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Chapter 149: Secretstargem (4)

Lee Ju-Yung greeted Cherry Blossom at the bottom of the stairs. "Congratulations, girls!"

"Thank you, unnie."

"It was a close call today."

Having maintained the first place for eight weeks, the gap between them and the second and third places had significantly narrowed to about 500 votes. The next expected record of maintaining first place for nine consecutive weeks was hanging by a thread.

"Let\'s quickly head to the dressing room, pack our things, and head to the dorm. You guys need to rest a bit today to handle tomorrow\'s schedule," Lee Ju-Yung said as she took care of Cherry Blossom and led the way.

After packing our belongings in the dressing room, we headed straight to the underground parking lot.

On our way to the van parked in row A, Sae-Ri started to hop excitedly with the trophy in her hand.

"We\'re first place again! We won it again!"

Seeing the excited Sae-Ri, Yang Eun-Bi shook her head. "When will she ever grow up?"

Anyone would think she was at least 30 looking at the way she lamented over Sae-Ri when she was only 21.

Sae-Ri imitated the pirouette movement of the ballerina and gracefully turned before approaching me slowly. Then she stopped right in front of me and looked up at me with her eyes wide open.

"Oppa. If we win first place again, can we go down to my hometown?"

"Your hometown? Why would you go to your hometown? Is there something going on?"

Sae-Ri\'s hometown was in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province and her family ran a large orchard there.

When I asked if something was wrong, Sae-Ri simply pulled out her phone and showed me a photo. In the photo, a banner was hung in a place that looked like a village hall with a group of people who looked alike gathered beneath it.

[Pride of the Kim family of Andong! Kim Sae-Ri! First place in music broadcast!]

About 30 relatives were smiling and gathered around Sae-Ri\'s serious-looking grandfather and kind-looking grandmother along with Sae-Ri\'s dad and mom who looked just like her.

"Every time I win first place, my grandparents hang a new banner in the village hall. They said if I win first place for nine consecutive weeks, they\'ll throw a village feast. I want to surprise my grandparents with a party."

Yang Eun-Bi joined in as Sae-Ri\'s excitement filled the air. "Your grandparents must really adore you, huh?"

"Yeah, unnie. I told you that my grandparents raised me when I was young, right? My parents were always busy picking apples."

After finishing talking with Eun-Bi, Sae-Ri turned to me with pleading eyes with her hands clasped together.

"So Yoon-Ho oppa. Let\'s go to my hometown!"

Yang Eun-Bi, Eun-Ah, and even Woo Yeon-Hee joined in Sae-Ri\'s request.

"Yes, oppa. Let\'s go visit Sae-Ri\'s home."

"I agree too."

"Sae-Ri wants to go so bad. Let\'s make her wish come true. Okay. Yoon-Ho oppa?"

I wasn\'t sure if it would be possible with our tight schedule, but I decided to talk to the company about it. After all, Cherry Blossom had been following busy schedules without any breaks.

"Alright. I\'ll talk to the company. But we need to win first place next week too, okay?"

"Yay~!"

Sae-Ri wiggled her hips in excitement.

"But it\'s not confirmed yet, so don\'t call home about it until later."

"Yes, sir~."

The excited Sae-Ri saluted and then ran energetically toward the van.

As Eun-Bi and Eun-Ah became excited as well and caused a commotion, Woo Yeon-Hee let out a sigh and nagged, "Girls, you might get hurt running around like that! Be careful!"

Just as Woo Yeon-Hee was about to follow them, I grabbed her by the sleeves to stop her.

"What is it, oppa?"

"Give me the note you received earlier."

Woo Yeon-Hee\'s voice began to tremble with panic. "Huh? What, what did I receive?"

"The note Park Hyun-Woo handed over to you on stage. I saw it all, so don\'t play dumb."

"No, that, that\'s..."

"It\'s okay. You trust me, right?"

Finally, Woo Yeon-Hee handed over the note she had kept on her wrist after much hesitation.

"I\'m sorry, oppa."

The moment I saw the note, I could understand why she tried to hide it.

[Don\'t tell the talent agent or the company, and come with Eun-Bi to where I tell you. Tonight at 11 p.m. Club BLUE. VIP Room 7. Don\'t come through the club entrance. Talk to \'Manager Kang\' at the hotel desk and you\'ll be guided accordingly. (PS. If you don\'t come, the photo taken with our members will be passed to the reporters.)]

As I read the note, numerous thoughts raced through my mind.

\'How lightly are they regarding our company and talent agents to resort to such ridiculous threats?\'

Celebrities belonging to powerful companies like Ace Entertainment, TK Entertainment, and even SJ Entertainment rarely got shaken up by big scandals. They could remain bold even after causing trouble because they believed in their company\'s capability to handle anything for them.

However, Woo Yeon-Hee was afraid to leave this incident for the company to handle because the opposing company was bigger than ours.

Watching the nervous Woo Yeon-Hee, I made a promise to myself—that from now on, I would be a strong support and a shield for Cherry Blossom against any storm.

"You were planning to handle this by yourself?"

"...No."

"Then?"

Woo Yeon-Hee bowed her head once more with an apologetic look. "Actually, I couldn\'t think of anything. I was planning to think it over on the way to the dorm. I\'m sorry."

"The girls are looking. Lift your head."

"Oh, right."

I whispered in a voice only Woo Yeon-Hee could hear, "I\'m a bit disappointed in you, Yeon-Hee. Didn\'t you see me as a helpful figure who\'d do anything for you? Could it be that you don\'t trust me?"

"I\'m sorry. It\'s not that I don\'t trust you, oppa. I was just worried you might get in trouble because of me..."

"So it\'s okay if you or Eun-Bi get in trouble instead? Don\'t you realize that\'s even more serious?"

"I\'m sorry."

"It\'s okay as long as you understand. But always tell me first in cases like this. I can take care of the problem for you that way."

"Okay. I\'ll always tell you what\'s going on from now on, oppa."

"From here on out, I\'ll take care of everything. So just leave it to me and get some rest at the dorm. Taking care of a situation like this is nothing for me."

When I confidently said with a smile, Woo Yeon-Hee\'s face finally brightened up.

But under my calm demeanor, a volcano of anger was erupting.

***

Upon arriving at the dorm, I asked Woo Yeon-Hee for her phone.

"Can I take your phone with me? I\'ll need it for a day to take care of things."

Woo Yeon-Hee readily handed me her phone as she hardly contacted anyone other than her family.

"Alright, then. Rest up today and I\'ll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, oppa."

After ensuring Woo Yeon-Hee and the others safely entered the dorm, I headed straight to the company.

I called Kang Ji-Yung on the way, but she was out dealing with actor Jo Min-Sung\'s contract issues in Actor Division 1 and couldn\'t be reached.

Without hesitation, I went straight to find Lee Dong-Min and headed to the underground recording studio.

***

"Seon-Woo, can I listen to that section just now one more time?"

"Jong-Hoon hyung, please. Can we wrap it up for now? I want to sleep."

"Sleep? You slept yesterday too."

"Sleep is something you do every day, you know!"

Kim Jong-Hoon, who had previously caused a suicide scare, was currently staying at our company.

I did hear that Bang Seon-Woo was living together with him at his dorm, but it seemed they were always together even when composing.

"Wow. Jong-Hoon oppa. you\'re even worse than me," Jang Ye-Bin sniggered.

"Noona, you\'re the same. Do you know how many nights I couldn\'t sleep because of you and hyung nagging me?" Bang Seon-Woo grumbled.

Jang Ye-Bin retorted, "Oh, come on. You kept us up the night before last as well, didn\'t you?"

Lee Dong-Min intervened to stop their bickering and then stepped out of the recording studio.

"Ah, Yoon-Ho. Why aren\'t you coming in?"

"I need to discuss something about Cherry Blossom, Mr. Lee."

Lee Dong-Min frowned.

"What is it this time? Has Eun-Yung still not deleted the photo on her account?"

"Eun-Yung is now insisting she doesn\'t even have a secret Instargem account."

"What? Then could the reporter have been mistaken?"

"Eun-Yung lying isn\'t anything new. She\'s just saying she doesn\'t have one when she does."

Lee Dong-Min scratched his head out of frustration.

"So what do we do now?"

"You know that Park Hyun-Woo and Eun-Yung are dating, right?"

"Of course."

"I\'ll pressure that guy to find out Eun-Yung\'s secret account."

Lee Dong-Min\'s eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you think he\'d reveal his girlfriend\'s secret account? That could expose his own private life as well."

I pulled out a note Woo Yeon-Hee received from my right pocket.

After reading the note containing Park Hyun-Woo\'s threats, Lee Dong-Min cursed in a loud voice.

"Fuck. Have these bastards lost their minds?"

I egged on the fuming Lee Dong-Min.

"Why don\'t we use this opportunity to clean house?"

"Do you think that\'s possible? The emotional side of me wants to sue them immediately. But if they insist it was a joke, we might end up being forced to apologize instead."

"I\'ll handle it myself."

After a moment of thought, Lee Dong-Min shook his head.

"No, why should you do this alone? Let\'s go together."

Lee Dong-Min was a good person—and that was why he wouldn\'t be much help right now. After all, dealing with these kinds of scum didn\'t require a good person.

"Please, Mr. Lee. I\'m asking you to let me do it alone."

"Yoon-Ho. I understand how capable you are, but you can\'t handle this alone. What if it comes down to a fight with their guards?"

"Don\'t worry. You know I can fight.."

Even though Lee Dong-Min had seen my capabilities at Uncle Music, he firmly shook his head.

"No. No matter how I think about it, that\'s not right. Photos from drinking parties? Just let them do whatever they want with it! We can think of it as catching a cold once."

Lee Dong-Min\'s words felt reassuring, but I had no intention of letting Park Hyun-Woo, who orchestrated this scheme, off the hook. Not even a bit.

Seeing my determined expression, Lee Dong-Min stomped his feet in frustration.

"You might not know this, but Club BLUE is in cahoots with the police. They are extremely hard to deal with."

I smiled and replied, "There\'s a way."

I roughly knew about the corrupt dealings of Club BLUE\'s executive director and president, and also which police officer they had connections with. I was confident I could escape any situation unscathed.

Eventually, Lee Dong-Min gave up trying to persuade me as he saw my firm and determined expression.

Lee Dong-Min handed me his personal card for the payment. "Alright. Entering Club BLUE\'s VIP room requires at least 5 million won up front. Here, use my card. If anything happens, call me right away."

At that moment, the door to the recording studio opened and Kim Jong-Hoon appeared with chopsticks in his mouth.

"I don\'t know exactly what\'s going on, but not just anyone can enter Club BLUE\'s VIP rooms. After the Choi Jun-Woo incident, they changed their policy. If your identity isn\'t verified, no amount of money can get you in."

"Is that so?"

Kim Jong-Hoon, who had been drowning in alcohol at Club BLUE until recently, shared what he knew.

I spoke informally with him now that we were friends. "Jong-Hoon, y-y-you didn\'t cause any trouble there, did you?"

"Nah, man."

He mentioned he\'d booked a VIP room just to drink alone without any women or drugs involved.

\'Phew. What a relief.\'

Then, Kim Jong-Hoon offered his help. "I\'m also a VIP there, so let\'s go together. I\'m not sure what it\'s about but I\'m glad I can help you with something."

It seemed I might need a bit of help after all.

Lee Dong-Min sighed and warned us. "Be careful."

I nodded at Lee Dong-Min\'s words.

From the moment I saw the note, the photo on Jang Eun-Yung\'s account was the least of my concerns.

\'Using a photo as a weapon and resorting to blackmail?\'

This wasn\'t just deviance but a crime. If they\'d stooped to such tactics, I saw no reason to hold back any longer either.

I planned to use this opportunity not only to crush Park Hyun-Woo of ZIZAK but also Jang Eun-Yung, who was undoubtedly entangled in this mess.

\'Park Hyun-Woo and Jang Eun-Yung. Today is the day I end you two.\'