Chapter 99

August 24th.

S.M Corporation held a shareholders' meeting to adjust the board of directors and simultaneously denied allegations of Lee Soo-man misappropriating company assets, which helped the company's stock price recover somewhat.

However, people were still watching and waiting for the official investigation results.

Jin Heechul's incident was merely a small ripple within S.M Corporation, and there was no news about it for the time being. Lee Soo-man gave Jin Heechul two days, which was just a small tactic to calm Park Ji-hoon down, not affecting the overall situation. What truly troubled him was how to apologize to Park Ji-hoon!

Lee Soo-man's personality was strong and stubborn. He had never forgiven any artist who had "betrayed" S.M Corporation, even after nearly a decade.

Suddenly having to apologize to Park Ji-hoon, whom he had never taken seriously before, was understandably difficult for him. Especially after he had just said, "Who is Park Ji-hoon?" It was like slapping his own face!

There was a slightly more moderate approach, which was to have an artist from the company act as a mediator, such as Krystal, Sulli, or Taeyeon, who were said to have good relationships with Park Ji-hoon—he had discreetly investigated this.

However, he still found it hard to swallow his pride.

Today, under the urging of the shareholders, he reluctantly decided to call Krystal.

"What? You want me to help you set up a dinner with Ji-hoon oppa?!" Krystal, upon receiving his call, suddenly suspected it was a prank.

"Cough!" Lee Soo-man cleared his throat.

"I understand, Director!" Krystal quickly said. She had practically grown up at S.M Corporation and was familiar with Lee Soo-man.

"It's very important, make sure you set it up," Lee Soo-man instructed before hanging up. Even if he had to lower his head, he would choose the most tactful way possible.

After hanging up, Krystal put away her phone, pouted, and wondered if it was because he saw Park Ji-hoon's success and wanted to make amends.

This was exactly the direction Lee Soo-man wanted her to speculate. It was better than the real reason.

In the afternoon, Krystal went to the filming site.

"Director, this is very risky!"

"Didn't we already compensate with the character's hairstyle and clothing?"

"But the scene hasn't changed at all!"

"We can set up some banners and slogans."

Before she even approached Park Ji-hoon, she heard him arguing with the assistant director. This happened every day. Most of the time, he would humbly seek advice from the assistant director and staff, but occasionally he would be very stubborn!

Krystal had to first greet Kang Sura and others. She waited for Park Ji-hoon to come out before approaching him again.

Around them, many staff members were working while wiping sweat, and some even wrapped their heads in towels to protect their skin. It was an outdoor scene in the afternoon, and they couldn't avoid it.

Park Ji-hoon wore a baseball cap and immediately got busy upon coming out. He didn't need to do anything himself; his role in coordinating was more important than manual labor. Under his direction, the previously chaotic scene became neat and organized, and efficiency improved significantly.

Unlike his cool and composed appearance in the movie, his practical and efficient demeanor was very attractive to young women. Kang Sura and other female actors looked at him and whispered among themselves when he came out.

Krystal felt, perhaps mistakenly, that he seemed even more passionate, pouring all his energy into his work.

"Krystal, you're here." Park Ji-hoon had just directed some staff to set up a crane camera. Seeing Krystal approach, he nodded and greeted her, then asked, "You called me so late last night, what's up?"

"About acting!" Krystal handed him a bottle of mineral water and a towel, saying, "I still don't know how to act in the smoking scene!" The skin around her collar was damp with sweat.

"Didn't I teach you?" Park Ji-hoon asked after taking a sip of water.

"Just listening won't help me learn." Krystal shook her head. "I have no experience!"

"I see!" Park Ji-hoon smiled, took out two cigarettes, gave one to her, and demonstrated with the other.

Krystal observed and learned carefully.

"Your expression and movements should be natural, don't force it," Park Ji-hoon corrected her. "Eyes! Don't always focus on the cigarette in your mouth; hands! Your posture is too stiff..."

Krystal had no complaints about his scolding. She didn't pout or whine; her eyes and face were filled with seriousness.

"Your character is important for that detached, immersed-in-her-own-world feeling, not deliberately cold..." Park Ji-hoon also gave her some guidance on her role.

Krystal nodded repeatedly.

"Alright! We're about to start shooting." Park Ji-hoon ended his guidance after being informed by his assistant.

"Thanks, oppa." Krystal handed the cigarette back to him.

Park Ji-hoon took the cigarette, paused, then smiled and put it away. He wouldn't smoke during work.

"By the way, oppa, Director Lee Soo-man asked me to invite you to dinner tonight," Krystal suddenly remembered Lee Soo-man's instructions. She didn't know about Jin Heechul's incident; no one had told her, and she hadn't been back to the company in the past two days.

"Got it." Park Ji-hoon waved his hand, not taking it seriously.

"Oppa, what's going on?" Krystal, seeing his lack of surprise, couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Adult matters, kids shouldn't meddle." Park Ji-hoon smiled, put his hand on her head, turned her around, and said, "Go get ready."

"Yes, uncle." Before leaving, Krystal gave him a small retaliation.

Park Ji-hoon then slowly narrowed his eyes. Lee Soo-man's invitation was expected. Although he had told his mother not to pursue it further, he still needed to wait for S.M Corporation to make a move.

He was considering how far to take this.

It was impossible to say he had no resentment. However, his mother's status was more of a deterrent, and it couldn't be used every time. This time, his actions against S.M Corporation had already affected the shareholders behind the company. It was best to know when to stop.

He didn't want his mother's promotion to senior prosecutor to be jeopardized.

After a moment of thought, he took out his phone, ready to turn it off and start working, when he received a call from an unknown number.

"Hello, this is Park Ji-hoon." He signaled to his assistant and answered the call.

"Mr. Park Ji-hoon, hello, I'm PD Park Sang-hyuk from 'Strong Heart,'" the caller said.

'Strong Heart' was a talk show on SBS that aired on Tuesday evenings, hosted by another "national MC," Kang Ho-dong, and Lee Seung-gi. It was very popular. Usually, entertainment companies would arrange for artists to appear on such shows, and it was rare for the show to invite artists directly.

Clearly, Park Ji-hoon was one of those rare cases.

At the beginning of the year, he was very active in variety shows, but after 'Uncle' was released, he only appeared on 'We Got Married' and the two episodes of 'Running Man.' Many netizens started searching for his old variety shows to watch, even forming a trend online, which made some previously obscure shows popular.

Therefore, 'Strong Heart' decided to invite him.

Park Ji-hoon understood PD Park Sang-hyuk's intention from his introduction and smiled, saying, "I'm sorry, PD Park Sang-hyuk. I don't appear on shows with S.M Corporation artists."

"Uh!" The caller was taken aback. He never expected him to refuse for that reason! 'Strong Heart' had several regular supporting MCs who were members of Super Junior.

"Sorry, I'm about to start shooting." Park Ji-hoon apologized again and hung up.

He turned off his phone and started shooting!

He had been thinking about finding a manager but always forgot when he got busy. He would take action in the next few days.

While he was busy, he didn't know that many reporters were calling him non-stop.

This morning, a video appeared online, lasting just over a minute.

The video was simple: a person wearing a hat took down four young men in less than a minute! Because it was simple, many netizens praised it as cool and shared it widely.

However, by the afternoon, an issue arose. Many people believed the person in the hat was Park Ji-hoon and listed various pieces of evidence. But the video was taken from a distance and in a bar, so it was blurry, and no one could confirm it.

Nevertheless, some netizens didn't care and changed the titles of their shares to "Park Ji-hoon Bar Fight," "Park Ji-hoon 1v4," and other eye-catching phrases.

At this time, any topic involving Park Ji-hoon was popular, let alone such a topic?

Soon, netizens who believed the main character was Park Ji-hoon and those who firmly denied it were arguing with each other.

The media, of course, noticed this topic and began trying to contact Park Ji-hoon. When they couldn't reach him by phone, some reporters started investigating his whereabouts and rushed to the filming site.

The Korean market is small, leading to intense competition in many industries, including the media. In this era of widespread internet use, where news often has a very short shelf life, measured in hours or even minutes, media outlets go to great lengths to produce eye-catching reports.

This incident was no exception.

However, because the filming site strictly prohibited outsiders, the first few reporters who arrived had no choice but to wait outside, anxiously watching as more colleagues arrived.

"What's going on?" During a break in shooting, Park Ji-hoon learned from a staff member that many reporters were looking for him, and he frowned, feeling a bit worried.

"Apparently, it's about a bar fight video on the internet, and some people think it's you, Director," the staff member said, looking at his hat. They had already checked the information online, and it did look very much like him, with the same hat.

"I see." Park Ji-hoon nodded and called Krystal over.

"Uncle! What's wrong?" Krystal was still upset because he had called her a kid.

"Serious business!" Park Ji-hoon said seriously, "Last night, we were on the phone talking about the movie from midnight to 2 AM."

Krystal blinked but didn't ask more, just nodded.