The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 139
Kim Chunyong wasn’t the only one furious at the chaos Liu Wei’s arrogance had stirred up.
“Didn’t I tell you this needed to be done with the right reasons? Was I speaking to a wall?”
AG’s tiger, Director Shin Ki Ho, was equally enraged.
The veins popping out of his clenched hand and his low, controlled voice were clear indicators of just how angry he was.
– It was necessary. Otherwise, his rank would’ve continued to rise above mine.
The person on the other end of the line sounded as nonchalant as ever.
“Liu Wei, you arrogant little punk!”
Shin Ki Ho finally exploded, his furious shout echoed throughout the office.
“You think I didn’t notice when you started disrespecting me? Yeah, that was my fault for being
oblivious, but how long did you think you could keep climbing over me without anyone noticing?”
– ……
“But this is different. This time, you went over my head and contacted your ‘supporters’ directly. Do you even realize what that means?”
– …If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have done it. This is the outcome I wanted.
“This is what you wanted? Fine. Chunyong’s rank will drop because of this. You were fourth, and now he’ll probably fall to seventh, maybe even eighth. Impressive.”
– Yeah. The followers he needs for the mission are decreasing. This proves I was right—
“No. This is temporary.”
Shin Ki Ho ran his fingers along the lighter on his desk, carefully choosing his words.
“These rumors you spread, they’re too flimsy. I told you before—rumors that only gossip rags care about don’t last.”
Whatever Liu Wei mumbled in Chinese on the other end didn’t stop Shin Ki Ho from continuing.
“Kim Chunyong. Do you think he will just sit back and watch this unfold?”
– ……
“Sure, he may not have powerful connections, but can you really guarantee he won’t strike back now that things have gone this far?”
– …He can’t even be a rat.
The mention of that name seemed to raise Liu Wei’s voice slightly.
It was almost imperceptible.
– I’m not a cat either. And it’s not me who needs to prepare for what Kim Chunyong might do. It’s you.
“You. Your voice is rising. Are you angry?”
But Shin Ki Ho, who had watched Liu Wei for a long time and had dealt with all sorts of people in his career, wasn’t someone who would miss such a detail.
“Yeah. Now I get why you kept bringing up Kim Chunyong. For some reason, you couldn’t stand him. You hated that he was better than you.”
– ……
Liu Wei fell silent.
Not out of shock, but more as if he wanted to hear what Shin had to say next.
And Shin Ki Ho, responding to that expectation, spoke in a low, sneering voice.
“Either way, you’ve played a terrible hand. You’re openly defying me now, so do you think I’ll still push for your debut? Do you really think that?”
– You must think your investors will just sit back and do nothing.
“It’ll be different if my business partners speak up. Up until now, we shared a common goal: to take their capital and grow the company while making sure you debut—under my control. Control.”
– ……
“But now, you’re blatantly ignoring me. They’ll realize that too, because of what you’ve done.”
This time, Liu Wei truly had nothing to say.
But Shin Ki Ho could imagine the expression Liu Wei must have been wearing—his usual cold, indifferent face, with features that screamed, ‘You’ll never understand me.’
Thinking of that familiar face, Shin clicked his tongue and flicked his gun-shaped lighter.
The flame that emerged was a sharp blue.
Much like Liu Wei—seemingly calm and collected on the surface, but boiling underneath.
“Yeah. If Kim Chunyong can’t even manage to be a rat, then you’ll be safe from his bite. You’d better hope so. Cleaning up messes, believe me, is a real pain in the a*s.”
Liu Wei had been listening to Shin Ki Ho’s words, and finally spoke again.
His voice is low, steady, and slightly hoarse.
Perhaps this was his ‘real’ voice.
– …Don’t forget, whether I’m under your control or not, whether you like me or not, if I make it into the debut lineup, I’m debuting.
– No exceptions.
With that, the call ended.
“Arrogant little brat…”
Shin Ki Ho threw his phone onto the office sofa, biting the inside of his cheek as he tried to sort through the situation.
The malicious rumors Liu Wei had spread about Kim Chunyong through his supporters.
And by now, Kim Chunyong had likely realized Liu Wei was behind them.
As Shin had mentioned earlier, Kim Chunyong was nothing more than an ordinary trainee with no powerful backing. But…
‘That same trainee convinced that couple from Wall Street to support him. Underestimating him would be a mistake.’
That’s why Shin had approached the situation carefully, with a method that would leave no room for escape.
“Damn it…”
With his plan not just unraveling but tying itself into knots, Shin Ki Ho resisted the urge to scream in frustration and pressed his fingers to his forehead.
Businessmen, more than anyone else, were sensitive to superstitions and jinxes.
When something that had been going well suddenly starts falling apart, it means one of two things: either you’ve made a serious mistake, or…
…or a force beyond your control has gotten involved.
In this case, it was both.
The investors had backed Liu Wei, an uncontrollable force, as a trainee.
And now there was Kim Chunyong, a wildcard trainee who defied expectations and left Shin unsure of how to handle him.
“This is driving me insane…”
Shin Ki Ho muttered quietly to himself as he stared at the photo of Kim Chunyong grinning on his computer screen, baring his teeth like fangs.
He was the one known as AG’s “tiger,” feared for his ruthless control.
And this should have been just like any other situation—punish Liu Wei harshly and find a way to clean things up.
But for some reason, this time, Shin felt like he was the one about to be bitten.
