Chapter 39

"Xica, I'm sorry, I did mean to eavesdrop. No, I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Tiffany sat on the ground, waving her hands. She saw Krystal come to find Jessica and knew it might be related to Jessica's absence last night. Concerned for her friend, she followed out of fear that Jessica might have encountered something bad. When she reached the stairwell, she heard the words "kept woman," and these two highly impactful words kept echoing in her ears, making her unable to hear the rest clearly.

Tiffany had been half-squatting, half-standing against the wall, listening. When she sensed that Jessica and her sister were about to finish their conversation and come over, she prepared to quickly leave the scene. However, she found her legs numb and fell to the ground in a hurry.

Jessica saw Tiffany's evasive eyes and worried expression and knew that this cute friend had misunderstood again. Not knowing how much Tiffany had heard, she asked, "What did you hear?"

"Nothing, I didn't hear anything." Tiffany first strongly denied it, then asked blankly, "Xica, are you really being kept?"

"I, sigh..." Jessica could only sigh. What a mess, she felt her blood pressure rising sharply.

It wasn't entirely Tiffany's fault for jumping to conclusions. When Jessica came to the company today, she had undergone a stunning transformation, even her demeanor had become much warmer. If someone had said something like what Hyoyeon said, Jessica would have looked displeased, but today she had brushed it off lightly. Although Hyoyeon and Jessica had a good relationship, it wouldn't have been so nonchalant. Jessica's abnormal behavior left the sisters no choice but to let their imaginations run wild. Now, Tiffany, a TV enthusiast, had heard Krystal's "testimony" and imagined a bunch of cliché TV drama scenarios.

Tiffany was now wondering if Jessica had Stockholm Syndrome. How could she not be hurt at all and even have a cute, alluring blush on her face today?

"Ha ha ha!" Krystal covered her mouth and laughed maliciously, unable to hold back. She had made it up to extort her sister, and Sister Pan had actually believed it.

"You're still laughing!" Jessica felt both love and hate for this sister.

"Pan, it's like this. A friend I know came from America. I stayed at his place last night because the dorm was closed. This friend is also an artist and is working on his debut album. This morning, he was shooting an MV and asked me to play a role. I bought this outfit with the acting fee." Jessica tried to explain clearly, wondering how Pan could have misunderstood her.

"A friend from America?" Tiffany's eyes lit up. She loved making friends, especially with Americans who didn't have as many rules as Koreans, making her feel more comfortable. "Is he handsome? How is his singing? What about his acting?"

"Pan, don't think too much. That's my brother-in-law. Didn't you see that Jessica spent the night there yesterday?" Krystal interjected.

Jessica slapped Krystal's forehead and said through gritted teeth, "If you cause any more trouble, you'll never get beef again."

Krystal quickly apologized, the pleasure of teasing her sister was nothing compared to the joy of eating beef.

"Xica, don't misunderstand. I just thought that since he's from America, we could be friends. If you feel burdened, you don't have to introduce him to me." Tiffany waved her hands.

Jessica thought to herself, "It's you who misunderstood. Little Crystal was just talking nonsense. That person isn't my husband."

"Husband?" Tiffany was surprised. Were they already talking about marriage? Xica was only nineteen, or eighteen if you counted her age in years. Or were they already calling each other husband and wife?

"Um, just a regular friend." Jessica had played the role of a wife with Lee Jin-myung that morning and said it out of habit.

"Yun, do you want to die?" Yoo-ri was lying on the ground at the practice room door, listening to the commotion outside, while Lin Yun-ye was on top of her. Despite Yun-ye's slim appearance, she wasn't light at all. As Hyoyeon put it, the meat she ate turned into bones, but this also included Hyoyeon's resentment about Yun-ye's height.

"Unni, is this the time to argue? It seems Xica Unni is in love." Yun-ye frowned, her pout becoming more pronounced. "Unni has been with us all along, when did this start?"

"This is normal, she's nineteen." Yoo-ri said indifferently.

"Then why don't you find a man too, Unni?" Yun-ye asked.

"My standards are high." Yoo-ri began to imagine the image of her prince charming. "I won't settle for anything less than a one-in-a-million perfect man."

"Oh, I see. You mean Xica Unni's standards are low. I'll tell her." Yun-ye propped herself up, pretending to really go and tattle.

Yoo-ri quickly flipped over and hugged her. "Yun-ye, my little darling, I'm happy just having you. Why would I need a man?" She joked. If Xica found out she was talking badly about her behind her back, she would be in big trouble, even though she hadn't said anything. But with Lin Yun-ye's manipulative nature, even white could turn black.

"Should we tell the other sisters?" Lin Yun-ye asked Yoo-ri to make the decision. If something went wrong, Yoo-ri would take the blame, and she would be at most an accomplice.

"Let's secretly tell Hyoyeon and Sooyoung, but definitely not Hyo. She can't keep a secret, and if Hohae oppa finds out, it'll be over." Yoo-ri made the arrangements. Hyoyeon and Sooyoung were "insiders" and weren't gossipy.

There was once a popular game on a show called "Silent Relay," where the first person would see a prompt and mime it to the next person, who would then mime it to the next, and so on. The more accurate the final result, the better. Despite its simplicity, the game always ended in laughter because people's "association" function was too strong, and they always added their own interpretations. By the time it reached the end, the message was completely distorted. Jessica didn't know that her situation had already become more and more bizarre after two eavesdropping sessions and word of mouth.

Lee Jin-myung had no idea about what was happening at S.M. At the moment, he was being manipulated by others.

"Good, smile, don't frown." A fashionably dressed photographer was taking pictures of Lee Jin-myung for the album's inner pages.

Lee Jin-myung planned to make his LAD company a symbol of "industry conscience." Many things that other companies sold separately as merchandise, he planned to include directly in the CD case. A booklet of MV shooting behind-the-scenes, a random full-body poster of Lee Jin-myung, a commemorative card, and a keychain with his face on it.

Other companies would divide the album into various versions, such as a deluxe edition, a standard edition, and a simple edition. The album was like a pancake sold on the street, where some people liked to add pork, others liked to add sausage, and some preferred the original flavor. To satisfy everyone's needs, business would be good. Lee Jin-myung, however, planned to offer a deluxe content at a standard price. He didn't care about money; he just wanted to promote himself. Building an image was often more difficult and more profitable than selling products. The same applied to artists. Why did Apple have so many fans worldwide? Not only because their products were good, but also because they had built a brand image of "Apple is the trend, the innovation." Lee Jin-myung wanted to achieve the same.

The album needed only eight photos, and one would be randomly placed in each CD case. But it wasn't as simple as just taking eight photos. He needed to take a bunch and have professionals select the best.

Photographers, hairdressers, and directors were amazing. They could make you pose in any position they wanted, and you had no choice but to comply. For an hour, Lee Jin-myung posed in various awkward positions, making him feel like he was practicing on a梅花桩 (梅花桩 is a traditional Chinese martial arts training method, but it doesn't have a direct English equivalent, so I'll leave it as is).

"Jin-myung, phone." Song Seok-jae, the CEO who was also acting as a manager, was watching over him and keeping his belongings. The new staff from LAD looked at Lee Jin-myung strangely, wondering if he was an artist or the CEO. They weren't wrong; Lee Jin-myung was the CEO.

"Mom, what's up?" Lee Jin-myung was a bit nervous; he hadn't explained the morning incident yet.

"Kan, your grandfather said to come back for a few days. Isn't it your birthday soon? And the Dragon Boat Festival is coming up too." Kim Yoon-shoo didn't mention the morning incident.

"I'm busy here. Can it wait a couple of days?" Lee Jin-myung scratched his chin. The makeup was thick and uncomfortable.

"It's all nonsense. Put it aside for now." To Kim Yoon-shoo, her son's singing and entertainment career wasn't something to oppose, but she still saw it as nonsense.

"Is there something going on?" Lee Jin-myung sensed something from Kim Yoon-shoo's words.

Kim Yoon-shoo paused for a moment. "This year's four-family clan gathering is being held at the Lee family's place, so your grandfather is planning to hold the Lee clan meeting early. As long as you come back, it will be held."

"Really? If I come back tonight, can it be held tonight?" Lee Jin-myung didn't believe it.

"If you come back tonight, it will be held tonight. Everyone is back, and it's just because you have a lot of face. The old folks all indulge you." Kim Yoon-shoo's words were a complaint, but her tone was full of pride.

"Okay, I understand. Have them prepare a meal. I'll come back tonight and have a good meal." Lee Jin-myung decided to smooth things over first. He knew he would be nagged a bit, but it couldn't be avoided. Just like a child doing homework at home, even if the parents didn't say or do anything, just being in the same room made them uncomfortable. So, Lee Jin-myung did everything quietly and only asked for help when needed.

"By the way, this morning." Lee Jin-myung thought it was best to clear things up now.

"Mom knows it was a misunderstanding. You're just regular friends, right?" Kim Yoon-shoo felt something was off as soon as she got in the car that morning. Her mind had cooled down from the excitement of wanting a grandson, and she recalled that the girl clearly looked like a virgin. She called Lee Seung-min to confirm, and the girl had only known her son for two and a half days. Lee Seung-min had a bit of a macho mindset, thinking that a one-night stand showed true manliness, and many people would start talking after a brief encounter. But Kim Yoon-shoo trusted her son's self-discipline. So, the situation wasn't what she thought it was in the morning. Fortunately, she hadn't spread the news that Lee Jin-myung had a girlfriend. She just hoped the innocent and gentle girl hadn't been scared.

"Girls like that are rare nowadays. She did the laundry and made breakfast. If you marry her, she'll be a good wife." Kim Yoon-shoo still hadn't given up. Her son must have a crush on her, or he wouldn't have let her stay over. "If you like her, go for it."

"Okay, I understand. Goodbye." Hanging up the phone, Lee Jin-myung thought to himself, "Doing laundry is just putting clothes in the machine and pressing a few buttons. As for the breakfast, you didn't taste it. With her cooking skills, if we have kids in the future, the child protection association might come knocking, accusing us of child abuse..."

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