Payback

That night, I looked up at the dark ceiling and couldn’t fall asleep easily. Yellow haired guy needed someone’s help to get rid of his fear of Song Yoohan. And I needed another person’s help for Song Yoohan so that he couldn’t touch yellow haired, in other words, so that he had no time to care about yellow haired. 

But it was fine because I could get enough help from those two. Photographer Lee and Cha Jungwoo. The two were probably willing to join in. It wasn’t until dawn that I could barely close my eyes and ruminate about what I had to do right now, but strangely, it wasn’t what I was going to do in the future that bothered me.

‘You don’t have to worry about that person.’

The madman who spoke easily about Chairman Kim did not disappear from my mind until the end. No, in fact, I kept thinking of him going into the room without saying a word when I said that he seemed to be worried about me. Why do I keep thinking of things like a fool?

When I went to work the next morning, I received important information from an unexpected person. Actually, I arrived a little early to ask the manager about Dream Planning. The manager had a tired face because he stayed up all night with Cha Jungwoo. He seemed busy preparing for the upcoming press conference. Even in the midst of that, he didn’t forget to take care of the small paper advertisement test he got for Hansoo and me. And before Hansoo arrived, an unexpected person came to the small conference room where the manager and I were to deliver some information. 

“Manager Choi, I have something to tell you… Huh!”

Chief Park, who came into the room where we were, saw me and was startled. He cleared his throat with pretense, but when he looked away from me, it seemed that the delivery service came to his mind as soon as he saw me. If he knew that the mascot who gave him the stone cake was me, he’d run away completely.

“Oh, Chief Park. What are you doing here?”

The manager dragged Chief Park, who was awkward with his unique affinity, and sat him down. Sitting across from me, he still couldn’t make eye contact and kept his eyes on the manager.

“Hmm, I have something to tell you.”

“Mhm? What…”

“Hello. Chief Park.”

When I interrupted the manager’s words and said hello, he looked away awkwardly. 

“Mhmm, yes. Lee Taemin.”

He cleared his throat again and was about to turn his head, but I spoke again.

“I guess you stayed up all night at work?”

“Yes? Oh, well…” 

“Dream Planning’s work?”

I wondered if his head was about to turn stiffened, and then his surprised eyes looked at me.

“Dream planning’s work?”

“I know everything. There’s a problem with Dream Planning right now. Chairman Kim, a weapons broker who became a new shareholder, intervened.” 

I smiled at him, who blinked in surprise, and confirmed with the manager.

“Do you remember too, manager? What Song Yoohan said to Director Yoon in the meeting room yesterday morning.”

Only then did the manager nod with an ‘ah’, and spoke to Chief Park instead of me. All I had to do now was quietly step back and listen to their conversation.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“That’s right. Chief Park, what the heck is that about? Is there something big going on with the company? Speaking of Dream Planning, they would be busy gathering investors to prepare for the blockbuster drama. But why is Song Yoohan saying Dream Planning might be taken away? Yes? What’s going on?” 

“Ktja’r… Lww, la’r mbcolvfcalji.”

“Csf, ktja lr mbcolvfcalji? P atlcx la’r bcis j wjaafg bo alwf yfobgf atf gewbg ufar bea. Snfc lo cba, P tfjgv rbwfatlcu ragjcuf lc atf boolmf j ktlif jub.”

“Qtja jgf sbe ajixlcu jybea?”

Qtfc Jtlfo Ujgx ragjlutafcfv tlr yjmx lc rtbmx, atf wjcjufg vfilyfgjafis ibkfgfv tlr nblmf jr atbeut afiilcu j rfmgfa. 

“There are rumors that Dream Planning might be completely dissolved.”

“Yes? How did you know that?!”

Chief Park was surprised, and the manager was also surprised.

“Eh? So is that true?!” 

“Gasp! Oh, no that’s not it…”

“Huh! Chief Park just said, ‘how did you know’!’”

Chief Park, whose face turned white, retorted, saying, “That’s not it,” but he couldn’t match the manager’s eloquence, which once gained momentum.

“If the rumor is already spreading, doesn’t that mean that everyone who knows already knows? Besides, it would be a really big deal if Dream Planning was to be dissolved. What exactly is going on? Yes? Oh, you know me, Chief Park. How heavy my mouth is.” 

I had never seen anyone as light-mouthed as the manager in my entire life, but I didn’t inform them. Because I had a heavy mouth.

“Tell me, I’m worried too because it’s a company thing. Besides, since Song Yoohan is involved, it doesn’t feel like just anyone else’s issue. You know that Chief Park also knows right? Whew, how much I suffered…”

The manager sighed and pretended to wipe away the tears that didn’t flow.

“I was lucky this time, but if Yoohan got involved in something bad and framed me again, then I really… sigh. If I get ruined, will Chief Park take responsibility for not telling me?” 

“Manager Choi, what are you saying? Well, so… Oh, I shouldn’t be telling you.”

Scratching his head as if he was in agony, he eventually told the whining manager what was going on.

“The director, who opposes the President, is planning to take the lead with a blockbuster drama that is being prepared. As you know, didn’t the drama director who will produce the drama decide in advance by that person? The director and that person, they will decide the actors, locations, and sponsors among themselves.”

The manager, who was listening, frowned. 

“Speaking of the director who will produce that drama, is it the former director who was at S Broadcasting Station? Ha, that man… is not good.”

If the manager says he was bad, I thought he must be really bad, but Chief Park agreed.

“Yes, that person. Even though there are some problems about him accepting off-the-books money, he has experience of taking on such a big project, and his skills are good. When it was first decided, there wasn’t opposition, but it turned out that he was already in cahoots with that other side. However, the contract has already been written, so the director cannot be changed. Besides, as if that wasn’t enough, they’re trying to take control of Dream Planning. As you know, although Dream Planning is a subsidiary, it is not fully integrated. The opposition is raking in shares of Dream Planning. Even so, it wasn’t worthy of much attention because we knew that their financial power was running out. But someone appeared like a comet and bought a large amount of shares of the Dream Planning in question.”

I had already heard something similar from the manager, but Chief Park’s story was more accurate and specific. After all, the company was just picking up the ground. As I was thinking, I heard the manager’s muttering. 

“That comet… You must be talking about Chairman Kim.”

Chief Park nodded then frowned and continued.

“Sigh, originally, if there was no Chairman Kim, in fact, Director Yoon had the most shares in Dream Planning within the company.”

“Director Yoon?” 

When the manager tilted his head in surprise, Chief Park immediately explained.

“In exchange, he didn’t have many shares here in Dream Entertainment. Actually, it was because the President brought Director Yoon to Korea by giving him shares in Dream Planning. Perhaps the intention at that time was to have Director Yoon completely take over Dream Planning. But…”

Chairman Kim appeared like a comet.

“Thanks to this, it has now become a confrontation between Director Yoon and the opposition. If Chairman Kim goes over to that side, the drama is completely taken over by that side.” 

At Chief Park’s conclusion, the manager’s face distorted.

“Then you’re saying that you have to join hands with Chairman Kim to keep him from going overboard?”

“Well, right now that’s the best way.”

“Gosh! Argh, why of all things…?” 

The manager raised his clenched hand on the table in frustration .

“Director Yoon is the best person in this field…”

When Director Yoon’s name was mentioned, he shuddered, probably remembering what happened at xxx city but I guessed he must have liked him. The manager kept a heavy silence with pity. At the same time, Chief Park let out a sigh.

“They make me do a lot of work, so he’s like the king of the devil, but he still has the skills and there’s a lot that can be learned from, so I had the pleasure of working. But these days, because of my worries, I can’t act cute in front of my sweetheart. Whoa.” 

My manager and I looked back at him at the same time.

“… Act cute?”

When the manager uttered a shocking word, Chief Park flinched and shook his head.

“Oh, no. What. Oh, no, the words came out wrongly. Hahaha.” 

However, the already reddened face was that of a person who acts cute every day at home. I took advantage of his confusion and asked a question.

“What does Chairman Kim mean by interfering with Director Yoon’s work in the US?”

“Yes? Oh, that’s something I don’t know much about…”

“Then tell me how to act cute well.” 

Gasp! He took a deep breath and looked at me with resentful eyes. I added right away.

“Since I’m free these days, I’m thinking of doing a part-time job as a courier again.”

“Director Yoon worked at the Dream branch in the US, but he also had his own investment company. It is said that when he came here, he handed over the operation of the company to someone else, but he still makes overall decisions, and Chairman Kim is interfering with what Director Yoon is doing. He handles the work himself, so I only know this much.”

When Chief Park confessed with a tearful face, the manager patted him on the shoulder. 

“Alright, Chief Park, you did a good job.”

Chief Park wiped the tears shed by the manager’s praise with the back of his hand. However, since he had already revealed all the company secrets, it was useless for him to shed tears. So if you put together Chief Park’s words, did that mean that the madman was in a dangerous state?

“By the way, Chief Park, why are you here?”

When the manager asked as if he had remembered, Chief Park also remembered his original purpose and stood up. 

“Right, this is not the time. Manager Choi, you’ve been busy with Cha Jungwoo for a while now, right?”

“Yes,” the manager replied. Manager Park took out his cell phone and replied.

“Lee Taemin and Lee Hansoo have worked surprisingly hard these days, so I’m going to attach a road manager separately while you aren’t there.”

“Well I’d be thankful! Who is it? A young person who can run hard if possible…” 

The manager’s wishes were buried in Chief Park’s phone call.

“It’s me. I’m in the conference room on the 3rd floor, Room 16, so please come up. …The elevator stopped due to maintenance? Then go up the stairs. …Yes? Your joints hurt, so you can’t climb the stairs. …Oh, just come up. You’re still in your 40s, so what if you’re already straining your joints? Then where do you want to work part-time?”

Chief Park went out to find a patient with arthritis in person, as if he was frustrated. He left and the manager spoke seriously.

“Taemin, buy a pain relief patch.” 

***

The arthritis man who took care of us instead of the manager was reticent. At the place where Hansoo and I went to take the screen test for the advertisement, he was so reticent that he continued to sleep while flipping his hair showing white strands. As the manager said, the job was to shoot a really small flyer advertisement, so I easily got the greenlight and changed clothes on the spot and took a few shots.

I was exhausted and hungry after I finally finished my afternoon work. Even if he felt a bit better in front of the camera, Hansoo looked 10 years older after the filming was over, perhaps because of the tension. Then he turned his blank eyes and stared at the man with arthritis who managed to sit on the chair and sleep well.

“If it were our manager, he would have bought us kimbap in advance by now. That old man is drooling.” 

Looking closely, I saw dry white saliva marks on the half-open mouth of the arthritic man.

“Manager would have made me forget about being tired by complimenting me 100 times that I did well after everything was over. The more I look at that man, the more tired I get.”

Listening to Hansoo’s words made me tired.

“Go and remove your makeup.” 

As I urged with my eyes, Hansoo weakly nodded and asked curiously.

“By the way, who are you waiting for?”

“Huh?”

“Cell phone.” 

Hansoo pointed at my hand and only then did I realize I was holding the phone in my hand and fiddling with it. I didn’t have much to wait for. As I muttered, Hansoo ran out saying that he would quickly wash up and come back. But even when he came back, I couldn’t get out of the position of looking down at my phone.

I was really anticipating being contacted by the madman. I could just do it first, but for some reason I want him to do it first. I was at a loss as to what I was doing. I deliberately put my phone in my pocket, but I took it out again out of curiosity, wondering if there might have been a call while I didn’t see.

It’s just that I became curious about the situation of the company after Chief Park talked about it in the morning. Even if I repeat that to myself, the reason why I am doing this is not clear. I wasn’t used to waiting mixed with impatience and irritation, so when I finally decided to send a text message first, I felt a short vibration in my hand. It’s a signal that a text message came, but I didn’t see the text right away.

Strangely, my breathing quickened and my head was filled with anticipation. Was it that guy? Right before I checked the text, my impatience, irritation, and waiting all turned into tension. But when I looked at the screen, it all melted away like magic. It was just a short word like usual, but I felt a relief that I didn’t know. 

— Come to Alice.