A Dreamlike Opportunity
"Ha…."
In the empty office, only the sound of my sigh echoes. When the employees were here, the office seemed cramped, but was it always this spacious?
Red tags cover everything. The desk, the computer, the TV, even the potted plant….
"What do I do…."
[CEO Gang Minjae]
I looked at the nameplate bearing my title and name, then flipped it face-down on the desk. Unable to stand being sober, I took out the soju I’d bought from a convenience store.
*Rustle-*
I don’t even have any side dishes. It’s not like I’m drinking to enjoy it. I also don’t have the money to buy side dishes.
*Glug glug glug-*
*Clunk!*
"Keuheugh…."
Sweet. Has soju ever tasted this sweet? They say when life is bitter, the alcohol tastes sweet. I guess this is exactly what they mean.
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re on the brink of death. Sure enough, the events of my life began to flash past one by one.
I recalled when I’d started my career as a manager at the major agency WM.
I climbed to team leader, left the company, and started my own agency.
There had been many hardships since then, but I’d managed to overcome them. I’d suffered a blow from a divorce midway through, but I’d gotten through that somehow too.
The problem started when the damned pandemic hit.
Small and mid-sized agencies rely heavily on performances and events; the only way money comes in is if our artists go out on site.
Since we didn’t have any big-name celebrities, we had to rotate through as many events as possible.
But when COVID-19 hit, the events dried up instantly.
Praying it would end soon, I held on for three years….
Regulations are easing up bit by bit now, but the company is already bankrupt, far beyond just being in the red.
Of course, it’s because I lacked ability.
There were plenty of opportunities to shut down the company and take a different path from the start.
Because of my stubbornness, I clung to deficit management until it came to this.
Yes, I have to take responsibility.
I know better than anyone that even though I’m in debt, I somehow have to overcome it and start a new life.
However….
I can’t hide my feelings of resentment and misery.
The dream of growing Top Star Entertainment into a major agency has been completely trampled.
Maybe because I’ve spent my whole life chasing that dream, the sense of futility is overwhelming.
My marriage had failed, and now my business too….
It felt as if my youth and prime had all been denied.
"Haa…."
I’ll drink just for today. I’ll drink my fill and start over again tomorrow.
With that resolve, I took another swig of soju.
"Ahhh."
…Still sweet.
*
"Minjae! Gang Minjae!!"
…Hm?
Hearing my mother’s slightly angry voice brought me to my senses.
"You said you were preparing for your interview, so you fell asleep at your desk?! I’m going crazy, seriously."
Okay, so I fell asleep at a desk, but what interview prep? No, more importantly, why is Mom at the office….
Rubbing my eyes and looking around, I realized it wasn’t an office, but my room at my parents’ house.
In front of me was a computer, and on the monitor, a Hangul document was open.
[Expected Questions for WM Interview]
"WM interview…?"
"Still, you have to sleep before going! What if you can’t answer properly because you’re sleepy?"
"Yes…?"
When I looked at Mom, she looked about ten years younger. When I looked in the mirror on the desk, my face was the same.
When I looked at the room again, it seemed to be the house we’d lived in together before my parents moved.
"You’ll eat breakfast before you go, right?"
I nodded at the question of whether I’d eat. Whether in a dream or reality, I have to eat the breakfast Mom prepares.
*What a dream I don’t want to wake from.*
If I wake from this dream, I’ll have to open my eyes in that cold office again. I wanted to stay in this house as long as possible.
Before leaving my parents’ nest, I wanted to fully enjoy this period when I didn’t have to take responsibility for anything.
Checking the date on the computer, it was none other than 2013. If it’s 2013, how old am I? It’s when I interviewed for a job at WM….
"Twenty-seven."
I looked in the mirror again and touched my face. The skin of a twenty-something really was different.
If I really went back to this time, I would meet a kind, pretty girl instead of that bad woman.
Ah, time is heartless.
"Minjae! Come eat!"
"Yes~!"
At the call to eat, I opened the door and went out to the living room. Let’s see, what side dishes are there?
*
This is strange.
It’s too strange.
"Why isn’t it breaking…?"
"What are you talking about? What do you mean, break?"
Dad chuckled, asking if I hadn’t woken up fully yet.
My younger brother sneered, saying I was acting like that because I was nervous about the interview.
"It’s a dream, why is it so vivid?"
"Hyung. Were you an aspiring actor instead of a manager? You’re doing terrible improv acting since this morning."
"No, really…."
"Yeah, to me you really look like a lunatic."
"Why, you little shit—."
"Bwahaha! Aaah! It hurts!"
No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t feel like a dream.
The sensation of chewing food, my family’s expressions, the summer breeze coming through the veranda window.
Even my emotions are so vivid.
Every element making up this world is asserting that it is reality.
"Ugh."
Even when I pinched my thigh belatedly, nothing changed. The area merely turned red and swollen.
As I sat there blankly, Dad and my brother started talking about me.
"Where did Minjae say he had his interview today?"
"He said WM. It’s a really famous company. Dad, you know Girls’ World, right? They’re under WM."
"Ah~. I know them. They appear on variety shows a lot."
Mom suddenly flushed and began listing celebrity names. Second-generation idols under WM, at that.
"I like Dongmyeong Singi. Was it Syai Junsu? His voice is so good~."
"Ah, right. Mom listens to a lot of Dongmyeong Singi songs."
"Of course~. I even joined a fan cafe recently."
"I guess Hyung takes after Mom. Seeing how you like celebrities."
"Is that so~?"
Dad scolded Mom, asking if she was proud of liking idols at her age.
Then he placed a whole fried egg on top of my rice bowl.
"You’ve prepared well up to now, so just show them what you’ve got. Then it’ll work out."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
I chewed on the fried egg, forcing myself to suppress the goosebumps rising all over my body.
*If this is real… If I’ve really returned to the past instead of it being a dream….*
If that were really the case, success was all but guaranteed.
Because among those working in the entertainment industry, I would be the only one who knows the future.
Who would become a top star, which program would be a hit, what incidents would occur…. I had experienced all of that in my previous life.
I might be able to achieve great success using the failures of my past life as material.
*From the interview onwards, it’s basically easy mode..!*
I tried to force down the corners of my mouth from rising, but I was eventually caught by my brother.
"Is the fried egg that good when you eat it alone? Sigh, I need to get a job quickly too."