Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Raise Three Idols Well And They’ll Launch a Confession Attack.

Episode 4: Don’t Call Home.

The police, who received the report, quickly arrived with tools to retrieve the wallet.

“So you’re saying the wallet fell through the gap in the railing?”

“…Yes, it slipped through the gap at the bottom of the railing over there.”

“What was inside the wallet?”

She looked at the police and me cautiously before speaking.

“…One million won.”

That’s a lot of money to carry around.

I bowed my head deeply to the police and said,

“Please, we really need your help.”

“Ha… this is why using cards or mobile payments is safer. Losing cash is really hopeless… We’ll check it out first.”

“I know you’re busy; thank you so much.”

“No problem; it’s our job, after all.”

The middle-aged police officer, who seemed to be the senior, said that and started searching for the wallet with his colleagues.

They were truly a reassuring sight.

“Hey, what were you thinking trying to get it yourself? I’m not joking; you could have died.”

“…But the police are supposed to catch criminals. I didn’t want to bother them with something like retrieving a wallet.”

“It’s a bigger problem if you fall and end up a corpse than sending the police to retrieve a wallet.”

What kind of life must one lead to decide to climb the railing of a bridge alone out of concern for the police’s time?

“It’s better for me to struggle a bit than to ask someone for help. I don’t want to owe anyone… I can’t even repay them.”

I thought she had good self-reliance, seeing her determination to do things alone, but that wasn’t it.

This kid just had rock-bottom self-esteem.

She looked like she would smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, but her behavior was more like that of a timid meerkat.

For me, who intended to use her, it was a favorable personality.

Indecisive and pessimistic, she seemed like someone who would follow if pushed strongly.

I licked my lips slightly and started talking,

“Don’t think of it as a heavy word like debt.”

Gyeoul looked up at me.

“When you face a crisis, the effort and risk you have to take might be significant, but for someone else, it could be a relatively easy task.”

Crisis is ultimately relative.

“Not expecting a grand reward, but just a simple thank you could be enough… So, it’s okay to ask for help.”

So, ask me for help.

You get introduced to Cheon Jonghoon.

I get a job referral.

Let’s become mutually beneficial to each other.

With her swollen eyes looking at the night sky, she glanced at me and asked,

“…My name is Han Gyeoul. How should I address you?”

“Just call me ahjussi.”

“…You don’t seem like an ahjussi.”

Gyeoul muttered softly, but it was quiet enough around us that I heard everything.

Fortunately, she seemed to be looking at me favorably.

“You said you came up from the countryside, right? Wasn’t there an adult who came with you? Or someone you know living in Seoul?”

“Ah… My parents aren’t around, and my grandfather couldn’t come up with me, so I came alone. I don’t have any acquaintances here either…”

I didn’t want to give any condescending advice like, ‘How can a minor come up alone so fearlessly?’

Rather, I was grateful she came up alone without any fear.

Because that gave me an opportunity to rely on.

If there was a guardian, they could have doubted my intentions no matter how much I talked.

“Right, you made a big decision.”

I supported her decision like a genuinely good person.

“My grandfather gave me the money he saved when I said I wanted to come, and now I lost it… Huhuhuhuhuh.”

Her tears started flowing again.

“Oh dear… it’s okay; the police officers will find it for you.”

I took a tissue from my pocket and handed it to Gyeoul.

She bowed her head and started blowing her nose thoroughly.

On the bridge at dawn, only the sounds of the police searching for the wallet and her blowing her nose echoed.

By the way, from what I heard, it seemed like this kid, Gyeoul, was going to audition for CH tomorrow.

This meant she was interested in becoming a trainee, so the difficulty of persuading her had decreased.

But it wasn’t necessarily good news.

The status window doesn’t lie, so with Gyeoul’s level of talent, she would easily pass CH’s audition.

The problem arose from there.

If Gyeoul passed the audition and started her trainee life, I wouldn’t have the chance to intervene and make a deal with Cheon Jonghoon.

It would disrupt my plan to introduce her to Cheon Jonghoon and sell her talent.

Should I persuade her that SS is a more attractive agency than CH?

Or should I forcefully insist on just getting an introduction and securing a promise?

I was contemplating which method to choose.

“Student, could you come here for a moment?”

At that moment, the police called her, seeming to have finished their search.

“It looks like they found it. Let’s go.”

The middle-aged officer, who had been kind, spoke in a regretful voice.

“Hey, kid, are you sure you dropped it there?”

Sensing an ominous atmosphere, Gyeoul clasped her hands together like she was praying and said,

“Yes… the wallet slipped out from that gap.”

“We checked everything with the camera, but unfortunately, we can’t see it.”

The middle-aged officer kindly showed the recorded video while explaining.

“If it slipped from that gap, it would have only gone here or here, into the nets beside it. But you can see there’s nothing there.”

“…Oh, then… oh.”

Gyeoul’s pupils shook like candle flames.

The officer, looking at her sympathetically, spoke considerately.

“We’ll give you a ride home. Where do you live?”

“Home? Um… My house is a bit far. It’s okay.”

“It’s okay, even if it’s a bit far. Where is it?”

“…Actually, it’s not just a bit far; it’s very far.”

“Where is it?”

“…Jeonnam.”

When she mentioned a place that takes three hours and forty minutes by express bus, the look of consideration in the officer’s eyes changed.

A wallet full of cash and a house far from Seoul.

A typical delinquent fashion and a minor.

It was perfect to be seen as a runaway teenager.

“Jeonnam? Huh… Where are your guardians? They need to know about this situation.”

Gyeoul, sensing the situation was turning strange, started sweating.

Her pupils shook wildly, and then she suddenly looked at me and shouted.

“…Th-this person is my guardian!”

Since when did I become her guardian?

It was true that I wanted to get close enough to use her, but not as deeply as she claimed.

I wanted to gain benefits by introducing Gyeoul, but I didn’t want to take responsibility.

I just wanted to enjoy the benefits.

The middle-aged officer, looking puzzled, alternated between looking at me and Gyeoul and asked,

“Excuse me, but what is the relationship between you two?”

Mid-teens and mid-twenties. An ambiguous age gap.

A beauty aspiring to be a trainee and an ordinary face.

No matter how you looked at it, we didn’t seem like family.

Even if I agreed to be her guardian here, the officer could quickly find out we had no relationship if he wanted to.

If that happened, we obviously wouldn’t be viewed favorably.

If I was unlucky, it could lead to some weird accusations of a crime.

No matter how I thought about it, the risk was too high compared to the return of Gyeoul’s goodwill.

After finishing my risk-reward calculation and about to draw the line, I met Gyeoul’s eyes.

She looked at me with teary eyes and shook her head.

She probably thought it would be very troublesome if it was revealed she had no guardian, and the police contacted her grandfather.

The timid girl who chose to hang on the bridge railing to avoid burdening the police suddenly called a man she had just met her guardian.

What would happen if they called Gyeoul’s grandfather now?

Even if I were the grandfather, hearing that my granddaughter, sent alone to Seoul, lost her wallet, and was penniless would make me drop everything and come to Seoul.

Or send another adult.

Either way, it would be hard for her to audition.

It would be advantageous for me if she couldn’t audition.

Losing her opportunity and becoming desperate would make her easily accept my offer of introduction.

But the guardian coming up could introduce new variables.

Both had their pros and cons, but I leaned towards the latter choice with less risk.

Then, a thought occurred to me.

In the previous round, I had never seen a kid named Gyeoul during my years in the entertainment industry.

I always checked out small and medium idols for market research.

It’s unlikely that a trainee with such talent from CH, known as the girl group factory, didn’t debut. So, this meant Gyeoul’s audition somehow failed, and her debut got derailed.

If her audition fails without my intervention, there’s no risk of raising favorability.

Thinking that far, I was sure where to place my bet.

Alright, if I went as far as pretending to be a failed suicide attempt and took the empathy route, let’s stick to that tone.

I met Gyeoul’s eyes.

I gave her a look that said, “Trust only me.”

She slightly nodded, as if she trusted me.

Good. Let me show you something.