Chapter 127: Betrayal and New Beginnings

After sending Cheon Ji-young to Pyeongchang-dong, I headed straight to the Myeong-dong office.

The atmosphere in the car was stiff. Manager Ma and everyone else didn’t dare to say a word to me until we arrived at the office.

‘Am I just pushing myself too hard?’

My chest felt tight, so I closed my eyes.

From Eva’s problems to Cheon Ji-young’s situation.

“We’ve arrived.”

It was Manager Ma who broke the silence in the office.

Opening my eyes, I saw Lee Sang-geun dragging a man into the office.

Seeing Bae Kwang-sik being dragged in like a dog, bleeding and all, I felt a bit of relief.

“Alright.”

I could see the tension in Lee Sang-geun and the people behind him.

“I really miss Dong-soo hyung at times like this.”

Park Dong-soo always took care of my grandmother in Busan and paid attention to her without me even asking.

Lee Sang-geun quietly lowered his head.

But I didn’t want to blame him. It’s my fault for not paying attention to Ji-young.

“You’re Bae Kwang-sik, right?”

Bae Kwang-sik, who was kneeling on the floor, looked at me in surprise.

“Yes?”

“Why do you think you were brought here?”

Bae Kwang-sik hesitated before answering.

“I don’t know.”

“People’s hearts are so fickle. They treat those weaker than them like slaves, but become endlessly weak when threatened by someone stronger.”

“……”

Bae Kwang-sik was still rolling his eyes, seemingly not understanding why he had been brought here.

“Director Lee.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“No problem if I kill him, right?”

“No, it doesn’t matter.”

“No problems with the company? Anyone involved, or anyone backing him? No one like that?”

At my words, not only Bae Kwang-sik but also the man standing near Lee Sang-geun’s face turned pale.

What was his name again? I remember seeing him once.

As I stared intently at him, Lee Sang-geun stepped forward.

“He’s a director who manages the singers appearing at the venues. He used to be under Dong-soo hyung. Since he often meets with entertainment agencies, he knows Bae Kwang-sik, but there’s no special relationship.”

“Hello, Boss. I’m Baek Chang-ho.”

Baek Chang-ho bowed 90 degrees, his face filled with nervousness.

“Are you close to Bae Kwang-sik?”

“I’ve had a few drinks with him regarding singer appearances. That’s about it.”

“I see.”

Baek Chang-ho pleaded with me, his face desperate.

“I’ll take care of it myself. Please trust me, Boss. We have nothing to do with this.”

I chuckled a little.

This whole situation felt like a comedy.

As I smiled, the atmosphere became even colder.

“What do you mean, ‘take care of it’?”

“I’ll make sure he can never set foot in this industry again. If that’s not enough, I’ll do anything.”

He seemed ready to kill him with his own hands to prove he had nothing to do with Bae Kwang-sik.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. Please spare me.”

Realizing the situation, Bae Kwang-sik knelt and started begging.

“What are you sorry for?”

“I don’t know. If I’ve done anything wrong to you, Boss, I’m sorry for everything.”

Bae Kwang-sik’s face was covered in blood and tears.

I stared at him blankly before letting out a sigh.

“You know Cheon Ji-young, right?”

“Yes?”

“A trainee in your company. You don’t know Cheon Ji-young?”

“Ah, yes. Cheon Ji-young.”

“Then you know why you were brought here, right?”

Bae Kwang-sik hesitated to answer.

“Don’t you know?”

“No, I know.”

Eventually, Bae Kwang-sik started telling me about what he had done to Cheon Ji-young.

“I took money promising to debut her. Then I postponed her debut and debuted another team. And I made her do the chores for the debuted idols.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, that’s all.”

“If you’re lying, you’re really dead. Is there really nothing else?”

Bae Kwang-sik, who met my eyes, lowered his head.

“Actually… I offered her a sponsorship. But Ji-young refused…”

I sighed involuntarily.

“That’s it?”

“Yes. That’s really it. This kind of thing is common in this industry. You endure it and debut and become a singer. It’s not like I treated Ji-young particularly badly…”

Bae Kwang-sik made excuses, but his words weren’t worth listening to.

“Who did you hear from?”

“…….”

Bae Kwang-sik didn’t answer.

He still hasn’t come to his senses.

Manager Ma, receiving my gaze, kicked Bae Kwang-sik in the face.

“Kugh!”

Bae Kwang-sik clutched his chin and rolled on the floor.

And soon, he was dragged away like an object.

“Are you scared of that bastard? Aren’t you scared of me?”

“No, it’s Kim Hyeon-jik, the eldest son of Hyunhwa Group.”

“Hyunhwa Group?”

“Yes.”

If it’s Hyunhwa Group, is it the defense industry?

If he reached out without knowing Ji-young’s background, it’s fortunate, but if he did it knowingly, it becomes troublesome.

Let’s deal with that later.

“Director Lee.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Make sure he can never set foot in this industry again.”

“Understood.”

Looking at Baek Chang-ho next to me, I said.

“You said you’re Director Baek?”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Do you have any entertainment agencies that you directly manage?”

“I have a few. They’re not very big, but…”

“It’s not difficult to debut a female singer, right? No appearances in adult entertainment venues, and mainly activities on broadcasting stations.”

“Of course, it’s possible. I’ll do my best.”

“Alright. Clean up now.”

Baek Chang-ho and the gang members dragged Bae Kwang-sik out.

“Director Lee.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“I can trust you, right?”

It wasn’t Lee Sang-geun’s fault, but I asked to give him a sense of alertness.

Lee Sang-geun lowered his head with a stiff face.

“Yes, I’ll pay attention. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll trust you. Go now.”

Silence filled the office after everyone left.

“Let’s go too.”

“Yes, Boss.”

I headed straight to the Pyeongchang-dong house.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a big deal, but the thought that I had been careless left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Brother!”

Cheon Ji-young was waiting for me in the living room, looking restless.

“Where’s Grandfather?”

“He’s sleeping.”

“Let’s go to my room first.”

“Okay.”

Since it wasn’t a conversation to be had in the living room, I took her up to my room.

“Sit there.”

Cheon Ji-young sat on the chair without a word.

“Ji-young.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you really want to be a singer?”

“Yeah. I want to.”

The answer came out immediately.

I shook my head.

“Why do you still want to be a singer even after being treated like that? If you couldn’t handle it yourself, you could have told me or Grandfather, or even asked Chief Ha for help, right?”

“…….”

“Are you still sorry to me?”

“It’s not that…”

She said it wasn’t, but her expression said otherwise.

“I told you, you don’t need to be sorry. I said I’m okay, so it’s over. Why do you need to act like a criminal? It happened before you were even born.”

“…….”

Cheon Ji-young lowered her head.

There’s no way she doesn’t know that herself.

It’s just that her guilt is as great as her affection for me.

“Please. I wish you would treat me comfortably, at least. Otherwise, I’ll really be alone.”

I don’t know how much longer Grandfather and Grandmother will live. You can’t beat time.

If that happens, Cheon Ji-young will be the only family left to me.

“Okay.”

I hoped she would return to her cheerful self.

Smiling a real smile, not a fake one.

“You’ll be contacted soon. You can move to another company and prepare for your debut. But no stage performances at night.”

At those words, Ji-young looked up in surprise.

“What?”

“It’s not a big company, but there won’t be any problems debuting you. After that, it’s up to you. I can help you until your debut. Do you need more help?”

“No, no.”

“I can help you more.”

“No. I want to succeed with my own skills.”

“Okay. Then I’ll help you until your debut.”

“Thank you. Brother.”

Only then did Ji-young smile.

“Are you that happy?”

“Yeah. As long as I can be a singer.”

“You should have said so from the beginning. No, it’s my fault for not paying attention.”

“No, what are you talking about.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You told me not to be sorry to you.”

“That’s right.”

Cheon Ji-young playfully glared at me. I chuckled.

It was a comfortable smile that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Being a singer will be much harder than you think.”

“I know. I’m prepared.”

“Okay, you’ll do well.”

After that, we talked for a long time about what we had missed.

After the sun set, I turned around after confirming that the car carrying Ji-young was moving away.

“Please thoroughly investigate and report on how the Cheon Su-han family is doing. And let’s also investigate Hyunhwa Group.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll receive the report on Hyunhwa Group after returning from Russia, so please investigate thoroughly. For now, look into Cheon Su-han first.”

There’s no way a chaebol like Hyunhwa Group wouldn’t know Ji-young’s identity.

A five-term National Assembly member and the granddaughter of Cheontae Mountain.

Even if her maternal family has collapsed now, would a large company like Hyunhwa Group, which grew with the support of the government, not know that?

Of course, it’s possible that the eldest son didn’t know because he’s a rascal.

But it didn’t matter whether he did it knowingly or unknowingly.

‘Talking about sponsorships.’

It was time for him to pay the price for touching my family without knowing his place.

Several days passed.

Cheon Ji-young’s problem was quickly resolved.

I received a report that she had moved to another agency and was preparing for her debut with various support.

On the way to the airport to leave for Russia.

I was talking to Han Gyeong-yeong.

“Stabilize Jungwoo Group quickly.”

“Alright. When are you coming back?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to go and see.”

“You really live a busy life.”

Han Gyeong-yeong was the only person besides my friends who could speak to me without formality.

“Come back soon. I’m bored.”

“Should I give you some work to do so you won’t be bored?”

“No thanks. I already have enough to do.”

I heard that the unions were rising up because of the sale of several companies, causing a headache.

“Well, you can’t do anything if you’re worried about the unions. I told Vice President Kim Byung-woo to handle it. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have to step in.”

While experiencing the IMF, the originally strong unions were becoming even stronger.

The law changed to be unfavorable to workers, and the more it did, the louder the workers shouted.

‘What did we do so wrong!’

But their cries were not even reported by a single media outlet.

All the media were on the side of the chaebols.

No one listened to the desperate cries of the workers.

“Handle it yourself. But never be dragged around by them. Because from then on, you’ll be watching their every move. If I were going to be mindful of the unions, I wouldn’t have spent money on delisting.”

Good and evil do not exist.

The good from the company’s perspective and the good from the union’s perspective are different.

They’re just doing their best for their own interests.

Receiving Han Gyeong-yeong’s farewell, the plane took off.

Arriving at Moscow Airport, there was a long entry procedure even though I came on a private jet.

It was definitely a different atmosphere than other countries.

“Welcome. I’m Igor.”

The mercenaries sent by Eric were waiting at the airport. Most of them were Russian mercenaries.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Mu-hyeok.”

“Yes, Boss.”

After a brief greeting, I came out of the airport.

The heavily armed mercenaries were on guard.

“Is gun ownership legal in Russia?”

“No, it is not.”

“But they’re openly armed like that?”

“It’s illegal, but this is Russia. Rocket launchers fly around during mafia fights, too.”

Igor said with a smile, but that one word made me realize the reality of Russia.

“Who are we meeting with?”

In Russia, where I have no base, I needed someone to connect me to Putin in order to approach him.

“Boris Berezovsky. One of the oligarchs.”

Oligarchs.

A new privileged class that began to seize control of the Russian economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

They didn’t hesitate to use the Red Mafia to kill those who opposed them, and they made a huge contribution to Yeltsin’s re-election as Yeltsin’s strongest supporter.

Thanks to that, they were a group that wielded absolute power in Russia.

“Let’s get going.”

The car carrying me, guarded by the mercenaries, began to move.

‘At this time, Putin was the director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), right?’

The FSB was the name that the notorious KGB of the Soviet era changed to when Russia became Russia.

“What kind of person is Berezovsky?”

At my question, Igor, who was sitting in front, turned around.

“Um… He’s a difficult person to describe in one word. If he opens his heart, he gives endlessly to that person. But if someone gets in his way, he doesn’t leave them alone. He completely buries obstructive figures in society. Or kills them.”