Chapter 53

Chapter 53. Oh Deok-su Is Quitting Entertainment

I'd planned to buy something delicious for everyone after the audition.

Instead, Dae-hun made such a fuss that I had to return directly to the company.

First, Go Won-jun, Go Won-hee, Kim Chang-wook, and the Center Director had all liked Serin's acting.

The schedule had been added suddenly, so they couldn't afford to delay casting much longer.

But more importantly, Serin's performance had genuinely been perfect.

If anything, they were probably relieved.

What were the chances of desperately searching for an actress at the last minute and finding someone who fit perfectly?

"Did something happen to CEO?"

Serin asked.

I hadn't told Serin that the role was practically hers.

So having the casting all but confirmed should've made her extremely happy.

But because something had happened with Oh Su, she couldn't even relax enough to celebrate.

"Yeah. It's nothing serious. Something personal came up, so he's suddenly leaving the company."

"CEO is leaving?!"

From the urgency of Dae-hun's call, I'd thought Oh Su had made some extreme decision or gotten hurt.

Instead, while I'd been at the audition, Oh Su had apparently told Dae-hun he was quitting.

Dae-hun's talent for overreacting was truly impressive.

When I returned to the office, Dae-hun was pacing around everywhere with a grave expression.

"Hyung! You're here. What do we do now?"

"Why? You tried to persuade him and he refused?"

"Yes."

Dae-hun said we needed to quickly find someone to replace the vacant position.

Strictly speaking, not Oh Su's position.

Mine.

Dae-hun already knew I was going to become the new CEO.

The fact that the temporary manager he'd personally recruited was becoming CEO didn't particularly matter to him.

The problem was that my Team 2 manager position would become vacant.

Who would take it?

As of last night, we hadn't even finalized the schedule for Oh Su's handover.

Apparently, Oh Su had stayed awake all night thinking and decided we needed to recruit people first so there would be no operational gap.

Imagining Oh Su tossing his heavy body around in bed all night made me laugh a little.

"He told you to recruit people first?"

"Yes. Even if we delay signing the employment contracts, he said to at least start recruitment. By the time I heard about everything, the job listing was already posted. He really doesn't seem to have any intention of changing his mind."

Until now, I'd worked in a highly active way.

Because situations could change unpredictably, I'd stayed attached to the members and personally managed almost everything.

As someone receiving future spam messages, that was the best method for me.

But it couldn't be called systematic.

We needed someone officially assigned as Team 2 manager who stayed beside the members and handled normal management.

Then I could handle the sudden incidents caused by spam messages.

I would be both CEO and someone closely involved in Team 2.

Even though it was unlikely anything would happen to me, this structure would let Blue Moon continue normal schedules if something did.

"So? Do we have applicants?"

"Yes. More will probably come in. Right now there are two. One for promotion under Team 2 and one road manager."

I sat at my desk and logged into the hiring website.

Using the company account, I found the recruitment posting.

"There aren't two. There are three."

"Where?"

Dae-hun walked over.

We checked the resumes together.

There really were three applicants.

I had no idea how we'd already received three in only one day.

All of them looked fairly capable.

One was even someone I knew.

Lee Hana.

She wasn't a Pantheon connection.

She was a female photographer I'd met while doing idol photography work.

Even back then, I'd thought it was strange how much she knew about the entertainment industry.

I'd assumed she was fully devoted to photography.

Apparently, she'd finally decided to enter the industry directly.

She was definitely capable.

Simply managing one group's schedule properly was enough to be called a good manager.

Lee Hana had completely memorized the important schedules of multiple idol groups and even shared them with fellow photographers.

I could trust her with practical work.

"This person used to be an idol, right?"

I pointed at the next applicant.

Dae-hun nodded.

"Apparently. I've never heard of her."

The applicant's name was Song Eun-bin.

She had once been called a dance prodigy and even debuted as an idol.

Then she'd followed the standard route of a completely unsuccessful idol.

Basically, she was in the same position Youngchae had been only a few months ago.

There was one difference.

Song Eun-bin had been the group's leader.

And because the company continued pushing the group, she'd actually accumulated a decent amount of promotional experience.

Their company had a manager too.

But because they were poor, Song Eun-bin wrote in her personal statement that she had personally handled many parts of group management.

That could almost be counted as management experience.

"These two both look good... and the final applicant is actually still working in the industry. Why are all three so attractive? Did you choose applicants based on looks?"

"How could I choose who applies? But what do you mean three?"

I checked the third applicant's resume.

Kim Jin-hee.

She looked familiar.

But I couldn't remember where I'd seen her.

People said attractive faces sometimes looked similar.

Maybe I was mistaken.

Anyway, Kim Jin-hee had once been a Marine training instructor.

After leaving the military, she immediately began working as an agency manager.

Her career was slightly shorter than mine.

She hadn't achieved any major success yet.

Probably because she'd only worked at small companies.

Still, with a face that good, she'd been a Marine instructor?

Shouldn't that count as idol experience?

"There are three, idiot. Lee Hana, the former ulzzang. Song Eun-bin, the former idol. And Kim Jin-hee, our 'Victory Marines' candidate."

"Victory Marines what? I can't really see... Anyway, I'll call Lee Hana and Song Eun-bin for interviews."

"There are three! Why are you doing this?"

Why did he keep insisting there were only two when three were clearly visible?

Did he secretly know her?

I had no idea.

Dae-hun kept pretending not to understand.

So I simply sent interview invitations to all three myself.

The company had been chaotic recently because of Oh Su.

Team 1's Astra members had requested to leave first.

We helped them sign with another agency.

Fortunately, a Japanese agency wanted Team 3, Solis.

So we peacefully terminated their contracts too.

That agency even agreed to reimburse the money Universe had spent developing Solis.

Apparently, they saw a lot of potential in them.

There were many personnel changes, so there had been quite a few drinking parties.

Still, Team 2 and the promotion team remained almost unchanged.

In that situation, Oh Su's feelings were understandable.

He said we should finalize the new employees' contracts after he stepped down.

Of course I could grant that much.

Still...

From now on, I would have to manage all of this myself.

Then again, for the moment only Team 2 and the promotion team would remain.

I could gradually expand the company according to my own methods.

All three applicants arrived at Universe at the scheduled time the next day.

The interviews were at two in the afternoon.

Dae-hun and I ate lunch while discussing them.

We couldn't drag recruitment out too long.

I intended to hire from these three.

We currently needed two positions, so there probably wasn't a reason to hire all three.

Based only on the resumes, Dae-hun seemed to prefer former photographer Lee Hana and former idol Song Eun-bin.

I still liked all three.

I planned to decide after the interviews.

But Dae-hun kept pouring out criticism that was almost personal abuse toward Kim Jin-hee.

That felt strange.

"Hey. She's the only one currently active in the industry. Objectively, shouldn't she be the safest choice?"

"It says she was a Marine instructor. What if she starts treating our Blue Moon girls like military recruits?"

"...Say something that makes sense."

So the discussion wasn't especially productive.

We spent almost until two talking more like friends gossiping than people holding a recruitment strategy meeting.

Then the applicants arrived.

We guided them into the conference room.

"Hello! I'm Lee Hana."

"Very nice to meet you."

Dae-hun greeted her enthusiastically.

Too enthusiastically.

"Please sit down. We still have to hear introductions from the others."

"Yes. Until a few months ago, we spent many hot nights together, didn't we? It's really nice seeing you again like this."

Dae-hun suddenly stared straight at me.

The hot nights we spent together meant running around nighttime broadcasting schedules as idol photographers.

In other words, she was deeply experienced in photographer life.

"All right. Next applicant."

I gave Song Eun-bin the chance to introduce herself.

"Hello! I intend to bury my bones in Universe! I'm Song Eun-bin!"

I raised my head and looked at her.

Up close, she was quite pretty.

Even the way she introduced herself still carried many idol habits.

Out of curiosity, I'd recently searched her old videos.

Mainly her most recent stages and solo performances.

Song Eun-bin herself was a strong dancer.

But her group specialized in songs with a strong pop feel, so she hadn't been able to properly display that talent.

It reminded me of Youngchae being forced to dance cyberpunk choreography.

I tried not to think in that direction.

Still, it felt almost more appropriate for her to attempt becoming an idol again rather than a manager.

"Hello. I previously worked at another agency, but I became interested in managing Blue Moon, so I applied. My name is Kim Jin-hee."

Finally, Kim Jin-hee.

I started with a simple question about why she wanted to change jobs.

Talking to her felt like talking to a real industry professional.

In other words, she was the safest option.

"Manager Kwon Dae-hun, don't you have anything you'd like to ask Applicant Kim Jin-hee?"

I'd heard everything I wanted.

So I passed the questioning to Dae-hun.

"No. Nothing in particular..."

He'd asked the others plenty of questions.

What was wrong with him?

Could he literally not see her?

"Haha... then I'll ask a few more questions. Hmm... what do you do for hobbies?"

There had to be something more useful to ask.

But because I was hurriedly trying to rescue the atmosphere, I asked something pointless.

This was all Kwon Dae-hun's fault.

"I do CrossFit in the morning. In the evening, I go to the gym."

"I see."

I answered politely.

Then I leaned toward Dae-hun and whispered.

If he told me what his problem was, I could at least solve it.

Maybe sensing the tension between us, Kim Jin-hee smiled and tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"Usually when I say I work out, people ask what kind of exercises I do. I guess you're not very curious."

"Ah, right. What kind of exer..."

"If I was curious, I would've asked."

Dae-hun interrupted.

The room instantly froze.

While I was still confused about what the hell was happening, Kim Jin-hee answered with a disgusted expression.

"Ah, yes. Wow. You're still just as pathetic."

"What did you just say?"

"Oh? You're finally curious about something? I said you're still pathetic."

While Song Eun-bin, Lee Hana, and I sat there in shock, Kwon Dae-hun and Kim Jin-hee began arguing.

Could this really happen during a job interview?

"Pathetic? So anyone who isn't interested in you is pathetic?"

"...Stop it, Dae-hun. People are watching."

I whispered for him to calm down.

He ignored me.

Then I suddenly remembered why Kim Jin-hee's face had looked familiar.

Where had I seen her?

Until a few years ago, Kim Jin-hee had been the woman who occupied Kwon Dae-hun's social-media profile photo for a very long time.

They were ex-lovers.

Unbelievable.

How badly had they fought during their relationship if they were still doing this in a job interview?

Dae-hun was ridiculous for pretending she didn't exist.

Kim Jin-hee was equally insane for deliberately applying to her ex-boyfriend's workplace.

Still.

What should I do?

No matter what happened, I intended to hire Kim Jin-hee.