Chapter 128: Build-up

TL: Aniea

"Crazy bastard...."

Kim Ji-an, realizing in that instant what kind of mistake she had just made, hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands.

Fortunately or unfortunately, no one in the room paid attention to her slip of the tongue. That was because everyone's eyes were solely on Kang Woo-ju.

‘...Is he in his right mind?’

‘...Was the rumor true?’

‘...What an arrogant hubae.’

The suspicion in their eyes wasn't all that different from what Kim Ji-an was feeling inside. That’s how far removed Kang Woo-ju’s actions were from common sense.

Of course, he wasn’t late to the appointment. However, according to common social norms, it is expected that one arrives at least five minutes early, ideally, earlier than the sunbae.

‘I should’ve just gone out to meet him!’

Mmm-

Director Park Hee-seok, the only one who knew the full story, let out a small groan.

Having verified the truth of the rumors about Kang Woo-ju through his connections at the broadcasting station, he had gone out himself to meet Kang Woo-ju in order to prevent just such a situation.

The plan had been to chat amiably and walk into the meeting room together. And it had seemed to be going according to plan.

‘He said he was going to take a quick call....’

He recalled Kang Woo-ju disappearing somewhere with his phone in hand, without even giving him a chance to stop him.

Left with no choice, Director Park Hee-seok entered the meeting room alone and did his best to ease the awkward atmosphere.

These people were all distinguished in their own right and had pretty high noses, but he was managing to get them to start opening up little by little.

‘If only he had actually been late.’

If he had been late, he could’ve at least blamed traffic and taken a few comments before things moved on.

But Kang Woo-ju had walked in precisely on time, making it difficult for anyone to call him out.

-I am Kang Woo-ju.

To make matters worse, what was with that confident attitude? Watching this unfold, Director Park Hee-seok felt a headache begin to throb in his forehead.

“Ahem... Did our hubae get caught in traffic?”

It was ‘Kim Min-jae’ who broke the awkward silence first. A veteran actor who had appeared in three films that had surpassed ten million viewers.

With a career as long as his, his age was also quite senior, and the other prominent figures in the room seemed to give unspoken weight to his voice.

‘Kim Min-jae sunbae-nim, nice!’

Director Park Hee-seok clenched his fist in silent triumph. Thanks to Kim Min-jae stepping up, the mood had become somewhat salvageable.

Now, as long as Kang Woo-ju gave a slight bow and apologized, the worst could be avoided.

Sure, it would mean he was lying, but isn’t that just part of professional life?

“No. I arrived about 30 minutes ago.”

“......!?”

But Kang Woo-ju’s statement ruthlessly shattered everyone’s expectations. Without even batting an eye, he calmly dropped an uncomfortable truth.

As a result, not only the rest of the production crew, but even Kim Min-jae, who had tried to smooth things over, frowned deeply.

“Ha, hahaha! That’s right. Earlier, Woo-ju and I were talking about things unrelated to the project outside. Then suddenly, he got an urgent phone call....”

Fearing an uncontrollable situation if left alone, Director Park Hee-seok quickly stood up and defended Kang Woo-ju.

He didn’t want it to seem like he was taking sides with a specific actor, but having discord among actors would be far worse.

He prayed this would pass quietly, but unfortunately, his prayer did not reach the heavens.

“Why are you defending him, Director?”

‘Yoon Ji-soo’, who had been sitting with her arms crossed and glaring at the empty seat even before Kang Woo-ju arrived, threw out a sharply barbed question.

She was an actress who had originally debuted as an idol and singer-songwriter. As expected, she had suffered from acting ability controversies early in her career.

But through steady effort, she had succeeded in turning around her image and was now even called the nation's little sister.

‘She’s got a hell of a personality too....’

Director Park Hee-seok felt like screaming. The memories of how hard he’d worked to cast Yoon Ji-soo flashed through his mind like a panorama.

Even three attempts hadn’t been enough; he had ultimately failed to cast her until he finally managed, with help from Kim Eun-ha, to get her in that seat.

“No, it’s not that I’m defending him....”

“Sorry, Director, but I think it’s better to hear it directly from him. You arrived 30 minutes ago, so why are you coming in only now?”

“I wasn’t late, though.”

Twitch-!

A slight hesitation slipped into Kang Woo-ju’s answer. At that moment, a vein popped on Yoon Ji-soo’s forehead.

“Excuse me! Do you think everyone has time to burn....”

She uncrossed her arms and shot up from her seat. Just as she was about to raise her voice, drawing on her original profession.

“Ah, just a moment.”

“???”

Suddenly, Kang Woo-ju raised his hand, stopping Yoon Ji-soo’s actions. Then he pulled out his phone from his pocket and brought it to his ear.

His confidence far exceeded expectations, leaving not only Yoon Ji-soo but even Kim Min-jae stunned, mouths agape.

The only one watching him with an amused smirk was Seo Jun-woo.

“Yes, you can come in now.”

Despite hundreds of eyes staring at him, Kang Woo-ju continued the call as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Just as Yoon Ji-soo was about to come to her senses and speak again.

Knock knock-

“Excuse us.”

From behind Kang Woo-ju, a group of large men dressed in suits appeared.

Their presence was so imposing that everyone’s eyes widened in shock and they were left speechless.

‘...What, what the hell!?’

‘...Are those guys gangsters!?’

‘...Is this the reason Kang Woo-ju’s background is unclear!?’

Even Yoon Ji-soo, who had just been about to raise her voice, was frozen mid-action in shock.

As expected from people working in the arts industry, in that brief moment, they all imagined dozens of possible scenarios involving Kang Woo-ju.

“Uh, excuse me.... Who are these people?”

Managing to suppress his trembling, Director Park Hee-seok, the overall person in charge, carefully asked. In response, Kang Woo-ju lightly lifted the corners of his mouth.

“They’re the reason I was late.”

“Excuse me?”

Everyone tilted their heads, not quite understanding what he meant. Instead of elaborating, Kang Woo-ju turned his head to the suited men.

“Please hand them out.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hand out what?

What in the world?

Just as question marks began to float above everyone’s heads, they finally noticed that the men who had entered the meeting room were carrying a bunch of something in their hands.

“...Coffee?”

Kim Ji-an, quickly catching on to what they were holding, unconsciously murmured.

Then the men in suits, Kang Woo-ju’s bodyguards, swiftly moved through the meeting room, handing out coffee to everyone present.

Not only that, but there were also plenty of snacks to lightly fill their stomachs during the meeting.

“...Oh my God. This is from <Luxury Bread>!?”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“You know, the dessert café that’s gone viral on SNS! I heard people line up from dawn the day before just to buy these.”

“What!? This is that place? I heard a single macaron the size of your palm costs tens of thousands of won!”

Some who recognized the dessert reacted in shock. That’s because the snacks in the bags were outrageously expensive.

More than that, they weren’t something you could buy just because you had money.

Despite the high prices, they were so popular that there was a limit on how many each person could buy.

Even then, the lines were so long that there wasn’t even such a thing as making a reservation.

Just like the name <Luxury Bread>, these desserts could only be enjoyed if you had both plenty of time and money.

“What is going on...?”

Caught off guard, Yoon Ji-soo stared at the snack in her hand with a baffled expression.

She looked at Kang Woo-ju, wordlessly demanding an explanation, and he lightly shrugged as he spoke.

“It’s my first time meeting you all, and I thought it would be nice to have something to snack on during the long meeting.”

“That's...”

“But since it was the store’s first time taking such a large order, it took a bit longer than expected. I apologize for unintentionally causing any discomfort.”

“.......”

Everyone was left speechless at the neat and sincere apology. Even those who had viewed Kang Woo-ju unfavorably scratched their temples and looked away.

The meeting room had gone so quiet that even the staff’s whispers echoed through the space.

No one could deny the high value of the snack in their hands.

“Hahaha! Well, these things happen. Besides, he wasn’t even late to begin with! Thanks to him, we won’t go hungry during this meeting!”

Kim Min-jae was the first to burst into hearty laughter, refreshing the atmosphere. At some point, he was now holding an organic red ginseng stick in his hand.

This was thanks to Kang Woo-ju having mixed in red ginseng snacks, considering the tastes of middle-aged people in their 30s and 40s.

“Thank you for understanding, sunbae-nim.”

“Think nothing of it. If anything, we should be the ones apologizing for the misunderstanding. This is why you shouldn’t believe baseless rumors.”

“Hoho, exactly.”

“Thank you for the treat!”

“Much appreciated!”

One by one, people began to echo Kim Min-jae’s words and expressed their gratitude. The atmosphere, which had been like walking on thin ice, was miraculously turned around.

In a situation where nothing more could really be said, Yoon Ji-soo eventually closed her mouth and sat back down in her seat.

There was still a hint of displeasure on her face, but she no longer looked as combative as before.

‘...Whew. That shaved ten years off my life.’

Director Park Hee-seok, who had been more nervous than anyone in the room, finally let out a breath of relief. He had gained a few new wrinkles in that short time.

“We’ll take our leave now.”

“Ah, thank you for your work.”

The bodyguards, having finished their task, exited the meeting room. People instinctively followed them with their eyes, then forced themselves to look away.

‘...Let’s not be curious about things we don’t need to know.’

Everyone in the industry knew all too well that unnecessary curiosity could shorten your life.

It was a world where things far worse than what you read in tabloids or conspiracy theories happened regularly.

At this point, even if Kang Woo-ju really was connected to gangsters no, precisely because that seemed likely, there was no one foolish enough to speak carelessly.

‘...Huh? But I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before.’

At the same time, people began to feel a strange sense of déjà vu. Something about the situation they had just witnessed and Kang Woo-ju’s overflowing confidence was stirring a memory.

“Quite the flashy entrance, Prosecutor Kang Ba-ram.”

Ah-!!

With Seo Jun-woo’s remark, people finally realized the source of that strange feeling. Sounds of admiration echoed around the room like ripples.

The movie currently in production, <Crows>. Kang Woo-ju’s role in it, [Gangster Prosecutor Kang Ba-ram], was exactly the image he had just displayed.

Realizing this, everyone’s eyes lit up at once. Especially Kim Min-jae and Yoon Ji-soo, who let out hollow chuckles.

‘...He’s a crazy bastard.’

‘...Was this all just a build-up?’

‘...He spent thousands just for a build-up!?’

Kang Woo-ju accepted everyone’s shocked stares as if it were only natural, yet he shot a quiet glare at Seo Jun-woo, as if displeased by something.

“...Attorney Seo Jung-min, still as diligent as ever.”

Naturally responding to Seo Jun-woo’s line, Kang Woo-ju took a seat across from him. The two locked eyes in mid-air.

*****

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