Jooeun raised her glass in response. This man was the youngest ever best actor recipient and he was actually calling her hoobae! If his fans were to find out, they would go crazy in envy!
The young actor was handsomely dressed in a white cocktail suit.
He looked at the inseparable couple and down at the wedding rings on their fingers. Although he knew of their true relationship, he simply sighed. "President Lee, you sure are lucky."
Jooeun understood the hidden meaning as her eyes darkened a little. But the man simply smiled and raised his glass to Jooeun once again. "Hoobae, if you need any help from now on, don't hesitate to look for me. Especially if it's related to entering the film and television industry."
"Thank you, Sunbaenim."
Everyone was shocked by the scene unfolding in front of them. On the surface, Sungkyung appeared to have won because the CEO of GK had appeared. But Jeonghwan brought Jooeun along with him and even introduced some of the most famous artists to her, opening up opportunities for her in other industries. He even acted extremely affectionate towards Jooeun.
"Hey! Did you guys notice the ring on their fingers?" Some of the artists once again started gossiping.
"But from the looks of it, they don't look like couple rings. Plus when I watched Cha Jooeun's interview on Radio Star, I remember her saying that she likes Damiani. So it's not unusual for her to be wearing one of their designs."
"Yes, it's not weird for Cha Jooeun to be wearing it. But when have you ever seen the President wear a ring? Unless the President bought one to wear because he saw Cha Jooeun was wearing one?"
"If that's the case, that's so sweet. Did you notice, Cha Jooeun simply has to follow by the President's side and she's already eye-catching enough? No need for fancy clothing."
"That's a given. With the President next to them at all times, who wouldn't be dazzling?"
From the moment that Jeonghwan appeared with Jooeun, Sungkyung had become completely overshadowed. No matter how bright her presence was and how attractive she was, there was no way she could compare to the drawing power of Jeonghwan and Jooeun combined. In the eyes of everyone, Jooeun was like a miracle. Something that usually took others decades to achieve, Jooeun managed to do in 3-4 months. She went from being an outdated top model to her newfound position in the industry.
Actually, she was still missing one last step. But regardless, no matter how many steps were ahead of her, she had no need to worry. Because the Big Brother of the entertainment industry, Lee Jeonghwan, had announced he was her personal manager. Personal! Even with all this, no one felt it was all just a stroke of luck.
This was because every move she made caused quite a stir and attracted a lot of attention. Everyone had seen how she had fought her way to her current position. So it wasn't odd at all that she managed to attract Lee Jeonghwan's attention. However, unbeknownst to everyone, Lee Jeonghwan had actually been involved from the start.
A top female actress also approached Jeonghwan. After a simple greeting, she turned to Jooeun and smiled. "Hoobae, I really want to raise a glass to you."
Up until this point, Jooeun had already drunk a fair bit. Normally, her limit was one glass, so today she had already gone beyond her limit.
Jeonghwan looked down at her red cheeks and stopped the actress. "Let me drink it for her. She can't handle anymore."
The actress smiled as she clinked her glass against Jeonghwan's. Although she felt it was a shame for a man like this to be taken, when faced with Cha Jooeun, she couldn't possibly hate her. Because she saw how much hard work Cha Jooeun had put in.
Naturally, everyone treated Cha Jooeun as their junior. Although she wasn't young, for those at the top of the entertainment industry, she was definitely their junior. This was because many of them had experienced even darker and dirtier incidences. For them to get to where they were today, they had broken many teeth along the way.
"Who said I can't handle it?"
Perhaps because Jooeun had drunk a little, she ignored the people around her and directly held onto Jeonghwan's arm. He did not resist and allowed her to cling to him before leading her to the side to rest. Plenty of people saw this and started squealing in excitement. It was obvious they were partially revealing their relationship. All that was missing was an official announcement.
Of course, everyone believed Jeonghwan is serious with Jooeun. Before Jooeun, he had never had any rumors or scandals with another female.
Cha Jooeun was the first one! The first one to make everyone envious!
"Hey, did you guys notice Lee Sungkyung's expression?"
"Let's not talk about it. When she first arrived, I seriously thought she would win for sure."
"To be honest, here at GK, we have a culture of helping each other. If Lee Sungkyung is to stay in GK, I don't feel comfortable with it. It's like my heart is being constantly stabbed. Think about what happened to Yoona, for example."
"I know right! In this family of ours, it's okay not to be friendly, but it's definitely not okay to hurt others!"
Sungkyung heard the discussions that were happening around her. The hurtful taunts and ruthless laughter seemed to be all directed at her. Over the years, she had done so much for GK and suppressed SM for them. But what did she get in the end? Just one single Cha Jooeun was enough to make everyone turn their backs on her!
With this thought, Lee Sungkyung suddenly gathered her courage and walked past everyone straight over to Jeonghwan and Jooeun.
"President Lee, I have been in GK for many years and have never done anything bad to the agency. However today, I feel that GK is no longer the GK I once knew. I don't understand. GK has always had high standards in ability, but she..." Sungkyung pointed to Jooeun who was standing next to Jeonghwan. "...what right does she have to join GK? I'm sure everyone here is bothered by this."
After hearing this claim from Sungkyung, Jeonghwan swept his eyes across her and looked at the people standing behind. They innocently shrugged their shoulders. They were all gesturing that the so-called 'everyone here' did not include them!
Jeonghwan leaned back on the sofa. His eyes were sharp and contained a sense of ridicule and contempt.
"I am really happy that you have come to talk to me. Because this shows that Jooeun has threatened your position."
"Don't tell me you aren't being biased towards her. We are all from the same agency, but how come she gets to have you as her personal manager? No artist has ever held any importance in your eyes, why are you treating Cha Jooeun differently?"
If the other people present were asked about how they felt at this moment, most would definitely be yelling: "Lee Sungkyung, you are being too brave!" Others felt she was being so sour, she deserved to lose all her teeth!
"Do I need to report to you about who I want to manage?"
"Don't you think your actions make it hard for you to convince others?"
"Hard to convince others?" Jeonghwan asked the people standing behind Sungkyung. Everyone responded by shaking their heads.
"President, that is absolute nonsense!" the crowd replied.
"Lee Jeonghwan, you are a hypocrite! You've always said that you hate people that play tricks, yet you are the one that plays the most tricks."
"Lee Sungkyung!" Someone yelled, wanting to stop her. Did she bring her brains?
"Let her speak." Jeonghwan said coldly as he waved his hand gesturing for them not to stop her.