I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 13 - Crisis into opportunity.

The next day.

The moment I came in to head office, the looks started pouring in from the lobby by the entrance.

Exaggerating a little, it felt like every employee I passed on the way was watching me.

My chest felt tight, so I headed for the pantry to get a coffee at least.

But there were people there ahead of me, and I heard an odd murmuring.

“Did you watch yesterday? Lee Ha-eun’s lead, ‘Queen of Joseon’?”

“Yeah. It came out well, didn’t it? And I hear the ratings blew up too?”

“The ratings are the ratings, but did you see that article, Team Leader Kim?”

“That article…? Ah! You mean the Lee Ha-eun interview article, right?”

“I was honestly shocked when I read it. Praise for a manager, coming out of that Lee Ha-eun’s mouth. Is it really nothing?”

I gave up cleanly and turned around.

Since it’s come to this, I’d better load up on nicotine at least.

But the rooftop smoking area had people there ahead of me too.

“I watched ‘Queen of Joseon’ live yesterday, and the acting was no joke.”

“That Lee Ha-eun girl has a bad personality, but she really can act.”

“Is Lee Ha-eun’s personality that bad?”

“Bad doesn’t cover it. How many managers has she gone through! But this time, what came over her to make her praise one? Her former manager…. that Chief Kwon? Him.”

Damn it.

They’re talking about me here too?

Letting out sigh after sigh, I looked around.

Luckily there was nobody at the wall in the corner of the smoking area.

I trudged over, hid in the corner of the smoking area, and smoked for a minute.

I muttered without meaning to.

“This is annoying.”

I don’t have enough attention for Twenty as it is, and this accident that blew up keeps eating away at what’s left.

And since the person who caused it is Lee Ha-eun of all people, it can’t even be cleaned up.

‘A top star actress whose hobby is going through managers.’

Praise for a manager came out of that actress’s mouth, so it couldn’t help becoming company gossip.

Unable to do anything either way, I smoked one poor cigarette after another, and in the end I pulled out my smartphone.

The tone rang a few times and Road Jeon Hyeong-woo picked up.

[“Yes, I’m on the line.”]

“Hyeong-woo-ssi. It’s me, Chief Kwon.”

[“Ah, yes! Chief.”]

“Did you ask Lee Ha-eun about the interview?”

At my question, Road Jeon Hyeong-woo trailed off.

[“Yes! But….”]

My heart jumped a little.

What reason could that crazy bitch have had to mention me in an interview?

[“She said you really did pick the project for her, Chief.”]

“?”

…. My pupils moved up and down as though an earthquake had hit them.

I picked “Queen of Joseon” for her?

Meanwhile Road Jeon Hyeong-woo explained the situation.

[“I thought she’d fallen out with you and did the interview to screw you over, Chief, but that wasn’t it. The way Lee Ha-eun-ssi tells it, you really did pick it for her.”]

I frowned.

‘What is this now?’

I picked “Queen of Joseon” for her?

For that Lee Ha-eun?

I hurriedly dug through the memories buried in my head.

The new work of Kim Go-eun, one of the industry’s top three writers.

The quarter’s most anticipated project, with a production cost of 30 billion won alone.

A script with a role that fit Lee Ha-eun like a glove.

While I was putting the fragmented memories in order, my shoulders jerked without my meaning to.

‘…. I did pick it for her, didn’t I?’

Uh….

For a second I lost all words.

“….”

Meanwhile the memory got clearer.

The sight of myself taking the casting call from Kim Go-eun, checking the script, and then pushing “Queen of Joseon” hard, floated in front of my eyes.

‘No, no, hold on.’

Thinking about it again, it was a situation where I had no choice but to recommend it.

How do you turn down a project like “Queen of Joseon”?

On top of that, back then Lee Ha-eun and I hadn’t properly fallen out yet, so my sense of responsibility as a manager was still alive.

Once I’d sorted the whole situation out like that, my face went sour.

“…. So she really did just state the facts with no thought behind it?”

Road Jeon Hyeong-woo asked in a puzzled voice.

[“Huh? What was that, Chief?”]

“Nothing. Talking to myself.”

[“Ah, is that so? Anyway, I should be moving soon for the interview….”]

“Ah, right. Keep up the good work, Hyeong-woo-ssi.”

[“Yes! You keep fighting too, Chief!”]

I hung up and sank into my thoughts.

Unrefined, aimless daydreams, or imaginings, ran on without end.

Did this girl really just state the facts with nothing behind it?

Or is there some other intention hidden in it?

Or if not that….

“Ugh! That Lee Ha-eun girl really needs to fail once!”

A rough voice dragged my mind back to reality by force.

I held my breath without meaning to and listened.

It was the marketing department team.

“…. Far from failing, Lee Ha-eun’s lead, ‘Queen of Joseon’, blew up on its first-broadcast ratings, Team Leader Kim?”

“Ah, I don’t care! Every time I think about her temper killing that Ttikkeu-ola sponsorship deal that came in last time, it still burns me up inside, burns me up!”

Marketing’s Team Leader Kim whipped her head around and shouted at the marketing staff.

“And listen, huh? Does a drama do fine just because the first-broadcast ratings came out well? The way I see it, it’s definitely going down! Because that Lee Ha-eun girl will cause an accident!”

The startled marketing staff clapped their hands over Team Leader Kim’s mouth.

“Oh my! What’ll you do if somebody sees!”

Sorry to the marketing staff, but it was already too late.

Hidden by the wall, having watched the whole scene, I let out a sound of admiration.

“She really is something, in several senses.”

Lee Ha-eun, Baekhak’s signboard top star actress.

I knew her bad name was widespread, but to think the staff of her own agency hold rites praying for her to fail.

‘Well, it doesn’t feel great to me either when Lee Ha-eun does well….’

Let’s look at it coldly.

Is “Queen of Joseon” a drama that will flop?

‘No.’

Going by the first-broadcast ratings, it’ll do better than well; it is absolutely not a drama that will flop.

The one variable is Lee Ha-eun, and even that Lee Ha-eun doesn’t do anything that harms the work.

‘Sorry to the marketing team leader, but….’

Going by the trend alone, “Queen of Joseon” is going to climb higher.

The problem is that nobody knows how far that climb will go.

---

The noisy day ended, and I came in to head office again.

Unlike yesterday, the number of looks pouring in had dropped quite a bit.

I headed to my desk with a much easier mind, and there was someone there ahead of me.

It was Team Leader Seo of the PR department, who’d looked out for me since my first days at the company.

“Oh my! If it isn’t our superstar, Chief Kwon!”

Ugh, look at that sly face.

I shook my head and sat down.

“If you came to tease me, you’ve got the wrong address. I’ve already put my iron plate on.”

“Huh? Chief Kwon! Do I look like that kind of person!?”

“Yes, you look like that kind of person.”

Team Leader Seo burst out cackling.

“Why be like that with me~ come on, talk! What wind blew through to make our Chief Kwon’s name come out of that Lee Ha-eun girl’s mouth?”

Team Leader Seo is a genuinely good person with a famously loose mouth.

Say anything here now and the whole company might know about this conversation.

So I kept my mouth firmly shut, and Team Leader Seo asked in a sly voice,

“Don’t tell me it’s a top star actress flirting because she can’t forget her former manager… is it that?”

This person’s crossing a line.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop reading romance webtoons?”

“But why! It could happen!”

“Romance, with her personality? A thriller, maybe.”

Team Leader Seo grabbed her belly laughing.

“True, that’s fair. With Lee Ha-eun’s personality, forget romance, a thriller maybe. Still….”

Trailing off, Team Leader Seo held out a tablet PC.

“Thanks to Lee Ha-eun, ‘Queen of Joseon’ fans are quietly very interested in the articles about you, Chief Kwon. Look.”

Team Leader Seo swiped the tablet PC along.

I read down through the comments without meaning to.

-So much fun ~finally a drama worth catching live again

-The manager’s got an eye for material

-So it’s thanks to this guy that our Ha-eun is in Queen of Joseon?

-Watched yesterday and got a shock, Lee Ha-eun looks so pretty in it

-A good actress has a good manager beside her, I guess, heh

-They say he’s her former manager now, what a shame T_T Good luck anyway!

I raised my eyes a little.

‘What’s this? There are a fair number of comments.’

And the more surprising thing was that among those hundred-plus comments, I couldn’t see a single hate comment.

Most of the comments were praising the manager named Kwon Chan, who recommended “Queen of Joseon” to Lee Ha-eun….

Praising him.

It was as I started feeling strange without meaning to that Team Leader Seo patted my shoulder.

“Episode 2 airs today, right?”

I pulled myself together and answered.

“It should, shouldn’t it? It’s a Wednesday-Thursday mini-series.”

“Looking at the trend, the episode 2 ratings are going to blow up too….”

Team Leader Seo switched the subject abruptly.

“At this rate, aren’t you going to get a performance bonus thanks to Lee Ha-eun, Chief Kwon?”

I scrunched my face up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, isn’t it true! Is ‘Queen of Joseon’ a drama that’ll flop? The whole squad of Kim Go-eun, one of the industry’s top three writers, turned out for it.”

This time I nodded.

Right.

It’s definitely not a drama that will flop.

If anything…. it’s a drama that will rise higher.

Meanwhile Team Leader Seo pointed at the ceiling.

“At this rate the ratings will punch through the top….”

A sly smile hung at the corner of Team Leader Seo’s mouth.

“And there’s even an article saying you’re the one who recommended this project to Lee Ha-eun, Chief Kwon. If it really goes well, you might get a performance bonus?”

My lips moved.

What kind of nonsense is that….

I should be arguing back, so why won’t the words come out?

-Thump, thump.

The stranger thing was that my heart had started to pound.

Inside the excitement rising in me bit by bit, I thought without meaning to.

‘The manager in charge changed, sure, but there’s an article about it now, so this counts as my result.’

“Queen of Joseon” was a major work showing signs of a hit from its first broadcast.

If that trend…. goes far beyond what anyone expected.

Wouldn’t a performance bonus be perfectly natural, the way Team Leader Seo says?

Right then my eyes widened a little.

‘No, hold on…. it’s really turning out like this?’

I thought it over coldly again.

However good the situation is, you can’t declare that “Queen of Joseon” is a guaranteed hit.

It’s a drama with one episode aired.

But why was it.

The pounding of my heart wouldn’t stop.

This expectation of mine landed exactly right when the next week came.

-[HOT] SBC’s Wednesday-Thursday mini-series “Queen of Joseon”, an early hit!

Episode 2 aired, time passed, episode 3.

And “Queen of Joseon” caused an accident when it reached episode 4.

-“Queen of Joseon” has the drama business buzzing, episode 4 ratings clear the 15% mark….!

Episode 4 average rating 15.2%.

Peak rating an incredible 17.5%.

The industry was turned upside down by a monster hit of a kind that hadn’t come along in a while.

---

The moment episode 4 of “Queen of Joseon” aired.

The entertainment news was plastered over with Lee Ha-eun.

-Femme fatale “Lee Ha-eun”, how far does her transformation go? A perfect visual who pulls off even hanbok!

-[Short Talk] “Queen of Joseon”‘s “Lee Ha-eun” charms viewers’ hearts with perfect acting…!

-[This Week in Stocks] The leader of the entertainment stocks, Baekhak Entertainment’s share price swings! With “Queen of Joseon”‘s early success, shareholders….

Top star actress Lee Ha-eun, who went past a brilliant performance and became the character herself.

Right then the public started going wild for Lee Ha-eun.

All kinds of clips and parodies related to “Queen of Joseon” poured out on SNS and NutTube, and the clothes and accessories Lee Ha-eun wore went on a sold-out run.

And the most important thing, the ratings…. passed 15% in only four episodes.

The finale rating of KBN’s [Beautiful Days], a hit two years ago, was 15%, and “Queen of Joseon” hit 15% in a mere four episodes.

Right then the interest in me heated up again.

“Things must be good for you these days thanks to Lee Ha-eun, Chief Kwon? Heh heh….”

Everyone I ran into offered a kind word.

“Seriously, what did you use to charm that foul-tempered girl into giving an interview like that?”

“The manager in charge changed, but if this goes into your record, Chief Kwon…. isn’t that huge?”

“Of course it’s huge! Look at the recent drama numbers! With ‘Queen of Joseon’ numbers, a performance bonus comes out for sure!”

The situation was a little tiresome, and yet….

It felt vaguely, oddly good.

“Chief Kwon, you’ve hit it big.”

In six years at this company, had I ever gotten this much attention?

During the Director Kim Jang-hoon business I took similar looks, but there was a negative stare mixed in back then.

Now, though, there wasn’t.

Envy, curiosity, admiration.

Positive looks at me, the man who’d racked up an unexpected result, poured in from every direction.

Inside the lift rising in me without my meaning it, the stifling air in the company opened up with a snap!

Once my chest was clear, the looks pouring in stopped bothering me.

If anything….

I started to enjoy the attention pouring in on me now.

Right then I muttered without meaning to.

“…. At this rate, am I really going to get a performance bonus because of Lee Ha-eun?”

I’d expected a hit, but “Queen of Joseon” went past that expectation.

15% in a mere four episodes?

And the more surprising thing is that there are still eight episodes to go.

Given the situation, the interest and the attention right now, a rating of 20% wasn’t a dream either.

It was a situation where a performance bonus wouldn’t be strange, exactly as Team Leader Seo said.

‘But am I supposed to be happy about this?’

Thinking that a performance bonus comes out because of Lee Ha-eun…

It leaves me feeling complicated.

Just then somebody tapped my shoulder, tap tap.

I turned my head and there was Seok-du hyung, his face gone red as a radish.

“Chief Kwon.”

“?”

“Did you cause another accident?”

I blinked.

“What accident did I cause?”

Seok-du hyung’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

“The CEO called for you! You idiot!”

“What?”

“I said the CEO called for you! CEO Baek Ji-won did!”

Lightning struck inside my head.

‘CEO Baek Ji-won called for me?’

Why? What for?

I turned my head over fast and went back through the issues I could think of, but nothing in particular came up.

Right then a thin tension came creeping up my spine.

Seok-du hyung, his face aghast, shoved me by the shoulder.

“Hey, hey! What are you thinking about! Get to the CEO’s office, fast!”

Pushed to my feet, I caught the elevator.

I pressed for the fifteenth floor and the CEO’s office, where I’d never once been.

Inside the rattling noise of the elevator, I tried again to guess why CEO Baek Ji-won had called me.

But….

Nothing comes up, as expected.

No, maybe I’m looking away from it.

Because if the reason I’m thinking of is the right one….

A smile would bloom on the face of a low-ranking employee walking into the CEO’s office.

“Ah, that absolutely won’t do.”

I looked in the mirror and managed my expression.

Acting serious, acting troubled….

I scrunched my face up hard.

But my steps on the way to CEO Baek Ji-won’s office…

I couldn’t hide those.

My steps, going to meet CEO Baek Ji-won, the one they call a legend in this business, were far too light right now.

Meanwhile CEO Baek Ji-won’s office came into view.

I took one short breath, then knocked.

“CEO, it’s Chief Kwon from Team 5.”

CEO Baek Ji-won answered in that lazy voice of hers.

“Come in, Chief Kwon.”

My heart pounds hard.

Whether it’s pounding from expectation.

Or pounding from fear of what’s coming, I can’t quite tell.

But one thing was clear.

Right now I’m enjoying this situation.

My head was heating up with the expectation and excitement bursting out of me, and then CEO Baek Ji-won opened her mouth.

“Chief Kwon. So, what do you want to get?”

The crisis became an opportunity.