Chapter 143
The Japanese mother and daughter were flustered.
Right.
It was understandable that they were flustered when the person who had just been discussing a scam suddenly brought up scouting.
Kaede's eyes were sparkling with anticipation, but her mother was extremely suspicious.
Since they didn't know much about me, they seemed to think I was some kind of scammer.
Then I suppose I should explain things here.
"Please turn this over."
"Pardon? What is this...?"
Puzzled, she turned the card over.
All right. Now let's get started.
"Ms. Yumi Yastori."
"...!? H-How did you know my name?"
"Your maiden name is Yumi Suzuki. Correct?"
"Uh... Yes!"
"A petty thief broke into the supermarket changing room two days ago, didn't they?"
"Gasp... Yes!! That's right!"
"The culprit is Ms. Suzue, the cashier next to you."
I could see it in her future.
The future in which the rude woman at the neighboring register secretly entered the manager's office, stole money, and was caught on her way out.
An investigation would reveal that it wasn't her first time.
"Oh my goodness. Ms. Suzue is the culprit?"
"Yes. When Ms. Suzue leaves her post to go to the bathroom, follow her secretly. She'll go to the break room instead of the bathroom."
"But there's a CCTV camera at the entrance..."
"The CCTV isn't working."
"What?! Is that really true? The manager said several times that it was real...!!"
"It's real. But it's not recording. It's broken."
The manager hadn't fixed it because he didn't want to spend money on repairs.
"Managerrr...!!"
"Of course, that alone won't be enough to catch her. So I'll tell you an easy way to catch her."
Claim that it's your wedding anniversary and that you'll go straight to dinner after work, then wear expensive clothes and jewelry.
Then leave them in the locker and go to work.
Then Suzue will sneak in to steal them.
All you have to do is check when she comes out.
"But... I-I don't have any expensive clothes or jewelry..."
"Hmm. Then I'll lend you some."
Even expensive jewelry would only cost a few million won.
That much wasn't difficult.
"Y-You don't have to go that far...!!"
"I'm trying to score points with your mother. Ah. Don't misunderstand, though. It's not that I'm interested in your mother or anything. I want to bring Kaede to our company."
"Huh?"
After showing Kaede a future in which she could avoid the scam, her future changed.
She avoided the scam thanks to me, but she didn't give up her dream of becoming an idol.
So she practiced harder and filmed more videos, and then Twin Enter contacted her.
They offered her an audition.
"I'm an investor in an entertainment company. It's called Twin Enter."
And after thinking it over, she agreed.
After about a year of training, she became an amazing idol.
There was just one unfortunate thing.
Both Twin Enter and Kaede regretted that we hadn't met sooner.
In that future, they regretted not meeting sooner, thinking they could have done more.
Then why not have them meet sooner?
"You know Ibin, right?"
"Yes!! Oh, I know him! Mr. Ibin!!"
"He's signed to our company."
Following the immutable truth that if you can't beat them, you should join them, Ibin, whose contract was about to expire, switched agencies.
Straight to Twin Enter.
It was a very wise decision, so I once congratulated him over the phone.
"If you'd like, I can connect you with Mr. Ibin."
"Really?!"
The look in Auntie Yumi's eyes, which had been sparkling earlier, was completely different now.
I met her gaze, which no longer held any suspicion that I was a scammer, and tapped on my phone.
-Oh! Teacher Kang!
"Haha. How have you been, Mr. Ibin?"
-Yes! Haha! It was just as you said, Teacher!
While he was at Twin Enter, I recommended the drama he would be appearing in next.
It was a drama on a cable channel, and its first-episode ratings were a whopping 21%.
They were absurdly high.
-Seriously...!! I feel like I've found the role of my life!
"It's a little surprising to hear that from an actor whose films have drawn ten million viewers. Don't movie stars usually avoid appearing in dramas?"
-Come on. Who says that? That's what people who are all flash and no substance say. A real actor should do well wherever he acts.
That was definitely a cool thing to say.
"I'm calling because there's a fan of yours here. Twin Enter is working on an idol project, too, isn't it?"
The new president was genuinely invested in running the company, unlike the previous president.
Of course he was.
The more the company grew, the more there would be in it for him.
And since he wanted to grow the company and get revenge, it was only natural that he was working hard.
With some help from me, he had expanded the company, and now they were working on an idol project.
Let's deploy Tactical Kaede into that project.
-Yes. Exactly. As it happens, I've been going around asking the junior artists signed with the company to introduce me to any friends who are interested or talented. We're also scouting people on the street and holding interviews.
Heh. Right?
Kaede looked completely thrilled.
She wasn't only interested in a major company like Taehyun.
Perhaps she had searched for information about Twin Enter while I was talking with Ibin, because she was brimming with anticipation.
"Let's start with a fan meeting."
"Yes!!"
I handed the phone to Ms. Yumi.
She was so happy she could practically faint.
They talked about something in Japanese, but I decided to leave that to them.
"Hey, Kaede. I'm thinking of recommending you."
"R-Really?! Hyung!! Thank you so much!!"
"You have talent. And you could seize an amazing future."
"Ah... I know what you're going to say. That the future can change any number of times?"
"That's right."
The future I saw was one she could attain if she worked hard.
If she simply played around and lived off my prophecy, that future would naturally disappear.
"The drops of sweat you've shed so far, and the drops you'll shed in the future, won't betray you."
"...Then that's okay!!"
"Good."
It seemed the call had just ended, and Auntie Yumi handed my phone back to me, though she looked disappointed.
"Then let's get to the main point. I'll tell the company president about it. I'll ask him to take Kaede on as a trainee. Naturally, trainees don't receive anything like a salary."
Even if we received money, it wouldn't be enough.
We'd have to cover her lesson fees, lodging, food, and living expenses, after all.
"But this is an investment, so Kaede won't have to pay anything."
"Yes...!!"
Ms. Yumi looked at me with complete trust.
"Then shall we do it?"
"Yes!! I'll trust you, Teacher Kang, and leave her in your hands!!"
I could feel the sincerity in Hong Si-yeon's interpretation.
That must have meant Ms. Yumi was just as sincere.
"All right. Then let's go buy the necklace Ms. Yumi will use."
.
.
.
The nearby jeweler made about 500,000 yen in profit.
In other words, we bought a 500,000-yen necklace.
Auntie Yumi and Kaede left together after sincerely promising to return the necklace to me once she caught the thieving woman two days later.
"Wow. I didn't expect you to go this far for her."
"This is an investment, too."
"How famous is she going to get?"
"Extremely famous."
"That famous? Hmm. Then should I invest a little in Twin Enter, too?"
"Haha. Investor, you're always welcome. But I don't know if there will be any shares left."
At present, Twin Enter's shares were split exactly fifty-fifty between me and Old Man Jeong Hui-tae.
But owning shares didn't mean that either Old Man Jeong Hui-tae or I meddled in the company.
The president was running the business well on his own, so why meddle?
"Maybe I'll ask Grandpa Hui-tae to sell me some."
"Then would you like to buy some of my shares, too?"
"Sounds good~!"
Hong Si-yeon smiled from ear to ear.
When it came to money, she'd never run short, but the more money you had, the better, right?
"So have we finished everything we came to do in Japan?"
"Yes."
We caught the crazy bastard.
We bought merchandise.
And we found a talented recruit who could benefit the company.
So we'd done everything we needed to do.
"Is there anything you'd like to do, Ms. Si-yeon?"
"Hehe. Of course. I'd like to try going sightseeing with you, Noah."
"Right. Ah. You said you wanted to ride a Ferris wheel, didn't you? Shall we go?"
There was a huge Ferris wheel near Umeda.
Riding it would fulfill one of Hong Si-yeon's wishes.
"Ah! The HEP FIVE Ferris wheel! Yes! I know it! I've never ridden it, though!"
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes. Whenever I came to Japan on business, I only worked."
"Good. Then let's go ride it."
And so we headed to Umeda.
Since it was already dark, the night view should be beautiful.
"What should I do? I'm so excited."
"Why are you so excited over a single Ferris wheel?"
"Because it's my first time!"
They say the greater the anticipation, the greater the disappointment.
I didn't think a Ferris wheel would be all that exciting...
Anyway, we arrived in Umeda, reached the boarding area, paid the fare, and took our places in line.
"Oh?! It's Noah hyung!"
"Hyung! Are you on a date?!"
Perhaps because it was a tourist attraction, there were quite a few Koreans.
Some people recognized me and came running over, so I signed autographs, took pictures, and read their fortunes.
None of them had any particularly dangerous futures.
That was a relief.
"Mr. Noah. It's our turn."
"Yep."
We boarded the Ferris wheel together.
The Ferris wheel swayed.
A space for just the two of us.
Hong Si-yeon's face, as she looked at me, was filled with happiness.
"It's one of the things on my bucket list."
"Oh. Riding a Ferris wheel?"
"Yes."
Hong Si-yeon smiled softly, looked straight at me, and said:
"Riding a Ferris wheel with a man I'm interested in, just the two of us, while looking out at a beautiful night view."
Her calm voice trembled slightly.
"That dream has come true."