Kim Si-a's Wings Take Flight, Part 2
So you should've lived a little better, Ju Hye-ryeong… The reason you ran into me in this life too is because you're still living like trash…
Honestly, when I first came onto this production, I'd considered defusing the Ju Hye-ryeong bomb ahead of time.
But even knowing exactly who she was, I'd left her alone out of sheer curiosity.
What if the world I was living in now wasn't the same as the one I'd left behind?
What if the people I was meeting now were completely different from the ones I'd known in the past?
I'd already confirmed it any number of times living this life—but just in case, I'd wanted to check one more time through Ju Hye-ryeong.
Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't the woman I'd known at all.
But Ju Hye-ryeong was exactly the same as the woman I'd known in my previous life.
How could I forget? She was the first one I ever worked over.
The first celebrity I'd ever targeted on that bastard's orders…
An actress who'd spent a long stretch in obscurity before exploding into a massive hit with Lovely Lady.
I'd dug into her weaknesses like a madman trying to recruit her. Of course, by then her standards had shot through the roof, and she'd treated me and our company like absolute garbage…
In the end she'd chosen another agency, and that was where her misfortune had begun.
She went to Daeyoung Entertainment too, didn't she?
Back then, after taking consecutive hits from Manager Jeong and then Daeyoung Entertainment, I'd felt utterly humiliated. That was probably why I'd been able to dig into her so deeply.
Well… in the end I'd just buried Ju Hye-ryeong with the material I'd unearthed, without even bothering with threats or persuasion.
Come to think of it, it won't be long before I run into that guy again either.
The enormous vacuum left behind when Manager Jeong stabbed us in the back and walked out…
And the guy they'd brought in from outside to fill it…
Looking back now, I could guess whose underling he'd been working for. Why a cocky bastard like him had come to JS in the first place… and why he'd framed Jong-seok hyung and driven him out.
I'll crush him later anyway. For now, let's deal with the Ju Hye-ryeong right in front of me.
How was I supposed to wreck this arrogant actress who didn't know her place?
How thoroughly did I have to destroy the woman who'd dared try to shatter my most precious jewel before I'd feel satisfied?
Should I turn her into a bitch who lived on her knees sucking off that old man at Daeyoung Entertainment, same as before…
Or should I make it so she couldn't even show her face in this country?
No. First priority is making Lovely Lady a success.
The rage surging up inside me had nearly made me ruin everything. Destroying her right now wouldn't get me a single thing. At best, a fleeting rush of satisfaction—and that was it.
If I took her down now, the only thing I'd walk away with was the collapse of Lovely Lady.
"Noona… that's enough. Stop crying. Come on."
"Hnnngh… okay…"
"Writer Kim will be outside. Go cool your head for a bit and stay with her for a while."
"Hic… what about you? Aren't you coming?"
"I need to have a little talk with Ju Hye-ryeong. Because of someone."
"I-I don't want to go out alone…"
"Then should I just leave with you? Forget cleaning any of this up and walk out together?"
"No… that's not what I…"
"Then stop whining and go wait outside for a bit. You can do that, right?"
"O-okay…"
Faced with the faint edge of anger in my expression, Si-a noona looked ready to burst into tears again, her face crumpling—but I couldn't keep handing her candy forever.
If I kept indulging every little tantrum, she might turn into one of those spoiled actresses who expected the world to revolve around them.
Si-a noona would never be like that… but I've seen it happen more than once or twice.
If Lovely Lady took off the way I expected, even I couldn't predict how she might change. In her past life she'd clawed her way up from rock bottom to become a great actress. Sudden success could numb a person's judgment and turn them into the kind of rude celebrity who thought they could get away with anything—exactly like Lee Sa-rang, that unbearably arrogant, power-tripping actress.
Which was precisely why I couldn't keep spoiling her.
"All right then. Ju Hye-ryeong's manager should clear out as well, don't you think?"
"Why me…?"
"You're welcome to stay if you want. But what about you, Ju Hye-ryeong? Are you okay with that?"
Ju Hye-ryeong, who'd been sprawled on the floor with a dazed look in her eyes, suddenly started screaming at the top of her lungs.
From her position, it was a secret she could never afford to have exposed. And right now, that horrible secret she'd fought so hard to bury was about to come spilling out of this man's mouth.
"Get out! I said get out!"
"U-unnie, what's wrong…?"
"Did someone shove a dick in your ear?! Can't you hear me? I said get the hell out!"
"Okay, unnie…"
"And you know what happens if this reaches the CEO's ears, right? We're both fucked."
Ju Hye-ryeong seized her manager by the collar and shrieked like a madwoman. Her manager had gone even paler than she had.
The thick, cloying scent of fear rolled off both of them—fear of me, and fear of her own filthy past.
She wasn't really screaming at her manager. She was screaming at me.
Please, just spare me this once. Spare me and I'll do anything you say.
I savored that fragrant aroma of terror drifting off her… and sank deep into the black sofa tucked in the corner of the waiting room.
And so Si-a noona and the manager left, leaving the makeup room barren and empty.
I stayed buried in the black sofa, watching Ju Hye-ryeong tremble with fear.
"Ju Hye-ryeong… or should I call you Rachel? Or maybe Kim Hui-ju?
Pick whichever you like. I'll call you by that."
"Who the hell are you? How do you know that…?"
"Haa. This is why actresses are like this…"
"What?"
"Still haven't grasped the situation? Or are you still standing there stiff because you're counting on that pathetic CEO of yours?"
Her current agency was Tube Entertainment—founded by a pack of gangsters. These days they strutted around like a proper entertainment company, but only a few years ago they'd been Majang-dong thugs people called human butchers.
Of course, the reason I knew any of this was because the man who'd fed me information on her in my previous life had been Tube Entertainment's CEO himself.
That guy was a real piece of work when we teamed up, too…
CEO Kim Gil-gang.
The head of Tube Entertainment—the man who'd gotten stabbed in the back by Ju Hye-ryeong and then buried her right alongside me. He looked like a polished gentleman on the surface, but he was an extraordinarily cruel man. Just remembering him casually talking about chopping Ju Hye-ryeong into pieces still sent a cold sweat down my back.
Not that people like him wouldn't all go flying with a single flick of Lee Ji-hye's fingers…
In fact, one of the biggest reasons I hadn't wiped Ju Hye-ryeong out already was Kim Gil-gang. When I'd first joined Lovely Lady, it had never even crossed my mind that I'd end up sharing a bed with Lee Ji-hye.
But the situation's changed now, hasn't it~?
Now I had a backer I could actually trust. And not just any backer—Lee Ji-hye, the youngest daughter of Chairman Lee of Myeongdong and the owner of Club Ares. As long as she had my back, Kim Gil-gang? I had absolutely no reason to be afraid of some worthless gangster punk like him.
"Answer me, Ju Hye-ryeong. Are you acting this cocky because you're counting on that gangster bastard Kim Gil-gang?"
It wasn't enough that this man knew her secrets—he tossed out the name of the terrifying CEO Kim Gil-gang like he was calling a stray dog. She grew more and more afraid of him by the second.
"A-are you… NIS? A prosecutor? Something like that?"
"Heh. I'm just Kim Si-a's manager."
"That doesn't make any sense. How could Kim Si-a's manager…"
"Whether it makes sense or not isn't what matters here, Rachel."
"P-please don't call me that name… please."
The moment that name left my mouth again, her face went pure white. For an actress—no, for a woman—it was a past so shameful she was on her knees in front of me, begging.
"Shall I call you Miss Kim Hui-ju instead? Isn't that side of your past even more embarrassing?
If it were me, I'd be a lot more ashamed of the school-violence stuff—bullying powerless kids and shaking them down for money…"
"I-I'm reflecting on that too…"
"Come on~ don't lie. You're not the type who does things like 'reflecting,' are you~?"
If she'd truly reflected, she never would have thought about shoving her face into someone else's business like this.
"Why are you really doing this to me…? If there's something you want, just tell me."
"I don't want anything. Just keep going like this… and work hard on the shoot."
"Th-that's a lie…"
"It's the truth, though? I honestly have no intention of blackmailing you with this, Ju Hye-ryeong…"
I genuinely had no plans to leak any of it to the press. Blowing it up in the media and destroying her in one shot would be far too merciful.
I intended to dry her out slowly. Very, very slowly.
Every time she saw my face, she'd have nightmares… and from this moment on, she'd live in constant dread that I might open my mouth.
And finally, when this drama wrapped and she stood before her brilliant success—I'd tell the people she'd tormented exactly what kind of human being she was. Exactly what kind of life she'd lived.
Right. I'm not the one qualified to judge this woman…
I'd leave her judgment to the people who actually had the right and the authority. If they forgave her, I'd forgive her too. If they didn't, neither would I.
The very moment you climb to the highest seat…
Whether you taste heaven or hell—that was when her fate would be decided.
And of course, Si-a noona is one of those victims~
In other words, this woman would never get to taste heaven.
"Um… couldn't you just tell me what you want? I'd honestly be more comfortable with that…"
But the life Ju Hye-ryeong had lived hadn't been easy either, so she understood well enough. She knew I wasn't the kind of man who'd simply let this slide.
"Hmm. I really don't want anything from you, though…"
"Aigoo, why are you like this~ I can do things like this for you, you know…"
With that, Ju Hye-ryeong slowly began crawling between my legs.
In this desperate situation, what she'd ultimately chosen was the one thing she did best.
"I'm… really good at it~ If you try it once, you won't regret it…"
True to her roots as a top-tier room-salon ace, the last lifeline she'd grabbed was my thick cock.