“Most of the work requires physical labor, so I’m worried your education level is too high. You’re not going to bail after just a few days, are you?”
Kim Jaeho skimmed through the resume with an indifferent gaze and tapped two fingers against the paper. In front of him sat the man from the ID photo attached to the top of the resume, maintaining a perfectly upright posture without a single thing out of place.
-Jaeho-ssi. With looks like that, shouldn’t we be casting him instead of hiring him as a manager?
-Come on, Team Leader-nim. You’re the one who taught me not to trust photos.
The man in the photo was quite handsome. Kim Jaeho, who hired new employees almost monthly, was someone in the entertainment industry who didn’t trust the authenticity of photos. However, the man sitting before him was actually better-looking in person than in his photo, which secretly surprised him.
Yet somehow, his haggard face and the thick dark circles under his eyes created a decadent atmosphere that couldn’t be felt from the photo. Moreover, since he kept his mouth firmly shut unless he had something necessary to say, it was only natural that he appeared even stiffer.
“I don’t know how you ended up taking a leave of absence, but the work will be tough. There are tons of guys who run away even after stamping the contract.”
“As long as you pay me well, I don’t mind any kind of work.”
“…Haha. Everyone starts out like that. But they all can’t even last a month, which is why I’m looking for people like this every time.”
Kim Jaeho clicked his tongue indifferently and handed the prepared contract to the man.
“You’ll literally be cleaning up after a kid going through puberty. You’ll stick right next to the kid like a mom… No, at least moms nag. You’re just like a lackey who silently caters to a child’s whims. Your pride will be hurt while working, and you’ll get angry. Everyone runs away because they can’t handle that anger.”
“I can do it.”
Kim Jaeho chuckled at the firm answer that came without a hint of emotion.
They all started out similarly. Every single one said: just give me the work, I can do anything, I have more persistence than others so taking care of a young actor is a piece of cake. They all spoke with such confidence.
However, since most of them couldn’t endure and quickly dropped out, Kim Jaeho was here today looking through new resumes again.
It was only natural he couldn’t trust a man showing the exact same pattern as them.
“Alright then. Sign it.”
When Kim Jaeho handed over the contract, the man signed it right away without properly checking it. A generous salary higher than other companies, combined with various periodic allowances, added up to quite an attractive amount. Kim Jaeho sipped his coffee and held back a sneer at the man’s attitude, no different from any other new hire who came for that money.
Yeah. Let’s see just how long you last.
Kim Jaeho, whose gaze lingered on the neat and tidy signature that matched his appearance, took out a business card and handed it over. The man muttered quietly as if trying to remember the name “Kim Jaeho” written on one side of the luxurious paper with the company name engraved in hologram.
“Should I start tomorrow?”
“That’s right. You’ll go through the handover process for a week, and from the week after, you’ll start taking care of the actor on your own.”
“Understood.”
“Just call me Team Leader Kim. Today, the people Euiju-ssi needs to greet happen to be gathered in one place. Follow me.”
Kim Jaeho gestured for the man to follow him and was about to leave the reception room when he turned around as if remembering something. After roughly wiping his hands on his jacket, he extended his hand to the man standing there blankly.
“Let’s work together for a long time, Lee Euiju-ssi.”
The man looked down at the extended hand with a complicated gaze, then finally clasped it. Since this was a routine procedure for every new hire who came in, Kim Jaeho smiled faintly without much thought and shook their clasped hands up and down.
***
The CEO’s office, surrounded by open windows with a clear view of the entire Seoul area, was modern and neat, giving off a cold impression. The warm yellow sunlight pouring through the transparent windows neutralized the modernity, creating a rather warm and tasteful atmosphere, but the situation unfolding was far from that.
In the tense air stretched taut, three people—no, two people—were engaged in a war of nerves unsuited to their age gap.
“First this and that, and now you’re hitting people? Are you in your right mind, you bastard!”
The woman with neatly styled short hair and wearing a crisp suit had just passed forty but looked young enough to pass for her early thirties. She shouted with her face turning red with anger at the person sitting calmly before her.
The boy leaning leisurely against the luxurious leather sofa with his legs crossed picked at one ear as if he didn’t want to hear his aunt’s nagging. As if that wasn’t enough, he even muttered a curse—”Fuck”—as if the ongoing game was being interrupted.
In South Korea, where Confucian ideology was deeply rooted, it would have been a scene worthy of pointing fingers at if others had seen it, but the adults here didn’t object, as if they were used to it. No, they seemed to have no time to care about such trivial matters.
“If word spreads far and wide that a manager got beaten by an actor and bled, that’ll look great. I’d love it if they sued. Just how many times has this been? Do you think the public will look favorably on a kid whose hair hasn’t even dried yet constantly changing managers?!”
The boy’s great-aunt, Jin Yeongseol, CEO of J Entertainment, opened her mouth to thoroughly question just how absurd and outrageous the incident her nephew caused was. However, her secretary, who had been standing silently beside her, spoke up first.
“Kim Jongo-ssi apparently touched Haeseong-gun first.”
“…What?”
“It seems he acted unilaterally, ignoring Haeseong-gun’s refusal when he said he’d give him a massage.”
At the secretary’s words, one corner of Haeseong’s mouth, who had been half-listening until now, slowly rose. The boy twisted his head slightly to stare at his aunt. His gaze was quite arrogant, making it seem as if some aged thug had entered that delicate body instead.
“I told you before that bastard was acting like an old fart. I hated how he pretended to know about my body, so what was I supposed to do? It was Secretary Kim and you, Auntie, who completely ignored what I said.”
Turning his gaze away again, Haeseong, with his characteristically languid face, leaned his head back against the sofa with a thud and stretched his phone-holding hand straight up toward the sky.
“If you don’t want things to get noisy, just slip him some money or something.”
His beautiful appearance, far removed from his insolent behavior, was enough to make onlookers gasp in admiration. If an outsider saw this, they would have shuddered at the dissonance. Distinct and large features on a small face that made one wonder how they all fit, a clear and white face as beautiful as carved jade. On top of that, with a small build, he had a lovely appearance that could be mistaken for a girl at first glance.
Jin Yeongseol watched her nephew’s shameless posture as he swung his crossed leg back and forth without a care despite causing the incident himself, then sat back down in her chair and pressed her throbbing temples.
-Jin Haeseong-gun wants to change managers, and it seems Kim Jongo-ssi usually interferes with various things.
She had heard from her secretary a while ago, but since asking to change managers was something that happened regularly like a monthly event, she thought nothing of it and let it pass.
Just what…
What had that Kim Jongo bastard done to get on her nephew’s bad side, who was going through a vicious puberty, to the point of drawing blood? Her nephew, who particularly hated physical contact with others, must have properly caught the manager who touched his body as he pleased in the act, ultimately creating an incident that led to this disaster.
Although Jin Haeseong was suffering from growing pains, to dare think of touching that sensitive child’s body.
Jin Yeongseol shook her head and snapped at her secretary.
“Keep their mouth properly shut and handle the aftermath well. Make sure it doesn’t leak to the media, and take care of the medical bills and everything else.”
“Understood. Right now, Team Leader Kim from the management department and Haeseong-gun’s new manager are waiting outside. Should I let them in?”
“Do that.”
At Jin Yeongseol’s annoyed gesture, the secretary bowed and left. Only silence flowed in the CEO’s office with just the two of them remaining.
“How long are you going to be like this?”
“Like what?”
“There’s a limit to how much I’ll let things slide because you’re young, because you’re my nephew. I’m asking how long you’re going to act so childishly.”
“Like you said, Auntie, I’m still a kid. Cut me some slack.”
Though his mouth said to cut him slack, it was obvious all his attention was sold to the game. Jin Yeongseol glared at Jin Haeseong while pressing her head due to a headache showing no signs of improvement.
Where did the child go who was dazed and well-behaved when she brought him in?
-Auntie! Did I do well without making mistakes?
Despite his young age, Jin Haeseong, who was greedy, had purely wanted to do well. Where did that gentle child go who looked for adult praise with his sparkling big eyes? He had beautiful features and a small build not much different from back then, but in contrast, his personality had become so violent and brutal that even she couldn’t touch him now.
At least because she was his aunt, she could nag him like this. The treatment of the manager who stayed by his side at every move was beyond words.
‘If it weren’t for that bastard Kim Yeongrok, the kid’s personality wouldn’t have deteriorated to that extent.’
Jin Yeongseol, who had recalled an incident she didn’t even want to mention, finally dispersed her thoughts at the sound of a knock.
“Come in.”
Team Leader Kim Jaeho and an unfamiliar neat-looking man entered in order. Wondering if he’d brought some rookie actor instead of a manager, Jin Yeongseol scanned the unfamiliar man up and down with narrowed eyes.
“Hello, Director-nim. Since you happened to be here, I came to greet you with Euiju-ssi, who will be newly in charge of Haeseong.”
“Hello. I’m Lee Euiju. I look forward to working with you.”
“I see. Welcome.”
The new manager. Haeseong, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the small screen, raised his head to look at the stiffly frozen Lee Euiju. Their gazes properly locked in midair.
The gazes directed at each other for a moment dispersed as Lee Euiju lowered his eyes first. Haeseong’s eyes flashed as if finding this interesting.
‘What’s this.’
He looks pretty normal.
Until now, potato-like things had rolled in, making him disgusted from the first meeting more than once or twice. The manager who apparently just arrived had good proportions rarely seen even among regular celebrities, a lean build without excess fat, proper shoulders, and pleasant features. Without being told he was a manager, one might have mistaken him for an aspiring actor or idol.
And that wasn’t all. Haeseong let out a small laugh as if amused.
‘He’s not looking at me.’
Due to the high salary and incentives, many of the newly hired managers were entering this field for the first time. Perhaps because of that, they couldn’t hide their excitement about facing Jin Haeseong in person, whom they’d only seen in videos, and licked the celebrity before them with hot gazes and moist eyes.
As if looking at deer or rabbits at a zoo that could be fed and touched.
If even experienced people were like that, those seeing a celebrity for the first time displayed it openly. Anyone facing the real Jin Haeseong would lose their mind at his appearance. Such experiences were extremely unpleasant for a boy who had just reached the age to enter high school.
But that man was showing a different reaction from the humans so far. His attitude showed no glance, let alone interest in him, so Haeseong couldn’t help but be intrigued.
Haeseong, who had been watching the new manager greeting his aunt while propping his chin with one hand, suddenly got up from his seat. Jin Yeongseol and Kim Jaeho’s gazes turned toward Haeseong, but the newly arrived manager’s gaze merely faced the floor.
‘What kind of trick is that?’
To Haeseong’s eyes, which usually didn’t trust people, that man’s behavior also looked like some kind of strategy. Haeseong walked up and stood face to face with the man. Since there was quite a height difference, he had to crane his neck to look up, but Haeseong’s gaze wasn’t that of someone below. In reality too, Haeseong was the one in power.
Because Euiju had been looking down, he made eye contact with Haeseong who had approached right before his nose. As their gazes intertwined again, Haeseong curved his lips into an incredibly pretty arc.
Jin Yeongseol and Kim Jaeho’s eyes widened in surprise at encountering Haeseong’s smile in a place without cameras for the first time in a while. Just as Jin Yeongseol was about to ask what the occasion was, something fell with a thud in front of Lee Euiju’s shoes.
“Jin Haeseong! You…!”
It was spit that Jin Haeseong had spat out.
