The Proactive Actress
Recalling the moment I received the Jangbaek Corporation shares while wrapping up Jang Mi-ye's divorce case. Naturally, I didn't register those shares under my own name. The shareholder registry of a joint-stock company requires real names. But this wasn't just any JB Group affiliate—it was the unlisted holding company, Jangbaek Corporation. I couldn't afford to have my name appear on its registry. My identity as the third son of the QS Group had already been publicly revealed during my flashy debut when I pummeled Jang Gang-tae. If my name surfaced on Jangbaek Corporation's shareholder list, Chairman Jang Iksu would undoubtedly storm in and raise hell. That would put me in a bind, and more importantly, it would land Jang Mi-ye in serious trouble within the group for transferring the shares to me.
For that reason, Jang Mi-ye had insisted the shares be registered under a nominee when she handed them over. After some thought about whose name to borrow, I settled on Cha Ye-na. Usually, one borrows a family member's name for such purposes, but that wasn't an option for me at the time. My family members all held positions in the QS Group, so using any of them would defeat the purpose entirely. Jang Mi-ye would never have agreed, and I certainly couldn't entrust the hard-won Jangbaek shares to my succession rivals. I needed someone unknown to the outside world as a QS affiliate yet firmly under my control. Cha Ye-na fit that description perfectly.
Drreuk-
At my call, Cha Ye-na pulled up a chair to the consultation table and answered. "Yes, Attorney. I did major in theater and film. Why do you ask?"
"There's some work that requires you to put that major to use."
"Huh? Does a theater and film degree help with law firm business? What is it?"
Hmm? She seemed surprisingly excited. The way she beamed at the prospect of extra work suggested she saw it as a chance to fulfill a dream she'd set aside after giving up on acting. To be fair, when I first learned about her background and saw her looks, I'd thought it was a shame she hadn't made it as an actress. Her beauty was on par with Park Da-hyun, the super idol who was the victim in this case.
"It'll require a bit of acting. It's not law firm work—it's for the QS Group. Can you help?"
"Of course. We handle so many cases from QS. Something like this would just be part of improving client satisfaction for our firm. What do I need to do?"
I'd been worried about casting issues for this plan, but having my top-choice actress jump in so eagerly was a huge relief. "First, hear me out on the details."
"Yes, yes."
"Remember the Jangbaek Corporation shareholder meeting notice you brought me last time? Something's come up that requires direct attendance. Not me—you."
Cha Ye-na smiled brightly, finally understanding why acting skills were needed. "Not as your secretary, I take it?"
"Correct."
What followed was a lengthy explanation about Jangbaek Corporation and exactly what Cha Ye-na would need to do there. When I mentioned the performance bonus at the end, her eyes sparkled as she readily agreed.
* * *
One week later, on the day of the Jangbaek Corporation shareholder meeting. Cha Ye-na, wearing a purple dress with a luxury logo on the shoulder and a fur stole, entered the lobby of the JB Hotel where the meeting was being held. Her aristocratic attire, shoes, and lightly carried luxury handbag first caught the female staff's attention, followed by her curvaceous figure—which didn't quite match the refined image—drawing the male staff's gazes. When she removed her sunglasses, everyone's eyes, regardless of gender, shifted from her outfit to her face. With her naturally striking features enhanced by careful makeup and styling beforehand, the hotel employees couldn't openly express their admiration while on duty, but they were surely marveling inwardly.
Tap, tap-
As Cha Ye-na took a few more steps, the sound of her luxury heels echoing, a male employee hurried over and bowed deeply. "Welcome, ma'am. I assume you're here for the Jangbaek Corporation shareholder meeting?"
Without her saying a word, the staff immediately mentioned the meeting—proof that the planned transformation had succeeded. In the scenario Kwon Ho-gyun had written, Cha Ye-na was no longer the secretary of Law Firm Seungbaek. From the moment she stepped into this hotel, she was a mysterious tycoon holding Jangbaek Corporation shares despite not being part of the JB Group family. Before a shareholder whom even powerful business figures scrambled to acquire even a single share from, the employee's back remained bent.
Now was the time to deploy the acting skills Kwon Ho-gyun had requested. Cha Ye-na deliberately raised her usual lively voice by about a tone and a half, infusing it with haughty elegance as she replied indifferently to the employee. "Ma'am? Save that for my mother. Or my unpleasant sister-in-law."
The employee, now wearing a crestfallen expression, racked his brain until a lightbulb seemed to go off, and he found a safer form of address. "Ah, shareholder, my apologies. I'll escort you to the hall reserved for the Jangbaek Corporation shareholder meeting."
Tok, tok-
Cha Ye-na lightly brushed the employee's shoulder with her fingertips held upright, then extended her hand forward. "Lead the way. I'll follow."
Shortly after, following the employee to the hall, she encountered a scene quite different from a typical large corporation's shareholder meeting. Usually, such meetings featured a podium with hundreds of shareholders seated in rows, filled with intense questions, debates, and votes on agenda items. But since Jangbaek Corporation's shareholders consisted solely of the JB Group family's relatives, the atmosphere resembled a regular family gathering. The hall's setup matched this mood—not a podium and chairs, but a central buffet-style meal with tables for everyone to sit around. Fewer than fifty shareholders mingled, sharing food and conversation.
The snippets of chatter Cha Ye-na overheard while walking into the hall had nothing to do with the meeting's agenda items. As it was a routine periodic meeting with no special matters to discuss, and all decisions would ultimately follow Chairman Jang Iksu's wishes anyway, there was no need for debate. Having heard from Kwon Ho-gyun beforehand that the atmosphere would likely be like this, Cha Ye-na maintained her acting as she moved deeper into the hall.
Just as in the hotel lobby earlier, gazes followed her here as well. However, the atmosphere felt slightly different—not merely due to her beauty, but as if they were regarding an outsider. The fortunate part was that even though everyone present was connected by blood or marriage, after three generations of JB Group succession, there were quite a few people who didn't know each other. It was difficult to recognize every distant relative's daughter-in-law's cousin. The looks directed at Cha Ye-na settled into something like, "Ah, a distant relative who doesn't usually attend these meetings has shown up."
Cha Ye-na naturally filled a plate at the center and scanned the room for today's target. Not far from the food area sat the woman whose face she'd memorized from photos the day before. M Mart President Jang Mi-ye was at a table with her cousin Jang Gang-tae, laughing heartily while holding a fork and knife. Tak-
Cha Ye-na naturally approached their table and set down her plate. "Hello. Mind if I join you?"
After receiving a brief suspicious glance, Cha Ye-na cleverly directed a smile at Jang Gang-tae that radiated significant romantic interest. Her expertly crafted, flirtatious smile prompted Jang Gang-tae to laugh heartily, pretending to be a generous man, as he pointed to an empty chair. "Hahaha! Of course."
"Thank you."
The moment Cha Ye-na's purple-clad figure touched the chair, Jang Gang-tae quickly lifted his gaze from below and fired off a question. "I don't believe we've met here before, have we?"
"No. My name is Cha Ye-na. Pleased to meet you."
"Yes. I'm Jang Gang-tae, President of JB Construction. If it's not too rude, may I ask your father's name? I can't quite recall which of my siblings married into the esteemed Cha family."
It was one of the anticipated questions from the script Cha Ye-na had practiced with Kwon Ho-gyun the day before. Kwon Ho-gyun had judged that while she could blend into the overall atmosphere, such personal questions were unavoidable in one-on-one conversations. He'd instructed her not to make up unnecessary lies and to simply tell the truth. After all, anyone checking the shareholder registry would immediately see that an outsider had joined the Jangbaek Corporation shareholders. The upper echelons of Jangbaek Corporation might already be aware an outsider had entered. Still, they couldn't bar a legitimate shareholder listed on the registry from attending the meeting. Therefore, it was far more natural for Cha Ye-na, the outsider, to present herself as an unknown wealthy figure who strongly supported the JB Group and possessed considerable assets.
"I happened to come across a very good opportunity and acquired a small number of Jangbaek Corporation shares. Thanks to that, I'm here at this wonderful gathering and get to meet President Jang Gang-tae, whom I've only heard about."
With that answer, Cha Ye-na swept her hair behind one ear and offered a smile laced with allure beyond mere flirtation. Jang Gang-tae's mouth fell open in a wide grin. He was likely thinking that if she wasn't a relative of the JB Group, perhaps something could develop between them as man and woman. But Jang Mi-ye, who saw the same smile from across the table, was suddenly gripped by an overwhelming sense of crisis. The "very good opportunity" Cha Ye-na mentioned for acquiring the Jangbaek shares had been provided by none other than Jang Mi-ye herself.
In a flustered voice, Jang Mi-ye quickly interjected into the conversation between Jang Gang-tae and Cha Ye-na. "Cha Ye-na? Nice to meet you. I'm Jang Mi-ye, President of M Mart."
"Yes. Pleased to meet you, President."
With introductions complete and a brief moment spent with forks and knives, Cha Ye-na's full mission began. As practiced the day before, she would naturally steer the conversation toward the QS Group, then toward the recent school violence incident involving Park Da-hyun. The original plan had been to draw out a confession from Jang Mi-ye through leading questions. If that failed, she needed to at least hear from someone else in the JB Group who knew of Jang Mi-ye's involvement in exposing the school violence. But upon arriving, she found that Jang Gang-tae, utterly captivated by her, had become an incredibly reliable ally.