Yeongin hung up the phone after receiving a response saying they should talk face to face first. Turning her head towards the direction of the piercing gaze, she saw a face with an evident look of displeasure.
What was he trying to say by showing such an obvious dislike after telling her to take the call?
In fact, she was already regretting taking the call. Though she didn’t know what the matter was, it clearly wasn’t urgent enough to be counting every moment. Still, she couldn’t keep the person who came to see her waiting for long.
“If you have nothing more to say, I will take my leave now.”
Sung Hyuk’s tightly sealed lips slowly opened.
“It seems you have a visitor.”
“Yes.”
“Seo Jin Gyo?”
“Yes.”
“What for?”
“I’m not quite sure.”
“Isn’t it working hours now?”
Sung Hyuk was well aware that he was being extremely petty right now. He was nitpicking on purpose because he didn’t want to let her go easily. Because the other party was Seo Jin Gyo.
“I’ll find out when I go down, but it’s probably not something completely unrelated to work.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because Mr. Seo Jin Gyo is not someone lacking in sense to visit the company during working hours for a personal matter.”
Yeongin’s answer made him feel even more displeased.
“You seem to know Seo Jin Gyo well.”
“I know that much.”
“Does Chae Yeongin know more about me or more about Seo Jin Gyo?”
“……”
As Yeongin remained silent, Sung Hyuk changed the question.
“Does Seo Jin Gyo also know Chae Yeongin as well as I do?”
“Yes.”
Seo Jin Gyo knew things that Cha Sung Hyuk didn’t know.
For example, how much Chae Yeongin used to like Cha Sung Hyuk.
“Go ahead. Mr. Seo Jin Gyo must be waiting.”
After bowing to him who was being sarcastic, Yeongin left the CEO’s office and paused for a moment to take a deep breath before heading to the elevator.
Arriving on the first floor, she saw Jin Gyo standing with his arms crossed in front of the large LED screen, watching the trailer videos of actors under SL Entertainment.
“Sunbae.”
A smile spread across Jin Gyo’s lips upon seeing Yeongin’s face.
“Did I happen to come at a busy time?”
“Yes, how did you pick it so accurately?”
“Sorry. I was being inconsiderate.”
Jin Gyo jokingly bantered back thinking it was a joke, but in fact, there was some sincerity in those words for Yeongin.
She greatly regretted that if he had come just 10 minutes earlier or 10 minutes later, she might not have had to see Sung Hyuk’s frowning face.
Yeongin belatedly realized that he was alone.
“Where’s your manager?”
“I gave him a vacation.”
“What brings you here by yourself?”
“It’s not something we can discuss standing. Shall we have some tea?”
“There’s a cafe over there.”
The two entered the cafe next to the building entrance and sat facing each other at a window seat.
Thanks to the top star exposing his face without a hat or mask, gazes poured towards Yeongin as well. She wasn’t too bothered as it was a familiar situation.
“Now tell me. What is this about?”
“I came to sign a contract.”
“A contract? What contract?”
“An exclusive contract.”
Yeongin’s eyes widened.
“The company you said you were going to sign with soon was SL?”
“Yeah.”
“No wonder you kept me in suspense without telling me.”
Yeongin burst into laughter.
“Did you come to sign the contract? I wonder which team will be in charge of you, sunbae.”
The most senior Team 1? Team 2 with the highest sales?
“Which team did you say you were on?”
“Team 5.”
“Then obviously I’ll be on Team 5 too.”
Jin Gyo grinned, placing both arms on the table.
“I’m signing with SL because of you.”
“Because of me?”
“I want you to manage me.”
“……”
It was only then that Yeongin grasped the situation. As she pondered what to say, Jin Gyo made the first move.
“We’ve known each other for over 2 years, so why haven’t you ever said we should work together? If it was because of your remaining contract period, you could have told me to come to Hyesung after my contract ended.”
He had always been curious about the reason. More precisely, he was curious if his guess was correct.
“Hyesung was too small in scale to accommodate a great actor like you, sunbae. I didn’t want to burden you when I knew you had better options. And in the recent months, there were talks of acquisition, so I couldn’t do it even more.”
“What about after it was decided to be acquired by SL? I subtly hinted to you then that I still hadn’t made up my mind.”
“If I was sure that SL Entertainment was a good enough company to offer you an exclusive contract, and if you still hadn’t signed with another company by then, I might have done it.”
Jin Gyo scrunched his nose in an exaggerated manner.
“And when would that be?”
Yeongin shrugged her shoulders in response.
“Who knows.”
“Someone with a short life would have died waiting for your offer.”
“I had no choice but to be cautious. I can quit anytime if I feel it’s not right, but you have to be bound for the contract period. What if I pull you in and then run away by myself?”
Satisfied that his guess was not wrong, a look of contentment seeped into the corners of Jin Gyo’s lips.
“This is why I like you.”
Noticing Yeongin flinch slightly, he naturally added.
“You don’t act close even though we are close.”
Seeing Yeongin’s expression relax, he felt a bit deflated.
“Are we really close, sunbae?”
“Don’t tell me I’ve been mistakenly thinking we were close all this time?”
Jin Gyo widened his eyes as if he was greatly shocked.
“When someone asked me if I was close to you, I said yes, but I was slightly concerned if it was okay to answer like that.”
“Who asked?”
“There is someone.”
As a somewhat desolate smile appeared on Yeongin’s face, the face of a man simultaneously popped up in Jin Gyo’s mind. Unlike a moment ago, this time he hoped his guess was wrong as he changed the subject.
“It’s been about a week since you joined SL, right?”
“Yes.”
“How is it? Do you feel like running away soon?”
“I still need to observe a bit more, but the company itself seems to have a good system and isn’t bad. But I might suddenly want to quit one day.”
If she ends up quitting, it will probably be because of Cha Sung Hyuk.
“I know you want me to be able to walk with my shoulders high, but you don’t have to do this, sunbae. I’ll just gratefully accept your kind intentions.”
Other management companies had similar circumstances, but SL Entertainment in particular had fierce competition for sales between teams. It was widely rumored in the industry, so even Jin Gyo knew.
“SL Entertainment is not bad for me either. It’s not a sacrifice for you, it’s a win-win. If you had gone to an absurd company instead of SL, I would have thought more carefully too.”
Yeongin could no longer decline. She didn’t want to decline.
“Sunbae, are you confident you won’t resent me if I suddenly quit?”
“I won’t resent you. But I will miss you.”
As Jin Gyo grinned, a smile also spread across Yeongin’s face.
“Then let’s sign the contract.”
“I’d like to meet the CEO first though.”
“…The CEO?”
Yeongin’s lukewarm reaction was because she remembered the uncomfortable atmosphere between the two men two days ago. So she couldn’t readily say okay.
“There are some conditions I need to get confirmation on before signing the contract.”
“Can I ask what those conditions are first?”
“It’s not something absurd like a 10 billion won signing bonus, so don’t worry. I just think it’s better for me to tell the CEO directly.”
Yeongin didn’t think he would present unreasonable conditions.
“Wait a moment, sunbae. Let me check if the CEO is available for a meeting right now.”
Picking up the cell phone placed on the table, Yeongin called the CEO’s office. And she told the secretary who answered the call about the purpose.
“This is Chae Yeongin from Management Team 5. Actor Seo Jin Gyo is considering signing an exclusive contract with our SL Entertainment and he would like to discuss the contract with the CEO. Please check if he can spare some time.”
Surely he wouldn’t refuse, right?
Though she was pretending to be calm, Yeongin’s heart was pounding.
[This is the timeline separator]Fortunately, the meeting was arranged.
The reason Sung Hyuk even postponed a scheduled meeting to accept the meeting proposal was not because he expected Seo Jin Gyo to become part of SL Entertainment. It was merely because he judged it would be better to have the two in front of his eyes.
Jin Gyo was the first to offer a handshake to Sung Hyuk.
“We meet again.”
Sung Hyuk grasped his hand.
“I heard you are considering an exclusive contract.”
It seemed Yeongin’s assertion that he was not someone lacking in sense to visit the company during working hours for a personal matter was true.
“I came to plead for a contract because I want to work with Team Leader Chae Yeongin.”
A look of difficulty flickered across Yeongin’s face. Sung Hyuk was displeased with Jin Gyo greatly lowering himself to elevate Yeongin.
“There are a few things I need confirmation on, so I suggested meeting the CEO.”
“Please have a seat first.”
Yeongin and Jin Gyo sat on the left and right sides respectively based on the top seat of the sofa.
Looking at Sung Hyuk who was seated at the top, Jin Gyo naturally began.
“If it’s not rude, may I ask you one thing?”
“I will decide if it’s rude or not after hearing it.”
Only Yeongin secretly made a dumbfounded expression, but Jin Gyo was quite composed.
“Where were you before coming to SL Entertainment, if I may ask?”
“I was at SL Motors’ US branch.”
“Ah, I thought so.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had a feeling you were in the US.”
Not wanting to respond to the illogical word ‘feeling’, Sung Hyuk changed the subject.
“Let’s get to the point.”
Jin Gyo obediently followed his words.
“I have a few conditions I want.”
“Please tell me.”
“I have a manager who has been with me for a long time. I want to sign together with him.”
“No problem.”
“I gave my manager a month off. During that time, I need a manager to accompany my schedule and take care of me.”
“We will assign you a capable and experienced manager.”
“There is someone I want.”
“Who is it?”
Sung Hyuk could guess whose name would come out of Jin Gyo’s mouth. And his guess was not wrong.
“Chae Yeongin.”
The gazes of the two men simultaneously turned towards Yeongin.
__________
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Synopsis:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
He even had his eyes on another woman.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
Su Mu expressed her disdain.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
She also wanted to embrace Xie Yi, who had silently stayed by her side in her previous life and committed suicide by taking poison after her death.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
—–
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.