“B-boss....”
Raising a hand to tell Park Deokcheol—who looked like he was about to cry—to stay still, Junho spoke to Kang Baekho, whose eyes had widened in surprise.
“Brother Baekho. Isn’t this a bit much to do to people who came here to help?”
“Huh...?”
“No, seriously. My younger brother and I risked our lives fighting to save trash like this. And on top of that, from what I hear, these bastards are attempted rapists. And one of them had the nerve to lay a hand on my brother?”
“...I’m sorry, brother. I’ve got nothing to say.”
At Junho’s voice, sharp as a blade of frost, Kang Baekho lowered his head.
Out in the hallway, the entertainers standing on tiptoe to watch the scene all went wide-eyed.
They had never once seen Kang Baekho—the third-generation chaebol heir and owner of this resort—take such a low posture with anyone.
“It’s not like this is my place, so I can’t go around telling people what to do. But still. I think the bare minimum of courtesy ought to be observed.”
Junho swept a glance over LD, unconscious on the sofa with his nose smashed flat, and the guy called Kelvin beside him receiving treatment.
Just moments ago, Kelvin had been sprawled there getting treated with arrogant ease. Now he was sitting bolt upright like a brand-new private fresh out of boot camp.
“Then again, the fact that you’re feeding and sheltering worthless garbage like this just because they’re technically human too... that’s pretty impressive. If it were where I live, they’d have been long since—”
Junho cut himself off.
But no one needed to hear the rest to know exactly what he meant.
Kelvin, the person in question, trembled violently, and even the entertainers outside the apartment door, who had been watching from the hall, flinched.
Even though the words were not directed at them, they still felt stung.
“Park Deokcheol.”
“Yes, boss!”
Unlike a moment ago, when he had been cowed and shriveled up, Park Deokcheol somehow seemed a little straighter now. Junho spoke to him coldly.
“You too, you idiot. Why’d you just stand there and let yourself get hit when you hadn’t even done anything wrong? Are you stupid?”
“Ah... I’m sorry.”
Park Deokcheol flinched and lowered his head again.
“Lift your head, idiot. Anyway, from now on, whether you did something wrong or not, don’t just stand there getting hit. I’ll handle whatever comes after. Got it?”
“Yes, boss.”
“Let’s go. Brother Baekho, we’ll head on first.”
“Alright. I’ll see you in a bit.”
As Junho started walking, Park Deokcheol took Cherry—Ahn Yujeong—by the hand and led her along.
Then Ahn Yujeong and the Blossom members, who had been nervously reading the room like frightened puppies, trailed after them in a line.
“Good work.”
“Yes, sir!”
When Junho reached the entrance, the KW Cops employees blocking the doorway stepped aside and lowered their heads.
As members of Kangho Resort, they were caught up in complicated feelings, but beneath it all they felt an unmistakable sense of release.
They were the ones doing the hardest and most dangerous work here.
Of course there was bound to be resentment toward certain people who strutted around just because they were entertainers, while doing easier, simpler work than everyone else.
And today, Junho—a man they had only met for the first time—had smashed apart LD, the guy they had all hated most, and openly said everything they had always wanted to say.
'Honestly, that was even more satisfying than putting down those gangster bastards earlier.'
They did not say it aloud, but sharing the thought through their eyes alone, the KW Cops employees watched Junho and Park Deokcheol walk away.
Clap, clap!
At that moment, Kang Baekho clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Team Leader Choi.”
“Yes, Representative.”
“When those two are finished receiving treatment, take them to the punishment room.”
“Yes, understood.”
The KW Cops team leader dipped his head.
“R-Representative!? The punishment room?”
Kelvin stared at Kang Baekho in shock.
Looking down at him with icy eyes, Kang Baekho said, “Why? You think it’s unfair?”
“N-no, it’s just... even so, for me to be sent to the p-punishment room...”
“Even so, for me to be...? Cut the bullshit. Who the hell are you? You think you’re somebody?”
“......!”
Kelvin’s eyes widened to the size of saucers at the string of abuse from Kang Baekho, who—even when mixing formal and informal speech—had always maintained his manners.
“If a person does something wrong, they get punished. Fuck, you’re an attempted rapist. Why do you have so much to say? What? Because I’ve been feeding you and giving you a place to sleep somewhere safe, you think I’m a pushover?”
“.......”
When Kelvin furtively avoided his gaze, Kang Baekho glared at him.
“Hey. Aren’t you going to answer me? Do I look like a pushover to you?”
“N-no, sir!”
“Then shut up and go to the punishment room. Since you got your ass beat, you’ll need treatment first, so I’ll only stick you in there for ten days. And...”
Kang Baekho turned to the KW Cops team leader, who was openly wearing a refreshed, satisfied expression.
“Once those two recover enough, send them to that village we secured today. Put them straight into farm work. If they don’t work properly, don’t feed them either.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Ah...? R-Representative, Representative Kang. Ugh!”
Ignoring Kelvin’s desperate cry entirely, Kang Baekho turned and walked off.
And the entertainers gathered there could not even bring themselves to meet his eyes as he stepped out the door.
Why?
Because they all felt guilty as hell.
“Clear this place up roughly. And once Manager Yoon Seolhee is done receiving treatment, tell her and Manager Park Cheolwoo to come to my room. Team Leader, you come too.”
“Yes, Representative.”
With two employees behind him, Kang Baekho strode down the corridor.
He could feel the entertainers’ eyes on his back.
'Never gets old. God, that was satisfying. Juno-Juno really is the best.'
Thinking of Junho, who # Nоvеlight # had fulfilled his request one hundred and twenty percent, Kang Baekho grinned to himself.
***
“...So that’s what happened.”
“Yes. You managers should’ve seen it too. Every time Mr. Lee Junho said one more thing, all the entertainers gathered there kept flinching because every word hit home. It was hilarious. The ones who got beaten were LD and Kelvin, but the rest of them felt called out too. Heh.”
At the KW Cops team leader’s words, Park Cheolwoo looked at Junho with renewed interest.
Junho shrugged.
“I only did what Brother Baekho asked me to do. I’m not the kind of person who goes around throwing punches recklessly.”
“...What?”
At the team leader’s dumbfounded reaction, Yoon Seolhee stepped in.
“I can guarantee that Mr. Lee Junho is not that kind of person. And whether it was LD or Kelvin, it’s true they got exactly what they deserved, isn’t it? If it had been me, I would’ve beaten them half to death.”
“Well, that’s true. This time they really crossed the line. I’d been feeling uneasy about them for a while, but those trash bastards....”
Apparently he had quite a bit pent up over time, because even the KW Cops team leader ground his teeth.
Then Kang Baekho, who had been looking thoroughly satisfied, stepped in.
“Anyway, what do you think? The mood among the entertainers has definitely been brought under control now, right?”
“Yes. Right now Somi is really laying down the law. Nobody’s daring to make a peep. Even people like Lee Youngwon and Opas, the ones who used to hog those huge suites all to themselves, aren’t saying a word and have agreed to communal living.”
And that was not all. Compared to the ordinary survivor guests, the days of them doing only easy, comfortable work were also coming to an end.
Of course, because they were entertainers, there were accident risks and other concerns, so they could not simply be mixed in with everyone else for all labor.
But at the very least, most of what could be seen as “celebrity privilege” would now disappear.
“It’s all thanks to our Juno-Juno. Seriously, thank you. Makes me ashamed to call myself the older brother here.”
“It’s nothing. You’re not managing a few dozen people. You’re leading and taking responsibility for people in the thousands. Of course there’s a lot to keep track of.”
“Whew... that’s true. I should’ve gotten the first step right, but I made a mistake.”
Kang Baekho let out a long sigh.
Junho could understand him.
No matter how capable Kang Baekho was, there was no way he could have imagined that something this insane would happen—and that it would still be unresolved more than half a year later.
That was why, even after the outbreak began, Kang Baekho had no choice but to continue treating the entertainers reasonably well.
As a businessman, he could not very well start pressing and mistreating public figures with major influence when there was still a chance the situation might be resolved within a few months.
On top of that, Kim Youngmi—a former second-generation idol turned singer-actress—had broad connections in the entertainment industry and an excellent reputation.
He must have judged that by using her, he would be able to control and manage the entertainer survivors well enough.
But the world kept heading toward ruin, and the entertainers who had received special treatment from the beginning did not change easily.
In fact, although they had only started doing easier, simpler work than ordinary survivors a month ago, even that had already led to complaints from more than a few of them.
In other words, Kang Baekho had missed the timing to crack down on them, so he had asked Junho to do it instead.
And Junho had resolved the matter perfectly.
“The timing really was unbelievable. Anyway, that guy—his name was Park Deokchil, right?”
“Deokcheol. Park Deokcheol. His stage name was Ducky.”
“Right, Deokcheol. Anyway, Blossom’s Cherry? So he had a thing going with her?”
“Yes. It sounds like they were almost practically dating. Blossom was a pretty popular girl group, and their schedules were so packed they didn’t get to see each other often, though.”
“He’s got skills, then. Didn’t you say his group was a bunch of nobodies? How’d he even end up with her?”
“No idea.”
Junho was not interested in other people’s love lives, so he just shrugged and continued.
“Anyway, Brother Baekho. I did you a favor, so now you do me one too. Win-win, right?”
At Junho’s words, Kang Baekho nodded with satisfaction.
“Of course. That’s only fair. The Blossom members? If they say they want to go, I’ll send them over to your side. And....”
But then, with an apologetic look, he turned to Yoon Seolhee, Park Cheolwoo, and the KW Cops team leader.
“Junho says he needs some manpower. For a combat unit.”
That was right.
The most important reason Junho had come all the way to Gwangju to meet Kang Baekho was to secure not only labor but proper fighters as well.
But skilled fighters were difficult to come by in the first place, and especially for their shelter—where firearms were in regular use—they had to be people he could trust completely.
And in Junho’s view, Kang Baekho’s Gwangju survivor group was the only place that met those difficult conditions.
But in the early days of the apocalypse, he could not have sought Kang Baekho out for that.
Kang Baekho had needed time to properly lead the Gwangju survivor group and build up its strength so that it could keep predatory forces like the Daeseong syndicate in check.
There was no way Junho could have asked him to send over important fighters, nor would Kang Baekho have accepted it under ordinary circumstances.
But now, after the Daeseong syndicate had been driven back without major losses and the situation had become relatively stable for the time being, it was possible.
“...What?”
The three looked startled, so Kang Baekho went on with an even more apologetic expression.
“Of course I’m not saying they’d be quitting here, and I’m not saying they have to live there permanently either. Think of it as a kind of temporary assignment. Junho will provide all the weapons and equipment, and if they want, they can even rotate monthly.”
“.......”
“Uh....”
When all three pairs of eyes turned toward him, Junho quickly picked up the thread.
“I feel a little awkward saying this right in front of Brother Baekho, but honestly, I can guarantee that where I live is several times better than this place in terms of facilities and everything else. Security is tighter too. And we’ve already finished clearing out all the nearby villages, and we’re on completely friendly terms with the local residents.”
“Hmm....”
“I don’t need more or less than four or five people. Including me, our combat unit only has four members right now. At the very least, I want to make it a full squad.”
At Junho’s words, the three exchanged looks. Then Park Cheolwoo, who was both the oldest and the highest-ranking, spoke first.
“If we go there, I assume guard duty would be a given... so what do you think the most dangerous mission would be over there, Mr. Lee Junho?”
“For now, hunting Alpha zombies. And....”
Just as Junho was about to continue with a slightly more serious expression—
“I’ll go.”
Yoon Seolhee abruptly stepped forward.
“What?”
Junho looked slightly surprised, and Park Cheolwoo immediately frowned.
“Hey, Manager Yoon Seolhee. Even so, at least hear him out first—”
“Sir, if Mr. Lee Junho hadn’t shown up today, I might have died. No—I definitely would have gone down.”
“......!”
Turning her gaze away from the flinching Park Cheolwoo, Yoon Seolhee calmly looked at Kang Baekho and said,
“If you only need four or five people, then you’ll need at least one manager-level leader anyway. I’ll go, Representative.”
