The Malicious Member Is Back! Chapter 205
* * *
And so, while Gim Chunyong and the rest of TOZ were smiling brightly beneath the fluttering confetti.
“Um, Director. It’s me.”
- “…
Come in.”
Just as Gim Chunyong was steadily putting his own plan into motion, someone else was also doing the best he could at his own work.
Creeak―
“…
Excuse me.”
The director’s office, which the secretary entered carrying coffee procured as always from a café near the AG building, was unusually tidy compared to normal.
Unlike when he’d been half out of his mind over the Liu Wei issue, or when he had gone on a business trip to the States to meet Logan’s parents in order to patch things up.
Having watched Sin Giho, the man usually called the “Tiger of AG,” from his side for years and knowing exactly what his temperament was like, the secretary could not hide his surprise and gaped.
‘He did seem busy these past few days. But to think he even cleaned the office himself….’
Approaching Sin Giho carefully, the secretary placed the coffee on his desk and stole a glance at his face.
His hair was neatly arranged as always, and he was frowning deeply with that usual irritable expression of his.
“…
Coffee?”
“Ah, yes. Your usual….”
“…….”
Black coffee with four extra shots, cinnamon powder, two ice cubes, in a 12-ounce cup.
After staring for a long while at the warm coffee, just the right temperature to drink immediately, Sin Giho slowly blinked and muttered.
“Secretary Choe.”
“Ah, yes! Please go ahead.”
“By any chance, do people at the café on the first floor of the company drink coffee the way I do?”
“Uh….”
At the unexpected question that suddenly came back at him, Secretary Choe’s eyes widened, and he darted them around.
All while hiding the somewhat impertinent thought of, ‘Did Director Sin truly eat something strange?’
“Well, since I’ve ordered it this way so often… I think the part-timers made a separate menu for it. Probably because punching in every customization one by one on the POS is difficult….”
In truth, rather than the part-timers making a new menu item, they had added a separate shortcut to the POS labeled “the person who buys four cups a day.”
“I see. Understood.”
Having no way of knowing that, Sin Giho pressed his lips into a straight line and quietly nodded.
There was no great reason why he had suddenly become mindful again of the coffee he drank like water.
It was just that….
“Since things turned out this way, wouldn’t it be easier on you to simply back them? You need a business card that says you planned a successful idol group too, don’t you, Director?”
“…….”
Annoyingly enough, he had been reminded of some red-haired bastard who had brought coffee customized exactly the way Sin Giho always drank it and brazenly stated his demands.
And, inevitably, that bastard could only continue to draw Sin Giho’s attention.
“That guy….”
“Yes?”
“No, I mean TOZ.”
Whatever anyone said, Sin Giho was the one with final decision-making authority over the various issues and schedules of Target of Xenon, who had debuted through
Again and again.
“…
They really did take first place this time.”
They drew his attention, surfaced in his mind, and lingered there.
“Ah, that’s right! Of course. They’re the kids who debuted through the program you oversaw, Director. Regardless of what the process was like… yes. I already sent a separate gift to their dorm at the time, and I’ve told them to have a team dinner as well.”
Sin Giho gave a short nod toward the secretary, who had handled things quickly and efficiently without even being instructed, then rapidly tapped his fingers on the desk as his eyes shifted.
“Ah, are you looking for cigarettes, by any chance?”
“No. It’s fine.”
In the past, he would have quickly reached for cigarettes at this point.
But well, since the Liu Wei incident, he had completely quit smoking.
“…
Hmm.”
Tap, tap.
Sin Giho’s fingers began moving faster and faster.
Sin Giho still did not particularly like Gim Chunyong.
He had completely blocked Sin Giho’s escape from Korea by debuting himself in Liu Wei’s place, and despite that, he shamelessly refused to stop asserting himself, and was even ill-mannered to boot.
However.
“…….”
With Secretary Choe, the person he trusted most and always kept by his side, standing next to him, Sin Giho’s eyes turned toward the monitor glowing a vivid blue atop his desk.
There, a document file he had separately requested in order to compare it with the written report sat displayed with its title clearly visible.
[…
List of Cancellations of Investment Refund Requests]
And that was the reason Sin Giho found it difficult to completely dislike Gim Chunyong, and TOZ, even though they displeased him.
The investors who had turned their backs on Sin Giho over his failure to properly debut Liu Wei had swiftly poured investment refund requests into AG before the matter had even been properly settled.
The current situation is different from what was previously promised.
This is a legitimate refund request, and you cannot refuse it.
Well, with countless documents and intermediary lawyers involved, that was what they had said.
“Um, Director Sin. I know you still haven’t adjusted to the time difference between the States and Korea, but we received an urgent call.”
“Ha… unless it’s truly urgent, tell them I’ll contact them again tomorrow afternoon….”
“They say they’re canceling their investment refund request. …
More than that, they say they want to invest more.”
“Wait, what?”
“Instead, they did say they would like there to be a Chinese member in the next group. We’ll have to coordinate that matter with the lawyers, though.”
“―Put the call through for now. Immediately!”
However, some of them had changed their minds.
After TOZ officially debuted, slowly raised their stock, and finally released their repackaged album.
Oh, a combination like that is better than expected.
Rather, since AG has never successfully produced an idol group before, wouldn’t it be better to confirm their potential through this opportunity and debut a Chinese member in the next group?
With judgments like that.
There were still some who requested their investment back on the grounds that “in any case, there isn’t a Chinese member among the members who debuted now,” but it was no comparison to before.
“I trust you understand that making a refund request to us now is unreasonable. It will be the same even if this becomes a legal battle. This is something we confirmed not only with our in-house lawyers but also with several other law firms, so there is no room for disagreement.”
“…….”
“If I had known your daughter was Liu Wei’s fiancée, I would have refused this contract from the very beginning.”
“…
But the engagement has been broken off, and in the end, you failed to debut Liu Wei….”
“He is still under our company. If we debut Liu Wei later as part of our global Chinese team, then we will have fulfilled the contract perfectly.”
“Ugh….”
“Do you have anything more to say?”
Furthermore, in that process, the family that had put up the largest investment—meaning the parents of Gao Shumin, who “had been” Liu Wei’s fiancée—were in a clearly disadvantageous position against Sin Giho.
“…….”
Of course, if that had been all, Sin Giho would not have been spending this emotional moment with his secretary standing beside him.
This was merely enough to cover the losses, and there was still nothing prepared for making big money afterward.
…
However.
After tapping the desk with his fingers for a long while, a low voice flowed from Sin Giho’s mouth.
“Did you check that?”
“Um, what do you mean…?”
“The email we received yesterday. The one asking to set up a new meeting.”
“Ah! Yes, yes! They said it’s physically impossible for them to come to Korea, but a video meeting would be fine, and if we want, they’re willing to set a separate date at our convenience. Yes, it really was sent by them.”
“I see… yes.”
At the secretary’s somewhat excited explanation, Sin Giho slowly rose from his seat and walked toward the window.
Reflected in the window, surprisingly enough, a subtle smile hung on Sin Giho’s face.
The smile of someone who had been lost and wandering in every direction, only to unexpectedly find a faster road.
Ahem. Clearing his throat, Sin Giho continued the conversation with his secretary while still pretending to be calm.
“…
Did they say why those people suddenly changed their minds?”
“Ah, um.”
Secretary Choe hesitated briefly at Sin Giho’s question, then unknowingly spoke in a slightly higher voice.
“…
They said that after hearing Logan Lee’s song, they have something they want to discuss.”
Yes.
The reason Sin Giho kept thinking of Gim Chunyong, who he did not even like, kept paying attention to TOZ, whom he had intended to simply toss one advertisement at and be done with, and was continuing this conversation now.
Logan’s parents had changed their minds.
To be precise….
The board had completely flipped.
Both Sin Giho and Secretary Choe, who had always assisted him by his side, knew very well what that meant.
It meant that the path ahead of Sin Giho, which had been limited solely to the Chinese market and was on the verge of ruin after even that had been blocked, had found a new way forward.
“…….”
Beyond the window, an unreadable expression appeared on Sin Giho’s face as he looked out at the Apgujeong street where the AG building was located.
Because the Apgujeong street, dyed crimson together with the sunset just before evening, made him think of someone again for no reason.
“…
Let’s take a look at what you brought today. I should check what’s there.”
“Ah, yes!”
Sin Giho, who had been quietly watching the scene with his hands clasped behind his back, soon turned and headed back to his desk, beginning to check the final approval proposals his secretary had brought.
In his head, the voice of someone—slightly cracked, yet possessing some inexplicable power—was ringing again and again.
“…
Our team will do well.”
Insolent and ill-mannered.
Shameless, and someone who had blocked Sin Giho’s path forward.
And yet, somehow, the one who had made him find another path.
“…
This.”
While slowly checking the list of advertising proposals and various program offers that had come in for TOZ, Sin Giho froze upon seeing a document with the name [Gim Chunyong] written on it.
That name alone was enough to make him stop, but there was another irritating name written there as well.
“…
Ju Cheolyeong is doing a new survival show, and he wants Gim Chunyong to appear as a mentor? Is this man insane?”
“Ah, well. In any case, even if
“I already knew he wasn’t in his right mind when I saw him jabbing at me back then….”
Tsk. Clicking his tongue, Sin Giho was about to reject the document without even looking further, but then he checked the expected cast list written below once more.
[Sledix
- Jeong Yeonu]
“…….”
Sin Giho stared quietly at the document, then finished signing briefly at the bottom and handed it back to Secretary Choe.
“Have him appear.”
“Uh, huh? Will that be all right? This may not be an issue for TOZ, but it’s Ju Cheolyeong of all people….”
“Yes. That Ju Cheolyeong did seem to like Gim… Chunyong somewhat. That’s why I’m telling you to have him appear. This way, people won’t forget that TOZ came from a survival show, and if needed, it will help build his recognition again too.”
Sin Giho was still cold and rational.
Even if he had found a new way forward like this, his nature had not gone anywhere.
He was methodical, calculating, and absolutely unwilling to do anything that would bring him a loss.
However, he was not so twisted a person that he could not show even the slightest bit of generosity to the guy who had made all of this work out.
“…
If that bastard once dreamed of becoming a broadcaster, he’ll probably like going on a program that promotes him. Tell him not to even think about refusing.”
Well, that was a decision made without hearing Gim Chunyong’s opinion.
And Gim Chunyong, in order to protect his contract and relationship with X, was planning to desperately avoid getting entangled with Jeong Yeonu.
In any case.