Chapter 298: Who Do I Like?
Bae Joo-hyun had always paid close attention to Jiang Shu, and there weren't many scandalous rumors about him. However, when it came to Jiang Shu's romantic scandals, most people, including Bae Joo-hyun, would immediately think of Lee Ji-eun.
Although the bed photo was suppressed due to the MV recording, Bae Joo-hyun, as an insider at the company, was well aware of the company's actions at the time.
After that incident came out, the MV for that song was re-recorded. What did that mean?
The photo of Jiang Shu and Lee Ji-eun was not a scene from the MV at all, but a genuine bed photo.
This meant...
Was Lee Ji-eun Jiang Shu's ex-girlfriend?
No, that's not right!
It definitely wasn't her!
It was true that Jiang Shu was extremely self-centered, but his attitude towards Lee Ji-eun was even worse than his attitude towards herself. Moreover, she had seen clips of his live broadcast with Sakura when he was in China. From the content of the clips, Jiang Shu felt more nostalgia, reluctance, and regret for his first love.
And Lee Ji-eun had basically had no contact with the Chairman since that incident broke out. At least, what Bae Joo-hyun heard was that Lee Ji-eun had a lot of resources now, but the Chairman only provided her with resource allocation.
There was someone else, but who could this person be?
"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Shu asked, seeing that Bae Joo-hyun remained silent.
"I was thinking about who the ex-girlfriend you mentioned, Chairman, might be," Bae Joo-hyun said with a smile, revealing her curiosity.
Jiang Shu was surprised by Bae Joo-hyun's directness, but then he started to laugh.
"Then who do you think it is?"
Sakura was also very curious about his first love, but she didn't ask as directly as Bae Joo-hyun.
Compared to the very close Bae Joo-hyun, Sakura maintained more of a subordinate posture towards him. She would never dare to ask such a question face-to-face.
"Do I know her?" Bae Joo-hyun didn't guess directly, but instead asked a question first.
"Yes, you do," Jiang Shu nodded.
Then it must be someone from the company. Jiang Shu was so certain, it was likely not some mid- or low-level employee, but probably an artist or a member of the company's management.
The probability of it being a high-ranking executive or an artist was highest. High-ranking executives aside for now, none of the high-ranking executives in their own company could be called beauties. Choi Ji-yeon, though pretty, was just a secretary, so it was unlikely to be her.
Reality wasn't a TV drama; which leader and secretary fall in love?
So, the target still needed to be narrowed down to artists.
First, she excluded Red Velvet. As the eldest sister of Red Velvet, she clearly saw any budding romances among her own members.
Aside from Park Soo-young being very close to Crush, the others had no romantic developments.
The other members of NMIXX were temporarily ignored. They spent all their time at JYP, and had very little time to interact with the Chairman except for Xue Yun, so Xue Yun was listed as a candidate.
Lee Ji-eun had already been excluded.
Kim Tae-yeon... She was older than Bae Joo-hyun, and this sister didn't spend much time at the company either, so she wasn't considered for now.
It probably wasn't ITZY. If there was something going on, given their close relationship of five, they couldn't hide it from each other, and big-mouthed Shin Yuna would definitely tell, unless it was Shin Yuna herself. But how old was Shin Yuna? Her Chairman wasn't a pedophile, was he?
The highest probability for IZ*ONE was Kim Minju, Sakura, and Zhang Yuanying. First, exclude Zhang Yuanying, for the same reason as Shin Yuna. Sakura could also be excluded, after all, the topic of first love was discussed with Sakura, and the Chairman's first love and ex-girlfriend should be the same person.
There was no particular reason, just Bae Joo-hyun's intuition.
As for Kim Minju... it seemed impossible to exclude her. To exclude her just because the Chairman used Kim Minju as a game ID without hesitation, that reason was a bit far-fetched. Conversely, one could also say it was a manifestation of their love.
She was also listed as a candidate.
Then there was aespa.
Kim Minjeong and Ning Yizhuo, the two main characters in the recent bullying controversy, Bae Joo-hyun had interacted with both. They were two interesting young girls, but both were homebodies, so they were excluded.
Liu Zhimin, this one seemed to fit perfectly.
Jiang Shu's description of his first love, his special attitude towards Liu Zhimin, and the privileges Liu Zhimin enjoyed within the company...
Hmm?
Did I forget someone?
Bae Joo-hyun paused, then immediately realized.
There are four people in aespa, Giselle was overlooked by her.
Well, this person indeed had little presence.
"Is it Karina?" Bae Joo-hyun looked at Jiang Shu and gave her answer.
Jiang Shu looked at Bae Joo-hyun in surprise.
Seeing Jiang Shu's surprised gaze, Bae Joo-hyun immediately realized she had guessed correctly.
"It really is Karina?" Bae Joo-hyun was also surprised.
One of Liu Yuan's two big twin stars was secretly taken by her Chairman?
But on second thought, it seemed there was no problem?
Jiang Shu was very handsome, very talented, and even more capable. He was the kind of person who could be a protagonist in a TV drama. Most of the female artists in the company were young girls. When they first came into contact with such an excellent man, and then entered the big dye vat of the entertainment industry and compared other men to Jiang Shu, it was even worse.
Not to mention others, even within their own Red Velvet, there were two die-hard fans of Jiang Shu.
Well, she herself was a little bit too.
"It's her." Since Bae Joo-hyun had guessed it, Jiang Shu no longer concealed it and responded with a chuckle.
"I dated her for about a year. Then the incident with me and Ji-eun was exposed, and we broke up." Jiang Shu paused after speaking. "You are the first person to know about this. No matter if others have guessed my relationship with Xiao Liu or not, I have never personally spoken about this relationship."
When Jiang Shu said that, Bae Joo-hyun realized how secret this relationship she had guessed was.
"Uh... I won't tell anyone," Bae Joo-hyun quickly promised.
"I don't really care. The main thing is that Xiao Liu is still very popular, and if it gets out, it will have a big impact on her career, so I've never publicized it," Jiang Shu explained.
He didn't care. He wasn't an artist, and he didn't particularly care about dating or what fans thought of him.
"I understand," Bae Joo-hyun nodded and said.
"Speaking of which, are you in a relationship? Although our company prohibits artists from dating, you and Taeyeon are older, after all. If you are in a relationship, you don't have to hide it; just report it to the company," Jiang Shu said with a smile.
Bae Joo-hyun's heart tightened. For a moment, she didn't understand if Jiang Shu was testing her or genuinely asking.
"I'm not in a relationship," Bae Joo-hyun hesitated for a moment and gave a standard answer.
"Then do you have someone you like?" Jiang Shu asked with a smile.
Bae Joo-hyun looked at the smiling man in front of her, hesitated for a moment, and then her eyes became firm the next second.
"Yes."
Jiang Shu didn't expect Bae Joo-hyun to give such an answer.
"Can you tell me who it is?" Jiang Shu then asked curiously.
Bae Joo-hyun didn't speak, she just picked up the stemmed glass on the table and then looked at Jiang Shu.
Facing Bae Joo-hyun's gaze, Jiang Shu froze in place.
