“Chief, what about the thing with Simon Lee?”

-Damned bastard, he kept his mouth shut until the very end. Younghoon hyung personally went out last night to meet with Simon Lee, but it was the same there. I don’t know what kind of dirt Gunyoung has on him, but he was adamant that there was no deal between them.”

He sounded depressed. It was to the point where I could tell just how dispirited he was by his voice.

Well, he was the one most shocked about this incident. He had taken his junior around and trained him, a kind junior who he trusted to boot, yet that junior utterly backstabbed him. It would be fortunate if he wasn’t doubting life.

-Did that guy call you?

“I waited, thinking he’d call me, but he’s quiet.”

Seeing his murderous gaze, it wouldn’t be shocking if he came looking for me with a knife, let alone calling me. That was why I prepared a sturdy baseball bat, though I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it.

I looked at the clock, which was indicating it was just past 9, as I asked,

“When should I start work again? The girls have a schedule early this morning.”

-I’m taking care of that so don’t worry. I have to talk to the girls about Gunyoung anyways, though I don’t know if they’ll believe it when I, who personally saw it, am still dumbfounded.

The girls would cause a commotion once they heard.

I imagined the scene while clicking my tongue when Kim Hyunjo continued.

-I heard you’re meeting Im Joowon with Team 2. The team 2 leader was itching to get at you, but use this opportunity and help him properly to get him to owe you a favor. You can come to work starting tomorrow.

“Yes, understood.”

After hanging up, I got up from my bed.

There was a ton of time before my dinner with Im Joowon. Basically, I had leisure time. How could I spend this precious time, which I didn’t know when I would have again, stuck in my apartment? Since I got great news that the traitor was fired, I should celebrate by watching a movie.

When I opened the movie theater app, it was filled with newly released movies. If I skipped lunch and moved quickly, I should be able to watch three movies.

While thinking about which movies I should watch, I became happier.

Then, an hour later, I was driving my minivan. Not to the theater, but to Paju, Gyeonggi-do.

With a troublesome fellow in the passenger seat.

“Hey, society really is scary. For Jung Sunwoo to get beat up.”

The most decent person among the troublesome friends I had known since high school, Kim Taewoong said while examining my face. When I lightly rubbed my lips, the slightly torn part still stung.

“Who got beat up? We hit each other.”

“Your expression is scary right now. Did you sue him?”

“I got a medical certificate. I guess this is considered an injury as they told me it would take two weeks to heal completely.”

“Really? Are you going to sue?”

“No, as a precaution in case that bastard sues me first.”

Taken aback, Kim Taewoong shook his head. Then he paused before asking,

“Wait, but why are you wearing sunglasses? Is your eye also-“

“No, if I don’t wear sunglasses, people recognize me.”

While no one came up to me asking for a picture and autograph since I wasn’t a celebrity, it concerned me enough with people murmuring at a distance. That was why it became a habit to wear sunglasses when I went out for personal reasons.

“Ah, right. You’re famous now. A famous person who appeared on the evening news.”

The gigantic guy clasped his hands together and blinked his eyes like a fangirl. Damn it, shivers went down my neck. After constantly chirping about how I was a famous person without caring if I cursed or not, he suddenly became quiet.

When I turned around, he was constantly glancing at me.

“Hey, you’re not overdoing it, right?”

“I’m not. I told you multiple times.”

Kim Taewoong scratched his head at my words.

“No, to be honest, I didn’t have much expectation when I called you, but I was taken aback when the guy, who’s too busy to meet, readily agreed and came out. You didn’t cancel an important meeting or something, right?”

“I canceled my movie tickets. Just know that I cried tears of blood.”

At my reply, Kim Taewoong exaggeratedly placed his hand over his mouth.

“Not something else, but you gave up movies to come here? The guy who cares more about movies than food? For me?”

“In your dreams. I came because it was your mother’s request.”

“How cold-hearted. Our love has cooled.”

“Stop speaking nonsense and tell me what’s going on in detail.”

Kim Taewoong, who had been chuckling and joking around, sighed before getting to the point.

“That is… My second aunt has an idiotic youngest daughter. She dreams of becoming a celebrity. My aunt gave up and is letting her do whatever she wants so that she’ll end up giving up, but she suddenly said she was going to sign with a company we’ve never heard of before. Because of that, my aunt clung to my mother, and my mother asked me, and I contacted you.”

Kim Taewoong said while reading my mood again.

“Just listen and check if that company is legit. Also, you’ve probably seen a lot of celebrities while working. She’s apparently filming an independent film right now so tell me if you think she won’t make it.”

“I got it so stop reading my mood, man. It’s gross.”

“It’s because I’m sorry, bastard. You probably receive a ton of requests like this.”

Requests. A few crossed my mind.

Like he said, after appearing on TV, I received a few calls. The content of the calls was similar. ‘My daughter, younger sibling, nephew, or whoever aspires to be a celebrity so can you meet him or her once because he or she is a good person.’

I heard there were a million celebrity-aspirants in the country, and my surroundings were overflowing with them.

After listening to what I said, Kim Taewoong blinked his eyes and asked,

“Hey, if you think someone’s okay, then does that person immediately become a celebrity?”

“How could it be so simple? The problem is how long the contract will be. Normally, there is a casting manager who specializes in finding rookies. The higher-ups discuss a ton when they bring over a few profiles.”

Even when recruiting so carefully, there were more cases where things ended in failure than success. It was the same even when they were promoted by a big company like W&U. The path to becoming a renown star from a nobody was as narrow as the eye of a needle.

While talking about various things, the road had become unpaved at some point.

We drove quite a bit down the unpaved road to find the independent film shooting site when we saw a group of people gathered in front of us. Two women and three men. A long-haired woman waved her hand when she saw us.

“Are they trying to hitchhike? In a place like this?”

“I don’t think they are greeting us.”

I stopped the van and lowered the window. Two women approached us with exhausted faces. I didn’t know from where they started walking, but their foreheads and necks were soaked with sweat despite it being a cool spring day.

“Excuse me. Is this a staff van? We are actors for the shoot this afternoon, but if you are, please give us a ride!”

Hearing they were actors, Kim Taewoong stretched his neck out. I also closely examined the faces of the people standing there in case I saw someone I knew. I had seen quite a few independent films when I had the time back in the day.

However, there were no faces I remembered.

“While we aren’t staff members, we are going to the film shoot. We’ll give you a ride.”

“Thank you! I thought my legs would break before I even got to act.”

The actors poured their thanks on me as they got in the van. Soon, I heard a grumbling voice from the back.

“Are they telling us to act or not? Why didn’t they come when they said they’d pick us up?”

“Maybe they went to pick up Lee Sunghyun again.”

“Is he the only actor? What are we? The background? Isn’t the director too mean?”

“What can he do even though he’s the director? If Lee Sunghyun leaves, saying he wants to go all in on a commercial film, he has to change the lead and re-shoot.”

I held the steering wheel, ready to drive again. However, for some reason, my gaze kept heading towards the rearview mirror. It wasn’t towards the pretty actresses, who were discussing the sorrows of being unknown, but to a man sitting at the very back even though I couldn’t see his face clearly because of his tangled hair.

Did I see him before?

The moment I thought this, my gaze met the man’s.

Then I recalled where I saw him.