“I like Manager-nim. I saw him every day when I was filming <Effect>. How Manager-nim took such devoted care of Jeonghan.”
That was only possible because it was Cha Jeonghan. If it had been someone else, there wouldn’t have been any reason to do manager work in the first place, and he wouldn’t have been able to be so devoted. Lee Hyeonjun, who had no way of knowing this, continued speaking in a voice I didn’t want to hear.
“When it was hot, he’d hold an umbrella over him, always prepared the best lunches, and even when we filmed until dawn, only Cha Jeonghan was fine. The kid didn’t get tired because Manager-nim took such good care of him. So back then, we said among ourselves that we needed to find a manager like that. Cha Jeonghan, fuck, has looks, height, body, and even luck, but he also has manager luck—we laughed in disbelief.”
“I just worked hard too, that’s all.”
“Why are you being so modest? You have a pretty heart too.”
“I’m really sorry to interrupt, but it’s almost time for Jeonghan-ssi to finish. It was nice meeting you today.”
When I got up from my seat, bowed my head slightly in greeting, and tried to leave, Lee Hyeonjun immediately grabbed my wrist and pulled. It happened in an instant, so my body was yanked forward, then suddenly jerked in the opposite direction. Lee Hyeonjun wasn’t looking at me but at something beyond me, smirking as he released the wrist he’d been holding. When I quickly turned around, Cha Jeonghan was looking at Lee Hyeonjun with a thoroughly displeased face.
“Are you done? I’ll contact hyung.”
Since there were other people around, I spoke as politely as possible and took out my phone. Only then did Cha Jeonghan look at me.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded slightly. Cha Jeonghan acted like someone who didn’t believe my words that I was okay, even while looking at me. That made sense—it would be hard to easily understand the situation where I’d been grabbed by the wrist and dragged by Lee Hyeonjun. Cha Jeonghan positioned me behind him. Then he approached Lee Hyeonjun.
“I didn’t expect to see you at the broadcast station, but it’s been a while, hyung.”
His voice was gentle, but it wasn’t a gentle greeting at all. Lee Hyeonjun looked at Cha Jeonghan without being shaken in the slightest and sneered back the same way.
“Of course an entertainer would be at a broadcast station. Why are you so surprised?”
“You were suspended from appearing. Because of that noisy incident last year. Oh, was it not here?”
“Why are you bringing up something that’s all in the past? There are a few places with stubborn old geezers. Suspension, my ass. I never went there in the first place anyway.”
“Ah, yes. Well… it’ll be fine if you don’t go there in the future either. But what were you talking about so enjoyably with my manager?”
“Why, can’t I even talk with your manager?”
“No.”
“What?”
Seeing Lee Hyeonjun’s sharp reaction, Cha Jeonghan kept his eyes the same but only lifted his lips to smile, then slowly tilted his head.
“Originally you can’t, but since you already did, it can’t be helped…. So, what kind of enjoyable conversation was it that the atmosphere is like this?”
“How would you know whether it was enjoyable or dirty talk? You just arrived and you’re acting like you heard everything. Does that make you look good?”
“No, I was just thinking the conversation must have been really enjoyable for you to grab someone who was leaving like that. Well, they say people don’t change easily, so I’m worried your habit with your hands is still the same….”
The conversation between Cha Jeonghan and Lee Hyeonjun was precariously crossing the line. It was a situation where if either one clearly crossed the line, a big fight could break out, so I was anxious. I looked at Manager Dongyun hyung’s message saying he was coming up right away and desperately hoped this situation would end safely.
“Why. Are you worried I might touch your manager or something?”
“As if. Would you touch my manager, hyung? If you touch him, you’ll die by my hand.”
“By your hand? Die?”
At the suddenly changed atmosphere, Lee Hyeonjun kicked back his chair and got up, approaching Cha Jeonghan. Cha Jeonghan didn’t move at all and faced Lee Hyeonjun as he approached. I quickly grabbed Cha Jeonghan’s arm.
“Please, Jeonghan-ah… please.”
I pleaded near his ear that he shouldn’t fight. This wasn’t just any place—it was a meeting with a director and writer who seemed to be producing good results for a drama, and most importantly, this was a broadcast station. If there was even a fistfight at the broadcast station… Ah, just thinking about it was truly horrible.
“Are you worried I might touch him? Like I’d let someone like you touch him?”
“Someone like me? This bastard has no sense of hierarchy!”
“Don’t touch what’s mine. Whether it’s a person or an object, don’t touch it carelessly. You did it before and you still haven’t fixed that filthy habit, but if this kind of thing happens one more time, then you’ll have to think about retirement, not just suspension. Though you’re already practically retired anyway.”
At Cha Jeonghan’s words, Lee Hyeonjun shoved his shoulder hard. Reflexively, I quickly hugged Cha Jeonghan from behind as he tried to lunge at Lee Hyeonjun and pulled him back.
“Jeonghan-ah, no. Don’t. Hold back.”
I hugged and pulled back Cha Jeonghan as he kept trying to go forward, when I heard someone rushing in. Only after seeing the back of the Station Manager who stood blocking Cha Jeonghan’s way did I let out the breath I’d been holding. At least seeing the Station Manager made me feel like I’d survive. Because he was someone who could resolve this situation.
“Lee Hyeonjun, why are you here causing a commotion again? I told you not to come. How many times do I have to tell you that you have nowhere to appear right now even if you come? Why do you come and cause this chaos every time, huh?”
“Station Manager-nim, that’s not right. Don’t just blame me unconditionally when you don’t know the situation. That rude bastard is talking back without any respect, bringing up my work, fuck, did he take his manager as a concubine? He’s been going crazy with his eyes rolling back whenever anyone touches his manager since before.”
At Lee Hyeonjun’s words, Cha Jeonghan lunged at him. Not just me, but the Station Manager and even Manager Dongyun hyung who had just entered separated Cha Jeonghan in between. The Station Manager patted Cha Jeonghan’s shoulder, saying he’d handle it himself, telling him to hold back, not to make this big and to let it pass well. Dongyun hyung and I took the fuming Cha Jeonghan out of the lounge. We soothed him several times as he shook off the arm we’d grabbed and tried to go back again, and barely managed to get on the elevator.
Only after getting in the car and starting to drive did both Dongyun hyung and I breathe sighs of relief. If the Station Manager hadn’t appeared and it had ended at just this much—if they had continued to face off, far more people than those who had lined up to take photos with Cha Jeonghan earlier would have rushed in and seen the whole scene. Photos would have been uploaded all over the internet and spread at an unstoppable speed, and by now, provocative words like “Cha Jeonghan assault” might have been up in the real-time search rankings. Just thinking about it was horrible, so I quickly erased the thought and looked at Cha Jeonghan’s still dissatisfied face.
“Are you really okay?”
I was about to ask if he was okay, but Cha Jeonghan asked me first. I nodded. It was unpleasant, but not to the point of not being okay. Maybe because I’d experienced all sorts of things and heard all sorts of things while working in the entertainment industry, things like this didn’t stay in my memory for long anymore.
“He’s originally like that. I don’t care.”
“……”
“Cheer up. How was meeting the director and writer earlier?”
“They said they wrote it imagining me, and my image fits even better than their imagination. I decided to do it. The article will come out around next week.”
“That’s a relief. Now you just need to calm down.”
“How can you act like it’s nothing? What did he say to you, that bastard? Even with me there, fuck, if he acted like that talking about concubines and whatnot, what must he have said when I wasn’t there… Ah, this is so annoying. Tell me everything.”
“Um… he said he’d pay me double to come be his manager.”
“Fuck, was that weak? He’s completely lost it.”
I wanted to tell him this much even though it wasn’t like I was confessing my feelings to Cha Jeonghan. But seeing his reaction, I absolutely shouldn’t tell him the really unpleasant things Lee Hyeonjun had said. If he heard all of that, he’d tell me to turn the car around right now and go throw a punch at Lee Hyeonjun for sure.
“So what did you say?”
“I didn’t even respond. There’s nothing to say.”
“Absolutely not. Even if you die, you can’t. Even if you say you’re going, I’ll lock you up to prevent you from going.”
“Even if you said yes, I wouldn’t go. There.”
“But you’d go somewhere else?”
“Don’t interpret it strangely again. That’s not what I meant.”
“…From now on, don’t be nice to me when we’re outside. Treat me roughly. Speak informally, curse, and slap me if I don’t come. Act like ‘what kind of manager is this to have around.'”
He spoke quite seriously, so I was momentarily confused about whether I should really take what he just said seriously. Cha Jeonghan expressed his dissatisfaction to me with a truly serious face over something like this.
“Because you’re nice, everyone’s targeting you. I just haven’t said anything, but… fuck. There were quite a few bastards spouting bullshit asking if I’d consider handing over my manager because you’re so good to me.”
Seeing his angry face now directed not at Lee Hyeonjun but at something else, I somehow found it cute and laughed. Seeing me laugh, Cha Jeonghan let out a breath with a look of disbelief.
“Why are you laughing? Are you happy hearing me say this?”
“Isn’t it good? If other people know I’m good to you, that’s a good thing. It means I work hard and do well… I feel recognized.”
“So why are you happy getting recognition from other bastards? You should be happy getting it from me.”
“You do it all every day. You say thank you, and you say I worked hard….”
I really liked those small emotional expressions of Cha Jeonghan’s. Not a single word that reached me felt like empty flattery. Even when he’d be extremely tired after filming all night and returning home in the morning, Cha Jeonghan would always tell me first that it must have been hard staying up all night and to go in and sleep first.
