[TS] Malicious Sniper

I brought clothes for Curry and returned to the spa area, where I could see Ji-hye and Rine chatting happily.

I had worried earlier that an awkward atmosphere would form between the two in my absence, but…

Their joyful conversation made my worries seem pointless.

If I could, I’d love to join them and enjoy the spa together, but I still had things to do.

I moved to the room I would be using during this trip, locked the door, and took out Curry’s phone, which I had set aside.

I hadn’t returned it since borrowing it during the drive broadcast, but I didn’t think that was wrong. If they wanted it back, they should have asked.

Since arriving at the pension, I had been consistently preventing the screen from locking by touching it, so I didn’t need to worry about fingerprint authentication.

Now, what should I check first?

After some contemplation, I opened the messenger app.

The friend list had hundreds of friends, and there were many unread messages.

However, I wasn’t interested in Curry’s private life; I was just curious about the relationship between Curry and Lee Seon-ah, so I skipped them all.

When I searched for ‘Lee Seon-ah’ in the search bar, one friend with Crystal’s logo as a profile picture appeared at the top of the friend list.

I immediately entered the chat room with Lee Seon-ah and began scrolling up to check the conversations Curry had with her.

“…Nothing special.”

To my surprise, the exchanges between them were very mundane, contrary to my assumption that Curry was close to Lee Seon-ah.

Most of the conversation was business-related, and aside from that, it was as if Lee Seon-ah was talking to the wall.

From trivial daily news to suggesting group meetings that wouldn’t work at all.

At this point, I could only be certain that this Lee Seon-ah was the same Lee Seon-ah I knew.

Without personal feelings, there wouldn’t be personal conversations.

Honestly, I thought Curry and Lee Seon-ah would be maintaining some sort of secret relationship.

Well, that made sense because Crystal had pushed Curry a few times in public.

From Curry merchandise to various events and promotional activities.

Even if it wasn’t Curry, anyone receiving that level of support would surely soar.

Crystal had given Curry so many benefits that it was hard not to suspect the nature of his relationship with Lee Seon-ah.

In the end, having found nothing useful from the conversation history between Lee Seon-ah and Curry, I closed the messenger app.

I’d love to explore the hidden folder of Curry’s secrets on this smartphone, but…

Going any further into someone else’s private life crossed a line, so I decided to stop there.

Well, apart from revealing the existence of such a folder, there were many ways to annoy Curry.

Just as I turned off the phone and was about to leave the room…

Vroom-vroom–

Curry’s phone started vibrating.

I checked the name of the contact that was calling.

[CEO Lee Seon-ah]

“…”

Should I pick this up or let it go?

I briefly pondered, but the answer was already set.

I answered the call and immediately pressed the record button.

– “Curry, are you free right now?”

“CEO Lee Seon-ah?”

– “…Who is this?”

Was it because of the voice of a woman who wasn’t Curry?

Lee Seon-ah’s tone, which had sounded pleasant just moments ago, suddenly turned cold.

“Come on, you know me, right? Barcode.”

– “Yes, I know you well. But may I ask why you’re taking the call instead of Curry?”

What should I say in response to Lee Seon-ah’s question?

After thinking for a moment, I smiled slyly and replied softly.

“Oh, they’re in the shower right now.”

Vroom-vroom–

– “…In the shower?”

What an answer that led to so many misunderstandings.

Lee Seon-ah fell silent for a while at my answer.

I enjoyed this unpredictable situation.

– “Then when Curry comes out, can you tell them I called separately?”

Realizing that continuing the conversation would only harm herself, Lee Seon-ah hurriedly attempted to end the call.

“Hmm, not so fast.”

What should I do now?

“I don’t want to do that.”

– “…What did you say?”

Didn’t she imagine I’d outright reject her statement?

Lee Seon-ah asked in disbelief, but I had no intention of backing down.

“I really wanted to have a chat with you, CEO Lee Seon-ah. If you could spare me a little time, I’d be sure to tell Curry that you called.”

– “I’m very busy right now, so I took the time to reach out, but…”

“Oh, busy, huh? Then I can’t help it. I’ll block your number and delete our call history.”

– “…You realize that this is very disrespectful to Curry, don’t you?”

Lee Seon-ah tried to use Curry as leverage, but it was merely amusing.

After all, I was doing something disrespectful to Curry over and over again.

Moreover, there was no way Lee Seon-ah would want to call Curry just for a work-related discussion.

Logically, Curry was on a vacation with me; if she had any sense, she would have contacted Curry after the trip ended.

Of course, she might not even know that Curry was on a trip, but…

This vacation had been discussed for a few weeks, and we even had the drive broadcast.

Would someone who’s the CEO of an MCN really be unaware of such an event?

That was simply unbelievable, and Lee Seon-ah must have called out of personal reasons even while knowing Curry was on vacation.

If she truly were busy, she wouldn’t have asked me to let Curry know that she called once they came out of the shower.

It felt like she was trying to evoke guilt about Curry, but…

If such a minor issue could evoke guilt, she would have apologized to Curry and cut ties long ago.

“Isn’t it more disrespectful for you, CEO Lee Seon-ah, to contact someone who’s on vacation for work matters?”

– “…What kind of conversation do you want?”

Perhaps she couldn’t deny my statement.

I couldn’t help but laugh at how quickly her attitude changed.

“I’m just curious why you don’t take my call. I want to ask since you’ve been ignoring me all this time… it’s been a bit frustrating.”

I had a rough idea about the reasons for her not wanting to take my call.

But I wanted to hear it directly from her.

– “Crystal is an MCN that has explosively grown by signing contracts with famous creators. While we’ve successfully bulked up, our internal organization isn’t clearly established yet, so we deemed that bringing in Barcode at this time is premature. Given our detailed schedule for the next year, incorporating a significant creator like Barcode requires careful consideration. If things go wrong, we might have to alter every schedule.”

Though Lee Seon-ah answered my question with a long response, it was essentially just meaningless excuses.

Crystal was indeed a rapidly growing MCN by signing with major creators, but…

For such a top-tier MCN, not being able to accommodate even one creator was absurd.

Once you take me in, I would bring immense profits, like a goose that lays golden eggs.

Using such ridiculous reasons to avoid taking me in was simply laughable.

And what was that?

My being brought in could mess up plans they’d made for the next year?

If just one significant creator could throw off their schedule.

Then, the plans themselves were worth little more than trash; it only accepted the incompetence of Crystal.

It was ludicrous for someone who had achieved rapid success in such a short amount of time to admit their MCN was incompetent.

A normal CEO would never say such things, but Lee Seon-ah wasn’t a normal CEO.

“Thanks for your friendly answer. I’ll let Curry know that you called separately once they come out of the shower.”

Unable to directly express my true thoughts, I pretended to be polite.

After hearing Lee Seon-ah’s response, I quickly ended the call.

Next, I sent the saved audio file to my email and then deleted the file.

Naturally, I also deleted the call history from earlier and blocked Lee Seon-ah’s number.

I blocked all numbers connected to Crystal as well.

At least during this pension trip, I didn’t want to see Curry being harassed by that crazy lady.

To ensure a perfect crime, I turned off my phone and left the room.

*

At the top floor of the Crystal headquarters, CEO Lee Seon-ah’s office.

Under normal circumstances, she would be watching Curry’s broadcast while working, but now…

Lee Seon-ah, tapping her fingers on the desk, revealed her anxiousness.

It had already been an hour since the call with Barcode ended, but no further contact had been made, driving her to reach out to Curry.

Yet, she was met with a message tone indicating she had been blocked, and her anger surged.

How dare they block her number on Curry’s phone?

With no other option, she contacted the manager overseeing Curry, but they too had been blocked, rendering direct communication impossible.

“Crazy b*tch…”

Lee Seon-ah bit her nails, disdainfully cursing Barcode, but that only heightened her anxiety.

“Such absurd excuses…”

She had never anticipated that someone would not only break promises but also block her number completely.

What frustrated her the most was the earlier remark by Barcode.

“Oh, they’re in the shower right now.”

When she wondered why Barcode was taking the call on Curry’s phone, that reply echoed in her mind.

Once they arrived at the accommodation, it was common for everyone to unpack and rest.

While it was possible to shower from sweating or other reasons, it was the middle of winter, and the heater was running.

Today’s temperature was a chilling minus seven degrees.

Watching a replay of the drive broadcast showed nobody, including Curry, looking like they’d broken a sweat.

So why would Curry take a shower immediately upon arriving at the pension?

Especially with three women and just one man around?

“…”

As time went on, Lee Seon-ah’s imagination started to worsen.

What began as two people had now escalated to four people at the same time…

Thud!

“…Am I insane?”

After slamming her hands down on the desk, Lee Seon-ah’s face flushed hot with both anger and embarrassment, and she fanned herself to cool down.

After her mind had cleared of the dark fantasies, she found a new email in her inbox.

It contained information about Barcode’s past and hidden secrets that she had commissioned previously.

Soon shocked by the startling revelation, Lee Seon-ah smirked with a twisted smile.

“So it was you…”

The notorious stalker who had tormented Curry for years—the Nayun Queen.

While there wasn’t irrefutable proof attached, it was almost certain given her gut feeling.

The fact that Barcode’s real name was Choi Nayun was already strong evidence.

“How disgusting.”

How could one person wear so many masks and toy with another?

Even Lee Seon-ah, who recognized she wasn’t entirely sane, could only shake her head at Barcode’s actions.

Poor Curry.

I’ll rescue you soon.

With that thought in mind, Lee Seon-ah contact the Lecar content creators she had a secret deal with.

[zxcv1234 is live.]

As she spread her message among all the Lecar creators, Barcode’s stream began.

In the current situation where most contact methods had been severed, watching Curry on Barcode’s stream was the only option left.

Thus, begrudgingly, Lee Seon-ah entered Barcode’s stream and was able to see…

“Phew…”

A blushing Barcode and a heavily breathing Curry.

Crack!

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