Chapter 37: I Have a Girlfriend

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“Does Yoo-na usually help with the housework at home?”

“I thought you all spoiled her and let her have her way with everything...”

Tired of the man in the passenger seat droning on and on, Team Leader Shin Heli slammed on the brakes at a red light.

Thrown forward by inertia and then pulled back against the seat by the safety belt, Xia Xing blinked at Team Leader Shin, still unaware of what he had done wrong.

“Specialist Xia... We’re on a business trip, not out for a chat about domestic affairs.”

There was a trace of helplessness in her voice, but she simply could not bring herself to be genuinely angry with him. In the end, Shin Heli could only surrender with a sigh.

“Since we left the company, how many things related to work have you said to me?”

“You’ve mentioned Yoo-na five or six times in every three sentences.”

“I can already tell how much you care about her. But for now, unless it’s work-related, could you please be quiet for a while?”

Xia Xing nodded at Shin Heli, who was treating him entirely as her subordinate at that moment. Feeling guilty, he glanced toward the right-side rearview mirror and began reflecting on everything he had said and done along the way.

He had been worried that he would keep bringing up Shin Yoo-na no matter how hard he tried to stop himself, so he had repeatedly reminded himself to restrain his urge to talk.

But perhaps sitting in the passenger seat was simply too boring. In the end, he had followed his instincts and kept steering the conversation back toward Shin Yoo-na.

“Why have you gone quiet?”

Shin Heli started the car again and continued toward Peninsula Entertainment, still five kilometers away.

Forbidden from discussing Shin Yoo-na, Xia Xing had no idea what to say for a moment. He shot Team Leader Shin a slightly resentful glance, then forced a grin.

“You’re hopelessly love-struck...”

Shin Heli sighed in exasperation before taking the initiative to shift the conversation back to work.

“We’re going to Peninsula Entertainment this time to discuss the arrangements for filming the commercial song later on.”

“I heard Coca-Cola approached JYPE before, hoping to sign Stray Kids, ITZY, NMIXX, and even Park Jin-young himself as one package.”

“You must have some real tricks up your sleeve to steal ITZY and NMIXX away from them.”

“That’s precisely why the quality of this commercial song absolutely cannot fall below the standard of Coca-Cola’s previous advertising songs.”

At the mention of Coca-Cola’s commercial songs, Xia Xing immediately thought of the song “Zero,” which NewJeans had released for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar at the beginning of the year.

“Coca-Cola tastes good...”

The lyrics were so painfully embarrassing that they made one want to claw at one’s own feet. If their commercial song ended up being even worse than that...

For Peninsula Food and Peninsula Entertainment, the challenge would be considerable.

The mention of the two companies reminded Xia Xing of a rather important question.

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“Team Leader Shin, I just remembered something I wanted to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Were Peninsula Food’s advertisements in the past all produced by Peninsula Entertainment?”

“For the most part, yes. Why?”

“As companies both held by Peninsula International as third parties, wouldn’t transactions between them have to be disclosed to the public?”

Peninsula International was the largest shareholder in both Peninsula Food and Peninsula Entertainment. Transactions between its two subsidiaries could very well affect the interests of minority shareholders.

Under ordinary circumstances, financial regulators would require such transactions to be disclosed and explained to the public so they could be subject to outside scrutiny.

Of course, the details depended on the circumstances. Still, Xia Xing had a vague feeling that this matter was not as simple as it seemed.

Shin Heli furrowed her brows slightly, not quite understanding what Xia Xing was getting at.

“I’m only a team leader in the marketing department. Surely I don’t need to worry about something this broad and far-reaching...?”

“But now that you mention it, does your surname Xia have anything to do with the Xia of the chairman of the parent company?”

Watching Shin Heli remain focused on the road, Xia Xing hesitated only briefly before nodding.

After all, she was both his direct superior and his sister-in-law. He could not keep being so mysterious with family.

“My family background is rather complicated. It would be difficult to explain everything clearly in a short time.”

“Don’t blame me for being nosy. You are, after all... Yoo-na’s boyfriend. As her older sister, I have a right to know a little about you.”

“You keep asking again and again.”

“What am I even thinking?”

“I don’t want to deal with it. I don’t understand myself either.”

The two of them were just about to say something more when Xia Xing’s phone rang at the most inopportune moment.

Shin Heli turned toward the young man, who looked slightly embarrassed by the ringtone, and gave him a kindly yet faintly disdainful smile.

“Why don’t you answer it?”

Seeing the familiar-looking number marked as an unknown caller, Xia Xing decisively hung up.

“An unknown number. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

But soon, the ringtone for “Cheshire” began playing again, and Shin Yoo-na’s opening line came through once more.

“Answer it. It might be something urgent.”

Under Shin Heli’s puzzled gaze, Xia Xing let out a faint sigh and reluctantly raised the phone.

“Hello. What can I do for you?”

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...

“Hello. What can I do for you?”

The voice on the other end was still gentle and refined, but now carried a hint of helplessness.

“I just wanted to call and talk to you, to see whether we could get to know each other better.”

Faced with Yoo Ji-min’s deliberate teasing, the other person showed no understanding of humor whatsoever and immediately changed the subject.

“Has that matter still not been resolved?”

“It’s been resolved. Lee Jae-wook won’t be able to influence things anymore.”

Standing on the Han River Bridge with the wind blowing around her, Yoo Ji-min wandered aimlessly through the city as she spoke, her eyes drifting toward Yeouido in the distance.

She still did not understand much about business, but she vaguely felt that in this concrete-and-steel forest, people were like nutrients in an ecosystem, nourishing the capital housed within the towering office buildings.

If she wanted her own flower to bloom in this forest, she could not become a parasite dependent on that capital.

She had to control her own resources.

Yet even in South Korea, cases of an idol truly transforming from an entertainer into capital were exceedingly rare, no matter how popular the idol might be.

“Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up first.”

The other person’s icy attitude made Yoo Ji-min frown.

Could this guy simply dislike women? How else could he remain so indifferent while speaking to Yoo Ji-min on the phone?

“I want to ask you something. I know it may be a little presumptuous, but this is genuinely important. You must answer me.”

Faced with Yoo Ji-min’s sudden seriousness, Xia Xing straightened up as well. While keeping an eye on Shin Heli, who was still watching the road intently, he shifted the phone toward the window side of the car.

“Ask.”

“Do you like women?”

For a moment, Xia Xing felt that he truly did not understand this insane world at all.

His reply carried a tone that was almost amused by the absurdity of it.

“Does the answer to that question have anything to do with you?”

“It does. It has a great deal to do with me.”

“I have a girlfriend.”

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