Power & Sex, and... 23
Shortly after meeting them, Hwang Bo-jun, the CEO, was summoned by police on tax evasion charges. This was quickly followed by a massive, full-scale search and seizure at the SJ Entertainment offices—where he was CEO—and his home.
Newspapers and broadcasts were dominated by stories on the front pages of the social sections day after day. They claimed SJ Entertainment's CEO Hwang Bo-jun had regularly provided sexual services using his agency's singers to politicians, officials, and businessmen in exchange for lobbying to grow his company.
Of course, key figures like police, prosecutors, and major media personalities were omitted entirely—even their initials weren't mentioned. Thanks to that, top stars like Suji, who had played partner roles, were excluded. Instead, the articles pointed to trainees from SJ as the ones providing the sexual services.
The trainees' identities weren't known to the general public anyway, and since all were anonymized with initials, they faced no real professional backlash. The tone of the coverage suggested the scandal would wrap up with just a few businessmen, tax officials, and a handful of broadcast PDs getting punished.
Since most things in the world operated like this SJ Entertainment case anyway, I had no reason to get angry or fan the flames. I just quietly waited for it all to blow over.
My phone buzzed in my inner pocket. I pulled it out to see it was Eun-mi calling.
"Hey, when are you free?"
"What's up? Nothing too pressing. Where are you?"
"At the office."
"Cool, I'll head over."
Party business overlapping with the SJ Entertainment mess had kept me insanely busy. Even after Eun-mi came up to Seoul, I hadn't managed proper contact. Naturally, that meant I couldn't even go down to Busan last weekend—I'd been meeting not just the National Assembly Reform Alliance assemblymen but also second-term ones eager for party reform.
I arrived at Daesan Group HQ and headed to her office on the sixth floor. It was a temporary base camp for the upcoming entertainment agency until setup was complete. When I stepped off the elevator and opened the office door, staff bustled about. She greeted me and led me to her room.
"Long time no see."
"Yeah, sorry. Honestly, I've been swamped. Party stuff, plus other things."
"It's fine. But did you know about this scandal?"
"Why?"
"Figured you did."
"Yeah, I knew. I heard it from Suji and asked the police to look into it."
"That's why the entertainment agency talk came up so suddenly."
"I checked with Chairman Lee, and he gave the okay."
"Yeah. But I'm worried, honestly."
"About what?"
"Dad told me to start a company, but I don't know this industry at all. Even the PR team staff have only dealt with agency people—they've never worked the front lines themselves."
Listening to her, that did sound like a problem. The perspective of giving orders versus receiving them was worlds apart, and management was separate from hands-on work. I figured we should scout usable talent from SJ Entertainment's half-collapsed staff.
Eun-mi agreed with my idea, so I called Suji, set up a meet, and headed out with Eun-mi.
"Uncle! Oh, hi!"
When we arrived, Suji lit up at the sight of me, grinning wide—then froze in shock spotting Eun-mi beside me.
"You doing okay?"
"Yeah. The office vibe's been total chaos, so I've mostly stayed home."
"It'll sort out soon. I should've called ahead before it blew up, but I was slammed."
"No worries. No big issues, right?"
"Nah. Only blinded files left, so you're good."
After checking on the urgent stuff with me, Suji glanced at Eun-mi with curious eyes, wondering who she was.
"Introduce yourselves. This is the daughter of Daesan Group Chairman Lee. And this young lady's Suji from SJ."
"Hi, I'm Suji."
"Nice to meet you. I know you well—I'm Eun-mi."
Suji stood to greet Eun-mi awkwardly, and Eun-mi rose halfway to return it. Suji eyed me intently, dying to know why I'd brought Eun-mi but too polite to ask.
"Suji, I need your help."
"My help? If you need it, Uncle, anything."
"Not me—Eun-mi's starting an entertainment agency soon."
"But I don't know the business. I'm just a singer."
"Yeah. Recommend some good people from your company. And any juniors you think could keep going if conditions improve, or have potential."
Suji rattled off capable team leads, managers, road managers with solid character, and a few unknown aspiring singers without hesitation. Eun-mi pressed for details, re-asking if answers were vague, diligently noting everything on her laptop.
Their chat showed no signs of stopping. We moved spots for lunch and kept going. Eun-mi even called in her current PR staffer for input. He grilled them on agency inner workings he'd always wondered about, then smiled relievedly as questions wrapped.
Anyway, the meeting with Suji gave them clues to solving their headaches. After the PR guy headed back, Eun-mi suggested a drive to Misari.
"Suji."
"Yes, President."
"You like Maru, right?"
Eun-mi blurted it straight out from the back seat next to Suji.
"You can't just like Maru all on your own. He's married—to me—and there's one more."
"......"
Before I could stop her, Eun-mi spilled not just about us but Jeong-ah too. Suji listened calmly—faintly smiling even—then met Eun-mi's eyes.
"President, I seduced Maru first. The CEO forced it at the start, but after a few meets, I genuinely fell for him. And in Busan, I didn't meet you, but I sensed that blogger lady loved him too."
"You knew and still like him?"
"Yeah. No way I could hog a guy like him alone. And I'm no saint—nothing special—so I can't chase him off."
"You confident you won't betray Maru?"
"Yes."
Eun-mi's tone shifted suddenly—dropping formal speech for casual with Suji. Suji, oblivious, swore no betrayal.
"Then call me sis from now on?"
"You, President?"
"Yeah. Jeong-ah and you will be Maru's women like me—better to get close."
"I could call you sis, but you and the wife..."
Suji hinted she felt inferior to Ara or Eun-mi, but Eun-mi smiled gently and continued.
"You went public as Maru's fan, right?"
"Yeah. How'd you...?"
"Heard from Ara and Jeong-ah. That's good enough. As long as you won't betray him, I'd love you by his side helping. Ara accepted me and Jeong-ah, so she'll take you too."
"If that's how it goes..."
Eun-mi's decision settled Suji's issue for now. But how to tell Ara without hurting her? If Eun-mi picked up on it in one meeting, Ara wouldn't take long to notice Suji either.
We sat face-to-face in a cafe overlooking Misari Rowing Stadium, sipping coffee and sharing life stories—past and future. With the relationship stuff sorted, Eun-mi and Suji called each other sis and little sis, chattering like excited schoolgirls.
"Babe, busy today?"
"Nah. Even if I turn off my phone, no issues. In this mess, going dark makes people think I'm deep in thought—they'll interpret it their way."
"That serious?"
"Not for me, but party leadership's sweating."
"Then to celebrate our new little sis, dinner and beers here tonight?"
"Sure, whatever's comfy. Suji?"
"Sounds good to me."
Truth was, no contact from me wouldn't spark misunderstandings now. Leaking a "deep contemplation" vibe would keep party heavyweights and leaders on edge about my next move—forcing their own missteps. That could only help me. If something urgent needed me, Kim Sil-jang would call the phone in my inner pocket.
I relaxed, soaking in the live cafe vibe. The two women ahead propped chins on hands, enjoying the live singer as Misari cafe village night deepened.