Now It's Time to Leap to the Next Step... (1) I'd Rather Die Than Handle Male Idols
The CEO's face was beaming with an innocent smile, as if he had just discovered something truly incredible.
I nearly punched that bright, bright expression right in the face.
"So... you're telling me to handle those shady male kids right now...?"
I had finally started savoring a tiny bit of the regressor's happiness...
Now you want me to dive straight back into that hell?
With me—the one who had already served in the military twice...?
In other words, instead of pouring my precious time into our Si-a noona, you're telling me to use it to make those shady male guys succeed...
'If you're going to die, fine, but I won't waste my precious time like that on those kids...'
That's right. I would die before I ever wasted my precious time on male idols.
"CEO..."
"How's this? Isn't it an amazing opportunity for you?"
'Oh, Jong-seok hyung! Why are you doing this to me!'
I knew it all too well.
I knew exactly how much help taking on Crack would give my career...
And I knew exactly what kind of success was guaranteed.
But would that really guarantee my happiness? Never...
'I will never be happy...'
No, it would be more than just unhappy—it would make me miserable.
I had regressed, and I had regressed twice...
Assigning me to those sweaty male guys and their "deep friendships" was basically a death sentence...
'I want this life to carry a sweet, fragrant scent...'
Crack and TPX... in my past life, my entire existence had been drenched in nothing but sweat.
Now that I had finally stepped away from that tired, tired sweat, you want me to go back to it?
"Take a look at these kids. How they sparkle..."
"CEO..."
"Kyaa~ Watch how they dance! The movements are so perfectly sharp..."
Since they're his own picks, of course they look good...
But that's not what I want at all...
I want real beauty, not just pretty ones!
"I'm truly grateful for the offer, but I'm afraid it may be too difficult for me."
The CEO's face instantly froze.
'Sorry, hyung... I don't think I can handle male guys.'
No matter how much I liked the CEO, I absolutely could not accept this proposal.
The reason I was a genius at cosplay was that it gave me the foundation to handle female idols perfectly...
Not to take on these sweaty boys...
"You don't know how huge this opportunity is? Hyung is trying to raise you, understand?"
"I understand. That's why... I'm sorry, but I have to decline."
"What?"
"Even just this opportunity already feels too much for me. If I take on Crack completely, the internal backlash will be serious."
"Don't worry about that..."
"CEO, you should be worrying about those things too now."
"What...?"
"Soon, actress Kim Sia will be extremely busy..."
What does it mean when an actress gets busy?
Incoming CFs and various schedules...
When an actress gets busy, it means she's about to rake in money hand over fist.
Crack will succeed as planned, and I'll somehow snag Sa-rang.
'That means our company will grow enormously from now on...'
If that happens, the CEO should stop acting only for his own amusement from now on.
The CEO had reached the point where he needed to step up to the next level.
"The company is growing bigger and bigger... the CEO should raise people he can trust."
The CEO looked at me with an extremely bizarre expression.
What was the CEO's mood right now...? To put it plainly, it was very strange.
Normally, he wouldn't have listened to a single word of this arrogant junior's overstepping advice.
Especially advice from a mid-twenties kid who had just shed his babyish vibe.
'But why does that brat's advice feel so irritating right now?'
At first, I thought he seemed smart, so I gave him a chance just for fun.
But look what happened? He didn't even need to be told—Kim Sia succeeded brilliantly.
He even accurately identified Crack's problems after I had already taken a job to JK Entertainment.
And now, when the company is growing, he wants me to make my own people?
'So the kid's perspective is wider than mine?'
I didn't want to admit it, but I had to.
That kid's talent was better than his experience...
He knew full well that pride would be crushed if he didn't acknowledge it.
"Sigh... Alright, make my people? That means Kang Minhyuk is my person...?"
A high school graduate pushed so far... I am definitely the CEO's person.
"That's good to hear. Then, tell me—who should I entrust Crack to?"
"I think it would be best to entrust it once more to Chief Oh Hyun-pil."
"Entrust it directly to Chief Oh Hyun-pil...?"
Chief Oh Hyun-pil, who had already taken on Crack and suffered a miserable failure...
It was clearly not an easy decision to give him Crack again after one failure.
'But he's still the only one outside of that...'
Jeong Man-sik, who had already betrayed me from behind.
Park Tae-ho, who cut his losses the moment the company got tough.
And all the subordinates who followed them...
Even in the moment when the company was trembling on the brink of collapse...
He stayed until the very end, taking responsibility for Crack's failure.
'He may not be perfect, but he's definitely someone I can trust.'
Of course, I didn't have any intention of blaming Park Tae-ho or his subordinates.
They were simply doing what survival demanded.
But they still owed me an apology.
I had watched with perfect clarity how Chief Oh had suffered in the past life and how he had earned my trust...
Only after Crack succeeded and the company entered a stable period did he finally leave to chase his dream.
"Explain to me. Why Chief Oh Hyun-pil?"
'Because among the few people who stayed until the very end at my funeral...'
The man had done what I could never do.
Even though Chief Oh was extremely upright in character.
We hadn't been close, but I could trust him.
He was the one who possessed the rarest thing in the underworld—the belief of a god...
"I felt it while living in the dorm. How much responsibility Chief Oh feels toward the Crack members...
And how deeply he cares for our JS Entertainment."
"Hmm... So he's a reliable man?"
"Yes. Chief Oh will somehow make the Crack friends succeed, no matter what."
"This is really hard to believe... Is Chief Oh that capable?"
"They need someone they can trust more than anyone else right now."
Someone who can say with confidence that they will succeed.
They need a sturdy pillar right now, not someone like me.
"The only person in our company who can fill that role is Chief Oh."
'Please... let it be Chief Oh, not me... please!'
It has nothing to do with not wanting to handle male idols... absolutely not...
"Chief Oh... Chief Oh is reliable in every way, especially in care! But..."
"Yes... Please say more, CEO."
"You... do you have a girlfriend? I haven't been in contact lately, but I have a younger sister..."
"Huh?"
"It's not a lie. She's extremely beautiful because she doesn't look like me~ Look."
The CEO smiled brightly while showing a photo of Lee Ji-hye on his phone.
A cold sweat began to trickle down my back.
Why? Because I had been scheduled to meet the woman in that photo a few days later...
***
The atmosphere at Ares, visited for the first time in a long while, felt oddly stiff.
The beasts' burning lust was, as always, blazing hot...
But the guards' faces seemed strangely calm, and the staff's mood carried an unmistakable tension...
'Had I brought Min-gu along? The atmosphere feels a bit heavier than usual?'
It was a heavy, tense feeling that soldiers before battle would understand.
Right now, at this Ares, it was as if the quiet before a typhoon was blowing in.
"Welcome... Chief Kang."
Kim Bi-seo bowed respectfully as he approached.
The same Kim Bi-seo, who had once carried a bit of arrogance, had become extremely polite since the incident with Choi Min-hyuk.
He had gone from casually nodding his head to bowing ninety degrees.
"Ah, it's been a while, Director Kim~ What brings you here? The club's atmosphere is..."
"That's... I think the boss would be better to hear it directly. It's a little difficult to explain myself..."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, let's go. The boss has been waiting quite anxiously."
Though I was curious, I didn't push for details.
There was no need to rush; I would hear it from her mouth soon enough anyway...
As Kim Bi-seo guided me toward Lee Ji-hye's office, he stopped for a moment right in front of the door.
"Chief Kang."
"Yes, Director Kim?"
"It may be inappropriate, but... could I ask you for one thing?"
There was a mix of fear in his eyes, but they shone with seriousness.
I had never met him in the past life, but I knew a bit about this man.
He wasn't the type to bow his head to anyone easily... nor the type to make such a request.
"Please take good care of our boss going forward."
"..What do you mean?"
"I simply thought the boss seems too happy lately, so I wanted to ask."
With that, Kim Bi-seo quietly stepped aside, unable to understand the request.
Only when I stepped into Lee Ji-hye's office did I understand why he had made that plea.
Chuuub! The moment I opened the door, Lee Ji-hye flew into my arms, and the sweet, tangled sensation of her lips filled my mouth.
"Haa, Ji-hye, why so suddenly... uweb!"
"Just... stay like this."
At the corners of her eyes, tears of anguish clung faintly, barely dried.