The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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74

Wisoo Entertainment.
It would be fair to call it a den of swindlers—they primarily preyed on minors and naive newcomers fresh out of school, locking them into exclusive contracts before embezzling their signing bonuses or extorting money under the guise of “investment fees.”
The CEO of Wisoo Entertainment took considerable pride in his operation.

‘What a wonderful world for exploitation.’

That’s what he thought. This particular situation felt especially promising.
Jung Da-jun—a nobody he’d never expected to break through, despite setting traps through exclusive contract clauses—had suddenly struck gold. Rather than letting him explode into stardom or become a total loss, he’d waited for the perfect moment before playing his trump card: a dual exclusive contract threat.
He was pleasantly deliberating over the penalty amount when a paparazzi he knew casually dropped some intel over drinks. Essentially, it boiled down to this:

‘The Dun’s Seo Ho-yoon has been clashing frequently with Dae Pa-sung Planning lately. He’s looking for a new agency.’

“Luck’s on my side.”

All those years of cultivating connections paid off. He’d obtained the paparazzi’s exclusive scoop before anyone else.
Unwilling to squander such a golden opportunity, he dangled the bait in front of Seo Ho-yoon—and the kid snapped it up immediately.

‘Still, I need to be careful.’

The CEO resolved this as he polished his nails. Already plotting in his mind to squeeze an enormous sum of money from Dae Pa-sung Planning by having both Seo Ho-yoon and Jung Da-jun in his grasp, he couldn’t help but let a smile slip, yet he steeled himself to be thorough in all matters.
On camera, after all, he came across as composed and streetwise.

“Yep, hey there~.”

But the moment he actually faced Seo Ho-yoon in person, every ounce of vigilance he’d built up shattered completely.

“…Hello?”
“Wow, your office is seriously shabby. How do you even get work done in a dump like this?”

Seo Ho-yoon sauntered in chewing gum with the swagger of a street thug, gave a dismissive nod, and immediately plopped down on the sofa.
With his hair slicked up sharply and his entire body draped in a single luxury brand, he was the textbook image of a delinquent punk.

‘…What the hell is this punk?’

“CEO, I’m thirsty.”
“…W-would you like some water?”

I stumbled slightly over my words, caught off guard by the unexpected gap.
Seo Ho-yoon sank deep into the sofa, draping his legs across the table with a casual cross. He tilted his head back and yawned widely before complaining that the water was taking too long. Yet when the CEO of Wisoo Entertainment actually retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator and handed it to him, Ho-yoon scrunched his face in disgust and didn’t even glance at it.

“What? You don’t know I don’t drink domestic water?”
“…That’s all we have.”
“Ugh, seriously…. This is terrible.”

His words trailed off as he unscrewed the cap and sniffed it. He even waved his hand over it like he was smelling wine, trying to catch more of the scent.

“Not impressed.”

‘…What?’

The flabbergasted CEO counted the seagulls etched into the ceiling to calm himself. In doing so, he completely missed Ho-yoon dropping the white powder he’d been holding between his fingers into the water.
Ho-yoon, apparently genuinely displeased, screwed the cap back on and handed it to the CEO.

“You drink it, CEO. I’m good.”

‘Damn it… what is this bastard doing?’

“Haha! Ho-yoon, you’re quite amusing. There’s such a gap from your broadcast image… I was a bit taken aback.”
“Gap?”

Seo Ho-yoon tilted his head quizzically. Caught off guard by his innocent confusion, I answered reflexively.

“Yeah. On the broadcast, you had such a capable and intelligent image.”

I regretted it immediately. That made it sound like he wasn’t intelligent now. But instead of taking offense, Ho-yoon burst into hearty laughter.

“Oh, that?”

‘That?’

“That’s all a concept. The company made such a huge fuss about image management. They said I should either memorize a script and recite it, or not open my mouth at all.”
“But you solved those college entrance exam problems well…?”
“All editing. I struggled pretending to solve them from memory. I’m fine as long as I can sing and dance well—why do I need to be smart too? It’s really unreasonable, and I told them that over and over.”

“What? That’s all it was?”

The tension snapped like a taut string. His casual tone dripped with undisguised levity and foolishness.
Seo Ho-yoon actually laughed at him in return.

“My goodness, you actually believed that, sir? You’re more naive than you look.”
“…Hahaha!”

Slightly irritated, but such an arrogant attitude had a way of backfiring on the person wielding it.
The Wisoo Entertainment CEO suppressed his anger beneath a genial smile. After all, it would be that bastard who’d end up deceived.

“Thank you for coming all this way today, Seo Ho-yoon. It must have been a difficult decision.”
“Did I come here to sign a contract? I just came for a quick consultation. There are plenty of other places. Though this one is first, of course.”
“Oh, why is this one first?”

Something nagged at him. If Seo Ho-yoon had learned about Jung Da-jun’s situation, if he’d heard him voice his grievances, he wouldn’t have come here no matter how foolish he was.
Wisoo Entertainment was fundamentally a fraud operation, not an idol development company.

“Our CEO is absolutely losing it right now.”
“Your CEO?”
“Yeah. But I hate that bastard. Since I’m signing with someone else anyway, I figured I’d come to Wisoo just to see his face when he finds out.”
“That’s….”
“Come on, sir. Think about it.”

Seo Ho-yoon chuckled.

“If two people betray him and both go to the same agency, how pissed would he be?”

‘Wow, this guy really doesn’t think….’

The CEO marveled. Well, if that’s the reason. The boy didn’t seem intent on signing immediately, but he appeared to be deliberately needling Dae Pa-sung. This was precisely when his honed silver-tongued skills would shine. With the right persuasion, he’d get that signature on the contract.
As he walked toward the mahogany desk he’d purchased with considerable effort to retrieve the contract, the CEO deliberated briefly. The less evidence left behind, the better for him—he’d forgone CCTV installation—but a lingering unease remained, and he thought recording might be useful later for splicing together and leveraging to his advantage.
Yet watching Seo Ho-yoon chew gum loudly, blow bubbles, and glance around carelessly, it seemed unnecessary to go that far. Once the contract was signed, everything would proceed smoothly. The CEO decided to relax and returned to the sofa with just the contract in hand.
However, seeing Seo Ho-yoon chewing gum loudly, blowing bubbles, and glancing around nervously, it didn’t seem necessary to go that far. The CEO thought that once the contract was signed, everything would proceed smoothly afterward, so he decided to take it easy. He grabbed only the contract and returned to the sofa.

“Hmm….”
“Hmm…”

The CEO thrust the contract at Seo Ho-yoon. Seo Ho-yoon flipped through it carelessly and asked.

“What is a public cultural arts service contract?”
“Ah, that refers to services related to entertainment in the public cultural arts industry….”
“So what exactly is a service contract?”
“….”

For a moment, I couldn’t respond—my words caught in my throat. I wondered if he was mocking me, but seeing his furrowed brow and the way his eyes traced over the letters hesitantly, it seemed genuine.

“Well, it’s like… providing the labor necessary in production processes and such….”
“What are you talking about?”

‘Damn it….’

Fine, a person could not know what a service contract is.
Fine, a person might not understand what you’re saying.
I swallowed the curse threatening to spill out and answered patiently, but Seo Ho-yoon, still wearing that bewildered expression, flipped through the contract rapidly and tormented me with similar simple questions repeated several times over.

‘His image management is seriously flawless, this bastard….’

In that moment, I found myself sympathizing with the staff at Dae Pa-sung Entertainment. I couldn’t understand how they’d managed to pull off an intellectual concept with such a dim-witted idol.
After the questions had repeated about ten times, my throat parched, I poured myself the water that Seo Ho-yoon had rejected earlier and drank it down.

“Ha, damn…. Do you understand now?”

A flicker of something crossed Seo Ho-yoon’s eyes for an instant, but I didn’t catch it.

“Hmm, it seems like it might be sinking in….”

Seo Ho-yoon continued scratching his head stupidly.

“The terms are good, and the contract period is reasonable. Honestly, these are exceptional conditions.”

‘Because it’s a scam, you idiot.’

“If someone pulls out a carrot, shouldn’t they slice up the greens too? I’ll sign.”

It was a refreshingly creative interpretation of the old saying. Now completely out of energy to object, I simply nodded my head repeatedly in resignation.

“H-here! I have a pen.”
“Thank you.”

Seo Ho-yoon scratched his pen across the paper, filling in the blank spaces with his personal information. The CEO felt pleased—finally escaping this foolish bastard, and satisfied that he’d somehow managed to mold him into shape.
Just then, Seo Ho-yoon, who had been quietly drafting the contract, spoke again.

“By the way, does Jung Da-jun have better terms than me?”
“Da-jun? Nah, his terms aren’t as good as yours. He signed when he was a trainee.”

Even now he was being cautious. Seo Ho-yoon smiled, satisfied that he’d secured better conditions than Jung Da-jun.

“Hmm… really? Did he read everything and sign? I doubt he could’ve understood all this.”

‘Speaking as if he understood it himself?’

The CEO’s veins bulged visibly on his forehead, but he tried not to lose his smile.

“No, Jung Da-jun didn’t understand either. But he just signed anyway. I guess he thought it was a good opportunity.”
“His parents didn’t object?”
“His parents couldn’t read the contract back then. They said they were busy with both working… we only had a consultation.”
“So you didn’t get parental consent at the time of signing?”
“Right, Jung Da-jun just stamped his seal without parental consent.”
“That’s strange. Our CEO said they sent us a recording of parental consent.”
“Ah, well, about that…”

‘Huh?’

Words flowed out strangely. Details he would never normally have revealed came pouring forth. Though the CEO was usually a smooth talker, as if heavily intoxicated, the details of that day spilled out with disarming honesty.

“We spliced together content from the consultation. We couldn’t get parental consent, but they just believed it anyway. Since the call date and contract date were identical, they didn’t suspect a thing.”
“Is that so?”

Seo Ho-yoon let out a soft laugh. Only then did the CEO sense something slightly off.

“Then, would it be alright if I summarized this?”

The tone that had been pressing downward until moments ago suddenly became crisp and clear, striking the CEO’s ears with an eerie chill.

“CEO Kim Wi-su fabricated parental consent and executed an exclusive contract with the minor Jung Da-jun.”

The temperature around them seemed to plummet abruptly. Cold eyes fixed directly on the CEO as he spoke again, his voice low and measured.

“That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Yes… it is.”

CEO Kim Wi-su couldn’t believe his own words the moment they left his mouth. The instant his eyes widened, Seo Ho-yoon lowered his legs from the table and tousled his hair. Like magic, the hooligan from moments before vanished, leaving only a man with an icy, sharp impression.

Click.

Seo Ho-yoon pulled out his phone from his pocket, stopped the recording, and shoved it back into his pocket.
He’d been recording.
Every word of their conversation.

“Thank you.”

Seo Ho-yoon spoke with a slightly annoyed tone, yet with perfect clarity.

“If you happen to end up in court, I’ll make good use of this recording file.”
“You…!”

The CEO shot up from his seat in agitation. He tried to snatch the phone, but strangely, his body wouldn’t move after that. Seo Ho-yoon simply lifted his gaze and stared at him intently.

“W-why isn’t…!”
“Oh.”

He let out a scoff, lifted his foot, and shoved the table forward.

Screeeech!

As the table scraped across the floor, the CEO standing on the opposite side was wedged between the table and sofa, pushed backward. Seo Ho-yoon met his eyes and offered a smile that looked pure, innocent, and utterly harmless.

“I’m amazed by this myself.”
“…!!”
“Let’s not make this a big deal. Even if you delete the recording on this phone, it’s all backed up to the cloud anyway.”
“You, what are you doing…! This is illegal recording, do you understand?!”
“It’s refreshing to hear that from the CEO who sent me the recording file himself….”
“Hey!”
“As you know, when a party to a conversation records it directly, it’s not illegal and holds evidentiary value in court.”

It was unfortunate for the CEO, but Seo Ho-yoon recorded conversations as casually as eating a meal. The first thing he’d learned while producing investigative programs was these behind-the-scenes techniques, so for him, such matters were easier than breathing.

“Ugh, you fraudsters. You’ve done quite the preparation, haven’t you?”

I waved the contract in front of my eyes—the one I’d been picking up and putting down with my pen until just moments ago. The personal information section read “Hong Gildong,” the address was listed as “East West South North, Sparkle,” and the age was written as “Ah, this is a bit confusing.”
Moreover, instead of a signature, only the words “Ugh lol” were scrawled across the contract in large letters.
In other words, nothing had been done at all.

“Wh-what…!”

Riiiiip!

With the CEO’s eyes bulging wide, I tore the contract lengthwise. The paper fluttered down at his feet.

“You… you bastard…! Hey! Do you really think you’ll walk away from this?!”
“Ah! Are you recording this or filming it on CCTV?”
“No, I’m not recording… Ack! No! That’s not it!”
“Hmm, what’s the safe password?”
“487194… No, wait!”
“Thank you.”

I wanted to go stop him somehow, but strangely, my strength wouldn’t cooperate. There was definitely something in that bottled water. There had to be…

“If you test that, drugs will show up in it!”
“Your imagination is quite vivid.”
“I’m going to send you to the police station like those Today bastards! I’ll throw you in prison!”
“Feel free to try.”

There was nothing in it. No matter how thoroughly one searched this world, could there really exist a tea leaf that made people answer honestly?
Meanwhile, I carefully entered the password and opened the safe. Aside from Jung Da-jun’s exclusive contract termination agreement, which was placed at the very top, there were several other contracts visible.

“Hey, you’re not leaving that alone?! You’re really not leaving it?!”

I tucked Jung Da-jun’s contract neatly under my arm, tore up the rest into shreds, shoved them into my pocket, and casually walked past CEO Kim Wi-su before pausing at the door.

“This is genuinely just pure curiosity on my part.”
“Put that down!”
“Is ‘Wisoo’ named that because it’s ‘We sue’?”

We Sue.
=We are suing.
In other words, they named the company that way because it’s a group of lawsuit specialists.
CEO Kim Wi-su (48, con artist) couldn’t move his body properly, but he managed to grab the back of his neck. He simply couldn’t respond because he was on the verge of losing consciousness. Seo Ho-yoon shrugged as if to say he didn’t need to hear the explanation anyway, then nodded with a subtly satisfied expression.

“Hmm… I knew it.”
“Hey!!”

The CEO let out a yelp. But Seo Ho-yoon left the office without a shred of hesitation.

[‘Dual Exclusive Contract’ Quest Complete!
You’ve resolved Jung Da-jun’s dual exclusive contract problem!
Using an item made to help people get along with each other as a tool for blackmail, really….
10,000 points have been awarded.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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