I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

It was purely by chance.

It was by chance that the water purifier near the training room was being serviced, and by chance that she decided to use the stairs as exercise to get water from the one upstairs.

“…Don’t worry. Even if she’s just a trainee, she’s already twenty. She’s not underage, so if anyone catches a whiff, we can just say they were mutually attracted. It’s not like this is your first time. I’ll handle everything, so don’t worry about that.”

And as a result, it was by chance that Oh Yoori overheard Flower Entertainment’s manager, Ban Seongcheol, saying something suspicious on the phone.

“…”

The more Yoori thought about what Manager Ban had said, the more unsettling it seemed.

Trainee, underage, someone who catches a whiff, mutual attraction, handle.

Yoori was young, but she wasn’t naive about how the world worked.

She could easily guess the implications of those words when put together.

Especially since the speaker was Manager Ban Seongcheol, who was known for looking at trainees with a sleazy gaze and for being the son of some company president.

One word in particular stuck with her.

“…Twenty?”

That word felt like it was stuck in her throat, making it impossible for her to stop thinking.

Even after returning to the training room, Yoori couldn’t stop worrying. Then, someone spoke to her.

“Yoori-Yoori, hello again today!”

It was Seo Eun-byeol, who had recently become close to her.

“Hmm? You’re not practicing today? Do you have something on your mind? I’m a good listener; want me to help?”

“…”

Looking at Eun-byeol’s innocent face, Yoori thought.

There was only one twenty-year-old trainee in this company: Seo Eun-byeol.

A shiver of dread crawled down Yoori’s spine.

“…Um, Eun-byeol unnie.”

“…Yes?”

Eun-byeol pointed at herself, wondering if Yoori was really calling her. When Yoori nodded, Eun-byeol squealed.

“Wow! Yoori actually called me! It’s been six days since you told me to practice my impressions outside because it was distracting! What’s up? Do you really have a problem? Tell me everything!”

“…Then, can I ask you something?”

“Of course! Ask me anything.”

Yoori looked at her excited face and followed the chain of questions in her mind.

“Did something happen between you and Manager Ban Seongcheol?”

As soon as those words left her mouth, Yoori felt as if the training room suddenly turned cold.

It might not have been just her imagination.

In that brief moment, Eun-byeol’s previously excited face had turned expressionless.

“Nothing.”

Her response was quick and firm.

“Nothing happened.”

“…”

As if she had been expecting this question at some point.

---

After that day, Yoori began investigating Ban Seongcheol during her free time between training sessions.

Of course, Yoori’s investigation had its limitations due to her young age, so it wasn’t professional by any means.

But it wasn’t entirely ineffective.

We live in an era overflowing with information. People freely share personal details on social media, and even if someone doesn’t share their own information, they can’t stop those around them from doing so. In such a socially active world, information is inevitably leaked.

And Ban Seongcheol, being in the entertainment industry, was even more social and open with information than most.

“Seongcheol? You mean his schedule? Hmm, I think he’s out on fieldwork today…”

“You’re asking how Manager Ban usually gives feedback? Well, other than being a bit creepy and annoying, nothing special… Oh, now that you mention it…”

“Has Manager Ban ever made any requests? Why do you want to know? Oh, to understand his evaluation criteria? Well, I guess I could tell you. Now that I think about it, he did have some unusual requests…”

It wasn’t hard to hear stories about him.

Of course, there were some curious looks asking, ‘Why do you want to know?’ But thanks to her usual diligence and sincerity, most people shared what they knew after a bit of persuasion.

Bit by bit, Yoori gathered information by connecting with people who knew Ban Seongcheol better or were closer to him.

Her investigation wasn’t limited to verbal inquiries.

Ban Seongcheol was an active user of social media, frequently posting updates about Flower Entertainment or showing off his luxurious possessions. However, he subtly avoided mentioning personal or family details. But that wasn’t enough to prevent information leaks. If he really wanted to keep things hidden, he should have just deleted his accounts.

Thankfully, he didn’t do that, which gave Yoori the opportunity to dig deeper.

There were many people who followed him, saw him, or were connected to him professionally. Information about him was scattered like fragments among these people.

Yoori carefully gathered all the information she could from social media, blogs, and forums, making sure nothing would come back to haunt her when she eventually debuted.

In this way, Yoori collected intersecting testimonies, evidence, and information.

The mass of information was huge but disorganized.

Each piece might seem meaningless on its own, but when connected, they formed a complete picture. At least, for those few who could connect the dots.

And as it happened, Yoori was one of the few with the reasoning, thinking, and deduction skills to piece together the picture from those fragments. She also had a bit of luck during her investigation.

As a result, Yoori, on her own, uncovered the secret Ban Seongcheol had been hiding.

“…”

He was a former sponsor broker.

Ban Seongcheol’s father ran an entertainment bar known as a room salon, and his roots were connected to organized crime.

It didn’t seem possible to separate him from this.

…No, considering his former job and what he had said on the phone earlier, trying to separate them would be beyond naive—it would be downright foolish.

He certainly hadn’t joined Flower Entertainment as a regular employee; he had other intentions. Perhaps to arrange things.

And the target he was currently aiming for was most likely Seo Eun-byeol.

As soon as Yoori came to this conclusion, she organized the information she’d gathered into an easily understandable format and went to find Seo Eun-byeol.

“Wow! Yoori-Yoori! You’re actually looking for me? What a day! I’m touched. What’s up?”

“I’ve uncovered the truth about Ban Seongcheol.”

“…”

“Please look at this.”

Yoori then showed Eun-byeol the information about Ban Seongcheol that she had stored on a small tablet PC.

The evidence wasn’t perfect and probably wouldn’t hold up in court, but it was enough to clearly show that Ban Seongcheol was a dangerous person.

Yoori had organized the material as best as she could, but she thought Eun-byeol might still have difficulty understanding it, so she explained it with annotations to make it as easy as possible to grasp.

When Yoori finally finished her long explanation, Eun-byeol looked at her and spoke.

“I already knew.”

“…What?”

Yoori couldn’t process what Eun-byeol had just said and asked again, and she repeated herself, this time with all warmth erased from her face.

“I said, I already knew everything.”

Silence fell.

The silence was reminiscent of the usual quiet they shared during their recent daily routine.

Even when they shared the same space during training, they were both absorbed in their own practice, maintaining silence.

But though the form was the same, the feeling was entirely different now.

“…”

It felt tense, unpleasantly so.

Yoori managed to break the silence and spoke calmly but firmly.

“If you knew, then it must have been even harder for you. It’s okay. You can cut ties with someone like that. I’ll help you.”

“I don’t need any help.”

Hearing Eun-byeol’s response, Yoori bit her lip slightly and steadied herself before continuing.

“It must have been shocking. It must have been hard to talk to anyone about it. I understand. I’ve been through something similar. Not as serious as this, but I understand how you feel. So don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone else.”

“Yoori.”

“But that doesn’t mean we don’t have options. I have a plan. The most important thing is to get you out of this company safely, so first…”

“Yoori.”

“I’ll help you. Don’t think of it as too overwhelming. Just take it one step at a time. It’s not too late.”

“I’ll say it again. I don’t need any help.”

“I’m telling you, I’ll help you!”

Yoori, unable to hide her agitated breath due to her heightened emotions, looked at Eun-byeol.

Eun-byeol met her gaze and spoke firmly.

“I don’t need it.”