novelraw Chapter 250: Invitation
Chapter 250: Invitation
Counseling was quite helpful. Especially in that it could reassure the Spark members, even if just a little. The guys were greatly relieved that I was receiving professional help.
I hadn’t even told them about the suggestion to reduce my work, but when I came to UA, the comeback had been pushed back.
I asked if it was okay to postpone the comeback, knowing full well that the music market was fiercely competitive at the end of the year, but no one responded. I felt a little lonely.
I returned the negative emotion recognition rate to the state it was in when I had just regressed, as before. And I decided never to touch it again. Relying on it seemed to be making me useless as a person.
The claim for damages against Hong Unseop was to be handled by UA, and I also received separate compensation from UA.
In Hong Unseop’s case, I heard that the compensation amount was expected to be quite high because he had intentionally fed me food he knew I was allergic to, and since it happened within the company, all evidence was available. He would have to cough up at least tens of times the money he had earned at UA.
Security personnel were even assigned to us when we went out for external schedules. As surrounding matters were somewhat resolved, my mind felt at ease.
As I was sitting on the sofa organizing my diary, Kang Kiyeon approached and asked.
“What did they say in counseling?”
“They told me to live selfishly.”I didn’t think I was that altruistic, but Kang Kiyeon nodded.
“You need to be like that a bit, hyung.”
“Me?”
I’m a completely selfish person. Even now, I’m doing idol activities by joining your team to satisfy my own selfish desires.
“Am I not the selfish type?”
“You, hyung?”
Kang Kiyeon made a face as if to say, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?. Lee Cheonghyeon, who was next to him, also let out a dry laugh and said, ‘If you were a selfish person, hyung, the Berion hyungs wouldn’t have liked you that much.’
It sounded like a compliment, but his gaze was incredibly sharp. That kid still seemed to hold a grudge about me speaking casually with Berion.
While I was looking for a way to avoid Lee Cheonghyeon’s sharp gaze, a message arrived on my phone. I clung to my phone as if I had found a savior.
However, instead of a savior…
Gu Jahan sunbaenim
[Mr. Iwol]
[Do you happen to have any free time?]
…A message came from an unexpected person.
Me
[Hello, sunbaenim. What can I do for you?]
I sent the message, but a reply didn’t come quickly.
After practicing the harmony for the pre-release song with the members once, a reply had arrived.
Gu Jahan sunbaenim
[There’s something I’d like to consult you about]
You… about what… with me…?
* * *
To be honest, I had no interest in Mr. Gu Jahan’s request.
But Spark was an idol group with a comeback next month. I judged that if I could get an established actor to post a promotional message on their SNS for our comeback day with just one counseling session, it would be a cheap price to pay.
CEO, are you watching? I’m working this hard to save Spark’s marketing costs.
So please raise Ms. Min Jukyung’s salary so Ms. Jukyung can bring in some acquaintances.
Mr. Gu Jahan and I decided to meet at his house. There were a lot of reasons behind that.
First of all, Spark was avoiding all spaces currently used by UA staff.
.
And since I was the only member of Spark who had ever acted, it wouldn’t look good if I were seen visiting Gu Jahan’s agency.
Meeting outside wasn’t ideal either. After all, it wasn’t long ago that I collapsed in a crowded meeting room. I wasn’t actually sick, but I’d decided to play it safe until the comeback.
What remained was either the Spark dorm or Mr. Gu Jahan’s house, and since I couldn’t inconvenience the other five guys just to host someone, I had no other choice.
─ If it’s more convenient to meet at UA, I can go there.
‘No, sir. We’re currently in a standoff with our agency.’
─ Huh?
After vaguely making it clear I didn’t want to meet at UA, Mr. Gu Jahan agreed easily and even sent his manager to pick me up.
Thanks to that, I got to experience riding in someone else’s car to someone else’s house. I had already informed Manager Chanyoung beforehand.
Mr. Gu Jahan’s reaction upon seeing me after I took off my hat and mask was truly intense.
“Mr. Iwol, are you sick?”
“My manager said the same thing. I’m fine.”
“That’s not the complexion of someone who’s fine…”
Then he pursed his lips shut.
“Are you really sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
“I had a health check-up not long ago.”
“What did the hospital say?”
“They told me to make an appointment and come back.”
“Doesn’t that mean something’s wrong?”
“At least they didn’t tell me to come immediately.”
At my words, Gu Jahan frowned.
“Does UA work their idols too hard? Is that why your relationship with them is bad?”
“It’s not like that. What I said on the phone was half a joke.”
“Never mind that, just sit down somewhere.”
I bowed my head slightly and sat on the chair Mr. Gu Jahan pulled out for me. The dining table was laden with food. It was full of dishes I didn’t recognize.
“If you haven’t eaten yet, go ahead and start without me.”
“You think I made all this just to eat alone?”
“I’m on a diet.”
“Does UA tell you to stick to a diet even after seeing your face, Mr. Iwol?”
No, actually, they tended to tell me to eat.
But thinking about the hommas working hard to photoshop my jawlines, I figured it was better to self-manage…
“I’m an actor too. We both gotta take care of ourselves, so don’t worry and just eat.”
Mr. Gu Jahan pushed a food bowl towards me.
I had no idea what kind of incredible favor he was planning to ask for him to be doing all this.
* * *
Mr. Gu Jahan’s cooking was quite delicious. There wasn’t much to talk about while sitting opposite each other, so I just focused on eating.
Ah, we did do a belated self-introduction of sorts.
‘Mr. Iwol, you’re… in you’re early twenties, right?’
‘Yes, I’m twenty-one.’
‘It really sounds like a lie.’
Yes, it was indeed a lie. If I hadn’t regressed, I’d be around thirty by now.
Or maybe not. Would I not have reached thirty? Since I would have died before getting old.
‘Mr. Iwol, did you originally want to be an idol?’
‘It was an unexpected career path.’
After talking about things like this, the meal ended. Mr. Gu Jahan asked as he cleared the dishes.
“What would you like to drink? Coffee?”
“No.”
I almost made a stern face for a moment. I swept my chest and said.
“I can’t drink coffee. Water is fine.”
“I have green tea. Should I make that for you?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t drink that either.”
At my words, Mr. Gu Jahan looked puzzled.
“…Are you perhaps uncomfortable because of me?”
“Not at all, it’s just that I can’t drink anything with caffeine.”
“Green tea has caffeine?”
Then, Mr. Gu Jahan obediently brought a glass of warm water.
Did you see that, Hong Unseop, you bastard? If someone says they can’t eat something, don’t give it to them.
“Actually, there was something I wanted to ask of you, Mr. Iwol.”
Mr. Gu Jahan began.
What could this man possibly want from me? He probably had more money than me and more influence in the industry.
“That…”
Mr. Gu Jahan moved his lips as if he was about to speak, then hesitated. Then, what he said was…
“…Never mind.”
…That was it.
“Pardon?”
It was utterly baffling. At this point, I wondered why on earth this man had called me.
Spark’s years in the industry didn’t even come close to a tenth of Gu Jahan’s, but this kind of thing was problematic. I took the time out to be here when I should be accelerating practice for the comeback. Not that anyone asked me to practice harder, but still.
“Please tell me. I can’t just leave after you’ve treated me to a meal.”
“It’s just that Mr. Iwol doesn’t seem to be in a state to grant anyone’s request right now.”
“I only look that way, my insides are fine.”
As long as I don’t reveal heavenly secrets, don’t ride amusement park rides, and don’t eat food that can cause side effects… Wait a minute. There are quite a few things I shouldn’t do.
I didn’t know if he believed me, but Mr. Gu Jahan left his seat for a moment and headed to his room. Then he returned with two bundles of paper. They were drama scenarios.
“I need to choose my next project, but I don’t know which one would be better. Can you take a quick look?”
“I can’t exactly predict future viewer ratings, is that okay with you?”
“You think I brought you here for that? I called you to see which one you think would suit me better, Mr. Iwol.”
“Hmm.”
One was a strong and righteous male lead, and the other was a significant villain role who grew to have an autocratic personality due to a dark past.
This was quite tricky. Mr. Gu Jahan might have turned over a new leaf, but it was unknown whether he was a semi-Manager Nam or a new-born Gu Jahan.
“Which role are you drawn to, sunbaenim?”
I slyly asked for Mr. Gu Jahan’s opinion first. If Mr. Gu Jahan’s ego was still inflated, I was planning to just humor him appropriately.
“They’re about even. One lets me maintain leading-role-level pay, the other is similar in tone to a past role that was easier for me to perform.”
Unexpectedly, Mr. Gu Jahan was quite honest. It’s rare for someone to talk openly about weighing paycheck versus ease of performance.
“Is there no particular narrative that you find appealing?”
“You can tell by looking, right? The content is similar for both.”
Oh, it seemed he read the content all the way through. Back during ‘In My Office,’ it was obvious he had no interest in familiarizing himself with the script.
At this point, I felt that Mr. Gu Jahan genuinely wanted to hear my opinion, so I also started to rack my brain.
“Do you want an honest opinion, or an opinion that boosts your confidence?”
“The former.”
“Then the villain role would be better.”
“Why?”
Mr. Gu Jahan asked, propping his chin on his hand.
“First, I think it’s a contradiction to say you’re aiming for a lead role when I don’t get a strong sense that you’re recognized in the industry yet, sunbaenim. Second, rather than trying a bunch of different roles, you’d be better off deepening your performance in the roles you’ve already been praised for.”
“Mr. Iwol, you really don’t know how to sugarcoat, huh?”
“I can, if you ask me to. But it didn’t seem like that’s what you wanted.”
If he got offended or told me to stop, I’d have nothing more to say. I was aware I’d spoken pretty bluntly.
But…
‘If he wants to change but doesn’t know how, it’s hard to turn a blind eye.’
There were a few at Hanpyeong Industry too. People who weren’t good at their jobs and made futile efforts because they didn’t know how to get better.
Once someone properly taught them, they changed fast.
Some might say that you should learn by watching others, but personally, I couldn’t stand just sitting back when someone clearly needed a hand.
“I apologize if my remarks were presumptuous.”
“No, not at all.”
Mr. Gu Jahan waved his hand.
“Going deeper into roles I’ve already done well. Won’t people say I’m repeating myself?”
“Won’t there be negative comments no matter what role you play? People’s standards of judgment aren’t all the same.”
“Is that so…”
“This is just my opinion, but I think it’s easy for someone who has reached the pinnacle to try something else, but quite difficult for someone who has only dabbled here and there to succeed.”
The deeper you delve into something, the broader your perspective becomes. In the case of Mr. Kim from Hanpyeong Industry’ HR team, he never switched departments, but he ended up doing everything from accounting to general affairs.
Cynical, sharp-witted intellectuals were a common character type in dramas. If Mr. Gu Jahan mastered this role, people would start saying, ‘Gu Jahan is perfect for this kind of role.’
And from there, it’d be easier to branch out into variations—especially villains. The kind that were just as important and charismatic as the leads.
If Mr. Gu Jahan improved his acting skills just a little more, by the time people started talking about the repetition he was worried about, he’d be able to take on a much wider variety of villain characters.
Because in the conservative Korean drama scene, the protagonist must be virtuous, but villains commit various evil deeds.
And if that happened…
“OTT platforms are known for producing bold, unconventional scripts these days.”
“That’s true.”
“And protagonists who are not good, who are excessively human to the point of making you feel the uncanny valley, are also trending.”
“…!”
…A new type of lead role path would open up for Mr. Gu Jahan.
“I’m asking you again, seriously, are you really twenty-one, Mr. Iwol?”
“Yes. Am I perhaps very old-looking?”
“Ha…”
Mr. Gu Jahan clutched his forehead. It would be troublesome if an idol started to sag already. I needed to step up my skincare starting today.