J-Slick felt fear consume his body. He stared at Zeno. That was a lie. He couldn’t look him in the eye.
He knew that Zeno wasn’t going to do anything to harm him. However, the look in his eyes said otherwise.
Zeno walked slowly toward him, and J-Slick found himself opening the drawer where the knife was.
However, instead of pouncing on J-Slick like the latter had imagined, Zeno sat in front of him, propping his feet on the table.
J-Slick frowned, and he quickly closed the drawer.
“What are you doing here?” J-Slick asked, still wary.
Zeno’s eyebrows raised. “I think you already know the reason.”
The frown on J-Slick’s face was quickly replaced with a smirk. He rolled his seat closer to the table and placed his hands on top of the surface.
“You’re really smart,” J-Slick started off. “What else did I expect from someone who managed to turn the rumors about him around?”
“Rumors your company and artists started,” Zeno nonchalantly said.
J-Slick’s smirk widened. “Hmm, very intelligent indeed.”
“I’m so happy that someone so intelligent will be part of my line-up of artists soon. I’m really looking forward to working with you.”
At this point, Cynthia was still moaning in the background, so Zeno grabbed his remote and turned the television off. Afterward, he crushed the remote with one hand, making J-Slick frown.
“What are you doing?”
Zeno smiled sarcastically. “That’s how happy I am with this situation. Ecstatic.”
J-Slick pursed his lips and massaged the bridge of his nose. “You can ruin a hundred televisions, but whatever you do, nothing is going to change. Bobby is indebted to me, and until he can pay all of the debt off, then everything he owns is mine.”
“It’s not Bobby’s fault, is it?”
J-Slick turned back to his smug self. “Who cares if it’s not his fault? Do you have any proof that it’s mine?”
He opened the folder and slid it toward Zeno. “These are all the evidence that he is indebted to me and no one else.”
Zeno grabbed the folder and went through it quietly. J-Slick watched him with a smug smirk.
Without warning, Zeno ripped it in half, but J-Slick remained composed. He brought out another folder from behind him.
“I have a hundred copies of this,” he said in a teasing tone, throwing his head back in laughter.
Zeno placed the ripped papers under his lap. “Listen here—”
“No, you listen to me,” J-Slick said, cutting him off with a laugh that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
“You think you’re some kind of hero?” he sneered. “I’ve met artists like you before. You’re not special. You all end up broken. You wanna know why Bobby and Moby failed?”
He leaned in, eyes gleaming with malice. “Because they’re too kind. Too trusting. That’s why they never made it big. Kindness doesn’t get you power. Ruthlessness does.”
Zeno’s expression remained neutral while J-Slick continued, whispering, “You should’ve never signed with them in the first place. All that talent, wasted on two fools who didn’t even know how the industry worked. I almost feel bad for you, really.” He chuckled, lips curling. “But then again, it worked out for me.”
He leaned back and gestured to the cityscape behind him, the lights of Seoul twinkling like stars on a leash. “The court’s in my favor. The public loves a redemption arc. I have everything now, Zeno. Everything.”
His smile turned predatory.
“And I’m going to have you, too.”
Zeno didn’t blink. He simply reached over, picked up the mug of still-hot Americano, and without hesitation—threw it toward him.
The coffee hit J-Slick straight in the face.
“AHHHH!” he screamed, stepping back and knocking into his chair. “You psycho! You just scalded me! You’re gonna catch a case for this!”
Zeno stood, calm as ever, walking over as J-Slick frantically wiped his face, still half-sputtering.
“It’s not even that hot,” Zeno muttered. “You can’t take the heat, huh?”
“Then you should have never played with fire.”
With that, Zeno grabbed a fistful of J-Slick’s hair and yanked his head back.
J-Slick gasped.
“You wanna talk about being stupid?” Zeno said coldly. “You’re the definition of stupid.”
His grip on J-Slick’s hair tightened as he leaned in.
“You think you have everything?” Zeno hissed. “Your stocks are plummeting. Your artists are either canceled or jumping ship like rats from a burning cruise. The industry has tolerated your wrongdoings for so long that something like this makes you believe they’re on your side.”
J-Slick thrashed, but Zeno didn’t flinch.
“You think the public is with you? The public does not side with anyone. The moment you make a mistake, you are their greatest enemy—no matter who you are.”
“You’re not thriving,” his eyes burned. “You’re just a fucking parasite.”
J-Slick tried to twist away, but Zeno shoved him back into the leather chair.
“And you think I’ll sign with you?” Zeno said. “Even if the world turned upside down, and every label closed their doors, I’d still never work with you.”
He took a step back, and J-Slick coughed, red-faced and trembling.
“You better stop now,” Zeno deadpanned, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
J-Slick looked up, trying to compose himself, his ego still clinging to the last shred of defiance. “Or else?” he spat, voice trembling beneath the smirk. “What are you gonna do? Huh? There’s nothing you can do. You lost!”
Zeno’s smirk returned.
And suddenly, J-Slick’s dropped.
Zeno tilted his head slightly, cracking his knuckles.
“One last warning,” he said. “Retract that case… while I’m still asking nicely.”
J-Slick stared. “No,” he said. His pride wouldn’t let him. He knew there was nothing they could do. Oska Baek was behind him. He had money. He had the best lawyer.
Zeno’s smirk widened. “Got it.”
He turned his back, heading for the door, but not without grabbing the ripped folder filled with files.
“Don’t regret it.”
He paused at the threshold, not looking back.
“Actually,” he added. “I hope you don’t retract it.”
J-Slick froze.
“I hope you dig your heels in. I hope you drag this out.”
Zeno finally glanced over his shoulder.
“Because when I come back, I’m not just tearing down your company,” he said. “I’m going to take my time and make sure you are the last thing standing. And when you finally fall, everyone will be watching.”
“I’m going to make an example out of you.”
Zeno walked out and visited the CCTV room, where a security guard was sleeping. He went through the footage and deleted their interaction, making sure not to leave any traces.
And with that, he looked away without looking back.