CH 3

Exhaling cigarette smoke, manager Cha was immersed in thoughts. He thought that Lee Wooyeon must have had something to do with his manager quitting after a few months. However, even as he resigned, the manager consistently said that it was not Lee Wooyeon’s fault and that he was too incompetent to work anymore.

“What the hell are you doing…”

Manager Cha clicked his tongue. Lee Wooyeon was someone who did things behind other people’s backs.

It was two months that his manager lasted the most. Of course, when celebrities change managers too often, they don’t look good. CEO Kim cautioned him several times, but each time, he only shrugged and said that he had done nothing.

However, CEO Kim and Manager Cha thought it was clear that he did something out of sight. But they couldn’t figure out what that ‘something’ was.

Manager Cha scratched his head as he remembered the words of CEO Kim that he had hired someone who would never quit. What kind of a human being is he who never quits?

Is it someone who trained in the mountains? Or is it someone from the paratroopers? Hmmm, when he heard his voice, he seemed to have a calm and kind personality. Did he have to sign a contract that said he would never quit because he was in a hurry?

The cell phone rang. Manager Cha quickly answered the phone, thinking that the person who could satisfy his curiosity had finally appeared.

“Hello, Manager Cha…Yes? I beg your pardon? Where are you? Alright. I’ll go right away. Yes.”

Manager Cha quickly ended the call. Immediately the bell rang again. Manager Cha caught the sight of a shabby-looking young man looking around with his cell phone in his hand.

“Excuse me. This way.”

He gestured to the young man. The young man who found the car manager hurriedly put his cell phone in his pocket and walked over towards him.

“Hello. From today…”

“Are you Inseop Choi, who will be working as Wooyeon Lee’s manager from today?”

Manager Cha intercepted the greeting that came out of the man’s mouth. He knows it’s rude, but that’s how urgent the manager was.

“Yes, but…”

“Take this at once.”

The manager handed over the car key and notebook and continued.

“All you have to do today is greet Lee Wooyeon and take him home. He’ll probably be out in thirty minutes. Lee Wooyeon doesn’t have a schedule for tomorrow, so you can come to the office first. You don’t need anything special to take care of him, just cold coffee and an Americano. Some things to be aware of are here. You can see the details in that notebook.”

“Yes Yes.”

Choi Inseop barely nodded his head at the words that poured like a storm without a break.

“I have to go because there is an emergency right now. Call me if anything happens. Do you know my phone number?”

“Yes.”

“Then see you later.”

The manager, who was about to run, suddenly turned around and added a word.

“Be careful.”

“Yes? …Yes.”

Before hearing his proper answer, Manager Cha hurriedly ran away. Choi Inseop, who was laid out in front of the hospital’s front door, stood for a long time holding the notebook and car key he was randomly handed over.

Only after bumping shoulders with a passerby did Choi Inseop suddenly realize what the situation was in front of him.

“You have to calm down. Now, this is the beginning.”

He calmly took the camera out of his pocket and took pictures of the car keys he was holding, followed by his notebook.

Click click click.

The sound of the shutter rang quietly.

When he heard that a new manager was coming, Lee Wooyeon didn’t even care. He was going to quit in a few months anyway.

He was used to wearing a mask in front of people. He thought that the job he chose was to wear a mask, and his daily life was an extension of his job. However, due to the nature of the job, the manager, who was by his side almost all day except for sleeping, definitely bothered him.

Most of all, he hated seeing the same person every day for a long time. Even women, he got tired of seeing them three or four times, but having to spend the day with the same person every day was unreasonable in nature. He can’t just fire someone for no reason, though. In the end, Lee Wooyeon picked on people without being obvious. The expression “burn,” was a phrase he heard from a model nurse.

Burn it. To a crisp

Making it impossible to recognize where the heat was coming from, Lee Wooyeon burned people up. He induced the manager to make mistakes by leaking the wrong schedule or by giving the wrong appointment time on purpose. With thoroughly calculated actions, managers make mistakes over and over again. Each time, Lee Wooyeon exhorted his manager, saying it was okay with a gentle and loving smile. More and more, managers were busily trying to make up for their mistakes. However, if several small mistakes are made, and one big one is rolled up, the manager’s spirit is bound to die. At that time, Lee Wooyeon personally calls the manager and buys him a drink and talks to him in a friendly manner. ‘I trust you, it’s okay, next time make sure this doesn’t happen, no matter what anyone says, I’m by your side. You are different from other people. I know. So please be patient. Of course, that must never happen again’. Thats the way for him.

When Lee Wooyeon, who was rumored to not make personal acquaintances with the manager because the distinction between public and private was clear, turned out to be like that, the person is moved to tears. The next day, the manager, who had gathered up his courage, appears and is full of enthusiasm. Lee Wooyeon responds with a smile. His chest swells at the feeling of being trusted personally by the best celebrity. Things seem to be going well. It makes the manager feel better. A few days go by without any problems. The manager thinks he’s getting used to the job, and the tone of his voice gets brighter. Lee Wooyeon is waiting. The moment when a person is drunk with joy and slightly loses the voice of reason.

It was good then. The moment when a person who used to be proud of himself collapses as soon as he realizes that he has made the same mistake again.

Lee Wooyeon, who should be the victim of a mistake, makes a strange expression at that moment. A friendly smile that shows a bit of resentment, bitterness, and disappointment toward the other person, but still shows consideration.

Some people stop there. People who are ignorant may hold on to it longer, but in the end, they will raise a white flag saying that they can’t do it.

He doesn’t want to have anyone by his side for a long time, but Lee Wooyeon enjoyed the process of people falling apart. Human psychology is complex, but the process of manipulating it was simpler than expected. Changing managers frequently was not good for image formation, but it was unavoidable. Because he enjoys the process of cutting people off.

So he can’t quit

“I beg your pardon?”

A woman’s voice reached his ears. Lee Wooyeon smiled and shook his head. It seems that he uttered the words in his heart without knowing it.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

At the funeral, a woman who was much younger than Lee Wooyeon, had come, dressed in luxury clothes, meticulously made-up, and even her hair, asked with a young voice.

“I have a schedule for tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was a very rare day with no schedule. He had no intention of missing such a golden vacation for a woman like this.

“Oppa. So what about today? What are you doing tonight?”

Although they were not in the same group, he heard that they had a similar debut period and had an overlapping activity period, so they knew each other. Lee Wooyeon watched with pleasure as a woman in a black suit, who had been crying as if her best friend had died, found him and ran to him, throwing seductive words.

“I don’t think it will be good today. Yura must also be heartbroken today, so please rest at home. Sorry.”

Lee Wooyeon looked at the man who had been waiting for him since a while ago, bowed his back and whispered. The voice that reached her ear loosened her legs, and Jo Yura nodded her head with a blank face.

“See you next time.”

Jo Yura blushed at the greeting as the wind gently brushed the leaves, and blankly watched his back as he walked off.

“Nice to meet you.”

When a soft, low voice spoke, the man standing in front of him straightened his posture and raised his head. From the eyes carefully examining him, Lee Wooyeon was able to roughly grasp the tendencies of the other.

A kind, sincere, and uninteresting human being.

The new manager was Kim’s preference. He liked a good man who worked hard. It was the type that was the best prey for Lee Wooyeon.

Lee Wooyeon held out his hand.

“I’m Lee Wooyeon. I wish you all the best in the future.”

“…”

The new manager had a visibly hardened face and didn’t say anything. Sometimes people who see celebrities in front of them are so nervous that they can’t say anything.

Lee Wooyeon acts kinder and more courteous when that happens, relieving the opponent’s tension. That way it tastes better when burned later.

“It’s cold today, but you had a hard time coming. We met in a bad place.”

Lee Wooyeon held his hand first. When the warmth touched his frozen hands, Choi Inseop was startled, as if on fire.

“I, I…”

“I’m Lee Wooyeon.”

Giving strength to his hand and shaking hands, Lee Wooyeon greeted him again.

“…I’m Choi Inseop.”

The new manager only revealed his name. Perhaps because of his shy personality, he kept his face down. Lee Wooyeon pulled out his hand first. Choi Inseop looked down at his hand blankly. He had a look on his face that he couldn’t believe the situation in front of him.

“Then please.”

Lee Wooyeon opened the car door by hand and spoke politely again. Choi Inseop answered yes and went to the driver’s seat and sat down.

Sitting in the back seat, leaning back, Lee Wooyeon watched the new manager’s driving skills. Turning the steering wheel was pretty good. Driving skills were also something to check. One of the manager’s important tasks was to quickly move the actor in charge with safe driving within the set time. Sometimes, there were people who deliberately recognized celebrities’ cars and caused accidents. Celebrities, whether they did something wrong or not, became a problem in and of themselves when people talked about bad things. This is because people value how much more provocative it is than just whether it is true or not.

A manager with poor driving skills is better off making mistakes with his car. But with this manager, he didn’t think that would work. It was hard to find any gaps in the way he was driving, looking around the front and rear calmly.

It doesn’t matter. If he waits slowly and watches, there will be a corner where he will make a mistake in anything. If not, he can create it.

Lee Wooyeon buried his face in the sheet and closed his eyes. The manager, who was driving quietly, asked carefully if he could play music.

He thought it was surprising. A person like him, who couldn’t even introduce himself properly, suddenly says he’s going to play music.

Lee Wooyeon hated listening to music that didn’t suit his taste. The reason that the sixth manager was kicked out by accident and why he used very tough means within two weeks was because he always played a female idol’s song loudly in the car.

It was better to catch a taxi than to listen to music that didn’t suit his taste. However, he couldn’t reveal it in front of the manager who he met for the first time.

“Yes. Do whatever you feel comfortable with.”

As soon as Lee Wooyeon’s permission was granted, he put the CD that he brought into the car audio system. Lee Wooyeon frowned slightly. He was annoyed that the music of a female idol would be playing. It was dark in the car, so his expression couldn’t be seen, so he thought he was lucky and closed his eyes.

As the familiar music flowed, Lee Wooyeon slowly opened his eyes.

Historia de un amor. The story of a love.

It was his favorite song. There was no way the manager knew about it and played it, but it was a pleasant coincidence. Lee Wooyeon closed his eyes again and listened to the song.

Because of his good driving skills, even the shaking of the car felt good.

My love, you are no longer with me…Do you love more and hurt more? …It was the reason for my existence… Give me all good and evil…I can’t live.

Lyrics that were heard unconsciously were repeated. At the end of the repetition, which he does not know how many times, a quiet voice was heard.

“We’re here.”

When he opened his eyes, it was an underground parking lot. Choi Inseop got out of the driver’s seat and opened the car door. In a friendly voice, Lee Wooyeon said, “You don’t have to do this,” he added, saying thank you.

“You drive well.”

“…I practiced.”

A cautious reply came back. Lee Wooyeon laughed. Are there people who practice driving just to get into the manager’s position? He couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

Lee Wooyeon turned his head to see the pathetic human’s face.

Like a student being punished in the office, he carefully looked at the face of the man standing with his hands in front of him.

He had the same face as a boy who had not grown up because of the freckles that were shining through his white skin. Looking at his restless expression whether he was frightened, Lee Wooyeon thought that this one would be fun to burn in its own way.

“…!”

When their eyes met, the new manager turned his head. Lee Wooyeon said then, bowed his head and turned around.

“Thank you.”

At the greeting from behind, Lee Wooyeon felt a little puzzled. What does he mean thank you?

However, the thought of the new manager soon disappeared from his mind. In the first place, he wasn’t the type to be interested in other people.

“Goodbye.”

“Yes.”

Until Lee Wooyeon disappeared into the elevator, Choi Inseop stood there and watched his back.

A familiar envelope caught Lee Wooyeon’s attention as he looked through the mail he pulled out of the mailbox. Lee Wooyeon’s real name was written on the off-white high-quality paper in neat handwriting.

Phillip Levin.

The name that even he had forgotten is recalled from his memory through a letter he receives once a month. He opened the envelope with unhesitating hand movements.

There was only one picture. A picture of himself in high school. On the back of the photo, a verse of Rilke’s poem is written in neat handwriting. Lee Wooyeon snorts and pushes the photo to the back of the mail.

It was the mail that he received once a month since he came to Korea and became a celebrity. Lee Wooyeon, who didn’t blink at anything, felt a bit nervous when he first received the letter because he didn’t tell anyone about his origins. What’s more, the letter contained a photo of him from his high school days. Thinking it was a new threat, he waited for the criminal to approach. But no one contacted him asking for money. It has been the same ever since.

Once a month.

A picture and a poem were all. No demands or threats, just that. It had been a year since he started receiving letters that Lee Wooyeon stopped digging up the identity of the sender of the letter. He learned that the letter did no harm to him in any way.

At first, when a letter arrived, he threw it in the trash or crumpled it and burned it without opening it, but these days he sometimes checked the contents inside.

“Rilkera…”

The woman in the elevator who heard Lee Wooyeon’s murmur glanced back. Lee Wooyeon showed a friendly smile to hide his stiff expression and bowed his head. A woman he had met in the elevator several times recognized Lee Wooyeon and blushed.

After the woman said hello and got off the elevator, Lee Wooyeon returned to his original expressionless face.

The elevator arrived on the 49th floor. Lee Wooyeon, out of habit, put his hand in his pocket to find his cell phone, and then pressed the elevator button again. It seemed like the phone had dropped out of his pocket in the car. Even if he goes now, there was little chance that the manager would still be there, but just to confirm…

“…”

The moment the elevator door opened in the underground parking lot, Lee Wooyeon stopped in his tracks. Choi Inseop was standing in front of the elevator.

“Because you left your phone behind…”

Seeing him holding out his cell phone with both hands like a person presenting precious treasures, Lee Wooyeon was shocked.

“Thank you. But how did you did find it. It would have been in the back seat.”

“Ah, yes, there…I was trying to clean the back seat…”

Lee Wooyeon reached out and picked up the phone. All he could think about was that the new manager’s needlessly clean personality made it easier for him to do some troublesome work.

Choi Inseop, who stood there, added a few more words incase he thought his explanation was insufficient.

“I never looked at the back seat because I had other thoughts…”

“Yes. Thank you. Then I’ll go in.”

Lee Wooyeon was no longer in the mood to talk to anyone. Fatigue piled up to the top of his head. Wearing a mask of a friendly face gradually came to a limit. After waving goodbye to the manager, Lee Wooyeon got on the elevator again and went up.

As soon as he took off his shoes in front of the front door and stepped into the house, his phone rang.

Kim, it was the representative.

He wondered if he would answer it, but because of his personality, it was clear that he would call until he answered, so Lee Wooyeon meekly pressed the answer button.

“Yes. CEO.”

“Isn’t there anything special that happened today?”

“Nothing happened.”

Lee Wooyeon took off the jacket he was wearing and threw it on the sofa and answered.

“How about the new kid?”

“Who? Ah, the manager.”

The idea of the new manager was completely forgotten as he climbed the elevator. Lee Wooyeon’s interest in other people was always at that level.

“He seem like a sincere and good person.”

As soon as he got out of the car, he cleaned the back seat. However, what Lee Wooyeon wanted was not a sincere and good manager. All he needed was a new manager every three months.

“Don’t say anything you don’t like. How is he? Is he okay? Do you think he will work for a long time?”

“Well. Whether he works for a long time or not is a matter of his own will.”

Lee Wooyeon sat down on the sofa, putting his fingers in the tie knot and untying it.

“You don’t have to bother me. There are limits to saving people.”

Because it was a relatively good position, there were many applicants. But it was impossible for anyone to use it.

“Yes. I wish he could stay longer this time.”

Without changing the color of his face, Lee Wooyeon told a blatant lie. He morbidly hated having a man by his side all the time. Moreover, no matter how talented Lee Wooyeon is at hiding himself, sometimes his other personality will stand out. The limit of hiding it was 3 months on the dot. It was around that time when the first manager gave out a disgusting smell in front of him and chewed squid in the car, and he couldn’t stand it and spit out abusive words, “You’re a fucking pig.” When the surprised manager stopped the car and asked what was going on, he said that he was recovering from reason and practicing the script, but Lee Wooyeon realized that his limits had been broken.

After that, the manager was replaced within three months by any means.

It didn’t matter who the new manager was to Lee Wooyeon. It was enough to change it at the right time.

“Hahaha. It will be long maybe.”

The voice of CEO Kim, who was smiling over the phone, was unusual. Lee Wooyeon asked why, briefly.

“He’s your fan.”

“Okay?”

“He said he was a complete fan. He has seen every single piece of your work.”

When working with celebrities, Lee Wooyeon, who had seen countless people say such things in order to get a good impression, ignored CEO Kim’s words.

“Good for me.”

“It will fit you well. Don’t nitpick for nothing, treat him well this time.”

It sounds like fun to treat him well. Lee Wooyeon replied that he would do so and ended the call.

When he came out of the living room after showering, Lee Wooyeon found that a text message had arrived. It was from the new manager.

“Hello. This is Choi Inseop. I got the cell phone number from manager Cha. I will be waiting for you in the parking lot at 6 am the day after tomorrow. Have a good night.”

At the last remark that a night server somewhere would send, Lee Wooyeon laughed. He turned on the audio and picked up the book he was reading yesterday. There was no one left in his mind.