"Star?" I asked.

Managing Director Lee Eun-Joo smiled and held up her phone. "Reporter Jang Moon-Ki from Weekly Star wrote a huge article about you today, Mr. Jung. You leaked it to Mr. Jang, didn't you? To naturally promote She Was Beautiful. Right?"

I had never even had a phone call with Reporter Jang Moon-Ki. Not understanding what was going on, I immediately checked the article on my phone.

[At the first filming site of She Was Beautiful. Star talent agent Mr. J saves a life once again. (By Weekly Star Reporter Jang Moon-Ki)]

-In the past, Mr. J saved a junior production staff member during a landslide on Jiri Mountain.

This time, at the She Was Beautiful filming set, he reportedly recognized faster than anyone that the stunt team lead assisting with the shoot under Director Choi Sung-Moon was having a stroke and arranged for him to be transported to the hospital by helicopter.

Thanks to that, the stunt team lead was able to receive surgery quickly and save his life.

Director Choi Sung-Moon expressed deep gratitude toward Mr. J, even calling him a true hero.

(Attached photo: silhouette photo of star talent agent Mr. J.)

...

(Comments)

-At the She Was Beautiful filming site? Did Jung Yoo-Jin's movie start filming?

-Looks like it started today. But isn't Mr. J actually Jung Yoon-Ho?

-Yeah. That's the silhouette of Jung Yoo-Jin and Lee Tae-Poong's talent agent, Jung Yoon-Ho.

-Wow, Jung Yoo-Jin's She Was Beautiful just started filming, and he already saved someone again. Last time, he saved someone during an avalanche.

-Does this guy have some kind of supernatural luck or something?

-That's insane. At this point, he deserves a civic hero award. No, they should give him a medal.

-Seriously. What is the government doing? They give medals to everyone else but not to the people who actually deserve them!

-Send Jung Yoon-Ho to the National Assembly!

-Just like Director Choi Sung-Moon said, he's a real hero. At least to that stunt team lead's family.

-Isn't that stunt director the guy who sometimes appears on the variety show SOS, Safety First?

-But isn't this article way too normal for Reporter Jang Moon-Ki? Where's the manipulation and fabrication? I usually read his articles just to find the lies.

-Isn't this a promotional article? If it's Reporter Jang Moon-Ki, that wouldn't be surprising.

-It's not. (Formal font: Verified by Reporter Jang Moon-Ki.)

-Verified account.

...

Jang Moon-Ki had written the article about saving a life while leaving out the part where I had done the stunt myself. And since it was already past 11 p.m., the article had climbed to number one in total views among all portal news articles. That was why reporters were now calling me and the staff.

It was true that I had planned a promotional campaign for She Was Beautiful against CK Entertainment. However, this one wasn't my doing.

"No. I didn't release this article. If Miso finds out I did that stunt, I'm dead. Why would I do that?"

Lee Eun-Joo immediately looked flustered. If I hadn't released the article, it meant someone among the staff had leaked what happened on set to a reporter.

"You didn't release it?"

"No."

Lee Eun-Joo suddenly stood up and spoke in a slightly sharp voice. "Did anyone here contact a reporter today? I said confidentiality was critical."

The staff all shook their heads.

"It wasn't us."

"No, Ms. Lee."

Just then, the door of Cheon-Nyeon Hanwoo opened, and Director Choi Sung-Moon walked in alone.

Ding.

"Sorry, Managing Director Lee. That article... I released it."

"What? Mr. Choi, you did it?"

"Yeah. I wanted to spread Chief Jung's name far and wide. This guy's richer than me these days, so there's no way I can compete with money. I figured I should at least help him build some fame."

"You could've told me in advance," I said.

"If I had, you would've told me not to release the article. Hahaha. Isn't that right?"

That was true. I was a little flustered, but there was no point arguing over something that had already happened. Besides, Choi Sung-Moon had done it for my sake. Since it had turned out this way, I might as well use it as a real promotion.

A plan began forming quickly in my mind, but there was something more urgent I needed to check first.

"By the way, how is Mr. Chae doing?"

"He's doing good. They said that because you told us to get him to the hospital quickly, it prevented damage to a larger blood vessel. If that had ruptured, it would've already been over. We were really lucky."

"That's a huge relief."

"Yeah. Oh, right. And Team Lead Chae's wife asked me to pass along her thanks to you."

"It's nothing."

Just then, Director Yeo Ik-Hwan spoke to Choi Sung-Moon. "Mr. Choi. No matter what happened, it's Mr. Jung's turn for the toast. Please take a seat. On a good day like today, we may not have alcohol, but we can at least raise a glass of soda."

At that moment, Choi Sung-Moon scratched his head. "Well... the thing is... hah, I didn't intend this, but a bit of a problem came up."

"What problem?"

Choi Sung-Moon glanced toward the door. "Right now, reporters followed me here because they couldn't reach Chief Jung. What should we do?"

Apparently, reporters had tailed Choi Sung-Moon from the hospital all the way here. So right now, Chief Pyo Eun-Mi was outside blocking the reporters.

Lee Eun-Joo stood up from her seat and spoke to me. "Mr. Jung, I'll handle it. Please stay seated."

I considered leaving it to Lee Eun-Joo, but then a good idea came to mind—a perfect way to strike back at CK Entertainment.

"No. I'll do the interview myself."

"Ah, alright."

I would have to do the interview, but first things first. Holding up my glass of soda, I shouted to the staff, "When I start the toast, please shout 'ten million viewers!'"

The staff all raised their soda glasses.

At the same time, I shouted loudly, "She Was Beautiful, to ten million viewers..."

The staff smiled brightly and shouted together, "Ten million viewers!"

With the shout of "Ten million viewers!" filling Cheon-Nyeon Hanwoo, everyone downed their soda in one shot. I also finished mine in a single gulp, ignoring the sharp fizz burning down my throat.

"Kyaa~"

After lightly tapping the empty soda glass above my head, I spoke to President Shin Jong-Ki. “Mr. Shin, please stand beside me during the interview. I'll need some support."

Shin Jong-Ki stood up as well, lightly tapping his empty soda glass above his head. "Okay."

Shin Jong-Ki and I immediately headed outside Cheon-Nyeon Hanwoo, where the reporters were waiting.

'President Son, I'm going to make you swallow a bitter pill.'

***

Late at night, President Son Hyung-Tae informed Director Ahn Jung-Hae of Missing – The Lost Ones and then Director Na Tae-Yang of Doppelganger that their investments would be halted.

Na Tae-Yang's urgent voice came through the phone.

-M-Mr. Son! How can you suddenly do this? You're stopping the investment? Does that mean the distribution will also be canceled?

Son Hyung-Tae hid the discomfort in his voice as he drew a firm line.

"That's how it is. Our legal team will send the documents tomorrow."

-Mr. Son! Mr. Son!

"I'm hanging up."

Click.

He knew both projects were profitable, but for the alliance with HK Inc., there was no other choice.

"Damn it. Damn it all!"

The thought of letting go of a fish he had already caught made Son Hyung-Tae's irritation boil over.

Just then, the door burst open, and his secretary rushed in.

Bang.

"M-Mr. Son, something terrible has happened."

"What is it now?"

"Please look."

The secretary hurriedly turned on the LCD screen in the president's office and pointed at the articles that had begun appearing on the portal's main page.

The screen was filled with outrageous headlines.

[CK Entertainment. Unilateral Notice. Abuse of Power or Legitimate Right?]

[CK Entertainment Boldly Displays the Power of the No.1 Distributor.]

[CK Entertainment Poaching Film Staff from She Was Beautiful?]

[Problems with the Industry Giant of Film Distribution: CK Entertainment.]

At a glance, it was obvious that Jung Yoon-Ho had commissioned it.

Furious, Son Hyung-Tae immediately called Jung Yoon-Ho. However, the other side didn't answer. Instead, a Kk Talk message arrived.

[Chief Jung Yoon-Ho: I don't know anything about it.]

The very words he himself had once said to Jung Yoon-Ho were now being thrown back at him.

"You bastard! You've completely lost your mind!"

He was furious to the point of shaking, but taking down the articles came first, so he urgently spoke to his secretary.

"Call the reporters and tell them to take those articles down immediately!"

"I already tried contacting them, but none of the reporters are answering."

"What? Why aren't they answering?"

"I'm not sure."

"Then call their companies if you have to and get those articles taken down!"

The secretary hesitated before answering, "The companies aren't answering either."

"Have they all gone crazy? They're ignoring our calls?"

All this time, CK Entertainment had secretly been paying reporters under the table. And now, every single one of them was avoiding their calls.

"What the hell is going on right now?"

"This is something I heard from one of my sources. Apparently, the reporters made a deal— in exchange for Chief Jung giving them an interview about saving the stuntman today, they would report everything that happened today."

"Jung Yoon-Ho did an interview about saving someone, and now they're writing articles attacking CK? Do they know how much money they've taken from us all this time?!"

The secretary lowered his head at Son Hyung-Tae's outburst. "I'm sorry."

"No. Then I'll call them myself."

Just as Son Hyung-Tae was about to call the newspaper companies, his phone vibrated.

Buzz.

At that moment, Son Hyung-Tae assumed it was Jung Yoon-Ho calling back, so he answered without even checking who it was.

Click.

"Hey! Do you have a death wish?!"

Just then, a calm voice came from the other side of the phone.

-Your old man may be getting old, but I'm not quite ready to die yet.

Startled, Son Hyung-Tae pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the screen.

[Caller ID: Honorary Chairman Son Dae-In]

Holding the phone with both hands, Son Hyung-Tae spoke. "Ah, Father. I was dealing with something just now and made a mistake. I'm sorry."

-I know. I just checked the articles myself. CK Entertainment's abuse of power, huh? It's plastered all over the portal sites.

"Oh, well... It's nothing serious. I'll have the articles taken down soon."

Son Hyung-Tae brushed it off as if it were nothing. If it became known that someone from a royal family like him had been played by a mere talent agent like Jung Yoon-Ho, he knew a storm of reprimands would follow.

However, his father already knew who had orchestrated today's articles.

-I've already taken care of it at the company level. The articles will be taken down soon, so you don't need to worry about that. However... I didn't expect you to be toyed with like this by a mere talent agent. Is this really the extent of your ability?

"Y-you already knew?"

-You foolish boy. Did you think there was anything about CK that I wouldn't know?

He didn't know who had reported today's events, but he could no longer deny it.

"I'm... sorry."

-Don't apologize. Think about how you're going to repay this properly. Someone who can't even defeat a single talent agent has no right to steer the enormous ship that is the CK Inc.!

Clenching his teeth, Son Hyung-Tae shouted, "I will make that bastard kneel!"

-Good. I'll be watching.

Click.

The moment the call ended, Son Hyung-Tae ground his teeth and shouted, "Jung Yoon-Ho... I... will never let you get away with this!"

His roar echoed throughout the president's office. Yet, beneath Son Hyung-Tae's voice, anxiety was clearly present.

Now that Honorary Chairman Son Dae-In knew about what had happened today, if he failed to force Jung Yoon-Ho to kneel, his position as the president of CK Entertainment itself could be in danger.

***

At the filming site of She Was Beautiful, I left Team Lead Yeon So-Hee and Jung Sang-Bong behind and returned to Seoul to respond to CK Entertainment's scheme.

After arriving at dawn, I organized the files, and when I opened my eyes again, it was 7:30 in the morning. I immediately checked the entertainment news section on my phone.

[Star talent agent Mr. J saves the life of stunt director C. Candidate for a civic hero award?]

[The passionate filming set of She Was Beautiful.]

[Jung Yoo-Jin of She Was Beautiful, explosive acting performance!]

...

All the CK Entertainment-related articles that had flooded the portal the previous night had disappeared, replaced entirely with articles about me and She Was Beautiful. Even with help from LT Entertainment, for things to turn out like this, it was obvious CK Inc. had intervened at the corporate level.

"So this is why they're called a chaebol family."

It was a little disappointing that the articles disappeared faster than I expected, but it was clear I had still managed to make them uncomfortable just by looking at the flood of messages from Son Hyung-Tae on my phone.

[010-2385-xxxx: Hey! Jung Yoon-Ho! Why aren't you answering your phone? This is CK Entertainment.]

[010-5323-xxxx: Answer the phone! This is Son Hyung-Tae!]

[010-4823-xxxx: I'll make sure you regret this, Jung Yoon-Ho!]

It seemed Son Hyung-Tae thought I had blocked his number, because he had sent messages from several different numbers.

"Looks like President Son stayed up all night."

CK Entertainment controlled not only movie theaters but also numerous cable channels, including TVM, giving them the power to block actors and singers from appearing. However, I had already prepared countermeasures for that.

"Did he think I'd just sit here and take it?"

After scoffing, I climbed out of bed to head to work and inform the company about the plan.

The moment I opened the door, I saw a small, adorable figure squatting right outside, nodding off. It was Miso, dressed in Powertuff Girls pajamas and clutching the Sunrise Doll I had bought her in one hand.

"Huh? Miso, what are you doing out here?"

Miso opened her sleepy eyes and gave a soft smile. "Ah... it's Uncle Yoon-Ho..."

Thump.

She suddenly lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me. Miso hugged me with half-sleepy eyes.

Holding her in my arms, I asked, "That's right, it's Uncle Yoon-Ho. Miso, why were you waiting out here instead of coming in? If you came upstairs, you could've come inside and woken me."

"I thought you might be tired, so I waited until you woke up."

She had known I came home at dawn and waited so I could sleep a little longer. Miso's thoughtful kindness made me smile without realizing it.

As I wiped the sleep from the corner of Miso's eyes, I said, "Whenever I see you, all my tiredness disappears. So don't worry and wake me up next time, okay?"

Miso smiled softly. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"But why did you come upstairs? Did you have a scary dream or something?"

Miso clenched her fist and answered proudly, "No. I beat an octopus monster with the Powertuff Girls. I won!"

'That... sounds like a nightmare though.'

Still, judging by how proud she looked about winning, maybe it wasn't a nightmare after all.

"Good job. Then why?"

"Actually... yesterday at the movie set, one of the staff unnies said our movie was going to fail. Is our movie really going to fail?"

Right now, Miso was filming not only Haze but also the film Missing – The Lost Ones. Since CK Entertainment had stopped its investment, it seemed a staff member had said something like that.

"A staff unnie? Who? Is she someone I know?"

Avoiding my eyes, Miso answered, "I don't know."

"Hmm?"

"I forgot who it was."

Afraid that I might go find the person who said that and scold them, Miso kept desperately avoiding my gaze while insisting she didn't know. Her gentle consideration made me chuckle.

With a small smile, I turned my head and met Miso's eyes. "LT Entertainment's president said he'll invest instead of CK Entertainment, so the movie definitely won't fail. Don't worry, okay?"

"Really?"

"Of course. I promise. Here."

When I held out my pinky finger, Miso grinned and hooked her own pinky around it. "Promise!"

After sealing the promise and letting go, I teased her playfully. "And tell that unnie not to worry either, because the movie isn't going to fail. Okay?"

"Okay."

'Got her.'

"Huh? Miso, didn't you say you didn't know who that unnie was?"

Like a broken robot, Miso quickly looked away again. "Uh... um... I don't know."

At that moment, I began tickling her with both hands. "Attack of the tickles! Confess. Tell me who it is."

"Kyaaahaha! I don't know! I don't know! Kyaaahaha!"

Miso's lively laughter filled the living room, brightening the morning.

***

I skipped breakfast and went straight to work. After parking in the underground lot, I pressed the button for the fourth floor.

Ding.

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor. I was just thinking that I should gather all the employees and hold a full meeting, when I heard someone shouting angrily outside the elevator.

-Fuck. You little—what did you just say? Huh? You think your position means nothing just because you've been doing well lately?

Wondering what was going on, I looked up just as the elevator doors slid open. And unbelievably, Yang Tae-Min, the Team Lead of Actor Division 3, had come downstairs and was grabbing Lee Yung-Jin by the collar.

At that moment, Lee Yung-Jin replied without even blinking, "Like I said, take that issue up with CK Entertainment!"

CK Entertainment had fired the opening shot of the conflict much sooner than I expected. In that case, I had no choice but to respond in kind.

But before fighting the enemy outside, I had to make the enemy inside kneel first.

'Yang Tae-Min. How dare you lay a hand on my team member?'