"Ma’am, I think you’ll need to come to the school once."

Sukja suddenly remembered an incident from about two years ago.

A call that came in on her phone while she was at home doing chores like usual.

It was an unknown number, so she almost ignored it—until a weird, ominous feeling crept up on her and she answered. And the moment she realized it was her daughter’s homeroom teacher, Sukja thought, So it’s finally come.

And honestly, it made sense.

-"Enduring injustice is, as an educated person, a matter of mora—"

-"Is Liu Bei your dad?! You little punk, Lee Sion! You’re Korean, so why are you fighting a kid because Liu Bei got trashed?!"

-"As you know, Ms. Sukja, I don’t go easy on anyone under twenty, top or bottom!"

-"I’m not going easy on you!"

-"Kiiieeeek!!!"

Lee Sion was the one who’d caused a scene after getting into a massive uproar with an elementary school kid at the library—because they’d gotten into a debate about Liu Bei and Cao Cao—and ended up summoning Sukja out of the bathhouse.

And the more embarrassing part was that she’d been a middle schooler at the time, yet she still lost the argument to an elementary school kid and resorted to violence: a flick to the forehead.

-"You’re a boy—are you really going to cry because a pretty older girl flicked your forehead?"

-"No! It really hurt! That older girl is a monster!"

-"He’s just being dramatic. It’s nothing."

-"I’m sorry..."

Sukja couldn’t believe the tyranny her daughter had put on display, and in the end, she had no choice but to bow her head and apologize to the other kid’s mother.

Luckily, the parents had been decent people, so it passed without turning into a bigger mess, but after that day, Sukja would sometimes have nightmares about Lee Sion causing trouble somewhere and a phone call coming in.

So maybe that was why.

When the homeroom teacher called, she hadn’t been as shocked as she expected, and she’d been able to accept the “disposition” with a calmer face.

Of course, she was a little startled when she heard her daughter had gotten in trouble for assaulting a friend.

Lee Sion always fooled around, sure—but she’d never fought hard enough to actually hurt someone.

But sure enough, once Sukja heard the story—that her daughter had thrown a punch for a friend—she let it slide that time without punishing her.

Still, Sukja would occasionally regret it.

'That might’ve been the golden time I missed.'

She didn’t think her daughter had done the wrong thing, but after Sukja praised her, Lee Sion went berserk like she’d just gotten an all-day pass to an amusement park. Watching that, Sukja couldn’t help wondering if she should’ve yelled at her first, no matter what.

-"Ma’am, you can’t fit a person’s entire life into a report card. It’s just numbers other people decided to judge you by."

-"So?"

-"Give me ten years, and I’ll make Ms. Sukja the greatest lady in the world!"

-"Right. You live ten years in the future. I only live today. Get over here and take it."

Her daughter—who would swagger in with college entrance exam scores... no, with a piece of paper you couldn’t even call “scores,” closer to trash—saying shameless things that made Sukja see red.

That day, after Sukja painted a red sunset across her daughter’s back, she’d seriously sat down with her husband that night and worried about Lee Sion’s future.

On the optimistic side, her daughter was born with a face that could keep her fed no matter what.

On the pessimistic side, if you looked at how she acted on a daily basis—barely different from a sloth—Sukja could genuinely see her starving to death.

She couldn’t picture her daughter’s future at all, and she couldn’t help but quietly eat herself up over it.

And then—

-"Ms. Sukja, don’t cry because you miss me. Be good, all right."

-"My daughter, you’ve got this!!!"

-"Hey, I’m just going to go play around for a bit, so don’t get your hopes up too much."

-"You can do it!"

Sukja remembered the day she’d heard, by pure chance, that her daughter was going to be on TV—and she’d danced around the house in happiness.

The unbelievable news that Lee Sion would be appearing as a contestant on an idol survival show produced by Miyoung, her younger sister.

To be fair, it wasn’t like Sukja had never wanted to make Lee Sion a celebrity.

'Not because she’s my daughter—just because it felt like such a waste to leave her alone.'

In her younger days, Sukja had been pretty enough that she didn’t lose out anywhere, but her daughter... it was like she’d succeeded at evolution over generations, to the point even Sukja looked plain standing next to her.

Ever since Sion was little, if Sukja took her to the supermarket, random people whose identities she couldn’t even pin down would appear and shove business cards at them. It happened often enough.

Countless casting offers, swearing they’d make her daughter a star if only Sukja would entrust her to them.

But every time one of those offers came, Lee Sion would make a face like she’d just swallowed poison and reject every single one.

Even when Sukja asked why, her daughter would dodge with some ridiculous excuse about how it “wasn’t cool,” sliding out of it no matter what.

Most girls her age would have at least a little fantasy about the entertainment industry and dream, once, about becoming a celebrity—but her attitude was so different that Sukja eventually gave up.

In the first place, a kid who freaked out at the mere thought of going to a salon wasn’t someone Sukja pictured becoming an entertainer.

And yet—this daughter of hers was going on a show of her own accord.

Celebrity or not, Sukja threw her full support behind it, hoping it might become a turning point where her daughter did something with her life.

Of course, after that, her daughter and her sister teamed up and gave her a solid smack to the back of the head—but even so, just seeing her unmotivated daughter finally do something was enough for Sukja to feel satisfied.

-"Oh my gosh! Please get your daughter’s autograph! My kid is a huge fan."

-"I saw the drama you were in! How are you such a good actress? Maybe you got your talent from your mom!"

-"Why did you always say your daughter was lazy when she’s this amazing? You can only hide it so much."

With Lee Sion’s popularity not just flying, but shooting straight up with no ceiling in sight, Sukja somehow became the superstar of the Amethyst Sauna.

These days, if she went to the bathhouse, people would recognize her and swarm her, and the people she already knew would make a fuss too—so much that she’d had to cut her bathhouse trips from three times a week down to once.

It caused plenty of inconvenience in daily life, thanks to all the people who recognized her—but Sukja was happy.

If her one and only worry—her daughter—was finally doing something, she could handle that level of hassle.

So—

"Ms. Sukja, it’s nothing. Just read it loosely and scribble your signature."

"This is your company? It looks really nice."

"Come visit sometimes. No—don’t come sometimes. Come very rarely."

"Are you out of your mind? Like this is a school or something, coming to your kid’s company."

"Is Dad busy?"

"Even if he has time, that man can’t come. If he shows up, he’ll obviously cause a whole scene because of you."

Sukja was at KJ Entertainment to re-sign her daughter’s contract.

A few days ago, her daughter had suddenly contacted her, saying she wanted to renew, so Sukja needed to come to the company once.

Soon, Sion’s birthday would pass and she’d turn nineteen, old enough to sign a contract without her parents’ help—but legally, she was still a minor right now, so she couldn’t sign anything without parental consent.

That was why, six months ago, when Lee Sion first signed her debut-related contract with KJ Entertainment, Sukja had gone to MPlay too, for the signing.

Back then, she knew nothing about contracts, so with Miyoung and a lawyer they’d rushed to find helping them, she’d combed through it to see if there were any problems.

Fortunately, there hadn’t been a single issue in the contract KJ Entertainment handed them, and she’d been able to sign a one-year short-term contract cleanly.

But there was no guarantee this time would be problem-free too.

So today as well, she’d come with a contract lawyer Miyoung recommended.

Right now, beside Miyoung, Lee Sion was saying it was no big deal, that the CEO wasn’t the kind of person who’d play tricks. And honestly, Sukja didn’t think the CEO she’d met back then looked like someone who’d scam them.

Still—

'You never know.'

It was her kid’s future. Being careful and then being careful again could only be a good thing.

***

"So you’re saying there’s something you want added to the contract terms?"

"Yes."

At the firm answer from the middle-aged woman sitting across from him, Sanghyeok let out a soundless groan inside.

'Of course.'

Today, Sanghyeok had prepared with a thoroughness that wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it preparation for deciding KJ Entertainment’s future—because this was the re-signing with Lee Sion.

Worried about giving the company a bad image, he’d even added extra contracted cleaning on top of their usual service, making the office look like a newly built building.

Starting with the premium bakery refreshments Raon had bought, all the way to the tea and drinks he’d personally sourced.

Normally, Sanghyeok preferred letting employees work freely, but today, he’d gone so far as to tell them to show that they were working hard, just for appearances.

-"Do we really have to go this far?"

-"We do. Everyone knows what matters is substance, but even so, what people remember is the first impression."

No matter how well the company worked and how perfectly they supported Iam, if the place looked shabby from the outside, he knew it would turn into distrust toward the company.

Some people might call it an old-fashioned mindset, but even those people wouldn’t want to join a company that made a bad first impression.

Anyway, maybe because he’d prepared so thoroughly, the renewal meeting had gone smoothly.

Sion’s mother, Sukja, went through the renewal documents KJ Entertainment had prepared with the lawyer she’d brought, asking questions, checking and confirming every detail.

Honestly, for Sanghyeok, it was easier when someone like Sukja came with a professional.

No matter how much his contract offered the best terms in the industry, the moment it came out of the company CEO’s mouth, its credibility naturally dropped.

It was better for an objective expert to point out the contract specifics cleanly.

But—

-"Lee Sion, you go out and play."

-"Huh?"

-"From now on, the adults are going to talk for a bit."

-"Ms. Sukja, wasn’t this my contract?"

Swoosh.

-"Take this and go to a PC cafe or something."

-"I’ll be back."

Once the signing reached a certain point, Sukja sent Lee Sion out.

At first, Sion grumbled, asking if her mom thought she was a little kid—but the moment Sukja pulled out a fifty-thousand-won bill and handed it over, she left the meeting room without even looking back.

And the instant Lee Sion was gone, Sukja said she wanted to add a condition to the contract.

Sanghyeok couldn’t help but tense up.

An idol’s parents.

-"There are a lot of celebrities who ended up in a bad place because of their parents. Right when they should’ve been working, everything gets tangled up, and they disappear without a trace."

Sanghyeok suddenly remembered what Raon had said about the industry’s reality.

Because so many entertainers debuted young, it was common for their parents to be involved in contracts.

Back in the day, the entertainment industry was so crooked that calling it a thug den barely covered it, and even now, agencies that fleece celebrities still popped up constantly—so the only thing you could trust was family.

But like Raon said, there were plenty of celebrities who lost the period when they should’ve been most active, all because of that family.

'Not many people stay the same in front of money.'

A successful celebrity could earn so much that people said they were a walking small-to-mid-sized company, and being used or scammed by family was common enough.

So maybe that was why.

The moment Sukja said she wanted to add conditions, Sanghyeok’s mind automatically went to the worst case.

A stretch of silence followed as he waited for what condition would come out of her mouth, and then finally, Sukja spoke again.

"I want to add a condition that for the full three-year contract period, she has to live in the dorms no matter what."

"What?"

So startled he blurted it out, Sanghyeok asked again.

"You absolutely cannot let Sion live alone."

As if she’d expected his reaction, Sukja continued with a determined expression.

"For the duration of the contract, please make her live in the dorms under management like she is now, no matter what."

"No matter what?"

"Yes. That kid will throw a fit saying she wants freedom, but you cannot give in. Not once."

At first he was shocked by how firm she was, but Sanghyeok quickly understood.

'It’s true—idols ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) often take dorm life out when they renew.'

For idols, dorm life was naturally included in the first contract, but when they re-sign, it was common to remove it without much thought.

After living a controlled life from such a young age, wanting freedom wasn’t strange.

The problem was that once they got that freedom, incidents tended to increase, giving the agency headaches—so Sukja’s demand that they force dorm life, if anything, was something KJ Entertainment had every reason to welcome.

More than that—

'Ms. Sion getting freedom? That’s... terrifying.'

Even now, Lee Sion was a walking incident generator who was hard to handle. The moment Sanghyeok imagined her freed from managers and members alike, he got chills without meaning to.

It was like picturing the chains sealing a demon breaking apart.

-"Kiiieeeek!!!"

He didn’t know why the demon’s roar was kiieeek, but he couldn’t help picturing a freed demon roaring and smashing everything around it.

Like a scene from an old monster movie.

"Then other than that, are there any additional requests you’d like to make?"

"That alone is enough, but... I’m worried the other members’ parents might worry because of Sion. That’s what I’m concerned about."

"I don’t think you need to worry about that. The other parents actually say they’re glad Ms. Sion is living together with the members."

"Really? Well, she’s polite to adults she doesn’t know."

After that, Sukja started slipping in more and more conditions that would chip away at Lee Sion’s freedom.

For example: could they limit her vacation days a bit, or could the company hold her settlement money and pay it out like a monthly salary—every kind of condition you could think of, all aimed at restricting her freedom.

But since those would violate an artist’s basic rights, Sanghyeok told her he couldn’t accept them, and she looked genuinely disappointed.

"Then... please take good care of my Sion."

"Not at all. We’re the ones who should be grateful you trust us enough to leave her with us."

"Sion can be mischievous, but she isn’t a bad kid. Please be generous with her. And if she does something wrong, tell me. I’ll discipline her right away."

With the added condition included, the contract was wrapped up. Sukja said her final 부탁, and Sanghyeok escorted her all the way to the building’s front entrance.

When he returned to the CEO’s office and set the contract in his hand on the desk, only then did it really sink in that it was over.

"Did it go well?"

"Yes. The renewal is complete."

Raon hadn’t participated in the meeting, so she must’ve been curious about the outcome—because she stormed into the office immediately, cutting his moment short.

"Thank goodness! We really got over one huge mountain."

Raon was practically glowing at the news.

Swoosh.

Sanghyeok handed her a single document.

"What’s this?"

"If you compare it to martial arts, it’s a secret manual."

"What?"

At his words, she made a what are you even talking about? face—then her eyes went wide when she read the title.

-You want to control Lee Sion, don’t you?

Because the document was exactly that: a guide Sukja herself had written, filled with secret techniques for handling Lee Sion.

To Raon, it was a treasure worth its weight in gold.

Raon got sucked into reading it instantly, and watching her, Sanghyeok felt it.

It was almost time to truly begin Iam’s re-signing plan.