A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 47



Only Krnovel

The Chairman Who Doesn’t Regret Episode 47 – The Perfect Partner (4)

The set of NBC’s Scholarship Quiz.

General producer Kim Chul-yong asks Baek Su-cheol, who is busy preparing for filming.

“Oh my- Baek Pro, are you ready?”

Baek Su-cheol glanced at Kim Cheol-yong and turned his head away without even pretending to see him and shouted.

“Hey! Isn’t the lighting right there? What about the audience! Are you ready?”

It’s obvious that he’s upset by the way he’s spewing out his evil. Kim Chul-yong smacks his lips again and puts on a fake smile.

“Oh my, you came to see me even though I’m 100% busy.”

This time too, Baek Su-cheol pretends not to see him and tries to pass by quickly.

Kim Cheol-yong caught him like that.

“Hey, just say verse 1. Just say verse 1.”

“Let go? You’re busy.”

“Pfft! Just do one verse, you punk.”

“No, really, sir. Isn’t that too much?”

“No, really? You’re going to stick your feet in just a little bit?”

“It’s coming up to my throat. It’s coming up to my throat!”

When Baek Su-cheol refuses to back down and takes the blow, Kim Cheol-yong frowns.

“Do you know the senior who helped you enlist as a Hong-eo Geoshik?”

“No- isn’t that too much for a human being? Yes?”

“What- again.”

“Does this make sense now? Yes? How can high school freshmen beat college freshmen? Do you think viewers will like this?”

“Then what do you want me to do? The game has already been set.”

Baek Su-cheol scratches his head nervously.

“No, how many times have I asked you to do this? Yes! I told you that the ratings will plummet. You’ll probably get a flood of complaints.”

“Hey, hey, so the person who made our debut hit 100% is in charge of the scholarship quiz, right? The best program PD in the liberal arts department!”

“That’s enough flattery. Why didn’t you do the same to the director?”

“Ha, kid, really. Okay, okay. I’ll buy beef today. Beef.”

Baek Su-cheol shakes his head.

“Okay. I’ll just change jobs.”

“You told me to just do verse 1, but you’ve already listened to verse 2?”

When Kim Cheol-yong’s face, which had been frowning, suddenly became expressionless, Baek Su-cheol wiggled his eyebrows.

“This is really too much. You asked me to appear on a program that has been kept clean for over 500 episodes, and now you’re telling me to take responsibility for it?”

“What should I do with the director’s instructions?”

“Why on earth did the director do that? What, did he give you a car in the primary? Did he buy you a house?”

Kim Cheol-yong glances around.

“Ah! Don’t you want to guard the beak?”

“Anyway, the picture is bullshit. The first-year kids won’t even be able to press the buzzer properly and will fall. Those third-year kids, the kids who are going to college now, are the most talented and gifted kids in the country. Are you really saying that because you don’t know?”

“Ah- What are you going to do? Back off now? Huh? Should I just tell you to rip my stomach off and cancel the show? That’ll hurt the ratings even more, you brat!”

Baek Su-cheol frowns.

He also knew very well that it was realistically impossible. He just felt annoyed at having to film a special feature that he had no interest in doing.

“I understand, and I can really do whatever I want with the scissors? Even if the director’s grandfather comes, not the real director, I can’t stop him?”

“Yeah, yeah, if the director tries to go into the editorial office, I’ll tear my trouser legs to stop him. I promise. I promise.”

“Are you sure?”

“I got it! You ratings freak.”

After receiving a definitive answer from Kim Chul-yong, Baek Su-cheol, whose spirits had been dampened, went up to the center of the set and checked various places.

“There, the lights. More this way, yes.”

Kim Chul-yong glances at the set. He stops talking when he sees that there is not enough lighting on the sign that says “First Year.”

“Hey, aren’t you taking it too far? The difference in brightness between the other side and the other side is too obvious.”

“I’m going to be wearing a mask anyway, so what’s the point of it coming out so well?”

“Huh, is that so?”

“No matter how much you fly and crawl, there are dozens or hundreds of kids like that here who have passed through the pros.”

“Yes, our team has produced a lot of talented people, right?”

Baek Su-cheol adds, as if he finds it annoying.

“I don’t like lining up the players by their grades, but you know that’s how it is here, right? Shouldn’t we consider forming a team competition with the winners here?”

Kim Cheol-yong opens his eyes wide and asks.

“Oh, you already have an idea?”

“That’s our pro format, captain, moon captain, height captain, king of kings.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What else can we do if the team competition is organized like that?”

Kim Cheol-yong nods his head and taps Baek Su-cheol on the shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, I only trust you. Okay? I only trust you. I heard the neighborhood next door was preparing a middle school quiz or something.”

“Don’t you have a conscience? You steal all the time.”

“What can we do? Ratings are king. In our culture department, you are the king.”

“Go to the director and ask for advice. Since you’re busy, go inside. If you want to protect even 1%, you have to move more.”

“Yeah, yeah, how’s your hard work?”

“yes.”

Kim Cheol-yong steps back, and Baek Su-cheol continues to give instructions to his employees.

“Hey, why are you checking the buzzer over there? It’ll be fine! It won’t go off anyway, so don’t worry about it! Don’t worry about the first-years! Over there, check out the medical students, and over there, the law students!”

Kim Chul-yong shakes his head. Baek Su-cheol’s instructions are no different from trying to completely erase first-year students from the broadcast.

“I really don’t understand what you’re talking about, asking for a favor but then telling me not to worry about it.”

As Kim Chul-yong was about to leave the filming set, announcer Cha Tae-in, who had been with him throughout the history of the scholarship quiz, greeted him.

“Oh my, the general producer is coming out here?”

“Oh my – aren’t you Mr. NBC?”

Cha Tae-in smiles and accepts Kim Chul-yong’s hand as he shakes his hand.

“I came to see if the broadcast preparations were going well.”

Cha Tae-in chuckles at Kim Chul-yong’s unusual appearance.

“I guess you were nervous because it was a special feature.”

“Yes, well. I really care about what that ratings guy does.”

Cha Tae-in and Kim Cheol-yong look at Baek Su-cheol, who is shouting out instructions one after another.

“But the ratings are still good, right, PD?”

“Oh my, that makes it even more of a problem, my shoulders are going to pierce the sky.”

“Hahaha, is that so?”

Cha Tae-in smiling like a good person in the world.

Kim Cheol-yong bowed his head slightly to him and said.

“It seems like they want to erase the first-year students, but since they’re on TV, shouldn’t they say a few words? That way, the viewers can watch our show without feeling uncomfortable.”

Cha Tae-in nods his head as if he knows what I mean.

“Yes, I will try to proceed from time to time.”

“Oh my – I believe it when our Mr. NBC says it like that.”

Cha Tae-in smiled and brushed past Kim Chul-yong as he headed into the set, and Kim Chul-yong clicked his tongue and quickly left the set.

**

“Okay! Family members and acquaintances, please move to the audience seats, and only the performers will move to the waiting room.”

Following the broadcasting station staff’s instructions, not only the children of Sanggye-dong, but also the adults around our house and their families all left.

Bam!

My little sister, who had hit my back hard while I was letting my guard down, spoke while waving her denim jacket.

“Break it all down!”

Are you asking if we’re at a demolition site?

Picking a smile and nodding his head, he tried to follow the instructions of the staff member, but Taesu, who was next to him, had the same arm and leg.

“Are you a robot?”

“what?”

He pretends to be completely normal, but his arms and legs are completely different. He drags Taesu, who has turned into a creaking robot, into the waiting room.

There are a lot of students with faces that say they studied quite a bit. Judging from their clothes, they seem to be children of relatively wealthy families.

Among them, the most noticeable ones were two female students who were burying their noses in their past exam booklets and not even looking at us, and two male students who raised the corners of their lips and looked me and Taesu up and down.

“What is this, we have no choice but to win?”

“Kekekeke.”

The two boys laughed at us, wondering what they were so confident about.

Taesu, who would normally be furious, was swallowing his saliva repeatedly, as if he couldn’t hear what the guys were saying because he was nervous.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? What? It’s nothing?”

No, Taesu answers well without seeming to care at all. He pretends to be tough, but anyway, well. This is probably more appropriate for someone his age.

The guy who had been swallowing a few more times suddenly got up from his seat.

“why?”

“Oh, that. The bathroom.”

Laughter erupts here and there.

It must be because anyone can see that Taesu is nervous.

“Go out and go straight to the right – there’s a bathroom.”

Taesu said he would go out after hearing the words of one of the students who had been laughing at us and left the waiting room.

The guy next to the student who told him where the bathroom was said with a smile.

“Hehe, are you a punk?”

“Don’t you think he’s really nervous?”

“Yeah. We’ll win.”

“It’s easy. It’s easy.”

The war of nerves between the young guys is childish.

I wonder if there are people who fall victim to such a war of nerves. Unlike me, I think Taesu might fall victim to it.

“Let’s fight fair and square, men, lethally.”

The words of a female student who was engrossed in her workbook. Even the boy’s words show strong confidence.

They are just wary of each other, as if Taesu and I are nothing.

“Hey, don’t be so cocky just because you did well on the college entrance exam. The scholarship quiz is different.”

The two girls and the two boys, who were probably close friends, growled and engaged in a war of nerves. In the meantime, the girl, who had her head back in her book and was wearing her nighttime glasses, looked at me and said.

“The bathroom is on the left. Your friend might be lost.”

When I looked at the guy who told the female student where the bathroom was, he whistled and snickered.

The things you do are cute.

I don’t like the look in that girl’s eyes any more than the guys who basically ignore us.

It’s as if he’s saying, “Even if we fight fair and square, I’ll win, and you guys are inferior to us.”

There are so many people these days who dare to look down on me.

Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to find Taesu, who was wandering outside.

“hey.”

“Puppy, we’re in trouble, there’s no toilet!”

“It’s over there.”

“Huh? Isn’t that the left side?”

When I nodded, Taesu’s expression hardened.

“Right, left.”

Taesu’s eyes were burning brightly at my answer. He hadn’t noticed it because of the tension, but now he must have realized it. Everyone in the waiting room was looking down on us.

“We definitely have to win.”

Oh, there are so many people with a sense of superiority. Is it because we are in a period of rapid economic growth that the nouveau riche are being born?

“I had planned on doing that from the beginning.”

The guy raised the corners of his mouth as if he liked my answer. He seemed to have relaxed a bit now. As soon as we came out of the bathroom together.

“Let’s start filming!”

With a big sign for shooting, the students in the waiting room rush to the shooting location. I glance at Taesu and see that he is showing off his burning determination.

“Just do as you always have.”

“Oh, don’t worry.”

I don’t think there’s any need to worry since he’s pretending to be strong again. He hates losing so much, so he’ll probably focus properly.

“Wow! Jeon Kang, Hong Tae Soo, fighting!”

“Gyaaaaaaah- Come on, little brother!”

“Fighting to the West-”

The cheering from the children of Sanggye-dong and my older sister, Suyeong, is loud. I turn my head and look toward the audience, and I see my mother clasping her hands together and praying with my older sister.

“Hey! Why don’t you make it quiet down? How much does the film cost! Anyway, the parachute… Hey!”

When the person who appeared to be the director shouted harshly, the little sister, Sooyoung, and the Sanggye-dong children who had been smiling brightly shrugged their shoulders.

It’s a parachute.

Although he spoke in a whisper, I could tell who the parachute was. He seemed quite hostile to me and Taesu, so it seemed like he didn’t like us.

I waved to my family as if I was there and sat down in the seat that said “Seorabeolgo.”

“Hmm? It seems a bit dark.”

I nodded at Taesu’s monologue. It’s true that the lighting doesn’t reach our area as well as other areas. This could be seen as blatant discrimination.

The reasons to become a Jangwon just keep growing.

“Today’s scholarship quiz, special team competition. Let’s start now!”

Starting with announcer Cha Tae-in, the audience cheered and applauded according to the staff’s signals.

“I’d like to introduce the 10 students who appeared today. Please introduce yourselves, starting with the students at the front.”

“Sim So-hee, 3rd year student at Seongchang Girls’ High School.”

“This is Youngmi Ahn.”

Starting with the child wearing the sleeping glasses, they started introducing themselves one by one.

“Jungang High School, Kim Hyun-soo.”

“This is Park Ki-beom.”

Taesu grinds his teeth as he looks at the guys who lied about the location of the bathroom.

Then it’s our turn.

“All first-year students of Seorabeol High School.”

“This is Hong Tae-soo.”

As soon as the self-introduction was over.

“Waaaaaaaaaah!”

“Gyaaaah! Good job, dog!”

The family sitting in the audience and the children from Sanggye-dong are noisy. I wonder when my little sister’s voice became so good.

“Cut! NG!”

A man who appears to be the director shouts nervously.

“Hey, be quiet there! How much does the tape cost! If you keep doing that, I’ll kick you out!”

A director who sends a warning to our family.

I glanced over and saw my younger sister biting her lip. The Sanggye-dong children were lowering their heads in a dejected manner, and my older sister was looking around intently.

And the mother bows her head and apologizes to the PD, then looks around.

“How dare you···”

Taesu gulps at my monologue.

“Let’s skip the greetings and get straight to the problem! Hi- Q!”

I was just trying to get a decent score.

At that point, I lost the desire to end it.

“Let’s start with the question selection quiz. Long ago in the country of Qi in China, there was a man. He often sat at his desk… One day, he suddenly saw a shooting star….”

Knock. Beep.

I pressed the buzzer before the problem was even over.

“Yes! Seorabeol High School!”

“alarmism.”

“Giwoo! That’s right!”

I wonder if this buzzer will be the only one that rings today.

“Okay, now you have a chance to choose a problem.”

Taesu looks at me quietly, as if he were watching me.

“nature.”

“Natural 10 points, I have a question for you.”

Again, the female announcer begins reading the question.

“This time it’s a blood-related issue. Our people’s blood turns red…”

widely.

Me again.

I pressed the buzzer faster than anyone else.

“Yes! Seorabeol High School!”

“hemoglobin.”

“Hemoglobin, that’s the answer!”

The director suddenly stands up from his seat at the sign of the correct answer.

“Cut! Lights over there! Stand over there and shine them properly on the students!”

The director we thought was hostile begins to care about us.

The children at Seongchang Girls’ High School are grinding their teeth, and the children at Jungang High School are biting their lips. Guys, will they still have mouths and teeth today?

It’s late.

Come on, don’t worry about me anymore.

I can see my family and people in the distance, dispirited and unable to cheer me on even though I got the answer right.

Erase the world today.

So that only I remain.

So that you can cheer to your heart’s content.

So that you never have to bow your head again.