Top Management - Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Chapter 173: Who is His Person (5)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

“Is this a spectacle to you?”

The sparks landed on us . No, on me .

The Team 2 Leader scanned me with angry eyes .

“Jung Sunwoo, what are you doing here?”

I came for a show .

Rather than saying my true thoughts, I lifted the plate .

“I wanted to give Chief Lee a slice of cake . Would you like one as well?”

“Hey, are you here to pick a fight with me? You’re just going all out, aren’t you?”

His reaction was cold . His beard, which I wanted to shave whenever I saw him, trembled .

Chief Lee Bongjoon, who was acting like a bystander a step away from me, became surprised as if I had declared a challenge . I flinched when I looked at the plate . It was a pile of mushed bread and cream . It looked like a huge seagull poop .

Oh right, I did mash it with my hand . I had forgotten because I was preoccupied with Son Chaeyoung .

I was about to tell him that this was a mistake .

“Oh good . ”

I heard a voice from above .

The director, whose face and scalp were shining, was standing on the stairs .

“The CEO wants to see you . ”

CEO Baek Hansung?

The director beamed as he looked at both me and the Team 2 Leader .

“Both of you . ”

No matter how many times I’ve been here, the CEO’s office always gave me a peculiar heavy feeling . I felt like I now had some experience in society, but whenever I sat here looking at CEO Baek Hansung, I felt like a newbie who was at an interview .

Still, there was one more person here for the interview today, the Team 2 Leader .

It wasn’t just me who felt this way . It looked like he needed a cheongsimhwan{1} .

“I heard that people liked Pretty Girls’ first performance . Team Leader Park was fussing over it . ”

CEO Baek Hansung said while drinking tea .

His classic suit and leisurely attitude made it seem like he just popped out of a magazine . Why did it seem like he was getting younger every time I saw him?

I stopped my wandering thoughts and replied,

“It seemed the positive audience reactions at the event helped the performance . There are so many fancams that we can’t even count them all . Babel thanking us on social media was also helpful . ”

After the night of festivities, Babel’s company spread a press release regarding the accident as soon as the sun rose . They also publicly thanked Pretty Girls for filling in the time on social media, though I didn’t know if they were trying to maintain a good public image or being sincere .

Thanks to that, Babel and Pretty Girls rose up on the real-time search rankings .

Tons of reporters were calling me, so there was nothing more to say about the PR Team . People must be going on about how they didn’t tell them about the university performance ahead of time and how there were waiting for the official showcase date .

As I spoke, CEO Baek Hansung listened while tapping his armrest .

He was also smiling faintly .

“We’ll have lots to discuss once this is over . ”

I also had a lot I wanted to say .

CEO Baek Hansung was silent after saying this . Was this all he wanted from me? I put down my teacup and looked to my side . The Team 2 Leader’s shoulders flinched . He briefly glared at me .

The director stretched his round arm and patted my shoulder .

“Well, since an event like this occurred, Making Film’s ratings probably won’t drop . Oh wow, Lucky Charm will get another trophy for his display . ”

“You really like to count your chickens before they hatch . ”

The Team 2 Leader joined in .

“Wait until you see their music results . ”

“Counting my chickens before they hatch? Weren’t you the one who said that the movie that rookie Song Inho is doing is going to be a huge hit even though it hasn’t premiered yet?”

The director asked with a smirk . The Team 2 Leader suddenly coughed . When the topic changed to Song Inho and his movie, his eyes began to shift even quicker . The Team 2 Leader looked at me, the director, then CEO Baek Hansung before replying,

“Cough, that’s because I got a glance at it . The movie is really well made . ”

“I hope so . You know that 13 million people went to see Alive, right? Nam Joyoon might get an award if he’s lucky . ”

The Team 2 Leader immediately frowned .

“Now really, we need to show our cards too . Inho is a true talent . Although he’s sometimes stubborn, we just need to control him better in the future . He plays a pretty big role in the movie, so he’ll become famous once it does well in the box office . ”

“Really?”

“He’ll receive an award this year . A big one . ”

The Team 2 Leader replied to the director, but his gaze was on me .

However, his glaring gaze quickly disappeared at the director’s next words .

“You need to get Son Chaeyoung under control first . I heard she’s back?”

“… That is…”

“What are you going to do about her?”

With nothing to say, the Team 2 Leader licked his lips . It was completely different from when he was talking about Song Inho .

CEO Baek Hansung, who was silent until now, spoke,

“Her tantrum is lasting longer than usual . ”

He sounded like he was dealing with a child . He slowly rubbed his chin .

“It’s getting a bit troublesome now . ”

“All sorts of rumors spread if an actor rests for too long after a failed project . ”

The director added with a click of his tongue .

“The Chinese investors seem especially concerned about this . Mermaid out of Water, that completely failed in China . They sold the publishing rights at a high price, yet it ended up like that . There’s no way her image is good . She needs to quickly start a new project and brush off Mermaid out of Water’s failure . ”

The Team 2 Leader, now with a dark complexion, said to CEO Baek Hansung,

“I’ll give her what she wants and console her, so that we can decide on a drama or movie . You know her . Although she stirs up trouble at the company, she works hard once she signs a contract . ”

“That’s only when you find a project she likes . ”

“I’m trying to gather as much as I ca-”

“In the past . ”

CEO Baek Hansung cut him off .

“Chaeyoung mentioned you being her manager, correct?”

He asked, looking at me . He leaned closer .

“Chief Jung, no, what if you become Team Leader Jung? Get Chaeyoung under control . ”

“Pardon?”

“Just temporarily . ”

He added with a smile .

My mind began to churn quickly when the Team 2 Leader roughly grabbed the table .

“CEO!”

His action knocked over a teacup, and it rolled on the table .

The Team 2 Leader had tried to have me manage Son Chaeyoung in the past, but this was a completely different situation . He was trying to order me back when I was a new chief . However, this situation was more like he was being pushed out for not being able to handle her .

The Team 2 Leader shot up from his seat .

“A week! I’ll persuade Son Chaeyoung in a week . ”

*

The second day of that week .

I stopped my minivan on my way to work . Someone was calling me . A very unpleasant caller .

-It’s me . You know my number, right?

Even if I didn’t, I would immediately know that she was Son Chaeyoung . That was also a talent . To make someone’s heart beat irregularly with a few words .

“I know . What is it?”

I thought she would reply right away, but she took a breath and said .

-Let’s talk .

What did she want?

I wondered as I looked at the coffee shop window before giving up on guessing .

I sipped on my strong coffee . I needed the caffeine . I never expected to talk to Son Chaeyoung at a coffee shop, but I did come out, thinking that I might get a hint regarding that repeated vision if we talked . I still wasn’t up for it .

Although she could be considered someone who had a large presence in my career as a manager, we barely ever talked to each other alone . And even those weren’t pleasant memories .

Once in the hotel hallway last year . I told her that we should start by apologizing to each other if we were going to actually talk, but her reply was ridiculous . It was so ridiculous that I remembered every word .

‘I don’t do stuff like that . ’

‘Why?’

‘I just don’t!’{2}

I was still speechless when I thought about it again .

The other time was in a meeting room . She talked about how it was a given for me to be her manager as she told me she asked CEO Baek Hansung to make me her manager . Her words then were still vivid in my mind .

‘I’m telling you that I’m going to groom you . ’

‘So stop playing with that child and come when I tell you to . ’

It came as a bigger shock because it was right after I had seen a shocking future .

I recalled a memory I wanted to erase from my mind . The one where Son Chaeyoung, holding a baby, called me her manager . I didn’t see that future again, perhaps because I refused that time . Still, it occasionally came up in my silly dreams .

All the memories of us together were like this .

Once that would be ridiculous if they appeared in a dream .

Would my silly dreams get new material today?

I looked outside the window as I drank coffee . Raindrops slid down the window . A couple drops fell when I ordered coffee, but it was pouring quite a bit now . People without umbrellas were gathered below store eaves to avoid the rain . It seemed they didn’t see today’s weather forecast .

But, for some reason, they were all looking in the same direction .

What was going on?

I followed their gazes . I saw a woman riding a bike . Drenched in the rain .

She should at least pedal faster if she wasn’t going to rest under the eaves, but she rode leisurely like she was on a picnic . She occasionally brushed her hair and looked up at the sky .

Rain should be dripping in her nose .

It almost looked like a drama shoot with a sprinkler .

As soon as I thought this, the woman’s face became clear .

Oh, my god .

I quickly left the coffee shop and got in my minivan . I drove towards the coffee shop entrance . I hoped I was just seeing things, but the woman, Son Chaeyoung, was still leisurely riding her bike .

People with umbrellas looked at her with wide eyes .

I parked my minivan nearby and rolled down the window .

“Get in . ”

Discovering me, Son Chaeyoung stopped pedaling .

Then she brushed her hair away with both hands . With a brightly smiling face . Only then did people recognize her and start taking out their phones . Some were looking at me .

Damn it, I guess it would be better if I just acted like a manager .

I got out with an umbrella . I got Son Chaeyoung in the back seat and folded the bike into the trunk . As I drove away, Son Chaeyoung waved at the people outside . When we grew distant, she rolled the window back up .

I called the PR Team and told them that photos might have been taken . Then I opened the glove compartment . I felt a towel amongst the snacks Lee Songha put in . I took it out and threw it behind me .

“You’re getting the car wet . ”

“It’s already soaked . You should have told me if it was going to rain!”

“Why should I?”

Was I her weather station?

I was already dumbfounded by her first words .

“Also, if you didn’t want to get soaked, you should have pedaled faster . Why were you going so slowly?”

“It’s weird if I pedal quickly!”

“Do you think your appearance just now wasn’t weird?”

“That was weird too? Ah, damn it . This pisses me off . ”

Wow .

“No, why did you ride a bike in the first place? Without sunglasses at that?”

“I don’t have a manager right now . ”

“You could have called a taxi . ”

Don’t tell me she didn’t even know how to call a taxi?

It was ridiculous, but she was Son Chaeyoung .

“Don’t you know that people forget you if you don’t do anything in this industry? I need to show my face and have pictures taken of me so that people don’t forget me while I’m on my break . ”

Oh, really?

“Then you can just do a project . ”

“Why? Do you have a script you want to give me?”

“Nope . ”

If I did, I would have already given it to Lee Songha .

Anyways, listening to her, it seemed she had no plans on retiring .

The future I saw was excessively brief, so all I knew was that she retired at the height of her career .

How could I know if that was this year, the next, or a few years later?

My foresight ability was quiet since the repeated vision . I thought that it might be because I decided to get myself involved with Son Chaeyoung . Just in case, I thought that this was useless information to me, but it still didn’t activate .

I shook my complicated mind . Even after doing this, my mind would become messy with these thoughts .

Like a windshield that got wet no matter how many times the wipers wiped it .

“Why did you want to see me?”

I asked first .

Son Chaeyoung looked at me through the rearview mirror . She seemed to have dried her hair as the towel hung on her shoulders . Her silence made me even more uncomfortable . She lowered the window a bit . The rain noisily resounded in the car .

“Didn’t CEO Baek Hansung mention me?”

Son Chaeyoung asked back .

“He probably did . Asking if you were interested in managing me . No?”

“Something like that . ”

“Seeing as how the team leader began saying that he’ll do anything I ask, it means that fire’s been lit on his back . I don’t plan on dousing that fire . And CEO Baek Hansung won’t just watch idly with his personality . ”

A strange smile hung on her lips .

“He’ll definitely ask you once more . At that time, no matter what . ”

Our gazes met on the rearview mirror .

Son Chaeyoung continued,

“Tell him that you won’t be my manager . ”

{1} Been a while since this has been brought up . It is a medicine that is supposed to calm your heart .

{2} Sorry, this is probably not exact, it is difficult to find quotes from prior chapters .