Top Management - Chapter 211

Chapter 211

Chapter 211: To Reach for the Stars, or to Become One (3)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

The elevator went up from the basement .

As we passed the third floor, I heard people gulp around me . I thought that we would go directly to the CEO’s office, but the elevator stopped on the fourth floor . And people poured in .

“Water! Someone get me some ice!”

“Dokyung, get it together!”

That moment, I wondered if I was in an ambulance instead of an elevator . Two managers held both arms of a woman who had collapsed like a corpse . They were pretty much dragging her in . Her disheveled, curly, red hair shook .

“Let go of the bottle! Get it together!”

“I’ll only be able to get it together once I drink some!”

Lee Dokyung shouted while holding the neck of a bottle . It was vodka .

They definitely looked fine at the airport .

It wasn’t only Lee Dokyung . The other actors were wrecks as well . Yoon Sangah was wailing while tears and snot ran down her face . Jang Yohan was puffing smoke with a pale face . Managers and staff were doing their best to comfort them .

It was a mess . If someone saw this, they would this they were at a rehab center than an entertainment agency .

Lee Dokyung, who finally lost her bottle of vodka, flailed about .

“Give it back! Give it back!”

She fell on the floor and ended up just lying on it . She wasn’t an actress . She was completely wasted .

“Move . ”

A man in his early forties wearing a suit with no tie pushed others out the way as he approached .

He was the Team 1 Leader, whom I had greeted only on occasion . He received the bottle of vodka from a manager and downed it instantly . Then he filled with ice water an employee brought over and handed it to Lee Dokyung .

“Here . Now bring them up . ”

Lee Dokyung was dragged off by the managers .

Soon, the Team 1 Leader snatched the cigarettes from Jang Yohan’s lips and gestured with his chin . Another manager took Jang Yohan away . The only one left was Yoon Sangah . He approached the now sobbing Yoon Sangah . Taking a drag, he said,

“Stop crying . It’s not like we didn’t expect the press’s reactions . ”

“Team leader, I-I can’t breathe . Let me go to the washroom and calm down . ”

“Okay . ”

Yoon Sangah was brought downstairs by her manager . The lounge finally became quiet . Belatedly coming to their senses, employee rushed to greet the Team 1 Leader . He nodded while walking towards me . No, not to me, but the trashcan behind me .

After throwing the cigarette butt in the trash, he said to the Team 3 Leader,

“How have you been?”

“It’s been fine here . ”

 The Team 3 Leader evasively replied . The Team 3 Leader suddenly smiled before turning to me .

“I heard about your news of your success, but I couldn’t congratulate you . Shall we have drinks some time?”

“That’d be great . ”

Nodding, the Team 1 Leader went upstairs .

The lounge was chaotic after the storm had passed . Everyone was busy trying to predict what was going on in the CEO’s office . I went up to the fifth floor . The PR Team was on the battlefield . Team Leader Park and her employees were shouting into their phones .

I went into my office and turned on my computer . The actors’ names were all over the real-time search rankings . Especially Lee Dokyung . She was an actor who stood at the peak in the country before going to the US, so people’s reactions were more heated .

It looked like it’ll be noisy for the next few days .

While I was reading articles, my door suddenly burst open . This time, it was Chief Lee Bongjoon .

“Uh, I think you should go downstairs . ”

“Did Team 1 go down?”

“Only the actors . But Lee Dokyung, right now…”

“Did she flop on the floor again?”

“No, she got in a fight . ”

In a fight?”

“With who?”

“With Son Chaeyoung . ”

… What the heck was this all of a sudden?

She should be busy with drama shoots these days .

“They are downstairs?”

“Lee Dokyung and her don’t get along . ”

“Is there anyone Son Chaeyoung gets along with?”

“Like very bad . Lee Dokyung flaunted a ton about how she was going to Hollywood . ”

I tried to imagine Lee Dokyung, who caused a fuss while holding a bottle of vodka, and Son Chaeyoung together .

Then I gave up . It lowered my blood sugar .

When I went back down, there really was an incredible mess .

“Screw off! Did you come to mock me?!”

“No, I came to watch . ”

Son Chaeyoung said while munching on donuts instead of popcorn . Her face was overflowing with vigor .

“I was about to explode because of how tight the shooting schedule was, but seeing your face washed all my stress away . Do you even remember the last time you had a tight schedule?”

“Hey! I heard your drama flopped too! So you lost your commercials too!”

“… I keep getting projects . Ah, do you want a minor role in my drama?”

“You crazy bitch, you keep-!”

The managers tried to hold Lee Dokyung back as she tried to rush at Son Chaeyoung while wielding the vodka bottle . It was far from enough . The other employees retreated back like there was a contagious disease .

Chief Lee Bongjoon poked my side .

“Shouldn’t you stop Son Chaeyoung?”

“Me?”

“You guys are close enough to exchange donuts . ”

That was a deal .

“The acting Team 2 Leader will probably stop her . ”

I said, looking in the direction of the vending machines . Chief Jo Byunghwan, who was the acting team leader in place of the Team 2 Leader, was shouting at someone . Ah, it was Chief Lee Janghyun . He at least looked human when he went around looking for ripe persimmons, but now he was about to croak .

“The company’s already in turmoil . How could you bring Son Chaeyoung here?”

“She went straight here after seeing the news on TV . How could I have stopped her?”

“What? Stopping her is your job, bastard!”

“Then fire me . ”

Chief Jo Byunghwan yelled while pointing at him .

Chief Lee Bongjoon, who was watching, clicked his tongue .

“That team is becoming crazier every passing day . But Lee Janghyun, wasn’t he lingering around, wanting to manage Songha? He’s been quiet recently . I don’t think he’s the type to give up easily . ”

“ah, I made a promise, so I let him fill in for me once . ”

“And?”

“He said that Son Chaeyoung was better than Songha and left . ”

Chief Lee Bongjoon’s expression turned odd . His lips opened as if to say something, but a grim voice sounded out from the stairs .

“Why is it so noisy?”

The Team 1 Leader came down from the stair landing . The murmuring employees shut their mouths . Son Chaeyoung and Lee Dokyung stopped what they were doing and looked over at him . The Team 1 Leader looked around the lounge as he asked,

“Where’s Sangah?”

“Chief No, who followed her, isn’t picking up . We sent a road manager to look for them . ”

A Team 1 employee, who I wasn’t familiar with, replied . At the same time, someone added while stuttering,

“Uh, Yoon-Yoon Sangah’s over there though?”

“Where?”

“Over there . ”

His finger pointed to the TV . Everyone’s gazes gathered there . The flat screen still played the entertainment gossip program . And Yoon Sangah was among them .

Surrounded by reporters and holding onto an interview mic .

-Then you’re saying that your agency pressured you into going to the US?

-Yes, I personally thought it was too early to go to Hollywood, but the CEO and team leader were quite persistent . I couldn’t refuse their proposal . I only did what they told me to do for the past few years in the US .

Oh my god .

The scuffle between Son Chaeyoung and Lee Dokyung wasn’t the problem .

Yoon Sangah was dropping bombs on live TV .

-And when you mentioned you were forced to act in a nude scene…

-I received a casting offer for a new US cable channel TV show, and the role only had nude and sex scenes . I told them that I couldn’t do it multiple times, but they said I had to if I wanted to raise my popularity…

Miserable tears poured from Yoon Sangah’s eyes . The camera zoomed in on her wet eyes .

-Then you must have a grudge on your agency .

-Yes, it’s because of them, that my life as an actor is ruined .

Yoon Sangah wailed again . Her cries echoed throughout the lounge . Everyone simply looked at the TV with dumbstruck expressions . The PR Team on the fifth floor screamed indecipherable swears .

“… I guess she still thinks she’s in Hollywood . ”

The Team 1 Leader said from behind . He frowned as he waved his hands .

“Contact the legal team . ”

“Ah, yes!”

The Team 1 employee quickly acted after receiving his orders .

The Team 1 Leader disappeared into his office, and the employees, finally coming to their senses, caused an uproar .

Chief Lee Bongjoon blankly mumbled,

I guess we won’t be able to hold a get-together today . ”

“… I guess so . ”

*

The legal and PR team acted quickly to settle the matter . They sent out articles explaining the situation . This wasn’t an incident we wanted to drag on since Yoon Sangah’s interview was quite far from the truth .

The W&U denouncing public quickly turned their gaze at Yoon Sangah .

However, separate from the truth, W&U and Yoon Sangah continued to be mentioned in articles and by the public . W&U received a strong blow to their image after failing to enter the US market, while Yoon Sangah became known to have been afflicted with ‘Hollywood’ disease .

If Yoon Sangah wanted to gain popularity through incidents like in Hollywood gossip girls, then she definitely succeeded .

Well, unlike Hollywood, one couldn’t live off gossip .

CEO Baek Hansung and the Team 1 Leader wouldn’t stop with just an explanation .

Anyways, while the company was busying putting out fires, things were progress quickly on my side . We continued auditioning for City Jungle, and my spot amongst judges constantly became newsworthy .

These were crazy days for various reasons .

However, there was a day where my idle thoughts were completely washed away .

Reading .

Whenever I saw Lee Songha and Nam Joyoon act in the basement, I became absorbed by it like I was on drugs . It was to the point where I forgot whether they were practicing or if it was real . Scenes that made me tense as I read them swallowed me whole when I watched them .

I finally took a deep breath after seeing the last scene .

It was already well into the night when I checked the time .

“Let’s stop here for today . ”

I handed the two of them water and towels . Lee Songha ignored my hand and stood up . Her shoulders and back moved flexibly like an animal’s beneath her sweat-soaked t-shirt . This was the result of the fitness trainer and martial artist director .

“I’m going to wash my face to recover . ”

She said in a monotone voice before leaving the practice room .

This was something we experienced every time . It took a while before Lee Songha returned to her normal self after completely immersing herself in her role . She was like this for every project she worked on, but it seemed to take a particularly long time with City Jungle .

“Amazing . ”

Nam Joyoon said while catching his breath .

“Songha?”

“I could match her back during Alive, but I can’t keep up with her this time . ”

Bringing his head back, he covered his face with a towel . His shoulders and chest heaved .

Maybe it was because he was on a strict diet to make the paper-weak figure of an artist, but his already impoverished and faint appearance grew even fainter .

“I’m worried that I will be too behind . I need to at least act the part of the lead . ”

“No need to worry . You’re doing great . ”

“Then that’s a relief . ”

Nam Joyoon said with a quiet laugh .

“I still wonder why you picked me . Especially when I’m reading with Songha . I don’t think I’ll be able to act like her even if my life depended on it . ”

“I received some sort of revelation that Songha must act . ”

To be honest, I saw the future .

“And I was shocked for different reasons when I met you . You were totally my type . ”

Nam Joyoon laughed at the joke at the end .

“Also… you hold a special meaning to me . ”

I mumbled before changing the subject .

“I saw a ton of actors while holding auditions, and there really were a lot of people who were great at acting . However, I didn’t receive any revelation, like with Songha, nor was as shocked as when I saw you . I guess my preferences are high class . ”

“Oppa, your preferences are what? What’s high class?”

Lee Songha came back with water still dripping . She had come with hurried steps .

Her immersed role was completely gone, and she was Lee Songha from head to toe .

Soon, laughs warmed the practice room .

Fall was really short .

Winter was even shorter . Spring seriously passed in a breeze .

At some point, we were finally approaching summer again .