Lee Sa-rang's Crisis! (2) The Counterattack Begins. I must trample underfoot every bastard who dares to disturb my happiness.
"So the Chinese capital isn't coming in... it's YM Financial that just swallowed Daeyoung Planning whole?"
"Exactly, Chief Manager. If we hadn't been watching them, we might never have figured it out."
The moment I picked up the call from Lee Sa-rang, the first person I reached out to was Kim Bi-ser—the secretary whose scar across her cheek stood out like a scar from a battlefield.
This was the place where the deepest rumors were born, where fresh ones rose and vanished multiple times a day.
It was the hub where the industry's top celebrities and every power player in the financial world gathered their mouths around one table.
Kim Bi-ser was Lee Ji-hye's secretary and the very manager who ran Club Ares. She knew every shadow in these halls.
*Something felt off.*
I had sensed that unease and decided to dig through Kim Bi-ser's eyes.
To find out exactly what was happening inside Daeyoung Planning right now.
And why Jeong Man-sik was pushing so hard.
In the past, Lee Sa-rang had never been blackmailed by him. Of course she might have refused his offer because she was addicted to my cock, but even a desperate man like that would never resort to blackmail.
*Yet here he was, playing that desperate card...*
If everything had stayed on track, Sa-rang would have walked straight into Daeyoung Planning under his wing, no questions asked.
The failure of Crack and every other disaster had shaken JS Entertainment to its core.
And Daeyoung Planning had been waiting for that exact moment to ride in on the last wave of Chinese investment and snatch up the last of our top talent.
*But that was all just a summer-night dream...*
October 2017. Only a few months before the two presidents of Korea would extend the olive branch, the entire entertainment world had been floating on a cloud of "Han Han-ryeong will soon be lifted, and business with China will bloom again."
One company, Daeyoung Planning, had soaked up that sweet dream and grown fat on the Korean Wave still sweeping across the continent.
The company that had been slowly sinking alongside Han Han-ryeong was now about to be gobbled up by that final, mad rush of Chinese capital.
They had just swallowed the medicine that would kill them, and their doom was already sealed.
*But everything had changed...*
Before the Chinese capital could even arrive, YM Financial had struck first.
Every share that Uncle Kim had owned had already drained into the YM side.
*Like a snowball rolling downhill...*
The snowball that had started by removing the cameras from Ares to promote Lovely Lady had now rolled all the way here.
Kim Si-a had achieved the success I had always wanted.
Yet the irony was that Daeyoung Planning had ended up in Lee Min-seok's claws.
Without the Chinese capital, Daeyoung Planning might not have collapsed at all.
And Jeong Man-sik, riding YM's back, would have been unstoppable.
*But I couldn't just watch that happen...*
No. I absolutely could not let that scene unfold.
JS Entertainment had already finished every step toward the next phase, and every face around me glowed with nothing but hope.
Lee Jong-seok's, Si-a's, even Chief Oh's and the faces of Crack and V.O.V.
Every single person who loved me was carrying the unshakable belief that everything would turn out fine, that happiness was just around the corner.
Of course I felt that same happiness. How could I not?
*But those bastards dared to touch my happy life?*
Not just any life. They dared to touch the one I had pulled into my hands—Lee Sa-rang.
Even though she was nothing more than a seasonal toy, she was still mine, and ours.
A seasonal toy or not, I was not that kind, merciful man who would simply stand by while they tried to destroy my harem kingdom.
My happiness.
Without crushing them, I would never rest in peace.
"Secretary Kim."
"Yes, Chief Manager."
"Do you know anyone named Kim Gil-gang?"
"Kim Gil-gang... are you talking about the representative of Tube Entertainment, Mr. Kim Gil-gang?"
"Yes. The Kim Gil-gang whose company Ju Hye-ryeong is affiliated with."
The instant the name left my mouth, Kim Bi-ser's face twisted like a crumpled piece of paper.
She knew the man's true identity. The moment it was spoken aloud, her expression betrayed her.
"Chief, that man is extremely dangerous. He is not the kind of person you should meet."
"I'm fine, Secretary Kim. I know him very well..."
Very well indeed.
In the past, that bastard had snatched Ju Hye-ryeong from Daeyoung Planning and handed over every dirty secret about her to me.
*Interesting how the timeline has flipped completely, yet the core desire remains the same...*
The target had changed, but the hunger had not.
Daeyoung Planning, still chasing Sa-rang and Jeong Man-sik. Ju Hye-ryeong, who had buried the knife in Kim Gil-gang's back after using Lovely Lady's success to climb. And me, now joining hands with Kim Gil-gang to crush both of them.
The events had changed, but the fundamental desire driving us had stayed untouched.
The only thing that had truly shifted was that Sa-rang's hunger had moved from money into my cock.
*Heh heh heh... this is getting interesting, Secretary Kim.*
"...?"
For a split second, Kim Bi-ser's eyes glazed over as she remembered that night.
The clammy, skin-crawling sensation she had felt from the ruined actor.
The cruel, goosebump-inducing gaze that could never be matched even by Lee Min-seok's.
"Ah, sorry. I suddenly thought of something too entertaining..."
"I-I see..."
"Yes... so don't worry, Secretary Kim. Please arrange a meeting with Representative Kim Gil-gang."
"..."
"And this is something that must remain a secret from Ji-hye. Do you understand?"
If Lee Ji-hye ever found out, there would be hell to pay.
A man she loved sneaking off to meet a dirty bastard like Kim Gil-gang? Who would ever approve of that?
No doubt Kim Bi-ser was already worrying about exactly that.
"Chief, if I say no, will you still listen?"
I shook my head, locking eyes with him without blinking.
"You'll listen?"
"Yes. Instead, I have one promise I need you to keep. When you meet Kim Gil-gang, you must bring Kim Min-gu with you."
"If you promise that, I'll arrange the meeting."
"Very well, Secretary Kim."
Kim Bi-ser had witnessed the worst side of Min-gu and knew he would protect me even in the darkest hour.
After all, that was why she had come up with the last safety net.
***
The meeting with Kim Gil-gang happened faster than I expected, given how quickly Sa-rang was being blackmailed.
"Sorry, Min-gu. I dragged you into this."
"It's fine, Chief. I didn't like Jeong Man-sik that bastard one bit either."
I had told Min-gu just enough to get him here.
Nothing more than the fact that Jeong Man-sik was using a clone phone to threaten Sa-rang.
Honestly, even though he respected me, sending him to meet the dirty man Kim Gil-gang without a proper explanation would have been too cruel.
"Glad you came... but are you sure about this? What we're doing is dangerous, and no one will even know. It's not something you build a career on."
It was never a career move. It was dirty, secret, and utterly risky.
Yet Min-gu had followed me without a single complaint.
Telling him nothing and only asking him to tag along felt almost heartless.
"Besides, you already know I'm not the type to run from danger, right?"
"I? What do you mean? I have no training, I'm uneducated... but I've always prided myself on reading people."
Min-gu's words were not empty praise. They were the honest recognition of a man who trusted me as one human to another.
I stopped walking and stared at him.
"What kind of man do you think I am...?"
"You? You seem like someone you can trust. I don't know about other things, but I trust you."
"Me? You think I'm trustworthy...?"
"Yes. Min-seok thinks so too, and Chief Oh too. I'm sure everyone does."
I had never imagined that anyone would actually believe in me.
The fact that people who had always been cowards and weaklings had suddenly begun following me was strange.
My own pack—those who had always trusted and supported me—had finally given me a responsibility I had never felt before.
*Did Jong-seok-hyung do it for the same reason...*
Jong-seok, who had endured every humiliation and even thrown away his life rather than attack JS Entertainment.
Perhaps I had only just understood his heart today.
"Well... even if I can't be that kind of person..."
"What?"
"No, just a random thought."
Kim Min-gu looked at me with strange eyes. I made a silent promise in my heart.
Even if I wasn't as pure as Jong-seok-hyung, I would try not to turn my back on the people who believed in me. Even if I had to swallow my pride, I would make an effort to understand them first.
"Let's go, Min-gu."
"Yes, Chief!"
We headed toward Tube Entertainment, where the dirty man Kim Gil-gang was waiting.