Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 238



Only Noblemtl

“Kang Eun-chae is not the type to evaluate people based on their appearance.

Because working in an industry that sells appearance, I learned that a beautiful appearance does not mean a beautiful heart.

So, Kang Eun-chae’s complaint did not stem from the abstract reason that the president of her new company looked like a gangster.

What does it mean to look like a gangster in the first place? Are all muscular tattooed men gangsters? Couldn’t they just be men who like working out and tattoos?

So Kang Eun-chae had high hopes that the CEO would not be a gangster…

Those expectations were greatly betrayed.

“What should I do, senior?”

“what.”

“The boss is a gangster.”

Kang Eun-chae’s confidence came from the president’s actions, not his appearance.

On the first day of work, the CEO decided to name Kang Eun-chae ‘Jeon Min-ji’, and he openly assaulted celebrities and subordinates who did not listen to him in front of others. He even arranged for the salary of the manager in charge to be paid out of Kang Eun-chae’s paycheck instead of the company’s money.

It wasn’t just the boss who was being a jerk. The manager who spoke informally to me smoked cigarettes in the car all the time, and the company pushed me on with a schedule that was too much for me to handle. Of course, it was much better than just sucking my thumb and doing nothing, but shouldn’t they make me work harder?

But strangely enough, it seemed like only Kang Eun-chae was aware of the problem in this situation. Everyone too easily accepted the formula that celebrities are expendable items that can be manipulated. Even the celebrities themselves. Is that the power of the ashtray that the CEO wields?

Anyway, the overall shitty feeling that permeated the entire company made Kang Eun-chae consider quitting after only a week of working there.

Swinging a sashimi knife isn’t the only thing that makes you a gangster. In Kang Eun-chae’s eyes, this was a truly terrifying gang den.

“Hey, you don’t think it’s only like that there?”

However, the answer that Seo Eun-jin, who I went to complain to, gave me was not ordinary.

Seo Eun-jin sat on the railing, smoking a cigarette, and chuckled as she watched Kang Eun-chae blink like a startled rabbit.

“What do you mean, they take your manager’s salary from your money… They do that everywhere else too.”

“Does that make sense? Does that mean the entertainment industry is a den of gangsters?”

“That’s right. A den of thugs. You just realized that you came into the thugs’ territory on your own?”

“······”

What Kang Eun-chae thought was the worst answer was, ‘What should I do, Eun-chae? That company’s reputation is so bad… Why don’t you look for another place right now?’

But Kang Eun-chae found out that there was a basement beneath the floor, and that there was an even worse answer. The whole world was full of gangsters.

“ah······”

Kang Eun-chae, who realized that she had not crawled into a ‘company’ full of gangsters, but rather into an ‘industry’ full of gangsters, suddenly felt her life become unstable.

Life isn’t easy.

Meanwhile, Seo Eun-jin, who knew exactly what her junior was thinking, patted Kang Eun-chae on the shoulder and let out a snicker and a puff of cigarette smoke.

“Don’t worry too much. After all, our company is pretty good.”

“······‘Our’ company?”

“Yeah. Now I’ll be seeing you not only at the theater but also at work. Right?”

EP 14 – The Future

“So how can I trust managers? Of course, parents who have never experienced how the entertainment industry works. People who have only heard about this and that in child actor mom cafes can leave everything to the neatly dressed managers… But how can I trust those guys? Back in my day, all the managers were gangsters….”

“hmm······.”

“But that senior, Seo Eun-jin, was a truly genuine person. It was hard for her to take care of me like that, even though we’re not related by blood. I wonder how I would have managed my acting career on my own if she hadn’t been there. One time, when my salary hadn’t been paid for three months, I went into the president’s office and told him about it······”

“Oh······.”

In the middle of a long story, I finally had to admit.

I found myself getting deeper into her story than I thought.

I wonder if true stories have power. Before I knew it, I found myself deeply absorbed in the old tales she was telling me.

When I hear about a time I never lived in, and face the fact that the woman in front of me is a person who has lived through that long time······

One more fact must be acknowledged.

She is not a devil.

They’re just people.

Of course, if we have to divide people into friend and foe, she is still my enemy.

It doesn’t change the fact that she has caused Kim Byeol great pain over the years with her twisted mind.

However, when I see someone I thought was a twisted villain who was incomprehensible and trapped in his own thoughts, rambling about while lost in memories of the past······

You can’t say that there is no human appearance.

Suddenly, Mrs. Min Chae-won and Gu Yu-bin come to mind.

They hated me in the past in my memories because of my poverty and my origins, but not anymore.

In this life where there is no reason to hate each other, I only see the good in them.

Mrs. Min Chae-won, who cooks and serves food to her children’s friends, and Gu Yu-bin, who treats me like a close younger sibling and teases me about various things······

But just because they only show me their good side, does that mean the evil and aggression I saw in them in the past will disappear?

Probably not.

It must have just been kept hidden away.

A person cannot know, and therefore cannot have, anything other than ‘I’.

That is, people cannot see into the minds of others, and therefore cannot know what kind of beings others are.

The way one person looks at another person is ultimately···

Aren’t you just interpreting the parts you want to see and the parts the other person wants to see, based on your own preconceptions?

And if so.

I, too, would rather choose conversation than disconnection······

“But now I think this way.”

I suddenly came to my senses again when I heard voices.

Ironically, while I was lost in thought for a moment, the story was going in the exact opposite direction to my thoughts.

“I think it would have been better to cut ties with that damn company a little earlier.”

* * *

“Gangsters, the military, and corporations.

By the time I got used to corporate life, it felt like a combination of the shortcomings of all three organizations.

Kang Eun-chae ended up working on a schedule with Seo Eun-jin.

They’re not idols, so I wondered what kind of schedule two actors would have together…

“It’s a simple meeting. A simple meeting.”

“A meeting? What kind of meeting is it?”

“Do you think the company would introduce you to a boyfriend? Of course it would be the PDs.”

“P, PD…? Are you in that drama?”

“If we meet and talk things through, that might be possible. You have to look good, so come prepared.”

“yes!”

Up until this point, Kang Eun-chae didn’t know what the manager meant by ‘preparation’.

But I had to answer in a military-style and brave manner to fit in well with this organization, so I just answered loudly.

However, Seo Eun-jin, who was with her, muttered a curse, saying, “Ha, what the heck…” and left a short message to Kang Eun-chae.

“Just… wear pretty clothes and come. Like you would in a private setting.”

“yes?”

“I told you to come dressed up as much as possible, as if you were going to an important audition.”

When Kang Eun-chae still couldn’t understand what was being said and was lost, Seo Eun-jin frowned and left without waiting for an answer.

As for why Seo Eun-jin had that expression, I could naturally understand it when I arrived at the ‘meeting’ location.

The place the manager took them to was a bar in Seoul called Danran Bar, commonly referred to as a ‘room salon’.

“Hello! PD Choi!”

“Oh my, my voice is about to burst. Say hello softly.”

“Hey, Mr. Samsik, are you here?”

“Hello to you too, PD Park!”

Kang Eun-chae was so frightened by the dazzling lights and the atmosphere she had never experienced before that she couldn’t say a word even as her manager took her to the PDs.

After entering the room, Kang Eun-chae greeted the ‘PDs’ only after the manager noticed that her back wasn’t straightening past 90 degrees.

“Oh, hello! I’m new actress Kang Eun-chae!”

The manager quietly rebukes him.

“It should be Jeon Min-ji···!”

“Ah, ah, ah, that’s right, I’m Jeon Min-ji!”

When the manager and Kang Eun-chae showed off a skit, a man named ‘PD Choi’, whose face was flushed from alcohol, burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Your real name is Kang Eun-chae and your stage name is Jeon Min-ji?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

“I don’t know why you chose a stage name, because your real name sounds prettier. I don’t understand CEO Park’s sense of naming.”

Then, PD Park, sitting across from PD Choi, added in a friendly manner.

“Eunchae is such a Seoul-savvy girl. I like Minji better and more friendly.”

Then PD Choi twists the flow of conversation.

“Oh really? Then you sit next to Minji. I’ll sit next to Eunjin. Hey, Miss Seo! It’s been a while!”

“Hello, PD.”

“It’s still rough.”

Kang Eun-chae confirmed the power structure of this position when she saw her respected senior Seo Eun-jin sit down next to PD Choi with a blank expression.

So, he quickly sat down next to PD Park, taking note of it.

And I said hello shyly.

“Oh, hello······”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you. Your name is Eunchae, right? How old are you?”

“S, twenty one······”

“Oh my, you’re being such a baby?”

“Hey, baby···?!”

I never thought I’d hear the word ‘baby’ at this age. And it wouldn’t be from my parents, but from another man.

The moment Kang Eun-chae froze like ice at the unexpected title, PD Choi burst into laughter on the other side.

“Hahaha! Are you totally scared?”

Then, the manager apologized instead of Kang Eun-chae. It was so mean.

“sorry!”

“Hey, no no, why are you being so burdensome? Yeah. Don’t feel burdened by that friend either.”

In the darkness of the pub, which felt burdensome in itself, PD Choi smiled a smile that seemed so harmless and kind.

“Don’t be so nervous, just talk comfortably. Think of it as a private audition. We’re not that weird.”

Kang Eun-chae froze again at the word ‘audition.’

Yeah, this was the audition location.

If you want to appear in a drama······

At that time, PD Park, who was next to Kang Eun-chae, intervened.

“Why do you keep scaring that little friend?”

“When did I scare you?”

“What is this that scares you?”

“Did I? Heh heh.”

The burdensome conversation came to an end thanks to PD Park’s intervention, but that didn’t mean that the tension was relieved for Kang Eun-chae.

Although Kang Eun-chae comes from a simple rural fishing village, her intelligence is not simple. Her short but intense life in the entertainment industry has taught her many things.

And among them, there was also knowledge about the ‘darkness’ of the entertainment industry. Alcohol, hospitality, sexual bribery by those in power, pillow sales, etc…

As if it were the situation he is in now.

Kang Eun-chae felt afraid, as if she had been dropped into the middle of the ominous rumors that were circulating among the actors.

But rumors are always different from reality.

What made Kang Eun-chae’s fear disappear was not the PDs’ mischievous banter, but the atmosphere of the bar that was slowly starting to feel familiar.

“Park Pil-yong’s mask is a bit too much for the male lead role…”

“Why? If it’s to Pil-yong’s degree, it’s a constitutional right.”

First of all, the PDs didn’t share as dark a story as expected.

“You guys! Listen carefully to what the PDs say! These are stories that will become your blood and flesh!”

And the manager also did not leave the drinking party.

The ‘hospitality’ of the weak offering their meanness to the strong was colorless in terms of gender.

“Hey, PDs! Are you only going to talk about boring dramas at the drinking party?”

“Heh heh, here we go again. Why? You’re trying to get us drunk and then finalize the casting?”

“Please don’t be so upset…! I’ll pick a song! Eunchae! Pick up the tambourine!”

“yes yes···?!”

In that way, Kang Eun-chae ended up doing a trot sound performance with her manager.

With good timing, Seo Eun-jin manipulated this and that, and the lights on the mirror ball hanging from the ceiling of the Danran Pub turned on.

As the manager starts to pick a song to the lively tune, the PDs also pretend not to be able to resist and quickly get up from their seats to join the dance party.

Something… It was a very awkward yet natural flow.

No, to be exact, it would be only I who feels awkward because I can’t fit into this natural flow.

Still, Kang Eun-chae somehow managed to squeeze herself into this chaos, shaking her tambourine and thinking about this.

‘You play more healthily than I thought…’

The fact that actors, producers, and managers were all gathered in a shady bar was far from the word ‘wholesome’, but at least it was far from the decadence that Kang Eun-chae was afraid of.

However, there was still some ‘darkness’ that Kang Eun-chae was afraid of, such as PD Choi constantly trying to put his hand on Seo Eun-jin’s shoulder and Seo Eun-jin pushing his hand away.

‘Is this social life······’

Kang Eun-chae felt like she had become a little bit of an adult.

It didn’t feel very good.

I was shocked to see that there were thugs in the company, but I was similarly disappointed to find out that it wasn’t just the company, but the entire industry was a den of thugs.

If you think about it carefully… entertainment isn’t just for celebrities.

All the weak are welcomed by the strong.

Subcontractors entertained head office employees, pharmaceutical company employees entertained doctors, and even within the same company, subordinates poured alcohol into their superiors’ shoes to entertain them.

And this savage violence is the stereotype of this country, of this world.

The appearance of the weak, who have nothing to offer up to the strong but their own cowardice, is truly barbaric, that is, it is the very essence of the primitive and natural law of the survival of the fittest.

So, let’s peel off the layer of ‘ignorance’ disguised as ‘innocence.’

Let’s grow up like that and survive in the world.

That day, in a tavern with dazzling mirror balls and glittering lights, Eun-chae Kang held a tambourine in both hands and gave herself over to the beat of trot music, becoming a little more of an adult.