College Classmate (1)
I could step forward and expose the rot, but even if it became a hot topic for a moment, it would cool off again before long.
Who would listen to the words of a new hire?
And the company would do everything it could to bury it. Even back then, it took nearly half a year from the time the suspicions first surfaced for the whole thing to finally blow open.
In the end, if I wanted to make this matter explode properly, I needed someone higher up to move.
At present, the only person in the group who could take a shot at Executive Director Yang Jeong-uk was DA Card’s Vice Chairman Yang Ja-eun. She was Chairman Yang Hyeon-seong’s eldest daughter, and Yang Jeong-uk’s older sister.
In other words, I would have to ask the sister to go after her own brother.
Would she really listen to me?
On the surface, there didn’t seem to be any problem between them.
“A chaebol brother and sister can look close from the outside and still be completely at odds underneath.”
After becoming chairman, Yang Jeong-uk had pushed Yang Ja-eun completely out of the group. Unless she was a fool, she would know perfectly well that once her younger brother took over, her own position would become impossible to preserve.
For now, I needed to make contact with Vice Chairman Yang Ja-eun.
The problem was how to meet her.
If I just barged in and asked for an audience, I wouldn’t get a private meeting that easily, would I?
And if word of my movements reached the company before that, it would only make things worse.
Wasn’t there some natural way to arrange a meeting? Or should I ask someone to set it up for me?
While I was still thinking it over, my phone rang loudly.
I answered the call.
The name on the screen was Park Seunghun.
He was a college classmate from Korea University’s economics department, and now he worked at a portal site called Neotin. What did he need?
As soon as I picked up, Seunghun asked, “You coming later or what?”
“Huh? Coming where?”
“Today’s Se-yeon’s treat for the classmates, remember?”
Se-yeon? Oh. Jin Se-yeon.
Right, she was one of my classmates too. Pretty, with a great personality, and popular in the department.
“Why’s she treating?”
“She passed the announcer exam.”
“She did?”
“You don’t remember?”
“I think I do.”
After graduation, Jin Se-yeon had joined Yuseong Electronics.
Then, for some reason, she suddenly quit the job she had been doing well and started studying for the announcer exam. And, to everyone’s surprise, she passed on her first try.
I was about to say I wouldn’t go, then hesitated.
Come to think of it, that day definitely…
“What time and where was it again?”
“Eight o’clock in Gangnam. I’ll send you the exact address by text.”
“Got it. See you later.”
I hung up and thought it over.
Jin Se-yeon.
I’d first met her in my second year of middle school.
Even now, she was beautiful, but back then she had been stunning. Students from the nearby middle and high schools used to linger in front of the school after class just to catch a glimpse of her.
A lot of the boys liked her, and I was no different.
We were in the same class, but all we really did was greet each other now and then. I never even dreamed of confessing my feelings, and once our classes were split up, we naturally drifted apart.
After that, I heard she went on to an all-girls high school.
I thought I would never see her again, but then I ran into her at Korea University’s freshman welcome party for the economics department. We recognized each other, and both of us were stunned.
Who would’ve thought a middle school classmate would end up at the same university, in the same department?
After meeting again, we quickly became close. And somehow, we started dating. We went out for a little over a year, then somehow broke up, too.
Still, things stayed comfortable between us after that.
During exam periods, we’d gather and study together; during festivals, we’d all go out and have a good time, then head to the after-party together.
After graduation, we kept in touch from time to time.
She later did fairly well as an announcer. But after the Primus disaster, she stepped down from every program and quit working altogether.
The cause was the man she had been seeing.
He had been part of Primus Asset Management’s leadership, and not only did she invest her own money, she also introduced the people around her to him.
Her fellow announcers, as well as her close classmates, invested too—and together, they all lost the lot in perfect misery.
I let out a bitter smile and muttered, “Primus really ruined a lot of lives.”
This was perfect timing, then.
* * *
The meeting place was a bar in Gangnam.
By the time I arrived, about ten people were already there. When the classmates saw me, they greeted me warmly.
“Long time no see.”
“How many months has it been?”
“Back in school, we saw each other every day. After graduation, it’s hard to catch anyone’s face at all.”
“Tell me about it. Everyone’s doing well, right?”
For them, it might have been a few months, but for me, it had been those few months plus another ten years on top.
As I was thinking that, Jin Se-yeon smiled and said, “Long time no see. You’ve been well?”
She was about 165 centimeters tall, with a slender figure, a small face, and big eyes. Her straight hair fell to her shoulders, and her skin was pale and clear.
She was still beautiful.
For the first time in a long while, I greeted her properly.
“Congratulations. I should’ve called sooner.”
“Please. Just coming was enough.”
“If you’re buying drinks, of course I had to come.”
The girls nearby asked, “My friend’s an SBC announcer, seriously?”
“So does that mean you’re on TV now?”
“Come on, I’m still a long way from being on air.”
Jin Se-yeon lifted her glass. “Since I’m treating tonight, eat and drink as much as you want.”
“Congrats on passing!”
We all clinked our glasses together.
Apparently there was a lot to catch up on, because the atmosphere quickly turned boisterous. After the Primus incident, I’d cut off contact with my classmates, so being here felt even more welcome.
Hearing their voices again made the place feel strangely warm.
Ha Gyeong-tae leaned in with a grin. “All right, all right, let’s start with soju-bombs.”
Choi Hanbyeol frowned. “Why soju-bombs?”
“I learned how to mix a killer one from my supervisor.”
“Forget it and just drink beer. Don’t you remember when you got drunk on soju-bombs during MT and threw up on my clothes?”
“No, come on, that was something from freshman year—why are you still bringing it up?”
I looked at the muttering Ha Gyeong-tae and said, “You’re dating Choi Hanbyeol now, aren’t you?”
Both of them jumped at my words.
“How did you know?”
“N-no, we’re not!”
Choi Hanbyeol blurted it out in a panic after Ha Gyeong-tae’s reaction, but it was already too late.
The others were shocked.
“What? You two are dating?”
“Seriously? Since when?”
“Who confessed first?”
“You used to fight all the time in school.”
“Hey, when did we ever fight…?”
The two of them were the department’s famous bitter rivals. They might as well have been called Tom and Jerry, so it was no wonder everyone was stunned to hear they were dating.
Choi Hanbyeol made a tearful face. “This is why I didn’t want to say anything…”
Then she turned on Ha Gyeong-tae. “You told Han Miru, didn’t you?”
Ha Gyeong-tae waved his hands frantically. “No, I didn’t! I haven’t even been in touch with him. How did you figure it out?”
“I just had a hunch, so I poked at it.”
Those two would get married next year after a shotgun wedding. They kept it a secret until the invitations were handed out, so everybody was shocked.
As I drank, memories from back then came back to me one by one.
Didn’t there used to be a celebrity here, too? I couldn’t quite remember who it was.
Just then, Jin Se-yeon answered her phone.
“Oh! Jiyu!”
She talked for a moment, then looked at us and said, “Jiyu’s asking if she can come.”
“What! Really?”
“She’s actually coming?”
The male classmates cried out in unison.
“Of course she can come.”
“Tell her to hurry over!”
I asked Park Seunghun beside me, “Was there a girl named Jiyu in our department?”
“What are you talking about? You don’t know Jiyu the singer? The celebrity from the journalism department.”
“Didn’t she retire?”
Park Seunghun widened his eyes as if I’d said something absurd.
“She debuted last year. How could she already be retired? You work so much you don’t even watch TV?”
“Ah….”
Right. This was just after her debut.
Jiyu.
At present, she was a second-year student in Korea University’s journalism department, and she had debuted the year before.
In an era where idol groups dominated everything, she stood alone as a singer-songwriter who wrote, composed, and sang her own songs.
She’d supposedly been singing since high school.
She had once been little more than an unknown name, but with her pretty face, strong vocals, and the added weight of the Korea University label, she was slowly beginning to make a name for herself as a rookie singer.
The reason Jin Se-yeon knew Jiyu was because she was her cousin. Somehow, that made her both a high school junior and a college junior at the same time.
About thirty minutes later, Jiyu really did appear.
She bowed to us politely. “Hello, seniors.”
She was dressed simply in jeans and a padded jacket.
She was about 160 centimeters tall, with a round face. Her big eyes had no double eyelids, her nose was sharp, and her lips were red.
She was even thinner than she looked on TV, and because her face was so small, her proportions seemed much better in person than her actual height would suggest.
I’d thought the same thing when I saw her in my first life. A celebrity was a celebrity, after all.
Everyone got up from their seats to welcome her.
“Glad you could come.”
“Make yourself at home.”
The bar had private rooms with sliding doors, so there was no risk of running into other customers.
Jin Se-yeon grabbed Jiyu’s hand and shook it, clearly delighted to see her.
“You must be busy with your schedule. How did you make it?”
“No matter how busy I am, I had to congratulate my sister on passing.”
“Thanks.”
A few of the other female classmates had met her before, so they exchanged cheerful greetings as well.
Jiyu sat down next to Jin Se-yeon, and the classmates each said a few words to her.
“I’ve been listening to your songs.”
“I’ve been watching you on TV, too.”
“I heard you’re filming a drama soon?”
“Thank you.”
Jin Se-yeon asked, “Oh! I heard you might feature on C-Lab’s song. Is that true?”
“It isn’t finalized yet, but it looks likely. Senior C-Lab said he liked my voice.”
I muttered to myself, That’s one thing she’d be better off not doing.
C-Lab was the rapper and songwriter of KDK, a seven-year-old idol group that was still at the very top of its game. Every song they put out became a massive hit.
The song Jiyu featured on was no different.
Your Photo shot to number one on every music chart, took first place on the major broadcasters as well as cable channels, and Jiyu’s popularity and recognition as a featured vocalist rose sharply, too.
But not long after that, trouble broke out on C-Lab’s side.
It wasn’t just some ordinary scandal. It was serious enough that KDK disbanded and several related entertainers were arrested.
She had no connection to any of it, but her image took a huge hit, and she even had to leave a drama she’d already been cast in.
And that drama went on to become a worldwide sensation, the kind of hit that made people talk about a Korean wave.
Jiyu was unable to work properly for a long while, and two years later she returned in a supporting role with a drama OST.
Her acting was praised, but the bad image from that time kept following her around, and the message boards were overflowing with malicious comments.
The shock must have been immense, because she hardly appeared on broadcasts after that and only released songs occasionally. Her music was so good that every release still climbed high on the charts.
But starting three years before my regression, even that stopped.
If she hadn’t featured on C-Lab’s track back then, what would have happened?
From the perspective of someone who didn’t know the future, it was only natural to see it as a good opportunity. From my perspective, I wanted to pack her bags and drag her away from it.
If I suddenly told her, “Don’t do that,” what would she think?
He’d probably think I was insane.
What kind of advice could I possibly give her when this was the first time we’d met today? I’d better keep my mouth shut.
People say you’re not supposed to worry about celebrities, anyway.
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