Chapter 29
I’m translating the chapter into HTML-formatted prose and preserving the special in-universe message at the end as a styled block. I’m also keeping the chapter title in the required first-line format and converting the chat-like future text into the mandated CSS block.CHAPTER_TITLE: Storm
Storm.
My gaze fixed on one spot.
Lee Ha-eun.
The top-tier actress I had seen again was still beautiful.
Those sharp, haughty eyes. There seemed to be countless stories hidden inside those deep, mysterious pupils. Her long black lashes gave off an alluring charm, and her high nose added perfect balance to her face.
Lee Ha-eun, beautiful even down to the beauty mark at the corner of her eye.
The corner of her mouth twisted.
"Crazy bitch, filthy bitch, psycho bitch."
If you only looked at her face, she was an angel through and through.
But the words pouring from that angel’s mouth were downright filthy.
"This is what my company staff say every time they bad-mouth me behind my back. Funny, right? Is that really something you should say to the marquee star who pays your salaries? So I don’t care. Their lives only ever went that far anyway. Lives where they can’t say a word to your face and can only trash other people behind their backs. That’s all they are."
Lee Ha-eun gave a scornful laugh.
"But this... this is a new kind of backbiting I can’t just ignore, isn’t it?"
She jerked her chin.
"What exactly did I do with this man, Team Leader Kim?"
"..."
"Explain. In detail. Like you used to when you were teaching me."
Unbelievable.
Even the way she spoke, enough to suck the life out of you, and that look of looking down on people. Lee Ha-eun, whom I was seeing after so long, had changed not at all.
Team Leader Kim Seong-hun, standing in front of her, was trembling with fear.
"N-no... That’s not what I meant, Ha-eun-ssi..."
Lee Ha-eun smiled kindly.
"Don’t stutter. Explain."
"It was just... "
"No, I said don’t stutter and explain. Do you want me to get angry?"
"... It was an accident. Yeah. I misspoke by accident."
Lee Ha-eun covered her mouth, pretending to be startled.
"Oh? You said that by accident?"
"... I’m sorry, Ha-eun-ssi."
"No, don’t apologize. You really said that by accident?"
"..."
"That’s absurd. How is it an accident to say something like that to the company’s flagship celebrity, and not just anyone else? How am I supposed to take that?"
Her venomous voice jabbed at the heart again and again.
It felt like an old trauma I had forgotten was surfacing all at once.
By then, Team Leader Kim’s face had gone completely pale with despair.
"H-Ha-eun-ssi. What am I supposed to do? Huh?"
"That’s something you should be thinking about, isn’t it?"
"No... It really was a mistake... Do you think I’m crazy enough to really mean it? Absolutely not... Absolutely not."
Lee Ha-eun let out a dry laugh.
"Team Leader Kim is going to kill someone with a mistake."
"... What?"
"That slip of yours. Let the reporters hear it. What is that, a mistake worth hundreds of billions of won?"
"!"
Kim Seong-hun’s jaw dropped and trembled.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Inside that silence, the situation surged toward its peak.
"If you made a mistake like that, you shouldn’t be thinking about being forgiven. You should be thinking about taking responsibility. Aren’t you just too shameless?"
Lee Ha-eun shouted!
"Get out!"
Her long finger pointed toward the door.
"Get out right now!"
I could feel it.
It’s over.
With that shout, the matter was finished.
But Team Leader Kim couldn’t leave so easily.
He must have dimly realized that if he couldn’t fix this now, there would be no place left for him at Baekhak.
But top-star actress Lee Ha-eun was never going to accept an apology.
In the end, there was only one path left for Team Leader Kim.
"..."
Kim Seong-hun, looking half dead, left the management office just as Lee Ha-eun had told him to.
From the way he walked away, I could see the kind of despair that looked like the end of the world.
And just like that, Team Leader Kim of Team 1 exited the management office.
In the empty office, only Lee Ha-eun and I were left alone.
"..."
A heavy silence settled over us.
Lee Ha-eun, and me too.
Without saying a word, we just stared at each other for a long moment.
In that strange atmosphere, as if time itself had stopped, the two of us held one another’s faces in our gaze.
And naturally, that day came back to me.
Lee Ha-eun, drenched in tears.
Me, biting into her lips like an animal.
The sweet smell of skin.
The gasp that cut past my ear like a scream.
The courage alcohol gave me, and pleasure I couldn’t begin to put into words.
On that instant, the Lee Ha-eun from the memory overlapped with the Lee Ha-eun now, her eyes sharp with venom.
The moment my heart began to pound despite myself, the top star actress, who had kept her mouth shut, finally spoke.
"Trash."
The corner of Lee Ha-eun’s mouth twisted.
"You drag around trash like that, and this is what happens."
Ah.
The illusion shattered.
The merciless mockery that had been pouring at Team Leader Kim changed direction and came straight at me.
"You should’ve come back when I gave you the chance. What the hell is that sorry sight, Kwon Chan?"
If this had been the old days, I would have swallowed it.
But not anymore.
I twisted the corner of my mouth just like she had.
"Wouldn’t it be better to be low-status and at ease?"
"What?"
"When I’m with you, I can’t breathe. Not now, anyway."
Lee Ha-eun’s eyes narrowed into a scowl.
"Haa..."
Apparently properly irritated, she swept her long hair back with a snap of her hand.
Lee Ha-eun clicked her tongue.
"You’re annoying."
"Should I leave like Team Leader Kim?"
"Get lost. I’m the one leaving."
Lee Ha-eun turned away.
Click, click.
The sharp sound of her heels rang out in steady rhythm.
Watching her back in silence, I thought, why did I feel so damn uneasy after getting one over on that rude, self-indulgent woman?
I thought it over for a moment, then quickly realized why and muttered to myself.
I don’t know what she was thinking, but Lee Ha-eun helped me.
Maybe she was angry at Team Leader Kim for crossing the line with his backbiting. Or maybe she was protecting the secret from that night.
But in the end, Lee Ha-eun had helped me.
And I had snapped at someone who helped me.
By my standards, that was garbage behavior.
At that moment, words that hadn’t passed through any filter spilled out of me.
"Thank you."
I said it, then immediately regretted it.
But my chest, by contrast, felt strangely lighter.
"Thank you for helping me, Lee Ha-eun-ssi."
At those words, Lee Ha-eun stopped dead in her tracks.
Then, slowly, the top star actress turned her head.
Our eyes naturally met in the air.
I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but there was a strange heat in Lee Ha-eun’s gaze.
Before I knew it, my body felt hot.
Why was she looking at me like that?
Like she wanted to devour me?
“...!”
Without thinking, I took a step back.
In that moment, the corner of Lee Ha-eun’s mouth rose.
"If you’re grateful, buy me a meal sometime."
"?"
Startled, I blurted out in a hurry.
"Huh?"
"You know my type, right? Call me when you’re ready."
Lee Ha-eun turned away again.
Click, click.
The woman who had appeared on her own terms disappeared just as arbitrarily, carried off by the sound of her heels.
Left alone, I muttered belatedly, "..."
A meal?
I had somehow ended up with a dinner date with the top star I’d spent the night with.
***
A storm of a day passed.
After work, I couldn’t fight off the fatigue that hit all at once and went straight to sleep.
I felt like I’d only just closed my eyes, and before I knew it, morning had already come.
With a sigh, I fumbled on my clothes.
Fortunately, I wasn’t in bad shape.
My nerves, though, were strangely sharp.
So sharp that if you merely poked them, they felt ready to explode.
Every sense was keyed up and raw.
When I got to the company in that state, strange rumors were already circulating.
"Did you hear?"
"Wow... Team Leader Kim really stepped on a landmine."
"He got caught bad-mouthing actress Lee Ha-eun, right? Is that true?"
"What on earth did he say to get chewed out like that by the director?"
Before I knew it, I let out a hollow laugh.
There really is no such thing as a secret.
By then, the story about Team Leader Kim Seong-hun and Lee Ha-eun had already spread quietly through the company.
But the strange thing was... my name wasn’t coming up in the rumor.
That let me off the hook as far as company gossip went, but I still couldn’t shake the odd feeling.
If you think about it, this isn’t a problem between Lee Ha-eun and Team Leader Kim. It’s a problem between me and Team Leader Kim, isn’t it?
Slowly, I scratched at the stubble on my chin and headed toward PR.
"The big fight between Team Leader Kim Seong-hun and actress Lee Ha-eun?"
The PR team leader slurped at the Americano I’d bought on the way in.
"The rumor probably started from the director’s office."
"There was a call for Team Leader Kim from the director’s office this morning."
"Word is the shouting was no joke. They’re saying Director Park Yu-hyeon was the one who yelled."
If it was a rumor about the company, the PR team leader knew everything.
Thanks to that, I put the situation together and muttered,
So Lee Ha-eun told Director Park Yu-hyeon what happened that day.
But...
Why wasn’t I part of that story?
I let out a dry chuckle.
Did Lee Ha-eun help me again?
I still wasn’t sure what that meant, exactly.
But one thing was clear.
Lee Ha-eun’s attitude toward me had changed.
Meanwhile, the PR team leader, who had been staring at my face, asked, "Executive Kwon. Were you involved in this incident?"
I belatedly fixed my expression and answered, "Involved? In what?"
"You look suspicious. You looked suspicious just now too."
"I’m leaving. Thanks for your hard work, Team Leader."
I stood up and headed back to the management office.
My mind felt a little tangled by the unresolved situation.
It was then that nicotine suddenly tugged at me, and I changed course from the office to the rooftop smoking area.
From the break room to the left of the office entrance, a familiar name drifted out.
"Honestly, isn’t it a little weird? Team Leader 1 may have stepped in a pile of shit recently, but he’s not the kind of person who can’t tell right from wrong, is he?"
My steps stopped.
"The way I see it, Lee Ha-eun definitely picked a fight first."
"Jeez... That crazy bitch. I wonder when she’ll ever fix her personality."
"So what if she’s pretty and good at acting? Her character is rotten."
"The whole Team 1 atmosphere is already going to hell, and now we’ve got this mess because of Lee Ha-eun."
The corner of my mouth twisted.
Should I let it go, or not?
The answer didn’t take long.
My nerves were already on edge, and unlike usual, even my supposedly easygoing heart had sharpened into angles.
In other words, I had no reason to hold back.
I shoved the break room door open.
The Team 1 managers, who had been chatting among themselves, flinched and muttered, "..."
"Executive Kwon...?"
Keeping a smile on my face, I said, "Watch your mouths."
"Pardon?"
"You saw what happened because your team leader slipped up and got torn apart, and you still say things like that?"
"!"
The Team 1 managers panicked and tried to explain.
"No, no, it wasn’t like that..."
"And it’s irritating to hear, too."
"... Pardon?"
"Lee Ha-eun belongs to our Team 5, and I honestly can’t believe I’m hearing this from Team 1 managers."
"!"
The Team 1 managers’ eyes widened.
In truth, there was no need to push them this hard.
But because my nerves were frayed, I had no brakes at all.
I spilled words without fear, words I would definitely regret later.
"I get it. Lee Ha-eun’s rude. I know that too. But at least keep your line. What is this, crazy bitch? Crazy bitch? That’s what you say about the company’s marquee star?"
The Team 1 road managers opened and closed their mouths before lowering their heads.
"We’re sorry."
I slammed the break room door shut.
I had no idea what kind of backlash the words I’d just thrown out would bring.
But I didn’t really regret it.
That was still true now.
I walked over to Team Leader Ma Seok-du, who was busy organizing documents.
"Huh? Executive Kwon, what’s up?"
I called Seok-du hyung into the conference room.
I drew the blinds and locked the door.
Seok-du hyung looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"... What is it. Did you screw something up? Why do you look so dramatic?"
Instead of answering, I pulled out my smartphone.
Then I played the audio file recording the conversation that had taken place in the management office yesterday.
"!"
Seok-du hyung’s eyes went wide.
"W-what is this?"
"Team Leader Ma, no, Seok-du hyung."
The sharpness in my nerves eased, just a little.
"Let’s finish off Team 1."
Seok-du hyung’s face filled with shock.
***
The next day.
The management department turned upside down.
"... Did you hear?"
"Team Leader Kim got fired?"
"What on earth did he say that made the representative step in personally and clear his desk?"
"No way, that crazy bitch... "
"Hey, hey! Watch your mouth! In this situation, what do you mean, crazy bitch?"
"From what I can tell... this was Team Leader Kim’s fault, wasn’t it? If he got fired, he must have really messed up."
Everyone in the office was whispering and looking around nervously.
I didn’t know whose gaze they were avoiding, exactly.
Without thinking, I lifted the corner of my mouth and turned away.
"..."
Kim Seong-hun’s seat was gone.
With my mouth still curved up, I headed to the rooftop smoking area.
With a cigarette in my mouth, I muttered, "Seok-du hyung kept his mouth shut this time, right?"
I’d told him over and over again.
No matter how stupid that guy was, if I said it that many times, he’d keep the secret.
He’s a man with at least some sense of loyalty.
I’d even edited the recording a little before handing it over, so the company wouldn’t know who the real protagonist of this incident was.
Once I’d settled everything down, the pressure in my chest finally burst away.
"..."
My nerves were still sharp, but the knot lodged in one side of my chest was definitely gone.
Thanks to that, I could smoke without thinking about anything.
Just as the cigarette burned down halfway, my smartphone rang.
My eyebrows twitched.
"The script is finished."
The 5 million-view occult screenplay Black Bride. It seemed the Korean occult master, Director Park Jun-seo, had finally finished the work.
As I flicked ash from my cigarette, I muttered, "So Black Bride is suddenly done, and Lee Ha-eun shows up again too..."
Wasn’t that timing a little too perfect?
Some kind of pattern was starting to take shape.
At the same time, I could feel my once-quiet daily life beginning to climb again, sharp and steep.
The pressure of that urgent situation weighed on my shoulders, but...
At the same time, the thrill of it was driving me crazy.
With a fresh cigarette between my lips, I muttered,
Where should I start?
Black Bride?
Or Lee Ha-eun?
Or both?
Just as I was about to light the new cigarette and think it through carefully, my smartphone rang again.
[Future message from the international division] (image attached)