Returned home, I called I Jin-muk.
It was to say thank you, however briefly.
Dream Hill Entertainment had taken an interest in me all thanks to his proactive appeal.
I Jin-muk answered after just one ring.
—Hey, did you meet the Director well? Did you talk things through?
He skipped the greetings and went straight to the point.
He seemed curious about how my meeting with Yun Dong-hui had gone.
“Is it okay to talk?”
—It's fine, that's why I answered. Hyeon-su has a drama audition soon, so I'm on my way there.
“Then aren't you driving? I'll call back later.”
—It's fine, just talk. It's on speakerphone.
'What, did you two do something without me? When did you meet some Director and what did you talk about?'
Go Hyeon-su's voice came from afar.
“Hey, Hyun-su! We're eating from the same pot now.”
—What?
'What's he talking about?'
To my out-of-the-blue words, Go Hyeon-su and I Jin-muk reacted simultaneously.
“I signed the contract thanks to you, hyung. Thank you.”
—You already signed? But you said you wouldn't!
“The Director was just so reliable.”
I laughed sheepishly.
—What were the contract terms?
“Does someone like you ask about things like that? Contract terms are confidential.”
—You punk, acting expensive. You probably just signed a basic contract anyway. Anyway, congratulations!
I Jin-muk, who had been grumbling playfully, let out a cheerful laugh.
Thud. Clack.
After some rustling, Go Hyeon-su's excited voice came through clearly.
—Hey, is that for real? That's freaking awesome?
“That's how it happened. Jin-muk hyung made my profile and presented it at the meeting.”
—He went that far?
Go Hyeon-su, who seemed to have been asking I Jin-muk, spoke to me again.
—What kind of situation is this? You aren't trying to make Jin-muk hyung your manager, are you? Dream on. Don't even think about it.
'What are you talking about? Stop saying useless stuff and look at your script. Don't mess up your lines in front of the judges.'
I Jin-muk nagged in response to Go Hyeon-su's joking worry.
“Focus on your audition prep. I called hyung to say thank you. If I'd known you had an audition soon, I would have just sent a text, man. Sorry if I interrupted.”
—Sorry, my ass, punk. Anyway, congratulations.
“Yeah.”
After ending the short call, I sat down in my chair.
On the desk, the drama appearance contract and the exclusive entertainment contract lay side by side.
Looking at them, I felt a strange new surge of emotion.
I had already thought I'd started over long ago, but perhaps this was the real beginning.
After staring at the documents for a long while, I neatly stacked them and put them in a drawer.
**
Meanwhile, around the same time.
Jeong Hwan-sik was enjoying a leisurely teatime at home.
“By now, there should have been more than enough time for a conclusion.”
He was checking his phone intermittently, waiting for good news.
Bzzzt—
Shortly after, the president of Hot TV's number appeared on the incoming call screen along with a vibration.
Jeong Hwan-sik pressed the call button without delay.
“Oh my, Mr. President~ So, did you finish the talk……”
—Get in here right now! Right this instant!
The president cut off Jeong Hwan-sik's words with an extremely agitated voice.
Having shouted out of nowhere, he hung up before Jeong Hwan-sik could even respond.
“What?”
Stunned for a moment, Jeong Hwan-sik soon intuited that something ominous had occurred.
He grabbed his car keys first and rushed out.
Crash—
The moment Jeong Hwan-sik entered the president's office, a flowerpot flew at his feet.
“Mr— Mr. President?”
“How dare you mock me?”
“What do you mean……”
Jeong Hwan-sik still didn't know anything.
Startled, strength drained from his whole body and his legs began to tremble.
The president twitched his lips, twisted with rage, and approached him.
The blood drained from Jeong Hwan-sik's face in real time.
He put his trembling hands together respectfully in front of him and bowed his head.
‘Damn it, damn it! What the hell is going on!’
Without any information, he felt like he was going crazy.
Because if he begged blindly, it might only stoke the flames further.
“What? What is there to fear from a freelancing rookie actor nobody who doesn't even have an agency?”
The president standing before Jeong Hwan-sik swung his hand roughly.
Jeong Hwan-sik squeezed his eyes shut.
He had mistaken it for a physical blow.
But no impact came to him.
“Open your eyes wide and look clearly!”
The president barked.
Jeong Hwan-sik cautiously opened his eyes slightly.
A scrap of white paper was strewn on the floor.
He picked it up awkwardly.
‘Dream Hill Entertainment’
‘Management Team’
‘Director Yun Dong-hui’
It was a business card with such phrases written on it.
The president huffed.
“Did he show up with a manager attached because he has no agency? A director-level one, not some fledgling!?”
“Th-this person is Gang Ha-jun's manager, you say?”
Jeong Hwan-sik, stuttering as he asked back, felt his mind go blank.
Even though Gang Ha-jun had been selected as the lead of a mini-series, filming was still in its early stages.
It was absurd that he, who had only taken on a minor role once, had already signed with an agency.
No matter how vigorously he had been acting, one couldn't possibly gauge long-term vision from that alone.
If the drama were airing, or no.
If full-scale promotion had at least begun, maybe.
But there was no way Gang Ha-jun, who must have been busy with filming preparations, had gone around auditioning for agencies.
Jeong Hwan-sik found it hard to believe even seeing the business card with his own two eyes.
Of course, he wanted to deny it far more.
Grinding his teeth, the president turned around and stomped on the broken flowerpot with his shoe several times.
“I was utterly humiliated! If only you had brought me proper information, this wouldn't have been so embarrassing!”
He erupted in fury.
‘Get a hold of yourself. Even if you enter a tiger's den, you survive as long as you keep your wits.’
Jeong Hwan-sik struggled to compose himself.
“W-we're fine. Dream Hill isn't exactly a powerful entertainment company, is it? With Hot TV's full power, we can sufficiently pressure them. For example, the programming rights……”
“Why on earth would I have to go that far?”
The president cut off Jeong Hwan-sik.
“Because you need to place your nephew in the lead role……”
“What good would it do you if Si-hyeon becomes the lead!”
“……”
Jeong Hwan-sik couldn't continue.
He couldn't exactly say, ‘Because your nephew will make me shine brighter than Gang Ha-jun would.’
He couldn't even remember the answer he had prepared for such a question, flustered as he was.
The president clenched both fists.
“Come to think of it, it's strange. Why is some completely unrelated person so desperate to make our Si-hyeon the lead! When the child himself is staying still!”
The president's gaze grew even more threatening.
“The answer is one of two things. Either you're hoping for some crumbs by pretending to have connections, or you have a personal grudge against Gang Ha-jun.”
Jeong Hwan-sik gulped dryly, his intentions having been seen through.
“How dare you use my nephew to try to use me?”
The president muttered words that could have been a soliloquy or a warning.
Then he placed his hand on Jeong Hwan-sik's shoulder and pressed down.
“ ‘Premium supporting actor’? Don't make me laugh. Shouldn't you be forced off the drama and have your livelihood cut off once to come to your senses?”
Jeong Hwan-sik's heart sank.
Hot TV was a broadcasting station that every drama production company wanted to get their hands on.
If he got on the president's bad side now, it was obvious his future activities as a talent would be hindered.
“I-I'm sorry. I was rash, Mr. President! Please forgive me just this once!”
He quickly fell to his knees.
But the president only sneered.
“Don't ever show yourself before me again.”
Walking to his desk, he pressed the secretary call button on the phone.
“Drag him out immediately.”
Shortly after, two security guards entered and grabbed both of Jeong Hwan-sik's arms.
Dragged down to the lobby in that state, Jeong Hwan-sik was thrown unceremoniously in front of the main gate.
Passersby nearby recognized his face and glanced at him.
Since most were broadcasting industry workers, almost no one shoved phone cameras in his face.
Jeong Hwan-sik jumped up from where he had fallen flat on his face.
He couldn't even feel shame.
“Mr. President, just once more……”
He tried to enter the building again but was blocked by the security guards.
He wandered nearby until sunset, but in the end, he couldn't meet the president again.
**
The atmosphere on set was strange.
It was because of the rumors.
That Jeong Hwan-sik had met with the Hot TV president, attempted to lobby him, and got rejected.
The industry was far smaller than one might think.
The fact that the Hot TV president had gone to the production company and caused a commotion was already known to everyone,
and all sorts of speculations ran rampant about why he had suddenly done such an absurd thing.
What added to it was a staff member's testimony of having seen Jeong Hwan-sik going in and out of the Hot TV building.
It included an eyewitness account from the day Jeong Hwan-sik hadn't shown up on set, claiming to be sick.
“Is that really true?”
“I went on an errand nearby and saw Jeong Hwan-sik clearly walking through Hot TV's main gate with my own two eyes, I tell you. I wondered why someone who should be on set was there.”
Up close, the entertainment industry was a total mess plain and simple.
In fact, such a thing couldn't even make the gossip columns.
But the reason it couldn't be passed over as a simple incident.
Was because it was an act targeting a young, green junior appearing in the same drama.
That single fact fueled the fatigue and disgust of those in the same industry.
As if anew.
Of course, that didn't mean anyone openly badmouthed Jeong Hwan-sik.
After all, in the entertainment industry, he was a ‘premium supporting actor’ who received his due treatment.
But there was a subtle atmosphere of everyone avoiding him.
“Hyung-nim. Are the rumors going around set true?”
“……”
“Ah, I'm really going crazy! How many times have I told you that you can be knocked out in one blow? You really need to be on your guard!”
Jeong Hwan-sik couldn't utter a single word in response to his manager's scolding.
He himself was the most anxious of all.
He was terrified about having fallen out of the Hot TV president's favor.
He couldn't even bring himself to ask his company for help.
‘How can I say that when it's so humiliating.’
He didn't have a thick enough face to casually tell the story of how jealousy toward a junior at least twenty years younger had led him to bait the Hot TV president, only for things to go terribly wrong.
At least, not yet.
Even if he had told them, there would have been nothing they could do.
Jeong Hwan-sik's agency didn't have the power to exert pressure on a broadcasting company.
Of course, there were no agencies bigger than broadcasters to begin with.
Nor was he in a situation where he could look for another project right now.
The one small mercy was that there was no talk of replacing the supporting actor.
‘I'm glad I at least tried kneeling.’
Jeong Hwan-sik considered that the value of his kneeling.
The best he could do from now on was to quietly focus on filming, quiet as a dead mouse.