Chapter 176 Jiang Shu and Bae Joo-hyun
Bae Joo-hyun's body trembled, and then she turned her head in surprise to look at Jiang Shu.
"Chairman, you...?"
"Has that old coot left?" Jiang Shu asked in a low voice, his eyes closed.
"Minister Kim has already left," Bae Joo-hyun said, glancing at the car whose taillights were no longer visible.
Jiang Shu, who had been leaning on her, immediately stood up.
Bae Joo-hyun watched this scene, dumbfounded.
"You're fine?"
"It's just soju." Jiang Shu smiled disdainfully, "Before, when I drank with those old guys from KBS, it was always baijiu. This is nothing."
He wasn't much of a drinker by nature, but for the company's development and to secure resources, he often frequented various drinking venues, especially with those old coots from KBS TV. Unlike most Koreans who prefer soju, these old guys only drank Maotai.
After one, two, three times, Jiang Shu nearly vomited from stomach acid. Over time, he either developed health problems or built up a tolerance.
Evidently, he was the latter.
"Then why did you pretend to be drunk?" Bae Joo-hyun asked, puzzled.
"If I didn't pretend, where would he get his sense of accomplishment?" Jiang Shu said with a smile, "That old coot, when he gets drunk, he goes for women first. He already had designs on you. I embraced you at the table to make you seem like my woman, and then I pretended to be drunk, giving him a sense of accomplishment while also making him consider me. He couldn't just leave me here, right?"
"With double insurance, he wouldn't do anything to you."
Bae Joo-hyun listened, her face full of shock.
She only knew that Jiang Shu embracing her at the time was to help her out, but she never expected that feigning drunkenness could have so many layers to it.
"Alright, let's talk in the car, it's too hot outside." Jiang Shu loosened his tie and took off his jacket.
Then he took out the car keys from his waist and tossed them to Bae Joo-hyun.
"Oh, oh." Bae Joo-hyun quickly caught them, responded, and got into the driver's seat.
Good news: The Chairman didn't drive that Porsche.
Bad news: She had never driven this Mercedes either…
But now that the Chairman had been drinking, Bae Joo-hyun could only steel herself and get in.
Drunk driving in Korea also depends on the alcohol concentration; if it's too high, it can be considered a criminal offense. Since they were both public figures, it was better for her to drive.
As she sat in the driver's seat of this GLS, which felt like a large truck to her, Jiang Shu was already in the passenger seat.
Bae Joo-hyun fumbled around to her left, and then… the headlights went out.
A bewildered Bae Joo-hyun lowered her head to look to her left, but it was pitch black, and she didn't know where to turn on the interior lights. She could only pull out her phone and turn on the flashlight.
What greeted her was not the start button she had imagined, but the light controls.
"The start button is on the right." Jiang Shu's voice drifted over. Bae Joo-hyun's pretty face flushed, and after turning off her phone's flashlight, she started the car.
"I'm sorry, Chairman, I've never driven such a nice car…"
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I wasn't used to it at first either." Jiang Shu said with a smile, "The navigation is on, just follow it."
Jiang Shu selected his home as the destination on the car's navigation system, then said to Bae Joo-hyun.
"Yes." Bae Joo-hyun responded and carefully pressed the accelerator.
This large SUV, over five meters long, slowly moved forward under Bae Joo-hyun's control.
"When you drive, do you prefer quiet, or talking while driving? If you need quiet, then I won't say anything." Jiang Shu asked with a smile.
"I'm fine either way." Bae Joo-hyun quickly said, looking straight ahead.
Jiang Shu was very considerate of her feelings, but she genuinely had no problem.
She was being cautious because she hadn't driven this car before; if it were her own BMW, she would have stepped on the gas long ago.
"Alright then." Jiang Shu adjusted the car seat, found a comfortable position, and half-reclined.
"Just drop me off at home later, and you can take the car."
"No need, Chairman, I can just take a taxi back."
"If I tell you to drive, you drive. It's already so late; what if something happens to such a pretty girl taking a taxi?" Jiang Shu's commanding tone wasn't off-putting; instead, it brought a faint, subtle smile to Bae Joo-hyun's face.
"Actually, Chairman, I'm already twenty-eight, so I'm not a girl anymore."
"All the artists at the company are children in my eyes." Jiang Shu's jovial voice reached her ears. Although she couldn't see Jiang Shu's expression while driving, Bae Joo-hyun could imagine his smile.
"It would be great if Chairman were a bit older," Bae Joo-hyun said softly.
"Why?" Jiang Shu asked curiously.
"Because then what Chairman just said would make me even happier," Bae Joo-hyun said with a chuckle.
Jiang Shu felt she wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't press further. The alcohol's stimulation made him feel a wave of drowsiness wash over him.
Actually, under the influence of alcohol, Jiang Shu also felt like getting frisky, but when he thought of Liu Zhimin, his desire was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on it, instantly extinguished.
He turned his head to look at the rapidly receding night view outside the car window. Seoul's nightlife was just beginning at this hour.
Interestingly, Seoul's rich second-generation objectively seemed to be quite considerate of the working class's feelings; they only appeared at night, rarely strolling the streets during the day.
It's not necessarily that they do it on purpose, but at least from the results, it's rare to see those luxury cars roaring down the streets during the day, or handsome men and beautiful women indulging in extravagant pleasures.
But at night…
Even Jiang Shu's car was an entry-level model.
If Jiang Shu didn't speak, Bae Joo-hyun naturally wouldn't either; she was too nervous.
Why were there so many luxury cars at night?
Bae Joo-hyun carefully navigated through the traffic, slowly heading towards the navigated destination.
More than twenty minutes later, the car finally drove into the residential complex.
This was Bae Joo-hyun's first time visiting Jiang Shu's complex. She drove while looking at the seemingly luxurious neighborhood.
She remembered that IVE's dorm used to be here, but now no one lived there anymore.
"Originally, I wanted to arrange all the company's artist dorms here, but I asked the real estate agent, and there weren't that many houses available, only two left for rent, so we switched to the building you're in now." Jiang Shu noticed Bae Joo-hyun's gaze and explained from the side.
The residential complex where DM Entertainment artists currently lived was a place where many well-known artists in the industry resided. The security measures were quite good. The drawback was that there were quite a few male artists, increasing the probability of them getting together, but such things couldn't be avoided just by not living in the same complex, so it wasn't an issue.
"The current dorms are already very good," Bae Joo-hyun said with a smile.
Although it couldn't compare to the living environment shown in the A-class of "Produce48" (IVE's dorm), it was much better than the B-class. It was also a proper luxury suite. Bae Joo-hyun didn't know about others, but she was quite satisfied.
"Alright, it's getting late. Go back early. Send me a message when you get to the dorm." Jiang Shu said after getting out of the car.
"Yes, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."
"No need, I can just take a taxi."
"Should I come wait for you at 7:30 or 8:00?"
Looking at Bae Joo-hyun, who seemed to be reading but not responding to his last message, Jiang Shu didn't insist.
"8:30."
"Yes."