To Kiss An Idol

155 The Search for the Phone

Seong Dae wanted to know everything about that masked man. He knew that man was Jung-Hwa as his bodyguards arrived with Jae-Hwa, but he needed proof to prove it. Now he knew how Nivritti saved K&Q from a scandal. It was true that if anyone would have recognised Jung-Hwa throwing a punch, it would have caused a stir.

“Was that masked man, tall?” asked Dae.

“Yes, everyone was tall, had broad shoulders, were well-built, I could see that the masked man was handsome but could not make out his face,” replied the manager.

“You have no idea how handsome he is. But why did he risk everything for Nivritti? What does that girl have that I cannot see,” thought Dae. “Did he look like a K-pop idol?” Dae threw a clue at the manager.

“No, he looked more like a CEO, though he was in baggy clothes,” replied the manager.

“Okay, so she took your CCTV footage, but how is it possible that in the era of the internet, no one took a video of all that drama that happened in your restaurant?” asked Dae, puzzled.

“Because she threatened everyone,” replied the manager.

“She did what?” shouted Dae.

“She threatened everyone to stop recording as they kept recording while the girl with red hair was being harassed. She said that instead of helping they just sat in their seats and recorded the scene, and they should be ashamed. I think that was the reason no one uploaded the video on the internet as they would appear cowards for not helping the girl,” explained the manager.

.....

“That cunning girl,” muttered Dae. “So you have no CCTV footage, there is not a single recording of the man. Did you at least hear his name?” asked Dae.

“Sorry, she never called him by his name. In fact, none of them took each other’s name. She just ordered around everyone and then threatened me into giving her the footage and they left via backdoor,” replied the manager.

“Does she think herself as mafia? What is this nonsense of threatening everyone?” snapped Dae.

“Oh! I still shudder after recalling the things she said to me. She talked about the reputation of my place and about suing me for harassment. I had to spend a lot of money in hiring those guards because she suggested that and a lot of people were talking on the communicator app about my restaurant,” said the manager.

“That’s all that happened?” asked Dae.

“I told you everything,” answered the manager.

“What good are you? You don’t have an iota of proof about what happened that day,” chided Dae. “A girl threatens you and you fold, you weakling!”

“I am a weakling, a weakling? Then what about you? Why were you being nice to her? And now here you are interrogating me? You are weaker than me,” shouted the manager.

Dae moved forward and grabbed the manager’s collar. “I am not afraid of her. She will be scared of me soon. When you go into a battle, you need to be prepared and this is preparation. Am I clear?” he shouted.

The manager jerked Dae’s hands away and started laughing. “Going to war with a little girl and you are calling me a weakling,” chuckled the manager.

“She looks like a little girl, but you have experienced first-hand how cunning and smart she is. To fight with her I will have to play dirty. If she can get CCTV footage from you and then make you delete the same, imagine what she can do when she puts her mind to something. I need to win. Don’t you want a payback?” asked Dae.

“She literally has an army of bodyguards. What can you and I do to her? Moreover, she was hurt first and then she intimidated me. I have made my peace with it. What did she do to you that you are acting crazy in my cabin?” inquired the manager.

“She took something important from me. My name, my fame, my chance to climb up the corporate ladder, she snatched everything away. To climb again, I will have to pull her down from the seat that everyone has placed her on. I need to diminish her popularity,” chided Dae.

“Oh, the office politics! I just hate it. I told you everything I know and thank you for the money. Now, get out,” said the manager.

“Yeah, yeah, I am leaving, no need to get snappy,” said Dae and started moving out.

“Wait! There is something else,” shouted the manager. Dae halted in his path and turned around immediately. “She did call him something, some abbreviation, something like HH, KK,” the manager tried to recall.

“JJ?” shouted Dae, excited.

“Yes, yes, she called him JJ,” replied the manager.

“So, he was here, Jung-Hwa threw the punch,” thought Dae. He smiled at the manager, but his smile quickly faded.

“What? Why are you not happy? I gave you a piece of new information,” said the manager.

“True that you gave me new information but to turn that information into a fact, I need proof and she destroyed every piece of evidence,” sighed Dae.

“Not necessarily,” replied the manager.

“What do you mean?” asked Dae.

“I told you, she took a copy of the footage in her phone. Maybe she still has that, if you can get your hands on that copy, you will have your proof,” explained the manager.

Dae bit his lower lip and pondered, “if I get that footage, I can publish it on the internet and start the rumour that Jung-Hwa saved her, hence they are in a relationship. That way Hu-ssi will fire her to save the reputation of the company. And I know my team, anyone who gets associated with ASD is automatically hated. I will get rid of her instantly. I will have to get her phone somehow.”

“Are you okay, mister?” asked the manager.

“I am fine, thank you for all the information,” said Dae and ran out of the room. He had spent a lot of time in the restaurant and he had to hurry back. He knew everyone would wait for him especially Jae-Hwa and Nivritti as they were part of his team.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He took out his phone and saw that Nivritti was calling him. He closed his eyes and smiled as he realised that she was calling him not to talk with him but to find his phone. He now realised that he was lucky no one called him the moment they left the restaurant else, his lie would have come out in the open.

He decided to let it ring but pressed the volume button to silence the ringtone. After a full ring, he immediately set his phone on silent mode, he didn’t even think of setting it on the vibrator. The moment he muted his phone, Chung-Ho’s name appeared on the display.

“Why is he calling? Is he a part of the team trying to find my phone or he needs me to do some work? Should I pick it up?” he contemplated.

He let it ring again and kept moving towards the office. After Chung-Ho’s call, it was Jae-Hwa’s turn. He sighed with relief when he realised that Chung-Ho too called him to search for his phone.

Before entering the K&Q building, he quickly placed his phone back in his pocket and moved towards the 11th floor. The moment he entered his department, Chung-Ho shouted, “did you find your phone?”

Dae looked gloomy and replied, “it was not in the restaurant, Choi-ssi.”

“We looked all around in the office, but it is not here,” interrupted Don-Yun.

“Seong-ssi! We have not looked in your bag. Maybe it is there. Please search for it,” said Jae-Hwa.

“Yes, I will. Thanks, Jae-Hwa,” replied Dae with a faint smile on his face. He moved towards his seat and took out his laptop bag. He acted as if he was diligently searching for his phone, but he was biding his time and waiting for the opportunity to place his phone in his bag stealthily.

He looked at everyone. Everyone was staring at him waiting for news about his phone. He lowered himself further and took out his phone as carefully as possible. With his bag in his hands, he started laughing.

Everyone looked at him, shocked.

“What? What?” there was a collective question.

“It was in the bag,” chuckled Dae.

“What? But we called it, hundreds of times,” shouted Chung-Ho.

“Yeah, it was on silent,” replied Dae.

“Well, the good news is you found your phone. Now, everyone, go back to your work,” announced Chung-Ho.

“Thank you everyone for taking the time to help me,” Dae bowed down to his whole department. “Thank you, girls!” he said to his team.

“Welcome, Mr. Seong. Welcome, Seong-ssi,” replied both Jae-Hwa and Nivritti.

Everyone went back to their work and Dae kept twirling his phone. “How will I check her phone? I need to get that phone and her passcode,” pondered Dae. “And that too soon. I have to get her kicked out before Rencontre.”

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