The Reality of the Powerful (1)
"I'm telling you, the rumors are flying around the agency right now. Everyone knows how much effort the President is putting into training us." The aspiring actress snuggled up to Heo Cheong-won, who was leaning against the headboard with his upper body bare, and began to act coy. Heo Cheong-won wrapped his arm around her neck while continuing to stroke his chin with his free hand.
"So, it's an open secret that the Chairman of the Samwoo Group is succeeding in everything he touches these days?"
"Right? Right? The rumors have reached us, too. That's why everyone is just waiting for a chance, thinking that even a bit part in that movie would be a huge break."
"Weren't you an aspiring singer?"
At Heo Cheong-won's words, the aspiring actress giggled and shook her head. "I just want to be famous. Once I'm famous, what does it matter if I'm a singer or an entertainer?"
"Ho-ho, is that so? Then, shall I test the waters for you?"
"Really?" The aspiring actress squealed with delight, and Heo Cheong-won flashed a lecherous, late-forties grin.
"Depends on how you perform."
"Oh my, Minister, it seems you were feeling a bit needy."
The lights in the hotel room, paid for with taxpayer money, went out, and strange sounds began to echo through the room.
'A movie destined for success, huh...'
Despite the pleasure coursing through his body, Heo Cheong-won’s mind was occupied by thoughts of his granddaughter.
The "Three Heos." The crown prince of the 5th Republic was JSD, but the Three Heos were the masterminds. And they were even more cunning than the crown prince. In this world, all three of them were still active in politics. If history had followed its original course, two of the three would have left politics to live in the United States, but the interests surrounding the mini-department store had kept them from leaving the political arena.
Heo Cheong-won, the incumbent Minister of Foreign Affairs, also had his relatives installed in the mini-department store. Until now, YK had handled most of their requests through JSD, so the relationship between YK and Heo Cheong-won was neither particularly good nor bad, but the situation had changed.
'What would happen if I put my granddaughter in that position?'
Heo Cheong-won used every bit of intelligence at his disposal to find out about the movie currently being filmed by MEV. He even went as far as wiretapping. He listened to the calls between Choi Cheol-jae and Choi Cheol-jun, and every call made by the Samwoo family. If Yoon-gi hadn't installed secret Guster lines for his inner circle in advance, it would have been quite dangerous. Of course, such wiretapping was already standard practice. In this era, surveillance was incredibly widespread. However, because the Samwoo family was not the type to let slip things that shouldn't be said, the benefits Heo Cheong-won gained from this wiretapping were not very significant. Just the content of the movie MEV was shooting, who was involved, and the purpose of the film? But this was enough for Heo Cheong-won to formulate a plan.
'An advertising movie for the Super Genesis to be released in Japan, is it? That means it can at least gain tremendous popularity in Japan. And based on that, they can promote it in Korea.'
Heo Cheong-won was thinking about the presidential election two years away. JD's regime would end in two years. Because of the seven-year term promised to the people, Heo Cheong-won predicted that no matter what tricks JD used, he would eventually have to step down. If so, the next presidential candidate would obviously come from the division under JD. That was why Heo Cheong-won had allowed his granddaughter to pursue an entertainment career. His granddaughter was currently 10 years old, two years older than Samwoo's granddaughter, Choi Jung-ah. Since he had married young and his eldest son had had a child even earlier, his granddaughter was quite grown up for his late-forties age.
'If my granddaughter gains national popularity, it will be a huge help to my presidential bid.'
In Heo Cheong-won's view, JSD was not a presidential rival. Since he had run the ANSP, it was practically impossible for him to gain public support. Then, that left the Three Heos. Considering that national popularity was the most important factor in the presidential race, the Three Heos were convinced that this was the opportunity he had to seize.
'If they’ve already cast her for a role and plan to have her appear in the ad, it means they are absolutely certain of its success. It’s worth stealing.'
Heo Cheong-won didn't even bother to weigh whether he could steal it or not. He was the co-second-in-command of the 5th Republic. He believed there was no one who would dare defy his orders.
"Bring Samwoo's fifth son, Choi Cheol-jae, to my house."
The arrogant command flowed from Heo Cheong-won's lips.
Heo Cheong-won's sudden summons. However, Choi Cheol-jae judged that this was likely not a "random summons." Of course, he didn't go so far as to think it was related to Jung-ah. That was a conclusion that required quite a leap of logic. However, Choi Cheol-jae didn't just let himself be dragged away.
"I apologize, but the President is currently away... I will pass on the message as soon as he returns."
Thanks to his habit of training his secretary to always say he was away regardless of who called, he managed to buy a few hours, and during that time, Choi Cheol-jae was able to check on the personnel at the agency.
"The Minister of Foreign Affairs is calling for me, do you have any idea why?"
The reason he called the staff into his office one by one to ask. It was because Choi Cheol-jae knew all about "sponsorships." Sponsors were mostly chaebols or the power elite. Of course, there were cases where they were just moderately wealthy people without much power, but since the aspiring stars knew the reality, they wanted powerful sponsors if possible. As such, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs was mentioned, most had similar reactions.
"Oh my, I’d have no wishes left if I were sponsored by him."
"No, what do you take me for? Do you think I’d accept something like that?"
"Wow, is there someone who gets sponsored by the Minister of Foreign Affairs?"
"Ha... President. I don't accept things like that."
Some got angry, others showed signs of compromising with reality. Of course, you couldn't find out everything just from their answers. However, Choi Cheol-jae focused on their "attitude when answering." As a result, Choi Cheol-jae found a clue.
"Yes? The Minister of Foreign Affairs? Well...? I don't know..."
Oh Kyung-hee, a 20-year-old aspiring actress, answered but couldn't meet his eyes. Choi Cheol-jae slammed the table.
"Shall I terminate your contract for leaking information?"
Contract termination. Even these days, society is noisy about unfair contracts between agencies and celebrities, and in this era, it went without saying. Furthermore, since the fault lay entirely with Oh Kyung-hee for leaking information, she was about to bow her head in a moment. But. Oh Kyung-hee realized that her sponsor was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and decided to just act brazenly.
"Terminate it, if, if you want! Who do you think is scared?"
However, this answer was a huge help to Choi Cheol-jae.
"Get out! You are no longer part of our agency from now on!"
"No, I’ve been here for over a year, can you just kick me out like this? If I just say a word..."
Oh Kyung-hee, unable to make a rational judgment, prioritized her pride. If Oh Kyung-hee had bowed her head and apologized immediately? Since Choi Cheol-jae knew the reality of the entertainment industry, he might have scolded her, but he wouldn't have gone as far as terminating the contract. However, Choi Cheol-jae realized that Oh Kyung-hee was rotten to the core and sent her home immediately.
"I said get out!"
"Ugh... just you wait! I’ll make this agency go bankrupt!"
Thinking she had caught a big fish in the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oh Kyung-hee didn't beg at all and left the office as she was. Carrying the luxury bag from YK Department Store that Heo Cheong-won had bought with tax money.
"Haa, no matter how much you tell them the reality, they just won't listen..."
Thinking of the reality Oh Kyung-hee would soon face, Choi Cheol-jae shook his head, but he let out a sigh of relief, thinking there had been a harvest after all.
'She must have told Minister Heo Cheong-won about the movie.'
Choi Cheol-jae thought about picking up the receiver but put it back down. He already knew the terror of wiretapping.
'I’ve dragged it out too long to go to Yoon-gi.'
In the end, Choi Cheol-jae decided to try and stall Heo Cheong-won with his own strength.
"Minister, President Choi has arrived."
With the secretary's words, Choi Cheol-jae entered Heo Cheong-won's residence. A mansion that was incredibly luxurious by 80s standards. As one of the three dukes of the Korean Empire, Heo Cheong-won's mansion was truly magnificent.
'My father's mansion is also quite flashy so as not to be looked down upon, but this makes that look modest.'
As Choi Cheol-jae clicked his tongue in awe, Heo Cheong-won smiled and spoke first.
"What are you doing? Standing there. Sit down quickly."
"Ah... yes! Hello. I am Choi Cheol-jae, President of the agency Golden Circle."
Choi Cheol-jae bowed at a 90-degree angle and sat down as directed.
"You seem busy, I’m sorry to have called you here."
The words were soft, but they carried the sting of "Why were you away and making me wait?", so cold sweat ran down Choi Cheol-jae's back. However, Yoon-gi had gone to the trouble of giving him an opportunity, and he couldn't let it go to waste. Therefore, Choi Cheol-jae made up his mind to desperately play the "idiot." If you pretend to be half-smart, you’ll be eaten alive by the other party. But if you pretend to be stupid, you can make the other party frustrated. Choi Cheol-jae himself had lived through a long time seeing the dirty side of things while being an aspiring singer, so this judgment was possible.
"I apologize. It’s a busy season, so I haven't been able to be at the office. But what did you call me for?"
Going straight to the point in an unfavorable situation. Because of this, Heo Cheong-won judged that the Choi Cheol-jae in front of him was naive.
'Good. If it's a naive guy like this, he'll be easy to cook.'
A meeting between a lecherous man of power and a second-generation chaebol pretending to be an idiot. Since he had gotten to the point, Heo Cheong-won immediately went straight to his own agenda.
"I heard that there is a movie your agency's actor is scheduled to appear in?"
Heo Cheong-won, who was carefully watching Choi Cheol-jae's expression, brightened up when he saw Choi Cheol-jae's beaming face.
"You are well-informed. Yes, that is correct."
"Right! You’re quick to speak!"
"'Shallow and Red Day'. Our agency's actor is scheduled to appear in a supporting role there."
For a moment, Heo Cheong-won's brow furrowed slightly.
"No, not that one. Isn't there another movie?"
"Ah, I apologize. I guess that wasn't it. Of course, there are more."
Choi Cheol-jae pretended to think for a moment and continued immediately.
"By any chance, are you talking about 'Audong'?"
This time, it wasn't Heo Cheong-won's brow, but his eyes that squinted.
"No, not that."
"Oh, then are you talking about 'Shark Hunt'?"
"No."
Heo Cheong-won's words became clipped.
"Ah~, then you must be talking about 'Even If It’s Good, Once More'."
"I said no!"
Finally, Heo Cheong-won lost his temper. Could there be anyone who could say such things in front of Heo Cheong-won, the co-second-in-command? No, to be precise, Heo Cheong-won had probably never experienced such a thing. Always a summarized report brought by capable subordinates below him. Of course, Heo Cheong-won had experienced many things before rising to power, but since seizing power, his patience had largely vanished due to his ingrained complacency.
"Then, what movie could you possibly be talking about..."
At Choi Cheol-jae's act of having absolutely no idea, Heo Cheong-won finally let out his true intentions in an irritated voice.
"The God of Pachinko. The God of Pachinko!"
'This is my chance!'
Choi Cheol-jae asked back with an expression of genuine wonder.
"Wow! How did you know about that?"