In the end, I couldn’t resist Seo Hanryul and Lee Dojun’s insistence and ended up joining them for lunch. The place we arrived at was a high-end Italian restaurant near the agency.
As we entered, a spacious ceiling and an open area welcomed us, and one side of the restaurant was made entirely of glass windows, offering a refreshing view of the entire Han River nearby. It was truly a restaurant that put tremendous effort into its interior design, but the strange thing was that there wasn’t a single person coming in during lunchtime.
“It’s lunchtime but there’s not a single person here.”
“Yes, we rented out the entire space. This is time to have an intimate conversation with a celebrity who will be joining Youth, and I don’t want to share it with other people.”
Lee Dojun answered as if it were trivial, watching me marvel at the completely empty interior like a country mouse who had just come up to the city.
‘Money’s rotting away. How could a commoner like me understand you?’
“Welcome, CEO-nim. We’ve been waiting for you. I’ll guide you to your seats.”
As soon as he saw Lee Dojun’s face, a man who appeared to be the restaurant manager smiled brightly and guided us to our seats. The seats we arrived at were also the best spots in the house.
“Please bring the menu we prepared right away.”
“Yes, CEO-nim. We’ll prepare it quickly.”
The entire large restaurant began moving just for the three of us. After the manager left, only awkward silence flowed. Seo Hanryul, this unsociable bastard. Shouldn’t he be the one to open his mouth first in this kind of situation? Anyway, he has a great talent for making people worry.
“CEO-nim, do you usually include managers in pre-contract dining meetings?”
I threw out a light question to Lee Dojun to break the atmosphere.
“…What’s the manager’s name?”
But Lee Dojun gave an irrelevant answer. It was a reasonable enough question though. Come to think of it, I had never told Lee Dojun my name.
“Now that I think about it, we haven’t even exchanged names, CEO-nim. I’m Seo Hanryul-ssi’s manager, Seo Jiwon.”
“Jiwon-ssi seems like someone who’s hard to have a meal with. Or are you originally someone with many discomforts?”
‘Ah… So he’s telling me to just shut up.’
It was just a thoughtless remark, but it seemed to have greatly rubbed Lee Dojun the wrong way. Lee Dojun was also someone whose personality was hard to deal with, so I thought I needed to keep my wits about me.
“CEO-nim, that’s a misunderstanding. From what I heard, you always dine one-on-one when meeting with celebrities, so it was just a casual question. For me, it’s an honor to have lunch with a big shot in the entertainment industry today.”
“From what I see, CEO-nim seems to have many discomforts.”
I thought I had wrapped it up well enough, but suddenly Seo Hanryul jumped in with a tackle.
‘You just stay quiet for once, please.’
I secretly pinched the thigh of Seo Hanryul sitting next to me. Seo Hanryul, with his quick reflexes, immediately slapped my hand away and shot me a smile that meant ‘I’ll kill you.’
“Ah, are you already taking your manager’s side in front of me? Jiwon-ssi must feel very secure. It’s quite nice to see.”
‘Seo Hanryul, won’t you soften your expression?’
I thought Seo Hanryul was strong-weak-weak-strong, but looking at him now, he’s strong-strong-weak-strong. He kept making that shitty expression even in front of the mighty Lee Dojun. It seems that bastard acts like that regardless of who the other person is, as long as they displease him. If he knew Lee Dojun’s personality, it wouldn’t be easy to act like that. It was truly a behavior overflowing with spirit.
‘Still… might that look seem pretty to Lee Dojun?’
“Jiwon-ssi, so how long have you been working as Hanryul-ssi’s manager?”
Lee Dojun started asking me questions instead of making Seo Hanryul talk.
“Not long. About 2 months.”
“That’s a much shorter period than I thought. When I first saw you at the audition venue, you requested an opportunity so desperately that anyone passing by couldn’t ignore it, so I thought you had been together for about 10 years.”
Lee Dojun was indirectly dissing me. I could understand why he included me in the meal and kept making me talk. Among Lee Dojun’s many specialties, one of them was this. Embarrassing people while smiling.
If the protagonist of the novel wants to diss me, how could I stop him? Fine, as long as you sign a contract with Seo Hanryul, diss me all you want. Once I could see through Lee Dojun’s intentions transparently, I felt at ease.
“Haha, it’s truly embarrassing. I apologize once again. However, even if I went back, I think I would do the same thing. Because Seo Hanryul-ssi is such an excellent talent. Actually, I think it would be a huge loss for Youth to let someone like this go.”
Seo Hanryul wasn’t pretty at all, but since today’s meeting had a clear purpose of ‘contract closure,’ I enthusiastically started PR-ing Seo Hanryul in front of Lee Dojun.
“Seo Hanryul-ssi must be so lucky. To have a manager who gives and loves him like this.”
“Of course. For such a manager to come to me, I also thought it was great luck.”
‘That’s right, just keep doing that.’
Fortunately, Seo Hanryul seemed to have come to his senses and started speaking properly. Though what he just said was probably insincere.
“Seo Hanryul-ssi, a celebrity can’t succeed with just a face. Face, acting skills, character, and even luck. I think Seo Hanryul-ssi knows well that even if all of these are satisfied, it’s hard to become a top star.”
What was Lee Dojun trying to say by talking so long?
“That’s right, CEO-nim’s words are so correct. Seo Hanryul-ssi must know that well too.”
Anxious about Lee Dojun’s long-winded speech, I echoed his words.
“However, Seo Hanryul-ssi. I’m very disappointed that you haven’t even acquired the basic attitude a celebrity should have. Your attitude of refusing despite being given one more chance at the audition, and even your attitude during this meal. You’re honestly expressing with your whole body that you’re uncomfortable just from a meal with one person, so would you be able to hide your discomfort when something unpleasant happens in front of countless people?”
Lee Dojun’s words had big thorns openly stuck in them, but listening to them, they were right and there was no room for rebuttal. The original Seo Hanryul was the very embodiment of a soft-outside-strong-inside candy, but the Seo Hanryul I was experiencing was the very embodiment of a fighting cock. I was also quite worried about his harsh behavior and rough mouth.
‘It is correct though.’
“…”
Seo Hanryul didn’t answer. I gently tapped his knee under the table, but he showed no signs of answering. Was he not answering because he was in a bad mood? The one with his mouth firmly shut was Seo Hanryul, the one whose insides were burning up was me.
“I completely agree with CEO-nim’s words. Seo Hanryul, you heard that well, right? You always need to control your feelings well. CEO-nim gave you good advice, so you should answer.”
I pressed down firmly on Seo Hanryul’s thigh again. In this short meal, how many times was I hitting his thigh… I might get hit a few times by Seo Hanryul later. But for my future, I had to make this contract with Youth happen.
“Yes, CEO-nim. I understood well.”
Seo Hanryul answered half-heartedly and carelessly.
Even after that, there wasn’t much else discussed during the meal. Originally, they should be discussing contract terms or asking private questions about Seo Hanryul at this meeting. But Lee Dojun asked me more questions instead. Rather than Lee Dojun and Seo Hanryul talking alone, the uncomfortable situation of continuing conversation with me in between persisted.
“Let’s finish lunch now. Let’s work well together from now on.”
Lee Dojun was the first to offer a handshake to Seo Hanryul. Finally, that handshake was coming out. What does a handshake mean? It means contract closure. Watching the contract being sealed before my eyes gave me a sense of relief, but the fact that we spent an hour on trivial conversation left me feeling somewhat uneasy.
‘Is this really right?’
“CEO-nim, please go safely!”
After seeing off the CEO, only Seo Hanryul and I remained. Since I had pinched Seo Hanryul’s thigh so many times that it might have bruised, I was preparing to get hit by him.
“Ha… Whose side are you on? The CEO’s side or my side?”
But rather than hitting me, he said strange words whose intention I couldn’t understand. Could sides even be divided at a meal where we had such meaningless conversation in the first place? Asking whose side someone is on in this kind of situation was absurd in itself. But I had to soothe him, who somehow looked sulky.
“What are you talking about? I haven’t known the CEO for long. Of course I’m on your side, you bastard. Where are you feeling slighted now?”
“The guy who says he’s on my side was agreeing with whatever the CEO said while smiling sweetly at him? Did we go to sign a contract or to flatter him?”
Smiling sweetly. When I put on a tearful flattery show because of someone… Seo Hanryul was immature, way too immature.
“Ha… I’m sorry if your feelings were hurt. But if the CEO likes me, it’s good for you too. Stop sulking. I’m on your side.”
I gently grabbed his shoulder and patted it.
“…From next time, don’t grin like that when you meet the CEO. You don’t need to bow and scrape like that. The more you do that with a guy like him, the more he’ll look down on you.”
“Do I look like someone to be looked down on anywhere? You know that well too. Now that you know, cheer up.”
As I responded calmly, his mood seemed to gradually improve.
‘I don’t know if I’m a manager or a kindergarten teacher.’
* * *
The final audition passer was Seo Hanryul.
Dojun, who had left the decision to the judges thinking he would obviously fail, was taken aback by the unexpected result, but since he planned to find a proper excuse during the meal to send him away, he decided not to worry too much about it.
“What are you talking about? You don’t understand. I said just the two of us will eat.”
On the day of the meal, when he went down to the guest room, there was one more familiar face. Even that guy called a manager had come along. Seeing the guy’s face looking even happier than Seo Hanryul’s, Dojun felt a small amusement and let him participate in the meal too.
The guy’s name was Seo Jiwon. It was quite amusing to see a guy who looked like he had quite a temper grinning and trying somehow to lighten the atmosphere. The way he fawned over him no matter what he said was exactly like a stupid puppy that likes everything you do.
‘The lack of promise remains unchanged.’
Though his evaluation from the first meeting hadn’t changed much, after observing Hanryul’s appearance and steadfast attitude, he had to admit that his commercial value itself was very outstanding.
However, he thought Hanryul, who openly showed his dislike for him, was very presumptuous. Especially the way he snickered whenever he said something was not an unseemly sight.
“Seo Hanryul-ssi, what’s so funny? Snickering in front of someone is a habit you need to fix.”
“I’m laughing because it’s funny, can’t I laugh as I please?”
“Hey, why are you doing that? What kind of way is that to talk to CEO-nim?”
When he attacked Seo Hanryul, Seo Hanryul responded to it straightforwardly, and the manager was busy soothing Seo Hanryul while watching his reactions. The meal flowed in the same pattern for the entire hour. Some might see it as meaningless wordplay, but Dojin’s thoughts were different. He had spent an interesting lunch for once.
‘It wouldn’t be bad for him to enter our company. I could also watch that interesting guy he keeps by his side.’
Dojun, who had originally intended to drop Hanryul without even looking, changed his mind after the meal as if it never happened.
