Chapter 70
Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: 20. Idols Must Have Clean Pasts (3)
“Suspecting me of anything and everything is a bit much, don’t you think?”
The Kichi CEO poured black tea into my cup with a sly smile.
I’d rushed straight from the U-Live shoot to the company office with the Heavenly Demon in tow.
When I pressed him on whether he’d sent that final question, the CEO had responded like this.
“I thought it was a question from the Exiled Disciples’ side, aimed at taking me down.”
A serial killer who never touches his friends.
He hadn’t realized the question could be interpreted as targeting the CEO.
Well… the CEO had sacrificed the Exiled Disciples one after another as offerings, but he’d left the rest of us—those connected to the Heavenly Demon—untouched.
In hindsight, maybe that’s why the Nine Great Clans had unhesitatingly chosen “no friendship” without a second thought.
Everyone except Jahaman, whose perceptiveness was anyone’s guess.
“If it wasn’t a question meant to target you, then why did the Exiled Disciples react so sensitively?”
The CEO did have his sharp side.
There was no reason not to answer, so I replied flatly.
“I thought someone was about to expose something about the Heavenly Demon.”
“Expose?”
“An idol’s past is crucial. The Heavenly Demon… he’s the real deal from over there.”
“That’s unlike you, Miss So.”
The CEO filled his own cup to the brim with black tea and set the pot down.
“The Heavenly Demon is officially under reformation by the Nine Great Clans. Even if someone figures out he’s the genuine article… it won’t be a problem.”
“Why are you so sure it won’t cause issues?”
“You really don’t get it?”
The CEO raised one eyebrow and politely addressed the Heavenly Demon, who was lounging arrogantly beside me.
“Heavenly Demon, your drink?”
“Mix coffee. Brew it in a paper cup. It doesn’t taste right in a proper one.”
“Yes, understood.”
After relaying the Heavenly Demon’s order to his secretary, the CEO turned back to me with a serious expression.
“See?”
See what, exactly.
“All I saw was the Heavenly Demon hamming it up.”
“Miss So?”
“Exactly. That’s the point.”
“CEO??”
While I stared blankly at the paper cup of coffee the secretary placed before the Heavenly Demon, the CEO remained utterly earnest.
“It’s a cliché, in a way. The villain character gets reformed by the protagonist and turns into comic relief.”
…He was seriously calling the Heavenly Demon comic relief right now, wasn’t he?
“The public is forgiving of characters like that. As long as they seem harmless now, no one cares how many people they killed in the past. Especially if it all happened in another world—who’d give a damn? Well…”
The CEO glanced at the Heavenly Demon and flashed a bright smile.
“…unless it was all calculated behavior, in which case it might be different.”
The Heavenly Demon downed his coffee in one gulp, dismissing the words.
“This isn’t the usual stuff.”
“That brand’s exclusive model contract with the clan leader ended.”
It was impossible to tell if the CEO knew something or was just being vague as he continued.
“The other members’ exclusives are nearing their end too. Recontracting season is coming up soon.”
I tried not to flinch.
We had less than half a year until the Nine Great Clans’ recontracting.
It was natural for recontracting to come up in conversation with the CEO.
But the Heavenly Demon frowned and shot back.
“What are you scheming?”
“What do you mean?”
“No, I’ll ask again.”
The Heavenly Demon crumpled his paper cup and tossed it aside.
“You. What exactly do you intend to do with this sovereign?”
The CEO widened his eyes in feigned innocence.
But I’d clearly seen the corners of his mouth curve upward just before.
The Heavenly Demon wouldn’t have missed that subtle smile.
“You don’t even hide your black heart. Is it power you want?”
“Not at all. I just want to make the Heavenly Demon an idol…”
“You want something else from this sovereign, don’t you?”
“All I ask is that you become the world’s greatest idol. That’s it. That’s enough.”
The CEO’s expression, as he said this, held a glint of madness.
It didn’t seem like a lie.
But in the next moment, his face fell.
“I thought you’d stick around until that day… but you’re quitting Kichi to start your own agency. Such a shame.”
Was he testing if I planned to take the Heavenly Demon with me?
Better to mix some sincerity into my response here.
“To begin with… it was too much for someone like me, who can’t even learn martial arts.”
The CEO frowned with a smile and asked.
“When did you start thinking about launching an agency?”
“Not long ago.”
“Why the sudden change? Is it really because of Uchi?”
“……”
I pretended to hesitate before answering right away.
The CEO waited patiently.
“…Not just because of Greenwood.”
“Then?”
“I plan to take the others too.”
As the CEO’s face hardened coldly at my declaration of taking the others, I spoke again.
“Not just Greenwood—the Exiled Disciples too. And I want to debut the Tang Four Heavens.”
With that addition, the CEO’s expression softened instantly.
No, he looked more like he’d lost interest.
“So… in the end, you’ve chosen those kids, Miss So.”
“Every manager has a soft spot for the first idol they managed.”
“Can you say that choice isn’t out of pity, because they’re so pitiful?”
I planted a suggestion in my own mind.
Don’t get mad here. Don’t take the bait.
Make him think my decision is trivial, impulsive.
After a silence, I quietly asked.
“…Is that reason not good enough?”
“Miss So…”
The CEO looked at me pityingly, then gently placed his hand over mine on the table.
I was confident I wouldn’t waver, no matter what he said to persuade me.
But…
“If that’s what you want, I could take all those friends back at Kichi.”
…What?
What did I just hear?
“If I promised that… would you reconsider?”
“……”
I couldn’t answer immediately.
It wasn’t acting—this was genuine disbelief.
The Exiled Disciples.
My first idols, originally from the Nine Great Clans.
When they lost their bodies…
It was the CEO who’d kicked them out without even a goodbye.
And now, just to keep me,
He was saying he’d bring them back?
No need to act—my voice trembled for real.
“I… I don’t know. Honestly, I can’t trust you, sir.”
“It’s because of what Shin Tae-eul told you, right?”
My fingertips shook.
Cold sweat prickled my skin.
What were the odds this man had killed Shin Tae-eul with his own hands and was spouting this now?
“Miss So. I didn’t summon the Heavenly Demon. I swear it.”
If this man didn’t summon the Heavenly Demon,
Then who the hell did?
“Your house…”
I barely recalled my original goal and mumbled aloud.
“Could I… stay at your place for a while?”
“…My place?”
“Tae-eul said he saw something at your house. To confirm for myself whether you’re really uninvolved in the Heavenly Demon’s summoning…”
“……”
The CEO brought a finger to his lips.
A gesture he often used when suspicious of someone.
Or when he couldn’t read their intentions.
His deliberation didn’t last long.
Returning to his usual radiant smile, he clapped his palms together cheerfully.
“Great! Let’s do it! If that clears up your doubts, Miss So, it’s exactly what I wanted.”
With the CEO’s approval, the Heavenly Demon—who’d been silently watching us—spoke up bluntly.
“This sovereign will come along too.”
“We’d be thrilled. I should prepare a welcome party.”
The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue and scowled.
“Don’t waste time on nonsense.”
“Oh… should I skip it? I was thinking barbecue.”
“Barbecue?”
“You grill meat outdoors. Shellfish would be good too.”
“…Hmph. Handle it well, then.”
Sometimes I wondered how this guy ever became the Heavenly Demon.
Right now, the leading theory was that he did it for all the tasty food.
“Phew… still, glad you’re changing your mind, Miss So.”
“I haven’t changed it yet.”
“You misunderstand me now, but that’ll clear up soon enough.”
What the hell did he have waiting at home to sound so confident?
The Left and Right Protectors had definitely said there was a scroll in his room leading to another world…
He wouldn’t have gotten rid of it, right?
The CEO kept talking.
“If you’d insisted on quitting outright, I was going to call Manager Park back.”
I was startled by that.
“Sunbae— I mean, Manager Park? You’re still in touch? How’s he doing?”
“Seems much better health-wise. Lately, he’s been running an omakase place in Tongyeong.”
“Ah… Manager Park was always good with knives.”
“Good with knives?”
The Heavenly Demon perked up at that, eyes gleaming like a ghost.
I shook my head to clarify it wasn’t that kind of knife and added.
“Not that knife—slicing sashimi. He was a great cook.”
“Oh ho. A skilled chef, eh? Then why do you keep this pretty-boy face around instead of a talent like that, CEO?”
“Heavenly Demon??”
He was clearly still salty about the earlier diss.
At the Heavenly Demon’s words, the CEO covered his mouth, laughed, and replied a bit awkwardly.
“Manager Park did quit for health reasons… but he wasn’t a great fit for Kichi anyway.”
His words brought back memories of my sunbae.
“Ah… yeah. Even if he could manage again now, I don’t think he’d come back to Kichi.”
The Heavenly Demon, listening in, tilted his head.
“Why not?”
Because Manager Park…
* * *
Kichi’s former head manager.
Team Leader Park Hyun-seong.
My mentor, and one of only two people who knew the Exiled Disciples were originally Nine Great Clans castings.
…Make that three now, with the Heavenly Demon.
Anyway.
There was no bribe big enough to bring sunbae back to Kichi.
Because.
“He hated wuxia.”
“Hated wuxia?”
“The day he came to cast me, he showed up with the CEO and was against wuxia idols right up to the last second.”
“And yet that guy worked with the CEO.”
“Sunbae would snark, ‘If you’re gonna do that, why not just make him speak in classical style?’ And the CEO would go, ‘Great idea,’ and implement it on the spot.”
“Some mental sparring going on there.”
“He’s someone who’ll never return to Kichi, so wouldn’t it be great if I recruited him for my agency?”
“That’s why you came looking for his omakase joint?”
“Yeah. He was really good at his job.”
“Hmm, I see, I see. But listen.”
The Heavenly Demon tilted his head and looked up at the omakase shop’s sign.
“Didn’t you say… he hated wuxia?”
“He definitely… hated it.”
The sign for sunbae’s omakase place bore three large characters.
「Hidden Hermit Grove」
Hidden Hermit Grove.
A term for the mysterious haven where retired masters of the jianghu gathered.
No matter how you sliced it, it screamed wuxia.
And the exterior looked straight out of a wuxia flick…
“Are this sovereign’s eyes failing me? It looks like a shop run by some wuxia nut.”
“……”
What the hell had happened to sunbae all this time…?
“…Let’s go in and see him.”
I flung open the door to Hidden Hermit Grove with grim resolve.