With everything settled, Director Chanhyuk wasted no time. He signaled his assistant, who quickly stepped forward and placed two neatly prepared contracts on the table.
"These are the official documents for your signing," Chanhyuk explained. "Donghyun, this is your contract as Minjae’s official manager under Flex Entertainment. And Minjae, this is a minor revision of your artist contract to reflect the managerial changes."
Donghyun picked up the papers first, scanning through the details with practiced ease. After years of handling contracts for Juwon, it didn’t take him long to verify that everything was in order.
"There’s no issues," he said simply. Then, without hesitation, he took the pen and signed his name at the bottom of the document.
And you?"
Chanhyuk turned to Minjae. Minjae glanced over the paper. Though he trusted the company, he still skimmed through the clauses carefully. He only topped when he saw that everything seemed reasonable.
With a small smile, he took the pen and signed.
And with that, it was official.
Im Donghyun was now Nam Minjae’s manager.
[Ding!]
Just as Minjae placed the pen down, a familiar sound echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully completed the quest: ’Find a trusted friend!’]
[Rewards Granted: 8,000 EXP in <Acting>]
[New Gift Acquired: Perfect Recall]
Minjae’s eyes widened slightly at the gift. Was this the unknown gift the System was talking about?
’Perfect Recall?’ He quickly checked the details.
[New Gift: Perfect Recall.]
Effect: The host’s ability to memorize lines has drastically improved. Upon reading a script, you can now recall lines with ease, as if they had already been imprinted in your mind. This ability mimics your natural memorization skill in your past life.
’This… this is actually useful!’ Minjae uttered in awe.
Minjae, in his past life, had been known for his near-perfect script retention. Directors had praised him for needing only one or two reads before he could flawlessly recite his lines.
Now, he had that ability again.
It was a direct bridge to his past self.
’I’m so excited,’ Minjae’s fingers instinctively tightened around the pen.
"Minjae?" Donghyun’s voice brought him back to the present.
Minjae blinked, quickly masking his reaction.
"Ah, sorry. Just processing everything."
Director Chanhyuk leaned back in his chair, studying him with an amused look. "Well, it’s understandable. You just officially entered a whole new playing field."
"Yeah… I guess it’s sinking in now." Minjae exhaled subtly and nodded.
"Good," Donghyun said, closing the file with a satisfied expression.
"Then let’s get to work." The man uttered with seriousness on is face.
"You just signed the contract, and you’re already talking about work?" A small laugh left Chanhyuk’s lips.
"Minjae doesn’t have the luxury of taking it slow. His name is rising now, and we have to move while the momentum is strong." Donghyun smirked.
"Alright, I guess work it is." Chanhyuk chuckled as he let the two leave his office.
- - -
Finally, the day of the first episode of the drama, The Only Way has finally arrived. 30 minutes before the scheduled release time, the cast and the staff were all gathered in a Korean barbeque restaurant.
The studio rented out the whole place to commemorate the first episode of the drama. Everyone was thrilled and excited as they waited for the scheduled time.
"Hahaha, I’m so excited."
"Director Suwon, let’s hope for success."
"We need to drink a lot tonight!"
"No one will go home sober!"
Laughter and conversation filled the air as the aroma of sizzling meat wafted through the place.
The staff was excited. Director Suwoon and Producer Sean made sure that everyone had enough food and alcoholic drinks. Today, they’d had their fill after the long stressful week of filming promotional activities.
"Minjae! Just keep eating! There’s still enough meat!" Namjun raised a piece of pork belly and placed it on top of Minjae’s plate.
"Thanks, hyung."
Minjae smiled slightly as he ate it. He brought down the tongs that he was using to cook. Because he was the youngest and the rookie, he presented to cook the meat for his table.
Currently, he was seated with his fellow cast members, Sooyun and Ha-Eun. There were only 3 of them as Sooyun was at another table, together with the directors and Producer Sean.
"Ha-Eun, you should eat a lot tonight. No one will say anything about your diet cause you’re here."
"Yes, oppa. I plan to eat a lot today. I didn’t even eat lunch."
"Hahaha. That’s good. I also plan to make the studio bankrupt by eating a lot of high-quality beef1.’ Namjun uttered before facing Minjae.
"Minjae, eat a lot, okay? The meat that they’re serving us is high quality. We should take this opportunity since we’d go back to cup noodles tomorrow." Namjun happily encouraged Minjae as he stacked more meat on his plate.
"I will, hyung. Don’t worry."
Namjun was a few years older than Ha-Eun and Minjae so he was considered their elder..
As Minjae chewed the food in his mouth, he glanced around the table, taking in the lively atmosphere.
The cast and crew were in high spirits. Some were even starting to drink already, while others were talking to each other, sharing some issues and recent news in the industry.
"Hey, Minjae," Ha-Eun glanced at Minjae, a small smile was playing on her lips. "Are you nervous? This will be your first time, right?"
"Yes, Noona." Minjae chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I heard you were an extra for a few dramas. How was your experience?" Ha-Eun asked, the curiosity in her voice was evident.
"Oh, it’s not like that. I wasn’t really involved in those since I’m really just an extra extra." Minjae answered. "It wasn’t like this wherein I really had a scene."
"Don’t worry too much," Namjun reassured him. The corner of his lips rose to the corner as he opened a fresh bottle of soju1.
It was time to start the night.
"Because you’re my juniors, then I should take care of you!" He said out loud as he poured a drink on three shot glasses.
"We’ve all seen how hard you worked. You deserve to be here, so just enjoy it." Namjun uttered, though there was a hint of mischievousness in his eyes.
"Now, let’s drink!" He exclaimed out loud as he looked at Minjae and Ha-Eun encouragedly.
Minjae and Ha-Eun glanced at each other before getting their own shot glasses, that were now filled with alcohol. In their culture, refusing a drink was considered rude, so they’d have to drink it.
This was also the reason why their country has many more alcoholics than the rest of the world.
’I guess I have no choice.’ Minjae stared at the shot glass in his hand, the clear liquid inside reflecting the warm glow of the restaurant’s lights.
Minjae was never a heavy drinker, well, not until recently. He used to drink a lot when he was of this age, but when he reached the age of 30, he lessened his drinking habits.
That time, he was also already popular enough that he was the one to make everyone drink instead. It was one of the advantages he got for being at the top.
"Don’t worry, Minjae. Just take it slow. You don’t have to drink everything at once." Sensing his hesitation, Ha-Eun nudged Minjae lightly. She was lightly worried since Minjae looked so innocent, as if he hadn’t touched a drink in his entire life.
=====
A/N: Happy March, everyone! As the new month starts, please continue to support this novel.
I’ll also drop a challenge wherein you can all work together for additional chapters.
March Challenge:
For every 50 Golden Tickets or 75 Powerstones = Additional 1 chapter (release immediately)
Meats are considered expensive in Korea, especially high-quality ones.
Soju is a clear and colorless distilled alcoholic beverage that is popular in Korea.