Chapter 6: CHAPTER FIVE

Po had once said he never wanted to meet someone like Earn again.

Someone who, upon tasting even a little success, would leave others behind without a second thought. Someone who never considered how deeply it might hurt the people who had been there with them all along. He never thought he’d encounter someone like that again—until now.

“You!” Baifern burst into the suit shop and slammed a résumé down in front of Po. “I’ve got a new job for you. A perfect one. One of my clients told me they’re short-staffed, and I think this job is tailor-made for you. I even went to the trouble of rewriting your résumé and sending it to them. Here!” She slid the paper across the counter for him to see.

Po leaned over to read it. His name was neatly typed, along with his education and work experience. Nowhere did it mention the three-year gap in his career. Instead, it claimed he’d spent those years working in fashion.

“Fashion? What fashion are you talking about?”

“This!” She gestured dramatically toward the run-down suit shop where Po was currently employed. “What about this isn’t fashion? It’s totally fashion!”

“This isn’t the same thing!” he protested. “And what’s with you going out of your way to rewrite my résumé?”

“The job is seriously worth it, trust me. I want to see you finally become a director like you’ve always dreamed.”

Po scanned the résumé Baifern had written for him again, his face full of questions. “And this bit about a million-view video project? When did I ever do that?”

“Why wouldn’t you have? You made videos for my bass studio, and the views were pretty great!”

“Does that even count?”

“Oh, come on. Do you want the job or not? If I didn’t write it like this, do you think they’d hire you? What do you expect me to say? That your main achievements were buying food for your ex and designing his logo so he could succeed?”

Po flinched. Baifern pressed on.

“Ai Po, I really want you to land a good job this time. Besides, your work wasn’t mediocre, okay? You just got screwed over because of Earn, that’s all. This is your chance to become a director. I want you to start over, move forward, and make Earn regret ever leaving you. Show him how stupid he was!”

“But writing it like this isn’t exactly honest.”

“It’s going to get you the job.”

Po hesitated, torn. Uncle Choi, who had been listening for a while, finally chimed in.

“If you get in and do the job well, make it worth the money they pay you, then it’s fine, Po. Do you think you can handle it?”

Po knew he would give it his all.

“If you feel that guilty, you can ask for a lower salary,” Baifern added. “But you need a starting point. You have to start doing something for yourself!”

She wasn’t wrong. Po thought for a moment, then asked, “What kind of project is this directing job for?”

—

Po sat across from Mick, never imagining that Baifern’s words—“for yourself”—weren’t just for him but for her as well. The job Baifern had referred to was directing a documentary for the band Mars.

Of course. That made sense. Baifern was part of an agency, and Winner Entertainment, one of the biggest artist management companies, was one of her regular clients. She must have easily learned about the vacancy while speaking to someone at Winner. This job not only helped Po secure work but also gave Baifern access to insider information.

Mick skimmed through Po’s résumé, asking only a few key questions. The one thing Mick focused on was how well Po knew the band Mars. Po replied that he knew quite a lot but avoided mentioning that it was because of his work with Baifern’s bass studio. Baifern had explicitly warned him not to say anything about that—Winner Entertainment was notoriously strict about fake fans infiltrating their staff. But honestly, Po wasn’t even a fan of Mars, even if his friend was.

“If your portfolio is as impressive as this, and you’re definitely not a fan sneaking in, then I guess I’ll have to hire you.”

Po couldn’t believe he had gotten the job, even if he didn’t like how he had landed it.

Mick took Po to get his employee ID card. It was the first one Po had held in three years. He stared at it for a long time, his heart swelling with pride.

He couldn’t believe he was now employed at Winner Entertainment, a company that occupied an entire building with floors dedicated to a trainee academy, artists, and staff in accounting, legal, management, music production, creative, and even recreation spaces. The building also housed studios for radio and television programs.

Mick handed Po a camera and assigned him to start work immediately. He added that if Po needed to travel for work, he could use the company car, assuming he could drive. Po replied that he could manage; he had driven his mom to the market back when he lived at home.

“Start work right away?” Po asked hesitantly.

“Exactly,” Mick replied. “Your job is to document footage of the band members from now until their final concert, just before Mars disbands.

Thame, the leader, got the opportunity to debut in Korea, so it couldn’t be helped. The band has to break up.”

Po froze, his gaze unintentionally drifting to Thame’s face on a poster hanging in the department.

“Well, that’s just how it goes,” Mick added casually. “The band is only a stepping stone for someone to become famous. It just so happens that Thame is the one who succeeded the most. He made the right choice to leave.”

“And the others…?” Po blurted out. Mick answered bluntly.

“They’re being left behind.”

TO BE CONTINUED.