CHAPTER 76: TURN OF EVENTS

"I HOPE you don’t get disheartened by this turn of events, Garam-ssi."

Oh.

Garam was bummed at first, of course.

He worked hard writing all 8 songs for his full-length album while he was in the military, only for the company to use just one of them.

At least, ’Siren’ stays as one of the double title tracks.

Sadly, the other two songs in his EP were composed by different producers. The last song in his EP was an acapella version of ’Siren.’

So, yes, he was really disheartened.

However...

"Can you promise me one thing, ma’am?"

"What is it?"

"If my solo debut becomes a success despite the setbacks, can you convince the higher-ups to give me a full-length album ASAP? I don’t want my songs that were scraped off to be wasted," Garam said, clenching his hands tight. "I know I’m being stubborn, but I believe my songs will give us positive results."

CEO Myung Hyesu fell silent for a moment, and then she nodded. "Alright. I’ll do that," she said, and then she patted Garam’s shoulder. "Garam-ssi, my hands are tied this time. I’m sorry. You know how we suffered a huge loss because of Gong Hanseo’s scandal?"

"Yes, ma’am."

"The investors and the shareholders weren’t happy with what happened then, since we had to spend a lot of money to prove Gong Hanseo’s innocence. Moreover, your group also lost quite a few brand deals. Worse, we had to pay those brands for breaching the contract when that bullying scandal broke out."

Right.

Our contracts with those brands indicated that we must uphold a clean reputation while representing them. So, when Hanseo Hyung’s bullying scandal broke out, the brands considered that incident a breach of contract. It didn’t matter that Hanseo Hyung was proven innocent in the end.

So, yes, the company had to pay a lot of money to avoid getting sued.

"The investors and the shareholders control the company. They are the ones who elect the board members, too. In fact, they are the ones who hired me. So, the company can fire me anytime they want. They’ll probably use Gong Hanseo’s incident as an excuse to prove that I’m incompetent," CEO Myung Hyesu explained. "I didn’t want that to happen. After all, I want to protect our artists— especially your group. You are my babies, after all."

That was true.

CEO Myung Hyesu wasn’t a perfect boss, but Garam could feel her genuine care for him and his group members. She fought hard to prove Gong Hanseo’s innocence not only because the company was put in jeopardy, but because she sincerely believed in him.

So, I know CEO Myung fought hard for me. It’s just unfortunate that the higher-ups are using Hanseo Hyung’s previous scandal to tie her hands.

"I had to sacrifice your album because of my selfishness," CEO Myung Hyesu said in a cracked voice. She looked so guilty, as if it were her fault that Garam’s album was reduced to an EP even though it wasn’t the case. "I’m really sorry, Garam-ssi."

"It’s alright, ma’am. I understand your position, and I also understand why the company is acting like this after Hanseo Hyung’s scandal," Garam said. He was still bummed, of course. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t understand the situation. "I just need to prove to the company that I’m worth their investment."

***

SONG SIHYUK didn’t expect to ’see’ Lim Garam in the conference room of his company while he was in the middle of a meeting.

Fancy seeing you here, babe.

A new hire— a woman probably around Lim Garam’s age— was carrying a phone with Lim Garam’s photo on the back of the phone case.

Song Sihyuk noticed it when the new hire placed her phone face down on the table.

Tsk.

Song Sihyuk also noticed that the new hire’s laptop had stickers of Lim Garam’s face.

He also saw that the wallpaper of the employee’s laptop was Lim Garam in a sexy pose. Well, Lim Garam was only lying down in a flower field. In fact, Lim Garam was barely visible because of the flowers around him,

But there was no way he wouldn’t recognize his adorable wife.

Haaah.

Lim Garam, this is why I hate the fact that you’re a famous celebrity.

That put Song Sihyuk in a bad mood.

So, after the meeting...

"Are you a new hire?"

The female employee, who was busy cleaning the table, looked startled when Song Sihyuk talked to her directly.

It seemed like the new hire froze in fear, her pupils shaking.

"What are you doing?" One of the senior managers gently nudged the new hire. "Answer the President."

"Y-Yes sir!" the new hire said, immediately bowing her head. "I-I became a regular employee last month, sir."

Song Sihyuk leaned against the backrest of his seat. "Are you a fresh graduate?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

Ah, so she’s really around Lim Garam’s age.

"No wonder you’re still acting juvenile."

The new hire lifted her face, obviously shocked. And then her face turned red as if she were embarrassed.

He didn’t care, though.

Song Sihyuk pointed at the new hire’s laptop. "Is that your personal or work laptop?"

"I-It’s my work laptop provided by the company, s-sir."

"Do we allow putting stickers on laptops?"

"I-I’m sorry, sir. I’ll r-remove them immediately!"

"Replace your phone case while you’re at it," Song Sihyuk said, standing up. "Plastering a celebrity’s face on your phone makes you look unprofessional. Now that you’re working for the company as a regular employee, I expect you to carry yourself accordingly."

The new hire bowed her head, tears already rolling down her cheeks. "I-I understand, sir," she said in a cracked voice, her shoulders trembling from crying. "I-I’m really sorry..."

Song Sihyuk just rolled his eyes before leaving the conference room.

He was followed by his group of secretaries, led by Jung Han and Lee Chan.

"Hyung-nim, when did you start bullying new hires?"

Song Sihyuk didn’t even bother to look at the person who shamelessly and boldly walked beside him without triggering his bodyguards. "I told you to call me ’President Song’ at work, General Manager Choi."

"I’m being impolite, right? Then you should fire me, President Song."

"If you don’t stop annoying me, you’re going to end up dead and not fired."

Of course, the punk just laughed.

The brat laughing carelessly next to him was Choi Sumin— his paternal cousin.

He’s my aunt’s youngest son, so he doesn’t carry the ’Song’ last name.

But it didn’t matter since Choi Sumin was still the beloved youngest grandson of Chairman Song Sanggyun.

That’s why this brat grew up spoiled.

"Hyung-nim, I don’t wanna work anymore. Can’t you just fire me?" Choi Sumin whined. "I’ll give you all my company shares. Let’s make a contract that says you’ll support me financially for the rest of my life. I’m pretty frugal, so I can live with just three hundred million won monthly."

"Can’t you just resign?"

"Hyung-nim, I carry a resignation letter every day. But it just gets shredded every time I submit it."

"That’s not my problem."

Choi Sungmin clicked his tongue. "Hyung-nim, will you help me if I give you an important piece of information?"

"It depends on what information it is."

"Remember my girlfriend?"

"You change partners every minute. How am I supposed to remember your girlfriend?"

"I’m talking about the heiress of Haneul Airlines."

"Okay, so what about her?"

"She told me that Cho Dongpyo is already in Korea."

That stopped Song Sihyuk in his tracks, then he looked at his cousin with furrowed brows. "How did that information slip from the people I asked to keep an eye on that bastard?"

"Hyung-nim, we’re not the only chaebol here," Choi Sumin said, shrugging nonchalantly. "To be honest, if I hadn’t coaxed my girlfriend to check if any of the Cho Triplets had landed in Korea, then we wouldn’t know Cho Dongpyo was already here."

Haaah.

Why are there so many incompetent people working for me?

"Hyung-nim, I did well, right?" Choi Sumin asked, smiling like a child. "Where’s my reward?"

Song Sihyuk sighed. "You’re fired, General Manager Choi."

"Yipeee!"

***

I FINALLY feel alive again.

Eating a tub of his favorite chocolate ice cream and looking at the beautiful view of the Han River while in a fancy hotel suite made Garam feel better.

I’m still sad, but at least I’m being sad in an expensive room.

"I don’t know what happened, but you seem down, babe," Song Sihyuk said, sitting next to Garam just to grab his face gently. "What happened?"

"Let go of my face first, Hyung," Garam complained lightly. "I’m still eating."

The Alpha just chuckled before doing as he said.

"It looks like you’re troubled, babe. Should we drink?"

"No, I don’t want to drink. You can’t drink, too, Hyung."

"Why not?"

"Because I don’t want us to have drunk sex— I want us to be sober."

Song Sihyuk looked shocked by what Garam said.

Even so, the Alpha’s eyes immediately sparked with heavy desire.

Oh, someone wants me so bad.

To be fair, Garam wanted Song Sihyuk, too.

Is it because I’m sad?

But he really wanted to be embraced by the Alpha tonight.

That and because I don’t think I’d have the time for sex once I start recording.

"Are you sure?" Song Sihyuk asked, already licking his lips as if he couldn’t contain his excitement. "You’re still sore, aren’t you?"

"It’s not that bad anymore," Garam said shyly. "I want to do it now, Hyung."

***

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