Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 97

TL: KSD

Baekhak Entertainment has an odd fixture: the CEO, who is suspiciously often seen in the lobby on the first floor.

His name is Baek Seung-won. Nicknamed the ‘Factory Manager’ (because he produces idols as if they were manufactured in a factory), his trademark is a white suit and black sunglasses.

Other characteristics include being somewhat prickly, overly sensitive, paranoid, and a workaholic, which leads to neglecting his family.

However, only the employees who are daily nagged by CEO Baek Seung-won are aware of his being somewhat prickly and neglecting his family.

To the hitchhikers traveling through the idol scene, abbreviated as ‘Idol-verse,’ CEO Baek Seung-won is just the ‘Factory Manager’ uncle in a white suit and black sunglasses.

Thus, there is no one in the Idol-verse who doesn’t know the Factory Manager.

Even those who curse at the news of Baekhak Entertainment releasing a new idol group, saying, ‘Oh, just some kids pretending to be stylish by gathering whatever trends are in vogue, huh,’ are ready to open their wallets as if they were brainwashed slaves.

Viewers are shocked to see CEO Baek, in his white suit on an idol competition program, saying, ‘You can fix a face and teach someone to sing, but you can’t correct their character.’

 

From fans shivering with telephoto cameras around their necks in the cold winter dawn for a glimpse of their favorite’s arrival at work to those who received a warm Americano from CEO Baek Seung-won saying he got it on his way…

 

Indeed, CEO Baek Seung-won was a person of overwhelming presence.

A regular victim of the triple set of idol variety penalties – hidden camera pranks and midnight tasks.

A fuss-maker who always comes out in the lobby holding a cake for the celebrities, blabbering.

And the harsh but warm-hearted judge on numerous survival audition programs.

Although he never wore see-through pants that revealed his underwear, CEO Baek Seung-won had nearly the same level of recognition as a celebrity among entertainment agency CEOs.

Considering he comes from a completely unrelated white-collar background, this is quite astonishing.

And.

The fact that all these images were just produced for survival is hardly known.

EP 6-The Show Must Go On

“Did CEO not come to work today again?”

“Yes……”

“Oh dear……”

Since the ‘Baekhak Entertainment’s Apocalypse Day,’ when the four horsemen of the apocalypse blew their trumpets and zombies in black suits bit people, CEO Baek Seung-won has not shown his face at the company.

It’s common for CEOs to not come to work and go play golf, but not at Baekhak Entertainment.

CEO Baek Seung-won was an odd CEO who often showed up in the lobby, making the employees wish, ‘Please, just go play golf and don’t come to work?’

Thus, Baekhak Entertainment’s employees gradually realized that our company’s CEO was also included in the list of <things that are annoying when present but missed when absent>.

Despite everything, he was quite a good CEO.

It was after a considerable amount of time, to the extent that some employees were discussing visiting the CEO’s home, that Baek Seung-won showed himself again.

Surprisingly, the employees did not recognize him at first glance.

Returning to work after a long absence, CEO Baek Seung-won was wearing a black suit instead of a white one, and instead of black sunglasses, his haggard eyes were visible.

“……”

Nobody recognized Baek Seung-won until he crossed the company lobby, and it was only when a managing director who was about to scold this unfamiliar person for taking the executive elevator realized who he was and bowed down, marking the first recognition.

“Are you… the CEO?”

“Yes.”

“……!!!”

Setting aside the managing director’s thrilling experience of almost scolding such a noble figure and surviving by a hair, CEO Baek Seung-won’s humble return quickly became known throughout the company.

Many employees saw CEO Baek Seung-won from their first day as new hires. Naturally, since Baek Seung-won was the founder of the company. And since those days, he was always seen wearing a white suit and black sunglasses.

They say there are many gangsters and thugs in the entertainment industry, but who would have thought Baekhak Entertainment would be like that too? Wasn’t this a big corporation?

– such was the shock experienced by the employees once they learned of CEO Baek Seung-won’s Baekhak lineage, a happening so well-known that almost all employees had gone through it.

However, the story behind that white suit is hardly known.

“……”

Arriving at his office for the first time in a while, CEO Baek Seung-won looked at the white suit hanging on the coat rack with a strange gaze.

It seemed that even the bastards from the headquarters, who were ready to strip the office of all its equipment, hadn’t dared to take the clothes.

The CEO’s office looked tidy overall. It had been thoroughly messed up by the grip of the headquarters, but it seemed that his subordinates had somewhat tidied it up for the return of CEO Baek Seung-won.

But the really important contents of the drawers, the inside of the safe, and the document files remained untouched by the subordinates, so they were left as they were when the headquarters conducted their raid.

“Ah, fuck, they think they’re the prosecution or what…”

A helpless laugh escaped.

The state of the CEO’s office mirrored that of Baekhak Entertainment. After being ruined once, the surface was fixed up to look decent, but the inside was still crushed and mangled.

The headquarters proposed an innovative plan to dismantle Baekhak Entertainment into pieces and turn each department into an affiliate company.

For the headquarters, it was a light threat thrown to make Baek Seung-won kneel.

But for the department heads, who had dedicated years, if not decades, it was an irresistible temptation.

The department heads who fell for the headquarters’ temptation willingly betrayed CEO Baek Seung-won.

However, as soon as CEO Baek Seung-won surrendered, the headquarters lightly changed the promises they had thrown.

As a result, things became utterly ridiculous.

The headquarters took all of Baek Seung-won’s shares, turning him into a salaried CEO, and the department heads who had betrayed Baek Seung-won continued to work under him, trembling in fear.

Truly, the situation had become utterly ridiculous.

In one day, the headquarters dirtied both the inside and the outside of the company known as Baekhak Entertainment. What to call these tainted aspects, I do not know. The company’s spirit? Mind? Soul?

Those who believe a corporation has no soul may not understand, but a corporation is like a person. A person cannot live if their spirit is broken. CEO Baek Seung-won has been acutely feeling this lately.

Suddenly, the white suit hanging in a corner of the office looked like a white flag used for surrender.

The white suit, symbolizing a lifetime of Baek Seung-won’s struggle, was now gone.

* * *

The reason CEO Baek Seung-won wore a white suit fundamentally wasn’t much different from a journalist marked by the regime declaring, ‘I will never commit suicide.’

Baek Seung-won was marked by the headquarters. Because he was born on a collateral line, not the direct line. So he doesn’t know when, how, or in what way he might be ruthlessly purged.

The fact that Baek Seung-won had dedicated his life to growing Baekhak Entertainment from a mere hole-in-the-wall to one of Korea’s leading entertainment agencies was irrelevant.

Baekhak is a cruel beast.

In front of it, one is just an ant, which wouldn’t be surprising to be crushed and disappear at any time.

So, what an ant, which cannot stand against the beast, can do is to scream to the world with all its might, appealing ‘I am here.’

To ensure that he doesn’t disappear without anyone knowing,

So that someone would at least erect a tombstone in the place he was,

And even if it meant being mindful of those who would erect his tombstone, to ensure that the giant doesn’t crush him…

Therefore, the life of CEO Baek Seung-won was like a play, wearing a conspicuous white suit and screaming to the whole world that ‘I am here.’

Of course, there were those who advised him that it was an excessive persecution complex. It was an employee who was like Baek Seung-won’s right arm. He would always say to let go of the paranoia and maintain a healthy state of mind.

But that bastard never was born into a chaebol family, so he wouldn’t understand. Baek Seung-won, who was born into a chaebol family, knows.

Chaebols are not the superhuman, aristocratic elites depicted in dramas.

They are ordinary people, too.

Ordinary people love their families, enjoy spending time with friends, like delicious food, and deep down, want to show off and assert their dominance in front of others.

And ordinary people want to pass off difficult and unwanted tasks to others, demean others to boost their own ego, wish to effortlessly get rid of those who annoy them, are willing to sacrifice others to protect their own interests, and desire to suppress others for their own pleasure.

As long as one is born a human, we all harbor the same desires.

It’s just that most people are not born with the power to act on them, while some are.

Thus, those who wield unchecked power in society are like pure children.

Their inherently human desires lead them to commit acts without hesitation, even if regulated by law.

Ultimately, CEO Baek Seung-won’s prediction was correct.

The centralization of the headquarters, the new chairman’s consolidation of power, a lesson for the disloyal affiliate CEOs…

Stripping away the complex political circumstances, the essence of the situation becomes very simple.

The second son, who took over the chairman position over his older brother, wanted to prove he was better and more powerful by tormenting Baek Seung-won.

It’s a common sight in neighborhood playgrounds.

It was just that everything CEO Baek Seung-won had built up collapsed due to such child-like torment.

Yes. That’s all there is to it.

It felt as if a tsunami had suddenly swept in one day, destroying a tower he had spent his lifetime building.

Before feeling wronged, the thought of emptiness comes first.

Was life such a trivial thing?

There was the introduction of a novel that caught his eye.

「Being diagnosed with lymphatic cancer at the age of 32 was more of a sentence than a diagnosis.」

* * *

The first reading happened by a strange encounter that could be considered either coincidental or fated.

The new work of Author Moon. ‘The Show Must Go On.’

CEO Baek Seung-won was not unaware of the book’s existence.

It had been loudly advertised on TV, and not long ago, it was also a achievement of the Publishing Management Department, which had been part of Baekhak Enter until recently.

Where was it? Yes. It must have been a project of the Creative and Content Department. The idea was to benchmark the success of Author Moon and try to create a second Author Moon, wasn’t it?

Of course, Baek Seung-won knew it wasn’t the Publishing Department that was remarkable, but Author Moon. That’s why he had rejected the proposal, but now the openly headquarters-aligned C&C Division started pursuing the project independently, saying, “Hmph! The CEO’s permission? We don’t recognize that!”

Of course, having been demoted to a salaried CEO, Baek Seung-won could only watch with a bitter smile.

Despite the book having made a bad first impression, it came to Baek Seung-won from an entirely unexpected place.

Was it the evening after he had submitted divorce papers at the court? The employee who had been Baek Seung-won’s right hand came to him.

Baek Seung-won remained at the company, but that employee could not. It wasn’t due to a mistake but because the headquarters had cut off Baek Seung-won’s limbs.

So, Baek Seung-won had to share a farewell drink with his severed right arm.

“Please read this, CEO.”

Baek Seung-won’s assets had halved around 2 PM that day, but he still had money to spend on his right-hand man.

In exchange for kneeling and begging the chairman not to dismantle Baekhak Entertainment into pieces, the chairman had bought his shares at a generous price. Unintentionally, he had become a cash-rich man.

So, he bought the most expensive alcohol as a sign of apology and gratitude at the fanciest and most imposing bar he knew, and while they were sharing it, the subordinate suddenly handed him a book.

“What’s this?”

It wasn’t a question asked out of ignorance.

“It’s the new work of Author Moon. I thought it might help you, CEO. You can consider it as part of the drink’s cost if you like…”

“This?”

“Hmm. Just give it a read.”

Given that it was the last piece of advice from his right arm, CEO Baek Seung-won couldn’t possibly refuse.

Thus, Baek Seung-won, who had only been reading documents and scripts for years, held a novel in his hands after a long time.

And that book swiftly colored his heart.

「It felt as though a sudden tsunami had demolished all the golden towers she had built up over her life, sweeping away even the debris into the muddy waters.」

「Cancer evaporated Eun Byeol’s life, values, and achievements.」

「All the driving forces that had led Eun Byeol’s life to this point, all those precious things that had kept her anchored to this world, were they all so empty and futile?」

「Then, what exactly am ‘I’?」

* * *

Eun Byeol once thought for a brief period—specifically, during the 3 years from age 25 to 28—that it might be alright to dedicate everything to a man whose profession was an actor.

He was also a playwright who wrote his own plays. The words he spoke to his recently parted terminally ill girlfriend must have been a carefully polished masterpiece after long contemplation.

And indeed, it was a masterpiece.

Eun Byeol had never encountered such a courtship in any drama, play, theatre, or film before. His second confession was logically structured with a perfect beginning, middle, and end, each word showing signs of long deliberation, and above all, it was moving.

Perhaps it was because it possessed a sincerity hard to find in any work of art.

At this moment, in a downtown cafe, a man and a woman sat across from each other. The woman was terminally ill, and the man proposed to stay by her side until her last moment.

But Eun Byeol knew the man too well.

So, she said,

「What if I don’t die?」

The man’s face turned pale. Being smart, he must have understood the context of her words. And Eun Byeol turned her speculation into reality.

「What are you going to do if I don’t die soon and keep living for years, even decades, and cling to you from my sickbed?」

「Wait, Byeol…」

「The title of a man who stood by his loving partner until her last breath… That would be quite beneficial for your career, wouldn’t it? That’s so like you. Always planning ahead. It’ll definitely be a plus for your future in the entertainment industry. That kind of story won’t even let the ‘divorced man’ title become a minus. Quite a decent compensation for just a few months of taking care of someone sick.」

「Byeol, that’s not fair…」

「Forget it. I have no intention of bringing cameras into my hospital room for a touching farewell scene right before I die. Sorry, but I’m going to leave now.」

With that, Eun Byeol left the cafe alone, leaving the man with a soulless expression sitting there.

Yes. Eun Byeol knew him all too well.

He was too tender-hearted to marry a girlfriend with cancer and bear the burden of widowhood for the rest of his life. He would never be able to endure it.

So, she chose to cut ties.

Until recently, Eun Byeol, who had been keen on reuniting despite their breakup, now found it all meaningless.

The cancerous mass, not visible to the eye and confusingly attached to her body, had transformed Eun Byeol into a completely different person.

Love no longer held meaning for her.

Therefore, Eun Byeol’s cold decision was right in both scenarios.

Whether ‘he’ approached Eun Byeol for calculative reasons or genuinely wanted to be by the side of his slowly dying ex-girlfriend, her response was appropriate.

For Eun Byeol, love had become a value too trivial. Death had evaporated all her values. Love, as a biological instinct to leave descendants, is a desire overly glorified by too many artists.

Eun Byeol had no intention of clinging to the remnants of that desire until the end, nor did she plan to let ‘him’ spend the rest of his life clinging to that desire.

Thus, Eun Byeol believed that removing ‘love’ from her life was the best decision.

However, the slightly faded colors of the city’s landscape brought a peculiar worry.

What else must she let go of and send away in her remaining days…?

It was a profoundly human regret.

* * *

“Huhuhuh… Huh! Huh!”

CEO Baek Seung-won wept alone in the house his wife and children had left, his head buried in the dining table for a long while.

Only when a page of the book got damp from his tears did CEO Baek Seung-won rub his eyes and stand up.

Yes.

There are times when you must let go if you love.

That was why Baek Seung-won let go of his wife who requested a divorce.

Although the love had cooled decades ago, and they had been merely acting as a couple for the sake of their children, love between people isn’t always about desire.

There’s a love that’s infinitely close to responsibility. In corporate terms, it’s unlimited liability. CEO Baek Seung-won had to bear unlimited responsibility for his wife and children.

That’s why he decided on divorce.

Although the divorce papers were initiated by his wife, Baek Seung-won didn’t fight it and stamped his agreement because he believed it was the best decision for his wife and children.

After Baek Seung-won’s death, it would be too difficult for his wife to claim the inheritance. She wasn’t born into a chaebol family. She would have been torn apart by his cruel siblings. The law is not for people.

But if they divorced while he was alive, he could transfer half of his assets to his wife. And if he bequeathed his entire estate to his children, everything would be settled neatly.

It wasn’t a normal thing to contemplate, but he had no choice. Baekhak Entertainment was everything to him. The moment it was taken from him, he could no longer be normal.

Thus, Baek Seung-won slowly and carefully prepared for his end.

And occasionally, he read the book.

* * *

Baek Seung-won’s last reading session was on the day he decided to commit suicide in the Baekhak Entertainment CEO office.

After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Eun Byeol, who had been shedding the now seemingly trivial values of life one by one, had become one of Baek Seung-won’s closest friends.

Both Eun Byeol and Baek Seung-won were preparing for death. Both were victims of a tsunami that had suddenly taken everything they had built in life.

Humans are such vain beings.

Everything built up over a lifetime could crumble so easily due to someone’s prank, like the sudden diagnosis of lymphatic cancer or the whims of a chaebol chairman…

In the face of such transcendental matters, everything seemed meaningless.

Decades of passion, dreams, efforts, love, people…

After stripping away everything and settling his affairs, Baek Seung-won opened a book in his final moment of reluctance,

Similarly, Eun Byeol also looked back on her life only in her final moments after letting go of everything.

Was there value in such a vain life?

「It was.」

This book, labeled as cliché by all sorts of critics, emitted a peculiar power in a moment.

「Time is not made of lines, nor planes, but solely of memories engraved in people’s souls.」

It might have been an insight hidden between the lines written by an author who had once tasted death,

Or perhaps it was acceptable to think that CEO Baek Seung-won, facing his death, was indulging in sentimentality.

Anyway, the book spoke its words, and the reader interpreted them in his own way.

「What keeps me alive is not some grand ambition to achieve something, but the humble companionship with the precious things I enjoyed day by day within it.」

「Even if those precious things are as fleeting as feathers that vanish into thin air, I realize that embracing them dearly is what life is about.」

「It’s the process, not the fruit, that holds meaning. Thus, human life is like a play. Joy, sorrow, success, failure, laughter, tears — all are part of the play.」

「Death is no exception.」

「So, the show must not stop. It must go on.」

「Death may be the end of my play, but it is not the entirety of it.」

The novel ends with Eun Byeol’s monologue as she returns to the theater.

But Baek Seung-won continued to read something.

It was his own heart.

“……”

Baekhak Entertainment, as a corporation, was everything to CEO Baek Seung-won. His true life began with this company, and all his efforts and achievements were here.

But now he questioned,

Was this company truly everything to him?

“No……”

Of course, Baekhak Entertainment contained everything of the human Baek Seung-won.

A system filled with the fierce desire to shine even if it meant creating talent where there was none.

A determined conviction to break away from the reality that those being filmed are touched, oppressed, and defiled by those holding the camera.

Economic achievements that made even the headquarters wary of a common good-for-nothing chaebol from side branch.

The power that makes even stars who are known by everyone bow their heads at the mention of his name.

The numerous colleagues who have shared life’s joys and sorrows together for decades.

All of this was encapsulated within the corporation of Baekhak Entertainment.

Of course, it all collapsed suddenly one day.

Baekhak Entertainment’s independence was destroyed, management rights were snatched away, department heads betrayed the CEO, and entertainers dreamt only of escaping the ominous atmosphere.

But regardless of the outcome, the splendid memories of Baekhak Entertainment, which once created beauty…

If those shining memories make the play of the person named Baek Seung-won beautiful…

If all these joys and sorrows are merely parts of a long play when viewed from afar…

So, if just by continuing to live, one can create another beautiful play…….

“Continue……”

Baek Seung-won lifted his head.

“Is it okay for me to live……”

Through the window, the brilliant sunset pierced between the buildings, enveloping Baek Seung-won’s face.

Baek Seung-won, while always seeing this view, thought the scarlet of the slowly setting sun and the busy lives of the countless people below were truly beautiful.

“……”

Baek Seung-won stood at the window for a long time, admiring the world.

Until the scarlet twilight disappeared beyond the dark blue sky,

Until the brilliant lights of the forest of buildings chased away the night,

And until the sparkling of the cars flowing on the roads stretched out like the Milky Way,

He gazed at the landscape of this world for a long time.

And surprisingly, it was more beautiful than any artwork Baek Seung-won had ever seen in his life.

Of course, he knew that there was no real meaning behind those twinkles.

The warm glow of the sunset piercing through the buildings was just a ball of fire shining in the cold emptiness, and

The brilliant night view of the buildings and the cars rushing down the roads like shooting stars were just people going home after a night’s work.

But beauty wasn’t found in reality; it was found in the heart.

That beauty succeeded in healing CEO Baek Seung-won’s soul, even if just a little.

And because CEO Baek Seung-won was a strong person, he found the courage to stand up again in that moment of solace.

“Ugh…”

With a sigh that leaked out amidst a strange laugh, CEO Baek Seung-won got up from his seat.

It was already deep into the night. Time to go home. Because he had to go to work again tomorrow.

As he was packing up his things like always, he suddenly stopped and pondered something.

Then, he hung up the black suit on the hanger and picked up the white suit and sunglasses before moving on.

With steps lighter than the day before, heading towards tomorrow, just like the title of the book tucked under his arm.

After all, the show must go on.

The fate of a showman changed just like that.

*****

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