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Chapter 339: Cha Do-Hee (1)

\'But why did this have to happen on the day of her comeback of all days?!\' I agonized.

More than that, I couldn\'t comprehend the idea of Sae-Ri hitting someone. She’s all talk and bluster, but at the end of the day, she was just a loud, harmless kid.

I considered the possibility that the gossip might have been spread by Ju Kang-Yong, a reporter from Entertainment Big News known for his tabloid stories.

However, the meeting agenda in my planner clearly mentioned preparing negotiations with Ace Entertainment. That meant there had to have been some kind of physical contact, be it a shove or a slap.

However, there was another issue. \'Who\'s Cha Do-Hee? I don\'t remember any such name.\'

In my past life, there was no one named Cha Do-Hee among the members of Girlfriend7.

No matter how much I tried to recall, the name didn\'t ring a bell.

Wondering if Sae-Ri might know her, I asked, "Hey, Sae-Ri... do you happen to know anyone named Cha Do-Hee?"

Sae-Ri, who had been eating a spoonful of egg soaked in tteokbokki broth, froze mid-bite. "Cha Do-Hee from Andong Best Elementary School, Class 2-2?"

Sae-Ri stared at me with a wary expression.

Not knowing what this was all about, I answered affirmatively for now. "Y-yeah, that\'s right. Do you have any history with her?"

Sae-Ri quickly turned her head away. "No."

\'Why is she reacting like this?\' I wondered.

Clearly, there was something between the two.

At that moment, Haru sitting beside Sae-Ri spoke up. "Do-Hee used to be Sae-Ri\'s best friend when they were younger, but she moved to Seoul in third grade. But how do you know Do-Hee, hyung?"

Sae-Ri shouted at Haru, "She wasn\'t my best friend!"

Haru quietly averted his gaze.

When the sulking Sae-Ri pouted her lips like a duck, Woo Yeon-Hee gestured to me, indicating that she would try to calm Sae-Ri down.

Since I had never seen Sae-Ri this upset before, I gestured back to Woo Yeon-Hee to look into it and let me know later.

"Alright, I got it. Sae-Ri, I won\'t ask anymore. So let\'s wrap it up, okay?"

"Promise?"

"Yes. And I\'ll buy you ice cream on the way, so let\'s keep up the good work tomorrow too, okay?"

Only then did Sae-Ri\'s expression soften a bit. Her cheeks were still puffed up, but the duck lips were gone.

Sae-Ri asked hesitantly, "Then... Can I have mint chocolate...?"

I replied, "But Sae-Ri, you never liked mint chocolate before."

Woo Yeon-Hee laughed as she replied. "She\'s started eating it lately because I do."

"Is that so?"

Sae-Ri stared at me intently. "What? Are you one of those mint chocolate haters too, Yoon-Ho oppa?"

I never cared for mint chocolate before, but I answered without thinking when Sae-Ri\'s eyes met mine. "What are you talking about? I\'m going to have some too later. I love mint chocolate."

Sae-Ri\'s previously clouded face by thoughts of Cha Do-Hee finally brightened with a smile.

"Then are you a mint chocolate fan too, oppa?"

I gave a resigned look. \'What did I just get myself into?\'

However, it was too late to back out now.

I nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, a huge mint chocolate fan. That\'s me."

Yang Eun-Bi and Yoo Eun-Ah gave me looks as if telling me not to push myself too far, but this was nothing if it meant cheering Sae-Ri up.

I stood up and shouted, "Alright, shall we go? Let\'s go~!"

"Let\'s get it~!"

After leaving Yoo-Jin\'s house, I stopped by Baskin Robbins 51 on the way back to Cherry Blossom\'s dorm.

I ordered a Mint Chocolate King for Sae-Ri and myself, a Mom is a Supergirl for Woo Yeon-Hee, a Quadruple Cheese for Yang Eun-Bi, and an Almond Bonbonbon for Yoo Eun-Ah.

We each got our own cups and started eating at the dorm.

That night, I tried mint chocolate ice cream for the first time in my life.

\'It\'s actually not bad at all.\' I thought.

That was my first impression of mint chocolate ice cream.

***

"T-this isn\'t right... Mint chocolate really isn\'t for me..." I groaned.

When I woke up the next day, I felt bloated. It seemed like it was because of the mint chocolate I had last night.

After making a few trips to the bathroom, I was sprawled out on the living room couch and fiddled with my phone.

Just as expected, entertainment news sections were completely filled with articles about the last episode of In the Name of God.

[In the Name of God Episode 22 Viewership Rating Soars to 36.7%! Breaks the 35% Record!]

[The Shocking Death of Manshin Wol-Ah in In the Name of God!]

[Stellar Dual Performance by Jung Yoo-Jin in In the Name of God!]

[Psychopathic Killer Yoo Han-Myung vs. Cheongmyung in In the Name of God.]

(Comments)

-Was Jung Yoo-Jin\'s solo show last night for real?

-Even though we already know it\'s Yoo-Jin, it was still hard to believe Manshin Wol-Ah was her.

-Jung Yoo-Jin\'s acting is at a legendary level. No one disagrees with that, right?

-She\'s definitely one of the top-tier actresses in Korea. She\'s showing what it means to be a true acting genius.

-LOL, these viewership ratings are insane.

Thanks to Yoo-Jin\'s incredible performance, In the Name of God shattered the 35% viewership ratings mark, the benchmark for a mega-hit. No Wednesday-Thursday drama had achieved such high viewership ratings in the last ten years.

With this, Yoo-Jin was practically guaranteed an award this year.

"There\'s going to be a flood of ad offers," I remarked.

When I checked my phone, I saw 52 missed calls and 315 KkTalk messages. I felt a bit intimidated just thinking about having to go through all of them.

"Guess I better head to work."

Just as I struggled to get up, a KkTalk message arrived from Woo Yeon-Hee.

[Woo Yeon-Hee: Yoon-Ho oppa, I asked Sae-Ri about it. Apparently that Cha Do-Hee girl used to bully her.]

I was surprised. \'Sae-Ri was bullied? With her personality?\'

Sae-Ri\'s family was prominent in their region, which made it unlikely for anyone to mess with her so easily.

I immediately replied with a question because I couldn\'t understand.

[Jung Yoon-Ho: But Sae-Ri\'s grandfather is a major figure in that area. How could that happen?]

[Woo Yeon-Hee: Cha Do-Hee\'s dad was the district governor there.]

A district governor had immense power, especially in rural areas where most things operated through connections.

With that, it made sense why Sae-Ri\'s influential family wasn\'t enough to protect her back then.

[Jung Yoon-Ho: Do you know how badly she was bullied?]

[Woo Yeon-Hee: She wouldn\'t tell me, but Sae-Ri\'s never been this upset before, so I\'m really worried.]

[Jung Yoon-Ho: I\'m sorry to ask you this, but can you keep an eye on her mental state? I\'ll come by the dorm as soon as I\'m done with work.]

[Woo Yeon-Hee: Okay.]

As soon as I finished replying to Woo Yeon-Hee messages, Haru came out of his room and rubbed his eyes. "Good morning, hyung. Did you sleep well?"

\'What perfect timing.\'

"Yeah. Haru, can you tell me a bit about Cha Do-Hee?"

Haru scratched his head and began to speak reluctantly. "Well... Sae-Ri and Do-Hee were best friends throughout first and second grade. They were always together, so much that people thought they were fraternal twins."

Haru continued to explain that their relationship began to take a turn for the worse in the second grade when Sae-Ri\'s grandmother threw a party for Haru\'s birthday.

Apparently, the two girls had a huge fight during the party and they completely drifted apart afterward.

"Any idea why they fought?" I asked.

Haru shook his head. "No, I don\'t know."

A thought occurred to me. \'Wait a second. Now that I think about it, if the girls fought at Haru\'s birthday party...\'

When I carefully studied Haru\'s face, he tilted his head in confusion.

"What is it, hyung?"

"Nothing. It\'s nothing."

I had a suspicion that it might be related to a childhood first love, but I couldn\'t be sure.

Anyway, if the scheduled event regarding Sae-Ri hitting Cha Do-Hee remained, Cherry Blossom\'s comeback would be ruined.

I had to act fast.

At that moment, Haru added. "Oh, and hyung, Do-Hee\'s father is a current member of the National Assembly."

Haru explained that Cha Do-Hee\'s father, Cha Sang-Tae, was the handsome National Assembly member representing the newly established Yeongdeungpo-gu constituency. Haru explained he was also known as a doting father to his daughter.

A sitting National Assembly member was definitely not an easy opponent, but I had no intention of backing down.

"Thanks for the info. Hurry up and get ready. I\'ll take you to school today," I told Haru.

"Really? That\'s awesome!" Haru exclaimed.

It had been a while since I personally took him to school.

When I told him I would drop him off, Haru beamed and hurried to the bathroom.

***

After dropping Haru off and arriving at the company, I found Team Jung\'s members waiting for me with tired eyes. "...Hi, Mr. Jung."

Lee Yung-Jin and Do Ran-Hee slumped over their desks and turned only their heads to look at me.

"What\'s wrong with you two?"

Lee Yung-Jin silently held up his phone in silence.

It showed the same number of missed calls and KkTalk messages as I had received.

"Did you seriously take all those calls?"

Lee Yung-Jin struggled to get up and answered. "Yes..."

"But why?"

"I got promoted to Assistant Manager, so I have to work harder."

It seemed like neither of them had slept properly and both had shown up at the office at 4 a.m.

Yoo-Jin had received a total of 55 ad offers last night, of which nine were offers of 500 million won or more. Taking into consideration our existing ads, we could accept up to three without overlapping.

I praised them. "The both of you have done well."

Do Ran-Hee shook her head. "This much is necessary for a promotion to a division."

I was impressed. "Wow, our Assistant Manager Do. You\'ve changed since your promotion. Keep it up like this and I\'ll make sure you get promoted to team lead next."

"Like this? So you mean I should work like I did at 4 a.m. this morning...?"

"Yes, of course."

At that moment, Lee Yung-Jin and Do Ran-Hee glanced at each other.

"Ran-Hee, let\'s not be talent agents in our next lives," Lee Yung-Jin remarked.

Do Ran-Hee shuddered dramatically, saying she got chills. "Oppa, I almost quit being a talent agent in this life just now!"

I smirked internally. \'If you two died and came back to life, you\'d be talent agents again in a heartbeat.\'

After all, it was far easier to travel a path you\'ve been down before than to venture into the unknown.

Then, Lee Yung-Jin with his tousled hair handed me two sheets of paper. "Mr. Jung, the first page is a list of the ad contracts that came in yesterday..."

"Okay."

He continued. "And the second page is the company\'s revenue summary. And guess what? Our team has already surpassed 10 billion won in sales."

I snapped to attention. The condition for promotion to Chief was to hit 10 billion by the end of the year, and we had already surpassed it.

"How did we exceed 10 billion in sales so quickly?" I asked.

Lee Yung-Jin gestured. "Look at the second page."

When I turned to the second page, I saw an unexpected name listed under Team Jung\'s revenue records.

"Mrs. Lee Mal-Soon...?"

Lee Mal-Soon was managed by Singer Division 2 but 30% of the revenue she generated was attributed to our team.

"Mrs. Lee Mal-Soon insisted that her revenue should be attributed to Team Jung because it\'s all thanks to you."

"Oh, wow. What should I do to thank her?"

"We already sent her a bunch of red ginseng slices and throat remedies as a gesture of gratitude from the team budget."

However, this was not the end. We also received the entire revenue from Under the Big Tree, which had been taken by Yoo Sun-Jung.

I remarked as I looked at the page. "At this rate, we might not just reach 100 billion by the end of the year but 200 billion."

Today was October 9th and we still had about two months and three weeks left until the end of the year. Considering the year-end stage revenue from Lee Mal-Soon, we could possibly hit 200 billion.

Once Hwaranjeon began production, the actor fees and writer\'s royalties would start pouring in as well.

"Ran-Hee, what do you think about having a Cherry Blossom concert at the end of this year?" I asked.

Do Ran-Hee tilted her head. "How would we manage that with just a few songs?"

"We can bring Ha-Na and Jong-Hoon and do it together."

"So basically a joint concert?"

"Yeah."

Cherry Blossom was preparing three songs for their comeback.

The first title track was \'My First Love Story,\' and the other two were \'Autumn Winter Rain\' and \'The Twice-Blooming Cherry Blossom.\'

All three songs were title track-level pieces, and they had four songs to perform including the previously released \'Hurry Up!\'

If the four members each had a solo stage and a joint performance, we could create a setlist with about nine to ten performances.

We could even increase the number of stages by adding guests.

"It\'s still a bit tight though..." Do Ran-Hee responded.

"We can do it on a smaller scale. And if we invite the new trainees from Singer Division 1 as guests, they\'ll be happy too," I suggested.

Do Ran-Hee looked at me warily. "You mean Treviang?"

"Yeah."

Currently, Singer Division 1 was managed by Chief Han So-Yoo who recently joined Hoop Entertainment from Suhyaejong, replacing Chief Cha Sang-Jin.

Do Ran-Hee hesitated. "I\'m not sure about putting them on stage..."

"Why? Because they\'re from the Suhyaejong line?"

"..."

"That\'s exactly why we should do it."

"What?"

"With Chief Kim gone, now is the perfect time to pull those Suhyaejong kids over to our side."

While Kim Dong-Soo was suspended, I planned to bring as many of his people over to my side as possible. This was to counter Choi Man-Sik\'s attempt to seize control of the company by using Bang Sang-Yung as his frontman.

Though hesitant, Do Ran-Hee agreed to give it a try. "I\'ll start planning it out."

"Oh, by the way, Sae-Ri and Girlfriend7\'s Cha Do-Hee don\'t get along. So keep an eye on them."

"How bad is it?"

"She was Sae-Ri\'s bully."

Do Ran-Hee\'s eyes narrowed. "She dared... to bully Sae-Ri? Should I leak this to all the reporters I know? No, I\'ll go there myself and pull out every single strand of her hair!"

\'Savage as always, Do Ran-Hee,\' I remarked inwardly.

Even after explaining that it happened in elementary school, Do Ran-Hee was fuming and said she couldn\'t stand it.

"Anyway, her father\'s a member of the National Assembly."

Do Ran-Hee froze in an instant like a malfunctioning robot.

This time, it had gotten through to her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he\'s a rookie assemblyman in Yeongdeungpo district. So we\'re the ones who\'ll get hurt if we mess with them."

An assemblyman was a different opponent from a chaebol. I had already experienced it with Park Sang-Gon.

They were monsters who could push all responsibility onto an aide and even drive them to attempt suicide.

"Anyway, I need you to dig a bit deeper since those two have that history."

"Yes, Mr. Jung."

"And Yung-Jin, check on the progress of Haru\'s Table of Mukbang final round tomorrow."

"Okay, Mr. Jung."

"Then I\'ll go see Sae-Ri. Keep up the good work."

I planned to go to the dorm and try to convince Sae-Ri until the planner entry disappeared.

At that moment, Kim Mi-Hye burst in and shouted. "Mr. Jung! We have a big problem!"

"What is it?"

"Look at this!"

On the tablet that Kim Mi-Hye held up, there was a headline from a tabloid article.

[Upcoming comeback group C\'s main vocalist Miss. K. More than just childhood friends with fellow actor Mr. H from the same agency? (Entertainment Big News)]

The article was published by Entertainment Big News, the tabloid where the despicable reporter Ju Kang-Yong worked. It was also the same newspaper that would release the article that Sae-Ri allegedly assaulted Cha Do-Hee.

However, the article included some surprisingly specific details that seemed to lend credibility to the gossip.

-Their Childhood friend Miss. C: "The two have been more than friends since they were kids..."

-Testimony from rookie girl group member Miss. C: "They must be dating by now, right? There was this one time when..."

The information shared could only come from someone who knew them personally, and it was clear that Miss C was likely Cha Do-Hee.

\'Fate really has a twisted sense of humor,\' I thought.

I had planned to handle this quietly, but I couldn\'t back down now with this preemptive strike.

I was Sae-Ri\'s talent agent and I had to protect her.

At that moment, the meeting room was filled with the sound of Team Jung\'s talent agents\' phones ringing all at once.

-Phone call~!

-Answer the phone~~!

-Hurry, hurry~ up, up!