Free Web NovelThe closer we got to the filming set, the louder it became.
No normal drama set could ever be like this.
A filming site was supposed to be a controlled environment where only the actors’ voices could be heard.
“I’ll find out what’s going on...”
I was about to give orders to Manager Ma when I saw something I could not believe.
Men holding axes and knives were threatening the filming staff.
The bodyguards I had assigned to Cheon Jiyoung just in case were facing off against them.
Judging from the number of people rolling on the ground, both sides already had quite a few injured.
I scanned the area quickly, but Cheon Jiyoung was nowhere in sight.
Whatever was happening, I could find out later—finding Cheon Jiyoung came first.
“...For now, clean this up.”
The looks in my employees’ eyes changed instantly.
They immediately moved to join Cheon Jiyoung’s bodyguards.
They were outnumbered by the thugs—maybe by two to one—but I wasn’t particularly worried.
I walked toward the staff. Among them, I found the face of the director I had seen in photos.
But I couldn’t approach right away.
Several men guarding the gathered staff blocked my path and barked something in Chinese.
I simply glared at them without answering. They responded with rough curses.
“Who the hell is this bastard? Do you wanna die?”
Not worth answering.
Manager Ma and a few employees quickly subdued them.
I stepped past the restrained men and stopped before the director.
“Director Zhang Feng?”
“Ye-yes?”
“Are you Director Zhang Feng?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Explain what is going on here. And where is the actress Cheon Jiyoung right now?” freewebnoveℓ.com
“Th-that, uh...”
Zhang Feng trailed off, lowering his gaze.
“Director Zhang Feng.”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I don’t know anything!”
He dropped to the ground, trembling in fear and rambling incoherently.
This was pointless.
“Where is Actress Cheon Jiyoung’s waiting trailer?”
Zhang Feng raised a trembling hand.
I turned toward where he pointed.
Among several trailers, one large, conspicuous trailer stood out.
“That must be it.”
Talking to a terrified director would only waste time.
I turned and headed quickly toward the trailer.
By then, the fight behind me looked close to ending.
Whoever these people were, if they weren’t carrying guns, they were nothing but small fry compared to my employees.
Near the trailer I assumed to be Jiyoung’s, more men were stationed.
“Who the hell are these guys?”
They looked like they came prepared. Could this be about me?
Should I call for reinforcements? I was still considering it when the trailer door suddenly burst open.
Two men emerged, dragging two women with them.
One was Cheon Jiyoung, and the other was a woman I had never seen before.
And in that instant, fire flared in my vision.
Cheon Jiyoung was crying, her face flushed red. Her pale cheek was swollen bright red, and a handprint was clearly visible.
Without realizing it, I took a step forward.
Manager Ma stopped me. Only then did I regain control of myself.
I lifted my head and looked at him.
Uncharacteristically, there was killing intent in his eyes.
Seeing that I had stopped, Manager Ma strode toward where Cheon Jiyoung was being held.
There were five men total—two from the trailer and three guarding it—but Manager Ma walked as if they were nothing.
“Who the hell are you people?”
A man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth asked, but Manager Ma didn’t answer. He kept walking.
By the time he reached the man—
“You bastard!”
The thug spat out his cigarette and swung a hand axe at him.
Manager Ma didn’t dodge. He caught the man’s wrist and stopped the axe cold.
“Ah! Aaargh!!”
Manager Ma tightened his grip, crushing the man’s wrist.
Unable to withstand the force, the man dropped the axe—but Manager Ma didn’t stop.
With an indifferent expression, he twisted the man’s arm.
“Aaaahhh!! M-my arm!!”
A sickening crack echoed.
The man’s arm bent in a grotesque direction.
Foam sprayed from his mouth as he trembled uncontrollably from the pain.
“You psycho bastard! Let go! Hey, get him!”
Two nearby thugs rushed in.
Manager Ma kicked the man with the broken arm straight into their line of sight, obstructing them.
Then he grabbed the axe from the ground and drove it into the shoulder of the man charging from the right.
The thug collapsed without even screaming.
The other rushed from the left, swinging a knife.
Manager Ma yanked the axe out of the shoulder, lowered his body, then spun sharply and struck the man’s thigh.
“Ugh! Aaagh!”
Blood spurted high; he must have severed an artery.
Blood splattered across Manager Ma’s face.
Groans of pain from the wounded men filled the area.
Manager Ma wiped the blood from his face as if it were nothing and walked toward Cheon Jiyoung.
The man grabbing her wrist froze in panic.
Lowering the axe, Manager Ma asked her,
“Miss, are you all right?”
Only then did Cheon Jiyoung lift her head. She checked his face.
“Ah... sir...”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Hearing a familiar voice seemed to calm her; tears welled in her eyes.
If Manager Ma was here, it meant I was here.
Frantically looking around, she met my eyes.
“Y-you bastards! Who the hell sent you?! Do you know who I am?!”
The man still holding her wrist started shouting belatedly, but Manager Ma didn’t answer.
The expression on his face said clearly that he wouldn’t waste words on trash.
Instead, he raised the axe toward the man’s wrist.
Panicking, the thug released her and stumbled back.
Manager Ma had never intended to attack him—he simply pulled Jiyoung behind him.
“Bring Jiyoung here.”
I ordered the employee standing beside me.
Quick-witted, he ran over to her immediately.
“Miss, please come with me.”
“S-she too. No—wait! Inside, my manager’s inside. Oppa is... my manager oppa is...”
Instead of following, Jiyoung stammered and pointed toward the trailer.
Even in this state, she was worrying about someone else. I let out a hollow laugh.
So gentle—too gentle for her own good.
But her mention of her manager, who was nowhere to be seen, bothered me.
He must have gotten hurt protecting her.
I turned to the staff beside me.
“Don’t worry about me. Go in, clean everything up, and bring Jiyoung back. If we leave things like that, I won’t be able to focus on anything.”
“But...”
“It’s fine. Go.”
Only after I said it twice did the employees run in quickly.
I slowly looked around. The filming area seemed to be under control now, and they were tending to the injured.
“Oppa.”
One of the employees returned, bringing Jiyoung and another woman.
The moment she saw me, Jiyoung’s face crumpled into tears.
“Are you okay? What happened to your face?”
“O-oppa... my manager oppa... he tried to protect me and got stabbed...”
Her voice trembled. I placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke gently.
“Calm down. I’ll take care of everything. Trust me, okay?”
I lowered myself to meet Cheon Jiyoung’s eyes.
A moment ago, anger had filled my head completely, but now cold rationality had taken its place.
First, I had to understand what was happening.
“Jiyoung, can you explain the situation? I don’t get it. How do armed attackers—dozens of them—storm a drama filming site? Who are they?”
The one who answered wasn’t Cheon Jiyoung but the woman beside her.
“I’ll explain.”
I straightened up and shifted my gaze to the woman speaking awkward Korean.
My hand continued gently steadying Jiyoung’s trembling shoulder.
Now that I took a proper look, the woman’s face felt familiar.
I didn’t remember her name, but I had seen her in Chinese dramas or movies.
“You know me, right?”
She seemed to have read my expression as she asked.
When I didn’t answer, she frowned in disbelief.
“I’m Zhao Mi. Zhao Mi!”
Her clumsy Korean irritated me, so I replied in Chinese.
“You can speak Chinese. And right now, who you are isn’t important. It’s better if you explain the situation.”
When I spoke fluent Chinese, she widened her eyes.
Ignoring that, I continued.
“So who are these people? Why did they try to take Jiyoung and you?”
“...They’re Triads.”
“The Triads?”
Zhao Mi nodded.
“Yes. They came to take Jiyoung and me.”
“...”
And suddenly, why would the Triads try to take Jiyoung and this woman?
Reading my expression, Zhao Mi spoke quickly.
“They want us to appear in a movie they’re producing. I’ve refused them before. Jiyoung also refused, telling them she would talk after finishing this project.”
“And so they barge in like this to take you? Those bastards are insane.”
Even gangsters couldn’t just raid a filming site and kidnap actors.
Would the authorities allow that? I couldn’t understand any of it.
Korea also had deep ties between the entertainment world and gangsters.
In the past there had been exploitation and slave contracts, but nowadays they at least pretended not to do such things.
China was China indeed. In broad daylight, in a place full of people, they tried to abduct people openly.
Not just civilians, but Korean and Chinese actors.
Either they had no fear, or they had someone behind them.
“Since you called them Triads, they must not be a mainland Chinese group but ones from Hong Kong.”
“Yes. More precisely, an organization based in Guangzhou. From what I know, they control both Macau and Guangzhou.”
After Hong Kong was returned, Triads that had been active there expanded their operations into Macau and Guangzhou.
They seemed to be trying to launder their image and move into legitimate circles, but a gangster was still a gangster.
“What’s the name of the organization?”
“Their formal name is 14K, but we call them Lianjiafang.”
“Lianjiafang...”
I had never heard of them. Zhao Mi explained in more detail.
“They’re a fairly large division within the Triads. They hold enormous influence not only in the Hong Kong film industry but also in the Chinese film industry. Ah, and I’ve heard they have a strong relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Thank you for the information.”
I wondered why she knew ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) so much, but that wasn’t the priority right now.
I turned back to Cheon Jiyoung.
“Feeling a bit better now?”
The trembling in her shoulder had calmed somewhat.
“...Yeah. I’m okay now.”
“So what happened to your face?”
Even after all this time, Jiyoung’s right cheek was still flushed red.
“...”
She didn’t answer—just closed her eyes.
I didn’t need her to say it to know.
“All right. I get it. What about your manager?”
“Ah, my manager oppa! We can’t be standing around like this—Manager-nim, he—”
She spoke in a panicked voice. I calmed her again.
“It’s fine. Calm down. Nothing’s going to happen, Jiyoung.”
I gave another order to the employee beside me.
“Take Jiyoung and this lady to where the head chef is and stay with them. Ask him to prepare some tea to help relieve tension.”
There was no benefit in letting her see what would come next.
I smiled gently at Jiyoung.
“Go stay with the head chef. He came all this way to cook something delicious for you.”
Jiyoung looked at me with worried eyes.
I didn’t answer verbally—just gave her a warm smile.
“It’s okay. I’ll finish up and go soon. Wait for me there.”
I signaled the staff with my eyes.
“Miss, I’ll escort you.”
Jiyoung and Zhao Mi walked away with the employees.
Once they left, I wiped every hint of a smile from my face and walked toward Manager Ma.
“Manager.”
He turned while organizing the scene.
“Yes, Boss.”
“What about Jiyoung’s manager?”
Just then, the employees who had gone into the trailer emerged.
They were supporting a man whose condition was terrible.
Jiyoung’s manager. His state was worse than I expected. I frowned.
“He’s not dead, is he?”
The employee brought him closer.
Manager Ma questioned the staff member.
“His condition?”
“Thankfully, he isn’t dead. But after emergency treatment, he needs to be taken to a hospital. He’s lost too much blood.”
One man was pressing hard on the manager’s abdomen with a cloth, but his shirt was already soaked red.
“Give him basic treatment and take him to the hospital immediately. He must survive.”
If her manager died, Jiyoung would blame herself.
Two employees carried him away. Judging by how the car sped off-site, they were heading straight to the hospital.
Only then did I look at the two men dragged out of the trailer.
I pointed at the two kneeling on the ground and said to Manager Ma,
“Bring those two in.”
With that, I walked straight into the trailer.
