As Ju Min Ah was doing activities as part of the girl group and not only the group but also the name Ju Min Ah started to get noticed, she received a blackmail call from her ex-boyfriend, whom she had dated during her trainee days.
There was a video of them having sex on her ex-boyfriend’s cell phone. To Ju Min Ah, who had agreed to capture it on video because they were in love, the blackmail call was like a bolt of lightning in a clear sky.
Trembling, Ju Min Ah scraped together the money and gave in to her ex boyfriend’s demand for money. However, contrary to their agreement, the ex-boyfriend didn’t delete the video and continued to demand money from her.
At the time, it was before they received royalties so she didn’t have the large amounts of money he was demanding.
Ju Min Ah, who was struggling with the constant blackmail and agonizing over money problems, eventually told her manager the truth.
She didn’t come from a wealthy family so she didn’t have a way to get the money together anymore, and she thought that continuing like this wouldn’t bring a firm end to the situation.
Furthermore, she was mentally and physically so exhausted from the extreme stress that it was affecting her group activities.
In the end, the only one she could turn to was her manager. When she told the manager the gist of the situation, the manager immediately reported it to Seo Joong Won, who was the head of the strategic planning team at the time. The less people knew, the better. The manager came to the conclusion that it was bound to get reported to Seo Joong Won anyway, and the solution would have to come from Seo Joon Won.
As an employee of Ara Entertainment as well as the manager in charge of Ju Min Ah, his judgement was not wrong. However, he didn’t take into account that Seo Joong Won was an evil person.
Seo Joong Won called over Ju Min Ah, who had barely turned 21, and said with a cold expression,
“Why should I help you?”
Ju Min Ah felt like all the heat had gone out of her hands and feet. Was she going to get kicked out of the group, should she have kept it secret from the company at all cost and have figured out on her own a way to pay her ex-boyfriend…?
Ju Min Ah had persevered through the difficult trainee days to be able to debut. She didn’t want it to end like this. During that brief moment, Ju Min Ah was so anxious that she thought she might faint.
Seo Joong Won shook his head and said, as if exhausted,
“If I take care of this smelly filth for you…there needs to be something in it for me too…I think the fastest solution would be to just cut you compared to dealing with a guy like that.”
“Sir! Pl, please save me just this once. If you help me this one time, really, I’ll work really hard, *sniff* Please….please, just this once…*sniff*. I’ll do anything…”
Ju Min Ah’s face was already covered with tears.
She had been carrying so much burden all alone at a young age. Ju Min Ah was on the brink of getting pushed over the cliff. Seo Joon Won, who was sitting in front of a large desk and looking down at her with cold eyes, felt like the only one who could save her.
Seo Joong Won was running calculations at the time.
He couldn’t let the girl group that he was raising get tarnished, so, when he had been briefed about the situation, he had taken care of the guy blackmailing Ju Min Ah.
He had hired someone to thoroughly search everyone, including the guy’s house, and delete every video that the guy had. He had threatened the man with a lawsuit since he had extorted her with blackmail. Ju Min Ah’s ex-boyfriend must also have fully realized what kind of person Seo Joong Won was.
The originals of the sex tape that Ju Min Ah’s ex-boyfriend had had were now in Seo Joong Won’s hands.
At the time, Seo Joong Won had been acting as an intermediary to find sponsors* for some people who had been trainees but couldn’t get into a debut group and had ended up leaving Ara Entertainment.
(In Korea, sponsors often means trading sexual favors for money, roles, etc.)
Besides his wife’s family, he had had no foundation so, to develop his power, he had to rely on the power of high-ranking officials in each field. This was the method he had come up with to do that.
High-ranking executives were just as obsessed with playing with women as they were about money. It was one way to release beast-like desires and show off their power at the same time.
The former Ara Entertainment trainees that Seo Joong Won had been connecting them with were not just ‘escort girls’. Nevertheless, there was much less risk of exposure than with actual celebrities.
Now that she had handed over her weakness to him on her own, Ju Min Ah was a card that he could play however he wanted. She was even a very successful celebrity.
However, she was currently doing activities, so it was hard to hand her over to a sponsor. Seo Joong Won was both a pimp and a Department Head at Ara Entertainment.
Seo Joong Won’s gaze narrowed as he looked at Ju Min Ah, who was crying and saying she’d do anything.
Ju Min Ah’s bouncy breasts and curvy waist caught his eye. He had thought that she didn’t stand out compared to the other members, but, seeing her alone, she had a very pleasing face.
Thinking about it, her usual affable personality was kind of seductive.
They were an agency official and agency celebrity, so they wouldn’t draw too much suspicion either.
He forced back his laughter. The time had come for him to enjoy the taste of power too.
“Anything, you say…Then shall we discuss if you’re really willing to do anything?”
He got up from his seat and placed his hand on her shoulder.
That was how their relationship had started.
Seo Joong Won had the video of Ju Min Ah and her ex-boyfriend. He was an even bigger villain than her ex-boyfriend. Seo Joong Won truly was in a position to throw Ju Min Ah into the abyss.
Ju Min Ah felt like something was falling apart at that moment. It felt like a part of her had been cut off.
Glamorous life of a celebrity. Ju Min Ah focused solely on that life. She didn’t even glance at the dark areas.
After she had relations with Seo Joong Won, she always had to hurry off to the restroom as if running away, using the excuse that she had to wash up because she was getting nauseous.* Because it was like that, she accepted even more of the money and casting roles that Seo Joong Won offered. She felt she would go crazy if she didn’t do that.
(TL Notes: If you’re confused why she’d say she’s nauseous, so are we.)
Because that was the kind of relationship they had, Seo Joong Won was unreserved with her.
That was also the reason she knew that Seo Joong Won pimped out trainees, gave bribes here and there, and even took bribes.
He didn’t think that Ju Min Ha, who he saw as a doll in his hands, would have the fortitude to do anything.
However, sitting in front of her right now was Do Wook.
“Give me something else. Something that can bring down Seo Joong Won…I’ll take that instead. At the least, if you want to get out of that relationship…I think it’ll be a good opportunity.
Why Do Wook wanted to bring down Director Seo Joong Won, she briefly wondered about that, but the reason wasn’t important.
Looking at Do Wook’s honest and sincere eyes, Ju Min Ah became very embarrassed of the person that she saw reflected in his pupils.
After briefly thinking, Ju Min Ah nodded her head, having made her decision. What Do Wook said was right. It was an opportunity to escape her relationship with Director Seo Joong Won.
She was no longer the only victim. Regardless of how it started, she was also someone who had lived off Seo Joong Won.
If more time passed, she may get completely drunk off the money and honor Seo Joong Won was offering and never be able to go back to a normal life.
At this point, if Seo Joong Won released the sex tape with her ex-boyfriend or revealed the affair with her, there was nothing she could do. If she has an opportunity to turn it around, she wanted to take it.
‘It’s already too late for me to go back to normal, but…’
Ju Min Ah thought as she started to talk.
As Do Wook expected, Ju Min Ah held the key to bring down Director Seo Joong Won.
A list of the trainees who were sold off to ‘sponsors’ and the sponsors. A list of the bribes exchanged.
Solid evidence that could be handed over to the prosecution was stashed in Ju Min Ah’s Yang Jae Dong studio apartment. Ju Min Ah decided to hand it all over to Do Wook.
“This picture will never be released to the world, but…if people dig into Director Seo Joong Won, your name may come up. Then, as a celebrity, most of the interest may be on you…Are you ok with that?”
Do Wook added, pushing down his discomfort.
She had already thought about this when Do Wook had said he wanted to bring down Seo Joong Won. Ju Min Ah nodded her head.
Ju Min Ah was a victim of a power imbalance. The victimhood had been going on for so long, and she had gotten something out of it, so she wasn’t able to see herself as a victim completely. Of course, if this was made public, she definitely would not be able to avoid social criticism either.
It would have been better if she had been a little wiser, but it didn’t occur to her at the time that she was in a situation where she could make a different choice.
She was sitting in front of Do Wook with an expression like she would endure anything. Do Wook calmly started speaking.
“Let’s do this then.”
Do Wook organized the lists as soon as he got the evidence from her. Fortunately or unfortunately, there were almost no lists involving Ju Min Ah. It was Director Seo Joong Won’s personal actions, so he didn’t leave any evidence.
As long as Director Seo Joong Won didn’t say anything, Ju Min Ah would not get dragged in.
Do Wook sent the organized evidence to Director Jung, who had beef with Director Seo Joong Won. Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung played a part in that.
He also got help from Yu Sung Fashion President Lee Yoo Min. There were many high-ranking media and broadcasting officials involved, so just reporting it wouldn’t do. He needed a reliable prosecutor. Do Wook became an anonymous informant.
Ju Min Ah timed the announcement of her retirement with it. She was worried about Seo Joong Won’s retaliation, and it was the wrong start from the beginning so she wanted to end it.
Everything was happening quickly.
The most perfect start. Do Wook had pushed the first domino in order to bring down Seo Joong Won.
After that, Do Wook didn’t have to do a thing.
He just observed.
***
One hour before the Ara Entertainment board meeting was held.
After getting off the phone with the President, Director Seo Joong Won went to the Ara Entertainment office and reached out to the board members. However, perhaps having gotten a heads up, nobody answered his call.
There were many board members who had mooched off of him. And now they were turning a blind eye. He couldn’t forgive them.
“Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh!”
Extremely angry, Director Seo Joong Won let out a deafening yell.
However, even if he said he wouldn’t forgive them, there was nothing he could do.
‘Dismissal…dismissal, that’s ridiculous!’
Director Seo Joong Won was still denying the reality.
‘That *beep* betrayed me?!…’
Director Seo Joong Won thought that Director Chung had approached Ju Min Ah and coaxed her. Unless Director Jung said he would have her back, there was no way she would betray him.
‘I have the video…’
Director Seo Joong Won suddenly got a strange sense of déjà vu. He definitely had Ju Min Ah’s video. If Ju Min Ah had betrayed him despite that, then…
There was only one situation that would make perfect sense. Director Seo Joong Won quickly opened the internet browser.
His prediction was correct.
Ju Min Ah’s retirement announcement was going viral. It was, of course, only possible to control the life of actress Ju Min Ah if she cared about the title of ‘actress’.
Now that she retired, he could throw Ju Min Ah’s personal life into the abyss if he released the video, but it would be difficult to get anything out of it.
‘So you’re going all in on this! That *beep*…It’s the end for you if I release the video and make it so that you’ll be disgraced no matter what you do, even if you go abroad. But, right now, right now…!’
Director Seo Joong Won tried to stay calm.
“Wait. The President said that if I step down, he’ll stop Director Jung. That’s because if he reveals my wrongdoings, it won’t do the President any good either. Director Jung is not on good terms with the President, so he wants to put his person in the President seat…I’ll use that to get the President to come around, and…’
Thinking about it calmly, he thought he had the answer. Before the board meeting started, he had to use the President to find an excuse to pressure Director Jung.
Knock knock. Someone knocked on Director Seo Joong Won’s office door.
“Come in.”
Seo Joong Won replied and a delivery person wearing a motorcycle helmet came in.
“Delivery!”
The delivery person held out a document envelope to Seo Joong Won.
The delivery person left and Director Seo Joong Won quickly opened the document envelope.
There was a document inside.*
(TL Note: A document…inside a document envelope?! *shocked pikachu face*)
It was divorce papers that his wife had sent.
He was in a state of shock. There was a knock again. He couldn’t even answer. However, the door opened and men dressed in suits rushed into the office.
They were people sent by the prosecution.
Next chapter: Director Seo gets arrested.