The New Sheriff in Town

When they arrived at the K-New parking lot, Cha Gye-won issued an immediate dismissal to Kim Gun the moment he stepped out of the van.

“I should at least see the office too,” Gun protested.

“It’s so small there’s nothing to see. Just get your instructions via text.”

The way Gye-won narrowed one eye made it clear that adding even a single word would result in a double-strength retaliation. Ultimately, Gun took a step back and conceded.

“Fine. You’re moving offices anyway.”

As Gun reached for the car keys in his hand to get back in, they were suddenly snatched away. He had lost count of how many times he had been dispossessed by Gye-won today alone.

“Leave the car.”

“Why?”

“This is my car.”

Gye-won never used company-provided vehicles. Everything he used—even briefly—was purchased with his own funds. Thus, this van belonged to Cha Gye-won. Since he owned three different vans for various schedules, leaving this one behind wasn’t a logistical issue for him.

Of course, that was strictly from Cha Gye-won’s perspective.

“Then how am I supposed to get home?” Gun asked, exasperated.

“Take a taxi. Or walk.”

Gye-won looked down at him with an arrogant expression, as if asking if he really needed to explain such basic concepts. Kim Gun’s house was a two-hour drive from there.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“Argh. I’m going, I’m going! CEO, I’ll be off then….”

“Ah, yes. Please get home safely,” Yi-seo replied.

“Of course. I’ll see you again once the office moves.”

“I’ll contact you when a schedule comes up.”

Gun suspected that the contact would likely come from Cha Gye-won, not the CEO. After briefly shaking Yi-seo’s offered hand, Kim Gun walked off to hail a taxi.

“Is it really okay to send him away like that?” Yi-seo asked, his eyes filled with worry. He felt guilty for putting the man through such trouble. Gun seemed like a genuinely kind soul.

“What’s wrong with it? Here, take this.”

Thwack.

Gye-won tossed the car keys into Yi-seo’s arms.

“Why the keys…?”

“Use it as the company car.”

“Isn’t this your personal van, Gye-won-ssi?”

“The company doesn’t have any decent cars.”

Yi-seo bit his lip. As Gye-won said, the company owned exactly two vehicles: one was the sedan Yi-seo drove, and the other was an ancient model compared to Gye-won’s van. Gye-won was likely referring to the one Tae-mi used.

“Were you planning on making me walk?”

“N-no, of course not.”

With the crowds that followed him, Gye-won wouldn’t be able to walk a single block.

“Use it, then. Just don’t let other actors ride in it.”

Well, there were no “other actors” anyway. The only two they had were gone, leaving Cha Gye-won as the sole talent.

“There’s only you anyway, Gye-won-ssi.”

“……Good. Let’s go up then.”

Baek Yi-seo sat with his knees pressed together, legs shaking nervously as if he were being scolded by a teacher. Cha Gye-won, looking visibly displeased, was tapping a file against the table.

It started like this:

“First, bring me the ledgers.”

As soon as they entered the office, Gye-won demanded the books and began scrutinizing the expenditure history line by line. Unknown to Yi-seo, Gye-won had received a full report on K-New’s status immediately after their first meeting on the set.

There were countless pathetic management choices, but the one that puzzled him most was the spending.

“8 million won a month?”

Gye-won’s finger stopped on the security team expenses.

“Security is necessary…. Though I tried to keep it to a minimum….” Yi-seo stammered out a messy excuse. He hadn’t expected to have his spending audited like a homework assignment.

“Why does a tiny company like this need that?”

“Tae-mi said she needed it….”

“How many schedules did she even have in a month?”

“Uh….” Yi-seo looked at a random wall, counting on his fingers. Last month there was a CF shoot, one variety appearance. And this month…

“Wasn’t the movie shoot the only thing?”

“Technically, yes, but they say there are many stalkers these days. Even without a schedule, it’s a matter of safety….”

Bullshit.

Gye-won rubbed his temples. The more he heard, the more his anger flared. The man who had crawled all the way to a gay bar because he didn’t trust Gye-won’s word had apparently fallen for that pathetic nonsense hook, line, and sinker.

“And what’s this? 10 million won for food in one year? Did you hunt a dragon and eat it?”

“Th-the set is cold. I sent some coffee trucks. And a few catering trucks….”

Gye-won had wondered why so many useless food trucks were showing up on set; it turned out the “sucker” responsible was standing right in front of him.

“A few food trucks and coffee trucks cost this much?”

“I sent them almost every time there was a shoot. It was her first movie, so I was excited…. And I thought if I provided a high-quality menu, it would boost the actor’s morale. Everyone loved it….”

“Of course they did. A sucker was tossing free rice cakes at them.”

“It wasn’t all spent on that. We often eat at the office….”

Yi-seo’s voice trailed off, his spirit completely deflated.

“You don’t have a cafeteria. This one room is the whole office.”

“We… order delivery.”

“Is this a soup kitchen? And those people with zero schedules—they insist on coming to the office just to eat?”

“I have to… feed them. And it wasn’t that frequent.”

I’m going crazy.

“CEO.”

“Y-yes?!”

“From now on, leave the company expenditures to an accounting team.”

“…….”

Gye-won ignored Yi-seo’s hesitant silence and shoved the file aside. If he looked at it any longer, his blood pressure would reach lethal levels.

Next, Gye-won pulled out his own contract. Even though Yi-seo had signed it, he clearly didn’t know the contents, cranking his neck to catch a glimpse. Gye-won didn’t offer to let him read it.

“We’re adding one more condition to the contract.”

“What condition? I’ll try my best to accommodate it.”

Yi-seo felt that since things had come to this, he might as well try to keep the relationship smooth. Gye-won clearly wasn’t planning on leaving yet, and Yi-seo didn’t have the 5 billion won to fire him.

Maybe if they stayed on good terms, he could eventually coax him into leaving peacefully. Contracts often had various personal clauses, so he didn’t think it would be difficult.

But Gye-won’s demand was entirely unexpected.

“The CEO is no longer allowed to go to gay bars. Or clubs. Anywhere like that.”

“What? Why?”

It wasn’t a clause about a project or a salary adjustment; there was no reason for his private life to be restricted so suddenly.

“You look very surprised. Do you go to those places often?”

“No!”

He had never been to a club in his life. He wouldn’t have gone to a gay bar either if it weren’t for Shim Chan.

“Then what are you worried about?”

“I might have to meet industry people. I’ll need to do a lot of networking from now on.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re going to create a separate PR team for the company.”

“A PR team….”

First an accounting team, now a PR team.

In reality, K-New didn’t have separate departments. You needed scale to divide departments and hire people, but right now, even the monthly rent was a struggle. It was a luxury they couldn’t even plan for.

While it wasn’t without its difficulties, Yi-seo and Hwi-jun usually managed to get things done by doing the legwork themselves.

“Accounting, Admin, Management, Operations. Let’s start with those. You need to actually have a company structure.”

Gye-won’s foot carelessly kicked the leg of the old table. Even that table was a leftover from the previous tenants.

“But… that will cost a lot. Just the labor costs alone….”

Yi-seo’s future looked pitch black. There was nowhere left to borrow money from.

“Who said you were the one paying for it? I’m not blind; I can see the situation here.”

“But….”

“Think of it as an investment. I invest in total strangers; why wouldn’t I do the same for my own company?”

“Well….”

“What’s the problem? Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

Gye-won’s patience was wearing thin. Seeing Yi-seo hesitate so much made his words sharper. Under Gye-won’s pressure, Yi-seo finally spoke in a tiny voice.

“It’s a bit… burdensome.”

“……What?”

“Well…. You’re a signed actor, Gye-won-ssi.”

“And?”

“It’s… uncomfortable.”

In Yi-seo’s experience, nothing in the world was free. Between the car and the office move, there were too many strings attached. He felt that if he didn’t speak up now, he would end up heavily indebted to Gye-won.

He brought it up thinking it was better to be clear early in the contract, but Gye-won’s expression turned icy in an instant.

“You really insist on making me feel like shit.”

“E-excuse me?”

Yi-seo’s jaw dropped in confusion. He didn’t think he had said anything wrong. Gye-won called it an investment, but it was only natural for Yi-seo to feel the weight of that debt.

“Gye-won-ssi, I think you misunderstood my point….”

Yi-seo had spoken purely for Gye-won’s sake. What Gye-won was proposing was a total overhaul of the company; logically, it would be faster for him to just start his own agency.

Even if Gye-won’s goal was to have a company he could control, Yi-seo didn’t want to dump the responsibilities of an agency onto the actor himself.

However, Gye-won clearly didn’t see it that way. The sound of him grinding his teeth was audible.

“Hey.”

A heavy, low tone vibrated through the small office. Yi-seo instinctively tried to pull back, but Gye-won was faster.

“Ack!”

Gye-won grabbed Yi-seo by the collar and jerked his upper body over the table. Yi-seo’s knee slammed painfully against the table leg. Gye-won’s voice was now as rough as scraping metal.

Would you like me to continue with the next scene, or explore how Yi-seo handles Gye-won’s intense reaction?