Chapter 60
Normally, no one can enter this place without permission.
Even so, the fact that a paparazzo had gotten in meant that someone had let him in.
Joanna grabbed me and asked.
"Could you read that guy's fortune?"
"That wouldn't be difficult."
At my answer, Joanna nodded and called the guards.
The guards moved in at her instruction.
The paparazzo, pretending to read a newspaper while lying in wait for a scoop with a camera hidden in his sleeve, looked somewhat startled.
But that lasted only a moment.
He casually pretended to read the newspaper, then...
"Hiyah!!"
He bolts.
As he shoved the guards aside and ran toward the entrance—in other words, toward us—I said to Mr. Cheolhon.
"You can stop him, right?"
"Of course."
Pretending to be just a passerby,
he leisurely walked along and collided with the paparazzo running toward him.
"Whoops!!"
The paparazzo went rolling across the floor.
Anyone could see that the paparazzo had run straight into Mr. Cheolhon.
Mr. Cheolhon's superb Hollywood action!
With this, we could even sue him.
The guards chasing him caught the paparazzo, who had fallen on his backside after the collision.
He seemed to be cursing something in English.
Amazingly, one of the curses was "fuck."
It feels like the Taegeukgi is fluttering in my chest.
Mr. Kim Gu... are you watching!
"They say they found a camera."
"Yes. I can see it."
It wasn't just the camera.
When I checked the memory chips hidden in various parts of his clothes, there were quite a few photos of artists signed to Swimmel.
And among them were no shortage of photos of female singers when they had let their guard down.
"What a bastard."
Rosetta muttered.
She seemed to want to throw that paparazzo in a jail cell right away.
Of course, even after being caught, the paparazzo was busily spouting something in English...
Judging by the atmosphere around us, it didn't look like we had anything serious to worry about.
"He's ranting that all he did was take a few pictures, and isn't this too much? He claims he was working tirelessly for the fans' right to know..."
"Hmm... No matter how much of a fan someone is, I don't think they have the right to know the color of a female singer's underwear. Anyway, hold on a moment."
I approached the paparazzo.
When I held out a card to the huffing man, he stared at me in disbelief.
"He looks dumbfounded."
"I can tell that much just by looking. Rosetta, could you have him turn this over?"
She grinned, showed him her ID, and whispered something.
The man's expression stiffened, and he hurriedly flipped over the card.
"Did it work, hyung? Did you find anything out?"
Joanna's eyes sparkled, and I nodded.
"There's a manager named Swind among the managers here, right? He and someone named George on the security staff are involved in this. The manager let the paparazzo in and is also arranging opportunities for him to take pictures in secret."
"Huh."
"Check their bank accounts. You'll find money sent from someone named Robinson. That's the evidence. If you look at the computers in Swind and George's homes, you'll find thousands of compromising photos of female celebrities taken by that paparazzo."
"...I see. Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
If that paparazzo had been a brave person stepping forward for the public good, I would've helped him too...
But no matter how I looked at him, he was human garbage.
Someone who took pictures of celebrities and extorted money from their agencies or the celebrities themselves.
There was no reason to go out of my way to help someone like that.
Anyway, that was all I had to do here.
While Joanna called someone and talked animatedly, Hong Siyeon chuckled.
"You're always busy, even here, Noah."
"It's better than being bored."
"And you're upholding justice, too."
"I don't want to live like an orphan."
"Ahaha! You're so cool, as always."
"I know. I know I'm cool."
Heh.
When I laughed, Hong Siyeon patted me on the back, clearly enjoying herself.
In the meantime, it seemed things had been more or less wrapped up.
Police officers came in and took away a white man and a Black man under arrest.
As people watched in fascination, Joanna approached.
"Thanks, hyung. How can I ever repay you?"
"I'll send you the bill later. But is that all? It was an interesting scene, honestly, but if that's everything, I'd be disappointed."
"Oh. No, no. The tour's only just getting started."
Saying that, she held out what she called a visitor's pass.
With this, apparently, we could go farther inside and look around.
"Of course, we can't go everywhere. There are classified areas, and quite a few of the artists are troubled, too, so it's best not to meet them if possible."
In particular, those people hated even coming face-to-face with others, so it was better not to meet them if possible.
But apparently, we could enter every other area.
"It doesn't matter since I'll be showing you around anyway! Let's go!!"
Joanna strode ahead grandly.
Following her inside, we came upon an area where we had to scan our visitor passes.
-Beep!
When we scanned the visitor pass, the glass door opened.
This was where the real Swimmel began—the company that housed so many top-tier artists.
The real Swimmel.
"...Is this really okay?"
We saw it as soon as we entered.
People sprawled everywhere.
On one side, a beautiful female singer was squatting and muttering as she gnawed at her thumbnail.
On the other, people were grabbing each other by the collars and shouting at the top of their lungs.
There could hardly be a bigger mess than this.
"Let's try to understand and move on. Ahaha. They're people with deadlines coming up..."
When you're working, deadlines are always there.
Naturally, people become worn down if they fail to produce results by the deadline.
After passing through the place where such people had gathered, we came to an area that was at least worth seeing.
"Wow. This is pretty cool."
"Right? You could call it a hall for people valued at over a hundred million dollars by Swimmel."
The greats.
A hall for people who were so few even in a vast empire that they could literally be called masters.
It was splendid and cool.
Even I, who honestly knew little about this, was impressed, so how must it seem from Rosetta and John's perspective?
"Wow..."
Even Hong Siyeon was admiring it.
"What is this?"
"They say it's a saxophone used by Joe Wilson. My grandmother likes that jazz singer too..."
A master of the 1980s.
Beyond the exhibit room displaying the things he used was an area displaying merchandise from the artists currently at Swimmel.
"Ahem. Not that I'm bragging, but my merch is here too."
You are bragging.
Joanna subtly guided us toward one spot and looked around.
A whole display was packed with Joanna's merchandise.
"Gasp... This is merchandise from Joanna's first album... They said they only made a hundred limited-edition pieces...!!"
"And number 99 is right here."
Listening to Hong Siyeon's interpretation, Joanna suddenly seemed like an extraordinary person.
She doesn't really seem that way when I see her fooling around in the chat, though.
Anyway, looking around at all this was definitely better than people-watching around the neighborhood.
"It's about lunchtime."
"You said you'd show us a good restaurant?"
"Heh heh. That's right. The best restaurant in Baltimore. The Swimmel cafeteria."
"Huh."
It was absurd, but we went anyway.
Following her, we headed to the third floor, and quite a few people had already arrived.
"There are more menu options than I expected."
"They have Korean food too!"
"Oh... even Spanish cuisine?"
"Hyung, what do you want to eat?"
"I'll have pork cutlet."
"...No, why would you eat pork cutlet after coming all the way here... No. Fine. What about the rest of you?"
Everyone named one dish.
Joanna took their orders, and we sat at a large table.
"By the way, hyung, why on earth did you come to America? And why are the FBI beside you..."
"Can I tell you this?"
I looked at Rosetta and John, but they showed no particular reaction.
Then it should be fine to give her a rough explanation.
"I got a request for cooperation."
"Oh... That's just like you, hyung. Amazing."
"I am pretty amazing."
"Heh heh."
Joanna giggled.
Hong Siyeon gazed intently at her.
"By the way, why has the red-haired lady over there kept sneaking glances at me?"
"Sneaking glances? That's a misunderstanding."
Hong Siyeon smiled sweetly.
Joanna looked awkward at that smile, then shook her head.
"Well, if it's just my imagination, then never mind.
Anyway, hyung, there's a party tonight. Want to come?"
"I have to stream and play games in the evening."
"Aw, darn."
I was curious about the party Joanna was attending, but it wasn't enough to outweigh streaming and gaming.
She shrugged.
"Well, if that's what you say, hyung, it can't be helped."
.
.
.
Touring Swimmel was much more fun than I expected.
It was fun watching the singers gather in the lounge for rap battles, and even watching a fairly famous producer squirm around like a bug was entertaining in its own way.
Watching Joanna sing one of her own songs also looked cooler than I expected.
"Aww. Are you leaving now, hyung?"
"Yeah. I'm leaving."
"What a shame. Buy me a meal if you come visit Korea someday."
"Okay."
I'd eaten plenty of food at her expense today, so I could at least buy her a meal.
"Then see you again later!"
It was just as Joanna was about to leave after saying that casually.
A woman stepped out of the elevator.
She was an elegant old woman who looked to be in her early sixties.
The intelligent-looking white-haired old woman approached with the click of loafers, stared intently at me, and opened her mouth.
"Are you Mr. Kang? It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Siana Jeremy Swimmel, the owner of Swimmel."
She spoke fluent Korean.
Since Korean was a recent trend, she must have learned it.
"Let me make you an offer."
She naturally extended her hand to me.
"Have you ever thought about becoming a hot star?"
In response to her offer, I held out a card.
The old woman who saw it flipped the card over with a broad smile.
Eight of Spades.
When she asked for the interpretation, I smiled and answered.
"Thank you, but I'll have to decline."
"Why is that? I could make you the biggest star in America. I've watched your streams, but you're merely an uncut gemstone. With someone to polish you, you could shine even brighter."
"And you're the one who can polish me?"
"Yes. If I, Siana Jeremy Swimmel, the owner of Swimmel, were to take matters into my own hands..."
"That might be difficult."
"Mr. Kang. This is a favor. An act of goodwill, and a mutually beneficial opportunity."
"Yes."
"I have no intention of deceiving you."
"I know that, too."
"Then why? If it's because you find it bothersome..."
"That isn't entirely untrue... but there's one major problem."
"What problem could there be? As long as I'm in the position of owner, grooming you..."
"You're going to be ousted as owner next month."
......
Siana's expression twisted beyond recognition.