Chapter 80: Bomb! (2)
80. Bomb! (2)
Kwon Myung-eun, Kang Hajin's former boss from his previous life and now the main PD of <Miro Maze>.
She had arrived alone at the Miro Entertainment headquarters after receiving an unexpected call from Ji Soo-ho.
'What's this about? Ugh... I'm already swamped as it is.'
Her mind was a mess. Lately, the stress had been so bad she couldn't sleep and her stomach was in knots. Just before coming here, she'd been in the middle of turning the CEO's office upside down.
'I went freelance to escape office politics, but somehow I ended up with even more bosses.'
Myung-eun rapidly turned her sharp mind to deduce why Soo-ho had summoned her today.
The official reason was "planning future strategies and emergency content infusion," but the atmosphere didn't match that at all.
'If that were really it, why call me alone? He didn't even bring Writer Ko.'
Probably trying to subtly probe about the delayed first episode issues. There was no way Soo-ho didn't know Yoon CP was stubbornly pushing for edits.
'Since Hajin's apparently part of Soo-ho's faction, this must be related to that.'
Remembering how Miro's direction completely clashed with Yoon CP's revision plans, Myung-eun steeled herself. The CEO seemed inclined to humor Yoon CP to avoid trouble, but she had different thoughts.
'Hajin will debut no matter what. Pushing him is what'll save this show.'
Even Yoon CP couldn't do anything if Miro decided to go all out.
As Myung-eun was thinking this, the meeting room door opened and Ji Soo-ho entered—also alone.
"Ah, PD Kwon, hello."
"Hello, Team Leader."
"I know you're swamped these days, but—"
Soo-ho placed the tablet he was carrying on the table and moved to sit across from Myung-eun.
Or tried to.
"Team Leader. I know everything."
"...Pardon?"
"Frustrating, isn't it? Must be infuriating. We never imagined things would drag on this long either."
"Uh, well—"
"We're truly, truly sorry!!"
Myung-eun bowed so deeply her forehead nearly hit the table. Soo-ho froze mid-sit, stuck in an awkward half-standing position with his mouth slightly open.
When Soo-ho didn't respond, Myung-eun lifted her head with 200% more sincerity in her pitiful expression and clasped her hands together.
"But we're really at our limit too..."
Watching Myung-eun's exaggerated puppy-dog eyes, Soo-ho thought:
'...No wonder she was Hajin's former boss.'
Their tactics were identical. He even suspected half of Hajin's current social maneuvering skills might have been learned from this woman.
"Let's sit first. We'll talk properly, PD-nim."
"Hmm, shall we?"
At Soo-ho's urging as he adjusted his glasses, Myung-eun instantly switched gears. Watching her casually smooth back her hair (which she'd actually styled carefully for the first time in days after banging her head), Soo-ho chuckled.
"Well, at least that's a relief."
"...A relief?"
"I was worried you might start dancing with knives."
"K-Knife dancing?"
The casually dropped violent metaphor made Myung-eun gulp.
Hours later, after all discussions concluded and Myung-eun left, Soo-ho remained alone in the meeting room.
"......"
Lost in thought, Soo-ho removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. After a small sigh, he made a call.
—Hello?
After several rings, Hajin's voice came through the phone.
Already knowing about Soo-ho's meeting with Myung-eun today, Hajin asked calmly:
—How did it go?
Rubbing his stiff eyelids with his knuckles, Soo-ho answered:
"She agreed."
—Figured she would.
After hearing everything, Myung-eun had accepted the proposal more easily than expected.
"Just like you said. She okayed it as soon as the numbers made sense."
—That's how she is. Utterly pragmatic but takes immense pride in her work.
"But there's one problem."
Soo-ho's voice lowered. While working out details with Myung-eun, they'd uncovered an issue.
"You're part of the vote rigging too."
Yoon CP hadn't just manipulated Seong-woo's votes.
"He didn't just inflate Seong-woo's numbers—he transferred votes from you to Seong-woo. Meaning your current vote count isn't accurate either."
If they proceeded with Hajin's plan to remove Seong-woo before the first broadcast and edit out his scenes, all votes Seong-woo received would be voided—possible because they weren't paid votes.
"The problem is we don't know exactly how many of your votes were transferred to him. To completely hide the manipulation, we'd have to bury your lost votes too."
If only they'd acted sooner.
If they'd stopped the voting entirely the moment the fraud was discovered.
Soo-ho regretted what couldn't be undone.
Yet even then, he couldn't guarantee a better outcome. From a purely corporate perspective, this current plan was actually most advantageous.
'No manipulation stigma, we owe the network nothing, and secured future content investments.'
If he were the department head, he'd have sacrificed Hajin without hesitation.
But Soo-ho was too principled—and too fond of Hajin—for that.
—Team Leader.
As if fully aware of Soo-ho's turmoil, Hajin's cheerful voice came through:
Like none of these worries mattered at all.
—You think I'd step on a landmine without calculating that much?
"You mean...!"
—You said you'd be on my side no matter what, right?
"......"
—Tell PD Kwon I've handed her a big knife, so she'd better dance well. And to just focus on editing right.
Ah, gotta go to practice now. Bye—!
Before Soo-ho could respond, Hajin hung up. Soo-ho kept the phone to his ear long after the call ended.
'So... he knew from the start he'd take the loss.'
The votes Seong-woo stole from Hajin weren't insignificant. Yet Hajin acted completely unbothered.
'What... what is he planning?'
Soo-ho pressed his throbbing temples, suppressing his frustration.
After calming himself, he made another call—this time to Myung-eun.
—Yes, Kwon Myung-eun speaking.
"PD Kwon, it's Ji Soo-ho. Let's proceed with what we discussed earlier."
—...Understood. I'll contact you soon.
"There's one more thing. Not a suggestion—a condition."
Now that things had come to this, he couldn't just sit back and watch.
Han Seong-woo's day started badly from morning.
Caught in a downpour without an umbrella,
The umbrella he hastily bought broke within ten minutes.
Then he stepped wrong into a puddle,
Ruining the brand new shoes he'd just bought yesterday.
'Nothing's going right!'
Seong-woo irritably shook his wet hair as he entered the company building.
He planned to shower in the trainees' shared facilities and change into practice clothes he kept there. The shoes were a shame, but he could always buy another pair.
'Ugh, so damn gross.'
From the shoes squelching with each step,
To his meticulously styled hair now ruined.
Just as Seong-woo was fuming about the dirty rainwater soaking him—
"Oh hyung~"
The owner of his least favorite voice lately approached with that infuriatingly playful tone.
"Completely soaked, huh? What a shame."
"Piss off. Not in the mood to deal with you today."
"Ooh, scary. Eek."
Hajin delivered the mocking "eek" in the same flat tone, like reading from a textbook.
The blatant teasing made Seong-woo clench his fists, but he quickly controlled his breathing. Right now, showering was more urgent—and he knew Hajin's attitude wouldn't last much longer.
'Once the first episode airs... And when voting results are announced, this bastard's arrogance will end.'
The next filming—the ranking announcement—wasn't far off, as Yoon CP had informed him.
Imagining that smug face soon twisted in defeat actually improved his foul mood.
So Seong-woo tried to ignore Hajin and walk past, until Hajin laughingly clasped his hands behind his head and said in that annoying voice:
"Going in? If I were you, I'd turn off my phone and go home right now, hyung."
'What's this psycho saying now?'
Best not to engage. Deciding this, Seong-woo hurried toward the practice room, completely unaware of what awaited him.
Heading to the locker area to get his change of clothes, Seong-woo found other trainees already there, chatting or gathering their things.
He naturally approached them, greeting the trainee who usually buttered him up the most.
"Hey, Kyoungho. You're here early."
"......"
"...Kyoungho?"
Something strange happened. Kyoungho glanced at him, then walked right past without acknowledging him.
'What the hell?'
Feeling something off, Seong-woo looked around. The juniors who'd been fawning over him just yesterday were all giving him sidelong glances before ignoring him.
Facing this unprecedented situation, Seong-woo grew uneasy.
'Did these bastards eat something wrong? Or is this a hidden camera thing?'
Too unsettled to immediately head to the showers, Seong-woo left the lounge to check the practice room. But every trainee he passed either whispered or ignored him.
'What? What the fuck? What is this?!'
His pace quickened as unexplainable anxiety grew, until someone called from down the hallway:
"Seong-woo."
"......!"
"Got a minute?"
The company's rising star, rumored to become the next department head after Miro Maze's successor group debuted.
Ji Soo-ho stood at the hallway's end, face completely devoid of warmth as he beckoned.
Instinct sensing danger, Seong-woo tightened his grip on his clothes and towel, stepping back.
"A-ah, T-Team Leader... If it's not urgent, could I shower first? As you can see, I got caught in the rain—"
"No. I need you in my office now."
"......"
At that moment, alarm bells rang in Seong-woo's head alongside a sudden memory:
—Going in? If I were you, I'd turn off my phone and go home right now, hyung.
Hajin's cocky voice echoed, as if he'd known everything all along.
Raindrops still clinging to Seong-woo's hair dripped down.
They soaked completely through his clothes, eventually forming a small puddle at his feet.
'What the hell is going on?!'