Chapter 151
By the time I finished getting ready for work and stepped into the living room, a group of neighborhood ladies had already gathered there bright and early.
“You know this stuff is ridiculously expensive in Korea, right?”
“Of course, of course. How could I not know? Isn’t that Lancôme? My goodness, something this expensive...”
Mrs. Oksoon from the hair salon eagerly agreed.
“Exactly. My son went to France on a business trip this time and bought this expensive cosmetics set for his mother to use.”
My mother continued proudly.
“And that’s not all. This right here is a Chanel bag. Chanel. You’ve heard of it, right? A luxury bag.”
“Oh my, Kibaek’s mother must be so happy. Your successful son goes abroad on business and brings back things like this for you.”
This time, Soonjung’s mother from across the street chimed in enviously.
“I wonder when my daughter’s going to get a job and buy me something like that.”
Mrs. Jongcheol from next door laughed.
“My goodness, you’re trying to roast beans with lightning. Let her get into college first. She’s a senior in high school this year, right?”
Watching them, I desperately wanted to turn around, go back into my room, and hide.
But I was already running late for work.
So I put on a shameless face and strode across the living room toward the front door.
My mother, who had been enthusiastically chatting with the neighborhood ladies, spotted me and hurried over.
“Oh my, my son. Heading to work?”
I had no choice but to greet the ladies.
“Good morning.”
“Well, look at you. We live in the same neighborhood, but it’s still hard to see your face.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“I heard you went to France for work. Did you buy this bag at the duty-free shop?”
“What? Ah... yes. Ahem.”
Then Soonjung’s mother suddenly looked at me with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“By the way, Kibaek, isn’t it about time you got married?”
“What do you think of our Soonjung?”
“She’s a little young, but she’s pretty good at housework. Hoho.”
Before I could say anything, my mother quickly stepped between us.
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“Don’t you remember my son had a scandal with a famous actress?”
“Our son plays in a different league now.”
Ugh.
“Mom, what are you talking about? That’s ridiculous. Ahem.”
“Why?”
My mother looked completely serious.
“Tell Hyejoo to come over sometime.”
“When you were in the hospital before, she seemed to like my gamjatang quite a bit.”
“Mom!”
I nearly choked.
“Why would Hyejoo come to our house?!”
Mortified, I decided escaping was the only option.
I shoved my feet into my shoes without even putting them on properly and hurried out the front door.
“Then have fun!”
I called back awkwardly.
My mother shouted after me.
“Don’t come home too late!”
On the bus to work, I went through the text messages I hadn’t had time to read since returning to Korea.
[Hyung, congratulations on winning the Palme d’Or. You’re probably on the plane right now, right? Call me when you get back to Korea. - Moon Changsoo]
[I just saw the video that got uploaded. You should’ve worn a bow tie while you were at it. Anyway, congratulations on winning the Palme d’Or. - Han Hyejoo]
[Kibaek hyung, I just saw the news. You were seriously amazing. I respect you so much. We’ll work hard preparing the platform launch so we don’t embarrass your name either! Call me when you have time. - Woo Seungcheol]
[CEO Min Kibaek, this is Ha Sangdo. News about you has reached even me here in America. Hahaha. In any case, congratulations sincerely on winning the Palme d’Or. I hope you continue to enjoy success, and I also hope the good connection between us continues for a long time. - Ha Sangdo]
I was slightly taken aback by Ha Sangdo’s unexpected message.
What?
Articles from Korea reached him all the way in America?
Just then, my phone chimed with a new text.
[Hello, this is Writer Ki Jungtae from Movie Talk. We spoke yesterday. Since we’re planning a special episode on the Palme d’Or win and need to air it next week, we’re extremely short on time. Could you please make a decision as soon as possible? I’ll wait for your response. - Ki Jungtae]
Ah, right.
Movie Talk.
To be honest, I had never intended to appear on any television program in the first place.
But I had felt bad rejecting them outright, so I had ended the call yesterday by saying I would think about it.
And if I was being completely honest...
Once Movie Talk actually invited me, I had felt a little tempted.
Still...
I think declining is the right choice.
I immediately called.
After a few short rings, a booming voice answered.
“Hello, CEO Min!”
“Hello. I just got your message, so I thought I should call since you sounded pressed for time.”
“Ah, thank you so much.”
“As I explained in the message, if we want to air this next week, we have a lot to prepare, and we need to finish recording no later than next Tuesday.”
“So how does your schedule look?”
“If it were up to us, Friday or Saturday would be ideal, but we’ll adjust as much as possible to fit your schedule.”
“And normally the recording takes at least four hours...”
“Writer Ki, one moment.”
He must have been desperate.
The head writer of Movie Talk had started talking about schedules without even hearing why I was calling.
I hurriedly cut him off.
“Ah, I’m sorry. Please go ahead first.”
I took a breath.
“The reason I called is to say that I sincerely appreciate the invitation...”
“But I don’t think I can appear on the show.”
For a moment, the other end went completely silent.
Perhaps he had never imagined I would turn them down.
I quickly continued before the atmosphere became too awkward.
“However, I’ll do everything I can to make Director Song Jaehyun and the actors available according to your schedule.”
Only then did a slightly flustered voice come back through the phone.
“Um... may I ask why you’re declining?”
Why was I declining?
Honestly, appearing on television itself wasn’t the real problem.
The problem was what came afterward.
People like us were originally meant to work quietly behind the scenes.
The moment your face became known to the public, the disadvantages could easily outweigh the benefits.
I didn’t even need to look far for examples.
The first thing that would change was the attitude of the people who had leverage over me, investors, broadcasters, and everyone else who stood on the stronger side of negotiations.
