Lee Sa-rang's Crisis! (1)
I won't forgive anyone who dares to touch what belongs to me. I'm simply not that broad-minded of a man.
“Chief… why don’t we just handle this dirty mess ourselves?”
Im Min-seok was actually moving in person, something that hadn’t happened in almost a year since the chairman passed away.
In the past, he used to dash around the front lines to keep his father’s eye on him, but ever since he took the chair, such direct involvement had become rare as hen’s teeth.
“I really like how shameless that lawyer Kim Chang-gi is,”
“Yes…?”
“Did the work you entrusted to us yield anything proper so far?”
“…”
“If you’d only done your job properly, I wouldn’t be sweating like this at my age now, would I? Am I wrong?”
“I-I’m sorry, Chief!”
“If you can’t do the work, at least act humble with your mouth… wouldn’t you agree?”
If those stupid bastards had simply grabbed the camera in time, this mess wouldn’t have dragged on so long.
It had been the perfect chance to twist the necks of Lee Ji-hye, that scheming Lee Jong-seok, and every high-society tycoon in one swift move—
yet those fools had blown the entire opportunity by failing to collect the footage.
I want to rip their mouths apart.
I’d love to tear every incompetent manager who claims that title into pieces and crush them underfoot, but the fact that I can’t do it only makes me seethe with frustration.
Each time I see those worthless scum sitting in their seats after throwing away a fortune in opportunity, the disgust is so overwhelming I can barely stomach it.
This is exactly when the old days felt better.
If I’d been working the front lines back then, I would’ve torn every one of their mouths open without a second thought…
Now I have to play the dignified representative of YM Financial, so I can only feel a bitter pang of regret.
“How did the investigation go?”
“As I reported… no trace of the assistant was found. It seems Secretary Kim handled it.”
“Secretary Kim, huh? That guy again?”
A man whose face bore a particularly striking scar—a scar carved deep into his cheek like a brand.
It was the tiny plaything knife his father had given his youngest brother…
that same knife had somehow sharpened itself into a deadly blade, stabbing itself to inflict pain.
That greedy bastard Kim Bi-seo… I can’t bring myself to take him.
It was a knife so sharp it even made Im Min-seok feel the itch to wield it.
Yet it was the kind of blade that never threatened its own master—
a lone wolf who had rejected countless temptations and ultimately fulfilled his father’s dying wish.
That was precisely why Im Min-seok coveted Secretary Kim most of all among the items Lee Ji-hye had stolen.
“Secretary Kim has enough skill to pull it off… that I already know. What about the Daeyoung Entertainment situation?”
“As instructed, we’ve already transferred full ownership.”
“Keep it laundered and hidden. High-society types lose their minds over celebrities, after all.”
“Understood. But how should we deal with that old man Kim?”
“Just keep Mr. Kim in his seat for now. There will come a day when he’s useful.”
When the Choi Min-hyeok incident occurred, Im Min-seok had not sat back quietly.
He had used every blackmail and drug in his arsenal to take the shares from Kim, the representative and major shareholder of Daeyoung Entertainment.
In a way, it had been a perfectly profitable transaction.
No choice, really… high-society old men lose their heads over entertainers, so I need to keep an entertainer company in my portfolio.
Of course, I didn’t need to do any of this if I’d simply kept the club cameras rolling, but what could I do when my subordinates were all such useless idiots?
“That Jeong Man-sik or whoever he is… is he actually a trustworthy person?”
“Yes, Chief. He’s someone whose greed far exceeds his ability.”
Greedy little worms who lacked even basic judgment…
If Jeong Man-sik was one of those filthy types, he would never be able to resist the sweet, floral scent that wafted from my body.
Because they were all desperate to parasitize on the wealth and power I possessed.
Just like Ju Hye-ryeong.
Ju Hye-ryeong.
A bitch with no shame or dignity at all— the kind of cheap whore who would spread her legs in the middle of downtown just to stay close to power.
With even a tiny spark of hope, those kinds of worms would do anything while laughing.
I wish Sa-rang was just as stupidly large-breasted.
Im Min-seok had no intention of keeping these women for long. Once he was done toying with them, he planned to pass them all to the high-society old men.
Whether Ju Hye-ryeong or the upcoming Sa-rang, their value to Im Min-seok was nothing more than disposable semen toilets, after all.
“That’s enough for today. Finish off that Jeong Man-sik as quickly as possible.
Oh, and Kim, have Ju Hye-ryeong wait in the room. Tonight I’ll be using her.”
“Yes, Chief.”
Thus, Im Min-seok was once again stirring up conflict with Kang Min-hyuk without even realizing it.
Meanwhile, the owner of the semen toilet Im Min-seok targeted had no idea of any of this. She was still blushing furiously.
“Hey~ Chief Kang, your face is super red!”
“Waaah, Chief! If you’re going to say something like that, why are you still working as a manager?”
Kang Min-hyuk and Kim Min-seok, two men who had already fallen into perfect rhythm.
“Heh heh, that’s right! It’s not just about looking handsome!”
And there was crack leader LJ.
These three foolish men had only been together for a short while, yet thanks to LJ’s natural charisma, they had already drunk together and sworn a blood oath.
“LJ, did you just ignore our Chief?”
“Ah, no, no! I didn’t mean that, Hyung Min-gu… I was just—”
Of course, their oath was also made possible by the terrifying presence of the one man they feared—Kim Min-gu himself.
“Everyone stay quiet. And Chief Oh, you seem pretty free lately?”
Chief Oh Hyun-pil, who had cried hot tears in front of me that day…
Whether because of my advice or not, he had accepted the position of representative of the singer division and come under my management.
Of course there had been resistance within the company, but since he had made the decision himself, what could others say?
Damn it… it looks like I’ve passed every annoying problem onto my side!
Of course, I had seen through his scheme from the beginning, so it was no wonder he was being tormented by a much younger man.
“Hmph, stop being so sweet, Chief Kang. We’re already working with this guy, so—”
“Who! Who! The guy is earning money by selling his face while you’re living the easy life!”
“I was only planning to work with him anyway…”
“So why are you even looking at him?”
It was humiliating… so humiliating I couldn’t even lift my head anymore.
I had been on national television at prime weekend evening time on the variety show that PD Park Ji-ho had thrown together.
Despite giving it my all to act like a washed-up has-been, somehow the editing had made me look like the cutest little brother on screen.
Shit… I can’t even watch it. It’s disgusting.
I couldn’t deny it was my own face and actions, but still… it was disgusting.
Every time my face was in close-up, how was I supposed to watch that over-the-top sparkling smile and flower-petal eyes?
And the way every single person I met kept glancing at my face… I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even hold my head up.
Damn… if this keeps up, I might actually get a fan club…?
From the looks of it, it was entirely possible.
Already the YouTube comments were full of crazy women obsessed with my face.
Just a few days ago, one of them had shown up at the company demanding to see me—me, a mere manager, not even an entertainer.
“Don’t be embarrassed. You’re just cute!”
I was biting into the chocolate that had been brought to me while Choi Ko-di chattered away happily.
She, like everyone else, was my senior at the company, but because her rank and age were both below mine, we had naturally started using informal speech.
Of course, Choi Ko-di liked me more than the others did.
“Ko-di! Don’t you have any work? Didn’t you prepare all the clothes for the sister?”
“Nuu~ Everything is ready~”
“Even so, you idiot! You have to check twice, three times!”
“Tch, just a few dresses, Chief? You always treat me like that!”
“A few dresses? This is the first fan signing event in our actress’s life! Just a few dresses?”
Finally, the actress who had broken the 30% barrier.
And the actress who had carried our drama Lovely Lady.
Her promise had been that if ratings broke 30%, she would hold a fan meeting and signing event.
Of course, my own intentions had been heavily involved.
From now on I have to get used to it.
Soon, not only idols but also actors would be holding regular fan meetings.
Of course we had held events before, but the big, formal fan meetings with theaters rented out and MCs hired were still in the future.
So I had decided to let our actress lead the way and set the trend.
That’s good, right? An actress who thinks so deeply about her fans… she’s precious.
Who would dislike a female star renting a theater for free just to meet her fans?
Once you try it, you’ll never be able to stop… that’s fan culture for you.
It would also be a surprisingly profitable income stream.
Even if that wasn’t the case, our company should do it anyway—for the idols we’re about to debut.
Because we had never run a fan-meeting business before.
For now, just show them a free taste and then switch to ticket sales…
Of course, once we started charging, people might complain, but if that happened, we could simply donate the profits from the fan meetings to a good cause.
Taxes would be reduced, our image would improve, and our hearts would warm—three birds with one stone.
Even if it was slightly hypocritical, those small acts of charity would be a huge comfort to the entertainers whose hearts were slowly breaking.
With Si-a, she might even want to add her own money.
Even though she was a semen-queen at night, her heart was warmer than anyone else’s…
No, wait—her body and heart are both warm, aren’t they?
Just as everything was going smoothly, a single phone call disrupted my peaceful life.
The same insidious, filthy tension I had lived with in my previous life.
“Chief Kang… it’s Lee Sa-rang.”
Yes. I still had many problems left to solve before I could enjoy this peaceful daily life.
“Please help me. You’re the only person I can trust… ugh.”
Lee Sa-rang, who was finally shedding tears… whoever had hurt her, she would have to face the consequences.
Because I was not the broad-minded man who could forgive anyone who dared to touch what belonged to me.