Threats, Offers, Persuasion
The instant my call with Lee Ye-ji ended, a text message came flying in.
The hairs on my spine stood up, and my back went rigid.
Under that tension, my mind started spinning fast.
Reporter Seo might be a bit easygoing, but he’s not the type to joke around in a situation like this.
Which meant he’d found concrete evidence connected to the drug case. I called him back immediately.
“Yes, Reporter Seo.”
“Ah, Chief Manager! You called right away. Did you see my text?”
“Yes. I saw it and called you back immediately.”
After a short breath, I got straight to the point.
“Did you find something solid while looking into Kim Nam-seong?”
I heard Seo Reporter’s low breath through the phone. Then, after a brief pause:
“Well... for now, actor Kim Nam-seong is not a drug addict.”
!
My eyes flew wide open.
Actor Kim Nam-seong isn’t a drug addict?
Since he said he’d found solid evidence, I’d assumed it pointed to Kim Nam-seong. That made sense, too, because Kim Nam-seong was the actor Seo Reporter had been investigating after Park Tae-sik.
But if Kim Nam-seong isn’t the drug addict... then the solid evidence he found came from another actor?
That seemed to be the situation. Then Seo Reporter explained why he believed Kim Nam-seong wasn’t the one.
“It turns out actor Kim Nam-seong’s biological father is seriously ill.”
“Seriously ill?”
“Yeah. From what I could dig up, it looks like cancer, but his family situation seems pretty complicated.”
!
My eyes widened again.
“Then the bad expression he had during the script reading...?”
“Well, there was probably some family trouble on top of that, and he was already the sort who researched his characters like his life depended on it, wasn’t he?”
“...”
“Of course I checked properly. I followed that guy for days, and all I ever saw was home, the gym, and the hospital. I never saw him deviate from that route even once, never saw him meet anyone or go anywhere else. My gut says he’s not the drug addict.”
My mouth pressed into a thin line.
“...We did Kim Nam-seong a dirty one.”
“Oh, come on, that’s a harsh way to put it. It’s just how the cards fell when the facts came out.”
“I should apologize to him separately when I get the chance.”
“Please do that for me too. And...”
Seo Reporter’s voice brightened with excitement.
“Heh... While I was investigating Kim Nam-seong, I happened to uncover something very interesting, you know?”
My eyes grew bigger.
“That something is the solid evidence?”
“For now, that’s how it looks to me.”
“Are you going to keep dragging it out?”
“Our Chief Manager sure is impatient.”
After teasing me a bit, Seo Reporter tossed out his question.
“Two weeks ago, didn’t a report come out about a famous idol member doing drugs? You know that one, right?”
I nodded.
“Of course I know it. It caused a huge stir, since he looked like he was nowhere near drugs and then went and touched them.”
“Right? I was shocked when I saw that article too. But here’s the thing...”
His voice, as he trailed off, turned sly.
“I looked into it, and it seems like there were a few more people tied up in it.”
My pupils dilated.
There are more people entangled in that drug case?
That meant there was another drug user involved in the case, beyond the idol member who got caught with drugs?
My guess was right.
“Heh-heh-heh... There’s that saying, isn’t there? Where there’s a drug addict, there’s always another drug addict nearby! Looks like that saying was true again this time!”
!
“It seems like they were using drugs in an organized way. Apparently they mostly did it with their close friends? A few people have already been identified, and the police are investigating them now... and one of those close friends happens to be among our Black Bride cast?”
My mouth fell open slightly.
Where there’s a drug addict, there’s another drug addict?
The faces of the four supporting actors from Black Bride I’d seen at the script reading a few days ago flashed through my mind in a rush.
Park Tae-sik, the alcoholic.
Go Ju-eun, whose reputation with men was filthy.
Kim Nam-seong, who was always suffering from chronic fatigue.
And finally,
Kwon Ho-jun, whose private life had been strangely spotless.
What if that spotless private life had been carefully managed to hide the drugs?
At the thought, a dry laugh escaped me.
“It’s Kwon Ho-jun.”
“Correct!”
Seo Reporter burst out laughing.
“Chungmuro’s rising star! Our Ho-jun, who made it as both an idol and an actor, is apparently best buddies with the idol member who got caught doing drugs the other day~?”
The suspect had been identified.
***
The peach fuzz on my arms stood on end. My nerves were so wired that my head was starting to throb.
But... yes.
On the other hand, my mind and heart felt strangely calm.
Like the pressure that had been clogging me up had finally blown out in one clean burst.
In the meantime, Seo Reporter asked me a question.
“Kwon Ho-jun seems to be the one for sure, but should I look into Go Ju-eun too? Chief Manager?”
I answered slowly.
“No. If the situation’s come this far, I don’t think it’s Go Ju-eun.”
“Hmm... Still, maybe it’d be better to check. Go Ju-eun’s side is kind of shady too, isn’t it? There are a lot of man rumors attached to her.”
Yes, to be fair, as Seo Reporter said, checking Go Ju-eun would be the safer move.
But now that clear circumstantial evidence had surfaced on Kwon Ho-jun’s side, I couldn’t shake the thought that there was no need to spend effort on both.
Go Ju-eun, unlike Kwon Ho-jun, has a lot of rumors floating around her.
A messy private life.
Man trouble as tangled as the rest of her life.
Both I and Seo Reporter had heard enough of those rumors to know that Go Ju-eun simply wasn’t careful about her private life.
If someone like that used drugs, wouldn’t some other rumor have surfaced?
It was possible, but the odds were low.
And I wanted to use my time efficiently.
There’s still some time before principal photography, but if I’m going to break the drug story and deal with the fallout, more time is always better.
Still, with our manpower limited, it made sense to focus on the suspect already narrowed down by the evidence.
After reaching that conclusion, I laid out my thoughts for Seo Reporter without holding anything back.
“...Oh. Now that you put it that way, it does sound convincing.”
“Right?”
“Come to think of it, if an actor like Go Ju-eun, who can’t even keep her private life under control, was doing drugs and there wasn’t a single source leaking it, that would be weird in its own way.”
“Exactly. So let’s concentrate the investigation on Kwon Ho-jun.”
Seo Reporter clicked his tongue softly.
“But this doesn’t look easy. Before I texted you, I poked around a bit, and he wasn’t going to any of the usual places where people would use drugs. You know, clubs, room salons, that kind of thing!”
He let out a dry laugh.
“So I followed him more directly, but he had his manager glued to him twenty-four seven, and his movement was just home, schedule, home, schedule. On top of that...”
His voice trailed off, and he let out a heavy sigh.
“That guy’s leaving the country this week, according to his schedule.”
“Overseas schedule?”
“Yeah. He said he’s going to Southeast Asia for a fan meeting and a week-long break.”
My eyes widened a little.
At the same time, the nerves that had been taut and sharp turned into a cutting instinct.
After a brief silence, I curved my lips and called Seo Reporter again.
“...Reporter Seo.”
“Yeah?”
“Is it easier to do drugs in Korea, or overseas?”
!
At my words, Seo Reporter fell silent in exactly the same way I had.
A moment later, he let out a groan.
“Obviously it’d be easier overseas, right?”
“Looks like we found the clue, don’t you think?”
“Sounds like it. If he did drugs overseas, that would also explain why no source leaked domestically!”
Seo Reporter marveled openly.
“Damn, Chief Manager, your reasoning is way too sharp. You could be a detective!”
“What good is good reasoning if you’re the one running around on your feet, Reporter Seo?”
After trading a few pleasant words, I gave him a definite target.
“We don’t need absolute proof that he took drugs, Reporter Seo. A photo that looks like solid circumstantial evidence is enough.”
“Isn’t that a little too weak to pin him as a drug addict?”
“If he’s doing drugs overseas, it’ll be in some thoroughly sealed-off place anyway. He manages his private life that carefully in Korea, so would he really act differently abroad?”
I let out a short breath.
“So... if you can just get a photo showing the circumstances, I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Oh-ho... So you’re going to sit down and settle things with Kwon Ho-jun’s agency?”
“Something like that.”
Now that I’d set the target, the next thing was a proper reward.
I promised Seo Reporter something sweet.
“If this case turns out to be solid, you get to break it first, Reporter Seo.”
!
“I’ll hand over everything, including the evidence I get after I settle things with the agency, so write a novel, make a movie, do whatever you want.”
Seo Reporter’s voice rose with excitement.
“...Heh-heh-heh! If that happens, that’d be fantastic for me, but are you sure you’re okay with that, Chief Manager? Even if he’s a drug addict, he’s still an actor who signed on to a project you handled, right?”
Yes, that was true.
If I made too much of a scene, it would do real damage to the image of Black Bride.
But if I didn’t offer enough in return, Seo Reporter might go off-script.
We already got stabbed in the back at the very end with Park PD on Star Observation!
If I wanted a truly reliable relationship, I needed to conduct real business.
And...
personally, I also kind of wanted to send this druggie into the abyss.
Of course, the cleanup afterward will be a pain... but still.
If this project wobbled now, the one taking the biggest hit wouldn’t be me.
It’d be Baekhak, the one that invested 15 billion won.
So when the time came to clean this up, I planned to borrow Baekhak’s power.
That would balance things out.
Because it wouldn’t be just anyone making a move, but Baekhak, the giant of the entertainment world, rolling up its sleeves and stepping in personally.
After finishing my calculations, I whispered to Seo Reporter in a low voice.
“You know my personality, Reporter Seo. You’ve had to work hard, so of course I should make it worth your while.”
“That’s why I like our Chief Manager so much, heh-heh...”
“Then the stage is set. Let’s get to work.”
My voice, when it came out, was sweet.
I was excited by the electric thrill of the situation.
“Within this week, let’s catch the drug addict and swing that knife with a nice clean flourish.”
By next week, the entertainment industry would probably be noisy for a while.
Because of the drug issue involving Chungmuro’s rising star and a famous idol member.
***
It had definitely still been Monday yesterday, but after a single blink, it was Friday.
I felt like I’d worked hard, but my head had been so completely fixed on Kwon Ho-jun that I couldn’t even remember what I’d done.
I wish Reporter Seo would get back to me soon.
Then I could clear Kwon Ho-jun out of my head and start thinking clean thoughts, healthy thoughts.
Just then, Choi Go-eun, whom I’d met for a check-in meeting, asked me bluntly,
“Chief Manager, do you have something on your mind?”
With that one line, my escaped spirit came back home.
“Ah, sorry. I had some urgent stuff, so I was a little out of it.”
Choi Go-eun’s eyes narrowed.
“That urgent stuff is because of the investment, right?”
?
“Wait, did you take out a loan to invest in Multicultural?”
I blinked like an idiot at her deduction, then burst out laughing.
“What kind of lunatic takes out a loan to invest in a movie?”
“Oh, so you just cursed at me, Chief Manager?”
“I’m not some saint. I’m allowed to swear a little.”
“Swearing in front of a minor is a crime, you know.”
As always, Choi Go-eun kept snapping back at me.
But maybe now that I’d gotten used to her personality, I didn’t find it irritating at all.
What I did see, clearly, was the worry and pressure seeping through that prickly expression of hers. So I deliberately put on a teasing face and said,
“Worried?”
“About what?”
“That the movie will fail and I’ll lose the money I invested?”
Choi Go-eun answered with a slightly flustered expression.
“Well, if you’re not worried, are you even a person?”
“Oh, so Choi Go-eun is a person.”
“...Did I just hear something weird, or am I imagining it?”
She kept prodding me, watching my face.
“So what are you worrying about?”
“Mm, that’s a secret.”
“It’s about the investment, isn’t it!”
“Think whatever you like.”
Choi Go-eun let out a heavy sigh and muttered,
“If you’re not going to tell me, then at least do some Won Young-style thinking.”
“What kind of thinking?”
“...You don’t even know Won Young-style thinking?”
What the hell was that?
You young MZ kid.
“It’s that meme Park Won-young popularized! The idea is to stay super positive no matter what the situation is!”
...Really?
That was the trend these days?
Meanwhile, Choi Go-eun muttered flatly,
“So do Won Young-style thinking.”
“...?”
“Just because the situation is urgent and bad... doesn’t mean you have to think about it in the bad direction, right?”
!
My eyes widened slightly.
Look at this.
She’d built up the meme just to say that? I looked at Choi Go-eun with a fresh kind of surprise.
Choi Go-eun, avoiding my gaze, stood up from her seat.
“I... have to get going. My part-time shift is starting.”
Through the short bob cut, I could see her ears were burning red.
I couldn’t help laughing as I stood too.
“Want me to take you to work?”
“I politely refuse.”
“Why? According to Won Young-style thinking, you don’t need to refuse a ride.”
“That’s not something you tack on in a situation like this!”
We bickered with our mouths while I used my hand to call a taxi.
“Get in. I’ve already paid in advance, so don’t worry about the fare.”
I forced Choi Go-eun, who was trying to take the bus instead, into the taxi and sent her off.
I stood there for a moment, watching her back as she left, and my lips curled upward.
“Feels like I’m raising one reckless little sister.”
But that reckless little sister had said something that hit me hard in the chest.
...Yeah. Maybe I don’t need to think about this badly, or rush it.
The circumstances had already been pinned down, and the drug addict had been driven into a corner.
Which meant the one in a hurry now wasn’t me.
If Reporter Seo’s been quiet, it means he must have found something.
If he hadn’t, that man would’ve already called me by now, given his personality.
Just then, as I let myself think positively the way Choi Go-eun had suggested, my foul mood came back to life all at once.
Then my smartphone, which had been quiet for far too long lately, rang.
!
I jolted and checked the caller.
It was a message from Reporter Seo.
My eyes locked onto the photo attached to the message.
In it, Kwon Ho-jun was staggering out of a hotel lobby with his manager supporting him.
Wobbling.
He didn’t look drunk, but his face was completely vacant, like his mind had left his body behind somewhere.
Just as my heart started pounding faster, Seo Reporter called.
“Chief Manager, did you see the message?”
I pushed down the rising excitement and answered.
“Yes. I saw it, Reporter Seo.”
“...Heh. That bastard Kwon Ho-jun looks like he’s doing drugs at a hotel. I watched from hiding, and he was absolutely not drunk. His eyes were completely blown wide open!”
“From the photo, too, it looks solid.”
“But it looks like it’ll be hard to dig up anything more than this. That guy’s starting his fan meeting now. What are you going to do?”
At Seo Reporter’s question, the corners of my mouth rose.
“I’m going to settle things.”
“With Kwon Ho-jun’s agency?”
“Yes. Can I call you back in a bit?”
“Take your time. I’ll be getting a Thai massage or something.”
After hanging up, I ran a hand through my messy fringe.
I considered lighting a cigarette, then shook my head.
If my voice got rough for no reason, that would be a problem.
I used a deep breath to drive off the last of my excitement, then called the number printed on the business card I’d exchanged at the script reading a few days ago.
After a few rings, an unfamiliar voice answered.
It was Park Hyeong-sik, the Chief Manager at Seoul Forest Entertainment, the man in charge of Kwon Ho-jun.
“Oh? Baekhak, Chief Manager Kwon, right? Wow, what’s the occasion for this call?”
His voice was bright enough to spill out of the phone.
Well, of course it was.
“Hello, Chief Manager Park Hyeong-sik. I’m calling because I have something important to discuss with you. Do you have a moment?”
My reasoning had all lined up, and the culprit had been exposed.
All that was left was solid proof.
And that evidence...
“I’ve heard some very good news. I think this is something we should talk about in person. When would be convenient for you?”
I was going to get it out of Park Hyeong-sik now.