<Episode 44>
In the end, Kang Woojin didn’t leave the CEO’s office until lunchtime.
“CEO, I’m hungry.”
“What would you like to eat?”
“I’m fine with anything.”
“Then I’ll just order some boxed meals.”
“Ah! Anything but boxed meals. I eat those a lot on set.”
Woojin spoke urgently.
While I was searching on my phone for nearby places that deliver, someone knocked on the office door.
“Come in.”
“CEO, it’s me.”
It was Han Suseok.
“You’re back already?”
“Yes.”
“Come in first.”
Han Suseok opened the door and walked in.
“Oh? Actor Kang Woojin is here. Hello. I’m Han Suseok, the general team leader of Ramos Entertainment and also the CEO’s secretary.”
Woojin stood up and greeted him with a polished, professional expression.
“I’m actor Kang Woojin. There was an issue with my company building, so I’ll be staying at Ramos Entertainment for about a month. I look forward to working with you.”
“I’ve already heard from the CEO.”
I had given Suseok a heads-up beforehand. It would’ve been strange for a secretary not to know.
“Seems like you’ve gotten quite close in a short time.”
Suseok said, glancing at me.
Woojin looked at him with surprise, as if he intended to use the same lie he told the other employees.
“Secretary Han here helped me get Kang Woojin’s contact information.”
“Ah.”
Woojin nodded, letting out a short exclamation.
“More importantly, did you talk to the director?”
“Yes. He responded very positively.”
“That’s good.”
“I’ve updated everything on the shared account.”
“Good work. It’s not lunchtime yet, right?”
“No.”
“Then go eat lunch. It’s fine even if you go a bit over the lunch break.”
“What about you, sir?”
“I’ve got Kang Woojin here, so I ordered delivery. It’s a bit difficult to go out to eat.”
“Then I’ll eat here too.”
In the end, we ended up having lunch together in the CEO’s office.
“May I call you Secretary Han?”
“Call me whatever is comfortable.”
“Secretary Han.”
“Yes.”
Woojin kept striking up conversations with Suseok.
Since I kept firmly rejecting his proposal, it seemed he decided to change his target of persuasion.
‘It won’t work anyway.’
He must’ve thought things through, seeing that Suseok was the general team leader and close to me… but it was the wrong choice.
‘He’s wasting effort on someone who will never budge.’
Throughout countless cycles, many people had tried approaching Suseok instead of me.
Of course, no one of Woojin’s caliber had ever reached out, but similar situations had happened before.
Each time, Suseok would listen carefully… but leave all decisions to me.
If I said no, that was the end of it. Provided, of course, that I wasn’t committing a crime.
“Have you ever thought about managing actors?”
“Actors?”
“Yes.”
“If the CEO wants to expand the business, then we should.”
Since I needed to eat properly to have energy for work, I kept moving my spoon diligently while the two talked.
‘Delivery isn’t so bad after all.’
“If a famous actor were to join the company, how would you feel?”
“That would be great.”
At Suseok’s answer, Woojin’s face brightened.
Completely unaware of what would come next.
“But I don’t think something like that would happen to our company, right? And we’ve never handled actors before.”
“Didn’t we have no experience with idols at first, either? We went through trial and error, but now we’ve achieved great results. Isn’t everything like that? Difficult and clumsy at first, but with effort, you eventually see results.”
He spoke smoothly.
If he had spoken to me like this, I might’ve listened more seriously.
Though the conclusion would’ve been the same.
“But there’s no actor who would want to come to our company, right? We’re already struggling just managing Spade Joker… why would anyone want to join?”
I had said the same thing before, but hearing it from Suseok made me feel slightly uneasy.
“I’d actually advise against it… for that actor’s sake.”
That was very blunt.
I nodded in agreement.
“That’s exactly why I want to join this company even more.”
“…What?”
“You’re all so ethical. Other companies just try to lure me in with promises… what they can do for me, how much they can support me.”
Woojin spoke without taking a breath.
“If an agency says they’d give up recruiting me for the sake of my career, not just me, other actors would think the same. Especially those who’ve experienced abuse of power from agencies.”
“We’ve done our share of abuse of power, too.”
I quietly added.
Not just minor misconduct… we had committed offenses serious enough to warrant lawsuits.
Unfair contracts, child abuse, labor law violations.
A whole list of charges.
And Woojin probably knew that to some extent. I had openly revealed my wrongdoings on “Reverse Perspective.”
“You’re right… Everyone makes mistakes. But very few admit them and correct themselves.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Taking responsibility is difficult.
The weight depends on the severity, but no one wants to bear it, even if it’s light.
‘People like that caused me a lot of trouble too.’
Even when I lived as Kang Hajun instead of John Reid Lombardi, there were many like that.
“So, the actor you mentioned earlier… were you referring to yourself, Kang Woojin?”
“That’s right.”
“I see. I did wonder, but assumed I was mistaken.”
“Secretary Han, I’m Kang Woojin. I run a one-man agency, so there’s almost nothing the company needs to handle. Even then, would you still refuse?”
“I don’t have a choice. I’m just the CEO’s secretary.”
Suseok subtly stepped back.
“I should’ve set a different condition.”
Woojin muttered to himself.
“…I’ve lost my appetite.”
He sighed and put his spoon down.
“You must still be hungry.”
He had barely eaten.
“I’m an actor. Even during the off-season, it’s better not to eat too much. This is enough. If you’re worried, you could just accept me.”
Ignoring him, Suseok and I began clearing the table.
“Now that we’re done, should we go see Spade Joker? They said they’d come at lunch.”
“Yes.”
We left Woojin in the CEO’s office and headed to the meeting room.
“CEO.”
“Yeah?”
“Why does Kang Woojin want to join our company?”
“I have no idea.”
I let out a sigh.
“We’ve known him for less than a week. It’s strange.”
“Exactly. Why is he suddenly like this?”
“Indeed.”
Suseok stroked his chin, deep in thought.
“Unless he’s being blackmailed or something, it doesn’t make sense he’d want to come here.”
‘Well, it’s true I have leverage over him.’
I’m one of the few who know he’s a composer, ‘Maru.’
It would make sense if I used that to persuade him to transfer.
But for actor Kang Woojin to cling to Ramos Entertainment like this… it didn’t make sense.
‘If he were staying close because he’s afraid I’d reveal his identity, that would at least make sense.’
But he said that through me, he realized he wanted to reveal his identity as a composer to the public.
‘What is this, like imprinting on the first person he saw after breaking out of an egg?’
Across nine cycles, not a single actor had ever contacted us first, wanting to join Ramos Entertainment.
Later, after we built a new headquarters, a few did… but they were either former idols before contract renewal or outright scammers.
‘It’s natural, Woojin doesn’t understand. As he said, any other company would’ve tried everything to recruit him.’
We sat in the meeting room and waited for Spade Joker.
Soon, the door opened.
I expected it to be them, but it was Kang Woojin.
“Is it okay if I stay here too?”
There was no reason to kick him out.
After all, he was composer Maru.
“Are you sure it’s all right?”
“Yes. I’ll just tell the kids.”
“Then please, have a seat here.”
Han Suseok was quick-witted.
Especially when it came to work.
So just from the conversation earlier, he likely realized Woojin was the composer ‘Maru.’
He had already been surprised when I started receiving songs from Maru after getting Woojin’s contact.
‘But right now, he doesn’t show any surprise at all. In a way, that’s pretty impressive.’
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