Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 162

The Memories of a Former Hero (6)

* * *

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

A Korean restaurant with a pond.

In the same place where a secret contract was made a few years ago, two men sat facing each other.

Noh Joong-man, CEO of Roman Entertainment, and Jin Gyu-il, Executive Director of C&J Media Group.

Jin Gyu-il, who had risen from the head of the Strategic Planning Department to CEO, stroked his chin.

“I’ve heard it’s a popular place. I used to come here quite often too.”

“It was here, in this very spot, that I signed a contract with that friend. I tried so hard to bring him in.”

Both men knew very well who CEO Noh was referring to as ‘that friend.’

Jin Gyu-il poured tea and offered a cup.

“Congratulations. He’s a loyal friend without greed, so he won’t leave for the time being.”

“Well, it’s his freedom. Congratulations to you, CEO Jin. You got rid of the title of department head in less than three years.”

“I was just lucky.”

Jin Gyu-il humbly accepted the words. After several rounds of tea and alcohol, when the atmosphere was ripe, the main purpose of the meeting came out.

“Is an acquisition possible?”

Noh Joong-man shook his head.

“The probability is low. Even if this is resolved and the stock price plummets, the Fair Trade Commission [a governmental agency that promotes fair competition] will intervene.”

“What if it’s not Roman, but our C&J?”

“Then there will be even greater checks. The chunk is too big to eat without any problems.”

Jin Gyu-il frowned, looking at the USB chip that Noh Joong-man had placed on the desk.

“It’s the right time to draw the sword, but…”

Those materials, filling 2 terabytes in that chip, were the last card to bring down DG.

In the past… when paparazzi surrounding Park Geon and Baek Ha-ni were rampant, DG’s Director Cha In-hyuk suddenly disappeared.

He received severance pay and retired, he was dumped by Byun Dong-geun, he was harmed by someone…

Among the many rumors, Noh Joong-man knew only one truth.

‘Deal with it yourself… I didn’t collect it with this in mind, but.’

One night, Cha In-hyuk, who suddenly came to him, handed over this USB and staggered away.

He looked like he had been beaten up, but I didn’t bother asking who had done it.

Noh Joong-man looked down at his glass and muttered.

“I thought this day would come someday. Joinus is just a bystander, so it will surely be an all-out war with DG.”

“I heard you have a lot of debts to settle with Byun Dong-geun.”

“We were both eager to get our hands on each other. I wanted to normalize this industry, and that guy thought my existence was an obstacle to his kingdom.”

“Indeed, I’ve heard. You contacted the celebrities tied to malicious contracts one by one and helped them.”

From Roman’s first launch to growing in size, how many ups and downs there were.

The data that had been collected to stand against DG, combined with Cha In-hyuk’s USB, became a definite sword.

Moreover, that dinosaur is now in its weakest state since its birth. The key is how to wield the sword in your hand.

“It’s a shame that actor Park isn’t here. If that friend were here, he would have come up with another extraordinary idea.”

Jin Gyu-il, pushing up his newly changed rimless glasses, said with regret.

He had also checked all the contents of the chip.

It contained evidence of artists’ drug use and illegal gambling that had not yet been exposed, as well as evidence of tax evasion and double books that Byun Dong-geun had embezzled.

Surely Cha In-hyuk didn’t trust his boss either. Seeing that he prepared a bomb to turn the company upside down.

‘If I detonate that, the stock will plummet…’

They are businessmen, not soldiers. They have to think of a way to scrape together even one penny and bring it into the vault, rather than throwing money into the sea.

Noh Joong-man also nodded.

“Maybe he would have. He might have said something like, ‘Divide it in half and acquire it.'”

It was half a joke, but Jin Gyu-il seemed to have come up with another idea.

He rested his chin on his hand and remained silent for a while, then suddenly leaned forward and asked.

“It might be possible.”

“…What?”

In Jin Gyu-il’s eyes, a businessman-like light flashed.

“If it’s too big of a pie, we can increase the number of mouths.”

*

has surpassed ten million [viewers].

Six weeks after its release, it’s showing an unusual pace compared to other ten-million-viewer movies.

In addition to word-of-mouth from viewers, rave reviews from film critics, and the boast of being #1 at the US box office, the news that the lead actor was bedridden drew people to theaters, regardless of who they were.

Thanks to this, small and large theaters in Seoul, as well as in the provinces, lit up actively for the first time in a while.

[Domestic cinemas… Activation for the first time in a while, supported by the US box office #1]

[“Oh, God!” Why did Sam Hauer, the master of action, sigh?]

[US box office #1 for 3 weeks… What is the guarantee going to lead actor Park Geon?]

Those involved gathered in groups of three or five and predicted how much the production team over there would sweep away.

Although the exact contract terms are unknown, assuming a running guarantee, the amount the actor will take is truly astronomical.

In addition, goods such as God cards, God toy guns, and God clothing are selling like wildfire.

Considering that Roman Entertainment recently opened a pop store in Seongsu [a trendy neighborhood in Seoul], the reputation of being a ‘walking one-person company’ is not an exaggeration.

And Sunday afternoon.

“Hello, RaccoonGeon-nim [term of endearment]!”

“It’s been a while. YeolHyeolMinju-nim [fan nickname], where is the chief manager… Ah, there he comes.”

Staff members of Park Geon’s fan cafe ‘YeolHyeolGeon’ [meaning ‘Passionate Geon’] gathered, including original member Han Ji-young.

There were four people gathered today. Originally there were five, but one person in Busan attended the staff meeting using a video camera in a laptop.

“The cafe has grown a lot these days.”

“Offline meetings are also active by region. Now is the time to set the atmosphere well and show that it is different from other fandoms.”

“Ah, the joint meal truck for agency actors. Let’s decide on the leader and scale and handle it neatly. Not too excessive.”

The discussion about the cafe’s current issues, which had been going on for about ten minutes, soon ended.

Because there was nothing to talk about.

“······.”

It’s a regular meeting, so we gathered, but there’s nothing really on the agenda. The actor isn’t working on a project, and there’s no need for public opinion warfare right now.

Antis [anti-fans]?

The huge YeolHyeolGeon fandom alone ends most fights.

Malicious comments?

With fans from all over the world flocking in, it’s hard to find Korean in Park Geon’s articles.

So, the staff started doing what they had been doing in group chats for the past few weeks, that is, small talk.

“Did you watch YouTube? The one that was uploaded last night.”

“Hey, sister. Of course I watched it. I even changed my phone. I subscribe to all of Roman’s celebrities’ YouTube channels, just in case the alarm doesn’t go off.”

The oldest staff member, known as the queen bee, happily took out her cell phone.

“A past life experience is a bit random, but I liked it. I guess it’s because it’s the first official activity since the last fan meeting.”

“Ah, the chemistry with actor Choi Phillip was no joke. I wish he would film a lot with other colleagues too…”

Han Ji-young also let out a regretful voice. After the hospital visit article became a hot topic, Park Geon, who had been reclusive, showed his face for the first time in a while.

The place he appeared was Choi Phillip’s YouTube channel.

It was content where Park Geon, Choi Phillip, and even the managers had a past life experience with a hypnotist.

-What, why is this person so fine?

-Expert, is something wrong? Our brother’s past life was so spectacular!

-I, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because he has a strong mentality, but there are some people like that sometimes…

From the surprised people around him to Park Geon with a calm face, and even the hypnotist sweating profusely, it was truly a mess, but the fans cheered.

“Anyway, I’m glad there are so many good people around him. He seems to be much better.”

“That’s right. He can rest comfortably for several years, so I hope he recovers his body and mind before his work.”

“Speaking of which, he’s been overworked since his debut. There was no gap between projects, and he had the most screen time, so he must be exhausted.”

The staff are also fans after all. They should rest until the end of this year, or just raise their value by filming commercials… While fan-filled conversations were going on, someone suddenly poured cold water.

“But… I don’t think he’s going to rest?”

Soon, a gloomy nod spread.

“…That’s right. With Geon oppa’s [term for older brother/male friend] personality.”

“He’s someone who does something even while resting. He’s probably looking for his next project right now, picking out things that are bigger in scale than his previous work.”

“Don’t overdo it, please…!”

*

The doorbell rang.

Geon, who was cleaning up the leftover delivery food, went to the front door.

Just a few minutes ago, Gu Shin-seung came over to hang out and have dinner together. Did he leave something behind? But the face on the intercom was not Gu Shin-seung.

-What are you doing, not opening it?

“······.”

Geon sighed a little and opened the front door. Baek Ha-ni, wearing sunglasses, walked in like it was her own house after opening the apartment door and then the house door.

“Can I come in? I heard everyone has stopped by at least once.”

“…You’re already in here.”

“Ah, I got tired of waiting.”

Recently, he moved from the officetel [a studio apartment often used as an office] that CEO Noh Joong-man had found for him to a slightly larger apartment.

While close people were visiting for housewarming parties, Baek Ha-ni had no news, but she belatedly received the address and came to visit.

Geon poured a glass of water and handed it over.

“What’s going on? I heard you’re looking for a new project.”

Baek Ha-ni took off her sunglasses and hung them on the collar of her blouse.

“I came to see if you’re doing well. I heard that housewarming parties are popular at our company these days? I heard Team Leader Gong went last week too.”

“Gu Shin-seung was just here, didn’t you see him on your way here?”

“I saw him. I didn’t bother to acknowledge him because it was annoying.”

Baek Ha-ni, who declared confidently, finally looked around the living room and was horrified.

“…Wait, but what is all this?”

In the living room of the 34-pyeong [approximately 1200 square feet] apartment, including the three rooms with open doors, white mountains were made of script bundles.

There were piles of paper scattered on the black, long sofa, the Italian rug that Director Lee gave as a gift, and the dining table where Gu Shin-seung had just had lunch.

Geon replied as a matter of fact.

“These are the scripts I’m looking at these days.”

“It’s not a printing factory, what crazy writer piles up this many scripts and looks at them!”

“That’s why I moved.”

Baek Ha-ni asked back as if she had misheard.

“What did you say?”

“The old officetel didn’t have enough space. I talked to Seon-i to bring in as much as possible, so I chose one of the apartments nearby.”

“Really, I knew you weren’t in your right mind, but…”

Geon shrugged.

“I’ve been resting for a long time, so I have to see them as soon as possible.”

It’s already been over two months since was released.

The public’s interest was still boiling, but the shock of the premiere had largely disappeared.

Was it because I told my old story to my closest sibling? Even though I felt the end… or the truth was right in front of me, my heart was at peace.

Isn’t it time to turn the last chapter as a former hero and ten million actor?

“Tell me if you need anything. I have to read half of this section by today.”

Baek Ha-ni’s voice grabbed him as he tried to bury himself in the script again.

“…Tell me honestly. You weren’t sick, were you?”

“I was sick.”

“Where?”

“My heart.”

A question arose in Baek Ha-ni’s eyes.

“No way. Did you get scammed by someone? If you were trying to buy a building and lost something like 1 billion [Korean won, approximately $750,000 USD], I would solve it for you…”

“There was a close colleague.”

There’s no need to explain it at length, but there’s no reason to hide it now. Geon added briefly.

“But I don’t know if that friend betrayed me or not. So I was confused.”

“······.”

Baek Ha-ni seemed rarely embarrassed. She fiddled with the temples of her sunglasses for a while, then suddenly snatched the script he was holding.

“Let’s go out. Let’s go drink.”

“Let’s do that. I don’t mind eating either.”

The person who suggested drinking and the person who agreed stared at each other’s faces intently.

Ha, Baek Ha-ni, who made a sound, turned her gaze away first and grumbled softly.

“…I don’t even care about scandals anymore.”

“What did you say?”

“I know what you heard. Leave that damn script behind, I’ll introduce you to a place.”

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