An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 10

#3 – HS Entertainment (1)

Three days later.

Beep.

“That’ll be fifteen thousand won [approximately $11.50 USD]. Do you need a bag?”

“Hello?”

The customer answered their phone, ignoring me.

Couldn’t they put their card in while on the phone?

“Oh, really? You’re out now? Wow.”

I stood there blankly, listening to the customer’s conversation with one ear and letting it pass through the other.

In the meantime, two more customers lined up behind them, and I politely asked,

“Excuse me, but other customers are waiting.”

“Yes, I’m going to. Hello? No, tell me. Really? Then I won’t buy it. I was just about to pay.”

My brow furrowed for a moment.

“Excuse me. I won’t pay. Can I just leave this here?”

Before I could answer yes or no, the customer had already left.

Ha….

There was no time to be upset.

Because another customer was standing behind me.

“I’ll help you with your purchase.”

A few minutes passed, and the convenience store was empty.

I took out a business card from my wallet.

Then, I stared blankly at the business card.

I’m curious about the reward….

But more important than the reward was the work itself.

Other than ‘casting offer,’ nothing else came to mind.

They told me to contact them, but would I look like a gold digger if I called?

Well, they told me to call first, so shouldn’t I at least give it a try?

I walked away from the counter, checked that there were no customers while circling the aisles.

Then, I called the number on the business card.

-Hello?

The call connected before the third ring.

I guess they value phone calls because of their profession?

“Hello, this is Jin Hee-sung. You gave me your business card last time….”

-Yes! I know, Hee-sung. I was waiting for you to call. I was worried you wouldn’t because you felt pressured.

“I’m sorry. I tend to overthink things.”

-I’m just kidding. Since you called, let’s meet soon. When are you free? Or, where do you live?

Team Leader Choi quickly fired off questions as if they had been waiting for this.

“I live in Sillim [a district in Seoul].”

-Sillim? That’s close to the company. Our company is in Hongdae [another district in Seoul]. I’d like to meet and talk. When is a good time? I’ll come to you right away.

“No, I’ll go to the company.”

-Oh, no. I should go to you, Hee-sung.

It’s not that I’m not used to being treated well, but I had another purpose.

“It’s not that… I wanted to see HS Entertainment.”

-Hahaha, great. Then when is convenient for you?

***

HS Entertainment.

Along with WG Entertainment, where my classmate Park Min-joon is, HS Entertainment is one of the top 3 entertainment companies in Korea.

It’s a place where idols [K-pop singers] are strong compared to WG Entertainment.

Although the pool of actors is a bit smaller, there are no unknown actors among the few they have.

It can be said that it’s a company that definitely supports its actors.

Just last year, HS Entertainment’s actors swept the year-end awards.

In addition, this year, HS Entertainment’s actors were a part of famous dramas and movies.

They said they wanted to talk about work, so I had some expectations.

But I decided not to think that it was necessarily related to a contract.

Because if I expect too much, I’ll be disappointed.

I didn’t think they would offer a contract after seeing only a bit of my acting as a minor actor, especially in ‘Yellow Flower’.

I had to listen to the reason.

I opened the lobby door of HS Entertainment and went inside.

A high ceiling and a wide-open lobby.

On one side, there was a large cafe.

And outside the cafe’s glass window, there were many fans.

Unlike general entertainment companies, it was full of fans of affiliated idols.

They seemed to be waiting near the parking lot, watching the cars coming and going.

Being a fan of someone….

It was just a story from a faraway land for me.

I didn’t know where to go and was looking around when it happened.

“Hee-sung!”

Team Leader Choi waved at me from afar and ran towards me.

“Hello, Team Leader.”

“I told you to call when you arrived, I would have come down right away. Why were you standing here?”

“Haha, I just arrived. I was looking around the lobby of a good company in advance.”

“Shall we go up then? I’ll properly introduce you to the company.”

“Okay.”

Beep.

When Team Leader Choi scanned their employee ID at the entrance, the transparent barrier opened to both sides.

“Come this way.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, I didn’t expect you to contact me after three days. Are you the type to play hard to get, Hee-sung?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. As I said, I had a lot to think about.”

“Hahaha, I’m just kidding.”

“But you’re Song Yu-na’s manager, right?”

“Yes, I’ve been in charge of Yu-na for quite a while.”

Ding-dong.

The elevator door opened, and only the two of us boarded.

And after confirming that no one else was getting on, Team Leader Choi lowered their voice and spoke quietly.

“That friend is so picky that only I can handle them. Haha.”

I knew it was half a joke, but considering Song Yu-na’s personality, I nodded, thinking it was possible.

Soon, the elevator arrived at the highest floor.

The sight that unfolded as soon as the elevator door opened made me gasp.

“This is the lounge.”

“Wow! You’re using an entire floor for the lounge?”

The interior was so free and unique that I wondered if this was really a company.

Moreover, there were countless people resting freely and peacefully on countless sofas.

And the panoramic view of Seoul that could be seen completely through the four-sided glass windows.

At the end, there was a large door.

“What is that door?”

“Would you like to see? If you go out there, it’s another new world.”

When I opened the door wide, lush trees and colorful flowers were in full bloom, as if I had come to a small botanical garden.

A terrace like this on the rooftop.

No, it was such a huge scale that I felt sorry for even calling it a terrace.

“Affiliated celebrities come up here to rest while practicing, and employees come up here to rest whenever they work. Coffee, drinks, and food are naturally provided in the lounge, and… even alcohol.”

“Wow, it must be great to work here.”

Team Leader Choi raised one corner of their mouth as if to say it was too early to be surprised.

“Seeing your reaction, Hee-sung, I want to introduce you more. Shall we go down?”

I nodded as if possessed.

The elevator arrived at the floor Team Leader Choi pressed, and as soon as the door opened, a delicious smell hit my nose.

“Is this the cafeteria floor?”

“That’s right. The company cafeteria that our CEO put the most effort into. All food is mainly made of organic and eco-friendly ingredients.”

“Wow!”

“It’s natural that the food is different for every meal.”

A large weekly menu was posted at the entrance.

It wasn’t like a school lunch menu.

These were foods that seemed to have brought all of the Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Western cuisine from a hotel.

Moreover, the cafeteria that serves this kind of food wasn’t in the basement but on a high floor.

Of course, the view was so amazing that no further explanation was needed.

If it were a restaurant with this kind of view, the food would cost at least hundreds of thousands of won [hundreds of US dollars].

Ah, of course, it seemed like meals were served on trays, as in any other cafeteria.

After that, Team Leader Choi showed me the recording studio, script practice room, and dance studio.

About an hour after finishing the tour of the company building.

Team Leader Choi quickly checked their wristwatch, then pointed to the second floor with their hand.

“Shall we go to the conference room now?”

“Yes, great.”

It seemed like they were going to start telling me about it in earnest.

Come to think of it, I was so busy looking around the HS Entertainment building that I didn’t even ask why they called me.

That’s because anyone who comes to the HS building for the first time would be amazed by its incredible scale.

When I arrived at the conference room, drinks and snacks were already set up in my seat.

“Hee-sung, please sit down.”

“Yes.”

“First of all, I want to give you something in return for your help last time.”

Team Leader Choi rummaged through their suit pocket and took out an envelope.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to.”

I pushed the envelope away with both hands.

They shook their head and pushed the envelope back towards me.

“No, this is nothing compared to what you did for Yu-na. Please accept it.”

“Still, this is a bit….”

I didn’t know how much was in the envelope, but I couldn’t just accept it, so I refused again.

Then, they looked at me with a firm expression and replied.

“No, you can accept it. You know Song Yu-na’s worth. If Yu-na had been hurt that day, I….”

Then, they smiled and forcibly put the envelope in my hand.

“I would have really gone to hell. So please accept it.”

In the end, I replied with a bow.

“Thank you.”

Then, I shifted my gaze to the envelope.

“You can open it right away if you’re curious. You’re going to see it anyway. Haha.”

At their words, as if telling me to look now, I slightly opened the end of the envelope and looked inside.

Inside, there was a department store gift certificate worth 1 million won [approximately $770 USD], not cash.

“…No, Team Leader. This is too much.”

“You shouldn’t say it’s too much with this.”

“Yes?”

“You remember I said I wanted to talk about work, right?”

“Yes….”

Just as they had been waiting, the conference room door opened with a knock.

“Hello, Jin Hee-sung?”

Looking at the person entering with a benevolent expression, I automatically stood up from my seat.

“I’m Team Leader Park Han-woong.”

Oh, wait a minute.

Team Leader Park Han-woong…?

I’ve seen him several times in interviews introducing HS Entertainment.

I knew he was affiliated with HS Entertainment, but I never thought I’d meet him like this.

I bent over and greeted him.

“Hello. I’m Jin Hee-sung.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

Team Leader Park naturally came to me and sat down.

Then, after exchanging glances with Team Leader Choi, he immediately got to the point.

“I’ve been watching Hee-sung’s acting well on TV.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re a good actor. You were by far the best of the bodyguards I’ve seen.”

Team Leader Park continued to speak non-stop with a bright smile.

“The bodyguard who protected Yu-na, or rather, protected the princess. I always monitor it, so I don’t tend to get immersed in the role.

But before I knew it, I was immersed in the drama and watching it? Haha.”

“That’s high praise, Team Leader.”

“So….”

Team Leader Park leaned over the table.

Then, he widened his eyes and proposed to me.

“How about working with us?”

At his words, my eyes widened as if they would pop out.

“We at HS Entertainment will properly support you. We want to let people know about Hee-sung’s acting, its true value, at HS Entertainment.”

Team Leader Choi, who was sitting next to me, added.

“That’s right. Hee-sung’s acting skills support you, so we just want to help Hee-sung a little bit.”

To praise my acting skills was more valuable than any other compliment.

In addition, my heart started to pound at the words that they really wanted to sign a contract.

Team Leader Park seemed to know my heart and continued his comments without a break.

“Our management staff can’t stand to see such a gem buried.”

Then, he opened the prepared file and handed it to me.

“What is this?”

“Open it.”

When I opened the file, the first thing that caught my eye was the large letters that read ‘Contract’.

“The percentage can’t be adjusted, but the contract fee… we added a little more as a sign of gratitude for this matter.”

The contract fee usually given to rookie actors is around 2 million to 3 million won [approximately $1,540 to $2,300 USD].

If they added a little more, how much did they add?

I immediately checked the contract fee written at the bottom of the contract.

…10 million won [approximately $7,700 USD]?

“No, this….”

When I was speechless after seeing the amount, Team Leader Park smiled and replied.

“I told you to express gratitude with money.”