Chapter 89 : Fight

After bringing Curry his clothes and returning to the spa area, I saw Ji-hye and Rine chatting warmly.

Earlier, I had worried that without me, the atmosphere between them might become awkward.

But my concerns were unfounded, as the two were having a harmonious conversation.

Honestly, I wanted to join them and enjoy the spa too, but I had other tasks to complete.

I went to the room I would be using during this trip, locked the door, and took out Curry’s phone, which I had kept.

It wasn’t like I had stolen it—I just hadn’t returned it after borrowing it during the drive stream.

If Curry had asked for it back, I would have returned it, but he hadn’t said anything.

Since arriving at the pension, I had been consistently touching the screen to prevent it from locking, so I didn’t need fingerprint authentication.

Now, what should I check first?

After some thought, I decided to start with the messenger app.

Curry’s friend list had nearly hundreds of contacts, and there were many unread messages.

But I wasn’t interested in Curry’s personal life; I was curious about his relationship with Lee Seon-ah, so I skipped everything else.

When I searched for “Lee Seon-ah” in the search bar, a friend with Crystal’s logo as their profile picture appeared at the top of the list.

I immediately entered the chatroom with Lee Seon-ah and scrolled up to review the conversations Curry had with her.

“…Nothing special.”

Contrary to my assumption that Curry and Lee Seon-ah might be close, their conversations were very ordinary.

Most of it was work-related, and the rest was just Lee Seon-ah talking to a wall.

From mundane daily topics to awkwardly suggesting meetups that never happened.

At this point, I couldn’t help but be convinced that this Lee Seon-ah was indeed the same Lee Seon-ah.

If there were no personal feelings involved, there wouldn’t be any personal conversations.

Honestly, I had thought Curry and Lee Seon-ah might be maintaining a secret relationship.

After all, Crystal had openly supported Curry multiple times.

From Curry merchandise to various events and promotional activities.

Even if it wasn’t Curry, anyone receiving such benefits would naturally rise to prominence.

Crystal had given Curry so many advantages, which made it hard not to suspect his relationship with Lee Seon-ah.

In the end, finding nothing noteworthy in their chat history, I closed the messenger app.

I was tempted to explore any hidden folders on Curry’s phone that might contain secrets.

But I decided against it, as delving further into someone’s private life would cross a line.

Besides, there were plenty of ways to tease Curry without revealing the existence of such folders.

Just as I was about to turn off the phone and leave the room.

Bzzzz—

Curry’s phone started vibrating.

I checked the name of the caller.

[CEO Lee Seon-ah]

“”

Should I answer this or not?

I hesitated for a moment, but the answer was already clear.

I picked up the call and immediately pressed the record button.

-Curry, do you have a moment right now?

“CEO Lee Seon-ah?”

-…Who is this?

Perhaps because it wasn’t Curry’s voice but another woman’s,

Lee Seon-ah’s previously pleasant tone instantly turned cold.

“You know me, don’t you? Barcode.”

-Yes, I know you well. But why is Barcode answering Curry’s phone instead of him? May I ask?

What should I say in response to Lee Seon-ah’s question?

After pondering for a moment, I smirked and answered softly.

“Oh, he’s showering right now.”

-…Showering, you say?

A reply that would undoubtedly lead to misunderstandings.

Lee Seon-ah fell silent for a while after hearing my answer.

I enjoyed the unpredictability of the situation.

-Then, when Curry finishes showering, please tell him I called.

Perhaps realizing that continuing the conversation would only harm her,

Lee Seon-ah hurried to end the call.

“Well, I don’t know.”

But what now?

“I don’t want to do that.”

-…Excuse me?

Maybe she hadn’t expected me to outright refuse.

Lee Seon-ah sounded incredulous as she questioned me.

But I had no intention of backing down.

“I’ve always wanted to have a conversation with CEO Lee Seon-ah.

If you could spare me just a little of your time, I’ll tell Curry you called.”

-I’m extremely busy right now. Even this call was made by squeezing out time I don’t have…

“Oh, you’re very busy. Then there’s no choice.

I’ll just block CEO Lee Seon-ah’s contact and delete the call record.”

-…You do realize that would be incredibly disrespectful to Curry, right?

Though Lee Seon-ah tried to bring up Curry, it was nothing but amusing to me.

Strictly speaking, I’ve always been doing things that are rude to Curry.

More importantly, there’s no way Lee Seon-ah called Curry just to discuss work.

Logically, Curry is on a pension trip with me right now.

If she had any sense, she would have waited until the trip was over to contact him.

Of course, there’s a chance she doesn’t know that Curry went on a trip.

But the pension trip had been planned for weeks.

On top of that, we even did an outdoor drive stream, so would the CEO of an MCN really be unaware of it?

That was obviously implausible.

Lee Seon-ah knew Curry was on a trip and still contacted him for personal reasons.

If she were truly busy, she wouldn’t have asked me to tell Curry she called after he finished showering.

She was probably trying to make me feel guilty about Curry.

But if I were the type to feel guilty over something like this,

I would have apologized to Curry a long time ago and cut ties with him.

“The real rudeness is contacting a streamer for work-related matters while they’re on a trip, don’t you think, CEO Lee Seon-ah?”

-…What kind of conversation do you want?

Maybe she couldn’t refute my words.

Seeing her change her approach made me laugh.

“I’m just curious why you won’t sign me.

I wanted to ask for a reason, but you’ve only ignored me…

It’s been frustrating.”

I already had a general idea of why she wouldn’t sign me.

But I wanted to hear it directly from her.

-Crystal is an MCN that has grown explosively by signing famous creators.

While we’ve successfully expanded, we haven’t fully organized our internal structure yet.

At this moment, we believe that signing Barcode is premature.

We have detailed scheduling plans set for the next year,

and signing a large-scale creator like Barcode requires careful consideration.

If we make a mistake, we may need to revise all our plans.

After several days of internal discussions,

we ultimately concluded that signing Barcode at this time would be premature.

Does that answer satisfy you?

Lee Seon-ah gave me a long-winded response to my question.

But if you listen closely, it’s just a bunch of nonsense.

Crystal did indeed grow rapidly by signing well-known creators.

But for one of the top MCNs in the country to say they can’t handle signing a single creator?

If they just signed me, I’d bring massive profits—

I’m essentially a goose that lays golden eggs.

Making flimsy excuses to avoid signing me was absurd.

And what else?

Signing me would disrupt their detailed schedule for the next year?

If their plan could be thrown off by just one creator,

then the plan itself was garbage,

which meant that Crystal was incompetent.

The CEO of Crystal, which achieved unprecedented success in the shortest time,

was now admitting that her own MCN was incompetent.

A normal CEO would never say such things, but Lee Seon-ah was far from normal.

“Thank you for your kind response. When Curry finishes showering, I’ll let him know you called.”

Unable to express my true thoughts, I feigned gratitude.

After hearing Lee Seon-ah’s polite reply, I immediately ended the call.

Next, I sent the saved audio file to my email and deleted it.

Naturally, I also deleted the call record and blocked Lee Seon-ah’s number.

I blocked the numbers of everyone associated with Crystal as well.

At least during this pension trip, I didn’t want Curry to be dragged into any drama by that crazy woman.

To ensure a perfect crime, I turned off the phone and left the room.

Crystal Headquarters, top floor, CEO Lee Seon-ah’s office.

Normally, Lee Seon-ah would be working while watching Curry’s stream.

But now, she was tapping her fingers on the desk, visibly anxious.

It had already been an hour since her call with Barcode ended.

No follow-up contact had come, and unable to wait any longer, she tried calling Curry.

But the message indicating she’d been blocked was all she heard, leaving Lee Seon-ah furious.

How dare someone like Barcode block her number on Curry’s phone?

She had no choice but to contact Curry’s manager.

However, even the manager had blocked her, preventing her from reaching out personally.

‘Crazy woman…’

Lee Seon-ah bit her nails, cursing Barcode inwardly, but her anxiety only grew stronger.

‘She gave me nonsensical excuses, but…’

She never imagined Barcode would break her promise and outright block her.

What bothered her most was Barcode’s initial response during the call.

-Oh, he’s showering right now.

When asked why she was answering Curry’s phone, that was Barcode’s reply.

At the time, Lee Seon-ah wanted to ask what that answer meant, but she couldn’t bring herself to.

Typically, after arriving at a lodging during a trip, people unpack and take some time to relax.

If someone sweats or gets dirty for some reason, they might shower.

But it was the middle of winter, with heaters running, and today’s temperature was a freezing -7°C.

Even replaying the drive stream, Curry didn’t appear to be sweating while driving.

So why did Curry feel the need to shower immediately upon arriving at the pension?

And this, in a situation where there were three women and only one man.

“”

As time passed, Lee Seon-ah’s imagination increasingly veered in that direction.

What started as two people had now turned into four people simultaneously…

Thud!

“…I must be crazy.”

Lee Seon-ah slammed her desk once, her face flushed with anger and embarrassment,

and fanned herself with her hand to cool down.

After clearing her mind of the lingering fantasies,

Lee Seon-ah checked the contents of a new email that had arrived in her inbox.

The email contained information about Barcode’s past and hidden secrets,

which she had previously commissioned an investigation into.

Upon learning the shocking truth, Lee Seon-ah was momentarily horrified,

but soon she smirked and muttered to herself.

“So it was you…”

The malicious sniper Nayoung Queen, who had tormented Curry for years.

Although there was no concrete evidence attached,

the circumstantial evidence alone made it almost certain.

The fact that Barcode’s real name was Choi Nayoung was already solid proof.

“Disgusting.”

How could one person wear such a mask and toy with another so thoroughly?

Even Lee Seon-ah, who was aware she wasn’t entirely normal herself,

couldn’t help but shake her head at Barcode’s actions.

Poor Curry.

I’ll save you soon.

With that resolve, Lee Seon-ah contacted the wrecking YouTubers she had secretly contracted with Crystal.

[zxcv1234 is live streaming.]

By the time she had reached out to all the wrecking YouTubers, Barcode’s stream had started.

In the current situation, where most contact methods were cut off,

the only way Lee Seon-ah could see Curry was through Barcode’s stream.

Thus, she had no choice but to enter Barcode’s stream, where she saw it.

“Hoo…”

Barcode, with a face redder than usual, and Curry, breathing heavily.

Grit.