—A leave of absence application has been received.
Seeing the message on the monitor, Han Seongtae nodded in satisfaction.
“You confirmed it, right?”
“Yes, thank you.”
At the counter sat a woman.
A student at Hanguk University, someone who worked under a professor.
She gave Han Seongtae a smiling squint of her eyes and shook her head.
“No, it’s not even anything difficult.”
And my eyes got a treat too.
She muttered so softly Han Seongtae could not hear it.
Han Seongtae watched the shape of her mouth and felt puzzled.
“What did you say? I didn’t catch it.”
“I was just talking to myself. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Ah, okay.”
At her words, Han Seongtae smiled and nodded.
‘Now I really can focus only on my work.’
He had submitted a leave of absence request to the university he attended.
Now that the application had just been processed, one thing Han Seongtae had to worry about was gone.
Now it felt like he could go abroad without any concern.
“Ah, and also, could you sign here, please. The pen is here.”
“Yes, of course.”
Han Seongtae nodded at once and took the pen she handed him.
A sheet of paper was held out in front of him.
Just as Han Seongtae was about to sign it…
“My name is Kim Yeonje.”
“Yes… huh?”
He could not help but freeze at Kim Yeonje’s voice as he was about to sign.
Why was she suddenly saying her name?
Han Seongtae thought the signature he was doing right now was part of the leave of absence paperwork.
But looking at Kim Yeonje’s expression, it seemed that was not the case.
“I’m a fan of yours, Seongtae.”
“Ah.”
Realizing he had misunderstood, Han Seongtae could only smile awkwardly.
Swoosh, swoosh.
Han Seongtae drew a signature that included Kim Yeonje’s name.
“Could you write ‘Be happy’ under it too?”
“Of course.”
It was only adding a couple more words, so what was there he could not do?
Han Seongtae immediately added the “Be happy” line she asked for.
And Kim Yeonje, now holding his autograph, wore a blissful expression.
“Thank you! I’m going to frame this!”
“Haha. Then, am I good to go now?”
“Yes! You’re all done. Please go carefully!”
“Yes.”
“Always fighting! I’m always cheering for you. Please make lots of great works!”
“Thank you for cheering me on. I’ll work hard. Take care.”
With her encouragement behind him, Han Seongtae was able to leave the administrative office.
“Whew…”
For the next year, he would not have to come to school anymore.
On the way out toward the main gate of Hanguk University…
“Hey, hey, that’s Han Seongtae.”
“If I ask for a photo, he won’t take one, right?”
“Wow, the fit is just different. I’m jealous, so jealous.”
Every time he moved a step, people’s gazes followed after him.
Click, click.
At the sound of photos being taken, an awkward smile formed on Han Seongtae’s lips.
Because of <Baeknyeoncho> and the <Haru> teaser, even more people recognized him now.
At this point, it would be hard to even walk around campus comfortably.
‘Time really got to this point already.’
After walking for a while, Han Seongtae checked the time and realized he had lost quite a bit of it, so he quickened his pace.
Normally he would have strolled home or gone to work out, but today he had a meeting at the company.
Three days ago.
Jung Dusik had called and told him to come in, saying they needed to discuss something related to Netflix.
Today was that day.
There was not much time left until the appointment.
Han Seongtae hurried straight toward the company.
“Dusik and the team leader are in that conference room. Someone from Netflix came.”
The moment Han Seongtae entered the office, people approached and spoke to him.
Han Seongtae told the people giving him information thank you, then headed for the conference room.
Knock, knock.
He let out a slow breath, then knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The moment Min Najeong’s voice came from inside, he opened the door and went in.
“Welcome.”
“Hello, Team Leader. I was worried I might be too late.”
The time Han Seongtae arrived was right up against the appointment time.
“I had something to do, so I went to the university, but I didn’t think it would run this late.”
“It’s fine. You’re not ridiculously late. You made it on time. Don’t just stand there, come sit.”
“Come over here, Seongtae.”
At Min Najeong’s words, Jung Dusik made space for him.
Han Seongtae followed them and sat down.
“You went to the university. You took a leave, right?”
“Yes.”
“It got processed?”
“It was processed right there. Starting today, I’m on leave.”
“Good.”
The moment he sat down, Jung Dusik spoke up, and Han Seongtae calmly answered his questions.
Han Seongtae had told the company he would be applying for a leave of absence.
Because an actor’s image was extremely important.
For things like a leave of absence, which could easily become known or turn into rumors, it was only natural to report it to the company.
“Then now you can focus entirely on your work.”
“Yes.”
At Min Najeong’s words, Han Seongtae nodded immediately.
“Good. I was worried you’d be having a hard time juggling university and work.”
“Thank you for always looking out for me.”
“It’s not like I did that much. You handle things well on your own.”
The atmosphere in the conference room was warm.
Han Seongtae liked this atmosphere.
“Han, I don’t know if Dusik told you, but Netflix is going to make a video with the Haru actors this time.”
“A video?”
“Yes. It’ll go up on MeTube, and it’s this.”
Min Najeong took out her smartphone, searched for something, and immediately showed it to Han Seongtae.
‘Ah, this.’
Han Seongtae knew exactly what video she was showing him.
It was a type of video where they brought in actors from Netflix productions and showed their everyday selves.
People had responded fairly well to seeing actors in a different light from their roles.
‘Maybe because it’s still early, the max is 700,000.’
The highest view count Han Seongtae remembered for Netflix’s MeTube videos was 6 million.
There were many videos over 1 million too.
But right now, maybe because it was still early in the channel’s run, the views were not that high yet.
“It’s at 700,000 views recently, but people’s reactions are good, so I think it wouldn’t be bad for you to do it too.”
“Yes, I think so.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae nodded.
It was only early now, but in a year…
No, even in half a year, these videos could go over a million.
“So, what do you think, want to do it? It’ll still take time before you go overseas. You took a leave too, so you don’t have anything immediate to do.”
“That’s true.”
“I know you practice, but it wouldn’t be bad to try something like this either. If you say okay, we can go straight into filming.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Like you said, I don’t have anything scheduled right now. It’ll be good to communicate with fans too.”
Han Seongtae had no intention of refusing in the first place.
It was not something that would hurt him, and it was not so much work that it would stop him from doing other things.
And he knew it could get a good response, so refusing would be strange.
“Good. Then I’ll contact Netflix right away.”
At Han Seongtae’s answer, Min Najeong nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Want to go down first? I’ll grab my stuff and come.”
“Yes, take your time.”
At Jung Dusik’s words, Han Seongtae nodded and started walking.
Normally he would have headed home alone, but if Jung Dusik said he would drive him, there was no reason to refuse.
Han Seongtae walked out of the office.
‘Since I’m here, should I drink a cup of coffee?’
The coffee in PAN Entertainment’s break room was not bad.
Since it came to mind, Han Seongtae moved right away.
When he arrived at the break room, he could not find anyone else besides himself.
—Dusik hyung, I’ll drink coffee in the break room and go. Take your time.
—Jung Dusik: ok ok. Might take about 10 minutes.
—Okay.
After texting Jung Dusik, Han Seongtae fell into thought.
Thinking about his schedule ahead, imagining what kind of acting he could do while filming Pokju.
“Ah? Han, you were here.”
A familiar but unwelcome voice came through.
When he turned his head, Choi Gideok was approaching with a friendly smile.
“Looks like you were drinking coffee.”
“Yes.”
“But why are you drinking it here? Is Team Leader Min not taking care of you? Team Leader Min won’t do. Making our precious actor drink cheap stuff. Throw that away and come drink coffee with me. I’ll buy you something good.”
“No. I like this cheap taste.”
“Ah.”
At Han Seongtae’s words, Choi Gideok paused for a moment.
He cleared his throat and sat down beside Han Seongtae, as if it were nothing.
“Han, when I look at you, it feels like such a waste. If you were on our team, I could treat you so much better. Better than Team 2.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Doesn’t it feel stifling being in Team 2? They’re so swamped right now, they probably can’t even take proper care of you.”
“…”
“You have to go overseas this time too. For that, someone at the team leader level should go with you. But Team Leader Min has that project these days, so she can’t move. And it’s not like there’s another team leader there either.”
“…”
“This is always what’s lacking with Team 2. They can’t take care of everyone. But I can take care of all that.”
Han Seongtae quietly watched Choi Gideok as he talked without stopping.
Even trying to view it kindly, it was hard to see it kindly, the way he ran down Min Najeong and Team 2 while talking himself up.
“If Team Leader Min can’t go, the only team leader who can move is me. If you want, Han, I can go with you.”
“No. Thank you for the thought, but you don’t need to.”
“But if the team leader doesn’t go, Seongtae, you’ll have a hard time.”
“It’s fine.”
At Choi Gideok’s words, Han Seongtae shook his head firmly.
He understood, at least a little, what kind of person Choi Gideok was.
Capable, but not great enough to climb higher.
Someone who looked at actors not as people, but as results.
In his previous life, Choi Gideok had been a forever team leader.
A person who only ever stayed right there.
From ability to character.
He was not someone Han Seongtae matched with.
Being beside him would only be irritating.
Even now, Han Seongtae just wanted him to stop talking and leave.
“Even if you don’t do that, we can handle it ourselves.”
Because he knew Choi Gideok’s greed, Han Seongtae spoke firmly again and stood up.
Behind his departing steps, he heard the sound of Choi Gideok smacking his lips.
Leaving that sound behind, Han Seongtae exited the break room without hesitation.
“Dusik hyung, how about Yeopddeok on the way? I haven’t had spicy food in a while, and I kind of want it.”
“Not bad. Why, did something happen that stressed you out?”
“No. I just want something spicy.”
There was not a trace of pretense in the smile Han Seongtae gave Jung Dusik.
Leave a Reply