Taesu was stunned to see the big guy behind her back.

He initially imagined that guy was her manager, but he had a big build. Taesu even thought there was a gorilla standing there, but he was not a gorilla. He was a big, black guy whose height was over two meters and looked like a fight.

With a scared expression, Taesu stepped back in spite of himself.

“Who the hell are you?”

Nami smiled gently and said, “Oh, he is my friend Raymon. He asked to escort me, expressing concern that I might run into trouble if I went around alone at night.”

“How are you? I’m Raymon.”

Raymon politely introduced himself to Taesu. Though his voice was soft, it had a rough tone that showed he went through all kinds of trials and difficulties.

Come to think of it, Nami’s tone and look was different now. Though she was still kind, it was businesslike in nature. There was nothing in her attitude that showed she was interested in tempting him.

Finally, she showed her true colors. So far she used him, and now she judged the time came for her to split up with him.

“By the way, what kind of schedule do you want to discuss with me?”

Making a frown, Taesu retorted, “You arrived too late. All the schedule was canceled. Just get out of here!”

“Alright. Goodbye then.”

Nami politely bowed to him and left the room without looking back.

Taesu threw his wine glass down the floor, kicked the sofa and threw away whatever that came his way.

Still, he could not vent his anger.

“How dare you treat me like a fool? How dare you?”

He vowed he would have her pay the price by all means so that other entertainers could take their cue from her.

He called Nami’s manager, who picked up the phone immediately. Given the noise around him, he was hanging around in a bar.

“Hey, stop drinking and see Nami now.”

“Nami? What’s wrong with her?”

Taesu gave him several instructions.

The manager was quick-witted. He immediately figured out Taesu’s decision. From now on he would go after her to dig into her weak points.

At that moment, he had a call from his secretary.

His face brightened again because he gave her a special assignment related to Angela.

“So, did you check her out?”

The secretary gave him a detailed briefing about Angela.

What Taesu was most interested in was her management company. It would not be easy to scout her if her agency was big enough to rival AT Entertainment.

When he heard about her agency, it was new to him.”Ani & Funny? What the heck is this company?”

“Well, it’s an animation company founded last winter. They made an animation music video, which I think hit the jackpot by sheer luck this time.”

Taesu yelled for joy deep inside. He felt confident he could scout her right away.

What bothered him was that she was too young.

On TV she looked like a girl in her early 20s because of her full bosom and height, but she was only a 16-year-old high school girl.

He stuck to one iron rule in dealing with women: Don’t touch a minor!

He could wait for three more years to satisfy his lust. He didn’t want to take the risk of ruining his business to satisfy his instant pleasure.

“Scout her unconditionally, okay? Let me count on you, Miss Yun.”

“Yes, sir,” replied secretary Yun.

***

As soon as Hyunwoo arrived Nami raced toward him and hugged him as if she was reunited with a family after a long time.

“Brother!”

Hyunwoo opened his arms and hugged her in an unguarded moment.

Wrapped in his arms, she began to weep. The moment she saw him, she was freed from the intense tension that gripped her tightly and wept.

Hyunwoo hugged and gently tapped her on the back.

A little later she got out of his arms.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yea, I feel fine. I tried not to, but I think I was extremely nervous.”

She might have been more nervous because of Raymon, the black guy with a big build.

Nonetheless, she felt reassured to see him.

Actually, Hyunwoo didn’t think of Raymon as her bodyguard but noticed his phone number while searching for his friends in Seoul. Hyunwoo had been thinking of bringing him to Ansan sooner or later to use him as a dubbing assistant for Tuti & Angelica and use his song as the theme music.

Of course, Raymon might feel uncomfortable about Hyunwoo’s request. If Raymon actively intervened to help out Nami this time, he would be blacklisted by Taesu in the entertainment world, and his work with Hyunwoo could be his last in Korea.

Still, Hyunwoo called Raymon for help. He explained to Raymon that Nami’s intimidator was the president of AT Entertainment and that if things went wrong, Taesu might take revenge against him.

But Raymon boldly said, “I have heard about Nami, too. Sure, I would like to help her out. You know I don’t have a future here in Korea as a singer. Let me go to Nami’s place right now.”

That’s how Raymon got to be with Nami and Hyunwoo now.

Though Hyunwoo wanted to introduce Nami to Raymon, he didn’t have to. It seemed as if they talked a lot to each other while waiting for Hyunwoo in Seoul.

Hyunwoo said, “By the way, I’m a bit concerned. She survived today, but what about her in the coming days? I can’t stay with her all the time, and I can’t ask Raymon to be your bodyguard every time.”

“No worries. I called you because I was too scared today. Taesu won’t do anything bad to me just because I’m here alone,” said Nami.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

Still, Hyunwoo was not relieved. He needed to protect her in one way or another.

At that moment Raymon came forward and said, “Just call me anytime when you need my help.”

The problem was that Raymon’s place was too far away from Nami’s.

Suddenly, Hyunwoo asked, “Where is your condo right now?

“I live in a one-room studio in Karakdong. Why?”

“Is there any space for rent nearby?”

Nami could figure out what Hyunwoo was thinking.

This time Hyunwoo turned to Raymon and asked, “If I find a rented house in Karakdong, can you move there?”

Only then did Raymon realize his intention.

Revealing his white teeth with a smile, he said, “Sure, but you have to pay for the rent, don’t you? Hahaha”

Several days later, Hyunwoo came to Seoul for an appointment with his acquaintances. Fortunately, he could see Jinyoung around midnight after parting with them.

Jinyoung had a somber look on his face.

“Brother, are you worried about anything?”

“I feel Angela is weird today. She went out to see somebody early in the afternoon and then tried to read my countenance often.”

“Where did she go?”

“No idea. She wouldn’t answer when I asked. Looks like she met someone from an entertainment agency. I feel she must have been approached by that agency.”

“Why don’t we meet her early tomorrow morning and find out what it is.”

“Sounds good.”

As soon as the day broke, Hyunwoo called Jinhon and Angela together. Though the trade fair meeting was important, Angela’s case was much more important.

“Angela, you have the right to choose freely what you want. You can decide whatever you like regardless of thinking about me, but I wish you didn’t hide it to me. That way I can help you make the wise decision. Don’t you think so?”

Nonetheless, Angela kept silent. So, Hyunwoo stopped talking in the middle and then continued several times.

“The reason I helped you was not because I wanted to use you to make money. By sheer luck, the music video featuring you and Jinhon hit the jackpot, as you know. You will be able to understand my sincerity if you think about how we met and why we made the music video.”

Angela seemed to be agonizing over something and raised her head as if she was embarrassed by what Hyunwoo just said.

Hyunwoo asked her cautiously, “Did you accept a great offer from an entertainment company?”

At that moment, Jinhon’s eyes opened wide. Though Hyunwoo spoke in English, he could not understand Hyunwoo’s remarks fully, but noticed the word ‘entertainment.’

Angela nodded her head quietly and said, “As a matter of fact I had an offer from AT Entertainment. The condition of the offer was too sweet for me to reject.”

Hyunwoo guessed she might have got such an offer, but little did he think she got the offer from AT Entertainment.

The more he thought about Taseu, the more disgusted Hyunwoo felt by him. It looked as if he went around, doing all kinds of shameless act everywhere.

But the problem was that Taesu was too high up a rival for Hyunwoo to deal with. Above all, Ohsung Business Group backed him strongly.

Hyunwoo wanted to dissuade Angela out of the offer. It was true that AT Entertainment could make her a rising star within the shortest period of time, but at the same time, it was the place where she could ruin herself quickly if she didn’t follow Taesu’s direction or satisfy his wild lust.

Maybe Angela might have already leaned toward Taesu’s company.

How can I persuade her? Hyunwoo thought to himself.