TRIU 22

“What?! The kindest and most admirable uncle in the world?!”

And then, a voice rudely shattered the mood.

“That’s me you’re talking about, right, our little baby bird? Hm? Hm?? You didn’t get this Uncle Wooyeon mixed up with Lee Doha for a second, did you? Hm??”

“I meant Uncle Doha!”

“…Yewon, you. Could you at least pretend to hesitate a little?”

“But Uncle Wooyeon is the coolest uncle!”

“What?”

“That!!! That’s absolutely correct!! Yes. This Uncle Han Wooyeon is all about style, style. Who cares about facial features? Style is what matters!! Muahaha!!”

At Yewon’s words, Doha’s eyebrow shot up.

Meanwhile, Wooyeon was happily doing a little shoulder dance.

“Uncle.”

“Hm?”

“Then… can I go on TV with you now?”

“!”

At Yewon’s innocent question, cold sweat began to drip down Doha’s back.

President Park, watching Doha, shouted internally, This is it!

“Well~ Yewon can go on TV, of course. Of course, of course. If he’s the ‘kindest uncle in the world,’ then naturally he’ll grant all of Yewon’s wishes. Right. That’s exactly what the ‘most admirable uncle in the world’ should do. Mm-hm.”

“….”

Doha shot President Park a glare.

Seriously, this CEO…

“Uncle will think about it a bit more. Nothing’s been decided yet.”

“Ah… so it’s not allowed…?”

At Yewon’s shoulders drooping instantly, Doha quickly shook his head.

“No. I’m not saying it’s not allowed.”

“Then it is allowed?!”

“…Th‑that’s not exactly it either.”

“So it’s not allowed… I mean… how could someone like me… go on TV… I shouldn’t embarrass you, Uncle….”

“No, Yewon. That’s not it!”

Seeing Yewon so dejected, Doha fidgeted helplessly and shot Wooyeon a pleading look.

Help me out.

But Wooyeon only shrugged.

I want to do it, though.

That was clearly written all over his face.

“Huh?! Yewon, are you crying?!”

Then, as if noticing something, Wooyeon raised his voice.

“…!!”

Startled, Doha turned to Yewon.

Sure enough, the child’s eyes were brimming with tears.

Anyone could tell she was trying hard not to cry. Doha panicked, stomping his feet before hurriedly grabbing tissues from the side and gently dabbing under Yewon’s eyes.

“Yewon, why are you crying?”

“N‑no, I’m not crying!”

“Wow. Amazing, Lee Doha. You haven’t been raising a kid for long and you’ve already made one cry. As expected of someone who’s made countless members cry before.”

“Can you be quiet?”

Despite Doha’s sharp retort, Wooyeon just stuck out his tongue.

“…Let’s do it.”

“Huh?”

“…We can do it. That TV thing… let’s do it.”

“!”

At last, permission came out of Doha’s mouth. Everyone except him broke into smiles.

Especially Yewon, whose smile was the brightest.

My acting skills haven’t rusted, after all.

**[▶ Sub Quest Success!

Quest Reward: PD Hwang Jio’s ‘Attention’

Nationwide Recognition +10
Current Recognition: 12

An audition opportunity for the drama <???> will be provided later, so please wait!]**

“!”

Wait, it even shows my current recognition status?

Yewon was startled.

So it can be checked like this too.

And what kind of drama would the audition be for?

Just as Yewon was thinking deeply—

Ding!

A new quest window popped up again before her eyes.

“!”

It’s not over?

[Quest Chain Occurred: <The Path to Becoming an Actor>!]

**[▶ Main Quest Occurred!
<The Path to Becoming an Actor>

You said you want to act, but with a recognition level of only 12, you desperately need opportunities.
Use this chance to raise your recognition and receive casting offers!

Achieve No.1 in OTT viewership rankings for <Glittering Baby House>.

Quest Success: Recognition +30

<???????> Quest Chain Occurs

Quest Failure: Glit disbands, Lee Doha dies]**

“…!”

The Path to Becoming an Actor.

Yewon’s face stiffened.

…Not Top 10, but No.1?

That won’t be easy. Seriously.

If it doesn’t hit No.1, the main quest fails automatically.

And that wasn’t all.

**[▶ Sub Quest Occurred!

All the Glit members currently think differently. The four of them haven’t fully reconciled yet, so appearing on a ‘reality’ observation show will likely come with many obstacles.

Make sure the members finish the first filming without fighting.

Quest Success: Recognition +20
Quest Failure: <Glittering Baby House> launch fails]**

“….”

Yewon’s head was already starting to ache.

Meanwhile, in President Park’s office.

“…That should be enough. We didn’t expect that person to come to his senses any more than that anyway. Thank you for your hard work. Please keep taking care of things.”

President Park let out a sigh and hung up.

Young‑oh carefully watched her expression.

“S‑so… it’s resolved… right, President?”

That’s right.

The person President Park had just been on the phone with was the lawyer from the law firm handling most of Time Entertainment’s affairs—and that call had been an update on dealing with the ‘fake uncle’ blackmail.

“No. It’s… resolved halfway. Apparently they signed a confidentiality agreement when they first made contact. So it looks like he can’t expose anything… but now he’s trying to blackmail us from another angle.”

“W‑what? Another angle? H‑how…?”

“He’s claiming Yewon’s mother owed him money. Says if it’s not repaid, he’ll expose Doha for not paying his family’s debts. Since this is separate from the child’s existence, it doesn’t fall under that agreement.”

“Whaaat?! Did she really owe him money?”

“How would we know? We only found out about Yewon recently ourselves. The law firm’s started an investigation, so we’ll have to trust them and wait.”

President Park sighed. Money issues were extremely sensitive for idols.

How many public figures had fallen because of messy financial scandals? It had to be handled cleanly.

…That kid Doha, seriously….

Unfortunate, to say the least.

To be blackmailed over a sister’s debt when they hadn’t even kept in touch.

Under normal circumstances, it might’ve been possible to ignore it…

But because of Yewon… Doha’s personality won’t let him ignore this.

It had to be resolved properly.

“H‑how much is he claiming she owed? If it’s something Doha can handle… maybe we could just pay it off and be done with it….”

“Two billion won.”

“Ghk.”

President Park had considered paying it off personally if it were around a hundred million won, but two billion was absurd.

It didn’t even seem plausible that such a debt existed.

“Since it’s obviously a lie, let’s trust the lawyers and wait. It’s not like this is the first time we’ve dealt with blackmail. Most of it’s been fake.”

“T‑that’s true….”

Young‑oh nodded.

“Y‑you’ll tell Doha too, right?”

“No.”

President Park shook her head.

“Huh?”

“Until we’re certain, I don’t want to burden him. He’s already going through enough. I told them too—if they mention this to Doha, we’ll sue for blackmail. So keep it quiet.”

“Th‑then… if the debt turns out to be real?”

“We’ll confirm more first. But two billion? Please. That so‑called uncle’s lived his whole life leeching off others. Where would he even get that kind of money? It’s a hundred percent a lie. We’ve handed it to the law firm, so let’s drop it for now.”

President Park shook her head in exasperation.

That problem was one thing, but there was something even more urgent.

They had to bring Ian back to Korea.

Sighing, she asked Young‑oh,

“Can you reach Ian?”

“…Not really… but he still posts photos on Stargram sometimes….”

That’s right.

Just yesterday, Ian had posted this:

(Photo)
Liked by young_o and others

I_an
YOUR bad.

…Along with a photo of himself in London.

“Not ‘My bad,’ but ‘Your bad’? What kind of psychology is that? Stirring up the fandom? Seriously, this—!!!”

President Park trembled with rage.

Young‑oh subtly prepared to dodge in case she threw something.

Even though she was his aunt, she was terrifying.

“What on earth is that lunatic thinking? Ignoring all company contact while posting leisurely photos from London? I really want to know. I don’t want to speak harshly about an artist, but the swear words are just coming out.”

“I think… it’s his way of… protesting….”

“It is. Toward me and Doha. Of course I know that.”

President Park rubbed her forehead.

“Bring him back.”

“What?! Me?!”

“If not you, his manager, then who? I’ll give you a generous bonus.”

“…….”

“Leave immediately. For the UK. Take that ‘thing’ I mentioned before.”

Young‑oh made a miserable face.

The generous bonus wasn’t the issue.

I feel like I’d need at least a 100‑million‑won hazard pay for this, President…