Chapter 87: Sold-Out Parade (1)
Kim Chi-Yeol was summoned to Kim Han-Gyo’s private office. Han-Gyo let out a long stream of cigarette smoke as soon as he saw Chi-Yeol.
“I’m sure you know why I’ve summoned you, correct?” Han-Gyo said.
“Yes, of course,” Chi-Yeol answered.
“Say it.”
.
“...”
Chi-Yeol’s face stiffened. He had recently made a mistake that greatly compromised his father’s reputation. His infidelity scandal had damaged even his father’s image. Hence, Chi-Yeol had been occupied with walking on eggshells around him.
“If I remember correctly... I believe you’d told me to do whatever it took to appeal to the public that I am taking an active role in cultural affairs by early next year,” Chi-Yeol stated.
That was why he had chosen to produce a movie. A historical production that Koreans loved, and the newsworthy topic of a famous actor like Cha Byun-Soo making his first film... It was full of attention-grabbing factors. And not only that, but Chi-Yeol had been able to receive a large amount of investments for the project using his father, Kim Han-Gyo’s name.
Han-Gyo put out his cigarette and lit another one.
“The only way you can recover from this is through results. Small issues like this are bound to get buried with time. All you need to do is to just put out results during that time, and people will have no choice but to acknowledge your capabilities despite your questionable private life.”
“Yes, Father.”
Although Chi-Yeol was unfortunately not very capable, he possessed something that put him ahead of others. It was the fact that he was the son of Kim Han-Gyo. Just those three syllables had people wanting to work with Chi-Yeol to get on his good side, simply because his father was highly influential in the political sphere.
“Make sure you frequently show yourself to the press with Cha Byun-Soo during the film production period. You need to engrave into the public’s minds that you were one of the key individuals that made this film happen. Keep this in mind.”
“I know, Father. You don’t need to tell me.”
Like father, like son, Chi-Yeol instinctively knew how to gain public approval. However, an incident that neither of them could expect had occurred.
Chi-Yeol’s phone rang.
“It may be urgent, so answer it.”
As he was about to decline the call, Han-Gyo permitted him to answer. Chi-Yeol slightly nodded and asked his chauffeur who had called him.
“What is it?”
- M-Minister! There’s been a huge problem!
“What problem?”
- There are... fraud allegations regarding Mr. Cha Byun-Soo being raised across various news media!
“What?!”
Chi-Yeol suddenly recalled back when his infidelity scandals were released. Yet another accident... No, it was no exaggeration to call it inevitability at this point.
***
Shin Yu-Bin clicked her tongue at the absurd news that she was seeing on the waiting room TV.
“Jesus. I can’t believe Mr. Cha had been involved in fraud.”
In contrast to the surprised Yu-Bin, Kang Ra-Eun answered with perfect composure, “I sure can.”
Byun-Soo had not only been involved in the entertainment industry, but in business as well. He had created five different business ventures in a very short time, such as a pork cutlet restaurant, a home shopping mall, an interior design business, and the like.
He first used his fame to instill trust in his investors to invest large sums of money. However, the problems came after that; he put off the day of payment little by little by making all kinds of excuses, and sometimes made up outlandish reasons as to why he couldn’t give them their money back.
The people who had trusted in Byun-Soo had gotten the short end of the stick. In the end, his victims all got together to prepare a lawsuit against him, and Ra-Eun had simply relayed the information to Reporter Ahn Su-Jin. After the article was released, his victims decided that it was now or never and exposed Byun-Soo’s acts of brutality to the world.
“The movie won’t go into production now, right?” Yu-Bin asked.
“That’d be the least of his problems. I’m sure he won’t be able to set foot in the entertainment industry ever again,” Ra-Eun replied.
There was no way they could make a film under such a massive fire. The actors and even the investors would have no choice but to turn their backs on Byun-Soo now that the incident had become too big to ignore.
“I guess we made the right choice to refuse that casting offer,” Yu-Bin remarked with a sigh of relief.
However, Ra-Eun was not relieved at all since she had never thought of working with them in the first place. In her perspective, the incident had already been foreseen. However, there was one thing that she found to be a shame.
‘I should have made it so that Kim Chi-Yeol went under fire as well. I might have exposed it too soon.’
She had momentarily lost her temper from Byun-Soo’s manner of speaking that she had exposed the news before the movie even entered production. After calming down, she had realized that she could have waited a little longer to expose it. The damage would have been much greater if the news came out in the middle of production.
‘It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.’
It had already been done.
‘Not only that, but there are plenty more chances to attack Kim Chi-Yeol.’
Chi-Yeol’s private life was so filthy that she could pounce as many times as she liked once the opportunities showed themselves. After defeating the miniboss...
‘The final boss is next.’
She could only desperately wait for that day to come.
***
Like Ra-Eun had expected, the film production plans crumbled into pieces. She was able to have a wonderful day thanks to that, plus something else that livened her mood.
‘I haven’t held a smartphone in so long.’
She had only been using 2G phones ever since high school, but the era of smartphones had finally arrived. She had gotten so used to the era of 5G networks that being forced to use feature phones bothered her to no end when she first returned to the past.
‘There was no KakaoTalk, and so many missing features.’
She had gotten too accustomed to future technological advancements. However, she was bothered about something else entirely after having gotten hold of the smartphone that she had dreamed of.
‘This isn’t really usable either.’
It was such an early-generation model with a low number that the lag was brutal.
‘When will the era that I know and love arrive?’
There was still a very long way to go. She had no choice but to use this snail-like smartphone until then, no matter how frustrating it was.
Seo Yi-Seo, who had gotten a smartphone together with Ra-Eun, asked in admiration as she watched Ra-Eun skilfully maneuvering the new device, “Ra-Eun, how do you use those features?”
The store clerk had explained various features to her, but there was no way that a smartphone newbie could memorize every single one of them. On the other hand, Ra-Eun was already highly experienced in using a smartphone that she could use it like an extension of her body without having paid attention to the explanation.
“I’ll show you. Give me your phone,” Ra-Eun said.
She had nothing else to do, so she decided to teach Yi-Seo the basics. While they were deep in the world of smartphones, Ra-Eun’s phone rang. It was a call from Park Seol-Hun.
“I’ll go take a quick phone call.”
“Okay. Take your time.”
Ra-Eun went into her room and answered the call.
“What, mister?”
- I had a meeting in your area, so I thought I’d meet with you before I head back to the company since I have something to say to you. Are you free?
“Right now?”
- No, not right now. Let’s see... I’ll get there in about fifteen minutes.
“Okay. I’ll send you the address of a cafe near my place, so I’ll meet you there. There’s a parking lot in the back, so you can park there.”
- Okay.
Ra-Eun apologized to Yi-Seo after hanging up, “Sorry, Yi-Seo. Something came up, so I’m gonna go out for a bit.”
“What about dinner?”
“I’ll come back before dinner. I don’t think it’ll take very long.”
“Really? Okay. Have a safe trip. You packed your sunglasses and mask, right?”
“Of course.”
Ra-Eun had every single item necessary for a celebrity packed into her handbag.
Ra-Eun covered her face with sunglasses and a mask as soon as she left her house. She took a seat at the cafe and waited for Seol-Hun to arrive. A few minutes later, Seol-Hun recognized Ra-Eun immediately despite her covered face and approached her.
Ra-Eun went straight to the point as soon as she saw Seol-Hun, “What did you want to say?”
“It’s just about a decent partnership that we were offered.”
“A partnership?”
“You know RT Fitness, right?”
There was no way Ra-Eun didn’t know. One could say that they were a considerably famous fitness brand in the metropolitan area. Not only did they have fitness centers, but the massive fitness company had their fingers in pilates, squash, swimming, golf, and other fitness-related businesses.
“They contacted us first to offer a partnership,” Seol-Hun stated.
“What kind of partnership?”
“Something like a collaboration partnership, or each of us providing benefits if a client signs up for their membership or purchases one of our sportswear. I personally think it sounds pretty good, but you’re the chairwoman. I came to ask you since I can’t just decide by myself.”
Ra-Eun did not have to think much to give an answer.
“Well, if you say so. I’m fine with it.”
“Really? Okay, I’ll let them know.”
“Do I also have to be there during the contract signing?” Ra-Eun asked.
“The RT Fitness chairman said he’d like to meet you since he’s your fan, but you don’t have to if you’re busy. I’ve been handling all the contract signing until now, after all. But in exchange...”
Seol-Hun’s voice got quieter. It was a habit of his whenever he was about to say something tough to bring up.
“Could you do something about those loan sharks trying to follow me to every meeting?” Seol-Hun asked.
“Who?”
“You know, the lunatic with a scar on his face and their boss.”
He was referring to Park Du-Chil and Ma Yeong-Jun. They were likely shadowing Seol-Hun to learn how a business was run. Ra-Eun lightly laughed, but Seol-Hun was in no position to.
“Don’t laugh. My livelihood is on the line here.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll talk to them, so don’t worry about it.”
“...Really?”
“Really. Trust your chairwoman.”
Resolving the inconveniences of employees was also one of the responsibilities of a chairwoman. Ra-Eun decided to do something chairwoman-like for once in a while.
1. KakaoTalk is the main messenger app that Koreans use.
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