CHAPTER 178

Novelist Running Through Time

TL: KSD

Baekhak Entertainment’s CEO, Baek Seung-won, may be a bit edgy, hypersensitive, paranoid, and a workaholic who tends to neglect his family, but he treats his celebrities well.

But from the sidelines, he can be a little scary at times.

You’ll know why when you see him.

-So you did everything the PD bastard asked for? Are you out of your mind? Are you possessed by Satan?

-Oh my?! Who is this? Isn’t this the cosmic mega-star Kim Byul, shining with the Best Actress Award from the Cannes Film Festival?!

Seeing him snap at employees like catching mice and then suddenly gush makes you wonder if he has some kind of bipolar disorder.

One of CEO Baek Seung-won’s favorite phrases is “pillar of the company”.

It’s something he says when he’s complimenting someone, telling them they are the pillar supporting the company…

There were quite a few of those so-called “pillars”.

Min Hyo-min (S) of Benivis is a pillar, and Min Hyo-chan (C) of Rapid Boys is a pillar too, which shows how inclusive Baek Seung-won’s definition of “pillar” is.

Anyone can become a pillar!

From this phrase, Kim Byul could glimpse a part of Baek Seung-won’s management philosophy.

To him, a “celebrity” is not an artist, but a sturdy pillar that supports the company, in other words, an asset.

That perspective explains quite a lot.

While other entertainment agency CEOs scold their juniors as senior artists and teach them about the hunger spirit, Baek Seung-won uses his smooth tongue to manage “human resources”.

The convenience facilities scattered throughout the company are proof of that. Since the slaves have to work hard to bring in money, he feeds them well, dresses them well, and only speaks pretty words…

It’s truly a terrifying management strategy.

Anyway, as someone who aims for a big government rather than a small one, CEO Baek Seung-won actively exercised a stewardship code even in matters of privacy.

That means he managed things as strictly as if catching rats.

Baekhak Entertainment gave a lot to their celebrities, and in return, they took quite a lot as well.

This was especially true in matters of privacy. The most common complaint from celebrities who left Baekhak Entertainment was that the company intervened in too many things, that says it all.

However, Baekhak’s style of managing personal life, to the extent of overseeing even secret relationships, was acknowledged as somewhat of an industry standard, showing that Baek Seung-won’s talent for manpower management had reached a level of mastery.

But Kim Byul is the “Queen of Cannes”.

No one can block the path of a queen.

EP 11 – Evening Bell

The hellish lair that is Subway Line 1, crawling with shady merchants of darkness, inquisitors, cosplayers with crippled legs, and recorder-wielding murderers.

Today, there was one more: a “schoolgirl constantly clearing her throat and glancing around suspiciously.”

It was Kim Byul.

“Ahem…!”

Accompanied outings with a manager, no exposure on social media, no use of public transportation, autographs preferably only at official signing events, no taking street photos, and so on…

“Queen of Cannes” Kim Byul told the company to fuck off and went out on her own. Queens in winter usually tend to be a bit irresponsible.

Just like that Ms. E from of Arendelle who embarrassed herself at a banquet and ran away from her kingdom, Kim Byul ran away from the company to rescue a friend holed up at home and set out on an adventure.

The only problem was, since Kim Byul was still a high school senior, she had to use public transportation without a manager. Luckily, thanks to the irresponsible human race that had wrecked the planet, the bitter cold of early March still felt like mid-winter.

Which meant that even if Kim Byul wrapped herself in a mask, scarf, furry hat, earmuffs, and a long padded coat, no one would find it suspicious. Everyone was dressed like that to survive.

Furthermore, veteran senior actress Kim Byul made a bold decision to forgo the biggest mistake “celebrities hiding among the public” make, sunglasses.

Instead, Kim Byul wore “horn-rimmed glasses without lenses” to seal away her beauty.

The long COVID era and the development of makeup techniques had mass-produced “magi-kkun” (mask beauties). In a world full of eye-beauties, even a stunner like Kim Byul could subtly cosplay as an average person, what a convenient world this had become.

“Hehehe…”

Kim Byul, thinking thoughts that would get her in trouble if she said them out loud, comfortably boarded the subway and commuter train.

Everyone eyed the seated schoolgirl who was chuckling to herself with suspicion, but since it was the season when students driven mad by college entrance exams could be found everywhere, they all just let it slide.

And so, Kim Byul safely arrived at the address she had (forcibly) obtained from Lim Yang-wook.

Although it was close to a bustling district, the neighborhood somehow felt bleak. The sun had set early, casting a shadowy gloom outside, and…

“Hm…”

Honestly, it didn’t look like a wealthy neighborhood. Why on earth had Moon In found a place here? He should have plenty of money…

While entering the apartment complex, Kim Byul even received a strangely discomforting glance from a passerby.

If it had been Moon In, he might have sensed that glance and read a thought like, “Ugh… he’s just some youth… gross…” and would’ve gone home, sobbing while writing.

After all, youth rental housing is considered a public nuisance facility on par with industrial waste sites and sewage treatment plants.

In all of human civilization, the culture of shoving the poor into corners and pointing fingers has never once disappeared. The Jews forced into ghettos are living proof of that.

Fortunately, Kim Byul didn’t realize she’d just been treated like a medieval (or 1930s-era) Jew and casually walked into the apartment complex.

She passed through corridors with peeling paint, rode a rickety elevator that shook ominously, and arrived at the door written on the paper note.

“Unit 303… is that right?”

Knock. Knock.

Kim Byul knocked on the door.

With no answer, she pressed the bell.

Ding-dong-

Only then came the rustling sounds from inside, followed by a familiar voice leaking through the door crack.

“Leave it at the door…”

Recognizing the sullen voice, Kim Byul chuckled softly and replied.

“I’m not a delivery, you know?”

This time, there was a thump from inside.

There was a hurried rustling as someone frantically straightened things up, and finally, Moon In appeared, looking startled and wrapped in that blanket of his.

“W-what… how did you even…”

But Kim Byul was also shocked.

A brutally honest impression burst out of her in startled amazement.

“Good heavens, what happened to you?”

“……”

The Moon In she encountered again was halfway to being a wreck.

* * *

“It’s humble… but go ahead and eat.”

“Y-yeah…”

Kim Byul couldn’t even pretend with the usual “Oh, it’s not that bad!” routine. It was genuinely shabby kimchi fried rice.

But even that humble-looking kimchi fried rice couldn’t compare to Moon In’s shabby appearance. It made her wonder what happened to the outer shell that Baekhak Entertainment’s skin care clinic had helped build back then.

As she ate the humble kimchi fried rice (surprisingly tasty), Kim Byul kept sneaking glances at Moon In.

‘Hmm…’

His condition was serious.

His hair had grown so long that it covered his eyes, so much that she couldn’t even guess when it had last been cut. His dark circles were panda-level intense, and more than anything, there was a dull, gloomy atmosphere about him that extended beyond his appearance.

Thankfully, the efforts of Kim Byul and the Baekhak Entertainment skincare professionals hadn’t gone entirely to waste, despite being a teenager, there were no pimples or blemishes to be seen.

And judging by the soft shampoo scent, it seemed he was at least washing regularly.

“Well… at least you’re bathing properly…”

“What?”

“N-nothing. Never mind.”

Just as Kim Byul was finishing up the humble kimchi fried rice, she cautiously struck up a conversation while watching for Moon In’s reaction.

“So… how have you been?”

“……”

“You haven’t been well, huh…”

An awkward silence followed.

While Kim Byul wiped sweat from her brow, Moon In quietly stood up, took her humble kimchi fried rice bowl, and brought it to the sink.

Then he returned and spoke.

“You can go now.”

“What?!”

“Unless… you had more to say?”

Flustered, Kim Byul waved her hands awkwardly in the air.

“N-no, uh, well, have you been writing lately?”

“I haven’t.”

“Whaaat-?!”

Moon In not writing? It was a shocking revelation, enough to surprise the heavens, the earth, and Kim Byul herself.

Startled and at a loss for words, Kim Byul stood still as Moon In waved his hand dismissively, as if to shoo away a sparrow from a rice paddy.

“Please go now. And tell Department Head Lim, or rather, Director Lim, that I have no intention of writing for a while.”

“…!”

That prickly attitude…

Kim Byul suddenly felt her temper flare after a long while.

Yeah. This guy had always been this rude.

Seriously, there’s no reward in worrying about someone like him!

“Hey! Your revered senior came all the way here to check on you, and this is how you treat me?! I swear! What happened to basic decency in the entertainment world?!”

Moon In replied briefly.

“I’m not sick.”

“Then why are you holed up at home? I heard you’re not even going to school? Sure, our school may be lenient, but if it gets on the internet with people yelling about special treatment and power abuse, you’ll get roasted, you know? Ugh, dealing with a handful of a junior like you…”

Just as Kim Byul’s nagging was about to continue, Moon In gave an answer to the question of why he was shut in at home.

“It’s none of your business, sunbae.”

“Wha… what?!”

“Please go now.”

“……”

With him cutting her off so cleanly, even Kim Byul lost the will to care any longer.

She wiped the playful tone from her face completely and shifted into a cold, serious expression that made anyone watching shiver instinctively.

“…Fine. Got it.”

“……”

“I’ll go. Make sure to eat properly.”

After confirming that Moon In gave a small nod, Kim Byul picked up her bag and outerwear and headed out.

And while she deliberately made a noisy ruckus putting on her shoes in the foyer, she clicked her tongue quietly.

“Tsk, not even trying to stop me…”

In truth, Kim Byul’s stern act wasn’t entirely sincere, it was more of a technique. When her mom or manager crossed a line, putting on that cold tone helped her regain control. Of course, it’s a trump card that shouldn’t be used too often.

But seeing that even her trump card didn’t work, Kim Byul was honestly a little hurt. So for now, she decided to just go back.

‘If he says he doesn’t need my concern, then what can I do?’

Pretending to reassure herself, Kim Byul opened the cold door to Moon In’s studio and stepped outside.

The chilly March wind snuck through the door crack and made her shiver.

However, before she closed the door behind her, the final sight she caught erased that cold feeling.

No matter how cold it was outside,

it couldn’t be colder than Moon In’s empty living space,

with no heating, no furniture, just bare emptiness.

“……”

And when you see something like that, it’s simply impossible not to worry.

* * *

Kim Byul has few friends.

Actually, she used to have many. But after becoming a has-been, Kim Byul took time to rethink what really defines a “friend”.

In that sense, the kind of people who stick close when you’re doing well and vanish when you’re not are not friends. Similarly, people who are friendly on the surface but jealous underneath are not friends.

A friendship is something pure!

That’s the kind of thought only someone who doesn’t have many friends would have. So indeed, Kim Byul has very, very few friends.

In any case, for Kim Byul, who entered society as early as her preschool days, friends are as rare as they are precious.

That’s why, truthfully, when she had to leave the Popular Culture and Arts Research Club, she was very sad.

Even though she had become friends with fellow members like Moon In, Gu Yu-na, and Min Hyo-chan, she was the only one older and ended up being placed in Baekhak Arts High School instead of Baekhak Arts Middle School.

So around that time, she felt quite lonely, and since her friends didn’t consistently text or call, she got sulky alone and then got over it alone, a whole history of emotions there.

It’s no wonder she clung to Moon In and dragged him through every corner of Baekhak Entertainment’s convenience facilities…

In any case, for friendless Kim Byul, the timing of the reunion of the four-member Popular Culture and Arts Research Club felt special.

Four people who met in middle school, was it possible that with time, they could once again come together in high school, complete as a group?

With that in mind, Kim Byul recreated the oddly named “Popular Culture and Arts Research Club” in Baekhak Arts High School exactly as it had been.

For a Cannes Best Actress Award winner to bribe the Theater and Film Department teacher was easier than stealing candy from a baby.

Kim Byul had long maintained a one-person club, even while violating school regulations. Although Min Hyo-chan had arrived a year earlier, the Popular Culture and Arts Research Club was still Kim Byul’s solo endeavor. After all, if it were just the two of them participating in club activities, it was obvious what kind of rumors would spread around the school. And besides, Kim Byul already knew that she was Min Hyo-chan’s first love…

“Your concept of friendship is kind of pathetic and gloomy.”

“Shut up!”

Anyway, Kim Byul, who valued friendship this much, had been waiting for this year for a full two years.

The day Moon In and Gu Yu-na enrolled at Baekhak Arts High School, in other words, the day the Popular Culture and Arts Research Club would be re-established!

Such a special day was completely ruined because that damn Moon In holed himself up at home, and the sense of emptiness and disappointment Kim Byul felt was beyond words.

So she complained to Gu Yu-na.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this day?”

“Yes.”

“What do you mean, yes! You little rice-cake-faced thing!”

Kim Byul tugged hard on Gu Yu-na’s chubby cheeks while scolding her, then caught Gu Yu-na’s fierce Shaolin-style counterattack with brute force.

As she wrestled and bickered with Gu Yu-na, letting off steam, Kim Byul eventually slumped over the café table and whined.

“Ugh… this is why novelists are no good. Always being overly sensitive for no reason…”

Gu Yu-na muttered, “Unnie, I think you’re more sensitive”, but Kim Byul casually ignored the perfectly valid point and continued.

“What the hell is Moon In doing not coming out of his house? Did puberty hit him a little too hard?”

Mumbling “Ugh, whatever.” Kim Byul tried to soothe her tangled emotions with a cold iced Americano.

That’s when Gu Yu-na answered Kim Byul’s question.

“I confessed to him, but Moon In turned rejected me.”

Pffft-

A “dramatic” spray erupted from Kim Byul’s mouth.

Indeed, she was a professional.

*****