1
"You're here?"
"What is this about?"
"Sit down first. We'll talk after you do."
Park Geon-ho frowned at Jo So-hee, who was grinning in a way that was completely unlike her.
What was this?
What was she scheming this time?
That was when he noticed the file lying in front of him.
"SH Entertainment...... Exclusive Contract?"
SH Entertainment was named after Jo So-hee.
Simply put, it was a one-person agency.
It was a company created for Jo So-hee, the greatest actress in South Korea.
'Did telling her to grow the company actually get through to her?'
With a flicker of hope, Park Geon-ho opened the file.
Then he quickly skimmed the contract.
Party A was Jo So-hee, SH Entertainment's sole artist and CEO.
And Party B was.......
'Me.'
He was dumbfounded for a moment, but read it carefully to figure out what she was after.
In other words, without consulting him at all, she intended to extend the contract that expired next month by a full 10 years.
The terms were extraordinary.
A base annual salary of 500 million won, plus 10 percent of the company's annual revenue as an incentive.
Granting him full authority over SH Entertainment's operations.
And an additional 10 percent stake in SH Entertainment.
"What do you think? Do you like it?"
"I haven't finished reading it yet."
"Hurry up. Director Park takes way too long to read contracts."
Objectively, the terms were tempting.
For the past five years, SH Entertainment's average annual revenue had been around 30 billion won.
If he kept managing Jo So-hee as he did now and prevented her from causing trouble, he could be living in luxury 10 years from now.
But Jo So-hee had not offered him only a carrot.
The legal team had dressed it up in fairly plausible language, but in plain terms.
'For the next 10 years, I have to manage only Jo So-hee, come running whenever she wants me, and follow her wherever she goes.'
Right.
The possessive, self-centered Jo So-hee was not going anywhere.
He could have let everything up to that point slide.
"What is this?"
The irritation he had been holding back burst out at the final condition.
"Why? Is there something you don't like?"
"All of it."
"Whaaat~ Aren't these the best terms in the industry?"
"That won't work on me, so drop the cute act."
"Tch."
"Haah. Fine, forget the rest. This last part. What is this?"
"What else would it be? You said the reason you didn't want to renew was that you'd never get married and would grow old and die alone beside me, didn't you? So I'm going to save you. What do you think? Touching, right?"
"......."
A month ago.
When Jo So-hee had seriously brought up renewing his contract, he had refused on the spot.
Three years at Wooju Entertainment.
And 10 years at SH Entertainment.
He had devoted a total of 13 years to Jo So-hee alone, so he wanted to spend the rest of his life however he pleased.
That was why he had tried to put it delicately, but he had never expected her to take him so literally.
Even the wording was quintessentially Jo So-hee.
If Party A and Party B both remained legally unmarried when the contract expired, Party A and Party B would marry.
It did not say they might. It said they would.
In other words, she planned to work him for another 10 years, then use marriage as an excuse to turn it into a lifetime contract.
'What am I supposed to do with her?'
He stared at Jo So-hee in disbelief.
He understood that she was willful after starting as a child actress and spending her entire life as a top star, but this contract was deeply disappointing.
If she had said she would act more maturely or live with more responsibility as a human being rather than just an artist, he might at least have considered it for a moment. This, however, went far beyond the line.
"I refuse."
"What? Why?"
"Are you asking because you truly don't know why?"
"How would I know? What in the world is the problem? I'm giving you more than you have now and even offering to marry you! Is that still not enough?"
"That's not what this is about."
"Enough. Just sign it. If you don't sign it......! I'll just submit a marriage registration form."
"Ms. So-hee. Please. You'll be 40 before you know it. Please grow up!"
"I told you not to talk about my age, didn't I? And who made me this way? You did. You, Mr. Park Geon-ho! My brilliant manager made me like this!"
"Haah......."
"You know I can't live without you. Right?"
There it was again, her ultimate move.
That line she used whenever she was at a disadvantage.
But he could not argue because it was true.
The problem was that he had taken such excessive care of her, driven by his determination to make Jo So-hee the greatest actress in South Korea.
Even so, he could not indulge Jo So-hee's tantrum as he usually did.
If he gave in here...... he would have to devote the rest of his life entirely to Jo So-hee as well.
"Whew....... All right, I understand for now. Let me think about it."
"Think? Think about what? What could possibly be lacking?"
"It's too sudden. Anyway, I'll take this with me and go over it slowly one more time."
"Is one day enough?"
"You need to give me a week."
"Three days. I won't give you any more than that."
"Whew. All right."
Holding the absurd contract, he deliberately left the office at a slow pace.
He was afraid that if he hurried too much, Jo So-hee would catch on and chase after him.
He took the elevator down to the first floor and climbed into his car, which was parked in a corner.
"Right. Let's get out of here first. If she catches me here, I'm finished."
Some people might click their tongues at such a foolish decision.
But Park Geon-ho decided to flee first.
He thought he needed to get somewhere beyond Jo So-hee's obsessive reach and come up with a plan.
"Where should I go?"
His studio apartment was dangerous.
Jo So-hee had a master key.
"My aunt's place is out too. She likes Jo So-hee more than she likes me."
He could not think of anywhere suitable, but he started the car and drove off anyway.
He felt as though a solution would come to him somehow if he got on the highway and kept driving.
Just then, the light turned from red to green, and Park Geon-ho accelerated.
VROOOOM!
With a roar, the car shot forward as though it had been poured onto the road.
He sped through the intersection, about to escape into a world without Jo So-hee.
CRASH!
Something pitch-black came hurtling toward him.
At that moment, he wondered if this was how he would die.
The radio suddenly turned on.
Then, of its own accord, it began playing a cosmetics commercial starring Jo So-hee.
Youth. Beauty.
And even you.
I won't let a single one slip away.
'Fuck.......'
As his consciousness faded, he uttered the curse he had suppressed for so long.
And when he opened his eyes again.
"What?"
He had gone back 15 years.