The Manager's Time (5) – The Deal with Her
"Mr. Min-gu, I have one favor to ask. Could you stand guard right outside the door?"
"..Me.. me?"
Min-gu's face turned a deep shade of red from embarrassment as he stared blankly at the sexy voice of Lee Ji-hye.
'This brat.. Min-gu, you really are a man, aren't you?'
Who in their right mind could refuse a request like this from such a sexy beauty?
And besides, since a camera had already been discovered in the VVIP room..
The only people she could trust were me, an outsider, and Min-gu, who had exposed the camera's existence.
"Min-gu, I'm asking you too.. You're the only one I can trust."
"Then.. I guess I have no choice. I'll stand guard."
"You can rely on me.. Then, I'll leave it all to you, Mr. Min-gu."
Her voice trembled with excitement as she patted Min-gu's shoulder.
Min-gu's face was about to explode from the heat.
'Min-gu is a man.. a real man!'
Following her into the president's office, it was a scene that would make any jaw drop.
'Whoa.. this is exactly what it means to have the money to get this kind of place?'
I had been to countless celebrity homes, after all.
I had quite a bit of experience with high-end furniture and interiors..
But none of them could compare to how extravagantly this room had been decorated.
Starting with the marble floor that looked anything but ordinary..
Then the luxurious velvet sofas..
And the paintings hanging everywhere, each one screaming pure sophistication.
"Hah.. I'm all scattered. Sit down first.."
But the owner of this flashy, sensory room didn't seem to care if anything got ruined.
She plopped down onto the velvet sofa, kicked off her brand-new red high heels, and tossed them aside.
She even sat with her legs spread wide, hair completely disheveled..
"How did you know? About that thing.. there?"
A temptingly torn leopard-print panty was visible between her crimson skirt..
That lewd, damp leopard-print panty had been messing with my eyes earlier..
But right now was not the time to be distracted.
"Um.. we received a tip.."
A tip from my future self..
After days of racking my brain, I couldn't come up with any answer that would make her doubt me.
Or, in the first place, how could a rookie manager like me even know that a molka camera had been installed there?
In times like this, just keep your mouth shut and let her figure it out on her own.
Right now, for example.
"Yeah? Well, that makes sense. Everyone who worked under my father was like that.."
Her eyes held a deep, nostalgic longing..
It seemed like the late president had occasionally helped her out in exactly this way.
"Right, so that's how you could bring such a monster of a man around.."
Wrong.
Min-gu was just a pure friend who only knew how to win the lottery through good luck.
He had only come today because I had twisted his arm into doing a market survey.
He was just an ordinary person with no connection to this world.
Even so, there was no reason for me to correct her thoughts.
I let out an unknown smile and slowly opened my mouth.
"Well, think however you like.. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Chief Manager Kang Min-hyuk of JS Entertainment."
"JS Entertainment.. JS.. I thought your father didn't have any business in entertainment.. How strange."
"Well.. is that really the important thing right now?"
She was right. Whether her father had stepped into the entertainment world or not was completely irrelevant.
The incident had already happened.
What was important to her now was who had installed it..
And what kind of video was inside that camera.
"Yeah. You're right, Mr. Min-hyuk. That isn't important right now. Who is it? The person who installed this."
"I haven't been able to identify them yet. Well, it's probably one of the people who hates Ms. Lee Ji-hye..
Or.. someone who wants to take something she has.."
Even with that much, her sharp eyes would immediately figure it out.
Involving myself in Jong-seok hyung's family business would be overstepping my bounds.
And I didn't have the time or ability to do so anyway.
This was the absolute limit of what I could tell her to put her on guard.
"Ah, you don't know who installed it.. Oh, that's fine. I'll look into it slowly."
Her eyes were blazing with curiosity, so I must have caught her interest.
If that was the case, then it was time to check the video..
I disconnected the USB connected to the camera and plugged it into the laptop on the table.
'This bastard.. because you were carrying this around, Im Min-seok.. no one could touch you.'
Celebrities, politicians, business magnates.. the top of every hierarchy..
Did they really just quietly drink and play in this club..?
This USB held secrets not just of Choi Min-hyuk..
But of countless others.
'If this leaks out, it'll be the death of everyone..?'
Only now did I understand.
Why her name had never once appeared in the media..
Why so many political figures had kept their mouths shut about Club Ares.
It was literally Pandora's box.
'Hah.. I've gotten myself into some serious trouble..?'
If I greedily tried to keep this, I was definitely doomed.
But if I kept it, I would become invincible when it came to political figures..
Meaning I could completely ignore whatever lobby came from that side. For example, sex donations..
"Hmm.. these people really had a good time~
They were all told to behave and enjoy themselves inside the club.. but they don't listen, do they?"
She had been scowling just moments ago, but now she was laughing brightly.
It seemed she was probably thinking the same as me.
"The more important thing is that there's one of these in every VIP room."
"Really?"
"Exactly. Not just the VVIP rooms, but every single room has one, right?"
Suddenly, like a red rose blooming, her face lit up with a bright smile..
That's right. We now held a terrifying weapon capable of destroying the entire Republic of Korea.
*
*
*
Only the four of us were trustworthy: me, Lee Ji-hye, Kim Min-gu, and Secretary Kim.
Moreover, Secretary Kim, who had an impressive scar on her face, had to control the subordinates below, so she couldn't come with us.
"So, the three of us need to thoroughly search this entire place, understand?"
"Yes! But Chief, don't we have to come to work..?"
"Oh, that's fine. I'll take care of it myself."
With the company at the mercy of Crack's debut, we didn't have time to worry about anything else.
And besides, I held full authority over the Sia team..
Meaning, if the report simply said "Sia unnie was filming YouTube at home," that would be the end.
Of course, I knew exactly how to keep Sia unnie's mouth shut..
'Strictly speaking, this is also part of the work..'
It was an extremely important task to find an invincible shield to protect our company..
"Then, let's go quickly.. It looks like we're already late."
Under Lee Ji-hye's lead, whose body was boiling with excitement..
We began madly searching the Club Ares, which had shut down its business for the day, alongside the rising sun.
We scoured every room in Ares, checking the hanging pictures and the potted plants with hidden mics..
After searching the entire building, we found a total of twenty-eight cameras.
"We installed quite a lot.."
After spending three full hours searching every single room, we had collected twenty-eight cameras in total.
Of course, the videos inside them as well..
"So, what do you say? Originals? Or copies..?"
"I'll take only the copies to the USB."
"Good. And you know, right? Things like this are most effective when you're holding onto them?"
"I have no intention of using this to do anything. However, you know, right? Just make sure you handle Choi Min-hyuk properly."
"Secretary Kim is an expert in that area, so don't worry."
Lee Ji-hye and I gathered the cameras and made three agreements.
The first: instead of blowing up the videos of Choi Min-hyuk, I would take care of him at the perfect time..
After all, as long as I could send him to hell, whether it was through drugs or sex scandals, I didn't care.
In fact, on matters like this, Secretary Kim was far more trustworthy than Reporter Lee Ji-yeon..
The second: whenever we used this material, we had to go through Lee Ji-hye to resolve everything..
And the third: I would keep the fact that I had this completely secret.
Actually, this suggestion had come from Lee Ji-hye's side, not mine.
After all, the side that installed it was targeting Lee Ji-hye..
Her request was to use it to help herself if things ever went wrong.
The reason she had handed me the material so readily was to create a joker who could help her from the outside.
"And don't forget about our weekend date."
"Well.. I'm all yours, thank you. Thanks to you, I've gotten to date a young oppa like this~"
I had visited Club Ares today because Reporter Lee Ji-yeon had set up an introduction date for me.
That was our alibi.
To prepare for any unexpected situations.
While dating on weekends, we had decided to leave traces of ourselves in various places.
"And.. one more thing.."
I was about to talk about Jong-seok hyung, but I immediately closed my mouth.
After I left, she would naturally investigate me anyway.
There was no reason to bring up his name here and tire myself out.
I smiled lightly at her, who was looking at me with intense expectation.
"And.. take good care of your family."
Your first older brother.. your second older brother.. please pay some attention.
That way, Ms. Lee Ji-hye's life won't turn out unhappy..
She froze with an expression of disbelief at my sudden advice.
"Eh..?"
"I clearly told you. Don't regret it later.
Then, we'll be going now. Let's go, Min-gu."
Leaving behind a dumbfounded Lee Ji-hye, Min-gu and I headed toward the restaurant.
Unaware of the pair of eyes staring at us like they were hunting prey..