Legal Tax Evasion
Fame.
Becoming famous isn't always a good thing.
They call it pressure, don't they?
It's different from being an ordinary person. Every little action can draw attention, and then interpretations get attached to them. That's why celebrities go through so much mental anguish.
"……."
Sora seemed to be feeling that weight as well. She was face-planted on her desk, the monitor not even switched on.
She's always been heavy, though.
In a certain part of her body, that is. It had been quite the issue on the broadcast too.
Even after the broadcast ended, it continued. Dream Girls was over, but the interest hadn't died down.
It's truly absurd.
I'd recommended the community to her. I never imagined she'd adapt this perfectly.
"You asleep?"
"I don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"I want to forget everything from one to ten."
It had been a while since I'd visited Sora's studio apartment. Seeing her completely deflated like this made my heart ache a little.
Honestly, it wasn't that big of a controversy.
Her way of speaking was just a bit unique. She hadn't even posted anything that could easily be misunderstood. Reactions saying she was cute. Reactions saying she was a bit off-putting. If you had to categorize them, it was just those two.
"I just want to die……."
Even that could be tormenting. She couldn't bear the weight beyond just her chest.
It's a transitional phase every influencer goes through at least once.
Burnout. Once you become famous through mass media, your private life gets interfered with. Unwanted information spreads sometimes. I understood why Sora was struggling.
"It's all your fault."
"Mine?"
"Because of you I went on that show. So fucking embarrassing……."
She wanted to blame someone else that badly. But her words just now could be considered a slip of the tongue.
There's nothing she can't say to the K-pop idols elevating Korea's status worldwide.
It absolutely wasn't embarrassing. Even though she'd been eliminated, it would have provided an opportunity for her to grow one step further.
"I'm glad I got eliminated for real!"
"Hey now."
"Do you know how hard it was for me? And then, and then……."
"And then what?"
"I don't know!"
She yelled at the top of her lungs and then face-planted on the desk again. Kids these days really were hard to understand.
Anyway.
The reason I'd come to Sora's place was none other than this. To commend her for her achievements so far.
23,005,026,974 won
+12,902,000,892 (+127.70%)
Entertainment stocks. I'd promised to pay incentives to the club members who'd helped.
Though I don't have much to give.
If it was something earned through their own skills, taking 50% was industry practice. But that wasn't the case. It had been done under my direction. They'd just moved their hands and feet, so the incentives would be that much smaller.
"I lost some day trading too."
"I saw it in the group chat……."
"They treated it like it wasn't their money and ended up taking losses instead, you know?"
"There was that too?"
There had been accidents. Greed. Excessive competition for profits had brought disaster.
Well, I'd factored that in too.
I'd known from the start that they'd make mistakes. When day trading, greed begets more greed. You need to get burned badly at least once to come to your senses. Instead of incentives, they'd gained a lot of experience points.
Manager Kim Young-guk
But Sora was different. No matter how excellent my ability to read stock price flows was.
It was because there was material that we could make this much profit.
She had provided that. It was an achievement that absolutely couldn't be ignored. No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her the fund's ace.
"Due to tax issues and various other reasons, I can't give you a lot……."
"T-ten billion?"
"Yeah."
Right now…… you're kidding me, right?
Do I trade just to get this kind of pocket change? It was a topic that often came up on Wall Street.
But it didn't seem like that kind of story.
I'd adapted reasonably well myself. To ordinary people, ten billion was a huge sum, and it was more than enough to be shocked. Looking at the check I'd given her, she grinned from ear to ear. Thankfully, a satisfying amount was printed on it.
"Is it really okay for me to take this money?"
"Yeah."
"You won't say otherwise later?"
"You're an accomplice now too."
"Hey."
It wasn't 100% legal money. Insider information itself wasn't exactly upright, and various illegal means had been used as well.
If you just keep your mouth shut, it's OK.
Considering what institutions and foreigners got up to, there was nothing to feel guilty about.
"Happy?"
"Yes."
"You were sulking just a moment ago."
"Who wouldn't be happy after getting money."
Before I knew it, she was wearing a contented smile. She didn't seem to know the saying that if you cry then laugh, horns grow on your butt.
I want to plant a horn right on that ass of hers.
The past few weeks. Receiving idol training hadn't been meaningless. At least in terms of her exterior. Overall she'd become sharper. She hadn't exactly been the type to carry extra weight before, but she'd been refined into something far more beautiful.
"Sunbae……?"
Her face was so lovely I wanted to steal her lips. Even without a single trace of makeup, a glossy sheen flowed over that beautiful face.
And tasty too.
I lightly swallowed them. Sora's lips after so long stuck right to my mouth, making me want to keep sucking on them.
Smack! Smack!
Her fluster lasted only a moment. With her eyes squeezed tightly shut, she diligently moved her chin. Her body remembered the kisses I'd taught her.
Her body got way more slutty.
The training had paid off. The thin waist that fit in one hand was firmer than before. The path on either side of her navel that my thumbs could stroke down was probably eleven-line abs.
"Wanna go on a trip with Oppa?"
"Huh?"
"You said you're in a bad mood. That's when you travel."
"It's so sudden……"
The place that was already tight now had muscle wrapped around it too. I couldn't even imagine how good the usage would feel.
I want to use it once secretly while she's sleeping.
Under the pretext of a trip, of course. When your mental state collapses, getting some fresh air is good too.
"Wanna go?"
"I wanna go."
"Good girl."
I secured Sora's permission.
Caw! Caw!
The seagulls roaming the sky above gradually grew more distant. That meant we were getting farther from the coast.
"Isn't the sea breeze refreshing?"
"……."
"The waves too."
"……Whatever."
We were riding a luxury cruise ship. The ocean waves viewed from the deck were truly a spectacular sight, but—
She's awfully preoccupied, huh.
There had been nothing wrong until we boarded. Whether it was that day or something else, her mood had shifted abruptly.
"If the Stock Beautiful Goddess is in a bad mood, her followers will be sad, you know."
"Hey!"
"What, so what."
"Ah!"
Those complicated thoughts. Traveling was for forgetting all of them. I shoved my hand into Sora's ridiculously huge chest.
It's mine.
The extra fat had gone, yet her breasts remained the same size as before. They still held that abundance that wouldn't fit in one hand.
"You absolute fucking lunatic!"
"Why?"
"People can see……."
"So what if they can?"
"Huh?"
Just walking around with them drew eyes. But in a place like this, it was a fairly common sight.
There might be a difference between natural and farmed, though.
A luxury cruise ship. A multinational vessel at that. Travelers in open outfits were scattered everywhere. Stacked-and-packed older sisters, that is. There were even aunties whose relationships ran so hot it was hard to tell whether it was an affair or pure love.
"This is that kind of place."
"I didn't know when we came……."
"In society there are sides of yourself you don't want shown."
It was a membership-only operation. Only people whose social status and assets were guaranteed could receive a recommendation and join.
Thanks to expanding my network.
A space where privacy was guaranteed. As long as we were on the cruise ship, complicated worries could be set aside for a while.
Click—!
There was a tool to help with that too. I placed in Sora's hand an object that every investor absolutely had to get friendly with.
"Drink."
"Cough! Cough! What the hell is this?!"
"What else would it be? Booze."
A hip flask. The cool metal bottle that often appeared in movies. Because whiskey was carried and drunk from it, it was also called pocket whiskey.
Gulp!
The moment I held a mouthful, a sweet fragrance spread.
Nice.
Glenlivet 18 Year. As if proving good oak casks had been used, well-ripened fruit aromas bloomed richly in the mouth. Elegant old sherry, and a touch of peat that kept it from getting boring. A whiskey that was good anytime.
"You drink too."
"It's daytime, you know?!"
"Is there a law that says you can't day-drink?"
A little alcohol made life more positive. That was the claim of a Norwegian psychologist and psychiatrist.
There was even a movie called Another Round. Whether it was truly credible or not, I didn't know.
Gulp!
The fact that you could forget for a little while was real. The whiskey traveled down Sora's slender white throat.
"It's strong."
"Right."
"It's good, though."
"Yeah."
Good whiskey made enjoyable drinking possible. You came to enjoy the act of drinking itself.
And even more so once the alcohol kicks in.
0.05%. If you drank a little at a time while staying around that line and wandered around, life could become a layer happier. Even if it was only a brief deviation. For an investor, that kind of escape from reality was necessary too.
"When you're drowning in worries, booze is the answer."
"So that's why sunbae likes drinking?"
"That's right."
"Hic!"
Even I couldn't always be perfect. Other investors mentioned in the top tier were no exception.
Because that's what humans are.
Your mental state could collapse. Taking care of that self and setting it straight was also a virtue of an investor. Travel. It was absolutely not a meaningless act. And if you could learn many things at the same time—
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
We moved to the hall at the center of the ship. Sora, who'd been following while drinking, hadn't known.
"Whoa…… what is this place?"
"Can't you tell by looking?"
"I don't fucking know."
Quite a lot of people had gathered. At some point the lighting had dimmed, making it hard to make out the faces of those around us. Except for one place.
The central stage. The host brought out something covered with a cloth.
"We'll start from one thousand dollars. This is an item with a desired sale price of twenty thousand dollars!"
An auction. A place for open bidding on expensive goods, and the biggest event on this cruise ship.
The purpose is a little different, though.
It was a scene I'd only ever seen in movies. Sora, who'd been drinking, seemed interested; her eyes lit up.
"Whoa…… I've never seen an art auction in my life."
"If you're an investor, you should take an interest in art."
"Why? Because it's an investment target too?"
"No. Because you have to evade taxes."
"……."
It wasn't that ordinary kind of place. The timing could be called perfect.
I can do some tax evasion—no, tax saving.
I taught her legal tax evasion.