Life, Once Again!

-I’m on the way back.

Maru said in response. She could tell from his voice that the film was satisfactory and the GV ended without a hitch.

“It might be too early, but do you think you’ll get an award?”

-I think we’ll be able to get one.

“Story Award, Acting Award, Audience Award — which one of the three do you think you’re most likely to get?”

-The Audience Award.

She signaled Yeonjoo, who was in front of the camera, to take a break. Yeonjoo asked if it was her boyfriend. She nodded and continued the call,

“How about the acting award? I don’t think it’s strange for you to get it, sweetie.”

-I didn’t have enough time so I only watched about 12 of them, but there were quite a lot of people who were good. Some professional actors participated too. Also, there’s an actor who participated in the same GV as me, and he’s pretty good as well. He’s a junior I quite like.

“I wonder who managed to get Han Maru’s interest. I want to see him too.”

-Can you come during the closing ceremony? I saw that about twenty tickets will be sold to the general public.

“I do want to go, but….” Haneul received the teacup that Yeonjoo held out to her. There was a green tea teabag in it. “I’m so busy. I have to change the entire website design and also do some work with the products.”

-Should I go and help?

“I’ll call out to you for help if I really need help. Right now, it’s still manageable.”

-How’s Miss Yeonjoo doing? Has she adapted now?

“She’s at the point where she can make jokes in front of the camera. I’m not saying this just because she’s a friend of mine, but she really is suited for this. She fits the image of the products too. Once I finish this, I plan to reduce work in this area. I told the president about it too.”

-How about sales?

“Things are going so well that we’re lacking manpower. The business we are doing this together with is showing a good response as well. We plan to expand the offline sales from Seoul to other regions as well. We’ve got a few offers for partnerships too. In any case, we managed to procure a portion of the market. Expanding the business is up to the president now.”

‘Friendly Aroma’ had cornered the market as a low-cost brand. The fact that it became popular with high school students, especially girls, played a big role in making the brand known.

“It’s a personal preference item and the market itself is pretty small, so once the latecomers start releasing products, the explosive orders we’re getting now will probably decrease. That’s when the real competition starts.”

-That sounds tough.

“Making a living is always tough. Funny, isn’t it? We did so many things in order to make a living, but it’s hard every single time. Maybe work isn’t something we can get used to.”

Haneul checked the time.

“I need to finish off my work here. Call you later.”

-Alright. Watch out for your health. You always get sick like that.

“Okay, you too, sweetie.”

She hung up. Her husband had managed to successfully debut on screen. He had achieved something that would leave a line behind on his profile. He looked quite concerned regarding his possibility of success, but to her eyes, it was only a matter of time before he succeeded.

The eyes of the masses were always sharp and fair. No matter how much support an agency gave someone, they would sink to the bottom without the skills. That was how the entertainment industry worked. This was especially pronounced in the actor part.

Maru had the skills. He also knew how to efficiently display his skills. He only lacked one thing: a way to promote himself. Once the public started recognizing him, he would go higher and higher.

Haneul put down her teacup. She hated to be left behind. Her wish for her husband to do well and her own desire to stand on the same stage as him always existed in equal parts within her.

Her husband had taken the first step. To keep up with him, she would have to make a move as well. As much as she loved him, she did not want to lose to him.

“Yeonjoo.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re going all the way to the 3rd sample today. From the sampling to the review. We’re also going to shoot the cover photo, so think about a theme for your clothing. Let’s vary things on top of that.”

“We’re doing all of that today?”

“What about it?”

“It seems like a lot.”

“And what do we do if there’s a lot of work?”

Yeonjoo clenched her eyes shut and opened them again.

“Overtime work.”

“Good. You know now.”

“Why do I feel like this is even more tiring than when I was in my third year of high school?”

“Back then, you just had to study at your desk, but this is about taking what’s inside your head out. Don’t relax and smile. You’re the main model of our brand. You can’t look gloomy.”

“Alright, alright.”

She pushed Yeonjoo’s dejected-looking back and had her stand in front of the camera.

There was not long left. By next week, Yeonjoo and a new recruit would start a new project. Haneul was planning to take her hands off all work save for making new recipes.

She would only provide details, and the president and Yeonjoo would be the ones deciding the details. Since she was taking a step out, she would receive less money, but she had earned plenty of money as is. A sum unimaginable to a college student would enter her wallet by February of next year.

320 million won. The president said he would even pay the taxes.

“Haneul,” Yeonjoo said, getting ready to shoot with the product in hand.

“What?”

“I just wanted to say thank you.”

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

“I told you. I managed to send my parents on a trip to Jejudo last year. At first, mom was really worried that I fell into multi-level marketing or something.”

“It’s not surprising. You probably went to them with millions of won.”

“But when I showed her the promotion video I shot and gave her a product, she believed in me. Not only that, she boasted about it to her friends. She keeps messaging me these days, asking me about employee discounts because she wants to buy some to hand out as gifts.”

“Tell her that there are employee discounts, so she can buy it.”

Yeonjoo smiled. “But do you think I’ll do well in the future? If you start getting ready for acting, you won’t be here at the office a lot. I’m already worried.”

“Yeonjoo, honestly speaking, I don’t place people in important positions just because I know them. You have the senses. The president is satisfied with you too. At first, it might be quite baffling for you. You’ll probably wonder how you should be working with the people under you, as well as how much distance you should put, but I’m sure you’ll adapt soon. And you’ll produce even better work. There’s no need for you to do it all by yourself. Why do you think we’re picking experts? If you can’t do something then leave it to them. That’s what a company is about, and that’s what cooperating means. So you should get used to ordering people. Of course, I don’t mean you should whimsically order them around as you wish.”

Yeonjoo waved her hand in denial. She stared at Haneul for a while before speaking, “You know what’s funny? It’s that I gain confidence when you say that to me.”

“There’s no way someone else can give you confidence. It’s something you had in you already. I just pointed at it. You have the confidence in you right here, so you better make use of it.”

“Right, I should find confidence and do my work. Since I started this, I’m going to become rich.”

“Would you gift me an apartment with the Han river view if you make it rich?”

“Dream on.” Yeonjoo twitched her nose.

Haneul clapped once before working again. Considering the contract she had to sign tomorrow, she had to hurry.

* * *

“Yes, I’m almost here.”

-Once you’re here, please come up to the 2nd floor. We’ll talk about the details in the office.

Haneul took her phone off her ear. She yawned subconsciously. She had worked overnight at the studio and thus only had about two hours of sleep.

She was only able to wake up thanks to two alarm clocks on top of her phone alarm. If she just relied on her phone, she might not have made it.

“Driver, please stop over there.”

She got off the taxi and looked up at the building right in front of her.

Hansol Entertainment. Last week, she was contacted by the agency to come to the office since she had passed the audition. As the matter with the aroma business was in its last stages, she wanted to postpone the appointment with Hansol, but she wasn’t in a position to make demands.

She stretched her neck lightly and walked past the glass doors.

What would they offer her? She thought about the entertainment industry in the year 2008 as she walked up the stairs. A man who seemed to be a road manager walked past her with a convenience store bag. There was fatigue plastered all over his face. Even as time passes, the intensity of labor would probably never change.

“Hello.”

“Why have you come here?”

“I was notified that I passed an audition. I’m Han Haneul.”

“Oh, Miss Haneul. Please come this way. The head manager will be here soon.”

She followed the employee into a guest room. The main faces of Hansol Entertainment were decorating one wall. Most of them were singers. There were also trophies on one side.

“Sorry to make you wait.” The door opened and a man entered. It was the man who acted as the judge during the audition.

“I didn’t wait for long. I was also given something to drink, so I was quite comfortable.”

“That’s good.”

The man pushed up his glasses before giving her a business card.

Yoo Namgyu, Hansol Entertainment — she remembered his name and put the business card in her wallet.

“It’s gotten quite cold lately, hasn’t it? I was going to leave with the clothes I’m wearing now, but I ended up taking my jacket,” said Yoo Namgyu with a smile.

He didn’t have an overbearing attitude. It seemed he didn’t have any intention to pressure a new recruit to write a contract in their favor.

“Yes, it has gotten quite cold.”

“You should especially be careful in weather like this. It’s easy to catch a cold.”

Namgyu opened a file that he brought. Inside was the profile she sent in as well as a contract.

“I’d like to talk about other things, but the contract matters to you and me the most, so let’s finish that up first.”

“That definitely makes things easier.”

“Miss Haneul. Have you heard of our agency before this? By before, I mean before you took interest in the audition.”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t.”

“Yes. That’s probably the case. We produced a decent idol group, and we managed to excavate two new actors who got new actor awards, but we still have a long way to go. That’s why we’re even more thirsty for talent. Especially people like you.”

Namgyu gave her a contract. Haneul smiled and picked up the contract.

“You haven’t seen this kind of contract before, have you?”

“No, this is my first.”

She had seen it to death before, but in this life anyway, it was her first.

Haneul scanned the contract slowly. Parties involved, Hansol Entertainment, and Han Haneul — below that was the standard contract provided by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).

“It looks complicated, doesn’t it?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“It’s written in Korean.”

“That’s true.”

“The payment is done monthly?”

“I heard that’s better than doing it per episode.”

“That makes things easier. The ratio is 70:30. It’s standard.”

Namgyu faintly smiled. Haneul put down the contact and looked at Namgyu, wondering why he was looking at her like that.

“It might sound strange, but you look very used to reading contracts. You’re talking about the main points too.”

“I put it in my profile as well, but I’m doing work at a business. This is the first time I’ve seen an exclusive contract, but I’ve seen other labor contracts and other types of contracts.”

“Yes, I’ve seen it, Friendly Aroma. Honestly, I was surprised. It’s incredible that you have a brand that you put your face on at such a young age.”

“I’m asking just in case, but the payment for entertainment activities doesn’t include the aroma work, does it?”

“I know that there are a lot of thug-like companies in the industry, but Hansol isn’t like that. It’s mentioned in article 17.”

“That’s good. There are times when people try to tamper with things like that.”

She read the contract in detail before putting it down.

“It’s really a standard contract.”

“It is.”

“There are no problems with that, so I guess the conversation we’re about to have will be important.” She clasped her hands together. “Let’s tune the details, shall we?”