5
# Chapter 5
## 5
Honestly,
I thought I'd put up with enough already.
No, if anything, the fact that I'd endured things this far meant I'd been incredibly patient.
I'd endured it even though there was no reason for me to.
Shouldn't I actually be praised for that?
I had a whopping 50 billion won sitting in my bank account, after all.
"You're not scared?"
I wasn't trying to threaten her.
I wasn't that pathetic of a human being.
I was simply genuinely curious.
She seemed convinced that I was the culprit.
If that were really the case, wasn't she scared?
"What do you think I'll do?"
When I asked that,
a crack finally appeared in Do Gahee's expression.
---
Immediately after confirming that the car had been sabotaged,
Manager Baek Ho-cheol immediately reported it to the team leader.
Sabotage!
How could something like this possibly happen?
And it wasn't just anyone who had been targeted.
It was Do Gahee, the company's flagship actress.
If they hadn't noticed the sabotage and had driven Do Gahee around in that vehicle anyway,
...just imagining it was horrifying.
Who would have taken responsibility for that?
Of course, the person who had sabotaged the vehicle would be the ultimate culprit.
But the company couldn't escape responsibility either.
And among them, Management Team 2, which was responsible for taking care of a major star like Do Gahee, would bear the
greatest responsibility.
But putting questions of responsibility and disciplinary action aside,
someone had nearly gotten hurt.
It had been deliberate sabotage that could easily have resulted in someone's death.
'Just what kind of bastard...'
Baek Ho-cheol clenched his teeth.
He could barely contain his anger.
It felt like his blood was boiling.
His insides were genuinely churning with rage.
And more than anything else—
'...This is so damn embarrassing.'
Kang Taebaek.
He felt utterly ashamed in front of that guy.
His face was practically burning.
To have something like this happen on his first day.
The previous night, he'd been bragging and acting all confident, and even when Kang Taebaek had carefully inspected the
vehicle, he'd confidently told him there was no need.
But as it turned out, if Kang Taebaek hadn't checked the car, something truly terrible could have happened.
He was grateful, but at the same time, his pride as an older brother took a serious hit.
At that moment, Team Leader Kim Jeong-ho, who was riding the elevator with him, spoke.
"Ho-cheol, I know you're angry, but... can't you relax your expression a little?"
"...Excuse me? Does my face look that bad right now?"
"Yeah... You look like you're on your way to bury someone. I can barely breathe standing next to you."
"...I'm sorry."
"It's not something you need to apologize for... I just don't know what kind of disaster this came out of nowhere...
Sigh. Still, at least there wasn't a major accident. What was the new guy's name again? Something Taebaek?"
"Kang Taebaek."
"Right, Kang Taebaek. That's an unusual name. Anyway, it's a good thing he prevented something serious. What did you say
your relationship with him was again? A younger guy you met while serving?"
"...He was my junior in the military."
"Was that it? Anyway, we owe him one. Whatever the case, we got through this safely because of him, right? So don't get
too worked up."
"...Sorry for worrying you."
"What do you mean, worrying me? Let's just go explain everything properly to the CEO. We need to catch whoever did
this."
"Yes, we do."
That culprit.
He didn't know what kind of bastard it was.
But he intended to catch him no matter what it took.
'Phew... Yeah. Get a grip.'
Now was the time to focus on what was right in front of him.
Baek Ho-cheol looked straight ahead.
The elevator had arrived.
The 15th floor.
The floor where the CEO's office was located.
He was nervous.
The CEO of this company.
Geum Tae-seong.
He'd met him several times before.
But every time, he still felt nervous.
It wasn't because he looked intimidating or had a violent personality.
Quite the opposite.
He spoke politely to every employee, and his tone was always gentle and mild.
Baek Ho-cheol had worked at the company for quite some time now, but he'd never once seen the CEO swear or raise his
voice.
And yet.
'...He's strangely difficult to deal with.'
There was a kind of charisma that was difficult to put into words.
He generally preferred not to run into the man if he could help it...
But what could he do?
He had to do what needed to be done.
---
A crack appeared in Do Gahee's expression.
At first, there was bewilderment and disbelief.
Then, a brief flash of fear.
And finally, anger.
Do Gahee glared at me with her eyes blazing.
"Are you seriously threatening me right now? You... You're really insane, aren't you? How dare some mere manager
threaten me?"
"I'm not exactly threatening you. Did it sound like one?"
I answered calmly, and a deep crease formed between Do Gahee's brows.
She was trembling.
She really seemed extremely angry.
It was unfortunate for her, but I wasn't scared in the slightest.
"...You're really hopeless."
Do Gahee pulled out her phone.
At this point, I was even slightly curious.
What was she planning to do?
I hoped she wouldn't disappoint me.
Do Gahee began making a call.
Was she going to call the police?
Since I had nothing to hide, I simply crossed my arms and watched her.
"...Hello? CEO?"
The CEO?
Did she mean the CEO of this company?
I'd thought she was calling the police, but apparently she was calling the company's CEO.
"You know Kang Taebaek, right? Can you get rid of him right in front of me?"
Oh.
That was music to my ears.
I'd already been wanting to go home, so if they were going to send me away, I'd gladly accept.
"...What? Do you know what he just said to me?!"
Do Gahee raised her voice.
Why was she getting like that again?
Wasn't things going her way?
That wouldn't do.
For the first time, I genuinely found myself rooting for Do Gahee.
"...You want me to hand the phone to him? Right now?"
Me?
Do Gahee suddenly glared at me.
Why me all of a sudden?
"...Here. Take it."
Do Gahee irritably handed me the phone.
I had no idea what was going on.
But I took the call first.
"...I'm on the phone."
* ...Hello? Mr. Kang Taebaek?
It was different from what I'd expected.
A deep, mature, and extremely polite voice.
"Yes, this is Kang Taebaek."
* Hello. My name is Geum Tae-seong. It's our first time speaking, and I'm sorry that our first greeting has to be over
the phone. First of all... thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to prevent a major accident.
I'd naturally expected him to start by getting angry, but his reaction was completely different.
With the CEO behaving so politely, I couldn't exactly respond harshly either.
"...It's nothing. I was just lucky."
* Luck... You know something? Luck is extremely important in this industry. That's why I like people who are lucky very
much.
"Ah... yes..."
* I'll apologize on Gahee's behalf. As you've probably already noticed, she's a little unusual when it comes to her
personality. I hope you'll accept my apology and bear with her.
"...Understood."
If he'd started acting like a jerk first, that would have been one thing.
But he was being so polite that I couldn't bring myself to act like a jerk myself.
'It's not like I'm some kind of asshole.'
The situation was unfolding somewhat differently from what I'd expected.
* Could you put Gahee back on the phone?
I handed the phone back to Do Gahee.
She looked at me with an expression I'd never seen on her before.
Is she really an actress?
She certainly had an incredible variety of expressions.
"...Are you seriously letting the CEO talk to me like this? No, I said I don't want to...!"
Do Gahee was about to raise her voice, but suddenly her expression twisted horribly.
She began biting her lip repeatedly.
I wasn't sure what was happening,
but it didn't seem to be going well.
'Try a little harder.'
I'd genuinely been rooting for her.
"...Fine. Hang up."
Do Gahee squeezed her eyes shut and ended the call.
After hanging up, she stared at me silently.
Then she abruptly turned around and got into the car.
...What the hell was that supposed to mean?
---
Geum Tae-seong ended the call.
"Hmm. This is interesting."
"...Interesting?"
"Yes. This is a first for me."
Geum Tae-seong wore a faint smile as he stroked his chin.
"You said he's your junior from the military, right?"
"...Yes. Did that guy cause some kind of trouble...?"
"No, nothing like that. I was simply curious."
"About what, exactly...?"
"As you know, that girl Do Gahee has a rather unusual personality, doesn't she?"
"......"
"Haha. You don't need to be so careful with your words. There's no one at our company who doesn't know what Gahee's
personality is like."
"Yes... she is rather..."
"Because of that unusual personality, her managers suffer quite a lot, and she goes through them pretty frequently...
But she's never once asked me herself to change her manager."
"Oh... Really?"
That was the first he'd heard of it.
She'd never asked to have her manager changed?
"That girl has quite a bit of pride, so no matter how much she dislikes a manager, she never asks to have them replaced.
The managers have always been the ones to leave first. But just now, that girl asked me to change her manager?"
This was another first.
And it was rather interesting.