Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 100: No Way in Hell

By the door, Kaija leaned against the wall, her gaze narrowing as she listened to the two men verbally sparring at the table.

Did she imagine it up, or were there actually bullets flying in the empty space between Juho and Charles?

The moment Charles finished stating his second condition, the easy smile on Juho’s face vanished completely.

From where she stood, she could see his hands gripping tightly onto his knees under the table, as if restraining himself from swinging a fist across Charles’s face.

On the other end, that ever steely, unreadable expression had returned to the face of the man who had just passionately made a mess out of her just minutes ago, his silver gaze now sharp and cold as a blade.

"So?" Charles raised a brow, his two fingers still held up between him and Juho. "What do you say?"

The reason behind his second condition was simple enough: he didn’t want the punk sitting before him anywhere near his woman, especially not within the radius of his campus.

Juho’s brow twitched. After smashing the shit out of countless jerks who tried to compete with him over the pretty models he’d been with, he could spot the reason behind Charles’s condition in a blink.

His gaze inevitably darted toward Kaija standing by the door, watching nonchalantly, and the moment it landed on her, his eyes widened slightly.

After their conversation the night before, he had deliberately avoided looking at her since morning, keeping his attention glued to his phone.

But he’d noticed how neat her braid was on the way here, how unmarked the porcelain of her neck had been. Now, some strands had fallen loose, and there was a faint reddish blur at the base of her neck.

That heart-wrenching, blood-boiling unnameable feeling came gnawing at him again.

The entire time he sat here being interrogated by idiots, thinking she was sipping tea and enjoying the view next door, could it be that the whole time, Charles Kosonen had—

"I have a meeting in a few minutes. I don’t have all day," Charles’s voice cut sharply into his thoughts. "Either you agree to my conditions, or we’re not making this deal at all. Choose wisely."

The brightness snapped back into Juho’s expression. He stood, extending a hand like a real businessman. "Deal, mate. Now get up. I also don’t have all day." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

A quiet sigh slipped out of Kaija as she watched the most awkward handshake she had ever seen unfold before her eyes.

There was no way this deal was going to go smoothly, judging by that handshake alone.

After leaving the Security building, Juho headed for the parking structure without a single glance back, while Charles walked her back to Building S.

"I’ve gotta head to Management building now," he said as they stopped at the elevator, "but I’ll try to be back early, if things don’t get too overboard."

She raised a brow at him. "Are you not... distancing yourself from me anymore?"

"After you told me we were never emotionally close?" He raised a brow back. "No way in hell."

Her face went blank as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips before she could respond.

Uh-oh, her brain sighed.

With Antony and Karl already having voiced their interest in dating her, she could already see the road ahead fully filled with rocks, not a single stem of rose in sight.

Her back hit the bed with a heavy thud when she got back to her flat. Just as she thought she could finally have a moment of peace before her next class, her phone vibrated.

Baby Hanski: "Birdie, you awake?"

Kaikai: "Yeah. Slept well?"

Baby Hanski: "I slept HORRIBLE. How could I possibly sleep soundly after you turned me down so coldly last night???"

Baby Hanski: "Anyway, look. I have eleven hours before my flight. Get dressed. I’m coming up in five mins. I’m taking you out on a date before you can go on any date with that $@^#%& AK."

Baby Hanski: "AND DON’T YOU DARE EVEN THINK OF TURNING ME DOWN AGAIN. I only let you leave last night because I knew you were tired!"

Baby Hanski: "See ya soon!"

Her eyes widened at the screen as she jolted upright in bed. She immediately hit the call button to talk Karl out of it, but he didn’t pick up.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang. Through the peephole, she saw Karl’s zoomed-in face, one eye pressed right up against the lens, making her jump back in fright.

Reluctantly, Kaija opened the door.

"Listen," she began, face drooping with helplessness. "I know I promised we’d have a date, but I still have classes today, so I don’t think I can go with you.

"I need to finish my training as soon as possible so I can debut and start making money, now that the grand prize has slipped out of my hands. I really can’t afford to skip more classes, you know?"

"I know," Karl replied, his expression drooping too, but with dramatic sulk instead. "But I’ll be gone for a long while. Wouldn’t you miss me? Not even a little? After everything I’ve done for you? After everything we’ve been through?"

Her face twitched at the theatrics in his tone. They hadn’t even started dating, yet he already sounded like they’d been in a relationship for years.

"Then what am I supposed to do about the classes?" she asked, frowning.

"Piece of cake," he said, pulling out his phone. "In this place, my word is law. Don’t you know that? I’ll just give your instructors a call and you’ll be fineeeee."

Then his brow lifted, his mouth curling into a mischievous smirk. "Besides, am I not your instructor too? I’ll teach you better than all those dumbass instructors who’ve never experienced what it’s like to be a real superstar dealing with all the showbiz bullshit I face every day, birdie."

Her brow drew together in thought. Cocky as Karl might have sounded when he said that, he actually had a point.

Who else had more experience than him, being a bestselling artist and having survived countless scandals throughout his seven-year career?

"Where do you want to go then?" she asked, already lining up questions in her mind to ask him during their date.

His face lit up immediately, his tone brightening along with it. "It’s been a while since we had boba tea together, hasn’t it? I’m taking you to the best boba place in the entire country."