Not for the First Time - Chapter 44
Hyun Shim kept her tongue in check internally, but outwardly showed no sign of it.
“Why is it Seo Jin Gyo and not Cha Sung Hyuk?”
Hee Ran snorted as she crossed her arms.
“What’s the point of stirring up dating rumors for people who are going to get married? Are we supposed to roll out the red carpet for a grand celebration?”
“Are Cha CEO and Chae Young In really getting married?”
“We’ll know for sure when we enter the wedding hall, but for now, Cha Sung Hyuk said Chae Young In is the woman he’s going to marry.”
“So they leaked it to piss off Cha CEO?”
A meaningful smile spread across Hee Ran’s lips.
“No, the target is someone else.”
“Who is it?”
“Chae Young In’s future in-laws.”
“Cha CEO’s parents?”
“Yes.”
Hyun Shim’s eyes were filled with questions. Even after hearing who the plan was aimed at, she still couldn’t understand.
“Why are Cha CEO’s parents the target?”
“So Chae Young In can get on her future in-laws’ bad side.”
“…”
“What in-laws in this world would be tolerant of their future daughter-in-law being involved in dating rumors with another man? Especially when it’s the chairman and madam of SL Group. They’ll feel uneasy regardless of whether it’s true or not.”
It could be seen as a kind of smear campaign.
“It’s good if she gets on her in-laws’ bad side, and even better if the marriage falls apart because of this.”
Hyun Shim couldn’t hide her shock as she looked at Hee Ran, who was smiling with her eyes crinkled.
“Why go to such lengths…”
“Well, who told them to mess with me? They brought this on themselves.”
How did I end up getting involved with such a vicious woman?
Hyun Shim swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
She even started to feel sorry for Chae Young In, whom she had disliked so much. It was because she knew all too well that she was the reason Hee Ran came to hate Young In.
She felt a chill run down her spine at the thought that if Hee Ran’s popularity continued, she might try to crush her like this someday. She realized once again that Baek Hee Ran was more than capable of doing such things.
“Do you think they know it was you who leaked the dating rumors?”
“How would they know?”
While Hee Ran was confident that she wouldn’t be caught, not only Young In and Jin Gyo, who were the subjects of the dating rumors, but also Sung Hyuk all knew.
The reporter who wrote the article with an exclusive title was famous for being Baek Hee Ran’s dedicated praise reporter, and the photos in the article were taken at the Jeju Island filming location, making it difficult to suspect anyone else.
Young In, who had a fierce confrontation with Hee Ran yesterday, and Sung Hyuk, who had given Hee Ran a stern warning, couldn’t help but know it was Hee Ran’s doing. Jin Gyo was also aware of the situation between Hee Ran and Young In.
“What will you do if Cha CEO finds out?”
“So what if he does? What’s he going to do about it? He might say that, but he’ll regret it if I actually go somewhere else. How incompetent would a CEO look if he couldn’t even re-sign his leading actress?”
Uncomfortable with the sound of cackling laughter, Hyun Shim changed the subject.
“When is the prosecution investigation?”
“Tomorrow at 10 AM.”
“That’s sooner than I expected…”
“They want to get it over with quickly.”
“Right, what’s the point in dragging it out? Let’s end it quickly.”
A strange smile appeared and disappeared on Hyun Shim’s face.
“While coordinating the schedule, the investigator or whoever said they’d try to keep it under wraps.”
“That’s good.”
As Hyun Shim slowly nodded her head, her mind was racing faster than ever before.
[This is the timeline separator]The next afternoon.
After finishing the team leader meeting and returning to her office, Hae Yoon rushed to Young In.
“Team leader! Did you see the article?”
Young In’s eyes narrowed.
“Did I get caught up in another dating rumor?”
“It’s not about you today, it’s about Baek Hee Ran.”
“With whom?”
“It’s not a dating rumor. It’s an article saying she was investigated by the prosecution for being involved in a third-generation chaebol’s drug scandal.”
Young In immediately sensed that the third-generation chaebol was Oh Chang Geun.
She had already thought that Baek Hee Ran wouldn’t be able to just walk away unscathed when she heard the news of Oh Chang Geun’s arrest, whether she was guilty or not. Now that thought had become reality.
“Take a look first.”
Young In took the mobile phone Hae Yoon handed her and started reading the article.
Starting with a photo of Baek Hee Ran, her face completely covered with a hat and mask, getting into the back seat of a luxury sedan in a villa parking lot, followed by photos of the car entering and leaving the prosecutor’s office, and ending with a photo of Baek Hee Ran getting out of the car without her hat and mask in the villa parking lot.
Her face looked so tired that one might think she had undergone intense questioning.
Although blurred, Young In immediately recognized the person getting in and out of the driver’s seat as Hyun Shim.
“Do you think Baek Hee Ran also did drugs?”
“Well…”
It was at that moment that the deputy team leader jumped up from his seat and shouted.
“A new article about Baek Hee Ran just came out!”
Hae Yoon asked urgently.
“Did she test positive?”
“It’s not about drugs this time, it’s an exposé about power abuse and habitual drunk driving.”
“The power abuse isn’t that surprising, but what’s this about habitual drunk driving…”
“You know what’s even more shocking?”
“What is it?”
“Team Leader Jo revealed it under her real name.”
“You mean Team Leader Jo Hyun Shim from Team 2?”
“Yeah, she even did a face-to-face interview. Looks like she’s made up her mind.”
While Young In was searching for and reading the article, the deputy team leader continued speaking.
“She’d ask for ice cream to be delivered at 2 AM, and when she couldn’t answer the phone because she was washing up, Hee Ran said she lacked basic manners and told her to take her phone with her when she goes to wash up from now on. She mocked last year’s hit drama writer, saying their sense had dulled but she resuscitated it. She insulted products she was advertising, saying they were so shoddy she wouldn’t use them even if they were given for free. She did all sorts of things.”
Hae Yoon’s widened eyes showed no signs of returning to their original size.
“Team Leader Jo revealed all of that?”
“Yeah, the article has all the call and message contents.”
“Oh my… What in the world is going on…”
Hae Yoon wasn’t the only one dumbfounded.
Young In’s face, having finished reading the article, was a mix of surprise, bewilderment, and confusion.
[This is the timeline separator]The entertainment news was plastered with Baek Hee Ran’s name.
Hee Ran was horrified when she saw the article that came out just two hours after she returned home from the prosecution investigation.
Less than an hour later, she nearly fainted when she saw the newly uploaded article.
“Has Jo Hyun Shim gone mad?”
Recalling the face that had told her to rest well while dropping her off at home as usual, she felt dizzy with disbelief.
Public outrage spread rapidly. It sparked greater public fury than any other incident or accident.
Drug allegations, power abuse, habitual drunk driving.
With three issues, each difficult to handle on its own, overlapping, it was truly a firestorm of unimaginable proportions. Advertisers had to hide their ads first, without even having time to assess the situation.
Unable to handle the incessantly ringing phone, Hee Ran turned it off. Then she drove herself to the company.
“Where’s Jo Hyun Shim!”
One team member hesitantly stood up from their seat and mumbled.
“The team leader is currently meeting with the CEO…”
Hee Ran turned on her heel and left the office, went up to the 8th floor, and flung open the CEO’s office door. The secretary stood up from her seat with a startled face.
“The CEO is in a meeting right now.”
“Get out of my way!”
Hee Ran pushed aside the secretary blocking her way and entered the office.
Seeing Sung Hyuk sitting in the main seat of the sofa and Hyun Shim sitting next to him, her neck momentarily stiffened.
“As I thought. This isn’t Jo Hyun Shim’s scale of operation.”
The secretary who had followed her in grabbed Hee Ran’s arm, who was chuckling.
“Why are you doing this? Please leave.”
Sung Hyuk, who had been watching Hee Ran with an expressionless face, opened his mouth.
“Let her be. She seems to have something to say.”
The secretary bowed awkwardly and left the office.
Hee Ran approached the sofa, snickering.
“Are you going to be this despicable?”
Sung Hyuk responded with a smile to Hee Ran, who sat down across from Hyun Shim and crossed her legs.
“Speaking of despicable, isn’t that Baek Hee Ran? It’s quite unpleasant to hear such words from you, of all people.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about the dating rumors that broke yesterday.”
“Ah!”
Hee Ran let out an exaggerated exclamation as if she had just understood.
“Did you find my warning amusing?”
“You told me not to mess with Chae Young In, didn’t you?”
“And?”
“Do you think it’s easy to be involved in dating rumors with Korea’s top star? Isn’t it an honor for Seo Jin Gyo’s family?”
“It seems that in Baek Hee Ran’s family, dating rumors with a top star are considered a great honor. I can see the level of that household.”
Only then did the relaxed smile disappear from Hee Ran’s face.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“Not at all.”
“You still want more?”
“I’m very disappointed that it ended before I could even do anything.”
“Are you saying this wasn’t your doing?”
Sung Hyuk nodded lightly.
“I was in the middle of contemplating how to repay you in a way that would make Baek Hee Ran regret it the most, but I was a step too late.”
Realizing that he hadn’t ordered Hyun Shim to do this, Hee Ran glanced at Hyun Shim.
Seeing her expressionless face, anger welled up inside her. However, she didn’t have time to waste on someone like Jo Hyun Shim right now.
Her eyes, which had been filled with murderous intent, turned back to Sung Hyuk.
“If it wasn’t you who ordered this, what are you doing now? Aren’t you going to clean this up?”
Every article she had checked said that they couldn’t reach the agency or couldn’t get any response. It was as good as saying they wouldn’t make any official response.
“Why should I?”
“You don’t seriously not know that it’s the company’s job to protect its actors, do you?”
“Of course I know.”
“Then what are you doing!”
Hee Ran shouted, provoked by his nonchalant response.
“Why should I do anything for an actor who isn’t part of our company?”
“What do you mean…”
Sung Hyuk stared directly into her trembling pupils and spoke in a stern tone.
“The exclusive contract between SL Entertainment and actor Baek Hee Ran ended as of yesterday. Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”
It meant that Baek Hee Ran was no longer part of SL Entertainment.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
