1st Year Max Level Manager

Chapter 8

Jung Star 1

When I opened the door to the meeting room on the 6th floor, Kim Dogsu and Head of the Actor’s Department, Go Seung-cheol, were arguing loudly.

“How are you training the kids, Head Go? You’re leaving the actor during work hours and going somewhere else! You ignored my instructions and let Lee Ji-yeon lie about filming Jung Yujin!”

“Did you finish talking? The problem is you are trying to take our department’s staff without asking! That’s where the problem started!”

“What’s wrong with caring about cash cows like Yeogin who bring in money rather than just supporting minor roles? If it’s urgent, why not borrow some staff from another department?”

Kim Dogsu kept pushing his point, and Head Koi Seong-cheol got angry.

“Hey! When will Yu-jin stop being a minor role? And what about Ju-yeong-in? Shouldn’t your team be the one to bring him in? Why are you asking me to do it?”

The argument was getting longer, so I cleared my throat to make my presence known.

“Ahem. I’m here.”

Kim Dogsu turned and quickly walked toward me.

“Hey! You’re just a one-year rookie. You ignored my orders and left the site? Are you out of your mind? This is where you lie?”

He grabbed me by the collar.

In that moment, I realized that all the steps I went through to accept death were useless.

‘Is this step six?’

Anger was rising, but strangely, a laugh almost escaped me.

I guess it was because my anger had surpassed its limits.

‘Well, well, it’s you again, Kim Dogsu.’

* * *

Kim Dogsu, 32 years old, with six years of experience.

He was competent and ambitious.

With sharp eyes, a pompadour hairstyle, and silver-framed glasses, Kim Dogsu stared at me as he held my collar.

After joining Gulreongso Entertainment at the age of two years, he became an assistant manager, then a team leader after four years, and now at six years, he had become a department head.

While others took at least ten years to reach such a position, Kim Dogsu had managed to rise to the top in just six years. Even now, as the head of the Actor’s Department, he was still growing fast.

Of course, he had full support from the Seoul Arts College faction, the largest group within the company. But no one in the industry could deny his abilities.

Because of that background, Kim Dogsu treated even employees from other departments like his own subordinates.

He even dared to grab my collar in front of Koi Seong-cheol, the senior head of another department.

But now things would change.

I knew Kim Dogsu better than anyone else.

I thought about confronting him, but I was just a rookie with one year of experience.

I swallowed my anger and looked at Kim Dogsu.

“Sorry, I did make a mistake, but could you please let go of my collar and talk?”

 Kim Dogsu seemed surprised by my calm response.

“What? You, rookie, do you know you just messed up Ju-yeong-in’s schedule because of your mistake?”

At that moment, Head Koi Seong-cheol interrupted.

“Hey! Why are you grabbing my kid’s collar? Let go!”

 Kim Dogsushook with anger but let go of my collar.

“There’s no need for further discussion. Rookie, you’re getting a 50% salary cut for the next six months. Got it?”

Whoa, that’s a bit much.

Six months?

That would mean my monthly salary of 2.2 million won would be cut in half to 1.1 million.

The punishment was harder than I expected.

I glanced at Head Koi Seong-cheol, who nodded while frowning.

Looks like there’s no going back now.

Well, for saving Miso, this is a small price to pay.

If I need something, I can charge it to the expenses later.

“Understood. I’ll bring the written apology to your desk tomorrow morning.”

My calm response seemed to upset Kim Dong-soo even more.

“You cocky brat…”

Huh? Why is he clenching his fist?

Is he going to hit me?

I was about to avoid answering, but Head Koi Seong-cheol stepped in and raised his voice.

“Hey! Take it easy! You’re already punishing him, and now you want to hit him in front of me? Are you looking for trouble?”

Koi Seong-cheol was about 172 cm tall, with a slight belly. But he used to practice Judo when he was younger and even won a medal at the National Sports Festival. If he touched you, you’d be out for weeks.

He was known for folding people in half when he got mad.

Just then, the meeting room door opened, and a sharp voice came from the doorway.

“That’s enough!”

The red-faced General Manager, Kang Ji-young, appeared.

Kang Ji-young was wearing a tight black two-piece suit and Chanel accessories. With a model-like figure over 170 cm, she had the looks to be a celebrity herself.

She also smelled strongly of alcohol.

“I heard you two were fighting, so I came running while drinking with CEO Choi from MBS!”

Hearing her scolding, both Kim Dogsu and Koi Seong-cheol took a step back, hurriedly.

“General Manager, it’s just that this guy…”

“Excuse me, did I not tell you to stop? Kim. Dogsu. Head.”

Kim Dogsu lowered his head.

Kang Ji-young sighed and then looked at me.

“You’re Jung Star, right?”

“I’m Jung Yun-ho. I’m sorry, General Manager.”

I apologized, feeling guilty for causing this situation.

Kang Ji-young waved her hand, cutting me off.

“It’s fine. I’m not asking you to apologize. More importantly, did you do something to lobby Lee Jiyeon?”

“What?”

What was she talking about out of the blue?

“No, how did you manage to get our actor to appear until the last episode?”

Kang Ji-young, beaming with joy, started talking about script changes, and the atmosphere in the meeting room shifted.

At that moment, Kim Dogsu, who had been calling me a liar, frowned and asked.

“General Manager, is what you said true? Lee Jiyeon is known for never revising scripts once they’ve been rejected. How did you get her to change her mind?”

Kang Ji-young’s joyful expression suddenly turned sour.

“What? Do you think I, Kang Ji-young, would lie like that? Kim Head, are you challenging me now?”

“No, I didn’t mean that…”

Kang Ji-young’s sharp voice made Kim Dogsu jump.

Kang Ji-young gave him a strong look and held out her phone in front of his face.

“Here, look at this. Do you see it?”

[(Writer Lee Jiyeon): I saw an interesting actor today, was it Yujin Pak? Oh, right, it was Yujin Jung. Anyway, their face is fine, and the voice is good too. I like them.]

This was very close to a high praise for Lee Jiyeon’s character.

But Kim Dogsu tried to make an excuse after reading the KakaoTalk message.

“This… How is this about additional appearances? Are you trying to cover up for the second team with weak results?”

Kim Dogsu usually wouldn’t make this kind of mistake.

But today, it seemed like he was too angry to think straight and was not judging the situation well.

Kang Ji-young’s eyes narrowed sharply as she looked at him.

“Wow, really, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous this is. I rush over because the team leaders are fighting and making the company a mess, and you think I’m joking around?”

Kang Ji-young scrolled down the KakaoTalk message.

[Attachment] [Episode 23 Revised Script – Role of Lee Seolran] [Episode 24 Revised Script (Ending) – Revised Script – Role of Lee Seolran]

“Do you see it? The revised script was sent directly by the writer! What’s wrong? Do you need me to explain?”

Kim Dogsu’s face hardened like stone.

This went beyond making excuses; it was almost an outright challenge to the authority of the head of the department.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I think I made a mistake…”

Even with his apology, Kang Ji-young didn’t soften her cold attitude.

“No, why don’t people know how to do things ‘appropriately’? ‘Appropriately’! I was working hard to get Jo Minseong into the MBS founder’s special drama, and now I had to drop it because I rushed here.”

Jo Minseong was a top star, the face of Gulreongsoe Entertainment.

Kim Dogsu’s face turned red as he realized that the star’s drama appearance was ruined because of today’s incident.

“Uh, about that…”

“Stop! I don’t want to hear any more from you. Go outside and clean up the employees watching us. And forget the salary cut for Jeong Star, that’s cancelled.”

“Ah, understood.”

Kim Dogsu’s voice was trembling slightly.

His shoulders were slumped, which was almost satisfying to see.

Yeah, Kim Dogsu.

People need to be humble sometimes.

Kang Ji-young then gave me a direct order.

“But Jung Star, submit the self-reflection report. After all, you were absent during work hours, right?”

My salary being halved was replaced by just one piece of paper.

With everything settled, Kang Ji-young looked at Kim Dogsu.

“Why aren’t you leaving? Should I open the door for you?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Kim Dogsu slammed the door and left the meeting room.

* * *

Once the chaos ended, Chief Koi Seong-cheol shrank back and spoke.

“I’m sorry, Head. But if Jo Minseong finds out that we lost the opportunity for the special drama, he won’t stay quiet. What should we do?”

Even though Koi Seong-cheol held a lower position, he had been with Gulreongsoe Entertainment since the beginning, so he spoke comfortably when alone with Kang Ji-young.

Kang Ji-young, after sitting down, smiled faintly.

“It’s a lie.”

“What?”

“Do you think I’m crazy? Did you think I came here without securing Jo Minseong’s participation? I already confirmed it with MBS CEO Choi.”

“Really?”

“I only said that because I was upset with Kim Dogsu’s constant arguing. But, really, these kids—what is all this?”

“I’m embarrassed. Haha.”

“Don’t laugh, Senior Koi. I’m still not calm.”

As the conversation continued, the atmosphere began to loosen a bit.

“Well, I’ll leave now.”

I stood up to leave, but Kang Ji-young stopped me.

“Where are you going? Even if it’s temporary, Jung Star, you’re in charge of Yujin, right? You need to attend the meeting.”

“Me?”

“Of course. Also, this writer personally made changes to the script and requested to have additional appearances for the next two episodes. Aren’t you going to discuss how to handle this on set?”

At Gulreongsoe Entertainment, even first-year staff like me rarely get to attend team meetings.

But to have a chance to attend a meeting with the department heads? This was a great opportunity.

Second chance in life.

It feels like I’m starting off on a good note.

* * *

Yu-jin’s growth plan meeting.

Kang Ji-young and Koi Seong-cheol began to explain the issues arising from the revised script.

I knew what would happen, but I pretended to listen and nodded as if it was the first time hearing it.

After Koi Seong-cheol pointed out some things to watch out for, he looked at Kang Ji-young.

“Head, once Lee Jiyeon likes an actor, she keeps working with them, right? Won’t she want to cast Yu-jin in her next project?”

“So, I’m thinking of pushing Yujin here. What do you think, Senior Koi?”

“I’m not against it, but I’m worried it might backfire if we push too early.”

“Not like you, Senior. Just go for it. If the writer offers the role, she’ll never say no.”

Since Lee Jiyeon had shown interest in Yujin, it was natural for talks about casting her in future projects to come up.

But there was one big problem.

Lee Jiyeon’s next project, which would air next year, was a complete failure.

‘How do I tell them this?’

If Lee Ji-yeon asked, “Do you want to work with me?” I’d have to say, “No! Your project is going to flop!”

But at this point, since the script hasn’t even come out, I couldn’t bring that up.

No one here would think that Lee Ji-yeon’s project would fail.

The only solution left was clear.

The fastest way to get Yujin into another project was the only solution.

In the meantime, the meeting was wrapping up.

“Then, Senior Koi, make sure the last two episodes go well on set. That’s the priority.”

“Okay. And we’ll assign Team Leader Yunho in addition to Yujin on set. Having one more team leader will add some weight to the project.”

After finishing the discussion, Kang Ji-young turned her attention to me.

“By the way, tell me what happened on set today. There’s no way Lee Jiyeon would increase his screen time for no reason. Right?”

“Actually, today on set…”

I explained what had happened.

“Yujin showed great acting skills, and Lee Ji-yeon was impressed?”

“Yes. Even though she just debuted, she could handle a lead role.”

“Haha, you really have faith in your actor, don’t you?”

Kang Ji-young looked at me with pride.

“You’re in your first year, right?”

“Yes.”

“Keep this attitude. Never change, understand?”

“Understood, Head.”

My firm response made Koi Seong-cheol chuckle and praise me.

“See, Head? I told you, Jeong Star isn’t ordinary.”

“Thanks, Senior Koi.”

“Wait, Senior Koi. I don’t remember hearing that before?”

Kang Ji-young tilted her head.

“Haha, did I say that?”

Koi Seong-cheol subtly glanced at me and turned around.

Three seconds later, the gratitude disappeared.

Thanks anyway, Senior Koi.

“Now, next question.”

Kang Ji-young asked with a cold tone, her face serious.

“I saw the 9 PM news too. But why did you go to Cheonho-dong instead of being where you were supposed to be on set?”

Her sharp voice hit my ears.