Joonah sat on the edge of the chair's seat. That was his favourite position. To the beholder, he appeared comfortably seated - but in case of a sudden urge to get up and bolt, he knew he would be quick. The scenario of him bolting didn't seem unlikely, as he was feeling increasingly uneasy under the scrutinizing gaze of his agent, mr Choi Garim.
Garim was a man with high standards, mostly due to his plus thirty years in the Korean entertainment industry. But even though Joonah came across as a bit gloomy and anti-social, Garim was fairly happy to have him onboard with the agency. At least he was still reasonably young, had a steady gig on a TV show with nice viewer ratings... not to mention his popularity with the ladies, who considered him "cute". To Garim, Joonah was undoubtably an asset, and one he intended to take good care of.
The only problem he had with Joonah was his depressive tendencies, which was why Garim preferred to call him by his stage name, Goodwin. On a concsious or subconscious level, he was trying to get through to Joonah's more cheerful self, in order to create a lighter climate of conversation.
"Coffee, Goodwin?"
Joonah flinched, as if he suddenly realized where he was, then smiled a little absent-mindedly.
"Ehm... yes, please."
"Are you stressed?"
"Maybe a little. I have taekwondo practice in an hour."
"I see."
Garim put the Tassimo machine to work, and eventually handed Joonah a cup of steaming Americano.
"Why did you want to see me today, mr Choi?" Joonah asked while accepting the cup. "We met just this Thursday."
"Ah, yes. I wanted to introduce your new manager. As you know, Hansung left."
Joonah nodded. During their two short months together, Hansung and him had almost become friends. Hansung was a nice, harelipped guy, somewhat scarred by life, much like Joonah himself.
"So you found a replacement?" Joonah's voice didn't give any feelings away.
"Yes. I did some recruiting a while ago, and connected with a woman named Senghi Jung. Do you know her?"
"I... I might have heard the name."
Joonah squirmed a little in his seat. The very thought of having a female manager made his stomach drop. He really hoped that she wouldn't be beautiful.
"Senghi is a new manager", Garim continued. "She could use a humble, easy-going star like you to get her started. She's very meticulous and quick-witted. I think the two of you will get along great."
"Senghi Jung." Joonah repeated the name slowly, realizing his new manager used a Western name order, with the given name put before the family name. "Is she a foreigner?"
"Something like that. Her father is a foreign-Korean and her mother European."
"I see", Joonah lied with a polite nod. As far as he knew, Europe contained of a lot of countries, most of them very different from one another. But he decided not to complicate the conversation by bringing up that little detail.
"She used to work with ETV, the network that airs your variety show? As a scriptwriter. Drama productions, mainly."
Joonah suddenly lighted up, as a serious face surrounded by messy, brown hair passed by his inner eye.
"Jung Senghi! Now I remember. I think her desk is in the open landscape on the fourth floor, I've passed her a couple of times."
"So you know what she looks like, then. Her desk at ETV is history, though. She works here now."
"Hm... okey."
"Should I ask her to come in?"
"Why not? I have to meet her sooner or later, might as well be now."
Garim gave him a bit of an annoyed look, before calling the receptionist and asking her to send Senghi in.
Nervously sliding even closer to the edge of his seat, Joonah stared at the door. His shoulders were slumping a little, contradicting the attempt of an enthusiastic smile he had plastered on. He was contemplating all the endless hours he had spent, in a car or at events, with an impressive amount of different managers. Only once before had he worked with a female manager. A collaboration that ended abruptly as he had slept with her, or to be fair, Goodwin slept with her. Eventually, the whole thing ended with Joonah (As well as Goodwin) switching agencies to avoid a dating scandal.
Senghi Jung tapped the door gently before she stepped into the room. Her gaze flickered for a moment between the two men, before she closed the door behind her, smiled and took a small bow.
"Hello, I'm Jung Senghi." She humbly decided to introduce herself the Korean way, before taking a deeper bow, slightly angled in Joonah's direction.
"Nice to meet you, mr... Goodwin?"
Joonah swiftly got on his feet, and not just because of his advantageous position on the chair. He smiled warmly and bowed back at Senghi. A spontaneous laughter escaped him as their gazes met. She had changed a bit since he last saw her at the TV station - her hair had grown a little longer and was tinted in a reddish colour that gave her skin a bit of a warm glow. Her round face with perky, curious eyes didn't feel the least bit threatening, and he gradually started to relax a little.
"Hello, Senghi-ssi, it's nice to meet you too. Just call me Goodwin-ssi or Joonah-ssi, whichever you prefer. I don't consider myself your boss, so feel free to address me as a friend.
Senghi frowned slightly, almost invisibly. During her short career in TV, she had never before encountered a male star that looked so out of place and insecure, while simultaneously exuding a strange kind of natural self confidence, as Kim Joonah did right in this moment. She had noticed him at the TV station, a head shorter than most of his colleagues and not rarely with a flickering gaze, as if looking around for a mysterious item that never seemed to appear.
However, when in character as cocky rascal Goodwin on the variety show Hazy Dayz, he gave off an entirely different vibe. Senghi had to reluctantly admit that she found his duality quite fascinating.
"I will call you by Joonah-ssi, then. It's an honour to get picked for this job, especially since I'm a fan of your show, Hazy Dayz. I will do my best and work hard for you, Joonah-ssi!" Senghi bowed again, deeply and sincerely, hoping to make a good impression on Joonah as well as her new boss, Garim.
"Glad to have you onboard, Senghi-ssi", Joonah replied in a low voice, immediately wishing that she would've chosen to address him by Goodwin instead. Being called Joonah would undoubtably bring out his inner.. Joonah. "I'll try not to be too high-maintenance for you. But I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me soon... I have taekwondo practice at five."
As if using black magic, Senghi suddenly had a notepad and a pen in hand, scribbling down something while he talked. Joonah blinked in surprise, but decided to let the stunning agility of his new manager pass as just another one of life's oddities.
"Do you always practice taekwondo on Wednesdays?" Senghi asked, while taking notes in the margin of a page that was already packed with text, Korean and Western letters mixed, making out weirdly decorative patterns.
"Yes, it's part of my fixed schedule. I practice with a few friends of mine. It's just for fun, and... well, you know, exercise and all that stuff."
Garim had been silently studying the first meeting between the two, but now he suddenly chuckled a little, his eyes filled with dry amusement.
"You make it sound so relaxing, Goodwin. Shouldn't you tell your new manager about the frenemy thing, the actual reason you've been going to taekwondo? Huynwon?"
Joonah smiled a little sheepishly, rubbing his neck.
"Well... there's this element of friendly rivalry between me and the coach, Hyunwon. There was a free spot in the group, and he asked me to join. They're all ex-pros, and I get... um, frankly, my ass kicked every time. But now that I started going there I can't really stop, that would piss him off. He gets really angry whenever I miss a session."
Senghi managed to hold back laughter, instead she elegantly cleared her throat while hiding behind the notepad.
"Wow. Are we talking about Han Hyunwon, the Olympic medalist? I had no idea that you and him were close."
Joonah just nodded, a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't wish to elaborate on his relationship with Han Hyunwon, a rather unpleasant and demanding man he involuntarily had befriended when they both appeared as guests on the same TV show a while back.
"I guess we both face a challenging evening", Senghi dryly continued, her eyes scanning the notepad. "Hansung gave me your schedule and some instructions. It seems like I'm in a bit of a hurry myself, I'm meeting with the stylist to go over your packing for filming HazyDayz." She smiled, giving Joonah a bit of a sarcastic glance. "Let's get going, I don't want Hyunwon-ssi to scold you on accounts of being late."
Joonah nodded, now grinning. Senghi's attempt of humour and ability to quickly shift focus wasn't lost on him.
"Why, thank you for that, and for making sure that I'm properly equipped for the shoot. We're going on the road this time, filming over two days. Did Hansung give you all the details?"
"I'd say so, yes. According to schedule, me and the stylist will pick you up at 4 AM tomorrow outside your home."
"Oh, lord." Joonah reached for his phone. "We should probably exchange phone numbers. I'm not really a morning person."
"Sure."
Senghi stated her phone number, and Joonah prepared to send her a text. He wrote 'Joonah's number' in the text field. After pressing send, he realized that the auto complete function accidently added a heart emoji to the text. While turning slightly pink, he instantly reminded himself to find a separate number exchanging routine, one for strictly work purposes.
Senghi raised her eyebrows as she scanned the text, but didn't comment on the emoji.
"Very well then, I'll make sure to make it an early night. I'll see you tomorrow, Senghi-ssi. Bye, mr Choi", Joonah mumbled, picking up his bag and quickly departing with a slight bow.
As he left the building and walked out on the busy street, he felt a stinge of concern. Senghi seemed alright. But starting off as a new manager, going on the road with a variety show on day one, wouldn't be easy.
"I'd better look out for you, Senghi-ssi", he muttered to himself softly, as he crossed the street.