The Manager Is a Gangster

3 – This is really a sudden parachute. (1)

1.

“Oh, Jinhyuk. Come to think of it, I had something to tell you.”

My brother, who was still eating the hot beef soup with steam rising, put down the bowl halfway and spoke.

Seven years ago, it was a familiar sight I saw every day, but seeing that man again after seven years made me realize how monstrous he really was.

Of course, such sentiments were utterly useless, and I cleared my mind because my brother had something to say, focusing on his words.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Do you still want to try being an idol manager?”

“Yes, I do. I was caught willingly on that day to do that.”

Thinking about that day seven years ago when the rain poured down like a flood still angers me.

Even if those crazy bastards hadn’t luckily kidnapped the lady without knowing anything, that day wouldn’t have ended like that.

But thanks to that, I was able to wash my hands of gangster activities and transform into a new me, something I consider necessary for my future.

And the future I planned for on that day has now become today, so it’s fine now, I guess.

It’s really fine now. Maybe thinking about that day won’t make me angry anymore. Because from now on, I’ll be so busy thinking about tomorrow that I might die.

And expecting the evidence that will support this expectation to come out of my brother’s mouth, I once again cleared my mind and awaited his words.

“Well, that’s fortunate. I’ve established a management company, and I’ll get you involved there.”

“What!?”

However, the evidence was outrageously unexpected, far beyond what I had anticipated.

I was so surprised that the broth I had in my mouth splattered out involuntarily.

Splat!

The escaped broth naturally struck the face of my brother, who was sitting across from me.

“Hey! That’s dirty!”

My brother, who looked somewhat neat as if he was about to tear into raw meat, pushed his chair back and screamed, but I didn’t care about such things.

“Cough! Cough-cough-cough-ugh! Ugh!”

Because Saré’s voice was too loud. It feels like I’m going to die right away, but where is there time to care about others?

“Uh… drink water.”

The victim, my older brother, who was affected by how severe it sounded, poured water into a cup and handed it to me first.

I usually don’t lose my composure unless it’s something significant, but this incident was on an enormous scale.

“Haah… Haah… Hoo.”

After coughing and drinking water for about 5 minutes, wiping his face with tissues, my brother looked at me with a serious expression.

I asked him again with a shameless face, someone who made a joke.

“…Is it real?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you really establish an entertainment agency?”

“Yes! Why do you keep asking? Have you ever seen me lie?”

“No, I haven’t.”

But why does it feel real?

Of course, five years ago, I heard about my brother starting a business, and he even told me not to visit him in the future, focusing on his work. However, even so, it was hard to accept the fact that he had established an entertainment agency.

“No, do you have money, brother?”

Even if he didn’t have a penny, his wealth was only at the level of an ordinary person, so it was hard to believe that a person who had barely any financial means could establish an agency in just five years.

Moreover, the business he mentioned was not related to an entertainment agency at all.

What business did he say he was doing? Oh, it seemed like it was a security company. But what’s the connection between a security company and an entertainment agency?

That question was perfectly resolved by my brother’s following answer.

“I have a lot of money. Do you know who my daughter is.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

The daughter of Hyungnim, to me, was a young lady of parting.

Seven years ago, she was just a high school senior with aspirations, a mere fluff of a girl. But now.

[The pride of South Korea, superstar Nova, has achieved a record-breaking sell-out in the overseas tour concert, once again elevating the status of South Korea. In response, experts are saying······.]

“She’s coming out right on time. Our young lady.”

On the restaurant TV, Nova, the current top Hallyu star shining in South Korea.

The popularity and status of the young lady in this country have reached such heights that even the news reached inside the prison.

Setting up a management company for such a lady shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s almost like a walking mid-sized company.

The moment the young lady’s name was mentioned, the probability of such a thing happening, even as small as a grain of rice, became a reality.

Of course, the fact that the lady herself became the current top singer in Korea in just seven years was a crazy plot twist, whether it made sense or not, but you can’t argue with the events that have already unfolded in reality.

“By the way, she’s quite filial. Setting up a whole management company for her father.”

The last time I saw the young lady······ she was sleeping. The last time I saw her conscious, she was the epitome of a mischievous troublemaker.

With talents that seemed insanely outstanding and looks equivalent to an actress, the young lady back then was just a seventeen-year-old.

If she wanted something, she would throw a tantrum, and if she wanted to do something, she would stubbornly insist on it, like a fearless child who didn’t know how scary the world could be.

“Oppa! Don’t call me ‘young lady,’ call me ‘Star’ like I told you! If you don’t call me ‘Star,’ I won’t talk to you from now on, Oppa!”

That’s how it was back then.

But now, that naive young lady has become a superstar shining for the country, helping out with her father’s business funds······.

“You’ve grown up really well. You’ve grown up.”

I’m usually not one to have my eyes well up, but this time, I couldn’t help the tears stinging my eyes and the tip of my nose.

Just as I was moved by the young lady’s growth, at that moment, a voice from Hyungnim asked, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ as if questioning the absurdity.

“What nonsense. The entertainment agency didn’t set things up for me, but for you.”

“For me?”

“They’re saying you still have three years left before coming out. When you do, they want me to become the CEO of the agency and sign you.”

Was it because of me that Hyungnim established the agency and the lady provided the funding?

“Oh, no, what are you talking about? Do you know that I came out today? No, do you know that I came out as a special agent?”

When I sent a letter to Hyungnim saying that I would be released as a special agent today, he added a note telling me not to mention it to the lady.

Because the lady was like the sun in the entertainment industry, illuminating the world, and I was a criminal with a red line drawn, an infamous ex-convict.

No matter how much I vowed not to live as a thug, the drawn red line wouldn’t disappear, and the fact that I spent seven years in prison wouldn’t vanish.

So, I emphasized it in the letter several times. Did he have to set up an agency just to reveal it and catch me?

Today might be the day of judgment. At that time, when I was seriously contemplating proper self-reflection and rearranging my priorities, Hyungnim raised his head, clapping his hands.

“No, no. You know Star, she hardly communicates with me unless it’s related to you. She’s not interested in anything unrelated to you.”

“Then the agency…”

“I set it up in advance. It was established a year ago. Make an agency so remarkable that you won’t be able to look elsewhere. I’m so busy running the security company, and now this is causing my spine to bend.”

As he spoke, Hyungnim sincerely sighed, shoulders slumping as if truly exhausted from the burden of the world.

Even when betrayed by trusted subordinates and stripped of funds, he used to laugh heartily, saying there was nothing left to lose. Now, seeing him in this dejected state, it oddly tugged at my heart.

“Anyway, as you didn’t tell Star that you’re released as a special agent for the New Year, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Thank you, Hyungnim.”

“What’s there to thank? Between us.”

The phrase ‘between us’ brought a gentle smile to my lips.

Between me and Hyungnim, our bond was deeper and more intimate than ordinary siblings, a camaraderie beyond comparison with typical family relationships.

Moreover, seven years ago, I told my brother, who felt guilty about me turning everything upside down, that I just wanted to relieve him of any burden by succeeding unconditionally. To actually achieve this.

Even if the funds were provided by the lady, the fact remains unchanged that my brother kept his promise to help me achieve my dream.

In the first place, where would you find an entertainment company or a celebrity agency that would hire a former convict as a manager?

In that warm atmosphere, as I was about to smile and nod, my brother spoke to me in a somewhat cool voice.

“But by the way, I can get you in as a manager, but there’s a little problem.”

“What problem?”

“That agency has no idols… no trainees even.”

“······What?”

???