cat Guardian Spirit synopsis—mostly on the shows that would be set ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beside it the moment Lee Songha landed the role. On the three terrestrial networks, Timeslip and The Mermaid Who Came Ashore were being named the most anticipated titles, and a few works on cable and the general-programming channels stood out as well.

He was about to skim the new articles when a cluster of headlines jumped out at him from the main page of the portal's entertainment section.

Ah. So that's what she went with.

The articles laid it out at length: Son Chae-young had locked in The Mermaid Who Came Ashore as her next project; between the popularity of the original and a completed ultra-luxury cast, the show was drawing expectation and attention; and it was being touted as the title that would save the terrestrial miniseries line, which had been sliding deeper into a slump on the back of one ratings disaster after another.

Fair enough. Terrestrial miniseries had been grim lately. Not a single show in the summer season had broken twenty percent, and holding steady at twelve or thirteen was enough to be called a success. Everyone on that side of the industry was probably praying for one smash hit to snap the slump.

The mermaid would hit three percent and sink.

A little while ago he might have felt sorry for Son Chae-young leaping into the sea. Now he felt, to a surprising degree, nothing at all. Being told to get lost was one thing. What lingered was only a sour unease, the suspicion that she might have pulled something on Lee Songha. He hadn't seen it in any vision of the future. His gut simply didn't like it. If this turned out to be fact and not just a hunch, even holding a ritual to curse the drama into failure wouldn't be enough.

Clicking his tongue, he opened the comments. The original was a popular webtoon, and the public reaction was explosive. On an article that had only just gone up, hundreds of comments were already stacked.

For now, the reactions were positive and perfectly fine.

He read the other articles carefully, then searched Cat Guardian Spirit as well. All he found were a handful of pieces: so-and-so was in the running for the lead, someone was under positive consideration, someone had ultimately declined. Set beside the mermaid, the articles were few and the comments hard to find at all. The buzz really was lower.

He was reading with a frown when his phone rang.

Come to think of it, it had been a while since he'd talked to her.

He was fishing for something that would put her at ease when it hit him.

Yesterday had been too packed with one thing after another to think it through at any leisure, but hadn't CEO Baek Han-sung said he was going to get him a car? After that the division head had brought up a Rolls-Royce... No. Forget that.

Anyway, that's separate from turning down the Sung Do-won offer, right? It has to be, right?

He didn't quite believe it himself.

Well, even he, who'd heard it with his own ears, was only half convinced. Of course his mother would be worse. The voice coming through the line was thick with worry and distrust.

He explained it as best he could, but his mother did not sound convinced in the slightest. The odds that she would hang up and immediately call his brother or his sister-in-law and tell them to look into it properly were one hundred percent. A call from his brother's place would be coming later, too.

He listened through a stern, repeated warning that the world was full of bad people and he must always be suspicious, then hung up. By the time he finished the rice that had gone cold and stood up, it was already pushing two.

He had the routine down by now. In no time he was ready for work and out of the studio.

It was a weekday afternoon, and for once the subway was quiet. A muffin shop inside the station was selling a limited series of new items, so he boxed up a few. He was coming in late on his own; the least he could do was bring snacks.

Waiting for the train, he opened the group chat for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the first time in a while. He must have gone a long time without checking. Old messages scrolled up in a stream.

High school classmates he sometimes couldn't tell were friends or mortal enemies. Guys he'd met up with to mess around at all hours, and since starting the job he hadn't made it out to a single gathering, so now they were all asking whether he was alive or dead.

The replies came flooding in the moment he sent it. Did these guys not work at all, and just stare at the chat?

These lunatics.

He left it at that and closed the chat.

It didn't take long to reach the company. A massive storm had blown through yesterday, but today the place was turning over just as it always did. He got off on the fourth floor and was heading into the office when a chief-manager-level staffer he only knew by face greeted him from the lounge.

"Fortune-Kicker's here?"

"Yes. Hello... wait, what?"