Park Geon-ho held his breath for the moment.
Nothing good would come of anyone discovering that an Actor Division manager had used the fifth-floor restroom.
Fortunately, the person on the phone stopped at the urinal closest to the entrance.
"Hold on. Yeah...... What? It's fine. Suspicious? Don't be ridiculous~ All EDM sounds the same. Change the chord a little and nobody will know. Who listens to club music from Malta?"
"......?"
"Didn't I tell you? And they're running out of time. Didn't they say the group has to debut this year? Right. If it becomes a problem? Who cares? I'll be out of Korea by then."
"......!"
Park Geon-ho pricked up his ears and listened in on the call.
And a moment later.
Whoooosh.
Along with the refreshing sound of the urinal flushing, the person on the phone disappeared.
Park waited until the footsteps had completely faded, then released the breath he had been holding.
"Who was that?"
He cautiously stepped out of the stall and looked through the entrance.
Someone's back was disappearing in the distance.
"I think that's the person...... Where are they going?"
Park Geon-ho decided to follow them while he was at it.
After passing conference rooms, recording studios, and audio testing rooms, he arrived at the multimedia room.
Inside were the creative lounge, listening lounge, cinema room, and other facilities.
"This is it."
After confirming where the person on the phone had disappeared, Park Geon-ho tapped the employee ID hanging from his neck against the access reader.
But it beeped, and Access Denied appeared.
"Am I not authorized to enter?"
Just then, someone spoke from beside him.
"Not just anyone can go in there."
Park turned his head in surprise and found a welcome face standing there.
Jena.
Wooju Entertainment's only successful act and the country's top solo idol.
Her cap was pulled low over her face, but not just anyone could possess the aura radiating from her petite body.
"Are you an outsider?"
"No. I'm a manager with the Actor Division."
"An Actor Division manager? Who are you in charge of?"
"Jo So-hee."
"Ooh, Jo So-hee! Really? I know Jo So-hee's manager?"
Jena prowled closer like a hyena stalking its prey.
Judging by her expression, she seemed to have misunderstood something.
"Jo So-hee's assigned manager has changed. Deputy Team Leader Ahn Hye-ju has a personal matter to attend to."
"Oh-ho, that sounds plausible. Keep talking."
"It's the truth. Please don't come any closer, Jena."
"Amazing! Even my fans can't recognize me when I pull my cap down. How did you know?"
"Anyone at Wooju Entertainment who doesn't know you has to be a spy."
"That line passes too. Wow, you really prepared for this, didn't you?"
The corners of Jena's mouth curled upward mischievously.
A certain saying suddenly crossed Park's mind.
If the Actor Division had Jo So-hee, then the Singer Division had Jena.
'I think I may have run into trouble.......'
It would not be difficult to prove his identity.
Wooju Entertainment was not so small that an outsider could wander around with a forged ID or temporary visitor's pass.
The problem was that an Actor Division manager had been caught loitering in front of a restricted media room.
In the meantime, Jena had come within a meter of him and examined the ID hanging from his neck.
"Actor Division Team 5 Manager Park Geon-ho. Hmm....... This looks like one of our employee IDs, but what are you doing here?"
"Ah, well......."
"You can't lie and say you're looking for the restroom because you urgently need to poop or that you got lost because the company is too complicated."
"......."
"Hmm? If you don't answer, I'll have no choice but to get extremely suspicious, you know?"
Seeing Jena's sly smile made Park a little afraid.
If he said the wrong thing, Wooju Entertainment might erupt into chaos.
Just then, a saving voice came from some distance away.
"What are you doing here?"
The voice belonged to Jo So-hee.
Click. Click.
She approached rapidly, her heels striking the floor with an intimidating rhythm. It was like watching a heroine who had come to wipe out a criminal organization.
"What? You were telling the truth?"
Jena, who had turned to look behind her, also flinched in surprise.
Her expression said she had never expected Jo So-hee to appear at this exact moment.
But Jena was Jena for a reason.
As Jo So-hee approached, Jena wiped away her surprise and confidently raised her chin as if nothing had happened.
"Hello, Ms. So-hee."
"Yes. Hello."
"You do recognize me without makeup, don't you?"
"I recognize you from your voice alone, Jena."
"Hmm? Still, we're with the same company. Isn't just Jena a little rude?"
Jena seized on the form of address.
She mistakenly believed that she was Jo So-hee's senior.
"Um, Jena. Ms. So-hee debuted in January 2018."
"Huh? Didn't she debut in 2020?"
"That was her television drama debut. She filmed an independent movie before that. It screened in January 2018."
Jena's debut date was March 3, 2018.
It was a question on Wooju Entertainment's entrance exam, so every manager knew it.
Meanwhile, Jo So-hee's film had screened at an independent film festival in January of the same year, making her entertainment-industry debut two months earlier than Jena.
But Jena, who did not know the full story, began stretching the argument.
"By that logic, I started training in the spring of 2017."
"Ms. So-hee briefly modeled for a school-uniform advertisement in 2016."
"Wouldn't I have uploaded my singing video before that?"
"You know Ms. So-hee's mother used to be an actress, right? If we search, there should be footage of Ms. So-hee appearing with her when she was little."
"Wow....... That's some seriously shameless reaching."
Jena was dumbfounded.
She had not expected the manager she had cornered only moments ago to recite Jo So-hee's career in such detail.
"I guess you really are Jo So-hee's manager."
"Yes. Although my formal appointment isn't until tomorrow."
"What is this~ Are you a stalker by any chance?"
"I would appreciate it if you considered it advance preparation instead."
Park hurriedly corrected the implication in case Jo So-hee misunderstood.
And a stalker, even as a joke?
That was hardly something to say to a man who had regressed while fleeing Jo So-hee.
"But what are you doing here?"
"Ah, well...... I saw someone enter the multimedia room."
"So you were checking because you thought he might be suspicious?"
"Yes. I knew you would understand immediately, Ms. So-hee."
Park Geon-ho nodded at once.
Jo So-hee had personally appeared and even played along, so it seemed Jena could no longer do anything about it.
But Jena was far more persistent than the rumors suggested.
"From where I'm standing, isn't Jo So-hee's manager more suspicious?"
"Geon-ho?"
"He was tapping his employee ID over there. Doesn't it look obvious that not just anyone can enter?"
"Is that true?"
"Ah, yes. I was in a hurry and ended up......."
"Hmm......."
Jo So-hee let out a long hum.
Her mood had soured the moment she heard Park Geon-ho had briefly gone down to the fifth floor. After hearing Jena, she felt even more uneasy.
"Geon-ho. We need to talk."
"Pardon? Ah, yes. Of course. Where should we go?"
"Let's do it over there. Over there. There's a conference room right beside us. Why go far?"
"Sorry, but would you mind leaving us alone, Jena?"
"Why should I? Isn't this the Singer Division, with me as its representative singer? Anyway, I have a right to hear this too, so talk in front of me. Otherwise...... I'll tell the division director everything."
Jo So-hee sighed as Jena threw a tantrum.
If it had been anyone but Jena, she would have ignored the woman.
But because it was Jena, she could not.
"Fine. Come with us. But don't treat my manager carelessly."
"Carelessly? I treated him well because he's tall and handsome. Right, Manager Park Geon-ho?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes. I must have misunderstood."
"Now then~ Shall we go have an interesting conversation?"
Jena dragged them into a recording studio.
As the name suggested, it was a space for recording music.
Park thought an empty conference room would be better than a recording studio with an engineer always present.
"Oppa."
"Yeah, Jena."
"I need this room for 30 minutes."
"Okay."
With one word from Jena, the absolute ruler(?) of the Singer Division, they had a perfectly soundproof conference room.
"Sit over there. Would you like something to drink?"
"No, thank you."
"I'm fine too."
"Come on. You're honored guests of the Singer Division. I can't send you away without offering anything. Let's see......."
Jena took three unlabeled bottles of water from a refrigerator in the corner of the studio.
Then she handed one each to Park Geon-ho and Jo So-hee.
"I don't give this to just anyone. The trainees can't even dream of trying it."
"Thank you."
"Do you think I'm joking? You can't even buy this in Korea."
Jena made a great show of her generosity, but Jo So-hee only accepted the bottle without drinking.
Park took a sip instead. Fine bubbles pricked the tip of his tongue, followed by the taste of water used to rinse seaweed.
"Is this Lumaris Blue?"
"Whoa, amazing! How did you know?"
"I had it...... once before."
"You recognized it after drinking it once? Do you have an absolute palate or something?"
"Nothing like that. It has a distinctive taste."
Park gave the astonished Jena a vague answer.
In truth, he had been forced to drink it for almost a year.
When the company distributing Lumaris Blue changed, the new distributor had signed an exclusive viral marketing contract with Jo So-hee to expand its sales channels.
But Jo So-hee learned who was behind the distributor and terminated the contract, leaving dozens of boxes piled up in storage.
Jo So-hee wanted nothing to do with them, so she purchased every sponsored bottle and dumped the lot on her favorite(?) director.
Unable to throw away bottled water that cost more than 10,000 won each, a certain director drank the seawater-flavored water every morning and evening.
"What does it taste like?"
"It's made from seawater from the Maldives, so it's a little salty. It's rich in minerals, which makes it popular with overseas influencers."
"Really? Then let me have one sip of yours."
"......I'll open yours for you."
Jo So-hee's expression asked what the problem was.
But giving her water from a bottle he had put his lips to could be mistaken for flirting, even if everyone had received a bottle.
"Hmph. You don't want me putting my mouth on it?"
"Jena is watching."
"Oh, sorry. I won't look. I can't see~ I didn't see anything~"
"Here. Drink this one."
Park opened the bottle in front of Jo So-hee and placed it in her hand.
Jo So-hee took a sip, tilted her head, then looked at Park and spoke.
"Is this how it's supposed to taste? Give me that one."
"Jena. One more bottle of water, please."
"Why open a new one? I only need one sip."
"No. And stop acting, Ms. So-hee. Jena will misunderstand."
One grew accustomed to behavior like this after becoming close to Jo So-hee, but Jena did not know her that well yet.
Park worried that Jena would think it strange, but Jena was actually dying of envy.
"Are you sure you haven't been appointed yet? Don't you look like best friends from where I'm sitting?"
"You're imagining things."
"Right? I'm imagining things, right? Anyway, I want a manager like this too. Ms. So-hee. Geon-ho......."
"No."
"You said no without even hearing me out? I wasn't asking you to give him to me. I meant when you don't have a schedule......."
"I don't want to."
"Wow, what's with that iron wall? Anyone who didn't know better would think you two were dating."
Jena subtly cast out some bait, but neither of them bit.
One was the Queen of Acting who would soon stand at the pinnacle of the South Korean entertainment industry.
The other was a manager who had regressed while fleeing that great actress.
Neither was at a level where such an obvious probe would catch them.
"Anyway, now that we've loosened up, tell me. What exactly did you see?"
When she failed to get the reaction she wanted, Jena changed the subject.
It was time to hear why three people with no real relationship until yesterday had gathered in a sealed room.
Park would have found it difficult to speak if Jena had been alone.
But trusting Jo So-hee, who was already displaying an attachment response, he opened his mouth.
"I had a brief meeting in a fifth-floor conference room earlier. Then I urgently needed the restroom, so I used the one on the fifth floor, and someone came in."
"Who was it?"
"I didn't see his face. I only heard his voice. He was on the phone, and what he said sounded strange."
"How?"
"I'll tell you only what I remember. The Wooju kids aren't tone-deaf. I panicked when they said it sounded familiar. All EDM sounds the same. Club music from Malta. We're the ones in a hurry. It doesn't matter if it becomes a problem. By then, I'll be out of Korea."
Park could have offered more detail.
But he only conveyed the key points because they would probably ask what he had been doing in a fifth-floor conference room.
Jena's expression immediately turned serious.