Chapter 99: Storm (2)
I took down all the guards surrounding the entrance and made my way into the living room. I found myself soaked in sweat and panting without even realizing it.
Inside Lee Tae-Poong's living room, an absurd scene was unfolding—Kim Ae-Ja was sitting comfortably on the sofa as if it were her own home while Lee Tae-Poong and Lee Dae-Ho were kneeling opposite her.
Annoyance surged through me.
Lee Tae-Poong looked at me with a shocked expression. "Hyung..."
"Get up! Didn't you hear me say not to meet with anyone from Daecheon Inc?"
“N-no, it's not like that. I didn’t want to but..." Lee Tae-Poong stammered in a flustered manner.
"H-hyung. What happened was... these people just barged in and..." Lee Tae-Poong tried to explain the situation, but I wasn't interested in excuses.
As long as it wasn’t a serious matter involving crime, such as drugs, I could stop anything—and I had a way to counter Kim Ae-Ja's threats.
"I’ll listen to your explanation later. For now, get up."
At that moment, Kim Ae-Ja's face crumpled instantly. "Secretary Im! Didn't I say not to let anyone in!?"
"Y-yes, ma’am!"
A man in a suit, called Secretary Im, approached me. Then, he bit his lips tightly and suddenly threw a punch at me.
I dodged and countered with a light punch to his solar plexus.
Thud!
The secretary clutched his solar plexus and began rolling on the ground. "Ugh..."
As her trusted secretary helplessly fell to the ground, the flustered Kim Ae-Ja tried to call for the guards waiting outside. "Team Lead Jang~~!"
"It's no use, ma’am. I already took down all the guys outside."
Then, I shouted at Lee Tae-Poong, who was standing there with a dumbfounded expression.
"Lee Tae-Poong, aren’t you gonna get up?"
Lee Tae-Poong seemingly gained confidence from seeing me take down the secretary and began to stagger to his feet.
That’s when Kim Ae-Ja, who was seated on the sofa, pointed at Lee Tae-Poong. "Don't you dare move a single inch without my permission!"
Lee Tae-Poong and Lee Dae-Ho flinched momentarily but eventually stood up as I had instructed. The two struggled to get up on their feet, frowning and rubbing their legs.
Kim Ae-Ja began to glare at me as if she wanted to tear me apart.
"How dare you... interfere with my business? Do you even know who I am?" Kim Ae-Ja's sharp voice pierced my eardrums like an awl.
"You are Vice-President Kim Ae-Ja of Daechon Inc, aren’t you? What I don’t understand is the reason you are making people kneel before you. Haven't you seen the news about chaebols getting arrested for abusing their power?"
Kim Ae-Ja's cheeks trembled out of anger when I retorted sarcastically.
"H-how dare you..." Kim Ae-Ja stood up from the sofa and strode toward me. Then, she suddenly raised her hand.
'Whoa, she’s crazy.'
I lightly dodged her hand which swung toward my face without warning.
Whoosh.
Unable to control her own strength, Kim Ae-Ja fell to the ground with a thud.
She must have expected everyone to take her hits, but I had no intention of letting her hit me.
"Eek! How dare you dodge my hand!?"
She had a warped way of thinking, likely shaped by the way she had lived her life doing whatever she had wanted.
"Please don't recklessly lay your hands on others. You might end up in prison."
Kim Ae-Ja gritted her teeth and trembled with rage. "If a scandal involving Lee Tae-Poong breaks out, know that it will all be your responsibility!"
Kim Ae-Ja took out her phone.
At that moment, Lee Tae-Poong spoke with haste, "Hyung! Stop her quickly! She has a bunch of photos of me with my ex-girlfriend!"
"Don't worry about it," I reassured Lee Tae-Poong.
"Hyung? What do you mean by..."
I simply smiled and looked at Kim Ae-Ja. "Go ahead and make the call."
"Huh?"
"I said, go ahead and call the reporter."
"You think I won't make the call if you say that?"
"No, I'm sure you will. But before you do, shouldn't you hear what I have up my sleeve as well?"
Kim Ae-Ja snorted, "Whatever you have, you won’t be able to stop me. When I, Kim Ae-Ja of Daechon Inc., use my power, no one would dare to..."
But before Kim Ae-Ja could finish her sentence, I started listing men's names one by one. "Kim Seok-Hoon. Jang Moo-Yeol. Lee Dong-Ki..."
With each name that came out of my mouth, Kim Ae-Ja's pupils began to shake.
What I had mentioned was a list of male actors specially sponsored by Kim Ae-Ja—both past and present—of whom most were unknown to the majority in the industry.
Kim Ae-Ja couldn't hide her fluster. "H-how do you know about them?"
"Oh, come on. Who would reveal their trade secrets so easily? Anyway, shall we go all out? You release the photos of Tae-Poong, and I'll release all the photos you have with those actors."
Kim Ae-Ja shot me a murderous look. "Do you think there's a media outlet that would dare to publish an article about me, the owner of Daechon Inc.?"
With the power and influence held by Daechon Inc., they could effortlessly wield the threat of cutting off advertising to any media outlet publishing unfavorable articles, effectively silencing them. Alternatively, their legal team could intimidate the media with the prospect of lawsuits, pushing them toward bankruptcy.
However, I had no intention of passing the information to the media. In fact, I didn't even have those photos in my hands to begin with. The sponsorship issue which involved Kim Ae-Ja that I knew of would only surface in a newspaper called Entertainment Talk seven years later, but would disappear a few hours after publication. Entertainment Talk went out of business after just two weeks, so it was something I remembered until now.
In other words, I was bluffing from the start to the end. I had to act nonchalantly to avoid getting my cover blown.
"Ma’am, you seem to be mistaken. I'm not going to sell those photos to the media. Why would I do something so foolish when Daechon Inc. could easily block it with their power?"
Kim Ae-Ja's complexion changed, sensing what I was about to say. "You...no way. Don’t tell me you’re..."
"Yes. I'll hand over the information directly to your sister, Executive Director Kim Ae-Ryeon. She would know best how to use the information I have, wouldn't she?"
I had heard that Kim Ae-Ja was born a lady of Daechon Inc. and had everything she ever wanted. There was nothing she couldn’t get with money, and the current president of Daechon Inc., Sung Hak-Soo, was essentially just a figurehead. After all, Daechon Inc. was founded by Kim Ae-Ja's father, Honorary President Kim Bu-Ho.
However, the sisters did not get along well, considering their fierce battle for control of the company made headlines on the front pages of economic newspapers multiple times in my past life.
"So I advise you to back off from Tae-Poong while you still can."
In a battle like this, the one with more to lose was always at a disadvantage.
Kim Ae-Ja looked at me for a moment before slowly standing up silently.
'Is she not willing to give up on Tae-Poong? She’s more tenacious than I thought.'
Finally, Kim Ae-Ja spoke in a heavy tone, "Fine. I'll delete all photos of Mr. Tae-Poong."
‘That’s the best compromise she can come up with?’
"I’m assuming the condition must be that I destroy all the information I have about you, right?"
"Of course!"
"I’m afraid I can't do that."
‘How can I destroy what I don't have?’
It was time to give her the final bluff.
"What did you say?"
"You can decide whether to kill me or let me live when I hand over your photos to Ms. Kim Ae-Ryeon. As the human heart is fickle, I have no intention of carelessly throwing away a means to protect us. I’m not going to do anything with those photos unless Tae-Poong’s photos get revealed.”
Kim Ae-Ja trembled and glared at me. "You’re going to be the first person to go down if those photos get revealed."
Kim Ae-Ja gave a chilling warning as she glared at me and walked out the door, leaving behind Secretary Im who was still on the ground. Secretary Im hurriedly got up and followed her. Outside the entrance, the security team I had knocked down earlier with my fists was regrouping and lining up.
Kim Ae-Ja left the house without giving them a second glance.
The storm that had gathered was now receding.
***
Kim Ae-Ja was suppressing her surging anger in the car on the way back to the company. Her plan to secure the handsome actor Lee Tae-Poong, whom she had had her eye on for a long time, had failed so miserably all because of a mere talent agent who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Kim Ae-Ja tried to contain her rage and called her secretary, Im Sang-Ki, who was in the front seat.
"Secretary Im. Look into this Jung Yoon-Ho guy."
Im Sang-Ki took the business card and answered, "Yes, ma’am. How far should I go?"
Kim Ae-Ja glared at Im Sang-Ki and said, "What do you mean how far? Dig until something comes up, whatever it is!"
"Yes, ma’am. Understood."
"And... those actors on the list he mentioned—make sure they keep their mouths shut. Make sure no evidence is left. Got it?"
"Yes, ma’am."
Although Kim Ae-Ja was furious, she was also curious about Jung Yoon-Ho. Even her husband, the current president of Daechon Inc., wouldn’t dare to confront her so directly.
But Jung Yoon-Ho, a mere talent agent of an entertainment company, had blackmailed her without blinking even once. She had no intention of letting someone like that go unnoticed.
Kim Ae-Ja leaned back in her seat after giving Im Sang-Ki instructions. When she pressed the button to close the sunshade in the backseat of the Rose-Rise Phantom, the curtains drew with a whirring sound and blocked the warm sunlight, darkening the back of the car.
Under the dim light in the back of the Rose-Rise Phantom, Kim Ae-Ja smiled enigmatically and pondered over Jung Yoon-Ho.
"Just wait and watch, Jung Yoon-Ho. You've messed with the wrong person."
***
In the president's office of Hoop Entertainment, Kang Gam-Chan took the personnel files handed over by Kang Ji-Yung.
"Here are the personnel files for the new employees this term."
"Let's see."
As Kang Gam-Chan looked through the files of three employees, a look of interest appeared on his face.
Kang Gam-Chan exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the photo of Jung Sang-Bong, "Director Kang, isn't this kid a medalist?"
Jung Sang-Bong, a taekwondo national representative, became an instant star at the age of 20 after knocking out his opponent with a splendid roundhouse kick using his long legs in the final match of the Asian Games four years ago. His bold and handsome looks and staggering height of 193 cm also contributed to his fame.
But now, he was on the list of new employees at Hoop Entertainment.
"How come someone like him applied to our company?"
"All he could do was just keep rehabilitating from an injury after winning the medal. When it was time to return, he suddenly felt an aversion to going back."
"Wow. So he left that world altogether?"
"Yes. He was wondering what to do with his life, so one of his sunbaes recommended him to Hoop Entertainment."
"Sunbae? Is that sunbae by any chance an employee of our company?"
Kang Ji-Yung smiled and shook her head at Kang Gam-Chan’s question. "No. That sunbae is apparently a fan of Cherry Blossom. He came to check the comeback schedule of Cherry Blossom on our company's website, saw the job posting, and informed him."
Kang Gam-Chan's face lit up with satisfaction. "Haha, what a small world. It's fascinating how connections are made. The world has really changed. Back in my day, being a talent agent in the entertainment industry was considered just a fancy errand boy. When I said I was marrying your mother, your maternal grandfather nearly beat me to death."
Kang Ji-Yung smiled as Kang Gam-Chan reminisced about the past. "I remember Mom telling me about that. She said grandpa chased after you with the handle of a hoe and you ran away barefoot."
Kang Gam-Chan cleared his throat. "Ahem. That was a strategic retreat."
"Really? Mom remembers it differently."
Kang Gam-Chan waved his hands and dismissed his wife’s version of the story, suggesting she had remembered wrongly.
In reality, the permission he had received back then was largely due to the shocking announcement from his wife that she was already carrying their precious daughter, Kang Ji-Yung, who was standing in front of him right now.
When his father-in-law finally gave his consent after days of silent dismay, Kang Gam-Chan couldn't have been happier. This memory highlighted how the profession of a talent agent was once looked down upon in the past.
After reflecting on how times had changed, Kang Gam-Chan returned his attention to the personnel files.
"But this guy. Surely he's not applying to be a talent agent with plans to switch to being a celebrity later? I mean, he is tall and handsome."
Kang Ji-Yung shook her head. "I checked just in case, and he said he has no talent for being a celebrity and has never even considered it, let alone intend to pursue it."
Kang Gam-Chan nodded. "Assistant Manager Jung said he wanted to pick the staff himself. Did you show him the personnel files?"
"Yes. He chose this guy, Jung Sang-Bong."
Kang Gam-Chan chuckled. "He really knows how to pick the cream of the crop."
The profiles showed that the other two candidates had superior academic backgrounds and company experience. However, Jung Sang-Bong possessed qualities the others did not.
In the demanding world of the entertainment industry, what was often needed most surprisingly was physical stamina and perseverance. It was only natural for Jung Sang-Bong, a gold medalist, to have both.
At that moment, Kang Ji-Yung presented another personnel file. "Mr. Kang, please take a look at this file as well."
"Who's this? Weren't we supposed to have only three new hires?"
Kang Ji-Yung handed over a separate file she had prepared. "Yes, but this one is for an experienced position."
And again, the candidate was a graduate of the Seoul National University of the Arts.
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