NOVPUBJo Seokhwan, chairman of New Like Group, couldn’t believe what was happening.
He never expected such information to land in his hands so suddenly.
"Seoyeon brought this?"
From what he had heard, she had briefly appeared at ShineMoon, which was run by JustX’s Low, recently.
Since she was a minor and had left quickly, there hadn't been much talk about it.
"But how did she get her hands on this information?"
"I don’t know either."
Sehee spoke sharply, making it clear that he shouldn’t pry further.
At that, Jo Seokhwan, who had been preparing to ask more questions, shut his mouth with a slight flinch.
"She’s been in a bad mood lately."
On top of that, she clearly wasn’t happy about anyone trying to involve Seoyeon in “business matters.”
It was the same during Kyungsung Lady, and now, there was also the issue of adapting a web novel into a drama.
She must not have liked how New Like Group was trying to profit off Seoyeon.
That was why Jo Seokhwan had no choice but to be cautious around Sehee.
The very fact that she had mentioned Seoyeon’s name was an indirect way of saying, Handle this without letting it affect her.
"How she got it isn’t really important."
Right, that wasn’t the issue.
The important thing was that he now had this information in his hands.
"It matches the list we’ve been investigating... it’s real."
In truth, Jo Seokhwan had already been looking into ShineMoon.
There had been reports of corporate executives frequenting the place, including people from New Like and GH Group.
That was why he had wanted to uncover the details first.
Several journalists were already digging into the club, and if the scandal broke, New Like Group would undoubtedly be caught in the fallout.
He had to put a stop to it before that happened.
GH Group was probably working behind the scenes as well.
"What will you do?"
At his secretary’s question, Jo Seokhwan finally looked up from the documents.
"There are a number of ways to handle this."
"That’s right."
"Are you planning to make a big scene?"
"No."
The secretary didn’t bother asking why.
It wasn’t his place, but more than that, the reason was obvious.
"This is the perfect timing, and I can’t afford to pour cold water over it."
Child Game.
Right now, the global entertainment industry was focused on Korean films and dramas.
If a massive scandal broke out, it would douse everything in cold water.
Ongoing productions would be halted en masse.
The financial damage would be immeasurable.
"There are plenty of ways to handle this quietly."
As long as GH Group cooperated with him on this matter.
"They probably want to keep things quiet too."
He knew GH Group had placed high stakes on Mine.
If this scandal exploded, it could spell disaster for them as well.
And conveniently, he had someone who could get in touch with them.
According to Sehee, Seoyeon’s father had a friend—
GH Group’s Cultural Affairs Director, Kang Taejin.
Of course, Jo Seokhwan knew the man.
After all, he was the son of the GH Group chairman.
‘...Wasn’t he supposed to be from an ordinary middle-class family?’
How did he end up connected to someone like that?
Well, this would make things easier.
"Sometimes, handling things quietly is even more terrifying."
By the time they realized it, everything would already be gone.
A blade striking before they even had the chance to defend.
That was what people feared the most.
"Secretary Shim."
"Yes, sir."
"Send a message to the assemblyman that I’d like to meet."
"Understood."
"He’ll be pleased. After all, he begged us to take care of this."
Honestly, even Jo Seokhwan felt satisfied.
More than anything, he had no ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) intention of leaving that bastard alone after everything he did to his daughter.
Not just his daughter—but also her friend.
And considering that friend was one of the most promising future actresses in New Like Group’s portfolio, even more so.
"He must have thought he was living above the law."
Jo Seokhwan’s gaze turned cold as he looked down at the documents.
"It’s time to remind him that there’s something above even that."
And from the next day onward—
ShineMoon fell completely silent.
****
"...Excuse me? What do you mean, sir? Shut down the business? The business?"
Low couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
It had only been a week since the safe disappeared.
Just a week.
He hadn’t been able to sleep properly at night, desperately trying to locate the safe.
Then, out of nowhere, he got a call from RY Entertainment’s CEO, Sung Hajun.
He had yelled for a while, but the summary was simple.
Shut down the business.
And stay at home quietly.
"Something—something’s wrong. I’ll talk to them. I’ll contact Director Jung or Director Hwang myself—"
「And what do you expect to accomplish?」
"They aren’t exactly clean either. If we go down, they’ll take a hit too, so they’ll have to step in—"
「......」
A deep sigh came through the phone.
「They won’t answer your calls.」
"What? What are you—"
「They’re already finished.」
"Th-that’s impossible. This has to be a mistake. I’ll—I’ll call them. Do you have any idea how many people are involved? If this gets out—"
「No.」
The response was firm.
「No one will speak. It’ll all be over before a single word is said. Myself included.」
No one would even have the chance to say anything.
Who would dare challenge someone who held the entire media in their hands?
Low was nothing.
Even the ones above him.
Even those at the top of RY Entertainment had already been silenced.
"Sir? What are you talking about?!"
Click.
Sung Hajun hung up.
No matter how many times Low called back, there was no answer.
Only a crushing silence greeted him.
Standing there, gripping his phone, Low was frozen.
Thump. Thump.
The rapid thudding of his heart was the only sound filling the stillness.
His blood ran cold.
Sweat poured down his forehead like rain.
"No... no way."
Desperately, Low started calling every contact he knew.
But no one answered.
The corporate figures he was connected to.
The acquaintances who had comforted him just yesterday.
Even the celebrities.
Even his fellow JustX members.
All of them ignored his calls.
Except for one person.
Ri Hyun.
"R—Ri Hyun, where are you? What the hell is going on?!"
「Hyung.」
A voice came through, weak, trembling.
「I’m... at the police station.」
At those words, Low felt the world spin.
JustX.
One of Korea’s top idol groups.
「We...」
For someone like that to be at a police station—
Yet, not a single article had been published.
A silence so absolute it was suffocating.
「...Hyung, what the hell did you mess with?」
At those words, Low felt like throwing up.
A fear so suffocating it clenched around his heart.
A faceless monster, its jaws open wide in front of him.
****
‘...It’s quiet?’
Internally, Seoyeon was nervous.
Nothing had gone according to plan after all.
‘I’m sure I delivered it properly, though?’
She had expected at least a few news articles to break.
But things were strangely silent.
Which made her doubt whether it had been passed along correctly.
Even when she had given the files to Sehee, her reaction had been odd.
"Wouldn’t it be better to give this to your father?"
"Why?"
"Hm? Wait, you really don’t know?"
Sehee had said something cryptic but soon nodded as if she understood.
Of course, Seoyeon had felt guilty about burdening Sehee, who had a lot on her mind lately.
But she had no one else to ask.
‘In my past life, this case caused massive damage to both GH and New Like.’
The corporate chairmen who saw it couldn’t possibly have failed to predict what would happen next.
So, they would handle it as quietly as possible.
In fact, in her past life, there had been speculation that the reason the case was buried so quickly was because New Like and GH Group had stepped in.
If things got too noisy, the ones who would suffer the most were those two.
Still, she had expected at least a few news articles to pop up, but everything remained eerily quiet.
No, it’s actually scarier because it’s so quiet.
After that, Low never contacted her again.
And it seemed Pyo Jiwoo hadn’t received any messages either.
Since she had beaten him up, Seoyeon thought he would at least take some sort of action, but the silence was shocking.
And a few days later, she finally heard about what had happened—
Thanks to Ma Yeonwoo, who had come to Nova Entertainment.
"It’s completely wrecked."
"...What is?"
"Our group."
His face was hollow.
He had genuinely cared for JustX, so he couldn’t seem to believe what had happened.
"We were about to renew our contracts... ha. Well, Low hyung didn’t seem to care anyway."
He spoke bitterly.
"Now, it’s just me and Hojin left."
So Killer Hong made it out alive.
At his words, Seoyeon scratched her cheek.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that even the last remaining member wouldn’t last long.
Then again, maybe he’ll just lay low after all this.
That guy had gotten drunk and caused a scandal after visiting ShineMoon, so now that his base of operations was gone, who knew what would happen?
"But why did you come to see me?"
"...I mean, after everything that happened, I was worried Low might try something against you."
It seemed like he had come to check if she had received any messages.
And also—
"I still need to make a living."
"...Huh?"
"RY Entertainment... to be honest, it’s a mess right now. No one knows what’s going to happen. In this situation, renewing my contract... even if I were an idiot, I wouldn’t do that."
JustX had already earned far more than what was initially invested in them.
If he left RY Entertainment, he wouldn’t be able to use the same group name, but in a group that had already fallen apart, what meaning did a name even have?
"So, I’m looking to switch agencies."
"And... that agency is ours? There are plenty of others, though?"
Wait, why?
Honestly, if he wanted, there were way better options for him.
The first one that came to mind was XN Entertainment.
If he went there, they would throw insane amounts of money at him just to sign him.
Unlike the other members, he had zero scandals to his name.
"It’s not as easy as it sounds."
"What?"
"I don’t know who Low hyung pissed off... but everyone seems to be avoiding me too."
Even Ma Yeonwoo had been affected?
Ah, well...
For people who didn’t have all the information, it wouldn’t be surprising if they thought Ma Yeonwoo was just someone who hadn’t been caught yet.
But Seoyeon knew his future.
She knew that he had almost no connections to ShineMoon.
"...So I was hoping you could put in a word for me."
His voice was hesitant.
Seoyeon slowly nodded.
"Alright."
In her past life, Ma Yeonwoo had lived a completely arrogant life.
But even after ShineMoon fell, he had pushed forward and continued his career.
Looking back, the situation must have been similar.
He had moved to some shady management company back then.
She had always wondered why.
Turns out, it was because he had been cornered.
...Though this time, it kind of feels like my fault.
Regardless, Seoyeon didn’t particularly want him to go anywhere else.
In the past, he had suffered from a bad public image for a while, but eventually, he had made a grand comeback.
He was talented.
"I’ll talk to them."
And so—
A few days later.
The headlines were filled with news of JustX’s Ma Yeonwoo transferring to Nova Entertainment.
And just like that, in complete silence—
Many were buried in the darkness.
A year ended in absolute silence.
****
A New Year Begins
A new year had dawned.
At eighteen years old, Seoyeon was stepping into another year.
Amidst her packed schedule filled with filming, Jo Sehee opened her eyes in the morning.
"...My head hurts."
She slowly sat up in bed with a deep sigh.
She felt like she had dreamed about something, but she couldn’t remember what.
When she rubbed her eyes, she found tiny tears clinging to her fingertips.
Had her mother appeared in her dream?
No... it didn’t feel like that.
Something was different.
Lately, she felt like she had been dreaming about something—but she could never recall the details.
Was it even my dream?
Just a little bit.
Like scattered fragments, she could remember one thing.
Her own reflection in the mirror.
But the face reflected back wasn’t her own.
It was someone completely different.
A beautiful woman, yet with a strangely melancholic expression.
...I don’t know.
Thinking it was just some nonsense dream, Sehee quickly got up and washed her face, getting ready to leave.
There was no need to go out since it was winter break, but today happened to be a filming day.
Filming...
It had been a long time.
Since she had felt this reluctant to step onto a set.
The filming for Mine had been going smoothly.
Even when she got feedback on her acting, it was nothing major.
Her performance was textbook.
There had been times when she tried something new in her acting, but after being criticized a few times, she had stopped trying.
"You don’t need to rush. Your skills will evolve naturally over time."
That was what Han Yegun had told her.
But was he really being honest?
He was an incredibly sharp person, so he wasn’t the type to say things just to be nice.
Still, she couldn’t help but overthink it.
I’m still young...
Suddenly, Sehee recalled something Seoyeon had said at the awards ceremony a while back.
She had said she was still young and had a lot to learn.
She was right.
Both Seoyeon and herself were still just kids.
It was too soon to be adults.
There was plenty of time to grow at their own pace.
"Yeah, no need to rush."
She lightly smacked her cheeks and left for the filming set.
Today was a shoot with Seoyeon.
She couldn’t afford to mess up and cause trouble.
