Chapter 40
Inside a room at a luxurious bar, bottles of Western liquor densely covered the table.
However, only one person sat in the spacious room, which did not suit its size.
The man, dressed perfectly in an elegant but not excessive suit without a single wrinkle, was pouring himself drinks alone.
As if waiting for someone, he glanced at his wristwatch once, then filled his glass with alcohol.
At that moment, the door opened, and an extremely famous person entered the room.
“You’re here?”
At Baek Do-gyeong’s brief greeting, “Sorry, I’m a little late, right?” Seungha smiled faintly and looked around the room. “Hyung, you’re doing this again. Are you playing alone like this because you’re boring?”
“I hate crowds.”
“What, do you have mysophobia or something? At least when it comes to morals, you don’t seem to have much mysophobia.”
(Translator’s Note: Mysophobia — Psychological condition involving an excessive fear of germs, contamination, dirt, or uncleanliness.)
Even at Seungha’s sarcastic words, Do-gyeong did not blink and only drank his liquor.
“Did you finish what I asked?”
“Of course, hyung. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have come here.”
At those words, Do-gyeong habitually glanced at his phone.
By now, Se-rang should be finishing her meeting with Yeon Sae-byeok and slowly heading home.
There was no way Do-gyeong did not know that Se-rang had secretly met Yeon Sae-byeok without telling him.
Do-gyeong knew everything about Se-rang. Where she was, what she did, and who she met.
Until now, he had never cared what Se-rang did or where. But lately, Se-rang kept making him care.
She looked like someone who was constantly thinking about when, where, and how she could stab him in the back.
However, Do-gyeong had no intention of letting himself be stabbed in the back by the games of an immature delinquent.
“How did the kids react?”
“Obviously, they were damn shocked. Do you even need to ask? They looked horrified, like they wanted to run away right then and there.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Their heaven-like senior told them, so how could they possibly hold out without believing it?” Seungha lifted a bottle of Western liquor as if he was having the time of his life. “Where’s my glass?”
Instead of answering, Do-gyeong only pointed at an empty glass shoved into a corner.
“Hyung, you really have no manners.”
“So, did they say they’d leave?”
“Not sure. Those kids are kind of slow too. I don’t know if they’ll be able to leave right away. It’s not like they have anywhere else to go. Taeha might have teams that would accept him, but… you know the other two are ambiguous too, hyung.”
Instead of answering, Do-gyeong only smiled darkly.
Of course Do-gyeong knew Seo Dowon very well. Dowon was a trainee he personally caught and offered up to the program. How could he not know?
Though he had not expected Se-rang to pick him up.
In truth, when Se-rang took Dowon, Do-gyeong’s only impression had been, “As expected.”
Sure enough, after seeing her pick up only defective goods, Do-gyeong thought there was no need to worry anymore.
Even if Yeon Se-rang suddenly came to her senses and started flying around, where could Yeon Se-rang’s limits possibly go?
But after seeing the interim evaluation footage, Do-gyeong’s thoughts changed considerably.
If he left things as they were, Yeon Se-rang’s team was likely to be properly recognized. If that happened, Se-rang’s position as a producer would become solid too….
And Baek Do-gyeong’s own position and influence would definitely narrow.
Do-gyeong did not think much of Se-rang being active to a certain extent.
Rather than living as a delinquent and getting on Chairman Yeon’s nerves, he thought it would not be bad for her to enjoy a small hobby.
No matter how venomous Yeon Se-rang looked when she suddenly said she would become the successor, he did not think she could actually pull it off.
He had only planned to sweet-talk her a little in front of her by saying he believed in her, then turn Se-rang’s heart back again.
He believed without a doubt that right now, she was simply going mad from feeling hurt and trying to escape his grasp. If he coaxed her properly again, she would return to the old Yeon Se-rang.
But the way the situation was unfolding felt strange.
“They don’t necessarily need to leave that team. Just cutting off their motivation would be a meaningful attempt.”
“True. If a few words are enough to shave down their morale, that’s not bad either.” Seungha easily agreed, then smiled wickedly. “But why did you suddenly tell me to pass on bad things about your fiancée? And with lies, too?”
“…….”
“Yeon Se-rang did fool around with other people, but she never touched kids in the entertainment industry because she was afraid of Chairman Yeon. She just played around with good-looking civilians.”
That was right.
The rumors Seungha told the trainees were fabricated lies created entirely under Baek Do-gyeong’s instruction.
“Does the reason matter?”
“Ah, well. Would I care about something like that? Between you and me. Do everything you want, hyung.” Noticing the strangely cold tone, Seungha laughed slyly and waved his hands. “But hyung, if Yeon Se-rang finds out about all this, she’ll go completely insane. Is that okay?”
“As long as you keep your mouth shut, Yeon Se-rang won’t know. At most, she’ll get angry at you.”
“Ah, I don’t want to get on Yeon Se-rang’s bad side. No matter how much of a nobody she is, she’s still Chairman’s granddaughter. Won’t I be screwed?”
When Seungha pretended to be scared and made a tearful face, Do-gyeong looked at her with cold eyes.
“Don’t worry.”
“How can I not worry, hyung? Do you think I don’t know that if Chairman marks you, you have to leave this industry? I heard he chases people all the way to the end of hell and ruins them.”
“Who do you think executes that? Chairman Yeon himself?”
“Wow, no way?” Seungha looked Baek Do-gyeong up and down with a disgusted gaze. “So hyung did all of that until now?”
Instead of answering, Do-gyeong only tilted his head. Soon, as if his business was finished, he picked up his phone and rose from his seat. “Don’t worry about what comes after or the bill. Have fun. I’ll cover it.”
“Wow, really?”
“You worked hard. Play without drawing attention.”
“What, is it my first or second time playing around? Don’t worry.”
The problem is that even though it isn’t your first or second time, you cause trouble every time you play. Do-gyeong shot Seungha a short look of contempt. How much time had he wasted cleaning up after that bastard?
As if he did not want to remain in that space any longer, Do-gyeong quickly left the bar and sat in the back seat of his car.
“Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“!”
Instead of the familiar voice that should have answered, an unfamiliar voice rang out, and Do-gyeong’s face hardened.
“Hello, Baek Do-gyeong?” The person holding the steering wheel was his lifeline, and the line he would someday have to cut. “You keep pulling your petty tricks from behind my back, so I came in person. Do it openly in front of me instead.”
It was Yeon Se-rang.
So this was what happened.
After hearing the shocking rumors from Seungha, the three trainees returned to their dorm feeling as if they might get indigestion.
The three of them did not know what to say to one another, so they kept their mouths shut and stayed shut inside their rooms.
But not long after, someone opened the door and came out.
It was Dowon.
Dowon roughly threw on a button-up shirt, pulled a baseball cap low over his head, and contacted someone on his phone.
Dowon:
[Producer.]
[I’m really sorry, but could you come here?]
And when Yeon Se-rang received that message, her heart sank more than ever before. She immediately turned the car around and stormed into the trainees’ dorm.
“What happened!”
“Produceeer….”
In the living room visible as soon as she opened the door sat Taeha with a gloomy expression, Yuhyun with a face on the verge of tears, and Dowon with a determined face, all lined up and facing the door.
“What is this? You guys. What is this? What on earth happened?”
In her entire career as a producer, Se-rang had never seen a scarier sight.
My artists are waiting for me in the living room with the atmosphere of a hearing.
This is insane.
Something is seriously going wrong.
“…Producer. We’re really sorry, but there’s something we absolutely want to confirm.”
“What is it?”
Se-rang braced herself and looked straight at Dowon.
“Are you really a trainee killer?”
“Do you want to die?” Oh, shoot. Se-rang immediately slapped her own mouth for blurting out harsh words. “Sorry. The harsh words came out instinctively.”
Se-rang forced a business smile and sat down in front of the three trainees. “Could you explain where you heard that bullshit?”