Chapter 162 (1/2)

Chapter 162: Celebrities Live Off their Image (5)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

”Chief! Are you planning on ruining your life?!”

Lee Suji's eyes were burning. She forcefully shook Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n as she shouted about what he was going to do if he actually went to jail or how did he hope to survive in this cruel world when he was so inflexible and foolish.

I wholeheartedly agreed. Even the cameraman nodded his head.

Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n was being scolded by a girl who didn't even reach his shoulders as he kept glancing at me. I signaled to him, telling him to keep his mouth shut if he couldn't act since Lee Suji's reaction was unusual.

Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n seemed to have noticed the same thing as me as he added,

”How can I just think of my own life when I have no idea where she is?”

”Then you should have thought about the younger ones! We believed that you…!”

Lee Suji stopped mid-shout.

She looked in our direction with an uneasy expression before sighing.

”Ah, G.o.d d.a.m.n it. Wait here for a bit.”

As though she was wary of us, Lee Suji took a few steps back and took out her phone.

So I was right. My tensed shoulders soon relaxed.

Just then, two paths naturally opened up in my mind.

While Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n was going around like a puppy who had to go, Lee Suji was definitely talking to Jung Jae. After telling her that Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n could go to jail if the program falls through, Lee Suji paused.

Then she hung up and said,

”Follow me.”

They say that you can't see what's under your nose. Jung Jae was living in the apartment next to Lee Suji. She rented it from the owner, who went to the same school as Lee Suji and had gone home for a while, by paying a portion of the rent. That was why she was there whenever Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n came looking for her.

What a mess.

I followed behind Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n, who was rus.h.i.+ng forward, when the cameraman came over.

It seemed his 6mm camera was still recording as the light was on.

”We got nothing while running around looking for her like mad, yet it's smooth sailing as soon as you join. Even I would have been frightened if you said that I could go to jail. No, how can you adapt to the situation so quickly? How is it possible?”

It's because threatening people is my talent. Should I say that, in this industry, I was a rising specialist in that regard?

It was the same when I faced Yoon Bora and Park Hyojin. I didn't have to think much for these words to come out. At this point, it seemed like I was meant for it. A hobby in recording others with a talent in threatening people. Maybe I could use these talents to achieve great success if I hadn't become self-conscious about my actions after seeing the future.

”Well, I guess I simply said whatever out of urgency.”

”It didn't seem like you said whatever. I think I understand why people bring you up so much. But what would you have done if Ms. Jae was silent after receiving Ms. Lee Suji's call?”

”I don't know.”

The cameraman seemed to want to know more details, but I simply smiled.

I had already been thinking about it inwardly. Although I believed Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n had some circ.u.mstances of his own, he was like that with Park Hyojin and Yoon Bora as well. Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n was the type of guy who would be playing pattycake with Tinkerbell in Neverland.

As someone who had an innate distrust in others, Jung Jae was a bit unsatisfactory. She tried to get my favor, but she apologized, though I didn't know whether it was due to her conscious or just shame. Seeing as she hadn't appeared afterwards made me think she was at least better than the other two, but that was all.

But to ignore her group members who were about to lose their chance and her manager who was about to go to jail and just hide?

If she really was like that, then all the concern and time I spent today would have been a waste. I might have just stopped looking and left, thinking that I did enough by sealing Yoon Bora and Park Hyojin's lips.

Well, seeing as we were going to meet her right away, I guess it was a relief that she didn't seem to be that kind of girl.

”We're here. She's probably in my friend's room…”

The hallway was narrow and packed with doors like a live-in study hall.

Lee Suji stood in front of the door of unit 602.

I suddenly recalled the one time I saw Jung Jae. Although the details were hazy, I remembered a few thoughts I had. She gave off a somewhat lonely and pitiful feeling like she was drenched in rain without an umbrella. Like someone who would cry at the slightest nudge.

What kind of expression would she have right now?

I peered into the slight opening in the door.

”I think it'll be best if Chief Lee went in on his own.”

Lee Suji said as she closed the door again.

Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n, who looked like he was almost out of breath, paused.

”Is it because of the camera? It's off right now…”

”No, rather than the camera, it's because of Chief Jung Sunwoo.”

Me?

”I think her condition might worsen if she saw you.”

Her condition might worsen?

When I tilted my head slightly, Lee Suji added with a gloomy expression,

”She has depression.”

”D-depression? Jae does?”

”Yes, she also has a bit of insomnia as well. She's been going to the hospital.”

I had antic.i.p.ated that she might have a mental problem considering her life ended in a suicide, but to have depression. Had Park Hyojin and Yoon Bora poured oil into an already blazing flame?

After letting the anxious Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n and Lee Suji go in on their own, the cameraman and I decided to wait in Lee Suji's currently empty room. However, there was no need to wonder about what was going on in the next room.

-Jae, why is your face so haggard?!

His p.r.o.nunciation was horrible.

Exaggerating a little, it was like I could almost hear them breathing. Jung Jae's voice was gloomy like a wind sweeping through a barren wasteland, and Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n sounded impatient. He asked about why she didn't call him until now and whether she decided to quit because of the president.

I glanced at the cameraman, thinking that the conversation would be delicate.

”Director, I think they'll discuss some sensitive matters…”{1}

”I'll be having a smoke outside.”

The cameraman left his camera and took his cigarette pack and lighter. Now I was the only one remaining in this cramped apartment. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. Behind it, Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n was apologizing for not knowing about it beforehand.

Lee Suji would occasionally get a word in as well. Jung Jae's voice could be heard once in a long while.

-If you hid because of that, you don't have to. The president ordered you to. It wasn't because you wanted to. I know you're not that type of person. You'll never be in that sort of situation again.

-Chief.

-You can come back. None of the members blame or hate you. Rather, they are very sorry. They are anxiously waiting for your return.

-Forget me and think of them now, chief.

-You're just exhausted right now. You'll regret giving up now when you put ten years into this.

I didn't know what I was doing here. Maybe I should have sniffed some cigarette smoke with the cameraman. I felt like it would have been more productive to discuss how we could enhance the footage we took today.

-Or, is it because you're too embarra.s.sed to see Chief Jung? Because of that phone call? It's alright. We understand you were desperate, and Chief Jung was the one who approved us looking for you…!

-I was going to sleep with him.

What?

-Wh-what?

-I was going to sleep with Chief Jung Sunwoo.

What sort of nonsense was this?

Instead of being depressed, was she a mythomaniac?{2}

Chief Lee Taes.h.i.+n spoke the exact words I wanted to say.

-What are you saying?! You called him believing the rumor that he accepted bribes! You asked how much he wanted…!

-I told him I'd do anything he wanted. If he asked me to sleep with him, I would have.

-Jae!