Choice of Choices 25

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Chapter 25

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‘Layered’ was the first idol group that UB Entertainment had planned and debuted. Until then, there were many industry insiders who knew it as an entertainment company specializing in actors, having built the company with only actors.

I had heard that the company had received several big opportunities over the years.

There were about two or three actors who had grown into top stars at UB. However, they didn’t renew their contracts. To borrow Jaewoo’s expression, they left the company by signing with ‘major agencies befitting distinguished top stars.’

Calling them ungrateful traitors, Jaewoo still scrunched up his face whenever he saw them, but it was hard to view those who faithfully fulfilled their duties during the contract period and left to find better conditions as traitors. From UB’s perspective, it would have been unreasonable to successfully negotiate renewals while meeting the demands of those who had already become top stars.

Since there were no messy lawsuits that frequently occur in the industry when transferring agencies, UB was also positively evaluated as a company that handled partings relatively cleanly.

After signing the contract about four years ago, the company had never forced an unreasonable schedule on me. Being a business that had to pay monthly salaries to employees despite its small scale, they did bring jobs like print advertisement shoots, pictorial shoots, and event appearances, but they never pressured me blindly with any money-making work.

Among colleagues who debuted around the same time, many were frequently called to signing events at grand openings of large marts or electronics shopping centers, or to drinking sessions with high-ranking executives, PDs from production companies and investment firms almost daily. Some volunteered out of their own greed, but others were semi-forcibly mobilized, unable to resist pressure from their agencies claiming they needed to land roles.

I thought I was extremely lucky that during my debut in the entertainment industry and my rookie days, I was never forced into unwanted situations.

That’s why the incident in Director Kang Woohyeon’s reception room was even more unexpected.

“I’ll park and come up. Hyung, please go up first.”

Due to some traffic congestion, it took about 40 minutes to reach near the company building. UB was using the third floor of a building in Gangnam-gu where various entertainment agencies, large and small, were concentrated.

Since it had been a while since I visited the office, I first stopped by a famous nearby cafe to buy some snacks as gifts for the staff.

Excluding the company’s in-house stylist who wasn’t an external contractor and managers who were mostly out on business, there were only about 3-4 employees stationed in the office. Compared to Look Planning, Yoon Juho’s agency, it was modestly sized to the point of being small-scale.

As I was handing out snacks to the welcoming staff and about to move to the inner CEO’s office, CEO Myung came walking toward me first, slipping his arms into his jacket.

“Let’s go out. Since you came to the company after so long, I should at least buy you a meal.”

The room service I had eaten at the hotel wasn’t even fully digested yet, and I wasn’t in the mood to sit across from CEO Myung and eat something, but I had no choice but to follow him as he had already made his decision and was leading the way.

CEO Myung had an impressive height and excellent fashion sense, befitting his model background. Even now, long after retiring from active duty, he maintained a solid physique and never neglected his attire.

The period when CEO Myung was active as a model was long before I came to Korea, so I couldn’t know the actual atmosphere of that time. But I often heard that he was a fairly recognized model. In Korea, where demand for male models is low and their careers aren’t long, he supposedly maintained his position at the top for about five years, taking charge of endings at major shows.

After his late twenties, he attempted to transition to acting but it wasn’t easy. He couldn’t establish himself for reasons like being too distinctive or overly masculine, limiting the roles he could handle. Though the content differed from the evaluation I was currently receiving, the context was similar.

The place we arrived at in CEO Myung’s personally driven car was an upscale Chinese restaurant not far from the office.

The restaurant was quiet, having passed the busy hours. Whether he had made a reservation or not, we were immediately guided to a private room in the back upon entering.

“Should we go with the course menu?”

CEO Myung asked as he opened the menu book.

“Actually, I’m not really thinking about food… If you haven’t eaten yet, please eat comfortably.”

“Really? Actually, I already ate with someone from a business partner. Since you said you drank all night somewhere, I thought you might not have eaten yet. I should have asked before bringing you here.”

CEO Myung ordered one type of cold dish, sea cucumber dongpo pork, and a bottle of white wine. A staff member who appeared to be at manager level was personally attending to us, and the two seemed quite familiar. It seemed like a place he had been frequenting recently.

Before the dishes came out, I casually looked around the room while drinking the tea they had prepared first. The air conditioning was running to a cool degree, so even in July, the warmth of the tea felt just right.

“You’re in your third year since debut now, right? Contract expiration is already next fall. It feels like yesterday when we first met on ‘Piano.'”

“……”

“I’m grateful that you’ve been diligent without causing any trouble so far.”

I just smiled slightly, lifting the corners of my lips without giving any particular response.

As CEO Myung said, since <Boundary Line>, which was my first proper role, I had been constantly active regardless of the importance of the role or the nature of the work. Mini-series, weekend dramas, terrestrial, cable… I didn’t discriminate.

Since I had no time to think about other things while works were in progress, I accepted any opportunities that came my way.

Even someone like me, who had worked without any special ambition, sometimes felt deflated when seeing rookie actors from major agencies who hadn’t even debuted for a year taking leading roles.

When I learned that the actor beloved for his pure charm that was endearingly quirky was actually irresponsible and far from pure—habitually breaking time commitments and appearing on set without properly memorizing his own lines, confusing everyone—that deflation would double.

“But on the other hand, I also feel sorry that I might have neglected you too much under the guise of respect. Connecting you with incoming work and just driving you to sets isn’t all a company should do…”

CEO Myung firmly crossed his arms while looking down somewhere on the table.

His face tilted at an angle made it difficult to gauge his age. He could look like someone in his early forties, or like someone in their late fifties who had aged well with good care. He retained the masculine handsomeness of his youth, but apart from that, it was a face that gave no particular impression.

CEO Myung was actually in his late forties. Stubbornness, meanness, cunning, greed, gentleness, generosity, composure… Usually by that age, what a person had filled their years with would naturally show on their face as their countenance. However, CEO Myung’s face had none of that. It was difficult to guess what kind of person he was, and because of that, I had never felt comfortable with CEO Myung despite knowing him for four years.

Reflecting on his previous words, I stroked the warm surface of the teacup with my fingertips.

So that’s why he called me to that place yesterday. Thinking he had been neglecting me, did he try to connect me with work through ‘package deals’ as Director Kang had said?

As I was bringing the teacup to my lips while making this guess, I had to stop my movement.

“Are your family members in Italy still doing well?”

“Yes… thanks to you.”

The sudden change of topic was puzzling. Just as I put down the tea I was about to drink, there was a knock. A staff member had come with the wine.

CEO Myung skipped the tasting, and the staff member poured wine into each of our glasses before leaving.

Saying it was wine that didn’t need to be drunk cold but would go well with the dishes coming out shortly, CEO Myung took a sip or two first as if demonstrating. Then he paused for a long time like someone about to bring up a difficult topic.

“Are you… thinking of returning to Italy when your contract ends?”

“……”

I had never specifically thought about that.

Yet as soon as I heard the question, I felt startled as if some sinister ulterior motive had been discovered.

For rookie actors without experience rather than experienced ones, starting with about a seven-year contract was typical. There were also unscrupulous companies that proposed ten years to aspiring actors desperate to debut. In my case, it was a five-year contract, so it was a relatively short period.

Though I had been frantically busy handling whatever work came my way for a while, over the past six months, perhaps unconsciously, the desire to return home might have begun to grow.

Paeli. ‘Mio palazzo,’ which was both my mother’s hotel and our family home. The sounds of arguments and laughter between my mother and younger siblings.

Of course, I had always missed it.

However, even if I were to return to Paeli now and be with my family, it could no longer be comfortable. Wasn’t the realization that my paradise had been destroyed one of the reasons that led me to decide to come to Korea?

“No, I don’t particularly have such thoughts. There’s still time left on my contract too.”