#061
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
“Ah, it’s ○○-ssi. I have some business to take care of for a moment….”
“Come here right now.”
The file that Park Daeho played contained a voice-altered phone conversation between Kang Dojun and Han Taegu.
Those listening chimed in one by one.
“Is that really you?”
“That’s Dojun hyung?”
“Kang Dojun-ssi?”
Kang Dojun wondered if he had ever spoken like this…. He recalled the past. It seemed like he might have when he discovered Lee Yeonwoo’s contract filled with toxic clauses.
‘Did I really speak so harshly?’
It seemed like some editing had been done. He wasn’t the only one who noticed this, as the word ‘editing’ came out of Park Daeho’s mouth too.
Kang Dojun glanced sideways at Lee Yeonwoo next to him. As if it were his own business, he was scrunching up his innocent face with all his might while cursing Han Taegu.
‘Cute.’
After listening to the audio file, Kang Dojun’s first concern wasn’t about his future acting career, but worry about Lee Yeonwoo. He was afraid that Yeonwoo might blame himself for the problems that arose because of the contract.
He secretly lowered his hand under the table and interlaced fingers with Yeonwoo’s hand. Warm body heat enveloped him.
It was truly strange.
For several years, he had persevered in his acting career, making efforts not to cause any controversy whatsoever.
That’s why when the incident of him drunkenly entering a convenience store spread, he felt as if the world was collapsing.
This was even a much bigger incident than the convenience store incident. His acting career that he had built up could be ruined.
But now that the controversy had actually erupted, he felt surprisingly indifferent about it.
He was just sick and tired of all this. If there was one more thing he could think of, it was only his concern that it might harm the movie he was currently filming.
As Kang Dojun was quietly organizing his thoughts, Lee Yeonwoo, worried about his silence, squeezed their clasped hands. Kang Dojun gently stroked the back of Yeonwoo’s hand with his thumb.
“Hyung, are you okay? Should I go meet Han Taegu?”
“The PD? The person in this audio file is named Han Taegu? What would you do meeting Han Taegu, Lee Yeonwoo?”
“Beat him to a pulp.”
Lee Yeonwoo answered Kim Haseon’s question matter-of-factly, as if it were the natural thing to do, and clenched his right fist.
“Whether it’s a machine or a person, hitting it fixes it.”
Kim Haseon clicked his tongue at his crude words.
“Hyung, don’t worry too much. If you end up quitting acting, I’ll somehow make a living for both of us.”
The small person felt as reliable as a towering mountain. A mountain that would protect him from all fierce winds.
“Why would you support Kang Dojun-ssi? The most useless worry in the world is worrying about celebrities. Even if they fail, they’ll live better than you.”
At the word ‘fail,’ Yeonwoo’s eyes widened.
“Fail what fail. Our hyung won’t fail.”
Yeonwoo let go of their secretly clasped hands and hugged Kang Dojun tightly for all to see. He wrapped his thin arms around his chest and back, and pressed his face against his arm so firmly that his white cheeks were squished like rice cakes.
Kang Dojun, being hugged in front of everyone, couldn’t bring himself to push him away and stealthily checked Park Daeho and Kim Haseon’s reactions. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to think much of it.
Park Daeho kept making serious expressions, and Kim Haseon, feeling sorry for saying such things in front of the celebrity in question, offered an apology.
“It’s fine.”
Just then, Park Daeho’s phone vibrated. It was Director Oh.
“I’ll take this call and come back. If you’re done eating, get ready to leave.”
Park Daeho grabbed his jacket and left his seat. Since they had almost finished eating, they also prepared to follow Park Daeho out shortly.
Kang Dojun said to the two of them.
“I have to go to the agency, so go home first. I’ll give Haseon-ssi a ride too.”
“If you’re going to DH Entertainment, it’s in a different direction. I’ll take the subway. I hope things work out well. Yeonwoo, hyung is leaving.”
“Yeah, be careful.”
With that, Kim Haseon left and Park Daeho, who had finished his call, returned.
“Did Seungseon-ssi leave?”
Since Yeonwoo always called him Kim Seungseon, Park Daeho firmly believed that was his name.
Kang Dojun didn’t bother to correct him and asked back.
“Yeah, what did the director say?”
“He said to contact him again once the situation is sorted out. Whether it’s for the worse or for the better.”
At Park Daeho’s words, Yeonwoo tugged at Kang Dojun’s collar, worried.
“If the situation gets worse, do you have to pay contract termination fees and such?”
“Nothing to worry about. Go home first and sleep.”
“Do you think I’ll be able to sleep? I’ll wait until hyung comes home.”
Yeonwoo widened his eyes and made a resolution. That sight was just endearing. Kang Dojun lightly ruffled Yeonwoo’s hair.
‘Contract termination fees….’
Fortunately, the career that Kang Dojun had built up so far wasn’t at a level where he’d be immediately dumped because of one incident. Director Oh wasn’t that kind of person either.
He’d have to go to the agency first and investigate the situation more, but it wouldn’t escalate to the worst-case scenario.
And even if it did come to that, he had plenty of money to pay the termination fees. The only problem was that if he paid that, the large sum of money accumulated in his bank account would disappear.
He frowned.
‘That’s also a problem.’
In the midst of this serious situation, he suddenly had this thought.
I need to play around and live comfortably with Yeonwoo for the rest of our lives.
* * *
After dropping Lee Yeonwoo off at home, Kang Dojun and Park Daeho headed to the agency. An agency employee asked directly.
“The audio file, is it really Kang Dojun-ssi? Why did you do that?”
It wasn’t a question to find fault with his actions, but pure curiosity about what intention he had in saying such things.
From the agency’s perspective, what Kang Dojun’s actual personality was like didn’t matter. What was more important was what kind of position statement he would make regarding the current PD power abuse controversy to win public support.
“The PD gave a civilian a contract full of toxic clauses. I only asked him to revise it, I never spoke like that originally. It seems like the phone conversation was edited.”
The employee immediately started working on the matter. They exchanged information and tried to find solutions.
“I just finished talking with PD Han Taegu. He says everything is true, and since he’s in the right, he has no intention of changing his position. Please read this first.”
The employee pushed the laptop he brought in front of Kang Dojun.
[Actor K Power Abuse Controversy?
Actor K, who has been drawing attention for his recent appearance on a ○○ variety show, has been embroiled in a power abuse controversy. According to the victim PD, he was filming in another region and briefly tried to go up to Seoul for business, but at Actor K’s call to “Come here right now,” he had no choice but to turn back on the highway despite being on the expressway. The reason Actor K called the PD was, according to the victim’s claim, “He looked displeased. There was nothing else special about it.”
For reference, Actor K is an actor whose name anyone would recognize…. (rest omitted)]
After cutting away the existing flesh and attaching new flesh to the remaining bones, it looked like a plausible claim.
Park Daeho, who was reading the article together, asked Kang Dojun.
“If it’s a civilian contract, that’s Yeonwoo-ssi?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t you have a recording of the phone call?”
Kang Dojun hesitated uncharacteristically. He seemed to be fiddling with his phone, probably looking for the recording function. When he apparently couldn’t find it, he asked Park Daeho.
“…How do you do it?”
‘That’s so like you.’
Park Daeho sighed and held out his hand.
“Give me your phone.”
Kang Dojun took his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to Park Daeho.
Park Daeho tapped the screen with quick finger movements.
Calls, Settings, Call Recording, All Calls. After finishing the settings, he accidentally discovered the call log. Yeonwoo, Yeonwoo, Yeonwoo, Yeonwoo, Daeho (Manager), Yeonwoo, Yeonwoo….
Most of the recent call log was with Lee Yeonwoo. More than with himself, who was his manager.
‘Why do they contact each other so much when they live in the same house?’
He glanced sideways at Kang Dojun. He looked calm. Even during the convenience store incident, when news broke that his drunken behavior had been reported, Kang Dojun couldn’t even recover from his hangover properly.
It wasn’t even a big deal, but he felt humanity in Kang Dojun, who couldn’t calm down and ate with trembling hands.
However, the current Kang Dojun was strangely composed. He listened to the employee’s explanation with an expressionless face and presented his opinions.
Park Daeho unconsciously spoke up.
“Are you okay?”
“What about?”
“…Never mind.”
Was he acting calmer because it was a bigger deal than last time? Or perhaps….
“What’s the public reaction?”
“You can see it here.”
The employee found another summary file on the laptop and showed it to them.
“Neutral gear? Cars?”
“…It means they won’t hastily take anyone’s side and will listen to our position statement as well.”
That’s how they talk these days. Kang Dojun nodded and scrolled down.
[Kang Dojun? The gentle Dojun I knew isn’t this kind of person.]
[How many K’s are there in Korea? It’s almost like looking for Mr. Kim in Seoul. Entertainment industry ver. right?ㅋㅋ For now, I’m putting it in neutral gear.]
[But actor who recently filmed variety show = Kang Dojun, actor who filmed in other regions = Kang Dojun, K = Kang Dojun, isn’t this it?]
[ㅋThere was a reason he didn’t appear on variety shows until nowㄷㄷ He couldn’t hide his personality, whatㅉ]
[FLEX Dojun tears up convenience stores and bakeries but doesn’t tear up peopleㅠㅠ]
[Kang Dojun only has his manager as connections; actors probably didn’t hang out with him because they knew his awful personality. You can tell without even looking, right?]
“PD Han Taegu is saying he’ll release the unaltered phone conversation if necessary…, so it would be difficult for us to insist it’s not true.”
The employee shared the solutions that came up in the emergency meeting they had earlier.
“First, the method of contacting PD Han Taegu to resolve this is already out, and second is publishing a rebuttal article….”
“Let’s just say it.”
“…Pardon?”
“We should speak honestly. We don’t have an audio file recorded from our side, but let’s say ‘That was edited and manipulated.'”
They could claim that the PD committed fraud against a civilian with the contract. Kang Dojun calmly added.
“Contract fraud is something anyone would get angry about, isn’t it? Especially when a broadcasting company does it to an ordinary civilian. Let’s say the follow-up words ‘Please revise the contract’ were cut off.”
“But the evidence….”
If only they had evidence, they were confident they could pull the media to their side. Of course, Kang Dojun’s attitude could also be controversial, but if they were to assign blame, Han Taegu’s fault for making a fraudulent contract was greater.
Then they could explain that Kang Dojun had shown a somewhat rough attitude to defend an ordinary person.
“There is evidence.”
“Where? If we just have evidence, right now…!”
At Kang Dojun’s words, the employee’s expression brightened considerably. He thought he’d have to work overtime inevitably, but he had a feeling the work might end more easily than expected.
However, Kang Dojun sealed his lips tightly as if he really didn’t want to say this. When it came to honestly stating his position, Yeonwoo was a concern.
A contract full of toxic clauses for a civilian. Here, the ‘civilian’ could only be Lee Yeonwoo to anyone looking.
Thinking of him becoming the subject of public discussion again, he really wanted to find another way, to look for an alternative. Even with the best option right in front of him, he couldn’t choose it. Kang Dojun could only tap his fingernails restlessly.
Suddenly, he remembered a serious conversation he had with Lee Yeonwoo before about drawing their future together.
‘Should I quit acting?’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
