Star Manager (5)

"Who is it?"

What the hell was this? Why was that name coming out of nowhere?

I'd already thought it strange that Team 2 was asking me—a Team 3 guy, and one finally on a rare day off—to fill in. Don't tell me Son Chae-young had asked for me by name?

A chill swept over me. Better she be desperate to tear me apart than desperate to drag me off with her. That second one was far more horrifying.

All at once, the future I'd seen before flashed through my mind: the one where I was in charge of Son Chae-young, the future that had threatened my sanity. I still couldn't say whether turning down her offer last time had changed it. From what I'd been shown, there was no way to know how I'd ended up managing her in the first place. But if I took this fill-in today, I was certain I'd be stepping onto the road that led there. It wouldn't be just today's day off going up in smoke. My whole plan for a happy life would go with it.

I held the phone to my ear, drew it well away, and said,

"Hello? Hello? I think I'm in an elevator—I can barely hear you. I'll step outside and call you back."

I hung up on the company and called Kim Hyunjo.

No answer. The Team 3 leader was the same. Were the two of them together? In a meeting?

The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Both of them knew plenty about what lay between me and Son Chae-young. If I were supposed to take her schedule, there was no way they wouldn't have told me. Maybe the two of them didn't even know about this yet.

I sent Kim Hyunjo a text and started turning it over. What excuse could I feed the Team 2 staffer? That I was sick and groaning in bed? That I'd gone down to the countryside to see my parents? Or else, just—

I called again.

She usually picked up in a snap, as if she'd been waiting, but today the ringing dragged on. I was tapping the floor with my heel when a drowsy voice came through.

"Yeah, Songha. Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Her voice brightened, followed by the rustle of someone climbing out of the blankets. I could picture her without trying—phone stuck to her ear, looking a little dazed.

"Do you have any other plans today? Anything you need to do?"

"Yeah? I need an excuse to come see you. Anywhere you'd like to be sick?"

After a brief silence, Lee Songha said,

"I suddenly feel like I'm going to throw up."

A retch came from the other end.

I canceled the movie tickets and bought fried chicken with the money. Then I took refuge at the Neptune dorm.

When I called the Team 2 staffer and explained, their panic carried all the way through the line. They clearly had more they wanted to say, but what could they do? Fill-in or not, my own artist, Lee Songha, was sick, and I had to stay by her side. I heaved a sigh about having to run around a set again first thing tomorrow morning, and the person on the other end went mute as if they'd swallowed their tongue.

Only after I was inside the Neptune dorm did I hear back from Kim Hyunjo. He'd been in a meeting, just as I'd thought—one the Team 2 leader had sat in on as well. Only after it ended had the Team 2 leader brought up covering Son Chae-young's schedule. Chief Jo thought well of me and wanted to use the chance to give me an opportunity; in exchange for working the holiday, he himself would take responsibility and get the day back for me. The Team 2 leader had poured out this nonsense as if nothing were wrong with it, and word was the two team leaders were having a proper fight for the first time in ages.

If I'd gone to pick up Son Chae-young the moment that first call came in, there was a hundred percent chance they'd have said I was already there and they were busy, so I should just cover it.

Kim Hyunjo granted my evacuation too, calling today a disaster. We also agreed I'd take one more day off sometime soon.

"Looks like the disaster's more or less over. So you can stop now."

Lee Songha, who'd been lying on the bed panting, turned her head. Her cheeks were flushed a pitiful pink, her forehead slick with damp, and she looked as if I ought to hoist her onto my back and rush her to the emergency room. I knew the heat in those cheeks came from the electric mat under the bed, and that the cold sweat was only the mist Lim Seoyoung had sprayed on. I knew, and it still looked real.

"Is it over? You don't have to go anymore?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"If something like this happens again, come to me then, too."

"I know. I know, so get up. You don't have to go this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far. Nobody's even coming to check, so why act so convincingly? I feel like I ought to be feeding you rice porridge."

"Oppa, do you know how to make porridge too?"

"Of course I do. Why, you want some?"

She wiped her forehead and started to sit up, only to look ready to flop straight back down.

"Kidding, kidding. I brought chicken. You're not going to eat it?"

"Oh."

She hesitated. Honestly. What was there to hesitate about?

I led the reluctant Lee Songha out to the living room. Through the open door someone seemed to be bustling back and forth, and the table was already fully set, fried chicken at the center and food crowded all around it.

I dropped onto my usual spot on the sofa, and Lim Seoyoung let out a heavy sigh.

"Oppa, it's your day off and it got ruined again. What are we going to do? This is so rotten, you really have to make it big."

"Tell me about it."

"Oh, Oppa, Oppa—you know that variety show we filmed? If you blow up from that, the company won't be able to boss you around anymore, right?"

"I'm fine. You blow up first."

At that, Lim Seoyoung's face went dull. She spun in place like a puppy that needed to pee, then snatched up a cushion rolling around on the sofa, hugged it tight, and said,

"Uwaaah, I was already scared to death. When I go home for Lunar New Year, the whole family's getting together to watch! They're definitely going to be expecting something huge. What if it all gets edited out and airs boring?"

"Don't worry. The PD said even if he cut it together with his toes, it'd still be funny."

"How are you so calm! Your family is watching too!"

"I've given up on thinking about it. Give up, and it's easier."

I'd shoved the useless thoughts aside and was only worrying about how many days I'd actually get off over the Seollal holiday. With Kim Hyunjo leading the charge, we were clearing as much of the holiday schedule as we could, but broadcasting wasn't a field where you rested when everyone else did. Even over a holiday, taking the whole break was close to impossible.

"What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are you all doing for the holiday?"

I asked the others.

Lee Songha, sitting near my legs and tearing into the chicken, answered first.

"I'm going home too. Dad said he'd come pick me up."

"That's good."

"We're going to watch Star Manager together."

It was faint, but there was a definite trace of excitement in her voice.

Her parents had said they hated her being an entertainer. Why keep trying something that wasn't going to work? By now, that idea of it not working had probably changed too. Whatever anyone said, the Lee Songha of today was a hot star.

Lee Taehee, who'd already cracked a can of beer, said,

"I'm just staying at the dorm. Nowhere for me to go."

"What? Why nowhere to go? What about home?"

"My parents are going on a trip. I figured I'd catch up on sleep over the holiday."

That startled me. I'd thought something was wrong at home.

"The girl who falls asleep the second her head touches something is catching up on more sleep? What, you planning to hibernate?"

I tossed it out as a joke, relieved, and Lee Taehee laughed into her beer.

LJ, fiddling with the remote, went on.

"Dorm for me too. It's not some huge occasion worth flying all the way to the States."

Right—LJ's parents were in the US, weren't they.

I was thinking that if the two of them stayed behind, at least they wouldn't be lonely, when LJ suddenly smiled a sly little smile.

"I'll just work out. If I get really bored, I can hang out in Lim Seoyoung's room."

"What?! Hey, no! What are you going to do in my room! I'm locking the door when I leave!"

"I can pick that in three seconds."

"You—you are joking, right? You're just messing with me again?!"

Lim Seoyoung yelled at her to just try going in. A moment ago she'd been ready to dig a hole over the special possibly flopping, and LJ's remark seemed to have wiped that clean from her mind. LJ, meanwhile, kept poking the thoroughly worked-up Lim Seoyoung, clearly enjoying herself.

Those two really looked like they shouldn't get along, and yet they fit just fine.

One side of the room was noisy as usual, and their free-range leader sipped her beer and watched, as if to say they were playing nicely. The youngest, meanwhile, worked through the chicken with tidy relish—tearing, tasting, enjoying—then pressed a drumstick into my hand.

I couldn't help a quiet laugh in that familiar air.

Then LJ spoke up out of nowhere.

"Oh, right. You didn't get to see the movie. You've got two options."

"Options?"

LJ waved the remote.

"One: a new release on IPTV. Two: binge The Little Mermaid Who Came Ashore from episode one. I bet that'd hit the spot right about now."

We chose number two, unanimously. An excellent choice. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠We laughed so hard the stress came clean off.

In the end it wasn't a bad day off. No—it was a pretty good one.

The holiday that fell to us was two nights and three days.

Shorter than the official break, but clearing even that much of the schedule wouldn't have been possible if we hadn't clung to our phones and suffered for it. Kim Hyunjo and I promised not to look for each other unless something big enough to bring the sky down happened.

And on the morning the holiday began, I left Seoul early.

The highway was badly jammed, but far from annoyed, I found myself humming. The farther I got from Seoul, and the closer I drew to my family, the lighter I felt, as if I were snapping, one by one, the cords that had been binding me tight. How long had it been since I'd savored a feeling this free?

A long way out of the city, then a long way past a county seat where the high-rises stood few and far between, then a long way down ocher country roads full of paddies gone dry for winter—only then did I reach the village where my parents had put down roots.

Maybe because I wasn't a familiar face, the villagers stared something fierce.

I parked and went in. In the flower bed at one side of the yard, the fake tree the twins had come and planted last Christmas was still standing, and in the little doghouse beside it a fluffy puppy lay sprawled asleep, oblivious to the fact that anyone had arrived. My older brother's family, down ahead of me, had the noise spilling all the way out into the yard.

"I'm here."

The moment I opened the front door, the smell of savory pancakes greeted me. Then four round little lumps came tumbling over and plastered themselves to me—one on my stomach, one on my back, one on each arm.

"Uncle!"

"Yeah, my little ones."

It felt cleansing. I patted each of their heads in turn, and the third of them, Gaeul, grinned mischievously.

"Why are we your kids? We're Dad's."

"Let's skip the biology. I raised half of you."

"Nuh-uh. We grew up on our own."

"This is why they say there's no point being good to your nieces and nephews. Do you know how many of your toys I bought with my part-time wages? I brought a mountain of food, and Uncle's eating all of it alone. You don't deserve a bite of what I bought."

Only then did the twins notice the shopping bags in both my hands, and they scrambled to change their tune.

"No, I wanna be Uncle's kid!"

"Me too!"

They flapped like baby swallows begging to be fed.

I handed the bags over to the kids and greeted the rest of the family. My brother and sister-in-law were the same as ever. My brother, who'd been reading on the living room sofa, took off his glasses and smiled.

"I'm going to forget what your face looks like."

"If it gets dire, look at Dad. He and I are identical."

Dad, eating a pear my sister-in-law was peeling, frowned. She and Mom laughed so hard their shoulders shook.

Unpacking, I looked them over. Country life seemed to suit them both; Dad and Mom looked healthier than they had back in Seoul.

Mom turned my face this way and that and sighed.

"Look how thin you've gotten. Is a manager's job always this busy? I thought I'd lost a child."

"A guy who's just joined a company has to live busy if he wants to find his footing."

Mom shot Dad a sidelong glare.

I ate a slice of pear myself, then remembered something and dug through my bag. I held out a stiff sheet of paper I'd brought in a document envelope.

"Dad, this."

"What is it?"

"An autograph from Jang Yoon-ok."

I'd had her write it out to Dad's name, along with a line wishing him a full recovery. A smile caught at the corner of my father's mouth, and he was a man who rarely smiled. For Mom and my sister-in-law, I produced several Seo Ji-joon autographs I'd collected. The reaction was a success. Seo Ji-joon landed no matter the age.

Then my brother smiled and said,

"By the way, Sunwoo, I hear you're going to be on TV?"

"Oh, that's right. What was it? Star Manager? I heard you were on something like that. You should have said so sooner. I only found out from Mother."

At my sister-in-law's words, I turned to look at Mom.

Mom waved her hands.

"I only told your sister-in-law."

"Hey, Sunwoo, you're on TV?"

"That's how it turned out, Uncle."

"Sunwoo! I heard you're on TV? Your big brother worried so much about whether this manager work would even turn out all right, but if you're on TV, doesn't that mean you've made it? Do managers go on TV these days?"

"I just ended up on it once, somehow, Aunt."

"Sunwoo, are you really on TV? Star, star what?"

"Star Manager. I wish it were a lie."

"Sunwoo, you—!"

"Yes. That's right."

Just as I'd expected.

Mom had told only my sister-in-law, my sister-in-law had told only someone, and that someone had told only someone else.

By the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time the special was about to air, everyone had turned up, from my uncle's household to my aunts' families, who'd gone to their in-laws and come back early just so they could watch it together.

The living room was swarming with people.