Chapter 23

JeoSica's Condo. 8pm (same day as the last scene in the last chapter)

Ash/Jeonghyun's POV

Everything's going according to my plan.. Earlier tonight, the full video of Kris's interview was released, and just like what I planned, the interview went casually and the questions I wanted him to answer were asked randomly. My mind went back to the question that's related to the second scandal.

-FLASHBACK-

"Based on the lawsuit you filed against SM, it looks to us that you are being used without your approval." Is that right? " Kris answered calmly, and his expressions were sad and hurt.

"I dont think the words' 'being used without approval' 'is not right. They were controlling us, working 24/7 without enough proper rest, and to be honest, we were getting sick in the process, but they didn't care. "Well, unless we broke our bones, that's when they would give us a break... and many of us artists feel that way," the reporter gasped.

"Isn't that like abuse?" asked the reporter

"Well, maybe, but it's not the worst thing that ever happened to me, unlike that girl we knew who, according to what I heard, left SM because our CEO was abusing her."

"Oh my God! Don't tell me it's ual abuse! " Kris looked sad and lowered his head.

"I don't want to think that it really happened to her. I knew her and she's so kind, sweet, and talented. We knew her, but we really got no time to interact with each other because the boys are separated from the girls most of the time. We just heard what happened and learned the rumors through her friends one day, but we all knew that it's dangerous to say things like that, so we told each other to keep quiet, were scared at that time, you know, so our batch of trainees made it a secret, and to be honest, we thought it was just a stupid rumor. " Kris sighed.

"We thought it was just a way of getting back at the management because they sometimes go overboard with the scoldings."

"We were being isolated at the time because our debut was approaching." They separated us from the others to train differently. When we heard she left, it made us wonder why. She's talented, beautiful, we couldn't think of a reason why she would leave. Then it hit me"....Kris smiled sadly...

"Oh my, can you tell us her name?" and have you seen her since then? " Kris shook his head.

"No, i cant, and I won't." I have seen her... " the reporter looked shocked.

"T-this is b-big.. aren't you scared that SM will sue you because of this?" Kris shrugged his shoulder.

"I don't really care because what I'm saying is true; after all, I'm no longer an SM artist, and I think this is my way of making amends to her, you know, for not speaking up at the time, and I'm also telling this to protect those girls who are training in SM right now... who knows, maybe it's still happening, maybe they're getting the same treatment."

-END OF FLASHBACK-

The citizens and the whole city are going nuts with the news...

Many people are expressing their hatred, disgust, and concern for SM, and they are also speculating on who the girl mentioned by Kris is. Some say it's not true, that he's just trying to exact revenge on SM. Many fans are now so angry that they are boycotting SM products, and SM stocks are rapidly decreasing.

With the two scandals, SM stocks are going down, and I'm sure that it doesn't make the shareholders happy, and I'm pretty sure that if SM goes down, they don't want to be part of it. I'm betting that's what's on their minds right now.

It's a perfect opportunity to buy some stocks, and I'm sure KYM would be vulnerable right now. He would be so desperate to stay in his position, and that would be perfect.

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my phone. I grabbed it from the table and saw Mr. Cho calling.

I said, "Good evening, Mr. Cho."

"Prince! Our plans are going to be ruined. The board of directors and the shareholders are furious right now, and some of them want to pull out their money. "

A smirk appeared on my face. This is even perfect.. really perfect..

"Mr.Cho, it's a great opportunity for me." Mr.Cho, instead of pulling the shares, can you convince them to sell them on the market then? That way, I could buy the shares. It would be like our first plan, but instead of making them pull out the shares, you are going to make them sell them."

"I understand Prince Park. I'll do it. Don't worry, I won't let you down. I'll update you later, Prince. "

I ended the call and dialed Creed's number. I sent him earlier to the club that KYM always visits.

After a few rings, Creed answers the phone.

"Creed, status update," I asked him immediately.

"Boss, it's a drug den." My eyes widen..

What the hell?

"Are you sure!?" I could hear music in the background.

"Yes boss, I just bought one... and one more thing, I think they are doing ion here too, and it looks like it is protected by police." I should have known, there will always be dirty cops.

I gritted my teeth. This guy is so evil. No. I think it's Satan himself.

"Creed, keep investigating. Gather as much evidence as you can. I'm sure you could find more dirty secrets hiding there. We could use this in the future."

"Yes, boss." Creed ended the call. I grabbed the glass of brandy on the table and drank all its contents.

"I am so going to take KYM down..."

I'm going to make sure that happens.

New York, 9am

Paul's POV

(PAUL)

I'm currently guarding Ms. Jung here in the mall. We were staying here for at least 2 more days before going back to Seoul. Ash told Ms. Jung that it was safe that way, so today she decided to go to the mall and do some shopping. I could see her and Mia picking some clothes inside the store, and I'm pretty sure that Ms. Jung was buying Ash some clothes.

As I remembered Ash, the confrontation I had with Andrew a few days ago came back in my mind.

-FLASHBACK-

(ANDREW)

"Andrew, are you out of your mind?" I stared at him in disbelief.

"Ash didn't kill Stacey! She died because of the accident! " This guy is unbelievable.

Three years ago, Ash was in love with Andrew's sister, Stacey, but she didn't confess. She didn't want to take the risk of losing Stacey. At the time, Stacey was in love with someone else. Ash was happy being her best friend. Andrew knew that Ash liked her sister, and he even encouraged her to confess, but Ash knew that time was a coward, so she stayed being Stacey's precious best friend. Everything was alright until one day, everything changed.

Ash and Stacey had gotten into an accident. They were riding Ash's motorcycle when some drunk overtook them and Ash lost control of her motorcycle. Ash suffered fractured and broken bones... while Stacey......

She didnt make it... She died after they were brought to the hospital. Her head hit the pavement hard. The helmet she was wearing wasnt enough to protect her. The impact was so strong that the helmet broke.

It was an accident Ash would never forget. She didn't want that to happen.

When she woke up a day after the accident, the first thing she said was.

"Where's Stacey?"

We all couldnt look at her. We didnt have the courage to tell her what happened, because we all knew how much she loved her, but i guess our silence and sad faces give Ash the answer. She immediately broke down after realizing what happened to Stacey, Ash really wanted to see Stacey after learning what happened, but Andrew blamed her for the accident and has forbidden her from ever coming to see Stacey. Stacey's Mom and Dad never blamed Ash, they knew it was not her fault, but Andrew wouldn't let Ash get near Stacey's funeral and Mr. and Mrs. Croft couldn't do anything to stop their son, so in the end, Ash never got to say goodbye to her beloved best friend.

That moment killed Ash. She started blaming herself. When she was discharged from the hospital and brought home, it was never the same. She became aloof, sad, depressed. We always caught her looking at Stacey's picture. Sometimes we caught her crying.. We couldnt take it anymore, so we started trying everything to make her smile or talk to us, and it took us months to help her get back to normal. She started talking to us, but we never managed to make her smile. Until we accidentally heard a K-pop song in a Korean restaurant, where we were eating. She asked me who's singing, then i asked the waiter and she told us it was a Korean girl group named Girls Generation. That was the start, Ash started smiling again.

When we got home that day, she immediately started researching Girls Generation, Ash noticed Jessica Jung after watching a lot of SNSD music videos and varie