Fifteen years ago, Hong Ju Hee graduated from university without ever taking a leave of absence and immediately landed a job at a production company.
Her original dream was to become a drama PD. She had applied for the media exams during her final year of college but failed. Since her family was not well-off, Ju Hee quickly pivoted her career path and became a producer at a production house instead.
The company the then 23-year-old Ju Hee joined was NEW Studio, a subsidiary of NBN. Back then, it was a famous production company that stood shoulder-to-shoulder with TEN Entertainment, but it was now a tragic company that had been absorbed by TEN Ent.
Regardless, Ju Hee became the youngest member of the production team, filled with even more passion than she had now. As fate would have it, she was assigned to work under Jo Min-seong, who had been sent from the NBN headquarters to provide support.
Jo Min-seong was a genius who had passed the NBN open recruitment immediately after graduation. In the drama production team, he was known as the one who was ‘incredibly rude but good at his job.’
The drama they were working on at the time was Writer Oh Hee-kyung’s *The World They Live In*. This drama, which captured the joys and sorrows of people in the broadcasting industry, featured a supporting character exactly like Jo Min-seong. Because of this, rumors circulated that Jo Min-seong was copying the character after reading the script.
However, Hong Ju Hee knew better. That bastard wasn’t the type to have the decency to copy anyone; he was born with a natural, pure-bred rudeness.
“Hong! Are you even paying attention?”
This was a line that Ju Hee, for whom the drama and the set were all new, heard every single day.
Other variations included: “Then quit,” “How many people are suffering because of you alone?” and “How did you even get in here? Are you a connection hire?”
Back then, no one could even imagine a 52-hour work week. Everyone worked through the night to film. Working like a zombie without washing or sleeping, Ju Hee’s only source of strength was cursing Jo Min-seong in her heart as he poured blatant verbal abuse on her.
‘I’m going to freaking kill that bastard.’
The reason Jo Min-seong, of all people, became her only pillar of support was due to a very minor incident.
At the time, Ju Hee had no clear role on set. She was no different from a manual laborer who ran whenever she was called and did whatever she was told. She had to do everything, even things she didn’t know how to do.
The Assistant Director called Ju Hee and gave her a massive order: “There are no scenes left to put PPL in, so tell the writer to put it somewhere else.”
Thinking back now, the production department had passed the matter along, but the directing department had forgotten to include it. It was something they should have taken responsibility for. The Assistant Director, unable to speak up for fear of being scolded by the Director, had shifted the blame to the youngest member of the production company.
Naturally, there was nothing the youngest producer could do. Jo Min-seong, who had pried the situation out of a trembling and restless Ju Hee, snapped.
“Is this guy crazy? Who is he shifting the blame to? Put the PPL in that scene right now! Why are you telling the writer? Why should the production department take responsibility for something they forgot?!”
Under the conviction that ‘only I can bully my kid,’ he immediately ran to the Assistant Director and grabbed him by the collar.
From then on, the Assistant Director trembled and avoided not only Jo Min-seong but also Hong Ju Hee. Naturally, to the young Ju Hee, the devil-like Jo Min-seong suddenly looked like an angel.
Of course, thinking about it now, she might suspect it was a form of gaslighting. However, excluding his personality, he had a magnificent appearance on par with a celebrity, so perhaps it was a predestined outcome.
In the end, Ju Hee fell hard for Jo Min-seong, who was five years older than her. Their story began like that at a filming location in the countryside.
A heavily intoxicated Ju Hee suddenly confessed her feelings to Jo Min-seong. Faced with his subordinate’s confession attack, the perfectly fine Jo Min-seong showed a gentle gaze instead of his usual cursing for the first time, telling her they should talk once she sobered up.
The next day, when an awkward Ju Hee hesitated and avoided him, Jo Min-seong strangely didn’t press her and waited calmly. As he treated her with warmth and consideration, Ju Hee eventually had no choice but to bite the bait despite her embarrassment.
“You said you liked me, right? I’m going to think about this seriously, too.”
At the words that he would no longer see her as a junior but as a woman, Ju Hee lost her string of reason and kissed Jo Min-seong. Having already committed the act, Ju Hee replied boldly.
“Go ahead and think about it, seriously.”
Jo Min-seong, whose face turned strangely red, officially confessed to Ju Hee not long after. The two of them dated for eight years.
***
“It’s tough, isn’t it?”
Jo Min-seong, who had followed Ju Hee out for a brief breath of fresh air, handed her a bottle of honey tea with a very kind face, just like fifteen years ago.
“You like this.”
Ju Hee’s mind was already complicated because Jo Min-seong’s sudden visit had brought back old memories. She accepted the still-warm glass bottle and complained.
“You should have told me to run away back then. As a senior in the industry, you must have known I’d suffer like hell in this rough drama world. Did you just watch?”
“Would you have stopped if I told you to?”
“……Probably not.”
“Right. Knowing your personality, you would have done it even more if I told you not to. Your nickname was Stubborn Hong, after all.”
Ju Hee scoffed, giving him a pointless rebuke and telling him not to act like he knew everything about her.
“But you know, I might have quit the drama industry back then if it weren’t for you.”
Jo Min-seong laid out the incredibly important statement calmly, as if it were an everyday remark like asking what she wanted for lunch.
Jo Min-seong also had more than a few moments when he wanted to quit while working on dramas. On the surface, he was someone who succeeded and achieved many things. But the reason he put ‘rudeness’ at the forefront was partly because of his fragile personality that was easily hurt.
When he met Ju Hee, Jo Min-seong’s father was very ill, and he had seriously considered quitting the company to take care of him in the countryside. However, he couldn’t bring himself to quit and leave the bumbling Ju Hee behind. Most of all, seeing her sincerity toward dramas made him realize how much he loved them as well.
Fortunately, his father’s surgery went well, and he was able to immerse himself in dramas after that. It was no coincidence that Jo Min-seong had developed feelings for Ju Hee.
“Why are you only telling me this now? Is your father healthy these days?”
“Of course. He’s sturdier than I am.”
As long-term lovers often do, the two of them were lost in nostalgia for a while.
“I’m not worried. You’re the great Stubborn Hong. Even if the sky falls, you’ll always find a way to rise.”
Jo Min-seong stood up from the bench and reached out a hand to Ju Hee.
“If you ever need my help, just say the word. We’re close enough for that, aren’t we?”
Ju Hee knew. Jo Min-seong’s words were always what filled her self-esteem.
Ju Hee took his hand and asked, “Min-seong. Are you going up today?”
“Huh?”
“Are you going back to Seoul?”
***
Early in the morning, Ju Hee peeked out of her room door and quickly scanned the surroundings.
“There’s no one. Come out quickly.”
Jo Min-seong, wearing the same clothes as yesterday, crept out. After confirming there was no sign of anyone in the long resort hallway, Ju Hee gestured quietly.
“See you later.”
“Go, hurry!”
With that, Jo Min-seong quickly disappeared into the room two doors down. Ju Hee let out a sigh of relief and was about to close the door when the door directly across from her swung open and Lee Junghyuk walked out.
“W-W-Writer?!”
When the usually unflappable Ju Hee started stuttering rapidly, Lee Junghyuk asked with concern, “CEO. Is something wrong?”
“O-Oh… No? Haha. Good morning. Shall we go get breakfast?”
“I’d love to.”
Ju Hee said she would just wash her face and come right out, then hurried back into her room. She quickly checked to see if Jo Min-seong had left anything behind. Finding two socks under the vanity, Ju Hee stuffed them roughly into her pocket, finished washing her face with just water, and came back out.
“Huh?”
However, Jo Min-seong was standing there, talking to Lee Junghyuk.
Jo Min-seong also gave Ju Hee a nod with a very awkward face. It seemed he had come back to look for a missing sock and ran into Lee Junghyuk.
“There you are. Let’s all go eat together.”
For some reason, Lee Junghyuk led the way with a grin. Ju Hee followed behind him, hurriedly handing the socks in her pocket to Jo Min-seong.
“You know, if the two people I know were to get married, I plan to give a very generous wedding gift.”
“Cough!”
While they were all gathered together eating breakfast, Lee Junghyuk suddenly spoke up with a bright smile. Thanks to that, Ju Hee, who was eating toast, had a severe coughing fit after the food went down the wrong pipe.
“Haha. It would be quite nice if such a thing happened.”
Jo Min-seong, who maintained a relatively good poker face, tried to smooth over the situation.
“By the way, Director Jo, why did you come here?”
“Pardon? Didn’t the writer call you?”
“I didn’t call him.”
Jo Min-seong’s neck and ears began to turn red as he barely maintained his poker face.
“Ahem. I was worried that the project you’re working on might go to H Studio first, so, yes, I came to appeal that TEN Ent can do a better job. Yes, that’s why I came.”
“Well, whatever the reason. I’m just grateful that everyone is working so hard for the recovery of God Media.”
Lee Junghyuk gave a benevolent smile to the stuttering Jo Min-seong. Ju Hee and Jo Min-seong watched Lee Junghyuk as he nonchalantly scooped up some scrambled eggs.
‘Of all people, we had to get caught by him.’
‘What a terrifying man.’
***
General Manager of Strategic Planning Kim Gil-tae visited CEO Jeon Minjeong’s office on the top floor of the headquarters to report on the situation at CL Media.
“What is all this?”
Jeon Minjeong asked as she flipped through the approval documents Kim Gil-tae had handed her. It was a paper listing the detailed backgrounds of several people.
“This is information on those called ‘Lee Junghyuk’s Division’ in the industry. It includes actors An Yoo Seok, Seojiwon, and Cheon Na Young, as well as Director Kim Seung-pyo, Hong Ju Hee, and Jo Min-seong.”
“And what are we going to do with this?”
Kim Gil-tae explained in detail what pressure would be applied to their current projects and future paths.
“A passage in *The Art of War* says, ‘Capturing the enemy’s city without attacking it.’ It means taking the enemy’s fortress without a direct assault.”
“Ah. So you’re saying, Manager, that we should cut off his arms and legs so his body can’t move?”
“An army without troops is an army in name only.”
“Wow. Our manager is quite a scary person.”
Jeon Minjeong burst into laughter and stroked her cheek as if satisfied.
“A capable person like you should have been in our media company much sooner.”
Jeon Minjeong led Kim Gil-tae to a display case of luxurious watches.
“Would you like to pick one? I want to give our Manager Kim a gift.”
Kim Gil-tae bowed his head and said he would gratefully accept it once everything was settled. It was the composure of a man who was certain that while the watch he could receive now was in the middle row, the watch he would receive later would be from the very top row.
“I’m looking forward to it. I wonder which watch will end up on our Manager Kim’s wrist.”