“Yes, yes. Manager Kim. It’s been a while. For you to call me and all.”
There was an emergency in the troupe leader’s office.
Kim Sangcheol was busily taking a phone call while checking his inbox.
These days, Kim Sangcheol’s inbox had emails piling up to the point where he couldn’t handle it unless he sorted it out once a day.
“Yes, Siwoo? Goodness. How do you all know, and why are you all calling me? Haha.”
This was already the fourth call today.
Calls related to the troupe might come once or twice a day at most, but calls related to Han Siwoo were coming in by the dozen these days.
Having lived in the entertainment industry for a long time, his number had spread here and there among people in the business.
He hadn’t changed his phone number, thinking those connections might help his troupe life, and it was helping in a completely different way.
“Ah, yes. You sent it by email? I’ll check it and connect you to Siwoo’s side. Ah, of course. I know you, Manager Kim. I know you well. Yes, yes. Take care.”
Kim Sangcheol, in a daze, ended the call and stared at his computer screen.
His shoulder ached from holding the phone wedged against it.
“Ugh, ugh. Is this a troupe office or a management office, seriously…”
People who had even the slightest acquaintance with Kim Sangcheol were also sending proposals by registered mail.
Because of that, Kim Sangcheol’s table had a considerable pile of proposals asking to be delivered to Han Siwoo.
“Let’s see, let’s see…. A ton of emails again today.”
Rumors travel fast.
He hadn’t officially gone out and said anything, and it wasn’t written anywhere, but people in the entertainment industry already knew through word of mouth that Kim Sangcheol was taking care of actor Han Siwoo.
Thanks to that, Kim Sangcheol’s inbox was overflowing with proposals sent to Han Siwoo.
Starting with scouting offers from entertainment companies… requests to cast him on various programs, scripts, and all kinds of advertising proposals were piled high as well.
“This company’s too small…. And this one’s pay is way too stingy. They don’t even know how hot our Siwoo is. Tsk.”
Kim Sangcheol read through the emails at high speed.
He had been in the entertainment industry for a long time as well, so he knew exactly how things worked.
He was quite skilled at quickly skimming emails and sorting them out.
“Kids’ clothes, ice cream. Computers? Wow, Siwoo, you’re doing great.”
Whenever Kim Sangcheol found a type of advertisement offer he had never even received back in his own younger days, he let out a hollow laugh.
Thinking of the fame that little kid was stirring up lately, it was easy to understand.
The recent ratings for The Cactus Flower has Bloomed had surpassed 30%.
Even if you called it the power of the weekend evening golden time slot, it was an enormous number.
And it was a family drama by a rookie writer who had been unknown, at that.
Because of that, these days, weekend serial dramas on other stations besides KMB were all flopping, and everyone was gloomy about it.
“Wow. A casting offer for Writer Kim’s drama came in too? Ah, it’s only for when he’s a child actor.”
Kim Sangcheol quickly sorted out the usable proposals and pulled them into a separate pile.
Even after roughly organizing them, there were more than ten.
If it were an entertainment company that specialized in actor management, it would have been sorted even more systematically, but this was the limit for Kim Sangcheol.
It was done by instinct, but with his experience, that instinct was not useless.
“Man, this is rough. I can’t handle this anymore, can I?”
No matter how quickly he processed things, the afternoon had already flown by.
He was a troupe leader, and yet the phone was blowing up with inquiries about Han Siwoo, and he couldn’t do other work because he was sorting proposals.
It was only because it was Han Siwoo’s business. Otherwise, he would have gotten side eye from Kang Yonghwi or other troupe members.
Kim Sangcheol looked at the clock, let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes, and thought for a while.
How much time passed?
Kim Sangcheol opened his eyes, slowly picked up his phone, and called someone.
“Yeah, Donguk?”
Jingle, jingle.
I came to the Bisangcheol 777 leader’s office for the first time in a while.
The chamomile tea smell here is excellent again.
Since the weather was hot today, Kim Sangcheol specially put in lots of ice and brewed it cold for me.
“Mmm, it’s good.”
“Is it? You really like that bland stuff.”
“It smells nice.”
“…Fine. As long as you like it.”
Kim Sangcheol, whom I’d seen in a while, chuckled and patted my head.
Whew, Kim Sangcheol tends to ruffle my hair a bit too much, but since it’s been a while, I’ll endure it today.
As I sat nicely and received Kim Sangcheol’s affection, Mother, sitting beside me, asked first.
“Why did you call us in today?”
That’s right.
I had thought of dropping by the troupe once on a day off from filming, but before that, Kim Sangcheol contacted me first.
He told us to come to the troupe once.
And not just me, but Uncle and Mother too, all together.
With a happy heart, the moment I had a day off, I ran straight to Bisangcheol 777.
I was thinking I’d finish talking quickly and also stop by the practice room.
I had to show my face to all the many uncles and aunts I’d gained last time, too.
“Ah, it’s nothing big. I wanted to show you these, ma’am.”
Kim Sangcheol pulled out a prepared file binder and handed it to Mother.
Curious too, I stuck close to Mother as she opened it and looked over what was inside.
Proposals?
Seeing the thick stack of papers piled up in several layers, I tilted my head.
“Are these all offers that came in for Siwoo?”
It seemed Mother knew what the documents were the moment she saw them.
No, so what are all these?
I quickly looked at Kim Sangcheol with eyes begging him to explain.
Maybe he read my look, because Kim Sangcheol grinned with a pleased face and explained.
“Yes, that’s right. They’re casting proposals that came in for Siwoo. There are many kinds, like variety shows or dramas and so on, but what I selected and brought today are advertising proposals.”
“Gasp.”
“Advertisements…?”
Advertisements?
Does he mean those commercials that torment you before the drama starts?
But at the word “advertisements,” Uncle sucked in a breath in surprise.
Mom also looked quite startled.
What’s with them?
“Si-Siwoo. I guess you really became a star!”
“Mm?”
“Haha, that’s what I’m saying. Siwoo, advertisements are, you know. Not something just anyone gets to do, okay?”
“Really?”
The annoying commercials that went on endlessly right before a drama, or that interrupted right when you were watching a movie and it was getting good, were nothing but a nuisance.
If you’re curious, hurry up and show the next part already.
Because advertisements didn’t have a good image for me, I answered blandly, and Uncle was horrified.
“Siwoo, doing commercials is really a good thing, you know? It means your recognition has shot way up.”
“Recognition?”
“That’s right, Siwoo. It means your popularity with the public has gotten huge, so offers like this came in. I only picked out ten of these. There were even more small ads.”
My popularity went up?
Oh?
So getting commercial offers is proof that you’ve become that popular.
Meanwhile, Uncle, fixated on something completely different, looked like he was about to topple over from shock.
“Really? Leader?! Then the rest, you, you rejected….”
“I can’t decide everything on my own, so it’s not like I rejected them all. That’s why I called you, Donguk. We have to handle things quickly, but I can’t decide all the rejections by myself.”
“To reject commercials…!”
Watching Uncle make such a fuss, my thinking changed.
If he’s freaking out that much, it must really be a good thing… alright.
Now more interested than before, I quietly flipped through the proposals Mother was looking at.
From what I could see, there were logos for brands like sneakers and ice cream, with brief concept explanations attached.
“Haa, seriously. Seonwoo’s doing well these days too, you know. Looks like Bisangcheol is about to produce one more star.”
“Leader, your eye really is excellent.”
“Right?”
Kim Sangcheol and Uncle tossed words back and forth, laughing and getting excited.
Come to think of it, Kim Seonwoo had entered a drama at the start of this year.
In that drama he was a supporting role, but he left a strong impression there, and then he contacted us saying he’d landed a weekday drama lead in one shot this time.
As expected, my eye is accurate.
I thought he’d do well and seeing him doing well in dramas makes me feel proud.
I watched the drama that aired early this year, and I also contacted Kim Seonwoo.
“Does Seonwoo hyung do commercials too?”
“Of course. What was it. I think he said he’s filming for some outdoor brand.”
“Mmm. Heeseong ajusshi too?”
“Of course, Siwoo. Haven’t you seen it? Moon Heeseong appears pretty often.”
“Ah.”
Now that I think about it, he was in some pizza commercial a few days ago.
Maybe because I’m always chanting for commercials to end quickly, I didn’t pay attention.
“First, what I recommend is the cereal commercial you’re looking at now. The image is good, the synopsis has nothing provocative, and you know how Siwoo ate cereal so neatly in The Cactus Flower has Bloomed? I think they contacted us after seeing that, so there’s a connection too. For your first commercial, I think this one would be the best.”
“I see.”
While we were chatting excitedly, Mother must have reviewed all the proposals, because she set the file binder down while listening to Kim Sangcheol.
“The pay is decent too. There are higher ones, but those take too much time to film and I think Siwoo would have a hard time, so I recommend the cereal.”
“How much is it?”
Because he said it was decent, I asked Kim Sangcheol out of pure curiosity.
Then Kim Sangcheol shut his mouth.
After rolling his eyes for a moment, Kim Sangcheol looked at Mother and smiled.
“Haha, about the pay, I’ll tell you later when Siwoo isn’t here, ma’am.”
No, why?
It’s money I earned!
It was just pure curiosity, but when Kim Sangcheol said that, it made me want to know even more.
Maybe it’s because I’m still young… how do I get him to tell me.
“No, it’s fine. I think Siwoo himself should know how much he earns. Please tell us now.”
At Mother’s calm words, Kim Sangcheol’s eyes went round.
Mother!
As expected of my mother.
With a proud expression, I quickly scooted closer and nodded hard.
“Ah, I see. Siwoo’s mother is different. Other child actors’ mothers usually don’t let the child know how much they earn.”
“I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad method either. It’s just a different way of educating. I want our Siwoo to grow up knowing the monetary value of what he does, and what kind of influence that money has, and what kind of responsibility it requires.”
“Wow, as expected of my noona. Strong, really strong.”
At Mother’s clear, point by point explanation, Kim Sangcheol smiled and nodded, saying he understood.
Beside him, Uncle, admiring her on his own, gave a small clap.
I also nodded hard, thinking she was right.
Honestly, even in my previous life, I never managed money.
The ducal house had amassed an enormous fortune, but before I could know its scale properly as someone who was not the legitimate heir, I was confined to the tower.
Even before that, there was always someone else managing the assets.
Because of that, I never struggled because of money, and I never thought about value.
But this life would be different.
I grew up watching Mother and Father move diligently every morning to earn money.
For everything I eat and use.
Then in this life, I should pay attention to monetary value too.
I looked at Kim Sangcheol with sparkling eyes, urging him to tell me quickly.
“If you say it that strongly…. The profit from this cereal commercial is twenty million won. That’s the initial contract fee, and if it’s popular and gets extended, additional amounts will be discussed.”
“Wow.”
Twenty million won is… two thousand of Dad’s chickens!
(T/N: Haha! That’s a lot of chickens, Siwoo)
Excited, I looked at Mother.
Then I saw Mother’s eyes widen, as if she was a little surprised.
Oh, it must be a pretty big amount.
“Since you more or less know this world, ma’am, you probably know already…. For a child, this level of pay is really huge.”
“Yes, it is.”
Hearing that, I quickly raised my hand and said,
“I’ll do it!”
“Haha, you will?”
When I blurted it out at Kim Sangcheol, I felt a gentle hand on top of my head.
Thinking she was praising me, I looked up at Mother with a smile.
There was Mother’s face, looking somewhat bitter.
If I were a seven-year-old child, I might not know what that expression meant, but I could.
Worry and apology… a lot of emotions must be tangled together.
It’s okay, Mother.
I’ll make you live comfortably, no problem.
Instead of saying that out loud, I just put on the brightest smile I could and nodded.
“Mm. I think it’ll be fun.”
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