The Manager's Time (4) — My Hero Kim Min-gu
I was between twenty and twenty-three. That was the age range I had always considered the most ideal for a woman, even from my past life right up to the present.
But right now!
Right here, in this VIP room of Club Ares.
The beliefs I had clung to and survived all these years were beginning to shake.
The innocent, unpolished allure of a fresh twenty-something—the one I could never fake—had struck me with a dizzying, intoxicating sensuality that left my convictions trembling.
‘Ah… no! If I peek under her skirt, I’ll get caught…’
A short dress that barely covered her hips. A seductive, intense blood-red dress at that.
If she moved even a little…
Her thighs would part, exposing everything—the hidden valley between her legs. The smooth, glistening skin of her legs, as if she wore flesh-colored stockings.
My mind was dominated by the desire to steal a glance at that moist, tender valley between her thighs.
And she noticed it. She smiled lewdly at me, clearly finding my reaction amusing.
“Fufu… How old are you? You look so young.”
“Th-that’s twenty-five.”
“Oh my~ So adorable…? Well then, come sit over here.”
I approached her like a well-behaved puppy, sitting right next to her and pressing my hip against hers.
“Right, you said you wanted to see me… What’s your relationship with Ji-yeon?”
Lee Ji-hye rested her arm on my thigh, chin propped on her hand, gazing at me. Whether she was deliberately leaning forward or not, the deep cleavage framed by her blood-red dress made any man’s heart race.
I stared at that cleavage, feeling myself slowly falling under her spell.
“J-just… friends?”
“Ehh~ Between a man and a woman? There’s no such thing as ‘just friends.’ Are you lovers?”
“No! We’re not lovers…”
We weren’t dating, so we couldn’t be lovers, and I wasn’t about to go that far.
She caught the trailing tone in my voice and smiled softly, as if she understood.
“Well, young men and women can be like that…”
I wanted to shout that I wished to have such a relationship with my unnie, but…
Suddenly, the face of my older brother Jong-seok flashed before my eyes.
“Would you rather drink and talk?”
I hadn’t intended that, but she seemed a little sorry for my trembling state and slid a straight glass of nameless high-end whiskey toward me.
To be honest, I had been uncomfortable since the very beginning. I was already furious and couldn’t even stand up…
“Drink. One glass, then slowly explain. Tell me why you called me here.”
And Ji-hye lit a cigarette, leaned back into the sofa, and slowly exhaled.
The way she inserted the white cigarette between her blood-red lips was unbearably sexy.
‘Hah… What am I doing? One drink, then clear my head, Kang Min-hyuk.’
With that mindset, I downed the straight glass in one gulp.
Luckily, the burning sensation in my throat snapped my mind back.
‘Idiot! I was drooling over a woman’s thighs like a fool! Good work, Min-hyuk!’
I thought I heard Min-ji’s whisper in my ear.
Yes, I really had been an idiot just now.
If Ji-hye was interested, I could enjoy her later.
Today, I only had tasks to complete. Focusing on that should be more than enough.
After suppressing my youthful blood with one drink, I looked at her again with cold reason.
“Hmm, you seem to be thinking clearly now?”
“I showed poor manners, Manager.”
“No, it’s understandable. You’re still young.”
It was sad that I wasn’t the one who was young.
That man who even chased after Kim Si-a…
I straightened my shoulders with confidence. From now on, I wouldn’t let anyone drag me around.
With that settled, I felt a surge of mental calm.
“Then tell me. Why did you call me here?”
“Then I’ll get to the point.”
She looked at my changed attitude with a trace of regret… and surprise in her eyes.
“Manager… do you know? The security at Club Ares has been breached.”
“Huh…? Security breached? What do you mean…?”
“It’s exactly as I said. The customer information of Ares has been leaked… and every single event that occurs here is being recorded in real time.”
Her face twisted like a ghost as she glared at me.
What… are you going to do by glaring?
My words were all facts, and the leak was her own mistake.
Back in my previous life, when Choi Min-hyuk’s drug scandal exploded, one video spread like wildfire.
[Choi Min-hyuk Drug Mad Movie.AVI]
A thirty-minute video showing Choi Min-hyuk injecting himself with a syringe in various places—literally.
The background of that video was Club Ares.
It was also why the secret club Ares became the public’s focus after Choi Min-hyuk’s solo accident.
‘Good thing the interior hasn’t changed…’
I had been certain the moment I entered. The main background of the video was this very VIP room.
Could a top-tier like Choi Min-hyuk really inject drugs anywhere? Only in a VIP room of a secret club could he feel at ease.
She glared at me for a long time before her mouth hardened in fury and she spoke coldly.
“You… can you prove this? You seem so young…”
Don’t you value your life?
Of course, the back of her words was just a hallucination in my ear.
From the cold look on her face alone, I knew enough.
“Well… it’s natural that you don’t believe me.”
I understood.
Without losing her mind, why would she believe the ramblings of some young punk who suddenly appeared?
So I had to show proof.
‘Proof that would make her believe me…’
I stood up and slowly approached her.
“W-what? What rude action is this right now?”
“Ah, it seems to be around there… just a moment.”
“If you come any closer, it’ll be no fun! S-Secretary Kim! Uwa—”
Before she could scream, I quickly covered her mouth.
She looked at me with wide eyes like a startled rabbit.
‘Hah… now it’s not just gangsters… it’s rapists?’
I climbed onto the sofa and covered her mouth.
It looked exactly like someone preparing to rape her.
“Don’t worry. It’ll end soon.”
I whispered it near her ear.
For some reason, her face flushed and she closed her eyes tightly.
I climbed over her.
I peeled off the portrait of an unknown woman hanging above her head.
‘Whether looking at it in person or from afar, it’s all I can see…’
Up to this point, it had gone smoothly.
“Eh… eh?”
Several of my well-known facts: the painting was lighter than what my one arm could lift.
That I had dropped the painting like an idiot.
And that the frame’s glass had shattered when it hit the floor.
—Crack! With the sound of breaking glass, the door opened and a face with an impressive scar entered.
“Manager! You bastard! You—”
From his twisted face, I knew instantly.
Ah, I was done for…
“J-just a moment, there’s been a misunderstanding!”
“Misunderstanding? Hah, how dare you, you bastard! You don’t know who he is!”
A ghost’s fist slammed into my jaw like lightning.
But I couldn’t just take it, so I dodged desperately and grabbed his waist.
“It’s a real misunderstanding! Manager… I mean, unnie!”
Even with all my strength, she just watched the absurd scene blankly with no reaction.
‘Hah… shit, I should have learned something besides working out. I’m screwed…’
All I did was work out to lose weight… only for beauty.
My past self who only exercised for that… I regretted it now.
I should have learned MMA at least, or even boxing.
I knew a white beard lost his life from not learning boxing, yet I stupidly walked only the health club path.
“You bastard! Let go?!”
‘If I let him go, I’ll have to walk home tonight…’
I tightened my hands around his waist and held on.
No matter how much he punched my back or struggled, I endured like a turtle.
Right then, a massive roar echoed.
“Uwaaaaargh!”
“Fuck, Min-gu! I’m here! I’m here!”
“Chief Kimiiii!”
And the hero of mine, Kim Min-gu, burst in, shattering the door.
Several guys had clung to Min-gu, but he had pushed them all away like a wild boar and reached me.
‘Fuck… so fucking cool! Kim Min-gu!’
“What the hell is that…?”
“You bastard! How dare you touch our chief!”
And in one motion, Kim Min-gu lifted the scarred-face man up.
Using the brief opening, I snatched the small hidden camera peeking through the broken glass shards.
“Everyone, stop! Ha… ha…”
My fierce shout made the VIP room fall deathly silent. Everyone’s eyes turned to me.
“Manager… look at this… isn’t what I said true?”
Only then did Ji-hye finally turn her attention to the camera in my hand.
“What… is this?”
“What else? A camera. Now, do you believe me a little?”
“Th-that’s why… why here…?”
Kim Chief, who had been released from Min-gu’s collar grip, froze in place, eyes wide as he stared at the camera.
“…You called me Min-hyuk, right?”
“Yes…”
“Then shall we move to another seat?”
The shattered door, broken glass shards, and scattered thugs everywhere.
It didn’t seem appropriate to have this conversation here.
“Then shall we…?”
“Secretary Kim, clean up the area. Make the kids behave. And Min-gu, right? You come too.”
With that, Min-gu and I followed her to the Club Ares president’s office.