Chapter 144

Chapter 144. Borrowing the Tiger’s Authority

The first video showed an unfamiliar woman handling a large sum of money.

I couldn't tell whether the place was a hotel restaurant or some café that had gone overboard with its interior design.

The woman was taking money out of an envelope and counting it one bill at a time.

The paper looked unusually white.

Probably checks.

Even if each one were only worth one hundred thousand won, there had to be at least five million won there.

Her face wasn't visible.

All I could see was a white dress and fingernails painted just as white.

As far as I knew, none of the members across Blue Moon, Heenari, or Dessault were the type to wear that kind of manicure.

For now, I decided to check the other thumbnails too.

The second video showed the inside of the Volkswagon van Blue Moon used.

I could tell just from the moon-shaped air freshener hanging in front of the dashboard.

The camera angle was from the back seat, looking toward the driver's seat and passenger seat.

There were people sitting in both seats, but once again, I couldn't identify them.

The third video showed two people exchanging a business registration certificate.

The name on it was:

Fun & Fun Co., Ltd.

Both sets of hands belonged to men.

I searched for Fun & Fun Co., Ltd., but no such corporation existed.

Of course it didn't.

The business certificate was being exchanged in a future video.

Personally, I was most curious about the woman with the white manicure and the five million won.

But objectively, the second video looked more urgent.

A company vehicle appeared directly in it.

There was also a good chance it would contain more usable information.

Without hesitating, I clicked the second video.

"Seriously, though. Why did you bring this car again?"

"It's fine. As long as I refill the gas, I don't even have to leave a record."

"What about the mileage? Why did you have to take Do Jun-hyeok's car of all things? And such a noticeable one too."

A man was in the driver's seat.

A woman sat beside him.

Who the hell were these people?

The man's voice sounded familiar.

"I told you it's fine. I drove this car home when it rained heavily the other day and he didn't notice."

So it was you, Jo Yang-hoon.

I already knew you occasionally drove a company car home.

I'd simply assumed commuting was difficult for you and let it slide.

Did you really think I hadn't noticed?

The man in the driver's seat was Blue Moon's road manager, Jo Yang-hoon.

"Still, thanks to this, you got through the schedule comfortably. Here's your pay for the day."

Jo Yang-hoon handed over an envelope.

The woman in the passenger seat immediately took it and checked the amount.

For some reason, the way she counted the money looked similar to the woman with the white manicure from the first thumbnail.

But from this angle, I couldn't see the color of her nails.

And I'd only seen the first woman in a thumbnail anyway.

I couldn't be certain.

"Well, if you think you can keep it hidden, then I trust you handled it properly. Once my contract with my company ends, I'm seriously trusting you and leaving, okay?"

"That's what I'm saying. We can do live commerce, become BJs. Talented girls have plenty of things they can do. You too. And girls from Saint Laurent and Rose Black already agreed."

"As expected. They don't call you Do Jun-hyeok's right-hand man for nothing."

What the hell were they talking about?

It sounded like a conversation between an idol nearing retirement and her manager.

But Jo Yang-hoon was Blue Moon's road manager.

And my right-hand man?

My right hand was Kim Jin-hee.

My left hand was Kwon Dae-hun.

"Try to convince as many of the other members of BombBomb as you can too."

"Ah, absolutely not. You don't know our CEO? If I say only I'm leaving, he'll probably let it slide to some extent. But if we all say we're leaving together? No chance. And honestly, those girls can rot for a little longer. I'm almost thirty. I need to find a way to survive. I'm allowed to get this much consideration."

"I'm not saying all of them. Just as many as possible."

Saint Laurent was doing reasonably well.

Rose Black and BombBomb, on the other hand...

They were the kinds of groups whose members might realistically consider live commerce or becoming BJs after leaving idol life.

It looked like Jo Yang-hoon was preparing to start his own business after quitting.

"Whatever. Whatever. I already told you I can't do it. Anyway, the money came in, so take me to Apgujeong. Let's go drink."

"I can't. I have to return the car."

"Call a designated driver."

The video ended there.

I calmly sorted through what I'd learned.

It was ridiculous, but nothing about it was particularly strange.

Except one thing.

The phrase Do Jun-hyeok's right-hand man.

I wasn't looking down on Jo Yang-hoon, but he wasn't exactly an influential figure in the entertainment industry.

Even if these groups weren't very popular, there was no way he could smoothly lure members from Rose Black, BombBomb, and even Saint Laurent on his own.

Unless, of course...

He was using my name to run his personal business.

The recording time was listed as 9 PM today.

So I headed straight to Apgujeong.

The man was Jo Yang-hoon.

Judging from the conversation, the woman was a member of BombBomb.

There were two members old enough to say they were "almost thirty."

If someone in her mid-twenties had exaggerated, then there were three possible candidates.

Either way, this wasn't a difficult future video to resolve.

I just needed to circle the drinking districts of Apgujeong until I found the Volkswagon van.

My beloved Volkswagon was parked in front of a barbecue restaurant.

You little bastard.

I'd thought maybe he planned to send the car back to the company and drink separately.

Apparently, he intended to call a designated driver, go home, and then have the driver return the car to the company afterward.

So I had no choice but to wait around for a couple of hours until they came out.

Every now and then, some pretty-looking women entered the restaurant.

Then, close to midnight, Jo Yang-hoon and several women came out together.

Apparently, they'd held some kind of unity dinner before starting whatever they were planning.

I pulled my cap low and approached them.

"Designated driver."

"Huh? Already? Wait, what? They said ten minutes."

"You're pretty drunk. Ten minutes already passed."

Without much suspicion, Jo Yang-hoon handed me the car key.

"Perfect. We can go straight home now. Heh."

Jo Yang-hoon brought the women into the Volkswagon.

You let women who weren't Blue Moon ride in this van?

You will accept your punishment.

I got the destination and started driving.

"By the way, what kind of work do you do to be drinking with so many pretty women?"

They'd already done me the favor of getting drunk.

Time to start digging.

One of the women answered.

"We're all idols. Manager Jo here works at the famous Universe Entertainment. You know Blue Moon, right? Blue Moon? He's the number-one contributor who raised them from nobodies to where they are now."

"Wow. That's impressive. What about the rest of you?"

"I told you, we're idols. Me and her are from Black Rose. She's from Saint Laurent, and that one over there is BombBomb's main vocalist."

The woman who had been sitting in the passenger seat in the video was apparently from BombBomb.

So she was their main vocalist.

But more importantly...

Jo Yang-hoon was the number-one contributor behind Blue Moon's rise?

Thanks, Yang-hoon.

At this rate, I should split off some company shares for you.

"But you said if we came today, you'd introduce us to CEO Do Jun-hyeok~."

"I told you CEO Do Jun-hyeok is too busy."

Jo Yang-hoon brushed off their complaints.

From the atmosphere alone, I could roughly guess how he'd baited them.

He probably told them that he had the know-how to turn them into another Blue Moon.

"Do Jun-hyeok? Isn't that guy just some slick-looking man who likes appearing on television?"

I deliberately joined in.

Jo Yang-hoon snickered.

"Heh. I guess he does look like that."

You bastard.

Not even one word in my defense.

I wanted to see whether you still had any old loyalty left.

You're eliminated.

"So Do Jun-hyeok keeps showing up on TV, and you're the one who's going to make all these pretty women into stars?"

"Of course. I've already got the whole picture drawn out. You all trust me, right?"

"Of course!"

Jo Yang-hoon and the women burst into laughter.

Then Jo Yang-hoon's phone suddenly rang.

"...What? What are you talking about? I already got a driver and we're on the way. What? You're standing in front of the Apgujeong restaurant right now?"

The women overheard the conversation.

Everyone immediately went silent.

The mood turned icy.

"W-Who are you?"

"Kyaaah! Let us out!"

The women started making a scene.

If I wanted to explain things calmly and send them back to their agencies, they needed to sober up first.

I clicked the central locking system.

Click.

Unlocked.

Then locked again.

When I arrived at the Universe building parking lot with Jo Yang-hoon and the women, Dae-hun came running outside.

"Hyung! 〈Hippie〉 is number one! Number one after just three days!"

"Oh. Is it past midnight already?"

"Yes! And that's not all. Dessault finally reached number one on Billboard too."

Number one on Billboard?

No way.

I knew they'd enter the Top 100.

But I never imagined they'd reach number one.

This wasn't the time to be dealing with this mess.

I needed to at least send Moon Hee-jung a congratulations message.

"But... who are they?"

Dae-hun pointed suspiciously toward the Volkswagon.

The women were cautiously getting out one by one while reading the atmosphere.

Only after I revealed who I was did I finally get a proper look at their faces.

One of them was even Jin-a from Saint Laurent, the girl who had kept sending looks my way earlier.

There was also Bae Yoo-na from Rose Black.

And Yoo-won from BombBomb.

The woman in the video had been Yoo-won.

When I checked later, her nails were indeed painted white.

So this wasn't merely a case of Jo Yang-hoon deceiving people.

If it had only been something mildly irritating, it wouldn't have qualified as an incident worth future spam.

Yoo-won was scheduled to receive five million won.

That was far too much to be some ordinary appearance fee.

And Jin-a, who'd kept signaling me earlier, clearly had something going on too.

"Call every one of their managers. Rose Black, BombBomb, and Saint Laurent. Not their agencies. Their managers' personal numbers."

"Gasp! No!"

"Yes!"

While the members clung to my pants, Dae-hun began making calls.

Whatever hidden scheme existed would probably reveal itself once we started clearing the situation up.

And in cases like this, calling the guardians was always the best move.

"Please, just let this go. We really didn't have any money, so we got tempted for a moment...!"

Bae Yoo-na from Rose Black pleaded.

For a moment, she reminded me of Blue Moon back when they were unknown.

I almost softened.

Then I snapped back to reality.

That was exactly why I was contacting their managers instead of their companies.

If they'd built enough genuine personal trust with their managers, those managers could handle things at their own level.

"And you, Jo Yang-hoon. Sorry, but you're fired first. I'll hear your explanation after the firing."

"..."

There was no need to speak politely anymore.

He wasn't one of my people now.

Jo Yang-hoon lowered his head as if acknowledging his mistake.

Soon, the managers from each agency arrived at the parking lot.

Every one of them looked like they'd already cried their eyes out.

"Uuuugh... Yoo-won, you awful girl! How could you do this to me?!"

"I'm really sorry, oppa! I must've lost my mind...!"

The parking lot quickly became a sea of tears.

Judging from the managers' faces, they all looked ready to forgive them.

After all, if this reached their agencies, the managers themselves would also end up in trouble.

Still, I didn't think they were forgiving the idols purely to avoid responsibility.

This wasn't something bad enough to get anyone fired over, like what had happened to me at Pantheon.

At worst, it was the kind of mistake that ended with a few written apologies.

The managers bowed to me over and over, easily ten times each, then left the parking lot.

That left only me, Dae-hun, and Jo Yang-hoon.

"I'm truly sorry, CEO. I've been desperate for money lately, so I deceived them too... Haa. I have no excuse."

"Of course you were desperate for money. So did you save a lot? Even a tiny company takes more than pocket change to establish."

"C-Company? Absolutely not. I wasn't planning to start a company..."

Still denying it to the end.

I'd questioned him because this didn't feel like something that ended with tonight.

As expected, there was still something he refused to reveal.

"Fun & Fun Co., Ltd. You're going to start a company, aren't you? Am I wrong?"

"...!"

The phrase Fun & Fun, which might have existed only in Jo Yang-hoon's head until now, shook him badly.

You're wondering how I know.

And do you think that's all I know?

In the video I'd seen, Jo Yang-hoon didn't look like he held the upper hand over Yoo-won at all.

And Jo Yang-hoon wasn't the one who gave her the five million won.

Yoo-won and Jo Yang-hoon were both walking down separate side roads.

Which meant there was still someone else behind this.