The V.O.V Chief and the Reporter's Warning
Since I became Si-a's dedicated manager, Eun-ji seemed to have developed a surprising amount of coquettish charm.
I suppose I never truly knew her true self in the past.
This woman... is far cuter than the one I knew before.
"Hey! Kang Min-hyuk, when are you gonna buy me cake?! Buy it already~"
That damn cake... Once I got it wrong, I was tormented for days.
"No, noona... I told you. You need to manage your schedule before we start the next project.
I'll buy you tons of cake once that's done, so please hold on just a little longer. I'll make you eat until you burst."
"Tsk... You don't even know what cake is... idiot."
Cake is cake... Does it have some other meaning?
I shook my head while parking the car in front of her house.
Still, the way Si-a is acting spoiled like this is a great sign.
It means she's trusting and relying on me that much.
The only thing that feels a bit disappointing is whether she's too trusting or just looking at me too easily right now... like this.
"Min-hyuk~ My legs hurt. Can you carry me home...?
My legs are so painful..."
I'm going crazy.
She wants me to carry her with that face.
This woman doesn't seem to realize how destructive her face is.
"Noona, how many times do I have to tell you? That'll make me flustered, right...?
Stop joking around and get in the car already. I'm busy~"
If you get flustered, you'll want it, right? But you won't do it anyway!
"You are really something! Or I'll be in big trouble! I'm the one who's holding back, because I'm the one!
If it was some other guy, he'd be in big trouble already. Stop joking and get in the car."
I know why this woman acts like this to someone like me.
She's lonely... It's not a time for dating,
and it's not a time to do projects that would help her anyway.
Probably... she wants to fill her loneliness by teasing the easiest target for her, me.
I feel a bit sorry for her...
Of course, Kim Si-a thinks I'm too dense to notice that she only sees my teasing as playful,
but I can't know that.
"Ah, I don't know! I'm leaving... you... you... idiot!"
"Yes, yes, I'll go now~"
"Damn... idiot... idiot!"
- Bang! She slammed the car door with the most intense scolding she could muster.
"Ke ke... idiot, calling me idiot..."
Even so, I couldn't hate her.
The regression was one thing, but reuniting with Si-a was a huge fortune for me.
"Why are you making your manager feel bad? Where's the celebrity who sits in the passenger seat?"
Most celebrities sit in the back seat.
Ah, of course, that's not a bad thing.
For safety reasons or to raise their condition a little, it's better.
But no matter how much this woman tells me not to, she sits in the passenger seat, chatting non-stop and telling me about her day.
Thanks to that, I never got bored while driving.
"With a woman like that, Director Kim... you can't!"
Yeah, I almost lost her because of that bastard, Director Kim.
If I hadn't been there at that time...
Perhaps the woman had been so worn out that she might have retired from the industry.
I could never forgive him.
"Data is enough for now..."
I wasn't just fooling around for the past few days.
I was only gathering data to bring him down using memories from the past and investigations...
"After filming with this bastard, seven female actresses have retired.
And among them, two were sexually harassed,
five are being treated in psychiatry because of verbal abuse..."
Of course, they're all still whispering.
Normally, I'd just speed up the big explosion by a year or two...
It's a good excuse, isn't it...?
To hunt down the bugs that eat at the industry I love... or to achieve justice...
In truth, it's extremely personal revenge, but when packaged like this, it feels like I've become a knight of justice.
"Well... who would make a good knife for the job..."
I sat in the empty car and thought deeply.
Who should I hand this data to to be sure to sever Director Kim's neck...
Various faces flashed through my mind.
The faces of our hyenas racing forward for success by now.
From our journalists as ruthless as me, to various reality YouTubers who cover scandals... and the gossip sites.
"Since the journalists' side will have to be contacted anyway, shall I meet them directly...?"
The gossip side has already handed over all the data, only covering real names.
By now, the Seoul gossip sites should be pouring into our journalists.
If I go there with these real-name data in hand, they'll drool.
"Can't hold it in otherwise..."
And for the YouTubers, the moment the first article drops, they dump the data anonymously.
Because their fact-checks are on the articles and gossip sites I release...
If it's done that way, whether this is fact or fiction, Director Kim will never escape ruin.
When he decided to deal with it, it would already be a fait accompli...
I have to decide carefully.
The person I have to work with many times in the future...
"Reporter Kim... or Reporter Oh isn't bad either... but this one seems the best."
Reporter Lee Ji-yeon.
A seven-year veteran reporter at Dongin Ilbo.
"I wanted money, but this woman wanted success?"
I know.
The true identity behind the woman who boasts about representing women.
Behind the passionate and righteous mask of the journalist, hidden away is a ruthless ambition for success.
A person as insidious and success-oriented as me was in the past.
For the title of journalist who caught the JBC's big boss, this woman... would do anything.
And... decisively, this woman is a bit pretty.
Not as pretty as Si-a, but enough that she's been told to quit being a reporter and try being an idol several times...
"Wow. Not that it's because she's pretty... but it's also good for eating tteok."
Not because she's pretty, but I definitely want to make her on my side.
Because she was the one who went all out to expose me in the past.
I was preparing to secretly recruit any future enemies of mine into my side.
Eight PM... she's probably still awake.
I slowly picked up my phone and called her. My knife to become...
To the reporter Lee Ji-yeon who will hold the pretty flower knife in my place...
"Hello~ This is Reporter Lee Ji-yeon from Dongin Ilbo~"
"Ah, hello, Reporter. This is Manager Kang Min-hyuk from JS Entertainment."
"JS Entertainment? ...What can I do for you...?"
"Ah... I'll give you some tips. Can you check it out tomorrow...?"
"Tip...?"
I made an appointment with her voice full of doubt.
The evening date with the past rival, Reporter Lee Ji-yeon, who will become my partner from now on.
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"If it's a holiday, be quietly at home... don't eat or go out again!"
"No... ma'am, I am a person with a private life... just leave me alone!"
"Eh? ...Do you have a woman? You're dressed neatly... this is suspicious~"
A woman is a woman... It's because of work, so don't drink kimchi soup and eat properly."
"Mom likes Kim Si-a. She's so pretty. She's from your company~ Take good care of her... and you should get married soon too!"
Mom, I'm the manager dedicated to Ms. Kim Si-a.
And her eyes are really high.
Since you've recovered, Mom keeps talking about marriage...
"I'll take care of it. And I'm twenty-six now."
"Young one! If I were like you back then at that age..."
"Yes, yes, a child would have two kids... Then I'll go! Eat well for dinner and don't forget your medicine!"
Mom is really something... talking for no reason makes my heart sink.
Still, Si-a... I'd be happy to marry her.
Pretty, deep, and... that body too... hah!
Whoever it is, the person who marries Si-a must have accumulated huge fortune in the previous life.
'Then... am I the loser...? Because in the previous life, I only drove nails into people's chests...'
It was pointless and gloomy, but the thoughts kept circling and invading my mind.
Because it's the path to facing past grudges, old memories come to mind unexpectedly.
Can I really be this happy...?
Can I really just step back into this industry as if nothing happened...?
With this happy expression... wearing these good clothes...
'I won't lose anyone this time. I will definitely... protect everyone. And I'll say sorry.'
To Min-ji... to that poor child I couldn't protect at the end...
I wiped away the tear sliding down my cheek and got into the taxi waiting for me.
"Welcome... huh?"
"Take me to Dongin Ilbo, reporter."
Fortunately, the reporter who met my eyes in the rearview mirror turned away without a word and pretended not to notice.
But the tearful eyes that had burst out for no reason didn't stop until we arrived.
The reporter silently gripped the steering wheel and continued pretending not to notice...
"Five thousand won."
"Ah, here, reporter..."
I handed over twenty thousand, and the reporter gave me the change and said casually.
"Hey... I don't know why you're crying so sadly, but if you pay it all back, that's enough."
"Ne...?"
"This time, don't feel regret and pay it all back... Cheer up, bachelor."
-The taxi dropped me off in front of Dongin Ilbo, leaving meaningless words behind and speeding away.
'Yeah. Paying it all back is enough. I'll definitely... make you happy.'
All the people I loved, the ones who loved me...
For that, I should talk well with this woman first...?
[Reporter Lee Ji-yeon of Dongin Ilbo's Entertainment Department.]
"JS Chief Kang Min-hyuk? Hu~ You seem younger than I thought... Nice to meet you, Reporter Lee Ji-yeon."
"Ah, hello Reporter Lee Ji-yeon! I'm Manager Kang Min-hyuk, nice to meet you."
I shook her hand that was offered out and looked into her eyes.
This woman... was she originally this sexy type...?
Her hand that somehow tickled mine left me flustered.
"By the way, did you cry? Your eyes are red..."
"Ah, no. I was just reading the data and got angry..."
I gave her a meaningless excuse while staring at her in a panic.
She laughed lightly at my appearance.
"From childhood... you really are naive for a manager~ Charismatic."
"Ne...?"
"No~ You can be easygoing, right? You look like a little brother..."
"Treat me casually, Reporter. I'm still twenty-six."
"Then, it's late, but how about we have a drink and talk...?"
When she licks her lips like that while saying it, I'm flustered...
Whether it's because her lips are dry or something,
her way of licking her lips is incredibly stimulating.
"What are you frozen for? What did you want to say to me...?"
"Y-yes... Let's go, Reporter... I mean, noona!"
Cute kid... I'm the cunning one.
Until just a moment ago, I was crying about the past.
Reporter Lee Ji-yeon.
Her sticky and seductive gaze...
Only the black stockings that wrapped her white legs entered my eyes.