Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: After the Storm
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“What do you think you’re doing right now?”
“……”
Chicken, pizza, tteokbokki, fried food, and even alcohol. This was hardly a scene one would expect to see in a girl group’s dorm. No matter how you tried to spin it, this was… way over the line.
“Are you not going to answer me?”
The Director didn’t even seem to have the courage to step inside, glaring at the members from the doorway.
Her gaze, her tone—everything about her seemed to freeze whatever it touched. To think she could command a room like this without even raising her voice.
The members rose from their seats and bowed their heads low.
“I don’t care if there was an unpleasant incident today, is this how a girl group on the verge of a comeback should act?”
I’d seen the Director yell when she was angry, but I’d never seen her lash out so coldly. It meant she was absolutely furious.
I should have found a way to call them.
“We’re sorry, Director. I’m the one who ordered it.”
Seul-bi spoke with her head still bowed, but the Director’s gaze shifted to Seol-ah.
“Chae Seol-ah.”
“Yes.”
“……”
“…I’m sorry.”
Seol-ah naturally lowered her head in response to the Director’s silence, which was laden with meaning.
“Just how much did you eat for your stomachs to be sticking out like that?”
Yi-na and Seul-bi’s stomachs were slightly bloated, though it was the kind that would go down by morning. Still, to the Director, it must have felt like a betrayal.
“…It’s not like we have any schedules for a while anyway. They were all canceled.”
Yi-na, her lips pouting, couldn’t hold back and blurted out the words, causing the Director’s glare to sharpen.
Yi-na, who had first seemed like a crybaby and a timid child, appeared to have developed a bit of a rebellious streak, perhaps due to her teenage years. Or maybe… she was lashing out at the Director for scolding Seol-ah.
“Your team leader has been running around all day, starving himself, just to try and save Answer. And this is what you’re doing?”
So the Director knew I had been starving myself. I felt a strange sense of gratitude.
“Don’t you feel sorry toward Team Leader Min?”
“We’re sorry.”
The members of Answer bowed to me. It was a strange feeling—a mix of pity for their situation and the refreshing satisfaction of a scolding well-deserved.
A moment of silence passed before Seol-ah spoke with difficulty.
“…Will our album release and showcase be postponed?”
“We’ve already paid the venue fees to match the schedule. What are you talking about?”
From Answer’s perspective, they wouldn’t have heard the news from anyone yet. After all, who else would tell them but me? If they hadn’t read my message, of course they wouldn’t know.
The moment my eyes met the Director’s, I knew she was thinking the same thing.
“They don’t know yet?”
When the Director asked me, the members of Answer lifted their heads. Their cheeks, flushed from the alcohol, had a child-like innocence to them.
“You guys… this wasn't a celebration party without permission?”
“…A celebration party?”
“…A celebration?”
It was Seol-ah and Seul-bi who asked back, bewildered. This was my cue to step in.
“The allegations against Answer have been cleared. An apology has already been posted instead of an article, and all the malicious follow-up articles have been taken down.”
“Whaat?”
“Really?”
“For real?”
“See! I told you we should trust Oppa! Heeng.”
Suddenly, Ro-si started sobbing, swaying like a child. She was drunk, too.
“Of course it’s real. As a token of the reporter’s apology… well, not so much a gift, but. I got these, too. I thought they might offer some small comfort.”
I handed out the golden key boxes from the shopping bag, each worth about 1.5 million won.
“…You should have told us sooner!”
Seul-bi said, her face resentful, without even opening the lid.
“I thought you knew. It’s been well over an hour. Besides, you’re the ones who didn’t check your messages.”
I mumbled an excuse. The members, glancing warily at the Director, took out their phones.
A moment later, Seol-ah suddenly squatted down and burst into tears.
“…Heung. I thought we were ruined!”
“Me too!”
Yi-na and Seul-bi squatted down next to Seol-ah and began to cry.
“Why does no one ever believe meee.”
“Waaah!”
“Uwaaah!”
Finally, Ro-si squatted down as well, and the dorm became a sea of tears. But the three-don golden keys were clutched tightly and preciously in everyone’s hands.
* * *
“Team Leader-nim, Director-nim, thank you for your hard work!”
“Oppa, I wuv you!”
“We love you too, Director-nim!”
With the finger hearts and enthusiastic farewells of the Answer members, who were now laughing through their tears, I started the car with a satisfying roar.
“You girls better be serious starting tomorrow. We’re doing daily InBody checks, you hear?”
“!”
“Pwease no!”
“I don’t wanna!”
The members of Answer looked crestfallen at the Director’s words, but their faces held hopeful smiles.
“Yi-na. Did you think I wouldn’t know it was you just because you’re hiding back there?”
“I still don’t wanna!”
The Director, myself, and even the members of Answer reflected in the side mirror all burst out laughing at Yi-na, who was shouting at the top of her lungs at the departing car.
“That Shin Yi-na, she’s getting funnier.”
“I know. When I first met her, she was just a crybaby.”
“Haa… I’m starving. Let’s go eat. It’s a bit late, but still.”
“Please buy me something expensive.”
“This kid, always asking for expensive food. What, you think I’m your personal bank?”
Despite her words, Director Lee Sun laughed heartily. It was the first time I had heard such a boisterous laugh from her, and I was a little surprised.
‘This kid,’ she’d called me.
The Director seemed flustered by her own laughter and awkwardly toned down her energy.
“Ahem. What kind of expensive food?”
“I’m kidding. Anything is fine as long as it’s food.”
After running around all day on an empty stomach, I was craving carbs like crazy more than any fancy cuisine. It was already approaching 10 PM, so our options were limited anyway.
The car moved toward a busier part of the city.
“How about there?”
It was a high-end Hanwoo barbecue restaurant, two stories high, with the heads of a few people visible through the orange-tinted windows.
As soon as I parked, the Director hurried into the restaurant.
“What time are you open until?”
“We take orders until 11 PM if we have customers.”
An employee, who seemed to recognize the Director, said with a bright face.
“Shall I show you to a private room?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
The employee guiding us occasionally shot me a peculiar sideways glance with a faint smile.
Did he recognize me? Or did he think I was some famous celebrity’s secret boyfriend? From experience, though, not many people recognized you just from a few TV appearances.
Well, either way, it didn’t matter.
We entered a room with a large glass window that offered a great view of the outside. It was a place with a nice ambiance, where one could watch the various lights that embroidered the dark night in a myriad of colors, as well as the people passing by.
“A mixed grill for three and the doenjang-bap, please.”
The Director ordered immediately without even opening the menu. She must have either seen the menu in the main hall on her way in or had been here before.
“And what would you like to drink?”
“One of your house-brewed makgeolli, please.”
The Director’s eyes sparkled as she ordered the rice wine.
“This is a bit much for just filling our stomachs, isn’t it?”
“What are you talking about? You deserve to be treated.”
As if on cue, the charcoal was brought in right away.
It felt like charcoal meant for someone else had been brought to us first.
“Here is your mixed grill for three. This is oyster blade, this is skirt steak, this is sirloin, and this is brisket.”
The employee pointed to each cut of meat, its marbling rich, and explained kindly before picking up the tongs.
“It’s okay. We’ll grill it ourselves.”
“Ah, yes. In that case, please enjoy your time.”
The employee closed the door and left.
I reached for the tongs. My hand brushed against the Director’s, who had the same idea.
The Director gave a faint smile.
“Min-jun, you worked hard. I’ll do the grilling today.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll do it.”
“I said… I’ll do it.”
At the Director’s sudden stern shift in tone, I had no choice but to let go of the tongs.
Unlike the machine-sliced, frozen brisket from regular barbecue joints, thick slices of fresh, hand-cut brisket were placed on the grill.
*Sizzle. Sizzle.*
The brisket curled up, releasing a sweet aroma.
“You must be hungry, so let’s eat what cooks first.”
Three slices of brisket sizzled on the grill.
The Director flipped the first slice she had put on. Then, she placed two fully cooked slices on my plate.
“Go on, eat.”
“Thank you for the food. You should have some too, Director.”
“I will, just eat.”
The Director’s occasional use of formal speech felt strangely ticklish.
Finding my awkwardness amusing, the Director smiled as she tied her hair back. It seemed women always had a hair tie ready on their wrists.
“Then I’ll have the first bite.”
I dipped a slice of brisket lightly in salt and put it in my mouth.
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of the gaminess that is inevitable with meat. The rich, sweet juices burst from the chewy membrane, distinctly different from the fat, filling my mouth with a savory opulence.
My eyes closed on their own before fluttering open again.
-At our establishment, we do not use steer. We insist on using only 100% 1++ grade Hanwoo heifer to produce the best flavor.
The writing on the wall exuded the pride of a restaurant that charged 70,000 won for 150 grams of meat.
“Is it good?”
“It’s amazing. You should try some.”
The Director smiled as she continued to grill the meat.
I’d spent my life grilling meat for others, but I think this was the first time someone had grilled it for me like this.
Or was it? Had Choi Yoo-jun ever done it?
“Here. You worked hard today.”
“Thank you. But the alcohol… I have to drive.”
“I’ll call a designated driver. Drink up.”
“I can be the designated driver… your designated Min-jun.”
“Pfft! Are you turning into the CEO?”
“……”
Damn it! I couldn’t believe the dad jokes I’d overheard were now coming out of my own mouth. I couldn’t let this rub off on me…
After clinking glasses with the Director, I took a sip of the makgeolli from the brass bowl.
It had a heavy body, incomparable to the watery makgeolli sold in stores. The savory, rich flavor that clung to the palate was superb.
I couldn’t guess the alcohol content from its deep taste, but it was clearly high.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“Yes.”
“Your doenjang-bap is here.”
An employee placed a small, bubbling earthenware pot shaped like a soybean paste jar on the table and left.
The sight of what looked like a couple of bowls of rice submerged in a spicy soybean paste stew stimulated my salivary glands like crazy.
The Director placed a thick slice of sirloin on the grill and served the doenjang-bap into a bowl for me. Without a word, we both picked up our spoons, blew on a spoonful of the thick rice, and put it in our mouths.
The spicy clam and green chili-infused soybean paste stew, having soaked into every grain of rice, swirled around inside my mouth.
“Haaah.”
The Director and I exhaled hot breaths into the air at the same time. A satisfaction greater than what the meat provided washed over my empty stomach.
“This is good, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It really is.”
*Clink.*
The Director’s brass bowl and mine met with a pleasant sound.
The Director’s face, which had been all smiles, turned slightly bitter.
“I’m sorry for not being able to control Team Leader Lee all this time.”
So her bitter expression was because of Team Leader Lee.
I fully understood her position. She was jealous of my success, but he had been loyal and worked hard with JD Enter when times were tough.
“Are you worried about Team Leader Lee? Because it feels like one of us has to go?”
“It’d be a lie to say I’m not worried, but looking at it from both a professional and personal standpoint, you’re the priority, Min-jun. It’s the same for Manager Ji and the CEO.”
It felt good to hear the Director say that everyone was on my side. Not that it would matter if I had no one, but still.
“It will be resolved in a good way.”
“…You think so, and we all hope so, but will it really be that easy?”
The Director’s smile was bittersweet, but it also seemed relieved. Was it relief that the person who got on my nerves would soon be gone? The company’s appreciation for me was palpable even without such gestures.
“We have to make it work, one way or another. That’s our job, isn’t it? Don’t worry, and let’s have a drink, Director.”
“You’re right. That is our job.”
With the juicy, tender sirloin, the soft skirt steak, the chewy oyster blade, and the well-fermented house makgeolli, the Director and I continued our pleasant drinking session.
Dozens of toasts came and went.
“…You should have seen the look on PD Hwang Beom-seok’s face. It was like he’d chewed on shit.”
“Ahaha! Really? That’s hilarious.”
Pleasantly drunk, the Director became as talkative and lively as a girl in her twenties. Her usually restrained laughter was let loose without any guardedness.
She was a completely different person from the one at the company dinner at our former largest shareholder’s restaurant.
“Ah, this is so much fun.”
“It’s nice to see you laughing like this, Director.”
“Hmm… when I laugh, my wrink…”
The Director stopped herself mid-sentence and cupped her chin in her hands.
“Do I… still look okay?”
The Director’s eyes sparkled like emeralds. *Yes, you’re far more charming than most women in their twenties,* I answered in my head.
“…Yes. You just look like you’re in a good mood. I think you could have a little more.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“Then what did you mean?”
“…Puhuhuuuu.”
As I stared at her, asking what she meant, the Director let out a bitter laugh and sighed as if the world was ending.
“Damn kid. Being so handsome.”
“Where did that come from?”
“I’m telling you to be careful. There are plenty of cases where both the artist and the manager were ruined because of an affair.”
“That won’t happen, so don’t worry.”
“With everyone throwing themselves at you, who could resist?”
“Who’s throwing themselves at me? I think you’ve got it wrong.”
“So clueless. You think it’s just one or two? The ones I know of alone…”
“I’m not interested. I have a goal.”
The Director chuckled at my firm words.
“My eyes are getting dry from the contacts. Let’s get going.”
“Should I call a driver?”
“He’s already here. If we leave now, the timing should be perfect.”
After paying, the Director untied her hair and shook it out vigorously. She was probably trying to shake off the smell of barbecue that had seeped deep into her hair, but it came across differently to me.
*And while you’re at it, shake off some of those worries too, Director.*
“You called a designated driver, right?”
“Yes. Please.”
I got in the passenger seat, and the Director sat in the back. Soon, the car, driven by the designated driver, began to move.
Just then.
*Bzzzt.*
It was a notification from the JD Enter management group chat.
-Meeting tomorrow at 8 AM.
The time had already passed midnight. The Director, who had sent the message, let her head droop and fall asleep.