The Sacred Manager Life - Chapter 35

The blackout curtains covered the windows so tightly that, despite it being daytime, the room was as dark as a cave.

Trash was scattered everywhere, clothes were thrown around carelessly, the floor was sticky with food scraps—it was the perfect habitat for a shut-in.

[It’s filthier than the stable where God’s son was born.]

“How did she even live in this place for two years?”

I turned on the light and looked at Jeongah, who was asleep in the corner.

“This is insane.”

[A pig?]

Her hair was a tangled mess, and her cheeks were puffed up, but her face was unmistakably that of the fifth member I knew.

The problem was her body.

She had gained so much weight that she wasn’t much different from me in size.

“She must be over 80kg, right?”

[Exactly 82.1kg.]

Are you a scale?

I felt dizzy and collapsed onto the floor.

Because now, there was yet another problem I had to solve.

“I have to get her out of this room, fix her mental state, resolve the bullying issue, and help her lose weight. Why is this so ridiculously difficult?”

[Out of all the kids you’ve met, this one is in the most desperate need of salvation.

If you can save her and help her shine, your sense of satisfaction will be that much greater.

Plus, you can save the woman downstairs too. It’s a two-for-one deal.]

“Where do you even learn things like that?”

[I browse the internet when you’re asleep. It’s been a while since I’ve been on Earth, and the way people talk has changed a lot.]

Even divine beings were updating their vocabulary now, huh?

*

Just like I had gotten close to her mother, I needed to build a connection with Jeongah before moving on to the next step.

Sharing common interests would speed up the process.

To do that, I first needed to figure out what Jeongah liked.

Since the PC was on, I sat in front of it.

[What are you going to do?]

“What else would she do all day in this room? She must have spent all her time glued to her PC and phone. If I check what she used the most, I’ll figure out what she likes.”

First of all, it was clear that Jeongah was a huge fan of Han Sora, the legendary actress.

Her PC wallpaper was Han Sora, her phone’s lock screen was also Han Sora, and her gallery was filled with pictures of Han Sora.

“She really must like Han Sora.”

[There’s also a picture of your woman here.]

“She’s not my woman yet.”

Among the photos, there were also some well-shot pictures of Cha Soyeon.

Since she had attended an arts high school to become an actress, she must have been collecting photos of people she admired.

[Now wrap it up and head out. She’ll be waking up soon.]

“That was faster than I expected.”

[It’s similar to anesthesia. Keeping her asleep for too long wouldn’t be good for her health.]

Well, nothing I could do about that.

As I got up, I took one last look at the sleeping Jeongah.

“Just asking, but….”

[Yes?]

“Can’t you use divine healing to fix her weight gain?”

[Obesity isn’t an illness; it’s the result of unchecked eating habits.]

I had a faint hope, but of course, that wasn’t going to work.

*****

“I’ll be seeing you often from now on, so I’ll speak casually.”

“…….”

Sitting outside Jeongah’s room, I attempted to start a conversation.

Of course, there was no response from inside.

“Like I said yesterday, I work as a manager at Pine Entertainment. As for how I ended up there….”

Since I didn’t have much common ground with Jeongah, I decided to pique her interest by telling my own story.

My journey as a manager, which started on the day I saved Cha Soyeon, was dramatic enough to grab anyone’s attention.

Of course, I left out the divine intervention and supernatural aspects that no one would believe.

Instead, I focused on the publicly known details about Cha Soyeon and the Red Blossom members, adapting the story slightly.

Without the divine elements, it just sounded like me bragging about myself, but that couldn’t be helped.

Even if she misunderstood me now, she’d change her mind once she saw my sincerity.

For now, getting her to step out of that room was the priority.

“It was a long knife, like the kind they use at sashimi restaurants. Sounds unbelievable, right? But there’s CCTV footage—I’ll show you later.”

“So, the girl group I ended up managing was Red Blossom. Since they flopped with their first two albums, you probably don’t know much about them.”

“Cha Soyeon offered me an officetel. I didn’t need it, so I asked for Red Blossom’s dorm instead. The moving vlog is up on their official channel.”

The next day—”After seeing those comments, Cha Soyeon got furious. So, she went live to clear things up, and that blew up. The video is still on her official channel—if you like her, you should check it out.”

“When I went to meet Sera’s mom, I found out she was part of some weird church. Jinsegyo? It seemed suspicious, like a cult.”

“She’s not the type to forget her filming schedule, so I started suspecting she’d been kidnapped. I got the address from the Songpa branch and headed there. I even ended up all the way in Busan.”

I kept talking, summarizing everything like I was narrating a movie plot, regardless of whether she was listening or not.

On the third day of doing this—”Let’s see… where did I leave off yesterday…?”

“I told you up to the part where I entered the Sky Palace.”

“Right, you said that… huh?”

Finally, I got a reaction.

“So, what happened next?”

There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing someone show interest in your story.

This shut-in wild girl was finally intrigued by what I had to say.

So, I enthusiastically exaggerated the story of how I destroyed the Sky Palace.

“It was tough, but I managed to save the fourth member—Matsuoka Chie, a girl from Japan.”

“…….”

“After rescuing Chie, we had a housewarming party with Cha Soyeon….”

“I saw that video.”

“Oh, so you checked out the Red Blossom channel.”

“I also watched all the videos you mentioned.”

I was a bit annoyed that she called me ‘Ahjussi’ (mister), but I decided to let it slide for now.

“Good. Now I just need to tell you the parts that weren’t recorded in the videos.”

“But I still don’t believe it.”

Huh?

“You said you watched the videos. Why don’t you believe it? Cha Soyeon herself explained everything.”

“No matter how much I admire Soyeon-nim, those videos could’ve been scripted. I mean, what kind of manager would risk everything for a girl group? And even if you make them shine, so what? Who’s going to acknowledge it?”

Why was she so bitter?

Was it because she had been shut in for two years?

Hearing her dismiss the story I had passionately shared for three days made my blood boil.

I had been careful with my words since I knew she had emotional wounds, but now I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“I didn’t just tell you—I showed you proof in the videos, and you still don’t believe me? What do you need to believe it? Should I ask Cha Soyeon to tell you in person?”

I was fuming, but then the door creaked open slightly.

Through the narrow gap, a pair of bright eyes peeked out.

“Really… could she come and tell me in person?”

*****

After saying goodbye to my mother, I got into the driver’s seat and fiddled with my phone.

“If I ask Soyeon about this, she’s not going to be happy about it….”

Kotok!

A message came in, so I checked my phone.

It was from Cha Soyeon.

Unless your taste has changed to older women, you’d better come and explain yourself.

You know my place, right?

She had attached a photo with the message.

It was a picture of me diligently massaging my mother’s shoulders in the living room.

When did she even take this?

I hurriedly drove to Cha Soyeon’s house.

*

“How did you even take this photo? Isn’t this illegal surveillance?”

Cha Soyeon was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, looking smug.

She looked like a classic villainess trying to crush her rival.

“How is it illegal when I’m just taking pictures of my own man? It’s called keeping records.”

Her bold remark left me speechless.

Hearing Cha Soyeon call me her man felt so good that I couldn’t even bring myself to argue.

“You know there’s no point in lying to me, right? Where have you been for over a week that you haven’t even shown your face? What did you destroy this time?”

Since I had been staying at Jeongah’s house and went straight home after, I hadn’t seen Cha Soyeon at work all week.

She prefers face-to-face conversations, so if there’s nothing urgent, she rarely calls or texts.

“I found the fifth member.”

“What?”

I told her everything that had happened over the past week without leaving anything out.

There was no point in hiding it, and honestly, there was nothing to hide.

After listening to the whole story, she frowned.

“I even went live to explain everything, and she still didn’t believe it?”

She was frustrated at the same point as I was.

Maybe if I pushed a little more, she’d agree to go talk to Jeongah in person.

But Cha Soyeon wasn’t that easy to manipulate.

“But this fifth member you’re talking about—doesn’t she have some issues?

You said she dropped out of an arts high school in her first year and has been locked up in her room for two years.

How are you going to turn someone like that into an idol?”

That was an entirely reasonable reaction.

If I hadn’t seen the future, I wouldn’t have even considered Jeongah.

How long would it take to get an 80kg girl to lose weight and stand on stage?

Cha Soyeon knew that I had received divine blessings and abilities from God.

But she didn’t know exactly what kind of abilities I had.

I should start revealing them little by little when necessary.

“I saw the future.”

“What?”

She was clearly caught off guard by my answer.

“One of the abilities I received is the power to see the future.

When I need to help someone but don’t know how, I get visions of what’s to come.

In the future where Red Blossom makes a full-group comeback, both Chie and Jeongah are there.

That’s why I have to save her.”

“Is it like… a divine revelation?”

“Since it’s shown to me by God, I suppose it’s similar. The spirit calls it the ‘gift of prophecy.’”

“The gift of prophecy…”

She fell silent, lost in thought.

I was hoping she’d say she’d go and talk to Jeongah herself.

But what she said next was completely unexpected.

“In the future you saw, am I in it?”

“You showed up once. The first time we met, I saw a future where you were stabbed in the parking lot, so I ran to stop it.”

“Not something horrible like that.”

“Other than that…”

“I mean a bright future. Like, for example, me holding your child while sitting in a garden.”

Cha Soyeon’s thoughts were spiraling out of control again.

“Where is this coming from…? Why would you be holding my child?”

She got defensive.

“What do you mean why? Do you not want to get me pregnant?”

How the hell was I supposed to answer that?!

After some back-and-forth, I ended up promising that if I ever saw that kind of future, I’d make sure to fulfill it.

Of course, I was certain that no such future existed.

[…….]