Top Management

TM Chapter 124

Chapter 124: A Never-ending Cycle, Whether That's Power Dynamics or Psychological Warfare (6)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

I sobered up immediately.

I thought this every time I met her, but she really is a crazy bitch.

"Then that's fine."

"You're going to end it like that?"

I started walking again, yet Son Chaeyoung asked from behind me.

"It's the end. You said you aren't going to do it."

"Don't you have to ask thrice in situations like this?"

Did she think she was Zhuge Liang[1]?

I didn't want to compare her to the quadruplets, I really didn't want to compare her to them, but she was worse than when they were preschoolers. A five-year-old that surpassed the 'naughty fours'[2], making me want to give her a beating.

Still, at least they were young and cute.

"Why would I ask you to do something you don't want to do three times? Why should I waste my time like that?"

"Everyone does it like that! Not just thrice, they even ask 30, even 300 times!"

"I don't."

"Why? I could change my mind by the time you ask me a third time."

I say this again, but she really is a crazy bitch.

I was the one who drank tonight, but why was she the one who seemed drunk?

What did she want from me? Did she want me to cling to her with tears in my eyes, begging her to make a cameo appearance? Was she doing this to see me like that?

Perhaps she thought that this was how I should act since people had always begged to get her to accept their requests, but she thought wrong. This cameo appearance wasn't that important to me.

Even if it was important, my answer might have been the same.

"I don't plan on asking you again."

"Why?"

"Maybe it'd be different it was someone else, but I don't want to ask you."

Son Chaeyoung glared at me in chilling silence.

I could see her clench her slender jaw, which looked like it could fit in one hand.

Would she try to hit me like before?

Yeah, I was exhausted from being wary of her all day. If she was going to explode, sooner was better than later. I was thinking about how I should protect my own cheek as Lee Songha wasn't here to take my side and throw a cake.

"Fine then. Let's talk about something else instead."

She unclenched her jaw and her expression calmed.

Son Chaeyoung nonchalantly suggested we talk about something else.

"Talk? Us?"

"Don't you have anything to say to me? Last time-"

"Ms. Son Chaeyoung."

I cut her off.

Why did she want to talk when our relationship would only get worse the more we talked?

Son Chaeyoung's voice poured out into the quiet, chilly hallway.

"My project, my commercial, she took her share from me! Did I grab her hair because of that? I didn't do anything to her. Then, since she took her share, aren't we even-!"

"Let's assume we are even."

I shook my head and said,

"If we are going to talk, shouldn't it start with an apology?"

"An apology?"

"It's not like what happened didn't happen all of a sudden. Because of you, Songha could have-"

As soon as I mentioned Lee Songha's name, Son Chaeyoung's eyes flashed fiercely.

"What do you want me to do to her? I don't do things like that."

"Why not?"

"It's always been like that!"

I stared into Son Chaeyoung's eyes before turning my gaze.

What did I hope to get from still talking to her?

I sighed. Just then, I saw someone standing in front of the elevator behind Son Chaeyoung.

At first, I thought it was Lee Songha, but it wasn't.

It was Seo Eunkyo.

She was leaning against the wall with the elevator buttons and staring directly at Son Chaeyoung and me. She had a wine bottle in her hand.

Son Chaeyoung followed my gaze and frowned when she saw Seo Eunkyo. It seemed she had no thoughts of arguing with me in front of others as she walked towards Seo Eunkyo.

"Sunbae. I came because I wanted to have a glass of wine with you."

Seo Eunkyo stuck to Son Chaeyoung like a flea.

She looked like she already had a few drinks as her high heels swayed.

"I want to get close to you and also have some things I want to ask you about. If you have time…"

"I'm tired."

Son Chaeyoung said without even looking at Seo Eunkyo.

Seeing Seo Eunkyo lick her lips, I turned around and went to my room.

I needed to sleep early since tomorrow would be the start of my merciless schedule. My body was tired from drinking, but my mind was also exhausted thanks to Son Chaeyoung. I really wanted to bury myself in the king-size hotel mattress.

"If you see someone, you should greet them. The manager and the celebrity are the same."

Was today some special occasion?

Today's Cancer horoscope must be this…

'Beware of crazy bitches.'

"It looks like you don't have a good relationship with Son Chaeyoung sunbae? You both raised your voices and stuff? It also seemed like she didn't have a great relationship with Lee Songha, right? Of course, Lee Songha isn't the type to be adored by sunbaes like me."

Seo Eunkyo, who had come up to my nose, said while smiling brightly.

Her eyes, which were drooped like she had a few drinks, was overflowing with malice.

"Lee Songha, that girl, did she sleep with someone?"

"… What did you say?"

"She suddenly got commercials and dramas, big ones at that, when she's just a rookie who had one successful drama. It doesn't make sense if there isn't anything."

"She didn't do anything of the sort."

"What do you mean she didn't? I can tell just by seeing the situation."

Her quietly whispering voice dirtied my ears.

My throat heated up.

"Hey, Ms. Seo Eunkyo."

"I heard that CEO Baek Hansung's supporting her without hesitation, did she sleep with him? Or, since you had a scandal with her, did she sleep with you too? Wow, so young yet hard working."

"They say pigs only see pigs. Is that how you work?"

I scowled, and Seo Eunkyo flinched in fright.

Then, twice as angry as before, she shouted,

"What? What did you just call me? Pig?"

"You?" [3]

"Yeah, you. Because people treat the two of you like stars, do you really think you are one? You acted like you were so close to the director and writer last time too. If your celebrity is as stiff as a block of wood, then you should be the one bowing for her, yet you're worse."

She poked me with the tip of the wine bottle.

My mind when blank. How long had it been since I was so angry?

"Hey, you should know your place. You're just a manage-!"

Thud!

Hit on the back of her head, Seo Eunkyo fell towards me. She took a few teetering steps back before collapsing on the hallway floor like a puppet whose strings were cut.

"Isn't she a crazy bitch?"

Son Chaeyoung tapped Seo Eunkyo's side with her toe.

She didn't even react. Was she dead?

"You talked back to me so well, yet why were you just taking it from her?"

Son Chaeyoung asked while staring at me.

"You didn't want to talk with me, but I guess you wanted to talk with her?"

"I was about to do something, but before that, just what-"

"I hit her, why? Are you going to say something again?"

No, I might have hit her as well.

When I examined her, she was breathing well and seemed fine considering she was mumbling something.

But what did I have to do to make this a perfect crime?

"How much of a pushover were you for someone like her to tell you to bow or not? You'd be dead if you were my manager right now. No, there wouldn't even be cases like this from the first place. Are you listening to me?"

"Yes."

"You aren't listening to me! What are you thinking about?!"

"How to handle this trash."

"Why handle it?"

Son Chaeyoung took out her phone and called someone.

"Call the security. This person, what's her name, anyways, is drunk and wasted on the seventh-floor hallway."

She hung up after saying what she had to say then looked up at me with her arms crossed.

Then, with a grim voice, she said,

"I was going to say this before, but you did wrong to me too."

"Wrong?"

"You lied to me! When you called and I asked where you were, you said that the team leader didn't make you call me or that he wasn't next to you, but you had me on speakerphone with a bunch of people listening in! I didn't even know that and I-!"

Son Chaeyoung cut herself off and suddenly shouted,

"You should apologize to me too!"

That did happen.

Son Chaeyoung didn't even wait for my reply and turned around.

"Why am I doing this?! So annoying!"

Then she walked off.

*

['Cat Guardian Ghost' Lee Songha's arrival paralyzed a Chinese airport?]

[Lee Songha's set to be an international star of the next generation, received a green light for activities in China]

[Cat Guardian Ghost begins broadcasting, video site accumulated over 50 million views!]

[Jung Sunwoo, the Midas's Hand who made Lee Songha an international star, how far will his impact go?]

"Team leader, I saw the articles you sent me. They are all good, but what's the last one?"

-What do you mean? It's a hot topic in Korea right now and you became a hot topic along with it.

Team Leader Park laughed refreshingly on the other end.

I heard the PR Team wasn't able to leave and have been holding consecutive meetings for the past few days. Maybe it was because it was all good news, but there was delighted clamoring in the background.

-Due to Park Dojin and Sung Dowon's scandals breaking out one after another, Chinese investments wavered, and a lot of people in our industry was worried about it. Worried that the popularity of Korean culture would falter as well. But the mood's flipped now that Cat Guardian Ghost's a hit. The company is celebrating right now too.

"Although I don't know how much of a commotion it's causing in Korea, it can't compare to here."

Saying this, I glanced at the promotion event.

There were the lead and supporting actors including Lee Songha and Seo Jijoon and Director Shin Taekyun and Writer Hong Jumi, who I saw for the first time in a while. The key individuals who created Cat Guardian Ghost were replying to interview questions on the brilliant lights.

Everyone looked astounded. Though, they couldn't help but be.

This was an event originally scheduled to host reporters and around a hundred fans, but they suddenly changed the location and made it ten times bigger. Apparently, fans bugged the crap out of the host, Huai TV, for this, asking them when they would see the actors in person if not now.

The result was around a thousand fans filling the seats.

At this moment, Lee Songha held the mic.

Cheers erupted. When Lee Songha began speaking fluent Chinese prepared ahead of time to promote the drama, the fans went crazy. Although I had been to tons of events back home, I had never been to one with such a passionate atmosphere.

In fact, it was this passionate when we went to perform for the army.

-Really? The reactions in China are that amazing?

"Can't you hear the fans screaming? It's crazy. We've been surrounded by security since arriving in Beijing that we've only gone back and forth between locations. We can't go outside because of the number of people."

-Oh my god. It's not just Jijoon but Songha as well?

Team Leader Park asked again and again as if she couldn't believe the situation.

I was the same.

It was so severe that I couldn't sleep even while lying completely exhausted on the hotel bed.

My chest strangely felt overwhelmed, and my hands and feet felt so itchy I kept pacing back and forth in my room while looking at Beijing's glittering nightlife outside my window until dawn.

I looked at Lee Songha, who was standing on the stage.

Although I could tell she was a little excited, she looked quite bold.

"Yes, Songha's also been receiving a lot of positive reactions. It's crazy here."

-It's a spree of happy events!

"Thanks to that, Neptune's popularity has risen and it seems their album is selling quite a bit. That's why Chief Kim is busy adjusting their fan meeting event."

-If Neptune does well in China, then we're extremely fortunate this year! First, we need to use this hype to fix Jijoon and Songha as international stars. Send me all the sources you read and hear.

"Yes, I'll ask the press."

-Get your hopes up. I'll make it so you think, 'Ah, so this is what you call returning home in glory,' when you arrive at Incheon Airport.

"I'm from MMTV, while you're staying in Beijing, we wanted to invite Ms. Lee Songha to our program…"

"Chief! Chief Jung Sunwoo! I'm a Korean producer making a Chinese entertainment program. What are Ms. Lee Songha's plans on appearing on Chinese entertainment shows? If nothing's decided yet, could we talk…"

"Wait! I'm the Beijing correspondent for a national paper! Could I interview…!"

"Just 5 minutes! Mr. Jung Sunwoo, please give us your comment…!"

I was held up for almost 30 minutes going to the washroom and back.

I was able to get away from the Chinese media with my lacking Chinese skills and body language, but the problem was those who approached me by speaking Korean. Correspondents from some paper or other. Korean producers and writers who Chinese broadcasting companies outsourced to create shows.

"We are continuously organizing her interview schedule and broadcast appearances so we'll contact you through our Chinese agency once we're done."

"Please contact us before the Chinese media!"

After receiving a pile of business cards, I barely managed to go behind the stage when I saw Chief Lee Bongjoon giggling at me.

"Wow, Jung Sunwoo, you're so popular."

"Go outside, chief. I bet you'll get your soul sucked out of you."

"I'm just Seo Jijoon's manager while you're famous. But maybe you'll become famous in China as well? Chinese people like superstitions. They love lucky people too."

"No thank you."

I waved my hand, and Chief Lee Bongjoon held his stomach and laughed even harder.

This man wasn't in his right mind.

Chief Lee Bongjoon quickly began chatting with someone from Huai TV. They had met not so long ago, yet they were so quick at making friends that they seemed like brothers already. They were now talking about going out for drinks and whatnot.

"Chief Jung Sunwoo."

A neat man wearing glasses struck a conversation.

I greeted him before… Ah, he was from the Chinese agency W&U had contracted. Although he was Chinese, he was so fluent in Korean that there was no problem with communicating.

"I think Ms. Lee Songha's going to have a lot more activities in China from now on, we might see each other often."

"That might be the case. Please take care of me."

"We should be the one asking you. How about getting a drink someday? We greeted the other chiefs before, but it's your first time here. I'll lead you to a good place."

"Yes, please let me know."

While I was talking to one person and another, the promotion event ended.

Next to Seo Jijoon, who was wearing a suit, Lee Songha tightly held the hem of her dress as she made her way down the stage. Since it was her first time wearing such a long dress that dragged on the floor and because she wanted to come here, it was funny seeing how unsteady her steps were.

"Walk slowly. You might trip on your dress."

"Oppa, I didn't mess up on any of my Chinese lines-!"

I was preparing to compliment her, but I was suddenly hugged.

By Seo Jijoon.

Why were there so many people who wanted to hug me these days?

"Hey, Chief Jung! How was I out there?"

"You were great, but please let go. Reporters are taking pictures."

We were being serenaded with camera flashes.

Lee Songha stood agitated like she had been cut in line.

"Hey, aren't I your manager?"

Chief Lee Bongjoon came over with a dumbfounded expression.

"If you're so moved that you're going to hug someone, you should be hugging me. They said if you devote yourself, you'll be worn-out!"

"I became an international star thanks to Mr. Sunwoo. Just wait a sec, you're next, hyung."

Chief Lee Bongjoon chuckled.

"I don't want to be second. Songha, stop standing there like your mother's been snatched away. Should we hug as people who've been abandoned?"

"I don't want to."

"Huh, I knew you'd say that."

Chief Lee Bongjooon giggled when he was immediately rejected by Lee Songha.

I tried to push Seo Jijoon away, yet chuckling, he said,

"Mr. Sunwoo. You remember how I told you that I would repay the favor once?"

"Yes, I'm holding onto it for when I need a really big favor."

"Add one more, no, two more. I'll repay you threefold."

I guess I should let him hug me since today was a good day.

"Hey, you're giving away blank cheques with no precaution. You don't even know what he'll ask from you."

"I have to be generous! I'm an international star now!"

I left Seo Jijoon and Chief Lee Bongjoon, who were having a laugh, and went to the waiting room with Lee Songha. Due to there being too many press correspondents and unknown people approaching us, security had to stick close to us until we arrived at the waiting room door.

I went into the room with Lee Songha and examined the inside.

I was checking to see if there weren't any hidden perverts or cameras.

"Come out when you're done changing. I'll be waiting outside."

"Yes."

I was heading to the door when something suddenly pounced on me from behind.

Something smooth, soft, and warm.

Then my forehead immediately banged against the door.

Screaming in silence, I clasped my forehead with my hands when Lee Songha, who had clung to my back, almost like a piggyback, became shocked and got off me.

"Oppa, oppa, is your head okay? Your forehead's red!"

"… It's not cracked?"

"I-I don't think it's that bad."

"Just what were you-"

Astounded, I was about to turn around, but a security guard outside knocked on the door.

I heard him ask if there was something wrong and if he should come in so I quickly told him everything was fine.

Behind me, Lee Songha said in a whispering, quiet voice,

"I tripped over my dress. Sorry."

"You were clearly on the other side… Rather than tripping, it's almost like you flew."

"No, I tripped."

She read my expression and added as if making an excuse,

"The dress was the culprit."

*

Lee Songha and I were extremely busy.

It seemed like the other Neptune members were touring Beijing, but that was like a dream for us. It wasn't enough that we were following our schedule by the minute, we had to cram practicing the Royal Family script into our sleep time.

Then, the filming of Royal Family finally began.

"I think the sunbed is in the camera frame! Please double check!"

"We finished setting up the cocktails in the pool bar."

The film set was an outdoor hotel swimming pool that reached the peak of luxuriousness.

The cast were Lee Songha and the numerous extras recruited here.

And Seo Eunkyo joined the mix on top of that. Damn it.

I was looking around at the swimming pool while waiting for Lee Songha to change into her swimsuit when Seo Eunkyo was coming over wearing a gown. It was my first time seeing her since handing her over to a security guard after she collapsed in the hotel hallway.

How much of that day did she remember?

"Excuse me, what swimsuit is Lee Songha wearing?"

It seemed she blacked out.

"A bikini? A rash guard? Monokini? What is she wearing?"

"Why are you-"

"Chief Jung!"

Hearing a voice calling for me, Seo Eunkyo cursed under her breath before quickly putting on a smile. When I turned around, I saw Director Woo, who exposed his hairy chest, approach me with open arms.

"Chief Jung, I heard you got the cameo appearances? What to do when we're the ones always receiving help."

"It's nothing. Please get a good scene."

"This will be a beauty even if I shoot it with my feet. The outfit is a swimsuit!"

Huh? I didn't hear anything about Seo Jijoon wearing a swimsuit.

Then was he on set with us? Just as I thought this, Seo Eunkyo, who was giving me an unpleasant look, suddenly brightened. Then she raised her hand up and waved.

As though she met someone who was on her side.

"Sunbae! Chaeyoung sunbae!"

[1] Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Liu Bei made three personal visits to recruit Zhuge Liang.

[2] 'Naughty fours' - A child, usually around the age of 4, who drives his/her parents mad by frequently acting out.

[3] The 'You' in this case is impolite.

[TL/N: So this chapter was as long as two shorter chapters of TM. q.q Hope you all enjoyed it xD Also, the last few lines were intentionally left neutral to match the raws.]