Payback

“Myeongshin wasn’t originally like that.”

I turned my cold eyes to the manager’s faint sigh. He met my gaze and made excuses on behalf of Myeongshin.

“He wasn’t the kind of kid who meddled with those terrible things… There were dirty rumors circulating that he kept losing his roles, and that he didn’t even try to keep up with competing actors or his agency. Later, it was covered a few times in the media. Things kept going wrong like that, so the kid started becoming more spiteful… It was also my fault for not being able to cheer him up…”

“People do not change.” 

As I cut off his words, the manager raised his dazed eyes. I smiled at him again. Oddly enough, the smile lasted.

“It’s his nature originally.”

Selfishness that tells the person with a knife who they will kill other than themselves; It was because he had no conscience to report to the police in the first place. The current Myeongshin was the one who had not changed. He only knew himself and didn’t care if someone really gets stabbed or raped. Just like I hadn’t changed. But there was still a sense of guilt in the manager’s eyes. People are amazing. The extent to which they felt guilt was all different.

“Tell me. Do all celebrities have sponsors?”

“It’s not like that but…”

“Or do you have to have money to be successful?”

Seeing him closing his mouth, I asked him one last time.

“Among the sponsors, is there anyone else like Chairman Kim?” 

“… No.”

“Then leave it alone. Myeongshin chose the quickest but worst path, and he did it because he wanted it.”

It was uncomfortable to give a piece of advice to an older man. Especially when the other person listens to it without getting angry. The type of person who knew how to reflect on himself and listened to others. Maybe Myeongshin might have felt the same discomfort as me from the manager?

“If the manager didn’t warn me about Chairman Kim, was it because you thought I wasn’t really going to get revenge?” 

He was silent for a moment, then nodded his head.

“Yes. And I believed that your goals would change as you worked. Rather than bringing someone down, I wanted you to develop and rise higher. Then the revenge will be delayed by itself. Whew, but now it’s kinda scary. I think you’re really going to focus on revenge while neglecting yourself.”

A sad light flashed in the manager’s eyes.

“Of course, you must be thinking that way now. Still, you can’t really know people and can’t make assumptions about the future. And also.” 

The manager, who stopped talking, emphasized once more.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“I just brushed past him.”

Besides, I didn’t have anyone precious for anyone to threaten me with. I swallowed those additional words, but the manager’s anxiety did not diminish. 

“Did you just make eye contact? Did you hear anything strange?”

I declined, and then the manager sighed.

“Chairman Kim doesn’t like when someone looks directly at him. He thinks it’s defiance. It may not sound like a big deal, but even if he gets in a bad mood or is dissatisfied with something, he will make you suffer in this industry no matter what, he’s very difficult to please. Come to think of it, Myeongshin is really…”

The manager shook his head. 

“I wonder how he can get along with that old man.”

Additionally, he was also aiming for Director Yoon. Then I suddenly remembered. Maybe even Chairman Kim knew that Myeongshin was aiming for Director Yoon. They seem to be more like partners rather than lovers. Someone who sucks his dick and supplies the victims of rape. That’s why Myeongshin might think that if he gets more influence in the entertainment industry, the supply of offerings will be easier.

Did the madman know all of this? Of course he did. That’s probably why he might hate Chairman Kim. For the madman, the ‘offering’ was the company’s property. That’s why, while trying to beat Chairman Kim, he was also trying to bring down Myeongshin. And the reason he was willing to help me, someone whom he had just met.

Suddenly, it felt like things were getting better. Then the strange thing was Myeongshin… Did he think Director Yoon didn’t know who he was? From a company executive’s point of view, it’s obvious that they would reject it. By still trying to seduce him, it’s unusually stupid of that punk. 

“Why is Myeongshin looking for Director Yoon?”

“Hm? That’s probably because of the drama that was mentioned before. Our company owns the copyright, so in order to win the role…”

“I don’t think Director Yoon wouldn’t know about Myeongshin’s sponsor. And what Myeongshin is doing by hanging around the trainees.”

The manager’s face hardened at what I said. I was sure, Myeongshin was using those aspiring celebrities as the rape victims. 

“Of course, Myeongshin would think that Director Yoon knew about him. So it’s strange, is he taking a hopeless approach to Director Yoon, who must hate him?”

“Perhaps he doesn’t think… it’s hopeless.”

When I stared at him with eyes asking for further explanation, the manager was unwilling to speak, but he finally opened my mouth.

“I don’t know much about this either. But rumor has it that the CEO of Dream has foretold Director Yoon as the next president. Director Yoon is a person who became a company executive purely through his own skills. Since he was in the U.S. branch, there was a lot of talk about him, and as soon as he came to Korea, they gave him the Director position. Of course, Director Yoon also has ambitions, but the problem is that the CEO’s power is too weak to push him. There are shareholders who are opposed to the CEO, and one person has recently joined this side.” 

I seemed to realize who it was even without hearing it. Chairman Kim, who has newly opened his eyes to the entertainment industry.

“I heard that Chairman Kim bought a lot of stocks. Director Yoon, well, he’s not going to be the CEO right now, but won’t there come a time when he needs Chairman Kim’s power someday? After all, there is no one other than the CEO to support Director Yoon. Even now, there are many shareholders who hate Director Yoon. So Myeongshin must have been aiming for that. Now, even if Director Yoon refuses, one day he will realize the reality and accept himself. Myeongshin is Chairman Kim’s after all.”

Shareholder… Suddenly, I remembered that the madman first introduced himself as a shareholder of Dream.

“It seems that the shares owned by Director Yoon are too little.” 

“Hm? I guess so. Well, I didn’t see Director Yoon’s name on the list of major shareholders.”

What? I felt something strange. I frowned and wracked my brain trying to remember, and something finally came to mind. Alice Labyrinth’s boss’s voice.

— Oh right, since Song Yoohan’s sponsor is that annoying Chairman Kim you will need a more powerful… Ah, right! Jay! You have Jay!

If Alice Labyrinth’s boss strongly recommended him, didn’t it mean that he would be competing with Chairman Kim to some extent? But if he was not a major shareholder… I guess I didn’t understand it and made a face. The manager asked, ‘Why?’ and I raised my confused eyes. 

“The person with the most power in Dream, or should I say shares, who has the most?”

However, the manager’s response was a bit strange.

“Ah, that’s a company, not a person.”

“A company?” 

“Mhm. So, in terms of people, the major shareholder of the company would also be the major shareholder of Dream.”

Why was this so complicated? As I grumbled inwardly, the manager added casually.

“Well, the company’s major shareholder must be the chairman who retired from active service. I heard they took care of inheritance recently… Well, the immediate family of the Han family will inherit it.”

Huh? Han family? 

———

On the way to the filming location, I got a text message from the madman. I had my eyes closed in a shaking car, so I checked the text only after I arrived at XX, two hours away from Seoul.

— Where are you?

After sending the name of the XX city as an answer, a text message came back after a while. 

— Report every time you go somewhere.

I stopped in my tracks. Seeing this, Hansoo, who was ahead of me, asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ I responded by taking a picture of the reply.

“An eerie text.”

— Why should I? 

Hansoo laughed and asked if it was a text message from the enemy, but I bowed my head at the sound of the vibration in my hand.

— Didn’t you want to be repaid? Don’t I need to know where you are

No matter how I looked at it, I felt like a debtor. Why is this bastard mad because he can’t pay for it?

— Guve it when I ask for it 

I thought he wouldn’t have anything to say if I did this, but the next text message still pissed me off.

— ‘Give’ you dumbass

I flew into a rage, but there was another text soon after.

— Write down what the thing you lie your head on when you sleep is called 

I should have ignored it and ended the chat here, but I couldn’t control my anger in front of him. I moved my finger in a hurry because I wanted to call him a dumbass.

— It’s a pullow, you dumbass

— Hahaha~ It’s ‘pillow’ okay, ‘pillow’

“Taemin, are you okay?” 

I looked up at the manager’s voice, and then I realized that I was huffing and puffing. Next to him, Hansoo was surprised and his eyes were wide open.

“… Manager.”

“Huh? What?”

I forgot that my voice was trembling because of the resentment, and I typed ‘pullow’ on my phone and held it out. 

“This… fuck, is this wrong?”

———

For the next few days, I kept getting text messages from the madman. In the end, it was always the same thing.

— Write down what … is called.