Chapter 73

Chapter 73

<Isn’t this obviously Gil Bo-young?>

<I’d bet my wrist that it’s Gil Bo-young. One hundred percent.>

<Exactly. If it wasn’t her, she would’ve sued someone or made a huge fuss already. But she’s stayed quiet for almost a week. It’s definitely her.>

<I always knew Gil Bo-young was like that. She was already wild at such a young age. That’s why she can act so well.>

Han Hye-joo was sitting in a hair salon getting her hair done while reading comments under an online news article on her laptop.

Her brows instantly drew together.

“These crazy bastards! They don’t even know the truth, yet they’re running their mouths like that?!”

The hairdresser flinched at the sudden curse and took a step back from Han Hye-joo.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong all of a sudden? Did I do something?”

Only then did Han Hye-joo come back to her senses.

Looking at the hairdresser’s wounded expression through the mirror, she gave her an apologetic look.

“Ah, sorry. I was reading some comments online... Ahem.”

The hairdresser glanced at Han Hye-joo’s laptop screen.

“Ah... Gil Bo-young... You know what they say, it’s always the quiet ones. I never thought Bo-young would be involved with a sponsor. And they say it happened when she was still in high school?”

Han Hye-joo’s expression immediately hardened again.

“Ha... Unnie, you seem completely convinced that ‘Miss B’ in this article is Gil Bo-young.”

She tilted her head slightly, openly showing her displeasure.

Overwhelmed by Han Hye-joo’s gaze, the hairdresser lowered her eyes.

“No... It’s just that everyone else keeps saying it’s Gil Bo-young, so I thought that was true. Ahem...”

Han Hye-joo looked away from her and picked up her phone.

After thinking for a moment, she sent someone a text.

[It’s me, Han Hye-joo. Is Bo-young unnie... okay?]

A reply came shortly afterward.

[Bo-young noona is holding up well. Thank you for worrying about her. -Min Gi-baek-]

“Tch. I knew it.”

She had expected something like this.

Sure enough, Gi-baek was acting as though he were Gil Bo-young’s guardian.

Han Hye-joo pouted like a sulking child.

She sent another message.

[Where are you? I’d like to see you for a moment.]

A reply arrived soon after.

[Where do you think an office worker would be on a weekday afternoon? I’m working right now.]

“Ah, right... the company...”

It seemed Han Hye-joo had only just remembered that Gi-baek was an ordinary office worker.

She quickly sent another message.

[Then I’ll come to your company and talk to Uncle. Let’s meet for a bit.]

A short while later, a reply arrived.

[Let’s meet after work. 7 p.m., coffee shop near Sinsa Station.]

Han Hye-joo narrowed her eyes slightly before quickly checking the time.

It was 2:30 p.m.

“Ah... I hate waiting...”

Despite her annoyed tone, a smile slowly appeared on her lips.

The coffee shop in front of the company was usually crowded, but around the time people got off work, it actually became fairly quiet.

The second floor also had partitions between every table, giving customers some privacy.

As I stepped onto the second floor, I called Han Hye-joo.

A phone began vibrating near a window seat in the corner.

Then a head suddenly popped out from behind the partition.

It was Han Hye-joo.

“You must have gotten here pretty early.”

I glanced at the cup in front of her.

It was already half empty.

“Well... I just happened to have some time to spare... Ahem.”

Judging by the situation, she had probably had nothing better to do and had been sitting here for quite a while.

I had continued keeping in touch with Han Hye-joo until recently because of promotional work related to Director Park Jun-beom’s movie.

“So, what did you want to see me about?”

“What else would it be? It’s about Bo-young unnie. What exactly happened? No, more importantly, what is Bo-young unnie planning to do? Do you actually have a way to deal with this?”

The questions poured out before I could even finish speaking.

She seemed extremely frustrated by the situation.

Normally, she acted as though she couldn’t stand Gil Bo-young.

But when something like this happened, it seemed she was genuinely worried after all.

“If you’re that worried, why didn’t you just contact Bo-young noona yourself?”

“W-Who said I was worried...? Ahem.”

Embarrassed, Han Hye-joo picked up the coffee in front of her and took a sip.

Seeing her reaction, I couldn’t help chuckling.

“Don’t worry. We’re already working on solving it.”

“Then... I guess that’s good.”

After thinking for a moment, I continued.

“Actually, Bo-young noona already told me. She told me why she left her previous agency... and she also told me that you knew what happened.”

Han Hye-joo’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Bo-young unnie... told you about that herself?”

Instead of answering, I simply nodded.

“Ha... Bo-young unnie really must rely on you a lot, Gi-baek. I can’t believe she actually told you about that...”

I looked at her.

“During that Section TV interview, Hye-joo, you looked like you genuinely respected and supported Bo-young noona.”

I paused.

“So why do you always treat her so badly whenever you meet her in private?”

Han Hye-joo’s expression darkened.

She remained silent for a while before finally speaking.

“You’re right. There was a time when I really liked Bo-young unnie and followed her everywhere.”

She gave a bitter smile.

“Actually, if you really think about it, Bo-young unnie was the reason I became an actress in the first place. That was also why I joined the same agency she was in...”

Han Hye-joo began explaining.

She had admired Gil Bo-young more than anyone.

That was exactly why she hated seeing Gil Bo-young unable to refuse the requests of Hwang Myeong-ho, the CEO of her former agency, and being dragged around to drinking establishments while she was still a minor.

Han Hye-joo had even offered to report everything to the police on Gil Bo-young’s behalf.

But instead, Gil Bo-young began distancing herself from Han Hye-joo.

Han Hye-joo had wanted to expose everything herself.

However, she knew that revealing such a thing without the victim’s permission wasn’t right.

So all she could do was watch in frustration.

Then Gil Bo-young gave up the acting career she loved so much.

She announced an indefinite retirement and fled the entertainment industry as if she were running away.

Han Hye-joo had been furious.

She thought Gil Bo-young was cowardly.

And foolish.

After that, whenever she happened to meet Gil Bo-young, those old emotions came rushing back.

Before she knew it, she would pick fights with her or make harsh remarks for no real reason.

Han Hye-joo lowered her gaze.

“Honestly, I wish Bo-young unnie would get angry at me.”

Her voice became softer.

“But Bo-young unnie always avoids me instead.”

She stared down into her coffee.

“I don’t even know how to explain these feelings myself.”

A bitter expression remained on Han Hye-joo’s face after she finished speaking.

I had always thought her emotions were rather simple.

But apparently, they were far more complicated than I had imagined.

And strangely enough, I felt like I could understand her feelings a little.

“It seems like the two of you have something you’ll need to properly talk through sooner or later...”

Three days later.

“Producer Min, your guess was right. The person who gave Reporter Go Chang-sik the information about Gil Bo-young was Hwang Myeong-ho, the CEO of her former agency.”

Reporter Gu Yang-mo called me with the news.

Apparently, he had managed to obtain the original recording of the conversation from when Reporter Go Chang-sik first received the tip.

“We’ll need to listen to the recording ourselves. Let’s meet and talk.”

And so, Gu Yang-mo and I decided to meet at the officetel that served both as Mun Chang-su’s home and office.

When I arrived, I noticed something that hadn’t been there before.

A silver metal sign had been attached beside the door.

[Starlight Entertainment]

It was nothing more than a simple sign.

Yet the moment I saw it, I felt strangely proud.

Without realizing it, my shoulders straightened a little.

I rang the bell.

Instead of Mun Chang-su, Ma Sang-hee opened the door.

Over the past few days, the officetel had completely changed.

All of Mun Chang-su’s personal belongings had been removed, and the entire place had been transformed into a proper office.

“Then where’s Chang-su?”

“He decided to stay at my place with me.”

“Ah... That worked out nicely. Then where is he right now?”

“Do-yoon has a shoot today, so he went out of town with him. By the way, that reporter you mentioned...”

“Ah, he’ll come directly here.”

Ma Sang-hee nodded.

A troubled expression appeared on her face.

“When I first heard about it from Chang-su, I kept thinking there was no way... But to think the informant really was the CEO of Bo-young’s former agency...”

She sighed.

“Bo-young is pretending to be calm on the outside, but I think she’s pretty badly shaken. What kind of grudge could make him go this far...? Ha...”

“I know... I haven’t heard all the details yet either. We should listen to the recording first.”

My expression turned serious.

“But now that things have reached this point, I don’t think we should settle for something as simple as a defamation case.”

“Of course not. We’re going to take every legal measure available to us.”

The atmosphere had become heavy.

Perhaps wanting to change the mood, Ma Sang-hee brought over a folder from her desk.

“Ah, right. Our corporate business registration certificate came out today.”

She opened the folder and showed it to me.

“No one else has seen it yet, so you’re the first one, Gi-baek.”

“Oh, really? Congratulations.”

I smiled.

“Then you’re officially CEO Ma now. Haha.”

“Why are you embarrassing me like that?”

She smiled shyly.

“Anyway, all of this was possible because of you, Gi-baek. Thank you. Really.”

“What are you talking about?”

I shook my head.

“From what I’ve seen of Na-hyun, Do-yoon, and Gi-chan, I think all three of them are going to grow tremendously within the next few years.”

I looked at her seriously.

“You need to take good care of them. Those kids have stayed with you all this time because they trust you, Mana... no, CEO Ma.”

At that moment...

Ding-dong.

The doorbell echoed through the officetel.

“Looks like he’s here. I’ll get it.”

Reporter Gu Yang-mo entered the officetel.

The moment he came inside, his gaze landed on the photographs hanging side by side along one wall.

Mun Hyeon-bin.

Gil Bo-young.

Seong Na-hyun.

Kim Do-yoon.

Seol Gi-chan.

Gu Yang-mo looked genuinely surprised.

“What the hell? Mun Hyeon-bin is here too?”

“Didn’t I tell you last time?”

“You didn’t! You should’ve told me something like this earlier...”

Then his attention shifted to the younger actors.

“Wait a second... Aren’t these the kids who recently played the younger versions of the leads in the movie Splendid Vacation? Their names were...”

“Seong Na-hyun, Kim Do-yoon, and Seol Gi-chan.”

Ma Sang-hee answered for him.

Only then did Gu Yang-mo turn toward her.

“Hello. Nice to meet you.”

She bowed politely.

“I’m Ma Sang-hee, CEO of Starlight Entertainment.”

Gu Yang-mo looked somewhat flustered.

“Ah, you’re the CEO... You look so young that I almost made a mistake. Haha...”

“I’m actually not that old.”

Ma Sang-hee calmly fired back.

Gu Yang-mo looked around the office again.

“Still, this agency is much stronger than I expected. You’ve got Mun Hyeon-bin and Gil Bo-young, and those kids have been getting a lot of attention lately too.”

He nodded appreciatively.

“At this point, you could probably compete with a decent mid-sized agency.”

“Thank you.”

Ma Sang-hee smiled politely.

“With what happened to Bo-young this time, and with our future activities as well, I hope we can have a good relationship.”

She continued smoothly.

“Since we’ve gotten to know each other like this, please write some good articles about our actors in the future too.”

With the introductions between Ma Sang-hee and Gu Yang-mo finished, we finally began discussing the recording.

“As it turns out, that bastard Go Chang-sik and Hwang Myeong-ho are distant relatives. Something like second cousins several times removed.”

Gu Yang-mo clicked his tongue.

“Seriously, does anything in this country work without personal connections or blood relations? Heh.”

“By the way, how did you even get this recording?”

Gu Yang-mo grinned.

“I stole it.”

Whether he was joking or serious, he simply raised the corner of his mouth and refused to explain any further.

I decided that ignorance was probably safer and didn’t ask again.

Gu Yang-mo took out the MP3 player he had brought.

His expression became serious.

“You’ll understand once you hear it, but these guys are absolute scum.”

He placed his thumb over the play button.

“They’re like drowning men trying to drag someone else down with them.”

His eyes narrowed.

“If I’m going down, you’re going down too. I won’t stand by and watch you succeed.”

Click.

Gu Yang-mo pressed the play button on the MP3 player.