I was currently in Room 3 of the members-only club SIBUYA55. Without hesitation, I tore up the letter of intent that stated we were willing to transfer the portrait rights of Hoop Entertainment's idols for five billion won annually. Tanaka's face twisted into something vicious. "Fuck, you bastard! What the hell are you doing?" He spat curses and jumped to his feet. At that moment, he grabbed a beer bottle upside down from the table. Beer poured out onto the floor. As expected of a former yakuza, he was about to smash the bottle and use it to threaten me. However, I knew exactly what kind of person Tanaka was. Before he could break the bottle, I moved in and twisted his wrist. 'Even a yakuza is still human and feels pain.' Tanaka screamed in pain as his wrist was bent. I warned, "Unless you want that wrist broken, I suggest you drop the bottle." As I tightened my grip and spoke coldly, the bottle slipped from his hand. I didn't miss the moment and caught the falling bottle swiftly with my free hand. When I placed the bottle gently on the table, Choi Man-Sik leapt to his feet. "Hey! Jung Yoon-Ho! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Still holding Tanaka's wrist, I answered, "That's what I should be asking. And shouldn't you be yelling at the guy who tried to smash a bottle in rage?" "And more importantly, do you even understand what happens if you hand over that letter of intent?" Choi Man-Sik snapped. "Damn it! So what if it's a letter of intent!? And... let go of his hand already!" He was fully siding with them. 'Fine. If you want me to let go, I will.' I released Tanaka's struggling wrist and gave him a light shove toward the sofa. Flailing his arms like a windmill, Tanaka toppled backward. At that moment, Choi Man-Sik tried to catch him with both arms, but thanks to the spilled beer on the floor, their feet slipped and they both crashed down. Fortunately, they fell onto the sofa. Aside from the tangled mess, they weren't seriously hurt. Still, pain was pain—their grimaces said it all as they slowly sat up. Once they did, I asked Choi Man-Sik again. "I'll ask one more time. Do you truly not know what happens if we sign that letter?" "What do you think happens?! It just shows a willingness to work together, what else could it mean?" For original chapters go to NoveIꜰire.net Choi Man-Sik was playing dumb, not that I expected a confession anyway. In that case, I would just make him look like a fool. "You don't know? Then please stay quiet from now on if you don't want Mr. Kang or Mr. Chairman giving you an earful later." "You punk! Who the hell do you think you're talking to?!" Choi Man-Sik's face was a sight to behold, knowing everything but unable to say it. That's when Tanaka, still seated on the sofa, started breathing heavily. "Chief Jung! You think you can deal with the consequences of this, huh?" "You're the one who should be worried about the consequences. You're the one pulling a scam." "A scam?! How is signing a letter of intent a scam?!" Then I heard a voice colder than a polar vortex beside me. It was Suzuki, who was both a lawyer and an accountant. "Just a moment, Mr. Jung. You said it's a scam... what do you mean by that?" Suzuki's eyes were sharp as she looked at me. But in truth, she was giving me a chance and buying me time to explain myself after I acted without warning. I kept my gaze on Tanaka and Choi Man-Sik and answered calmly. "It's not the contents of the letter that matters. It's the mere existence of this document that gives CEO Tanaka the leverage to manipulate things as he intends. That's why it's a scam." "In regular business, a letter of intent isn't legally binding. But it's different in the entertainment world. If the deal falls through, he'll leak the letter to gossip tabloids and accuse us of breaking a promise. Then Cherry Blossom and other Hoop Entertainment celebrities will be labeled liars before they even debut in Japan." "So you're saying CEO Tanaka has other intentions... but isn't that just speculation? Nothing's happened yet." I responded as if I had been waiting for that. "Did you know that the company claiming to pay five billion won annually, Yamazaki Construction, is actually a subsidiary of Mirhan, a pachinko firm?" Tanaka, who had looked so confident until now, turned ghostly pale. Suzuki didn't miss her moment and she shifted her sharp gaze to Tanaka. "Mr. Tanaka, is what Chief Jung just said true?" "I-I mean... that is..." The way he stammered made it obvious Suzuki now believed every word I said. "So you were planning to use Yamazaki Construction as a front to use our celebrities' portraits on pachinko machines?" she asked with sharp eyes. "N-No, it's not like that..." That's when Suzuki sighed deeply and gave him a look of disbelief. "I may not know much about the entertainment industry, but were you really trying to mess with me legally? Do I look that stupid to you?" Until now, Suzuki had always smiled kindly. But now she radiated a charisma that could make even a former yakuza flinch. The flustered Tanaka began changing his tone. "L-Listen, CEO Suzuki, this is all a misunderstanding! I didn't know who was behind Yamazaki Construction!" I didn't miss my chance and turned to Suzuki. "Really? Mr. Tanaka, a shareholder of Mirhan, doesn't know that Yamazaki Construction is one of its subsidiaries... Now that's interesting." Tanaka clearly hadn't expected I would know that. His face instantly turned pale as dough. "You... Who the hell are you?" So shocked, Tanaka was even questioning who I was. 'Who else? I'm the one and only person in this world who came back from the future.' However, I didn't answer but simply just smiled. At that moment, Suzuki turned to Tanaka and spoke in an icy tone. "If what Chief Jung said is true, you'd better prepare yourself. We'll not only cancel all contracts with your company, but we'll also review every past agreement in full. Understood?" Tanaka frantically waved his hands. "N-No, wait! CEO Suzuki, just listen to me. What really happened is—" Before he could finish, Suzuki calmly reached under the table and pressed a call button. The door to the room burst open. Four men with short-cropped hair and the build of professional fighters, clearly real yakuza, appeared. With their dead-cold eyes, they radiated a threatening presence unique to those still in the underworld. "Did you call, Mrs. Suzuki?" All four responded in unison. Suzuki pointed at Tanaka. "Please escort him out of the building." The four yakuza closed in around Tanaka. "This way, please." The men, still frowning, spoke again with a chilling tone. "Are you going to walk out on your own? Or should we carry you out unconscious? Your choice." Frightened by their pressure, Tanaka quickly gave in. "I-I'll walk out on my own." "Then please lead the way." Tanaka immediately stepped between two of the yakuza and exited the room. One of the remaining men turned to Suzuki. "Mrs. Suzuki, what should we do about the others?" "Oh, the other two are from the same company. They're fine." The two bowed politely and left. The door closed once again. Suzuki crossed her legs and stared at Choi Man-Sik. "Man-Sik oppa. I need you to elaborate. What was the real purpose of today's meeting?" Her tone had turned cold and blunt. Faced with Suzuki's sudden shift, Choi Man-Sik began making excuses. "Moeka, I pushed for this because I really thought it would bring big profits to Hoop Entertainment. And I had no idea Yamazaki Construction belonged to Mirhan. You didn't know either and you live here in Japan... So how would I know?" Suzuki gave a scornful laugh. "Oppa, you haven't known Tanaka for just a day or two. You were always with him whenever you came to Japan, and now you claim you didn't know? You've gotten more shameless since we last met." "Moeka, I-I swear it's the truth. Please believe me." Suzuki let out a long sigh and waved her hand. "That's enough, oppa. Let's not see each other anymore. I don't want to see someone who teamed up with a partner company rep to make me look like a fool." "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me by my name anymore. I have no desire to stay close with someone who stabs me in the back." Though Suzuki had a cute appearance, when her charisma erupted, she was colder and scarier than anyone I had ever seen. Choi Man-Sik shot me a resentful look before rising to his feet. Then, in a flat, emotionless tone, he began using honorifics. "Understood, Ms. Suzuki. Let's... end it here for today." Suzuki gave a curt nod. "I won't be seeing you out, Mr. Choi Man-Sik." Just like that, the two of them turned their backs on each other as if severing ties completely. But as Choi Man-Sik was about to leave the room, he veered toward me instead of the door. Standing in front of me, he glared with eyes that looked ready to devour me whole. "I'll never forget this, Jung Yoon-Ho." Choi Man-Sik radiated venomous malice, then turned sharply and walked to the door. When he opened the door, the yakuza guards were standing outside. Choi Man-Sik shoved his way out without a hint of fear. "Out of my way, bastards!" The yakuza exchanged puzzled looks but didn't touch him. It was because Suzuki had signaled to let him go from inside the room. As the door shut, Suzuki exhaled and relaxed her expression. "Chief Jung, you'd better watch yourself. Man-Sik oppa, no, President Choi Man-Sik, is insanely persistent." "I know. But are you going to be all right? Originally, Mr. Kang and I were going to sever ties with Aris Production. But now it'll look like you're the one who broke the deal." "Are you worried I'll face retaliation?" "Don't worry. I'm not someone to mess with," She responded with absolute confidence. 'Is she relying on Chairman Choi Eun-Tae's backing?' Such a thought crossed my mind briefly, but there was something more important than finding out her source of confidence. "In that case... would I be able to get my phone back now?" Since I now knew she owned this club, I figured I could ask. I wanted to check whether the Everyday's schedule entry had disappeared. She pressed a button under the table, and the door opened with a yakuza guard appearing. "Bring Mr. Jung's phone." Now she was acting like the true owner of the club. The guard exited, closing the door again. As we waited, Suzuki spoke. "Hm~ shall we chat while we wait? Feel free to ask anything." "Then I'd like to hear more about who you really are, Mrs. Suzuki." I already knew she was thirty-two-years-old, a lawyer and accountant, once a secretary to Choi Eun-Tae, and currently managing more than one trillion won in slush funds. She also called Choi Eun-Tae her uncle. However, how she came to own this luxurious club on prime Shibuya land, protected by yakuza, was a complete mystery. So I asked to understand just who the person managing that slush fund truly was. "Well, I did say I'd explain... all right." With a smile in her eyes, Suzuki began talking about who she was. And it turned out she had backing far beyond anything I imagined. Suzuki began explaining her connection to Choi Eun-Tae by starting with an old story. Back in his mid-thirties, Choi Eun-Tae used to run dangerous operations between Busan, Tokyo, and Nagasaki. One day, he entered a site controlled by the yakuza and ended up stabbed on the brink of death. But the lowest-ranked yakuza member at the time disobeyed orders to dump his bleeding body in the mountains and took him home to care for him. That young yakuza, being a Korean-Japanese, had felt a sense of solidarity with Choi Eun-Tae who was also a Korean caught up in dangerous work. After recovering, Choi Eun-Tae made a blood pact with him as sworn brothers. That young man's name was Koichiro, with his Korean name being Park Yung-Soo. He was Suzuki's maternal uncle. Once Choi Eun-Tae had established himself, Koichiro entrusted his young sister to him. It was because in Japan, yakuza were treated as social pariahs and their families were often bullied. So Choi Eun-Tae became her guardian and raised her with great care, even finding her a husband. That was how Suzuki was born. Choi Eun-Tae looked after her too, making sure she received the best education. Years passed and Koichiro became a major yakuza boss in Tokyo while Choi Eun-Tae rose to become Korea's king of cash and the loan shark king of Myeongdong. In short, Suzuki was under the protection of both a yakuza boss in Japan and Choi Eun-Tae in Korea. "The only people who know this now are Mr. Chairman, my mom, my maternal uncle, and you, Mr. Jung." "So even the yakuza working here don't know?" "No. Because yakuza families get bullied, my uncle kept it strictly hidden. We only meet secretly at this club once a month. This place was a gift from Mr. Chairman." Honestly, I had been worried. She was only thirty-two-years-old, managing over a trillion won alone in Japan, and I knew how ruthless Choi Man-Sik could be. However, I had no need to worry. Her backing was more than solid. Reading my thoughts, Suzuki smiled. "Now you understand what I meant when I said not to worry?" Just then, there was a knock on the door. The guard entered and placed my phone on the table. "I brought your phone." I immediately checked the Everday's schedule entry. [Date: March 5, 2021] (Deleted Schedule Entry: Emergency meeting for Chief level and above (Meeting Agenda: CEO Tanaka of Japan's Aris Entertainment. Unauthorized use of portrait rights of Hoop Entertainment's singers and actors in Japan. Contract signed with pachinko company Mirhan.) Finally, the schedule entry had been erased. Relieved, I turned to Suzuki. "May I make a call? I called Ms. Kang Ji-Yung before entering here. She might be worried if she hasn't heard from me." Suzuki gave a small chuckle. "Just as meticulous as they say. Go ahead." I immediately called Kang Ji-Yung, since I needed to update her on what happened. But as soon as she picked up, she spoke urgently. -Chief Jung, are you okay? It had been nearly an hour since I last made contact, and she must have been really worried. "Yes, thankfully. Oh, and about what happened here..." I started to explain, but Kang Ji-Yung jumped in. -Then please hurry to the AMOSE headquarters meeting room here in Shibuya! CEO Hiroshi is saying that if you don't show up, he won't sign the contract! 'He says it has to be me? Now what's going on?'