The Possession Test
He'd confessed to being possessed! He'd grabbed some fruit and premium whiskey that the waiter had prepared for service, then returned to the room. After setting the glasses, filling them with ice and whiskey, his nuna opened her mouth with a curious expression.
"Have you done this kind of thing before? You're so smooth at it."
"Back in the day. I thought I'd forgotten, but my body remembers. Tell me if you don't like it on the rocks."
"Back in the day... when you were in America?"
"You knew I was in America."
"Ah, I felt like I didn't know enough about you, President, so... I looked some things up. Don't take it the wrong way. I didn't dig too deep or anything."
Nuna had done her homework too. That made things easier to talk about.
"Let's talk business before the drinks."
"Business? You mean that script?"
"Yeah."
"You really wrote that to produce?"
"What else would I write it for? It's one of the draft scripts under review for a company promo drama I'm planning."
"Promo drama?"
He turned on the TV mounted on the wall and played a drama episode. With a runtime of about ten minutes, it ended quickly.
"It's a web drama from last year. A promo for Oseong Electronics—if you didn't know, it'd pass for a legit SF flick, right? It hit 20 million views in a month."
"You're going to make dramas like this? At JH Entertainment?"
"Not JH Entertainment—me. At the company I'm about to start independently."
"Independently... so the business card you gave the manager is for that company?"
"If it says Stardust, yeah."
"I thought it was fake since your title was manager."
"I am a manager. The president's someone else."
Nuna furrowed her brows prettily, glancing back and forth between the card and his face.
"You're that old... and you're a manager?"
"I thought you and I were around the same age, Bora."
—Thwack!
"Oh, sorry. My hand just... Why did I do that?"
Back when he was Song Jinho, she'd smack the back of his head for lame jokes or teasing. Old habits die hard. Was this a good sign?
"If Bora touches me, that's pro... fuck it, anyway, I am a manager. I like it that way, so no more smacks from now on."
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like th—ack!"
"What?"
"Why are you acting so familiar?"
"What...?"
"I came here to chew you out today!"
She put on a stern face and huffed, but to him, she just looked like an angry kitten robbed of her treats. So cute~
"What are you chewing me out for?"
"This script—how the hell did you write it? It's full of stuff only me and Jinho know!"
"I heard it from Manager Song."
"Jinho told you all that?"
He nodded silently, and nuna's face grew even stormier.
"The Jinho I know would never do that. He's not the type to blab intimate secrets to someone else!"
"So how do you think I know?"
Her face drew closer.
"You... you slipped Jinho some truth serum and made him spill everything about me, right? And the aftereffects of that nasty drug left him in that state. That's it, isn't it?"
"Hah, what is this, a spy thriller? Park Hyungpil might pull that shit, but why would I? He's one of the few allies left in the company."
"Then explain it straight. How do you know about me and Jinho?"
Her speech had shortened, but no smack this time. It was time to lay it all out.
"Manager Song wouldn't tell anyone that stuff..."
"......"
"But I know it all..."
"......"
"Ever think maybe I'm Manager Song?"
"What the hell?"
"Like... ah, this'll work. Bora, you told Song that you liked that old romantic movie where the murdered guy haunts around because he can't leave his lover. The one where his soul enters a medium's body to contact her."
"Ghost?"
"Right. Think of it like that."
"So Jinho's soul is inside your body right now?"
"What if it is?"
She paused, then narrowed the distance with a knowing look. She came so close he could hear her breath, sending a strange thrill through him. This is heading for a kiss...
"Ah, uh... contact's fine, but if you come at me like that so suddenly..."
He stammered, and nuna grinned. With a smile that pretty, things would work out, right?
—Slap!
The slap was so hard his head snapped back like his neck might break. What the fuck was this situation?
"You bastard. Trying to pull some shit? Possession? Contact? Even kindergarteners don't buy that crap. You're just using Jinho as an excuse to get at me. I know all about your slutty reputation with women!"
No wonder it felt too smooth. Nuna's straight-up fire was alive and well.
"Do that shit one more time, and I'll hold a press conference and spill everything. You psycho."
She shot him a glare and stood. He couldn't let it end like this.
"If you leave now, you'll never see Manager Song again."
At Jinho's name, flames shot from her eyes. Whoa, she might actually kill me.
Unable to hold back her rage, her shoulders heaved before she hurled her handbag. But he wasn't getting hit twice. He dodged lightly, stood, and went on the offensive this time.
"Kang Bora! Keep this up, and I won't hold back anymore. I haven't even gotten to my main point. If you really care about Manager Song, sit down and hear me out. Now!"
Startled by his intensity—or maybe regretting her actions—she sat back down with a slightly softened expression.
"Fine, keep talking."
"I thought you wore that outfit because you'd figured something out, but nope."
Only then did nuna glance down at her clothes.
"What's wrong with this outfit?"
"It's what you wore the first time we went to the hotel."
"First... hotel..."
She thought for a moment, then spoke with realization dawning.
"It's similar, but not the one from then. I like floral patterns, so I have a few. And back then it was a miniskirt... wait! How do you know that?"
"Think about it logically. No way Manager Song told President Hong that, no matter how close they were. That's the kind of detail you can't know unless you were there."
Her pupils shook violently. Her hands clenched and unclenched, as if trembling. Her face twisted like she'd chugged strong liquor.
"No way... this doesn't make sense... wh-what do I do?"
She muttered to herself for a while, then glared at him.
"You... wore this on purpose too, didn't you."
"......"
"It's the first outfit I bought you."
"Took a lot of work finding the same one. Worth it, seeing you notice."
She took a few deep breaths, then spoke with a resolute expression.
"From now on, answer my questions immediately. If I see you thinking too hard, you're done."
Channeling a detective interrogating a suspect, nuna hounded him relentlessly. Most questions were about things they'd shared in bed—stuff impossible to tell anyone else. Her memory wasn't perfect, so they argued a few times, but they reached the ambiguous conclusion: "Hong Seongi has memories only Song Jinho himself could have."
"Hah, nuna's tough as nails. Most people would buy it by now."
"Don't call me nuna. I haven't bought everything you've said yet."
"Then what do I have to do to convince you?"
She paused again. Her face looked like a warrior prepping her final blow.
"If you're really Jinho, you know which hotel we first stayed at together, right?"
"...Yeah."
"I'll go there tomorrow at the same time. We'll talk the rest then."
With that, she left without looking back. As the door clicked shut, his tension drained, and he flopped onto the sofa. She was that persistent.
> [So I just have to meet that bitch at the hotel where we first fucked tomorrow? Easy last test.]
"That promise itself is like the final exam. Nuna used her head."
> [What?]
"The hotel where nuna and I first slept together is the Grand Continental in Gangnam."
> [And?]
Instead of answering, he pulled up the hotel's location on his phone and showed Asmodeus.
> [Grand Continental Hotel... this is in Incheon Songdo?]
"Three years ago, the hotel relocated near Songdo Hanok Village. The Gangnam one had a prime spot, so Oseong Group bought it. They planned to expand it into a department store luxury outlet."
> [So it's a department store now.]
"Nope. Don't know the internal drama, but they remodeled it into the Oseong Marriott Hotel instead. Oseong's hotel chain is mainly north of the river, so no hotels in Gangnam."
> [Hmm, but how does a name change relate to that bitch's promise?]
"If President Hong only 'heard' about our relationship secondhand, which hotel would he think when nuna mentioned it?"
> [Secondhand... ah! He'd only know the name, so he'd go to Songdo.]
"Exactly. Even if he heard the place, just the name means he'd head to Songdo. Unless you're Song Jinho, you wouldn't know our first spot is now the Oseong Marriott. Nuna anticipated that and suggested meeting at the hotel."
> [Figuring that out makes you impressive too.]
"I know everything nuna's thinking."
He wanted to book the exact suite they'd stayed in, but no hotel guarantees a specific room for guests—except maybe suites. They didn't even know when a room would free up.