“Juliet?”

“…”

There was only one woman here who could be called Juliet.

The heroine of business group ten’s play, class of ’08.

“I’m A Yu-ra, business administration, class of ’08.”

This wasn’t a blind date, but here came A Yu-ra, our Juliet, walking over with a big smile.

Drink in hand, bold as you please.

“…”

Everyone looked dumbstruck.

We were all drinking in the same room, but business and law were like oil and water; they didn’t mix.

There was an unspoken rule of sorts, and A Yu-ra had broken it.

Every eye in the room turned our way.

“That was really something. We sweated blood for a whole week getting the play ready, and you blew it away in one shot.”

A Yu-ra, gold-dyed hair and all, had a lot of fire.

For amateurs, putting on a play that good wasn’t easy.

Her heavy stage makeup hadn’t come off yet, which made her even more striking.

She looked straight at me and smiled as she said it.

“‘One shot’ doesn’t account for the effort I put in, does it?”

“Aw~ still, a girl group? That’s not fair. Tainted capital injected into a gathering of innocent college students. That’s cheating.”

She’d definitely come to pick a fight.

I studied A Yu-ra quietly.

Anyone would marvel at how pretty her face was.

But I saw something else.

A face that bows to no one under heaven… she has the makings of a great leader.

Her forehead and the space between her brows were smooth and in balance.

The phoenix-beauty face, which knows how to use its dazzling looks.

Plump earlobes—a face rich in ambition and desire.

The firm set of her mouth showed a life spent stopping at nothing to reach her goals.

It was the face of someone who, as a conglomerate leader, would expand her organization ferociously.

“It was my judgment, my decision, and an injection of pure capital that I own. That expensive rental dress you’re wearing and those rather impressive props—did the business department pay for them?”

A Yu-ra bit her lip.

However strong she was, she was still just a sprout of a freshman.

She’d lost on words and on reading the situation.

“Hmph… can’t a guy go easy on a girl?”

She threw out the cute act, the signature move of pretty women.

“I believe sexism is one of the evils we must get rid of.”

“Fine! You won today, but next time you won’t stand a chance.”

For all her looks, she had a frank, open temper.

“Shouldn’t you watch what you say at a law-group gathering? Business freshman!”

Senior Ye-rin tried to hit back.

A Yu-ra talking with me seemed to bother her.

“Don’t worry. I don’t like guys like him, so don’t get all tense. Jang Tae-san, let’s have a drink. I’ve got a strong feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.”

A Yu-ra was more than confident—she was overflowing with it.

Senior Ye-rin looked stunned.

She didn’t know this was an opponent she could never beat.

A Yu-ra held out her cup.

Maybe because she saw me as a classmate, she’d quickly dropped the formalities.

“Next time. That’s it for today.”

I quietly moved Senior A-rin, who’d been lying with her head on my lap, down onto the floor.

“Nooooo… mmph~.”

Her hand swiped through the air, trying to grab my leg.

I’d figured out exactly what kind of drunk Senior A-rin was.

“Take care of Senior A-rin. I’m going to get some air.”

I handed Senior A-rin over to my classmates, who didn’t dare make a peep in the face of A Yu-ra’s strong presence.

“Huh? Oh, sure.”

My classmates nodded as they answered.

After today’s talent show, none of my classmates would call me the Arrogant Mouth anymore.

There’d be jealousy, but I was sure they wouldn’t openly look down on me.

“Whoa, did I just get turned down?”

A Yu-ra was direct.

“Probably.”

I smiled and headed outside.

The big auditorium, reeking of alcohol, was already a mess.

The scale of Hanguk University’s orientation was something else.

Whoever thought of gathering hundreds of people in one place for a drinking party was a great planner.

Either that… or brainless idiots who didn’t think at all.

“Jang Tae-san. When the semester starts, I’ll come find you. We’ll see each other for sure!”

Suit yourself.

Having stepped all over A Yu-ra’s pride, I left the booze-soaked hall behind.

For all I’d drunk, I wasn’t the least bit drunk.

Drinks only taste good when you drink with good people and get pleasantly buzzed.

Tonight’s drinking party got a C-minus.

“Go, go!!!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

“Move! We could all die!!!”

The girls’ screams rang across the sledding hill, open for night sledding.

There was nobody else around.

Only the staff who ran it.

Normally, the ski slopes opened at night, but the sledding hill didn’t.

But the American Express Black Card made the impossible possible.

I’d paid each of the sledding-hill staff a special bonus of two hundred thousand won.

Grinning from ear to ear, they all quietly kept their posts.

“They’re still kids after all…”

Manager Hwang held a warm instant-coffee mix and watched the members fondly.

He and I sat alone by the electric heater in the glass-walled waiting room, watching the girls.

“It must have been hard on them.”

“Yeah. Before debut, you have to work yourself to death to debut, and after debut, you have to work like crazy to survive. The competition in this business is fiercer than anywhere else.”

The FOB members, who’d staked their high-school years on show business, had gone back to being children.

Like kids, they ran busily around carrying their snow sleds.

With so many of them instead of just one, it seemed even more fun.

They were screaming their heads off and blowing off stress.

I’d brought them all the way here for the talent show, and I couldn’t just send them back.

“I’ve booked you rooms. Get a good rest until tomorrow morning before you head back up.”

“Thanks. You’re doing what even the company won’t.”

“They’re my little sisters.”

“By the way, where’d you learn to dance? Looks like you learned from a pro—who was it? Honestly, you surprised me earlier. You were a lot better than Park Ji-yeong and Taek-yeon.”

“Not that good.”

“What are you talking about? You have no interest in debuting? Singing, dancing, education, looks—you’re missing nothing. I’ll make you a world star, so let’s debut!”

Manager Hwang’s eyes blazed.

“I told you, I’m self-made.”

“How much do you make? Is it IT? If not, what?”

If this guy knew how much I made in a day, would he still throw out lines like that?

I didn’t even know myself how much I was making these days.

I was learning firsthand what people mean when they say they’re afraid to look at their bankbooks.

“Still, I’m a CEO. And if that fails, I’ll be a civil servant. A judge sounds good~.”

“As your elder in life, let me give you some advice: forget it. Be a civil servant, and when are you ever going to buy a house and a building? I’m looking at you! You’re the real deal! You could hit it big in one shot. Just team up with me!”

Manager Hwang couldn’t let it go.

Even he seemed to think I was very marketable.

But I didn’t want to be a celebrity.

Become a star, and you have to watch everyone around you for the rest of your life.

One drunk-driving incident or one slip of the tongue, and a star can crash to earth as a plain old rock.

Not just anyone can be a celebrity.

It’s a special line of work that takes the resolve to be everyone’s sweetheart.

“No thanks. My parents wouldn’t like it.”

It wasn’t my parents. I didn’t like it.

“Too bad… you’re exactly the style that sells… and a great school… tsk. Still, tell me if you change your mind.”

“I will.”

For all his fierce face, Manager Hwang had an easygoing personality.

“You like Seo-ryeon?”

Manager Hwang’s question came right at me.

“She’s cute. She’s got some nerve, too.”

“That’s not an answer that suits your age. You’re twenty, aren’t you?”

“I’m twenty, yes.”

“Then why do you talk so easy? It’s like talking with my friends who’ve done their military service.”

Manager Hwang had a sharp eye.

I was only twenty on the outside; I hadn’t managed to shake the way I’d talked in my thirties.

“Aren’t the girls getting ready for their second album?”

“They should be… but the company won’t spend money.”

“What? Why not?”

“Something’s off. The president and the director seem to be cooking something up, but I can’t tell what.”

“Hasn’t FOB turned a profit?”

“That’s how we’d count it, but the big shots count differently. They throw in every group that flopped before and run it all through the blender.”

“Wouldn’t you do the same if you became the owner, Manager Hwang?”

“I’m different.”

“How?”

“I only take as much as I need to eat. You have to eat together to last. None of the outfits that went for one big score back in the day are still around. They were all too greedy.”

I’d poked him a little, and his answer was a gem.

He’d shown he was a conscientious man who set his own portion.

For some reason, I believed him.

Manager Hwang didn’t know this moment was a job interview.

“Haven’t you heard the rumor the company’s been sold?”

“What are you talking about? Why would the company get sold? I heard an equity investor came in. Do you know who that investor is?”

It was an unlisted company, so it had no duty to disclose.

The staff below didn’t know the owner had changed.

I had no intention of telling them yet.

“What if the company gets sold and the girls get dumped? It’s not like they’ve hit it that big.”

“…My wife’s family has a little money. I’d go and get on my knees and beg. Those girls have potential. Even if I have to become the president myself, I won’t just let them go.”

He clearly meant it.

KNB Entertainment is still a powerhouse ruling show business in 2020.

I’d never heard the names of the thug president and director.

Manager Hwang probably ends up taking over the company.

“Waaaah! It’s cold!”

“My hands and feet are frozen! Hnng!”

After two hours of rolling around madly in the snow, the members came into the waiting room.

They were bundled up tight in rented ski wear, but it couldn’t keep out all the winter wind in the mountains.

With cheeks flushed red, they came piling in.

“It’s warm~.”

“Chief, oppa, why aren’t you playing?”

“Wait till you get old. Only puppies and kids play outside on a cold day like this.”

“Then we’re puppies!!!”

Back from a good time, the girls picked a pointless fight with Manager Hwang.

“Sure, you’re our little mutts.”

“M-mutts!!! Ugh. You sound like a total old man!”

The members and Manager Hwang bickered and had fun.

Manager Hwang seemed strict, but underneath it all he had a warm heart.

Even the look on his face as he watched the members was a dad’s.

“Stop bugging Manager Hwang and come here. Eat some cup noodles and fish cake.”

“Waaaaaaah! Oppa, you’re the best!”

“Tae-san oppa, we love you so, so much.”

I’d prepared snacks for the rowdy girl group.

“Don’t eat too much. Don’t drink all the broth! The sodium will make your faces puffy! And chew your fish cake well!”

Manager Hwang’s nagging went on.

“Yes, yes!”

They said yes, but the girls swarmed in and started fishing out fish cake.

“S-so yummy!”

“Fish cake~ oh fish cake. Which planet did you come from?”

“I’m so happy these days~.”

The members all got along well.

As they shared the fish cake, the laughter never stopped.

In just a few days, the grinding weariness and exhaustion they’d had when I first saw them seemed to have mostly blown away.

The company had worked them too hard to get its money’s worth.

It was time to end that bad habit.

“Oppa, you eat too.”

Seo-ryeon handed me a fish-cake skewer.

She was clearly different from the other members.

“Oppa! Have mine too!”

“Mine too!!!”

Suddenly a fierce competition broke out.

The girls were all holding out fish cake from every side and making a fuss for me to eat.

“You brats! What about me!”

Feeling left out, Manager Hwang let out a roar.

“Chief, look over there~. Fish cake and water are self-serve!”

“Ugh…”

Manager Hwang swallowed at leader Ju-min’s words.

“Tae-san. Say ahh~.”

Right in front of Manager Hwang, Ju-min fed me fish cake.

“Oppa~ the broth is amazing~ drink it slowly or you’ll get indigestion.”

“Oppa. You’ve got some on your lip. I’ll wipe it off.”

“Aww, Tae-san oppa, why are you so cute? Your shoulders seem stiff—want a massage?”

Getting the royal treatment from a girl group, sitting there eating the fish cake they fed me and drinking the broth—I didn’t even envy Nova hyungnim.

And it was full service from the heart.

Girls! From now on, oppa’s got your lives covered!!!

— Karma points acquired in abundance!

The bonus, of course, came with it.

(End of Chapter 99)