Top Management - Chapter 190

Chapter 190

Chapter 190: A Way that Suited Me (2)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

The Han River was completely red . The Team 2 Leader looked at the river from a half-opened car window . Perhaps it was the sunset or the wine he had during the meeting, but his face was flushed . Above his beard, his lips formed a crescent .

Chief Jo Byunghwan sitting in the driver’s seat said with a laugh,

“It’s been a while since you’ve been in such a good mood, team leader . ”

“Been a while? Have I ever not been in a good mood?”

It hadn’t been long since the Team 2 Leader had been frowning everywhere he went . Also, it was Chief Jo Byunghwan, whose tongue had worn down from trying to find ways to cheer him up . His expression was bitter .

“Well, I mean, you look to be in a better mood than usual . ”

“Maybe it’s because I don’t see Jung Sunwoo?”

The Team 2 Leader revealed his thoughts . Chief Jo Byunghwan received his words out of habit .

“He was so frightened after one incident with Lee Songha’s family once, and he’s shirked back since then . If he was going to lower his tail so easily, I don’t know why he barged into your office . He looked like he was about to start a fight . ”

“Start a fight?”

The Team 2 Leader snorted as he leisurely said,

“How can he start a fight when he has no guts? That bastard, unlike his appearance, he spares himself . The company treasures him, calling him ‘Lucky Charm’, and the public lifts him up as ‘Midas’s Hand’ . Do you think he’s ever participated in a battle of wits?”

“Still, he did decisively handle the matter about Nam Joyoon and Director Park in the past . ”

Chief Jo Byunghwan recalled the past .

“I heard he made the press move against him and ripped the contract in front of him . ”

“Maybe he thought Director Park was a pushover . ”

As if he was a little drunk, the Team 2 Leader opened the window even wider . Then he muttered at the wild wind,

“He probably has his suspicions about me telling the director to remove Nam Joyoon . But all he did was talk big, no action . There’s no need to worry about him . ”

The Team 2 Leader laughed for a while .

“I have no reason to be stressed now that he’s quieted down . My enteritis is all better . Inho’s debut is going well . Jijoon made me worry by not picking a project, but he set up a project proposal meeting on his own . ”

“I know, right? I was worried that Jijoon would become like Chaeyoung, but seeing as he set up his own meeting, I guess he does plan on working . Did he like the project? Director Seo Byunghwe and Writer Jo Eunhye are leading this project, right?”

“That’s right . When was the meeting again?”

“Let’s see . It’s at 8, so it should be starting soon . ”

“Let’s visit . ”

“Pardon?”

Chief Jo Byunghwan’s eyes widened .

“You are personally going to visit? Chief Lee Bongjoon said that this was a casual meeting with the CEO of the subcontracting company and the director and writer to listen to the project proposal details . If you go there, our side might seem too aggressive . ”

“There’s no need to be there the whole meeting, I’m just saying we can at least say hi . There was also the issue with Chaeyoung . ”

“The issue with Chaeyoung?”

The Team 2 Leader clicked his tongue as he replied,

“I received Director Seo’s proposal to persuade Chaeyoung . The writer had picked out Yoon Jungah as the female lead, so they weren’t handing these proposals to actresses, but I got one by bringing Chaeyoung up . However, she rejected it without so much as a glance . ”

“Ah, so Director Seo might have a grudge . ”

“That’s why I’m going to visit and settle the matter . ”

The car headed back to where they came from . The meeting was going to be at Yeouido, which was close . While they were parking the car at the restaurant, Chief Jo Byunghwan called Chief Lee Bongjoon .

“Uh, aren’t you Team Leader Lee at W&U?”

The two halted in their steps . Someone was approaching them with a pleased expression from the counter . It was a middle-aged man, whose dizzying patterns on his shirt left quite an impression . A UBS Broadcast Company employee card hung from his neck .

The Team 2 Leader and Chief Jo Byunghwan went over with welcoming faces .

“You’ve come too, General Manager Shin?”

“I just came to visit since it was right in front of our broadcasting company . ”

“I came to visit because I happened to be in the area . It was good that I came . ”

The general manager brought up a pleasant topic .

“I heard that you’re busy raising that rookie . Song Inho? Rumors have spread that he’s quite the actor . ”

“It’s only the start . ”

The Team 2 Leader’s smile thickened .

“If this movie’s a success, he should make his TV debut too . Once Seo Jijoon signs onto Director Seo’s project, I should ask Director Seo to create a good supporting role for Song Inho . He won’t feel as pressured if he works on the same project as his sunbae . The mood on set will be good too . ”

Maybe it was because Seo Jijoon was on the line, but the general manager’s attitude was very friendly . His voice dripped with sweet honey . Noticing the Team 2 Leader was reacting positively, the general manager took another step . Right on a landmine .

“Like how Mr . Seo Jijoon and Ms . Lee Songha on Cat Guardian Ghost . What do you think?”

“… I think I’ll have to discuss it with Jijoon . ”

The Team 2 Leader laughed a little late . Unlike before, his eyes were no longer smiling . At that moment, the employee who was guiding them stopped in front of a private room . Even though the door was closed, they could hear loud noises coming from inside .

“Oh wow, it seems the mood inside is good . ”

The general manager laughed as he opened the door wide . The people sitting around the table got up and greeted the general manager . There were the CEO of AA Studio, a subcontract production company, and his employees . Director Seo Byunghwe and Writer Jo Eunhye . As well as Seo Jijoon and Chief Lee Bongjoon .

The AA Studio CEO hurried came over and greeted them but was surprised when he saw the Team 2 Leader .

“Team Leader Lee! I had thought that only the general manager would be coming . How did you end up coming together?”

“If we knew that you were coming, we would have prepared you a seat…”

“We-we’ll leave . ”

A few AA Studio employees hastily stood up from their seats .

“Uh, team leader . Why…”

Chief Lee Bongjoon was even more flustered . He stuttered while holding his fork in the air .

However, the Team 2 Leader’s gaze was fixated on one person . His smile has quickly faded since entering the room as he only looked at that person . It was the same for Chief Jo Byunghwan . He even rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things .

People tried to start a conversation, but the Team 2 Leader ignored them and walked over .

To the person slowly wiping his mouth with a napkin next to Seo Jijoon .

“Hello, Team 2 Leader . ”

“… Jung Sunwoo . What are you doing here?”

The Team 2 Leader asked, having barely managed to dial back his voice .

Jung Sunwoo calmly said,

“I’m working . ”

Chief Jo Byunghwan and Chief Lee Bongjoon gulped at the same time . They even retreated a step like they were running away from a time bomb . However, UBS’s general manager and the others approached with puzzled expressions .

An AA Studio employee cautiously joined in,

“We were in the middle of discussing the scenario with Team Leader Jung . Uh, Team Leader Jung, do you happen to have other appointments? If you need to go, we can hurry up…”

“No, I don’t have any other appointments . We can take our time . ”

Jung Sunwoo shook his head . Hearing their exchange, a thick vein on the Team 2 Leader’s forehead squirmed . The knuckles of his clenched fist turned red . Having made a calm face, he said,

“Let’s talk outside . ”

The Team 2 Leader’s hurried steps stopped . They were in front of the washroom a bit away from the private room . He didn’t seem to have the composure to go in as he turned his blood-red gaze . His angry voice, which he suppressed in front of others, finally exploded .

“What are you doing!”

“I’m working . As you can see . ”

Jung Sunwoo shrugged nonchalantly .

“Why are you at Jijoon’s meeting?! Without my permission!”

Having lost his patience, the Team 2 Leader grabbed Jung Sunwoo by his collar . Chief Jo Byunghwan and Chief Lee Bongjoon, who had been quickly following after them, retreated seeing this . Then they looked around as though they were checking for watching eyes .

“You said you wanted to talk . ”

Clicking his tongue, Jung Sunwoo pried the Team 2 Leader’s hands off him .

“I didn’t come for Mr . Jijoon’s meeting . ”

“What? Then who-!”

“He came with me . ”

A voice suddenly cut in .

Wiping her hands with a paper towel, Son Chaeyoung walked over from the women’s washroom .

The Team 2 Leader’s mouth gaped like something was caught in his throat . It was worse than when he discovered Jung Sunwoo next to Seo Jijoon . If he had been taken aback and furious before, he was now in doubt . His mind was on the verge of escaping reality .

He simply blinked like he was seeing someone who shouldn’t be here .

Then he blankly asked,

“Chaeyoung, why are you here?”

***

Son Chaeyoung said,

“Then go tell them . That Son Chaeyoung will do another project . ”

She clinked her glass of juice with mine . Then she added,

“But me thinking about doing a project and actually choosing one is different . I don’t do projects I don’t like . ”

“Even though you said you weren’t going to do any, you still looked through a lot of projects . Did any of them catch your eye?”

As though she thought of something, Son Chaeyoung’s eyes turned into crescent moons .

“Do you know Director Seo Byunghwe?”

“I do . ”

There were a few famous directors in broadcast companies’ drama departments, and Director Seo Byunghwe at UBS was well-known for his beautiful cinematography . He shot a 20-part mini-series like it was a film . There was nothing more to say about his directing abilities .

“I like Director Seo’s directing . He’s preparing his new project right now . I saw the proposal, and it was quite good . ”

I probably paid careful attention to it if it was Director Seo Byunghwe’s new project .

But I had no recollection of seeing it .

“The writer was thinking of Yoon Jungah as the female lead . ”

Ah, was that why they didn’t hand out the proposals?

“The Team 2 Leader persuaded Director Seo, saying that I would do it, and brought it over . What about you?”

Son Chaeyoung leisurely propped her chin up and smiled,

“Can you get me that?”

-Ah… If only you had contacted us a bit earlier .

Director Seo Byunghwe’s voice on the other side of the call sighed with regret .

I quickly churned my mind . They might have already confirmed Yoon Jungah as their female lead because some time had passed since the Team 2 Leader showed Director Seo Byunghwe’s proposal to Son Chaeyoung .

If they had already cast her, then I would have looked for a different project .

Probably . Most likely .

However, the situation turned in a different direction .

-We’re about to lose the timeslot for that project right now . Our attempts at casting our leads went belly-up .

I quickly acted . The one who was producing the project was AA Studio, a subcontract production company, instead of UBS . I went over after receiving their address, and it was a company situated in a worn building with a single sign .

It was incomparably inferior to Well-Made Production and SBE Film, which I had visited quite often recently . The inside was even messier than Pan Production, which had been a budding production company at the time .

Stacks of paper, crumpled paper cups, and half-eaten jjamppong{1} bowls were scattered here and there . The employees all had their heads against their desks . It was so poor that I had to double-take and check the sign before entering .

A lanky man walked over . The pink neck pillow resembled a lizard coiled around his neck .

“What is the reason for your visit?”

“I wanted to discuss casting . ”

“Who?”

“Ms . Son Chaeyoung . ”

He stopped mid-yawn and stared at my face . Then he stiffened .

The employees jolted to their feet like corpses crawling out their graves . In a blink of an eye, a table was cleared, and they brought over freshly brewed coffee in a normal paper cup . They also brought over their project proposal . I read the synopsis and list of characters before raising my head .

Across from me sat the lizard, I mean, the man who introduced himself as the CEO .

I ignored the gazes fixed on me as I asked,

“I heard that the casting for Director Seo Byunghwe flopped . ”

“Ah, that . ”

The CEO glanced at me before gloomily saying,

“We dug our own graves . We had already made a verbal agreement with Ms . Yoon Jungah, but Team Leader Lee from W&U took a proposal last time . That Ms . Son Chaeyoung liked Director Seo’s directing and wished to see the proposal . ”

His voice was mixed with guilt and frustration .

“Then Ms . Son Chaeyoung replied, saying that she wasn’t ready to do it, but UBS suggested we wait a little . That they would like Ms . Son Chaeyoung to do it over Ms . Yoon Jungah . To be honest, as a company, it was enticing . ”

The CEO ruffled his hair, almost to the point of ripping it out .

I could understand the broadcast and production companies’ view . Although Yoon Jungah was a solo female lead material, Son Chaeyoung outshined her . If they also added licensing it to China, the scales tipped towards Son Chaeyoung .

“Why Ms . Son Chaeyoung took a long break . Since it was about time for her to return and we didn’t hear of any other projects she was interested, we futilely decided to wait a little longer . However, Ms . Yoon Jungah got wind of it . ”

“Ah . ”

“We got rejected . Though it was understandable . ”

It was normal for a production company to approach multiple actors, but they had nothing to say if they were caught stalling after a verbal agreement with one actor for another one . Celebrities were people who lived and died with their pride .

“The male lead we were in talks with was in the same company as Ms . Yoon Jungah, so we were rejected by both of them . We hastily tried to cast new people, but UBS put the project on hold . There is a project from another production company that had already cast their lead, and they might hand over our timeslot to them . Our production time is quite tight . ”

The CEO looked at me with desperate eyes as he spoke .

I could easily tell what he wanted to hear, so I decided not to waste any more time and said,

“It’s not like you’ve completely lost your timeslot, right?”

“Yes, not yet . But it’s only a matter of time at this rate . We might even lose it today . ”

“Even if Ms . Son Chaeyoung is interested in this project?”

The clouds over the CEO’s face were completely swept away . The employees, who had been glancing at me from around the office, gathered around me . Their eyes were burning with passion as though they saw an opportunity to revive this almost dead project . Putting their heads together, they discussed,

“If we tell them that we are in talks with Ms . Son Chaeyoung, then I think we’ll be able to persuade UBS . ”

“Tell UBS that we’ll set up a meeting with Ms . Son Chaeyoung right away so that we can stall for time . ”

“But the other company says they can start filming tomorrow . The UBS director hates filming during broadcasts, so he might just hand it over to whoever is ready to go . We need to show that we’re ready right away…”

“Then what if we bring up a male lead for the time beings? That we are in talks with someone . If we stall for time, we can just say that talks broke down and cast some other actor . ”

“And who can we ask right now? It’s not a supporting role but the lead . Do you have an actor you’re close with?”

I watched the noisily discussing people before saying,

“If a meal just for show… How about Mr . Seo Jijoon?”

As though someone had pressed the ‘mute’ button, sound completely stopped . Someone’s head bounced up and down . A few employees turned back at me . Seeing their expressions, it seemed I didn’t have to wait for their answer .

I spoke with a bright smile,

“Then let’s arrange a meeting . ”

*

The Team 2 Leader’s gaze alternated between Son Chaeyoung and me .

With the most dazed expression I’ve seen in years, he asked,

“Chaeyoung, why are you here?”

Son Chaeyoung gestured at me with her chin and smiled .

“I followed my manager . ”

{1} Jjamppong – Korean spicy noodle soup .