Several days passed by.
After validating the facts on Kwon Tae Yang's resume, he was finally hired as Yeo Ri's new manager. Though Park Soo Yeon carried a hint of suspicion towards him, she still welcomed him as the newest edition to the management team. He was overqualified for the job, and the only reason she hired him, despite him having no experience in the field, was that she thought he could be a dependable adult that Yeo Ri could lean on when dealing with other adults.
Since Yeo Ri was supposed to come to the headquarters to attend the first of her lessons, Park Soo Yeon had taken the chance to call in the newbie manager and let them introduce themselves.
Early morning.
Yeo Ri came to Hope Entertainment's headquarters, accompanied by her brother, to attend her first ever acting class. As Gun was an outsider, he was only allowed as far as the waiting rooms, and did not get into the elevator with Yeo Ri.
Yeo Ri was led to the second floor that was lined with practice rooms.
Entering one of the practice rooms, she discovered that the room was empty save for a lone woman who seemed to be in her fifties. Though wrinkles marred her face, her body was slender and fit, showing that she kept herself in shape.
The woman noticed her as soon as she came in.
"Hello." Smiling slightly, the woman nodded her head in greeting at the same time as the words left Yeo Ri's mouth.
"You must be the new hope of Hope Entertainment. I'm the acting instructor, and you may call me Madam Yang," the older lady said, introducing herself with a calm, low voice.
"Since today's a weekday and it is currently morning, you're the only student I'll be teaching. The rest usually have classes around the evening and weekends, so I'll be focusing on you completely today," she chuckled. "I heard you've never acted before? That's good; I like a blank canvas. Since you're still new to the art, I'll be lecturing you on the basics of acting. Come sit in front of me, and I'll begin."
"Yes!"
...
..
.
After almost three hours, Madam Yang finally ended her class on the introduction of the art of acting to her new student, and the girl was then passed to President Park, who had been waiting for her to finish so that she could introduce her to her new manager.
Together with Gun in tow, they all headed towards the fifth floor, where the man in question had already been waiting, in the same room he had been interviewed in a few days prior.
"Come on in, Yeo Ri-ah. Meet your new manager, Kwon Tae Yang," Park Soo Yeon gestured to the man as they entered, a light smile hanging on her face.
"It's you?"
Yeo Ri was momentarily surprised upon meeting Secretary Kwon in the room.
"Yeo Ri, you know him?"
Gun's brows furrowed. He sent a cautious gaze towards the older man whom Yeo Ri seemed to recognise. Even Park Soo Yeon shot a curious glance at the two, alternating between the girl and Mr. Kwon. They seemed to know each other... so there was indeed a hidden agenda behind his conspicuous actions.
Yeo Ri blinked. Should she admit to it or not?
Turning to her brother, she smiled faintly, "Well, I've seen him around. He helped me out once or twice before."
"What?" How come he didn't know? When? What did he help her with? Had Yeo Ri been in danger without his knowledge? He wanted to ask her so many questions, but the girl kept herself tight-lipped, not revealing anything else to him.
With a frown on his face, Gun narrowed his eyes vigilantly at the older man.
Kwon Tae Yang threw a cursory glance at the boy, but did not react much to his suspicion. Taking out a pair of black latex gloves from within his pockets, he put them on. Just in case he needed to touch her, he thought.
"I'll be working closely with you from now on. Please take care of me, Miss Yeo Ri." The man lowered his head politely to the girl, acting as brusque and professional as usual.
"...Likewise, Sec—Mr. Kwon," Yeo Ri responded a beat later.
After a round of silence, Kwon Tae Yang raised his eyes to stare at Yeo Ri, "Miss, there is something I would like to talk about with you," his eyes drifted to the two other people in the room, "privately," he added.
Gun's frown deepened. Who does this suspicious b*stard think he is? In his heart, he was unwilling to leave his precious sister alone with this unknown man. He moved to step in between them, as if protecting Yeo Ri.
Yeo Ri touched her brother's arm softly, looking at him with a reassuring smile. "It's alright. Oppa, can you give us a moment, please?" She turned to the Mrs. Choi who was still standing by the door, "You too, Auntie. Please?"
Gun wanted to refuse, but looking at the earnest look in his sister's eyes, he couldn't say no. After a short moment, he begrudgingly acquiesced. "If he does something to you—"
Yeo Ri smiled wryly, cutting off his sentence, "—Call for help, I know, I know."
"Alright, we'll be waiting outside, then. Come, Gun, let's give them some privacy." As Park Soo Yeon led the older Lee sibling out of the room, she could not help but wonder what Kwon Tae Yang's relation to Yeo Ri was.
The two stood in silence until the rest left and the door closed shut.
Once she was sure her brother was out of earshot, she opened her mouth to speak, "Why? What matter is so important that it can't be said in front of other people?"
Yeo Ri cocked an eyebrow, her pointed gaze showing her distaste and annoyance. "And what are you doing here? Working for that man doesn't pay enough? To the point where you needed a second job," she snidely commented. Did he really have to go so far? As if following her around everywhere like a d*mned stalker wasn't bad enough already.
Secretary Kwon thickened his skin and pretended he didn't hear her mockery. "It's about the matter from the other day. The results of the interrogation had come out."
"Interrogation?" The corner of her lips tilted downwards as her brows furrowed. To use the word 'interrogation' made it seem as if their bunch was more dangerous than she thought.
Secretary Kwon paid no mind to her reaction. "It appears that the group who has been after you are working for a fairly influential criminal gang. For your safety, I will not disclose any information on them, as they are known for having rather powerful backers that even Mr. Heo would find it difficult to stand against."
His words caused her to smile derisively. In a rhetoric manner, she asked, "What kind of backer would be so strong that even that man would be too scared to take action?"
"..." Secretary Kwon kept mum and avoided her gaze, signalling his refusal to answer her question. The older man shook his head and sighed inwardly. "Aside from that, the men we've captured only divulged the name of the person who ordered your capture, and none of them seem to know why they were instructed to do so," he produced a tan-coloured envelope from within his blazer and passed it to the girl as he explained the situation to her.
With an exasperated click of her tongue, Yeo Ri gingerly accepted the envelope, taking out the papers contained within. The papers recorded a brief report on their findings, and on the last page was a profile page of the perpetrator along with a picture of his mugshot.
"Ji Yeong Gi?" Yeo Ri murmured, mulling over the somewhat familiar name and face.
"Do you recognise him, miss?"
"..." Yeo Ri frowned. She seemed to have the answer at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite recall where she had seen him. "I don't know. He seems familiar," she replied, looking at the details written in the paper.
Surprisingly, she saw several familiar names written on it. This Ji Yeong Gi's address was in the same town which the Lee family used to live in. Listed under education, was the same high school which Hyuk attended. And finally, he appeared to have been incarcerated in the same prison Hyuk was currently in!
Yeo Ri's expression changed. "Ji Yeong Gi, Ji Yeong Gi..." she closed her eyes, trying to sift through her blurry memories.
Her eyes snapped open, a sour feeling rising from within her chest. Frowning deeply, she turned to look at Secretary Kwon. "He seems to have a connection to my brother. Judging from his actions, it's probably for revenge or something." Yeo Ri properly tucked the papers back into the envelope before carelessly handing it back to the man in front of her.
"Brother...?" Secretary Kwon ruminated. In his mind, he had thought that she was referring to the young master, Heo Jin Goo, but quickly fixed his train of thoughts; there was only two people in this world whom this princess acknowledged as her brothers, and that was Lee Gun and Lee Hyuk. "I understand. We'll try to see if we can make him stop targeting you, miss. Please be assured, we will do our best to ensure your safety."
"Do whatever you want."