By Zephyria ■
Manager Goo Yong-jae was a relatively easy person to understand. He was fundamentally kind and trusting. Even though Yoon Hye-an seemed to have suffered much disregard and bullying during his life, he held no grudges for those past wrongs. The fact that the awakened Yoon Hye-an no longer acted that way was enough for Yong-jae. However, at the same time, he was someone who didn’t pay attention to the fact that Yoon Hye-an had lost his memories. He was a person who looked only at the present with a simple gaze, regardless of good or evil.
In contrast, ENA’s CEO Lim Sang-jin was an unpredictable type for Choi Hong-seo.
He seemed like someone who moved for money or profit, but at other times, he seemed like someone who would take risks for mere interest or recognition.
His past before founding ENA was also ambiguous. His gait and demeanor made him suspect of being from a gangster background, but it couldn’t be confirmed. Perhaps he had been an athlete for a long time since childhood. In any case, he exuded the characteristic aura of men who had been part of a group with a clear hierarchy. This was especially evident in his relationship with Yong-jae. It was clear they had a connection before ENA was founded.
Looking at the abundant fruit basket placed in the passenger seat in front, Choi Hong-seo raised his head. Beyond the car’s windshield, the ENA Entertainment sign loomed. It was a medium-sized agency, similar in scale to Myeong Do-hoon’s UB Entertainment.
One, two… three…
Counting on his fingers for the first time in a long while, Choi Hong-seo’s coat pocket vibrated.
Carrot Seller: I think I’ll be able to get off work a bit early today (4:04 PM)
Carrot Seller: I’m planning to stop by Hannam-dong to pick up a few things, is there anything Hong-seo needs? (4:06 PM)
Lately, his workdays had been ending earlier. Even with just acting lessons and a couple of workouts, Choi Hong-seo’s days were usually busy, but recently, Lee Hae-sung would often come to pick him up around the end of his last appointment for the day.
It was unlikely that ARA’s Vice President would be less busy than usual at the end of the year.
There was nothing strange about it; he spoke and acted normally in front of Choi Hong-seo, but the underlying anxiety and tension were so thick they showed through the facade.
Choi Hong-seo stopped counting and pressed the button to open the rear door. The bodyguard in the driver’s seat quickly grabbed the fruit basket. Before getting out of the car, Choi Hong-seo said to the front seat.
“Is it okay if I go alone?”
“I apologize, but that is difficult. I will wait in front of the office so you two can speak.”
Nodding as if he had expected this, Choi Hong-seo sent a quick reply and got out of the car.
Me: Three movie posters. That’s all. (4:09 PM)
■
Choi Hong-seo was led to CEO Lim Sang-jin’s office. The few employees there cast fleeting glances and whispered about ‘Yoon Hye-an’. They probably knew the former Yoon Hye-an. He didn’t know how they would perceive the current Yoon Hye-an, who passed by with an awkward nod as if he didn’t know them. Perhaps the former Yoon Hye-an had always completely ignored these people.
The CEO’s office was a cramped space with a four-person sofa set pushed right up against the desk. CEO Lim, who had been smoking, got up as ‘Yoon Hye-an’ entered.
“Haha, to think I’d receive something like this from Yoon Hye-an in my lifetime. I’d prefer something like beef, but it looks nice, doesn’t it?”
As he took the fruit basket from a bodyguard approaching a few steps ahead of Choi Hong-seo, CEO Lim lowered his voice and asked Choi Hong-seo.
“But do the three of us need to talk?”
“No. He’ll wait in the hallway.”
As the bodyguard closed the glass door and left, CEO Lim muttered, his eyes following the top of the bodyguard’s head peeking over the frosted glass.
“It seems Lee Hae-sung doesn’t trust you much, huh?”
“……”
“Are they watching you like this to make sure you’re not seeing other guys too?”
“It’s not like that.”
CEO Lim’s gaze, which had been observing the bodyguard beyond the glass wall with curious eyes, turned to ‘Yoon Hye-an’. Seeing that peculiar expression, he seemed to understand. The Yoon Hye-an of the past used to have relationships with other men even while having a sponsor. It wasn’t new information. The unpleasant idol member he’d encountered at the birthday party seemed to have been involved with someone in a similar way.
“So, what is it you wanted to know?”
CEO Lim, turning the heavy, ornate fruit basket this way and that, grinned as he looked at ‘Yoon Hye-an’ over the basket.
“You’re the one who’s now settled in ARA Lee Hae-sung’s inner circle. Weren’t you someone who wouldn’t even step foot in a humble place like this before your dethronement?”
“It seems that was how I was in the past.”
“What, are you still maintaining the ‘I don’t remember’ act?”
As if it were different from what he expected, CEO Lim frowned, running his hand over his short, salt-and-pepper hair.
“I came because I wanted to know if you knew anything that would make Dong-ha resent me.”
“Isn’t that something you can find with just an internet search?”
CEO Lim picked up the cigarette pack on the table and leaned back in his chair. Then, putting a filter in his mouth and lighting it, he muttered as if to himself, speaking in ventriloquist’s tones.
“To think you’d come to me directly to ask that. Was the memory loss real?”
“The things circulating online. I don’t think abandoning ‘Titan’ at a crucial time is the whole story.”
“……”
Hoo. CEO Lim exhaled the first puff of smoke and looked over. The color of his gaze had changed. The impression of a somewhat rough but easygoing, kind-hearted middle-aged man was gone, replaced by the eyes and expression of a shrewd businessman trying not to be exploited or lose out.
“You know all this, yet you came all the way here with a basket like this… it must be real that you don’t remember.”
“I haven’t lied since I woke up.”
“The Yoon Hye-an we all know would do something like that. So, even if you’re wronged, what can be done?”
CEO Lim continued, carelessly flicking ash from the not-yet-fully-burnt cigarette onto the ashtray.
“Even if you don’t remember, everyone else does. You can’t make everyone else reset their memories of you just because you say you don’t remember, can you?”
“That’s why I came to ask. About what I was like in the past. About what happened between Dong-ha and me.”
CEO Lim, bringing the cigarette to his lips with thick, sausage-like fingers and hands as broad as pot lids, still didn’t look like he fully believed Yoon Hye-an.
“But it’s a waste of my mouth to spill it all for just a fruit basket?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you could have asked Dong-ha directly, you wouldn’t have come to me, would you?”
“That… the Vice President sent it.”
“Oh, really?”
CEO Lim’s eyes flashed for a moment.
He stubbed out the cigarette he’d barely smoked, peeled off the plastic wrapping the basket, and rubbed a perfectly ripe apple, like a model, on his pants before taking a bite. Chewing the apple with a crunch, he rummaged through the fruits and found a slender envelope. After checking the contents, CEO Lim laughed so hard his shoulders shook.
“Ah… indeed, unlike those empty shells who got their positions thanks to their good parents. This person knows what they’re doing.”
“So, why did Dong-ha come to resent me?”
Crunch.
Taking another bite of the apple, CEO Lim began his story.
“When you started meeting sponsors, good opportunities came your way. Though they were for you personally.”
“……”
“Once Yoon Hye-an became known and gained popularity, ‘Titan’s’ popularity also began to rise. Up until then, Dong-ha and the other members were all grateful to you.”
“Grateful?”
“Who would want to sell their behind to a sponsor? They said Hyung Hye-an sacrificed himself to save the team. They were grateful as if you were a noble martyr. That’s why everyone tolerated your unpleasant behavior.”
Crunch. Taking another bite of the apple, CEO Lim added in a casual tone.
“In reality, you weren’t doing it for the team or anything, you voluntarily sought out sponsors just to get ahead yourself.”
“How do you know that? Whether it was voluntary or not.”
“I tried to dissuade you.”
“……”
“Using people with money and power to get what you want. It’s not easy. Even if it seems like ‘give and take’ at first, those people… they don’t understand the concept of having to deal with people like us. If they need something from us? They’ll just take it and ‘take’ it. They don’t think they need to ‘give’ anything.”
CEO Lim, who had been enjoying the apple until then, suddenly put down the half-eaten apple on the table as if he’d lost his appetite. Then he found a new cigarette and lit it.
Choi Hong-seo understood better than anyone what those words meant. To varying degrees, all the upper-class people Choi Hong-seo had met didn’t consider people equal. Except for one peculiar and special gentleman.
“When you were starring in a drama and doing really well. The condition the sponsor set at the time was for you to leave the team.”
“Yoon Hye… I didn’t leave on my own?”
“They said they’d push you as an actress if you left the team. And you abandoned the team without looking back.”
Choi Hong-seo’s composure wavered.
Even if Yoon Hye-an, having gained popularity, had left the team of his own volition, it wasn’t a good situation. But if the choice presented was to abandon the team, the sense of betrayal among those left behind would be even greater.
“To keep you, Dong-ha even knelt down.”
At CEO Lim’s hoarse voice, Choi Hong-seo’s gaze, which had been looking down at the half-eaten apple on the table, slowly turned to him.
“Even if it wasn’t for you, for that guy Dong-ha, ‘Titan’ was like his only hope.”
“……”
“He has a lot of family issues, so he’s practically the head of the household. Around that time, his father injured his back while working for a moving company. Damn it… problems always pile up for those who have nothing.”
Muttering in a complaining tone, CEO Lim flicked cigarette ash into the ashtray.
“He needed major surgery right away, but he couldn’t get a loan… That guy, he literally grabbed your pant legs and begged. Begged you to save him, to save himself and his dad.”
Choi Hong-seo’s brow furrowed. When he’d visited Park Dong-ha’s luxury apartment with Yong-jae. He’d vaguely heard something.
“So… how, how did Dong-ha’s father get his surgery?”
“I didn’t have enough money to lend him an advance back then. I’m not someone who handles big money for business. ‘Titan’ hadn’t even recovered its investment yet. In the end, there was no other option but loan sharks.”