Episode: 7
Ha, acting team leader.
Even though the word "acting" was attached, it was still a very sweet word for someone like me, who had been wondering if I'd spend my whole life as a bottom-level manager.
Well, the reality is...
[Absolutely Beef]
[Fish Roe Rice]
Even though there was a fancy and luxurious beef restaurant right above.
“Wow, Mr. Hyun-woo. They’re having a lunch special for a week, giving a 500 won discount on the fish roe rice. Isn’t that an amazing deal? I might come back tomorrow too.”
Getting excited over a 500 won discount, being able to eat fish roe rice for 6,500 won, was just typical for me and Yoon Won-seok.
“Well, where else can you eat fish roe rice for less than 7,000 won? Let’s go in. Order whatever you want!”
Even if I was buying fish roe rice, I could at least boast a little, right?
Creeeeak.
As we walked in, the place was packed with people.
There were people living nearby, office workers, and even high school students.
“Well, I used to skip school lunch with friends back in the day too.”
“Oh, those students?”
Yoon Won-seok, who was about to enjoy a free meal, leaned forward to look at the students in the corner and shook his head slightly.
“Let’s see. That’s the uniform from Hanbit High School. And, judging by the yellow name tags, they’re probably prospective graduates. They might have finished classes and come here since it’s the end of January. They’ll have to go to school occasionally before graduation in February.”
“Oh, is that so?”
All I remembered was that school usually started in March.
Oh, right. I did graduate in February too.
“You know a lot.”
“I’m from Hanbit High, so I know it well. It’s a bit strict there, maybe because it mixes rich and poor students, so some rough incidents have happened.”
“Well, I’ve also experienced all sorts of things during my school days.”
“Anyway, kids these days are really pretty. Even without constant management like our trainee kids, there are so many pretty ones.”
“Well, being pretty doesn’t guarantee success.”
“But it gives them a good start. Although these days, you need more than just a pretty face to succeed.”
“There are so many successful celebrities now that people’s standards have risen.”
Of course, I know that older generations of celebrities also went through tough times.
But honestly, compared to the quality of performances back then, the difficulty has definitely increased in various aspects now.
“How many trainees are there these days? 2 million? That’s ridiculous. South Korea’s population is 55 million.”
“They must have made up those statistics. Oh! Excuse me, ma’am, can we get two large portions of spicy flying fish roe fried rice? And for the sides... Oh, we can help ourselves? Thank you.”
Yoon Won-seok took some fish cake and pickled radish from the side dishes and asked me cautiously.
“Just to check.”
“Yes?”
“Is there any chance that Team Leader Park is also having lunch here? If he’s here, he might get pissed just hearing us talk.”
“Sigh...”
That damn Team Leader Park.
Park Joo-yong, that asshole. Just hearing his name makes me sigh or feel a lump in my throat.
Yoon Won-seok must feel the same.
In military terms, he was like a psychopath.
Of course, he was skilled too.
I give credit where it’s due.
But his personality was so shitty that I never wanted to face him for long.
“Well, we weren’t badmouthing him. We’ve been working here for at least two years, right? Can’t we talk a bit?”
“Even so, haha... I guess I have a bit of PTSD. When Team Leader Park calls me to a quiet place to scold me, I can’t sleep that night because it’s so tough. Haha.”
“Is that something to laugh about?”
“Well, it’s not just here. I worked as a manager for a year at another place before this, and it was just as tough.”
I clicked my tongue at Yoon Won-seok’s words.
“There are so many devils in this world.”
While chewing on a piece of pickled radish.
“Frankly, I can’t say I’m a good person, but Team Leader Park is a devil, a devil. Haha.”
It’s funny when you think about it.
[Please feel free to talk more, haha.]
They say the most entertaining thing is talking behind someone’s back.
College students gossip about professors.
Office workers gossip about bosses.
You lose track of time.
Especially with the hot and delicious spicy flying fish roe fried rice served in large portions right in front of me, my tongue was delighted.
I even ended up saying things I didn’t need to.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“After working in this job for a few years, I’ve realized something.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Don’t you think I have a better eye for talent and am better at managing celebrities than Team Leader Park? Honestly, earlier when he told me to create an idol group myself, I think I could do it.”
“Come on, he said that just to mess with you. If it was easy, everyone would succeed and join the ranks of Korea’s top four management companies.”
“No, I think I can do it.”
“Are you serious? Are you planning to leave the company?”
Yoon Won-seok asked with a bewildered expression, and I shook my head.
Sure, that’s what most would think.
“No, that’s not it. I’m just saying that, from my perspective, I think I can do a better job than Team Leader Park.”
“Come on, even so, Team Leader Park didn’t get to his position for nothing...”
“Why are you stopping mid-sentence? The most annoying thing to a Korean is cutting someone off and the second is...”
That’s when I felt a chilling presence behind me.
Moreover, a strong, experienced hand firmly gripped my shoulder.
The last familiar voice I heard.
"Hey, come outside for a moment."
"..."
At that moment, it truly felt like someone had hit my heart with a hammer and sent it plummeting down to my belly button.
Because the person who just spoke was none other than Team Leader Park, the very person I had been gleefully bad-mouthing all day while eating.
Time seemed to stop, but strangely, I started sweating profusely.
"What are you doing, you bastard? Come out. And pay the bill."
"Yes..."
Honestly, this time I couldn’t avoid getting scolded by Team Leader Park.
I had to admit it.
I should never have talked behind someone’s back in the first place.
I had indeed said unnecessary things.
[No, no, this is actually good. This is the best possible outcome. If you had acted all good and innocent here, you wouldn't have reached the right answer.]
‘What nonsense...’
Though Nobel had once made me successful, I couldn't believe that this situation was the best outcome.
I sighed heavily inside and quietly followed Park Ju-yong out of the fish roe rice shop and into the alley right next to it. I immediately got into a squatting position.
"Hey, Kim Hyun-woo."
"Yes."
As expected, Park Ju-yong poked me in the chest with his index finger.
It felt like he was stabbing my heart.
"I'm sorry."
"Bullshit. I heard everything while eating right next to you. I guess I’ll live a long life, huh? Maybe up to 120 years."
"... I'm sorry, ugh!"
"Hey, you bastard. Do I look like a joke to you?"
"No, sir."
"‘No’ my ass, you bastard!"
No, really, you don’t look like a joke.
You’re terrifying, you devil. I’m scared of you.
"You were talking well earlier, weren’t you? Saying you have a better eye for talent? That you’re better at managing? Do you think this industry is a joke just because you’re eating up what I and the other team leaders have built?"
"No, sir."
"‘No’ my ass, you bastard. What are you, a broken record? Saying the same thing over and over all day."
"..."
Ha, I’m going crazy.
I have to admit, this guy’s talent for berating people is top-notch.
Makes me wonder if he built the company with this skill alone.
"Not knowing that is proof of your incompetence, you bastard."
Poke, poke, poke.
Park Ju-yong was poking not just my chest but now my forehead with his index finger. I felt like a noodle being poked and prodded.
At this rate, I might start bleeding from my head.
"Do you think the management industry is a joke? Does the entertainment industry seem easy to you? You wouldn’t say such things if you didn’t."
"..."
"Hey."
"Yes."
"You’re not mute. Answer me. Do you still believe you can do a better job of creating an idol group than me?"
Honestly, this was a rhetorical question.
The answer was predetermined, and I was supposed to give the expected answer.
But I didn’t want to say the expected answer.
It was a bit of stubbornness.
"Yes."
"What?"
I confidently gave an answer completely different from what Park Ju-yong expected.
If it weren’t for Nobel, I would never have dared to say such a thing.
But, you see, I have Nobel.
"I think I can do a better job."
"..."
"If you give me a chance, I might even make our company the top management company in South Korea."
A man should have at least this much ambition.
"Ho, really?"
For some reason, Park Ju-yong applauded as if he were impressed.
Maybe he was moved by my ambition...
Slap, slap... smacks!!
"..."
Even as I felt my cheek sting and my head spin, I kept my mouth shut.
Park Ju-yong, who had slapped my cheek hard, grabbed my ear and growled.
"Don’t talk nonsense. Do you think I’d go crazy and give you any rights just because you say so? Get your head straight, you bastard. You’re just a low-level manager who got lucky. Do you think firing you would impact N&P in any way? You and I are completely different."
This sucks.
I scoffed.
"Then don’t ask."
"What?"
"If you’re not going to give me a chance, why bother asking? How am I supposed to prove myself? Should I debut as a solo artist?"
Did he think I was some pushover?
I was the type who’d push back when pissed off, ready to quit this damn job if I had to.
I leaned closer to Park Ju-yong and said.
"Give me a chance and see. I can really do it, but if you won’t, don’t keep nagging. Are you afraid I might actually succeed?"
To be honest, even if I went off like this, nothing would change.
But.
[It’s the magic hour.]
Who knows how things might turn out?
"Do you mean what you just said?"
The door of the beef omakase restaurant above the fish roe rice shop opened with a ding, and I heard an unfamiliar voice.
But it was a voice no one at N&P could mistake.
"The, the CEO?"
N&P’s CEO.
Chun Tae-oh was looking at me with an intrigued expression, with Han Hye-eun standing beside him.
"Do you truly believe you can make our company the best in Korea if given the chance, Manager Kim Hyun-woo?"
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