Jo Ki-hyuk was sent flying backward and collapsed from a single kick by Seo Jung-woo.

The three men standing behind him tensed up at the sight.

"W-what the hell!"

Kang Seo-jun and Kwon Kyung-cheol had first met Seo Jung-woo not long ago at the police station in front of a drama filming set. They clearly remembered the astonishing movements he had displayed back then. Moreover, Kang Seo-jun had watched the footage of Seo Jung-woo catching a stalker multiple times.

Kang Seo-jun stepped forward, raising his fists and shouting.

"You bastards! I won't forgive you! Come at me! Come on!"

Kwon Kyung-cheol also stepped forward, gesturing with his hand.

"Hey, you. Yeah, the one who shouted that you'd kill me. Come here. I'll personally fold you in half. Hah, this punk. Doesn't even realize I'm letting him off easy."

Seo Jung-woo thought to himself.

'There are too many witnesses here. Since Sora is present too, should I just rough them up enough to chase them off? Without breaking any bones.'

One of the three men reached into his inner pocket—the same guy who had shouted at Lee Seon-hwa and Kwon Kyung-cheol earlier.

Kang Seo-jun saw this and recoiled in shock.

"A k-knife?"

Kwon Kyung-cheol hesitated.

"Wait, this isn't right."

Seo Jung-woo's expression changed slightly.

'If he's pulling out a knife, I can't let him walk away.'

Seo Jung-woo issued a warning.

"Hey, you. If you pull that out, you're dead."

The man panicked.

"I-it's just a phone."

Like Kang Seo-jun, Seo Jung-woo had naturally assumed he was reaching for a knife.

"I know. I knew it was a phone from the start. Why? Calling for reinforcements? Oh, actually, I've changed my mind. Go ahead. Call every single one of them."

Seo Jung-woo spread his arms wide.

"Bring them all here. I'll wipe them all out at once."

"N-no, I was just asking what we should do next."

The three men had already lost their will to fight.

Even before this, they weren't confident they could easily take down Kwon Kyung-cheol alone. The shouting earlier was just to cover up their intimidation.

But then Seo Jung-woo appeared. They didn't know who he was, but they had seen Jo Ki-hyuk get knocked down in a single blow.

The three whispered among themselves.

"Threats won't work anymore."

"If we get caught using violence in front of Lee Seon-hwa, it'll be a disaster."

"I heard Manager Jo was a decent fighter, but he got taken out in one hit. No way we're winning this fight."

"Guess we should check with the boss first?"

The man who had been shouting pulled out his phone and made a call. The line connected.

"Boss."

In that instant, Seo Jung-woo dashed forward and snatched the phone from his hand.

The man was caught off guard. Seo Jung-woo's movement was so fast that he couldn't even react before his phone was taken.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?"

A male voice came through the phone.

– "Is the job done?"

Seo Jung-woo spoke.

"You sent these punks?"

A brief silence followed before the male voice returned.

– "Who are you? What's your connection to Lemon Flower?"

None at all. He had only just learned that the two women behind him performed under the name Lemon Flower.

Seo Jung-woo memorized the number displayed on the call info. He had intentionally let them make the call just to get this number.

"I'll give you one warning. Back off if you don't want to die."

Seo Jung-woo casually dropped the phone on the ground and stomped on it. The sturdy device shattered instantly.

The remaining three men swallowed hard in nervousness.

Jo Ki-hyuk, who had been sprawled on the ground, staggered to his feet.

"Shit. I thought he was just a manager, but he's a bodyguard. Didn't expect Lemon Flower to have a bodyguard already."

Jo Ki-hyuk stepped backward to widen the distance and spoke.

"Listen up, you bastard. We're backing off for today, but—"

Seo Jung-woo suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Jo Ki-hyuk by the collar with one hand.

"Hey. Then don't just back off."

"N-no, that's not what I meant—"

"Stop stuttering. If you've got something to say, spit it out. It's your last chance to speak in this life, so you wouldn't want to stumble over your words, would you?"

Jo Ki-hyuk didn't hear Seo Jung-woo's words as a joke. His throat was tightening, making it hard to breathe.

"Kkgh! S-sorry…"

Seo Jung-woo had no intention of escalating things further.

'Too many witnesses here. And there are security cameras in the underground parking lot.'

Breaking all four of them here would cause some trouble.

Seo Jung-woo had already confirmed one phone number. He also noticed that Jo Ki-hyeok and the other three might belong to different groups.

'The guy who answered the call is either their boss or at least a high-ranking officer.'

Either way, it didn’t matter.

He was a detective. As long as he had a reasonable excuse, finding out who owned the number wouldn’t be difficult. Even if it was a burner phone, he could at least track its location.

'If they ignore my warning and cause trouble, I’ll wipe them out then.'

Seo Jung-woo let go of Jo Ki-hyeok’s collar and gave him a light push.

“Go. Make sure to buy a lottery ticket on your way. You just survived death.”

Jo Ki-hyeok stumbled backward several steps.

“Huff… Huff!”

Flailing to keep his balance, he barely managed to stay on his feet before bolting away.

The other three quickly followed him.

After all four had disappeared, the twins raised their hands high.

“As expected, D—!”

Since people other than 4cats was also present, Park Ha-yeon quickly changed her words.

“—etective Seo is the strongest!”

“It felt like a movie scene!”

Lee Seon-hwa hurried over.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Seo Jung-woo replied, “You saw everything just now. Do I look hurt? That question has no soul.”

“I was just pretending to be concerned. Do you know how many men risk their lives just to hear a single word of concern from me?”

Seo Jung-woo smirked.

'I guess this is just her nature.'

In the other world, Lee Seon-hwa took it a step further—she would even set up situations and act them out. Back then, Seo Jung-woo had been fooled by her acting more than once.

He said, “Doesn’t seem like there’s anyone like that here.”

Lee Seon-hwa turned her head and glared at Kang Seo-jun and Kwon Kyung-chul. The two flinched and quickly avoided her gaze.

She then asked, “But what are you doing here, Jung-woo?”

“Driving. They said they had no one to drive the car.”

Lee Seon-hwa turned to look behind her. 4cats was there. Her eyes scanned Seo Sora briefly. Seo Sora was clearly holding back her excitement, dying to brag.

Lee Seon-hwa was convinced.

'They’re definitely relatives. At least cousins. My gut says they’re siblings!'

Yoon Nana also stepped forward.

“Jung-woo oppa, thank you. I thought we were in big trouble.”

Seo Jung-woo asked her, “Who were those guys?”

“I don’t know. It was my first time seeing them.”

Lee Seon-hwa quickly explained, “I recognize the guy in the suit who got beaten up by you. He’s a manager at Wind Planning. Oh, I don’t know him personally, but I’ve seen him a few times at events. I heard Wind Planning always hopes for ES Entertainment to fail, and now we run into them here.”

“Why do they want ES Entertainment to fail?”

“Apparently, they hate how ES Entertainment monopolizes Dimension’s music.”

Seo Sora huffed angrily.

“Hmph! Dimension’s songs will never go to Wind Planning now!”

At the dinner earlier, Lee Seon-hwa had decided to speak informally with Seo Sora. She naturally did the same with the twins but kept a slight distance with Yoon Nana.

Hearing Seo Sora’s words, Lee Seon-hwa quickly asked, “So, you’re planning to tell Dimension about today? But you know them well enough to have their contact and talk about this? Who exactly is Dimension?”

“I-I do know them.”

“Why are you so nervous? I was just curious. You don’t have to answer.”

Lee Seon-hwa then turned to look at Lemon Flower.

“Oh, right. They’re also artists under Wind Planning.”

Yoon Mi-so of Lemon Flower bowed her head slightly toward Seo Jung-woo.

“Thank you for saving us.”

“It’s nothing. Just doing my job.”

“Are you Detective Seo Jung-woo? I heard Seon-hwa unnie call you Jung-woo just now…”

“Ah… Yeah, I am.”

Next to her, Choi Soo-ah also bowed.

“Seriously, thank you!”

Seo Jung-woo asked, “What exactly happened?”

“Those guys followed us. Our contract with Wind Planning is ending soon. When we said we wouldn’t renew, they first tried to sweet-talk us. But when that didn’t work, they sent those gangster bast— oh, sorry! I’m just so angry. They sent those thugs to threaten us.”

Choi Soo-ah gritted her teeth.

“We are NEVER renewing our contract! NEVER!”

Yoon Nana looked worried.

“Wind Planning is a pretty big company, right? If they use the media against us and spread bad news about what just happened, won’t it be bad for Jung-woo oppa?”

Lee Seon-hwa shouted loudly.

“Hmph. I am Lee Seon-hwa. If you dare to pull that kind of trick on Jung-woo, I'll make sure to show you whose words have more weight with the reporters!”

She clenched her fist and boasted, but then hesitated.

‘But why does she keep calling him oppa? Is it because they grew up in the same neighborhood?’

Yoon Nana also had a complaint.

‘Since when did she know him well enough to call him Jung-woo?’

Yoon Nana decided to address the more important issue first.

“If this blows up and he has to quit being a detective, that would be a disaster.”

Suddenly, Kang Seo-jun, the drama’s male lead, jumped into the conversation.

“Wow. If Detective Seo gets fired from the police force, our director would be thrilled.”

Kwon Kyung-chul chimed in.

“If he quits being a detective, he’ll be scouted as an actor right away, won’t he?”

“Of course. Not just our director—AKX Pictures also wants to work with Detective Seo in movies and dramas.”

“If he gets fired today, he’ll probably start with our drama immediately. I clearly heard our writer say that if Detective Seo joins, they’d rewrite the script to create a role for him.”

Lee Seon-hwa joined the atmosphere.

“What’s with you all? If Jung-woo quits being a detective, he’s shooting a romance with me first. I have a great script, and if I agree to star in it, I can get Detective Seo cast right away. A lead role might be tough at first, but I can definitely secure a supporting role for him.”

The script she was referring to had many kiss scenes with that supporting role.

Thinking about that, she grinned mischievously.

“Hehehe.”

Seo Jung-woo put an end to the conversation.

“Why do you people keep hoping I’ll get fired? I have no intention of quitting as a detective.”

Lee Seon-hwa clicked her tongue.

“Tsk. Well, you could still do a romance drama while being a detective.”

Yoon Mi-so from Lemon Flower spoke up.

“But we thought we’d meet someone from ES Entertainment if we came here today…”

Lee Seon-hwa asked, “Huh? Why ES Entertainment?”

“We want to move to ES Entertainment.”

Seo Sora, who was listening nearby, was shocked.

“What? But why? Our company is really small.”

Lemon Flower had already peaked in popularity some time ago. Their fame had declined, but they weren’t so unpopular that they needed to move to a struggling company. ES Entertainment wasn’t even fully revived yet; they were barely scraping by with their operating funds.

Lee Seon-hwa was also confused and asked, “Seriously, why? If you’re switching companies, should I talk to mine? My agency is planning to expand its singer lineup if they can get good songs.”

Yoon Mi-so explained.

“If we join your agency, we’d probably just fade into the background.”

“Well, that’s true. We focus more on acting, so we’re a bit weak in supporting singers. But ES Entertainment is even weaker in that regard.”

“Still, ES Entertainment…”

Yoon Mi-so glanced at Seo Jung-woo.

“All the artists there are close with Detective Seo.”

Seo Jung-woo was slightly taken aback.

“Me?”

“Of course, senior Oh Dong-cheol is a good person, so ES Entertainment isn’t run like some shady business. That was an important factor too. But after meeting Detective Seo today…”

Yoon Mi-so and Choi Soo-ah’s eyes sparkled as they looked at Seo Jung-woo.

“It feels reassuring to be close with Detective Seo.”

Lee Seon-hwa’s expression changed instantly.

‘These girls!’

Yoon Nana’s face also turned cold.

‘These unni witches!’

Lee Seon-hwa noticed Yoon Nana’s expression change and realized what she was thinking. Yoon Nana, in turn, understood what Lee Seon-hwa was thinking.

They glared at each other.

‘This girl?’

‘This unni witch?’

Seo Jung-woo was dumbfounded.

“You’re saying you want to sign with ES Entertainment because of me? You actually expect me to believe that?”

Yoon Mi-so grinned.

“Of course, that’s just an additional reason we decided on today. It’s not the biggest reason.”

“I thought so. You were joking.”

“The real reason is that ES Entertainment is the only company that has received songs from Dimension.”

“What?”

“If we join ES Entertainment, we thought we might get a song from Dimension too. No other company even knows who Dimension is.”