Episode 11) #3. A Connection of Feng Yue
“I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore.”
A woman with her hair neatly tied back bowed her head. She was Song Sihun’s manager, Park Yegyeong.
Tasked with looking after a hopeless high schooler, she had recently been losing hair by the handful. She had decided it was better to quit the manager life before she started balding in her late twenties, what should have been her prime.
“Bullshit.”
From the sofa across from her, the remark burst out bluntly. Yegyeong looked at the middle-aged man with wide, round eyes.
He was a dandy-looking man who, at first glance, seemed like the type who would never complain. His immaculate suit was luxury itself.
He exuded elegance from head to toe. Naturally—he was the CEO of LUNA Entertainment.
Anyone working in the entertainment industry would know him; no, this was a company with high recognition even among the general public.
It was only natural that such a man was overflowing with money. Decking himself out in luxury and placing high-priced paintings and sculptures in the CEO’s office were no great challenges for him.
“CEO.”
“I wasn’t calling you bullshit. I was calling that bastard bullshit.”
At that, Yegyeong let out a snicker.
“Of course I know that.”
“Yegyeong, think it over again.”
A mid-low voice, almost like an actor’s, rumbled heavily. Yegyeong tightly clasped her hands on her lap and lowered her gaze.
“I’m sorry. I can’t stay with Sihun anymore. He’s always threatening to tell his dad on me, and the kid doesn’t treat an adult like an adult. I’m being treated worse than their family dog.”
“I still remember when that bastard was in middle school—managers changed every few months. He’s not your ordinary brand of crazy. It’s only because it was you that you lasted two years. I know how hard it’s been.”
“Then… can’t you understand me wanting to quit?”
CEO Lee Haejun shook his head firmly.
“That, I can’t do.”
“I’m not saying I’ll quit right away. I’ll keep working until the next manager comes in.”
“No. You’re a manager who does her job well.”
Left with no choice, Yegyeong had to reveal a secret.
“I’m losing my hair because of him. I’m going to start balding at twenty-nine. And I’m a woman. Who would want to marry a woman with hair loss? CEO, please reconsider.”
CEO Lee Haejun’s eyebrows twitched.
“Hair loss? I’ll pay for a transplant. How much does it cost?”
“CEO, now’s not the time for jokes……”
“Good grief. Whether it’s Song Sihun or his father, both are insane. The father-son duo are completely crazy.”
“You’d love to cut them both loose from LUNA, wouldn’t you?”
“That goes without saying.”
“But how could you cut off Song Gihyeon, a former star actor and LUNA’s CEO? And his son Sihun is tied to him as a set, so you have no choice but to leave them be.”
LUNA had two CEOs.
Lee Haejun and Song Gihyeon—two actors who had founded the company and grown it together.
Song Gihyeon and Lee Haejun each held similar amounts of company stock. From Lee Haejun’s perspective, he was a business partner who couldn’t be easily controlled.
Groaning, Lee Haejun pressed hard on his temples.
“My head is throbbing.”
“CEO, those two will remain at LUNA going forward, but it’s too hard for me to be entangled with them. I’m truly sorry, but please understand my feelings. You’ll accept my resignation, won’t you?”
“Then let’s do it this way. I’ll pull you out from that bastard Sihun. Stay at LUNA. Take charge of another kid.”
“Can you really do that?”
“Would I lie about something like this?”
“CEO, thank you.”
With an awkward smile, Yegyeong conveyed her gratitude. But both she and Lee Haejun knew the truth. While it wouldn’t be hard to hire a new manager for Song Sihun, that manager would end up changing frequently again.
Sihun’s personality was the main reason for the high turnover, yet Song Gihyeon often complained to the manager team—that frequent changes were bad for his son.
“Insane. A pair of lunatics.”
As CEO Song Gihyeon’s face came to mind, Lee Haejun found himself craving a cigarette.
“I’ll go smoke for a moment, so wait here.”
“CEO, weren’t you currently quitting smoking?”
“Why do you have such an unnecessarily good memory?”
“Last time, you said you would quit for sure. You told me to nag you if I saw you smoking.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Unnecessarily good memory.”
“I’ll make you a cup of sweet coffee with some sugar.”
“You’re telling me not to smoke, right?”
With a bright smile, Yegyeong rose from the sofa.
“Yes.”
“Ha, what is this.”
Yegyeong placed a mug into the coffee machine atop the CEO’s office table and pressed the button.
Bzzzzzt.
Soon, the sound of the coffee machine filled the office.
“My daughter should be like that. My only child doesn’t act like that. Another man’s daughter is the one looking after me.”
At his lament, Yegyeong burst into loud laughter.
“CEO! How can you say that when you have such a pretty daughter? If others heard, they’d say you’re blessed.”
“Blessed, my ass. If they were in my shoes, they’d know. That she’s completely insane.”
“You need to treat her well first. People who have known love naturally know how to give it.”
For a moment, CEO Lee’s gaze grew forlorn.
“Now that’s a famous quote.”
“Here, your coffee is ready.”
Placing an Americano with two sugar cubes dissolved in it on the table, she sat back down on the sofa.
“Yegyeong, aren’t you drinking coffee? Shall I make you one?”
“No. I’m currently cutting down on caffeine.”
“I see.”
As Lee Haejun took a sip of the coffee, the sweet yet smooth sensation of the beans stimulated his palate.
“But CEO. I saw something incredible at the filming set of *The Lord of Wind and Moon* yesterday.”
“Incredible? Ah, do you think that movie will be a hit?”
“I don’t really know about the movie, but I think the child actor Park Gyeonghui will be a huge hit.”
“Child actor Park Gyeonghui? I thought he was just an ordinary kid. From what I saw, he might gain some recognition, but stardom? I don’t know.”
“He got into a car accident on the way and couldn’t make it to the set. Someone else filmed as a replacement. An extra without an agency!”
As Yegyeong spoke with emphasis, CEO Lee’s eyes sharpened for a moment.
“He must have been quite something?”
The reason he had tried so hard to keep Park Yegyeong from leaving was partly because she possessed quite an exceptional eye for people and projects. Though she was just a manager, there had been several occasions over the past year when he had asked for her opinion on important choices.
He hadn’t relied solely on her opinions, but she often gave him reasonable advice. And the choices made based on them had brought good results so far, which was why he trusted her.
“His name is Do Yeonho. He’s seventeen years old. His height seems to be in the mid-170s, but his proportions are good so he looks taller. I took a photo with his permission. Would you like to see?”
Yegyeong pulled up her phone screen and held it out to CEO Lee Haejun.
On the LCD screen was the figure of a youth.
The boy’s eyes, staring somewhere, were crystal clear, yet held an unfathomable depth.
Most of all, admiration was inevitable at first sight.
“He’s handsome. Wow, this is……”
The CEO of one of South Korea’s top entertainment companies was briefly at a loss for words. He couldn’t instantly think of how to describe this high schooler’s appearance.
“What do you even call this? He has such diverse images. A soft and delicate atmosphere, but not in a girlish way, you know? His features are bold and masculine. Pure, but not simply pure. I think he could play a villain too. He could be both the good guy and the bad guy?”
Having snatched her phone before he knew it, CEO Lee continued to gaze at Yeonho’s face.
“Wow, he’s charming. An enormous amount of it, too. And he has his own unique individuality. Which celebrity out there right now looks like him?”
“Nobody. I thought hard about it yesterday, but not a single actor gave me the feeling of looking exactly like this kid. I’ve never seen a kid with such wonderful eyes.”
“His contact info?”
“Well……”
Seeing Yegyeong smile awkwardly, Lee Haejun had a hunch.
“What, is there a problem?”
“This kid Yeonho’s contact info is with Mr. Sin Juwon. From what I heard, Mr. Sin Juwon met Yeonho at a school where he was hired as an external instructor. As teacher and student.”
The moment the name Sin Juwon was mentioned, Lee Haejun’s expression darkened drastically.
“I heard that you two don’t get along……”
“We don’t.”
Without denying it, CEO Lee coolly admitted it.
“Even so, this kid Yeonho is worth contacting. I haven’t seen his acting yet, but it’s clear enough from this one photo.”
The youth’s face in the photo seemed to hold some kind of story. The light in his eyes held sadness that couldn’t be hidden even by his bright smile.
In truth, Yeonho’s skill, Demonic Screen Presence (Lv.1), also applied to photography. It had the effect of making Yeonho’s charm stand out even more to the viewer.
Lee Haejun had no way of knowing this, but he felt a strong instinct as a CEO.
“His charm hasn’t fully bloomed yet. But he’s got potential. If raised well, he could become something someday……”
He jumped up from the sofa and grabbed his wallet and car keys.
“CEO, are you going to see him yourself?”
“I have to. It’s been a while since I saw Sin Juwon’s face, anyway.”
* * *
Silence hung over the Glory theater club’s practice room. It was because a certain high schooler’s outstanding acting had just ended.
“Why isn’t everyone clapping? Shouldn’t you clap after seeing something like this?”
Clap, clap, clap.
An outsider who had entered at some unknown point abruptly said this and clapped alone. Beside the middle-aged man in a suit stood a woman. Yeonho immediately realized who she was.
“Huh? Song Sihun’s manager noona?”
“Yeonho, we meet again.”
As she waved, Yeonho bent his head in greeting. The theater club members fell quiet, surprised by the strangers’ appearance, but one person, Jeong Yeon, was not.
“Who are you? Do Yeonho, are they people you know?”
“Um, I’ve never seen the mister before.”
Teacher Sin walked up to them and greeted the outsiders. His gaze soon fixed on CEO Lee Haejun. For a brief moment, the two men’s eyes tangled in the air.
“Senior, it’s been a long time. I can’t even calculate how long it’s been.”
“It has. Are you still performing in Daehakro these days?”
However, Sin Juwon didn’t answer. He turned his head sharply, his expression extremely cold.
“Do Yeonho, these people came to see you.”
“Huh? Me?”
Unable to understand the situation, Yeonho’s eyes darted left and right.
“This is CEO Lee Haejun of LUNA Entertainment. Our Yeonho is being scouted by LUNA, so to speak? Anyway, today’s practice is already over. Yeonho, have a conversation with the CEO.”
At those thunderbolt-like words, the theater club members’ mouths gaped wide, and soon the room buzzed with whispers.
“Do Yeonho, to LUNA?”
“Oh my god, insane! It’s a famous agency!”
“I’m getting total chills right now?”
“The CEO came personally? To take Do Yeonho?”
In the midst of it all, Yeonho was simply stunned.
Before he could even go to an audition, an opportunity had rolled in on its own.