Chapter 42

On a summer noon, the room was so bright it was almost blinding. Lee Jung-hui woke up, shielding his eyes from the sunlight seeping through the curtains, and then rubbed his head. Due to the hangover from last night, his head was throbbing, and his chest felt uncomfortable.

However, he quickly put these discomforts aside because, when he looked around to figure out where he was, he was startled to find that Ha Ji-won was lying on his bed.

He was absolutely sure he hadn’t seen wrong. Even with her hair spread out, covering half of her face, he was certain.

Then, he was dumbfounded because he only vaguely remembered drinking with Ha Ji-won and somehow ending up together. He had no recollection of what happened in between or afterward. Clearly, he had blacked out. He quickly checked his condition and found that at least he still had his underwear on, which gave him a small sense of relief.

However, this wasn’t enough to escape the current predicament, and the situation was extremely awkward. He thought it would be best to slip away and sort things out later. With this in mind, he held his breath and slowly lifted the blanket, then gradually moved his body out.

Finally, he got out of bed and saw the mess in the room: boxes of fried sauce noodles and various snacks, empty wine bottles, and clothes scattered everywhere. Then, he noticed something that made him even more dumbfounded: there were men's underwear on the floor, which were his from yesterday, but now he was wearing a new pair.

He didn’t have the habit of carrying spare underwear, and this new pair was clearly not his.

He was almost at his wits' end, but it got worse. In a daze, he accidentally kicked a wine bottle, and the crisp sound echoed in the quiet room. When he instinctively turned to look at the bed, Ha Ji-won clearly heard it, frowned slightly, and mumbled something, turning over in bed.

Lee Jung-hui’s heart was pounding. Seeing that she hadn’t woken up, he let out a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and sincerely thanked the heavens and the earth for the first time.

However, his gratitude was premature. Just as he turned his head, carefully picked up the shirt on the floor, and stealthily took a step to pick up his pants, a hysterical scream came from behind, “Ah!”

Turning around, he saw Ha Ji-won quickly pulling the blanket up to cover her snow-white body, her eyes filled with shock, embarrassment, and anger.

“Hey, you’re awake!” Lee Jung-hui tried to maintain a calm expression and forced a smile, but seeing Ha Ji-won’s furious look, he quickly changed his strategy, “Please calm down. I don’t remember what happened last night, and I have no intention of running away. It’s just that the situation looks very awkward...”

Ha Ji-won was also stunned. While she was angry, she was also trying to figure out what had happened last night, but she had no clue either, except that she was clearly in bed with this guy.

As a woman, she knew she was still a virgin, but the fact that she was only wearing underwear was enough to drive her crazy.

“Do you really not remember?” Ha Ji-won asked angrily, and Lee Jung-hui immediately swore, adding a bitter smile, “I can’t drink, and I drank so much last night,” pointing to the many empty bottles on the floor, “I’m lucky to still be alive!”

This wasn’t too exaggerated. Before his rebirth, he had been drunk.

However, Ha Ji-won was still furious and huffed. As Lee Jung-hui said, neither of them remembered what had happened, and it was hard to know where to start. Besides, even if something had happened, what could they do about it?

In the end, she could only scream at Lee Jung-hui, “Get out, get out, get out of here quickly!”

Lee Jung-hui, of course, knew better than to argue. After apologizing, he quickly picked up his pants and rushed into the bathroom. Once inside, he noticed his watch on a nearby shelf, and to his shock, there was also a pair of women’s underwear.

“What happened last night?” With this question in mind, Lee Jung-hui took a while to get dressed. When he came out, Ha Ji-won was looking at her phone, muttering, “Dead, dead, I missed dozens of calls...” and then glared at Lee Jung-hui again.

Lee Jung-hui smiled bitterly. Just as he was about to say something, Ha Ji-won’s phone rang, startling both of them.

“Hey, it’s me,” Ha Ji-won cautiously answered, holding the phone away from her ear as the person on the other end roared, “I drank a bit too much last night and went home early...”

However, this didn’t help. The person on the other end roared even louder, and at that moment, a notification popped up in Lee Jung-hui’s mind, “Dear player, unfortunately, due to the events last night with Ha Ji-won, a system-induced random task has been triggered: Save Ha Ji-won. There is an 80% chance that Ha Ji-won will be blacklisted by her agency, Wellmade. If this happens, you must restore her popularity and status within six months... Task completion rewards: 20 achievement points, 2 luck points, +5 prestige, and a random emerald-level treasure chest. Task failure penalties: -200 achievement points, -10 prestige, +5 destruction, and a B-level system task...”

Lee Jung-hui was dumbfounded. He didn’t know what he had done, but Ha Ji-won had already finished her call and angrily shouted at him, “Bastard, it’s all your fault! The company knows I didn’t go home and heard that I went with you...”

Korean entertainment agencies are notorious for their strict control over female artists, leaving them with no personal freedom. They must report everything, from daily life to personal matters. After Jun Ji-hyun became famous, she even had to be under video surveillance, which was truly shameful and terrifying!

Previously, the agency didn’t mind Ha Ji-won and Lee Jung-hui’s ambiguous relationship and even hoped to bring them closer, as long as nothing went wrong.

But now, not only did something go wrong, but it was a big problem. Ha Ji-won and Lee Jung-hui were both missing and hadn’t gone home, which people generally wouldn’t interpret positively. Therefore, Ha Ji-won’s agency and company were extremely angry.

“Um, well,” Lee Jung-hui shrugged helplessly, thinking for a moment before continuing, “This is indeed my fault, but it’s not important now. Since it happened, we should focus on how to solve it!”

The penalty for failing the task was 200 achievement points and a -10 prestige, which he couldn’t afford. He had to complete it, and perhaps he could pray that Ha Ji-won wouldn’t be blacklisted.

Therefore, he needed to prepare in advance and communicate with Ha Ji-won so that she would think of him first when she faced trouble and trust him to help, “If you’re worried that the company will take action against you because of this, I can help you.”

As she frowned and looked at him, he shrugged, “Especially in terms of film offers, I can tell you now that I have a movie I’m about to shoot, and I’m investing in it myself. Besides, I have several TV scripts in hand...”

He paused, and when Ha Ji-won’s eyes widened in surprise, he smiled, “If the company completely blacklists you, don’t worry. I have an agency, Empire Entertainment, which you might have heard of. It’s actually mine, and although it’s small now, I can help you pay the breach of contract fee...”

Ha Ji-won was truly dumbfounded. Empire Entertainment was his, and he was investing in a movie and TV series? Was he crazy or still drunk? But he didn’t look like it, and from what she knew, he was quite capable!

However, she still asked, “You mean Empire Entertainment is yours, and you’re going to produce movies and TV series?”

“Yeah, I think so!” Lee Jung-hui shrugged, “But please don’t tell anyone for now. I know it might sound unbelievable, but you’ll see soon...”

Just as he was speaking, his phone rang. He looked at it, smiled, and gestured to Ha Ji-won, “This is about the movie I’m investing in!”

He answered, and Guo Jingze’s cheerful voice came through, “Boss, I’m here to ask for money!” After laughing, he continued, “To be honest, although the pre-sales were good, I was still a bit nervous before seeing the movie yesterday. But after watching it, I’m more at ease.

The plot and pacing are smooth, and the key horror scenes are well-placed and well-executed in terms of cinematography, special effects, lighting, and music...” After a lot of praise, he added, “But to be honest, your script still needs improvement. It’s not as good as the one you gave me!”

Lee Jung-hui laughed, “That means I’ve improved. 'The Curse' was just my first script, written for my thesis...”

He paused and returned to the main topic, “When do you plan to start?”

They often talked on the phone, and Guo Jingze knew all his promotional plans, including the pre-sales. He also knew the current preparation status, and the issue at hand was the official announcement of the start.

“It’s already started. Actually, I was considering whether to call you in a week, but I decided to do it now,” Guo Jingze laughed and picked up a list, “When I thought about it, I realized I had the same thought a month ago, so I made the decision and called the actors’ agencies. I’ve already scheduled auditions with Jang Dong-gun, Liu Wuxing, and others...”

“Is that so!” Lee Jung-hui frowned slightly, hesitated, and said, “But the money...”

“I know,” Guo Jingze chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’m not really here to ask for money.” He lowered his voice, “I have a plan to manage the funds. Some actors require an advance payment, which we can do, but we’ll give them less initially and more halfway through shooting...”

Lee Jung-hui was pleased. Guo Jingze was being forced to use this tactic, but it was a good solution.

The actual shooting cost of a movie isn’t high; most of the money goes to the actors, especially big names. In Korea, whether now or in the future, production companies often delay payments, so many big-name actors require an advance as a guarantee.

Usually, it’s about 20-30%, but sometimes it can be 50% or even the full amount, especially for small companies like Empire Entertainment, who might end up losing everything.

After hanging up, Lee Jung-hui pondered how to solve the money issue as quickly and effectively as possible. Guo Jingze had just informed him, and they would meet to discuss the details later.

“Hey!” Ha Ji-won called from behind. When he turned from the window, she was already dressed.

“Oh, sorry!” Lee Jung-hui came back to his senses but didn’t know what to say next.

Ha Ji-won looked at him with a complex expression and said, “I’ll go first!”

“Oh, I’ll see you out!” Lee Jung-hui responded awkwardly, but Ha Ji-won glared at him, “No need!” She paused, turned, and added, “Pretend this never happened, got it!”

“Oh, I understand!” Lee Jung-hui replied woodenly, but seeing his reaction, Ha Ji-won got angry again and pinched him hard, “Bastard, you want to pretend nothing happened, right!”

Lee Jung-hui was dumbfounded as Ha Ji-won stormed out. He wondered what had really happened last night and if she remembered anything. PS: Please support!

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