Chapter 185:
Chapter 185
You need to find your own weapon.
Im glad there was a reservation left
I couldnt just treat them casually, so I contacted Miracles Lee Minha, who seemed to know a lot about fancy restaurants.
It looks like a place where villains eat in a noir drama.
[Lee Minha, you filthy rich bastard.]
Why are you like this again?
Jin was grinding his teeth, so this restaurant must be quite famous. The reservation was also easy to get, so Lee Minha must have talked to the restaurant beforehand
Ill have to repay him later.
As soon as he arrived, Ian left a message to the two lawyers who had made a group chat with him and entered the restaurant.
***
How did you book this place? Its not easy for us to get a reservation here either.
I dont know much about these places, so I asked a friend. Lee Minha
Oh, the son of that congressman? Are you close?
Were pretty close, I guess?
During the groups temporary hiatus, Lee Minha kept contacting Ian and asking him to eat or go somewhere, saying he knew he had no schedule.
Ian was bored because the members were also at their hometowns, so he hung out with Lee Minha often whenever he had free time.
Stay close, hes very influential over there.
Jung, the lawyer, raised his thumb. He was not just a rich kid, but a political kid.
He didnt seem to be that kind of person, though.
They just went to the restaurants that Kim Juyeong recommended or to the PC room. They never went to any shady places or clubs.
Jung, the lawyer, must have known that and told him to stay close. Ian chuckled.
Taewoong must be back by now. You must be busy, right?
Yes. I just took some time off to meet you, but I have to go practice later.
Youre busy, then. No drinks?
Yes. Please drink a lot, both of you.
The lawyers ordered drinks excitedly. Ji, the lawyer, stretched out his hand holding his phone and took a picture of everyone there.
Hey, dont do that.
Jung, the lawyer, frowned, but soon changed his expression to a bright one. Ji, the lawyer, who checked the picture, laughed.
I have to send this to my daughter. She was throwing a tantrum, asking me to take her with me when I said I was having a meal with Ian.
Your niece is a senior in high school, right? She must be busy studying.
Ji, the lawyer, looked displeased. His daughter was a hardcore fan of Awi since their debut. Her room was covered with Awis posters.
Shes busy, idol fangirling? What do you call it? That. She even joined Awis fan club.
Really?
When I told her I became your legal representative, she said she had to show me that life is a battlefield.
Thats reassuring.
Ian laughed. It felt good to hear about his fans from someone he knew.
His phone was vibrating non-stop, probably because Ji, the lawyer, sent the picture to his daughter.
Ji, the lawyer, and Jung, the lawyer, who had become close enough to call them uncle and aunt, poured drinks for them and said.
Then Ill give you tickets for the concert. For your family too.
Can you do that?
Yes, I dont have any use for the tickets anyway. Theyre all in the US.
Ian ordered another bottle of liquor, seeing the empty bottles in front of them.
Did Sungmoon and Hyunju never come to your concerts?
They came to our debut showcase and our world tour.
At Ians words, Jung, the lawyer, and Ji, the lawyer, spoke excitedly.
Sungmoon said he wasnt interested in Hyunju, but then he suddenly got married after graduation?
Right. And then he had such a handsome son Your parents were very famous in the Korean society when they were in college, right?
Haha, really?
Since his parents story came up, he thought hed ask them something he was curious about. If he let them talk any longer, he might get some unwanted TMI about his parents.
I have a question, though.
What is it?
I heard that my parents and you two didnt have much contact after graduation.
They were torn apart by Korea and the US, and they barely exchanged emails once in a while.
They said they only got in touch more recently, thanks to the development of SNS.
My parents didnt expect you to help us so quickly either
Really?
Its been over 10 years since you last saw each other. You could have become strangers by then.
Why did they help us so willingly, even though they were only friends in college? Ian wondered.
The situation was not much different from a long-lost classmate suddenly contacting him and saying, Im getting married. Come and congratulate me.
It was a favor to take care of some work for his son. Moreover, he handled the work quickly and mercilessly filed lawsuits against the comments that provoked reactions like Did this get caught by the hate comments? As a result, Avidom praised the law firm and the legal representative.
The two lawyers smiled as if they understood what Ian was saying.
It was partly because of your parents, and partly because of your grandfather.
My grandfather?
Your great-grandfather, to you.
What did our grandfather do? Ian looked puzzled as Lawyer Jung smiled.
Ji and I were what the kids these days call dirt spoons.
Really?
Dirt spoons went to study in the US? And the schools they attended were among the most expensive ones.
Your great-grandfather, who had succeeded in business in the US, also operated a scholarship foundation in Korea, did you know that?
Yes.
He vaguely remembered hearing something like that when he was young. It was a scholarship program for the children of basic living recipients.
We were the ones who got selected for the scholarship program back then.
It was really great. Even if they only paid for the tuition in Korea, it would have been a blessing, but they sent us to study in the US.
Of course we had to go. We both worked hard and studied.
Wow, you two are amazing.
They were extraordinary people who got accepted to the top US universities when they were told to study. The two lawyers smiled at Ians compliment.
Honestly, these corporate-sponsored scholarship foundations are almost like investments.
They are systems that scout and nurture talents.
They said they had visited Ians fathers house and became close with his grandfather while they were studying abroad.
They naturally got along well with his father, and through the network of Korean students, they also became friends with his mother.
To be honest, we didnt lack anything while we were studying abroad. Your great-grandfather gave us a lot of allowance.
Right. But we had personal problems. I had a severe homesickness, remember? Ian, did you not have homesickness?
Ian shook his head. Maybe because his memories of Kim Yong-min were merged, he felt more familiar with Korea.
Anyway, they invested in us, but we wanted to go back to Korea without shame We felt sorry to tell your father at that time
It was not because he was a sponsor, but because they had lived like a real family through exchanges.
But they decided to get a job at a Korean law firm after graduation, thinking of their families left in Korea.
Your great-grandfather said this to us then. I dont make useless investments. And I dont want to interfere with the familys decision.
Ian gasped silently.
It wasnt a useless investment. We were able to help you like this.
But did we help? If youre already as popular as Avid, you would have gotten requests from our law firm too.
Well, Dr. Seo and Dr. Woo are working hard to build the image of the law firm these days.
The two lawyers, who were immersed in the past, looked bright as if only good memories came to mind.
I dont know why your parents, Sung-min, thought that way. It was natural for us. To repay the favor.
Your great-grandfather must have thought it was natural to support talents without any compensation.
Right?
They laughed out loud at the compliment that was beating around the bush. They looked flushed from drinking.
But we kept in touch with your father often.
Sung-min and Hyun-ju were busy there, so we only emailed occasionally.
It was a relief for us to help you with this. Let us know if you need anything.
Ian thanked them and poured water instead of alcohol into their glasses.
Ian, this might sound like an old-fashioned thing, but listen carefully.
Lawyer Ji hardened his expression and spoke seriously.
I know youre doing well now, but its good to have some insurance.
Right, like your great-grandfather did for us.
Lawyer Jung also hardened his expression.
You have to find your own weapon.
Ian was stunned as if he had been hit by something. He just wanted to succeed as a celebrity, he didnt think about anything else.
The two lawyers thought that Ian didnt understand properly and added.
It could be a way of gathering people like your great-grandfather, or it could be a weapon to increase your wealth.
Right, the top stars who buy buildings with corporations are not doing it for nothing. Thats whats left and thats whats wealth.
Come to think of it, he had some useful information for the future, why didnt he think of using it? Not only in the entertainment industry, but also in other information.
Oh, I dont mean to do dirty things like sponsorship, okay? This is not something that Sung-min would scold us for, right?
Im more afraid of Hyun-ju than Sung-min.
The lawyers shivered and drank the water that Ian poured for them.
And be careful of scammers. Its a good thing that your agency is a clean place
Thats right. There are a lot of scams involving foreigners these days, right? If someone youre not close to recommends something, you should be suspicious first.
Ian listened carefully to the two lawyers conversation and fell into thought.
He agreed with them to some extent. Success as a celebrity was important, but wouldnt it be better to use what he had wisely?
My own weapon, huh.
The more popular he became, the more people would try to pull him down. That weird reporter recently, and Eom Jihwan too.
The future.
But he couldnt just use the information from the future. Hadnt he experienced some minor butterfly effects along the way?
What can I do while minimizing the variables
Besides, the information he knew about the future was limited. He couldnt remember some things properly because his memories were mixed.
The only thing he had done using his knowledge of the future was to roughly know the success or failure of the incoming works. Ian stared intently at Jin, who was floating in the air.
[What, why are you looking at me?]
Jins information was quite extraordinary, but Ian didnt feel the need to ask him anything other than entertainment-related things.
It was the information of a former reporter. And he knew other things besides entertainment, so he might be able to use it for something else.
[What?]
Jin saw Ians eyes sparkle unusually and slowly moved away from him.
Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience