Top Management - Chapter 212

 

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

 

W&U Entertainment.

 

Cautious gazes glanced inside the office.

 

“He’s not here today again. Maybe it isn’t this team?”

 

“They said it is Team 4. Maybe he’s inside the team leader’s office?”

 

“No one’s there. The door was closed all lunch.”

 

Youths who looked to be in middle school or high school were gathered behind the stairs as they whispered to each other. They all had pretty faces, likely having heard compliments that they should be celebrities.

 

With their consecutive success with Blackout and Neptune, the strategic planning team and the Management Team 3 decided to create a more robust in-house system and were holding auditions. These youths were trainees who made the final cut.

 

“I heard that you’re guaranteed to succeed if that team leader says so. It’s true.”

 

“I heard the same thing. Compliments! He has to compliment you. Song Inho oppa said in an interview that he blew up after the team leader told him he thought he’d do well!”

 

“Oh, I saw him just once in the elevator, but I couldn’t say hi because I was so scared.”

 

“What are you doing over there?”

 

The trainees became flustered at the sudden question. Seeing the slender woman with her arms crossed, the trainees whispered, “PR Team Leader” to each other. Then they greeted her with loud voices.

 

“Who are you looking for here? Team 3 is downstairs?”

 

“That’s… We still aren’t too familiar with the building.”

 

A young man wearing his school uniform, who seemed to be the oldest in the group, took the lead to make an excuse. The other trainees nodded quickly. Seeing this, Team Leader Park quietly asked,

 

“Maybe you came to see celebrities? Actors? They don’t usually come here though.”

 

“Pardon? No, that’s not it…”

 

“Then did you come to see Team Leader Jung Sunwoo?”

 

Flinching, the trainees quickly lowered their heads.

 

Team Leader Park giggled, understanding their reason.

 

“Then you’ve waited for nothing. Team Leader Jung’s taking the rare break right now.”

 

A woman with short hair like a boy touched the logo on the panel then continued walking. A mean undid his necktie and shoved it in his pocket before following her in a leisurely manner. They were walking up the stairs from W&U’s basement.

 

“I heard the competition was fierce since a lot of people applied to Team 4, but I guess we got the prize. To be honest, if it wasn’t for getting into Team 4, I would have seriously considered whether to accept the offer or not. I applied here because of Team Leader Jung Sunwoo.”

 

The woman glanced at him when he said that.

 

“Why? Are you his fan?”

 

“My goal is to become a star manager. He’s a good role model.”

 

The woman burst out laughing when she saw him say that with a beaming smile.

 

On the other side, they heard music and the shouts of a trainer. Saying that it might be Neptune, the man went over only to come back disappointed. They were trainees. Walking around the halls, they encountered other trainees. After walking past the recording and production studios, they finally saw the offices.

 

The man spoke in a quiet voice,

 

“The company is huge, but there aren’t a lot of people here. Do they have flexible work arrangements?”

 

“They are probably working away from the office.”

 

“I don’t see many celebrities either.”

 

They looked around the lounge and the outdoor smoking area with a garden before entering the office with the ‘Team 4’ panel on it. There were more empty chairs than occupied ones. Only a few employees were on their phones or computers working.

 

The two of them greeted the employees before looking around the office.

 

If it wasn’t for the schedule board, posters of affiliated celebrities’ works, pictures of celebrities holding their film and TV awards, and stacks of Pretty Girls and Neptune’s albums, one would think this was just a normal office.

 

“It seems this is Team 4’s lineup for the second half of the year?”

 

The man murmured as he looked at the ownerless desk. The planner filled for 12 months had fully organized the overwhelming schedule for the second half of the year.

 

The day Seo Jijoon’s Korean-Chinese-Japanese joint film would be done filming, the broadcasting schedule of Song Inho’s PBS drama and the release date of his independent film, and the day Im Joowon starts filming. The man examined these schedules before lowering his voice,

 

“Oh, City Jungle!”

 

Placing his finger on the planner, the man’s eyes shined.

 

The project had finished filming and was now in the finishing stages of production. It initially became a hot topic due to Jung Sunwoo, Lee Songha, and the crowdfunding announcement. Now, even after half a year had passed, it was still newsworthy.

 

“A lot of entertainment reporters are chattering about this. Will Midas’s Hand work again or not. Although there are other projects by other actors in Team 4, they only focus on City Jungle.”

 

“Because people are curious about the results.”

 

“There are a lot of people who are waiting for it to be released. Additionally, many are talking about how much they are going to invest. Some who are interested in the drama are hoping it completely flops…”

 

The chatting man suddenly straightened his back. Then he bowed like a new recruit. The woman also bowed her head in greeting. Lee Kwanwoo, who they had met once before, was walking into the office. The once known romanticist of W&U, his face looked much more irritated from being overworked.

 

“Did you have a look around? How is it?”

 

“I think it’s still a little awkward since it’s my first day to work.”

 

Lee Kwanwoo’s drooped eyes narrowed at the man’s sociable response.

 

“Ah, I went around on set on my first day so I had no opportunity to be awkward. I even remember seeing a thorny path with a devil playing his bugle to welcome me.”

 

His calm recollection made the new recruits flinch their shoulders.

 

“I think Team Leader Jung said that he came to work at 3 am and immediately went to Neptune’s music broadcast schedule.”

 

“Ah! I read that in an article. He was able to meet Knet’s Producer Go Joontae and get Neptune on Next K-Star that day. While reading the article, my heart raced so much that I wanted to rush on to the scene.”

 

“Then shall we go?”

 

Lee Kwanwoo made a strange smile before taking the lead. The two new managers quickly followed.

 

After they disappeared, the employees, who had seemingly been concentrating on their work, simultaneously raised their heads like meercats.

 

“One month for the guy, and three months for the girl.”

 

“I give that guy a week.”

 

“You really don’t think he’ll even last a week? When his heart raced?”

 

“Whether his heart raced or exploded, we need to see how he works. You know the road manager that was recently hired into Team 2? He seemed pretty good, but he sent a message saying that he was quitting after two days.”

 

“That team’s a bit rougher than ours. Compared to them, our team is quite harmonious. The celebrities we are managing are easily to manage for their level in general. Also, working with Team Leader Jung is…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

The office became quiet.

 

***

 

My phone vibrated. After checking the contents, I placed my phone back in my pocket.

 

It must have rained last night as the wind was moist. I filled a worn bowl with feed and opened the lock to the chicken coop. The chicken coop my father and brother made over the weekend did seem quite legit.

 

As soon as I stepped in, the chickens caused a ruckus. I remember my father started raising three or four chicks, but they reproduced so fast that there were around twenty large chickens. I did hear that my father would go in any time, whether it was day and night, to feed them.

 

At this rate, it’ll become a chicken farm.

 

While I was filling their food trough, Gyeoul{1}, who was refilling their water tank, said,

 

“Uncle, there’s a girl named Lee Seolin in my class. Her dream is becoming a girl group idol.”

 

“Really?”

 

“She auditioned to become a W&U trainee this time, but she was contacted that she was rejected at the first stage. She came over to me crying, asking me to talk to you. So, about that, can you call her once?”

 

Oh, my god. I didn’t think that I would receive audition requests from my own niece.

 

I looked at her round, earnest eyes before saying,

 

“Gyeoul, life is…”

 

“Can’t you tell her to stop dreaming?”

 

“What?”

 

“She’s really mean. Not long ago, she was bullying my friends, and now, she clings to me, telling me that she’s going to become a girl group idol. Hah, so annoying. Can’t you tell her to stop dreaming, wash her feet and sleep? Huh? Please?”

 

She grumbled while brushing her short hair over her ear. It seemed like it was only yesterday when she was childish and immature, but when did she start talking about screwing others over with such finesse? This was a great stride.

 

When I stared at her in a new light, she blinked.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“I was just thinking that you’ve grown. It seems you all can have 1 chicken each.”

 

“Well, that’s life. You’re thirty this year. Dozen eggs!”

 

She said as she giggled, holding eggs hens had laid.

 

Thirty. Ah, that’s right. I’ll be thirty this year.

 

I felt a bit off earlier this year, but I had completely forgotten about this with all the work I had to deal with. It wasn’t like there was a big difference between twenty-nine and thirty besides the first digit changing. Looking back, I simply felt like I lived a busy life in my late twenties.

 

“There’s bird poop on the eggs.”

 

“Eww!”

 

Gyeoul quickly passed the eggs to me.

 

“Uncle! Uncle! We caught worms!”

 

“Eww, so gross! But they’re huge! Oh, but so gross!”

 

The remaining quadruplets rushed over. They must have dug up the worms in the wet mud as their clothes were caked in it. Kaeul was carrying a bowl of worms in front of him. I thought they would only have two or three, but it was wriggling with them. They deserved to be proud.

 

“Where did you catch so many of them?”

 

“The plum grove over there! Grandpa told us where we could catch a lot of them.”

 

“Eww, catching them was so gross!”

 

“Why were you catching them when they are so gross?”

 

“To give to the chicks! It’s nutritious. They are pitiful for only eating feed all the time!”

 

I don’t know about that. I didn’t think they really need any more nutrition.

 

The quadruplets entered the area specially fenced out for the chicks in the chicken coop before dropping the bowl of worms. Having discovered the special meal, the almost fully-grown chickens rushed out with their beaks pointed. The quadruplets screamed as they rushed out.

 

“Uncle! What the heck are they? Where are the chicks?”

 

“They are the chicks.”

 

“They aren’t chicks, they’re chickens! They fit in the palm of my hand when I saw them last month?! Their feathers were soft and warm. They were real chicks!”

 

“They grew that big after eating feed all day. Pitifully.”

 

“… Grandma said that they were still babies!”

 

“Of course, she was lying.”

 

It was getting hard to fool them as they developed, but they were completely tricked this time. Seeing their devastated faces, like they had seen their country fall, I laughed. It felt like all my built-up stress was being washed away.

 

I took a few eggs and returned home. They were already chatting and having a laugh at how the quadruplets were fooled.

 

We had chicken noodle soup for lunch.{2} We also had fried some eggs to make it a meal. I bit into some ripe plums for dessert. Their sour juice spread in my mouth. With the fan blowing at me while I ate plums, this was heaven.

 

My mother poked a piece of plum with her fork as she mumbled,

 

“How long has it been since we gathered like this besides holidays?”

 

“We came quite often. It’s just hard to see Sunwoo’s face.”

 

“Sunwoo, are you eating well? Don’t skip meals. Make sure you’re eating. You need to take care of yourself at your age.”

 

“Thirty is still considered young these days.”

 

“Actual young folks don’t say that. The plums at the back are tasty, do you want to take a few boxes home? Your brother already ate two boxes.”

 

“We cleared them as soon as we opened them. I keep craving sour things these days.”

 

Everyone became quiet at my sister-in-law’s words. Scared eyes glanced at her flat stomach, and they finally became relieved when she waved her hands in denial and laughed. After becoming pregnant with quadruplets, pregnancies were a sensitive subject in our family.

 

“Sunwoo.”

 

My father avoided the piece of plum my mother gave him as he spoke,

 

“When are you going back?”

 

“I should be going soon.”

 

My mother joined in,

 

“When will you come back once you leave today? You’re coming for Thanksgiving, right?”

 

“Yup, I’ll try to take as much time off as I can.”

 

“Stop pestering him and let him be. His work is important, especially now that he’s a team leader.”

 

My mother sulked at my father’s words.

 

“And is family not important? I can’t even see my son besides on holidays.”

 

“Go to the chicken coop and see how big the chicks have gotten. Just think of them as family.”

 

My mother wielded her fork once more. The piece of plum eventually made it into my father’s mouth. Seeing my father scrunch up from the sourness, I suddenly remembered what my brother told me.

 

That our father has been lonely since recovering his health.

 

It was also why he began growing chicks.

 

“I’ll visit often.”

 

When I said this while looking at my parents, my father coughed.

 

“Then tell us before you come. I’ll grab a chicken and cook chicken soup.{3}”

 

“You’re going to cook them even though you said to think of them as family? It looks like you still care about your son more.”

 

My mother snorted. My brother and sister-in-law laughed as well.

 

I leisurely leaned against the sofa. I looked at my family gathered around me and the quadruplets watching an entertainment show on TV before staring at the slow, tranquil countryside outside the window.

 

My break was over.

 

*

 

I entered the grey building in Cheongdam-dong.

 

Having returned to work after a few days, it was still busy as ever and filled with life. My heart began to beat faster. My belly grew hot.

 

“Team leader, the City Jungle marketing agency wants a meeting with you!”

 

“The company in charge of handling the crowdfunding is also causing a fuss, asking a ton of questions…!”

 

“Joowon! They say his film shoots are going to be delayed in China! He has a commercial shoot immediately though. They’re saying that they can’t delay either, so what should we do?”

 

My employees rushed over and reported as though they had been waiting for me.

 

“Why is there such a fuss as soon as I arrive?”

 

“Uh, can I add to that?”

 

Someone came over. It was Chief Lee Bongjoon, who had been going to and from China and Japan these days. While greeting him, I placed my bag on my desk when another employee rushed in while holding his phone.

 

“Team leader, there’s trouble on set and they are looking for you! The road manager says he can’t take it any longer!”

 

“Again?”

 

The employee nodded. Chief Lee Bongjoon chuckled.

 

“Son Chaeyoung? She’s the same as ever, huh?”

 

“No, it’s Songha.”

 

The employee replied with a sigh.

 

Taken aback, Chief Lee Bongjoon blinked his eyes.

 

“Lee Songha? What about her?”

 

{1} Just a reminder – Bom, Yeoleum, Kaeul, and Gyeoul are the names of Jung Sunwoo’s quadruplet nephews and nieces. They are also the seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

 

{2} Not the Western version – 닭국수

 

{3} Similar to 닭국수 without the noodles – 백숙