Star Jung (1)
When I opened the door to the meeting room on the sixth floor, I could see Kim Dong-Soo and Gu Seong-Cheol, the chief of Actor Division 2, fiercely arguing with each other.
"Chief Gu. You seriously need to start educating the talent agents in your division. I can't believe he neglected his actress to be somewhere random during working hours! He even ignored my orders and lied about Jung Yoo-Jin catching Lee Ji-Yeon's eye!"
"What did you just say? Huh? The problem started when you tried to get our division's staff to do your work!"
"What's wrong with focusing on cash cows that bring us money like Yung-In rather than focusing on the extras? Isn't it only natural to borrow staff from other divisions if we have urgent matters to deal with?"
Gu Seong-Cheol burst into anger at Kim Dong-Soo's aggressive excuse.
"Hey! Do you think Yoo-Jin will always be an extra? Besides, it's Division 3's job to pick up Ju Yung-In, not ours! Why would you tell my boy to pick her up?"
As the argument continued for a long time, I cleared my throat to make my presence known.
"Ahem. I'm here."
Kim Dong-Soo turned his head and approached me with big steps.
"Hey, newbie! How dare you ignore my orders and leave the set? Are you out of your mind? You thought you could get away with lying to me?"
Snatch!
Kim Dong-Soo grabbed me by the collar.
At that moment, I realized that I hadn't actually accepted the five stages of grief.
'Is this the sixth stage?'
Anger welled up, but strangely, I felt like laughing for some reason. Perhaps this was because my anger had surpassed its limits.
'It's so fucking nice to see you again, Kim Dong-Soo.'
***
Kim Dong-Soo, a thirty-two-year-old veteran with six years of career, was a man of competence and overflowing ambition.
With his hair fixed up with pomade and wearing silver-framed glasses, his sharp eyes piercingly stared at me as he grabbed me by the collar.
He was promoted to the position of deputy section chief in his second year, team lead in his fourth year, and division chief in his sixth year. Even after attaining the position of Division 3 chief in six years, something that usually took others at least ten, Kim Dong-Soo continued his rapid growth.
Although it was true he received full support from the company's largest faction, Seoul National University of the Arts, no one in the industry could deny Kim Dong-Soo's natural talent for his job.
Given this background, Kim Dong-Soo would often get staff from other divisions to do his work as if they were staff in his division. His ego was so big that he even had the audacity to grab me by the collar in front of Gu Seong-Cheol, a senior executive in the company.
But things were about to change now, because I was back, and I knew Kim Dong-Soo better than anyone.
I was tempted to make a scene, but I was currently a first-year talent agent. Suppressing my anger, I looked at Kim Dong-Soo.
"Excuse me. It's true that I made a mistake, but could you please let go of my collar?"
Kim Dong-Soo seemed taken aback. My behavior was completely different from the past, when I would get scared over nothing.
"What did you say? Hah, look at this punk. Hey, newbie. You do realize that Ju Yung-In missed her appointment today because of you, right?
At that moment, Gu Seong-Cheol intervened.
"Hey! Why are you grabbing my boy by the collar? You better let him go right now."
Kim Dong-Soo trembled angrily and let go of my collar.
"There's no need for long talks. Newbie, your salary will be cut by fifty percent for six months. Do you understand!?"
'What? This is unexpected. Six months is too long!'
With a monthly salary of 2.2 million won, a 50% cut would leave me with 1.1 million won. The punishment was harsher than I thought.
I glanced at Gu Seong-Cheol, but he only nodded with a frown. It seemed hard to salvage the situation now.
'Ah, whatever.'
The punishment was relatively light considering that I was able to save Miso in return. If I needed to buy anything, I could simply use the expense account of the company.
"I understand. I'll have the statement on your desk by tomorrow morning."
Perhaps it was because my calm response irked him, but Kim Dong-Soo frowned once again.
"You cheeky bastard…"
'What are you clenching your fist for, huh? Are you going to punch me?'
As I prepared to dodge, Gu Seong-Cheol stepped forward in an angry manner.
Cut it out, you punk! A salary cut is harsh enough. Don't you dare think about hitting my boy in front of me. I don't know what I'm going to do if you cross the line one more time. Do you understand?"
Although Gu Seong-Cheol was a man 172cm tall with a fat belly, he had practiced judo professionally in his youth. He had the skills to win medals in national competitions, and it was said that he could easily incapacitate someone for at least four weeks.
'They say he can break someone in half when he gets angry. It looks like I'm in for a show.'
Just then, the meeting room door opened and a sharp voice rang out.
"That's enough, everyone!"
Division Chief Kang Ji-Yung appeared with a flushed face. She was wearing a tight black two-piece suit and Channy accessories. With a model-like figure towering at over 170cm, she had the looks to be a popular celebrity.
Kang Ji-Yung reeked of alcohol and looked pretty messy.
"I had to rush here in the middle of drinking with President Choi from MBS because someone called me saying you two were fighting!"
The two chiefs hastily stepped back at Kang Ji-Yung's rebuke.
"Chief Kang, it's not like that. This punk was…"
"Excuse me, Chief Kim Dong-Soo. Did you not hear me telling you to cut it out?"
Kim Dong-Soo bowed his head.
Kang Ji-Yung let out a deep sigh and turned her gaze toward me.
"So you're Star Jung, huh?"
"My name is Jung Yoon-Ho. I apologize for the trouble, Ms. Kang."
I bowed and apologized since this was an incident caused by me. But Kang Ji-Yung waved her hand to cut me off.
"Don't worry about it. I'm not asking for an apology or anything. But did you lobby Lee Ji-Yeon today or what?"
"I'm sorry?"
'What is she talking about out of the blue?'
"I mean, what on earth did you do to have our actress featured in her drama until the final episode?"
The atmosphere in the meeting room shifted when Kang Ji-Yung mentioned the exciting news about Lee Ji-Yeon's script revision.
Kim Dong-Soo, who had been calling me a liar until now, frowned.
"Ms. Kang, is that true? I mean, Lee Ji-Yeon is famous for not revising her scripts once they're submitted!"
Kang Ji-Yung's joyful expression twisted again at Kim Dong-Soo's remark.
"What? Do you think I'm so pathetic that I would lie about such a thing? Chief Kim. Are you challenging me right now!?"
"No, that's not what I mean…"
Kim Dong-Soo flinched at Kang Ji-Yung's ringing voice. With a charismatic expression, Kang Ji-Yung held out her phone in front of Kim Dong-Soo's face.
"Here, look. Check it out with your own eyes."
[(Lee Ji-Yeon): I saw an interesting actress at the set today, Park Yoo-Jin, was it? Ah, it was Jung Yoo-Jin, right? Anyway, she has a decent face and good voice projection. I like her.]
Considering Lee Ji-Yeon's personality, this amounted to high praise. However, upon seeing the KokoTalk message, Kim Dong-Soo frowned again.
"W-where does it say here that she would appear more in the drama? If you're trying to cover for the underperforming of Division 2…"
Kim Dong-Soo wasn't the kind of person to stubbornly persist in a situation like this. But perhaps because he was so angry today, he couldn't properly judge the situation.
Kang Ji-Yung's eyes narrowed at Kim Dong-Soo's argument.
"Oh-my-goodness. The more I think about it, the more it blows my mind. I rushed here in the middle of important business because I heard the chiefs were fighting and turning the company upside down, and this is how you treat me? Do I look like a joke to you?"
Kang Ji-Yung burst into anger and scrolled down the KokoTalk messages.