Chapter 8
The drama wrapped filming successfully.
On top of that, she’d regained the recognition she’d lost and was satisfied with her own acting.
Finally, even the sexual frustration that had been pent up inside her was completely relieved.
Despite being an extra, she’d landed three ad offers and was now on a roll at the company.
With her confidence fully back, Han Hye-eun was like a tank.
And yet.
“I watched the drama.”
Though the words were utterly matter-of-fact, Han Hye-eun felt her mouth inexplicably go dry and answered carefully.
“Thank you, sir.”
CEO Cheon Tae-oh.
As if to prove that not just anyone could run a management agency, merely sitting across from him made it hard to breathe.
Even with a kind smile on his face, he had a far more imposing presence than most gangsters.
It had been a long time since she’d been in touch with the CEO, and an even longer time since they’d shared a meal.
Han Hye-eun couldn’t help feeling both happy and extremely nervous.
‘Right, back when my first project was a huge hit, we used to have meals together now and then.’
When had those occasions suddenly stopped?
As she turned over one thought after another, Cheon Tae-oh’s deep voice drilled into her ears.
“You seem to have come out of your slump.”
He poured distilled liquor into his own glass,
then poured water for Han Hye-eun.
“Oh, let me pour it myself.”
“No, no. Just sit back and relax.”
“Yes.”
So, she’d come out of her slump.
Those seemingly casual words weren’t casual at all to Han Hye-eun.
Cheon Tae-oh had already decided that her struggles were a slump.
She couldn’t deny it completely, but it still felt as if all the time she’d spent working hard was being dismissed.
‘Still, seeing the CEO again like this…’
It seemed she really had made it back to somewhere near the level she’d once reached.
Otherwise—
“Hye-eun.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know why I called you here?”
“I… don’t know.”
Han Hye-eun kept sipping water for no particular reason, meeting Cheon Tae-oh’s eyes as he didn’t even glance at the beef piled high on the table.
His gaze was kind, but frightening.
To the point that Kim Hyeon-woo, who’d cursed and acted rough without holding back, seemed almost cute by comparison.
Enormous ambition? A beast-like hunger?
She could feel something like that.
Right, you’d need that much ambition to be a CEO.
“You fell hard once, didn’t you? Badly enough that you might never have been able to get back up.”
“……”
Those were words Han Hye-eun absolutely hadn’t wanted to hear.
If some ordinary company employee had said that, she might’ve exploded right then and there.
It was that sensitive a subject.
But because the person who’d said it was CEO Cheon Tae-oh, all Han Hye-eun could do was give a brief answer without a word of protest.
“Yes. That’s right.”
“You’ve finally gotten back up, and I’m worried you’ll fall again. Right. That’s why I wanted to see you, even if only once.”
“……”
“You’re not just a child anymore, Hye-eun. I think you’ll understand what I’m saying.”
“I… understand.”
“Right, you’re not a child anymore. You can meet men and all that.”
A chill ran down her spine.
“I don’t mind you dating.”
She wondered if he’d found out about her relationship with Kim Hyeon-woo, but—
“Honestly, I don’t care what you do. I just hope no one else finds out. Watching the incident that just blew up, I realized…”
The incident that blew up this time?
Oh, maybe he meant Stela from Minimum.
The photo of her getting into a Legend member’s car with a condom in her hand…
“Maybe I let you all have too much freedom.”
Just then.
-♪♬♪♬♪
A ringtone that could hardly have been more old-fashioned.
Even so, he was the CEO of an entertainment agency. You’d expect him to use one of his company’s singers’ or idols’ songs as his ringtone.
But there was no sign of that at all.
It was as if he saw everyone at his company as nothing more than tools…
“Yes, this is Cheon Tae-oh.”
She didn’t know what kind of call he was answering.
But probably…
“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll do that. Yes, yes, don’t worry. Yes, I know.”
It was clear the caller was at least more powerful and higher-ranking than Cheon Tae-oh.
Otherwise, Cheon Tae-oh’s eyes wouldn’t have turned quite so terrifying as he listened.
A vein stood out on the back of the hand clutching his phone.
It was sexy, yet sent a shiver down her spine.
‘I mustn’t get on that man’s bad side.’
She could see why even Team Leader Park Ju-yong became a meek little baby in front of Cheon Tae-oh.
Park Ju-yong, who was always shouting openly, was annoying, but not frightening.
But the Cheon Tae-oh she’d met again was frightening.
No, he’d become frightening.
Running the company as its CEO had made him even more hard-nosed than before.
“Haha, we’re having a meal together for the first time in ages, just the two of us. Sorry I’m making such a poor impression.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“That was a call from AM. They’re going to deny everything, and they told us to take care of it on our end. I don’t know if it’ll be as easy as they make it sound. Hmm.”
Cheon Tae-oh murmured softly.
“Was her name Stela? I may have to meet with her in person, too.”
Every word Cheon Tae-oh uttered sent a chill down Han Hye-eun’s spine.
Han Hye-eun could no longer endure the suffocating atmosphere, so she tried to change the subject somehow.
“M-Mr. CEO.”
“Hmm?”
“Aren’t you curious why I’ve started to come out of my sl…ump again lately?”
“Of course I’m curious. If it has anything to do with our Hye-eun, I’m curious about everything.”
He could lie without batting an eye.
“It’s all thanks to one manager.”
Partly to give Kim Hyeon-woo a boost, too.
And more than that—
“Oh? Really? You came out of your slump and got your condition back to this level thanks to one manager? Does that mean all the managers who’ve been in charge of you and the other celebrities until now were the problem?”
“I-it’s not that. It’s just that my current manager, Mr. Kim Hyeon-woo, is especially capable. You could say we’re on the same wavelength.”
More precisely, they were sexually compatible.
If she kept laying the groundwork like this, then even if Cheon Tae-oh suspected she and Kim Hyeon-woo were sleeping together, there was a good chance he’d let it go as long as no one else found out.
Anyway, there was a simple reason she’d brought up Kim Hyeon-woo here.
“So, what I wanted to ask is, could you make Mr. Kim Hyeon-woo my…”
Her request was for him to become her exclusive manager.
She could have asked someone else, but if she asked Cheon Tae-oh, she could get a definite answer.
At N&P, Cheon Tae-oh was an absolute king.
But then…
“Do you think the management industry’s a joke? You think the entertainment industry is easy?”
Not only had the conversation turned to management, but a familiar voice came from right below the window.
It was Team Leader Park Ju-yong.
Why here, of all places? Right now?
Through the window, which could be slid open to look straight down, she saw Park Ju-yong scolding someone below.
And when Han Hye-eun realized who it was, she covered her mouth with one hand and murmured.
“Kim Hyeon-woo o…… no, Manager?”
Cheon Tae-oh gave a meaningful smile.
“Hmm, so that’s him? The one our Hye-eun says is so capable.”
And when she heard what he was saying…
It was an utterly preposterous ambition.
Even Han Hye-eun, who was very fond of Kim Hyeon-woo, found it ridiculous…
A mere manager was saying he’d form an idol group from scratch and make N&P the best agency in South Korea.
‘What kind of nonsense is that…….’
Then Han Hye-eun glanced to the side and got goosebumps.
Cheon Tae-oh was smiling broadly.
“He’s interesting.”
+ + +
I knew not just anyone could be the head of an organization or company, but…
Even so, meeting CEO Cheon Tae-oh this close for the first time was a shock to me.
People were all pretty much the same, weren’t they? We were all equal.
You might think that.
But the moment I saw that man, I realized—
Humans could never be equal, and they could never be the same.
I could feel that he was someone who lived in a different world from me.
“C-CEO. W-what do you mean by that? Surely—”
“Team Leader Park Ju-yong. Shh.”
“……”
“Am I talking to you right now, Team Leader?”
His quiet, gentle words instantly silenced Park Ju-yong, who was like a mad dog.
Then he immediately came over and placed a hand on one of my shoulders.
“Manager Kim Hyeon-woo.”
“Yes!”
I answered loudly, forgetting that my cheek still stung.
I couldn’t help it.
I was so tense that my body stiffened, and my heart pounded.
But it wasn’t an unpleasant kind of excitement.
Even though I was afraid of the Cheon Tae-oh in front of me, the thought that I might earn his recognition didn’t feel all that unpleasant.
No matter what, Cheon Tae-oh was the one who’d built N&P up to this point.
“How many years have you worked in this industry?”
“A little over three years.”
“With that much experience, you should know most of what there is to know. It costs a lot to develop an idol group.”
“……”
“But, to my embarrassment, the company isn’t doing so well right now. We can’t afford to invest much time or money. Can you still do it?”
Nobel answered that question first.
[Isn’t that obvious?]
[I’m a god-tier AI sent by God.]
Thanks to that, I was able to answer right away with 120 percent confidence.
“Yes, I can.”
“That’s impressive confidence. Seeing how sure you are makes me believe in you, too. With that in mind, I think I’ll invest in you.”
Park Ju-yong, standing beside him, twitched as if he were about to have a seizure.
But Cheon Tae-oh paid him no heed and asked Park Ju-yong,
“Is there any vacant space in the company right now?”
“Well…”
Even if there wasn’t, they’d have to make one.
It was an order from the CEO.
“……There is.”
“Then let’s designate that space as a temporary Management Team 3, and have Manager Kim Hyeon-woo here serve as its acting team leader starting today.”
Acting team leader!
Rather than being moved by the words,
“……Yes, understood.”
It was far more satisfying to watch Park Ju-yong’s face twitch as if his facial muscles were about to burst at Cheon Tae-oh’s order.
Damn, that was sweet.
I’d been wishing I had a soda with my fish roe rice, but this felt like someone was pouring one straight into my mouth instead.
“Manager Kim Hyeon-woo, you too.”
“Yes?”
“Team Leader Park Ju-yong here is an exceptionally capable person. So ask him plenty of questions if there’s anything you don’t know. And Team Leader Park, if Manager Kim Hyeon-woo… Team Leader Kim needs anything, help him as much as you can. If it’s something sensitive, contact me right away.”
Park Ju-yong and I answered at the same time.
“Understood.”
“Well, I should get going. I have another appointment. Ms. Han Hye-eun, I’m sorry I invited you to a meal today and then failed to eat properly with you.”
“No, sir. You must be busy, so please go ahead.”
I’d been wondering what Han Hye-eun was busy with, but she’d had a meal scheduled with the CEO.
That was a perfectly good excuse.
“Take care!”
“Goodbye, Mr. CEO.”
Receiving two farewells that seemed to differ in tone, Cheon Tae-oh sauntered out.
Damn, he was impressive.
As soon as the CEO disappeared, Park Ju-yong grabbed me by the collar.
“You, you little shit. You really have some damn luck…”
I cut him off before he could finish, slapping his hand away as I spoke.
“What’s the matter, Team Leader Park Ju-yong? Even if I’m only acting team leader, you could show me a little respect, couldn’t you?”
“……”
Park Ju-yong was completely dumbfounded.
The sight was so satisfying.
“You, you!! Do you really think you can make it succeed? You think forming a successful idol group is as easy as it sounds? You little shit, if you fall flat on your face because of one mistake, do you think the CEO will let you off?”
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that.”
Why?
[I’m a god-tier AI!]
Because I’d make them succeed.
More than that, I’d fuck the idols I made successful to my heart’s content.
“You should be the one worrying that after watching me succeed, you might end up below me in rank.”
As I said that, I turned my back, just like Cheon Tae-oh had earlier.
Han Hye-eun naturally slipped up close beside me.
“Wait, let’s have coffee or something, Manager Kim Hyeon-woo… no, Acting Team Leader.”
Damn, this is it.
This is what sex is.
Life actually feels worth living.
I quietly waved once, then left the place while giving Han Hye-eun’s thigh and butt a sly squeeze.