Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 27: Mermaid, Indeed

"What do you think, Mr. Kosonen?" Kenji asked, his tone brimming with pride.

Charles didn’t answer. He just kept staring. The intensity of his gaze made Kaija nervous, so she hurried toward the nearest mirror. The moment she saw her reflection, her eyes flew wide open.

The girl in the mirror was... still her, but the black hair she’d always known was gone. In its place was now a light shade of honey blonde, warm and shimmering as liquid sunlight, falling down her back in loose waves.

The color made her blue eyes sharper, more striking. Her face too, somehow. She didn’t look like herself anymore, but more like a mermaid that wandered too far from the sea.

"Mr. Kosonen?" Kenji prompted again, his tone slightly nervous now.

She glanced toward Charles. He called the shots. His opinion mattered more than anyone’s right now.

But Charles asked her instead."Do you like it?" He stepped closer, brushing a lock of her hair between his fingers, watching for her reaction.

"Honestly, I feel like a mermaid," Kaija admitted, "But I like it. Do you like it?"

"Mermaid, indeed." His voice softened into a low chuckle. "I love it."

Kenji let out a relieved breath, clapping his hands together. "Ah, wonderful! This light honey blonde hue is perfect for you, Miss Songbird! But I must insist, you must love your hair more now. Give it care, affection! And if you’re ever too lazy, come to Kenji! I’ll make sure you’re always radiant from top to toe."

"Thank you, Kenji," she said with an awkward smile. "Can I have the bill, please?"

Kenji laughed, patting her shoulder. "Oh, sweet Miss Songbird, haven’t you ever been with a true gentleman? Mr. Kosonen has already taken care of everything. You don’t need to worry about that!"

Kaija blinked, once at Kenji, then at Charles, who was still toying absently with her hair with enthusiasm. When he met her gaze, he just gave her head a light pat and turned to Kenji.

"Good work," he said, shaking Kenji’s hand. Moments later, they were out of the salon.

"Thank you, Charles," Kaija said as they waited for the elevator. "I’ll make sure to pay you back after debut."

He raised an eyebrow, his tone cooling. "Can you not mention those tiny things again?"

Her gaze lowered. "Oh. Okay..."

He sighed, pulling her closer, his voice softening. "Consider it an investment. Just do your best. That’ll be enough."

She nodded quietly, then she noticed how he came back empty-handed though he’d said he’d do some shopping earlier. "So... you didn’t find anything you like?"

"On the contrary," he said, "There were too many bags. I sent them back to your room."

"Too many?" She suddenly felt slightly nervous. "Charles... how many?"

He thought for a moment. "Maybe twenty. Maybe twenty-five."

Her whole body went still.

"DOES THIS MAN HAVE A SHOPPING PROBLEM OR WHAT?!" she screamed in her head.

"How am I supposed to even wear that many?!" she panicked. "You don’t even know my size! What if they don’t fit?"

"They will," Charles shot back coolly. "I checked your clothes for sizes while you were asleep."

She just stared at him, speechless.

Then he added, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "I took your measurements too, to be sure."

Kaija’s face darkened until there was no light in it. Should she feel happy that her boss was such a caring and meticulous man, or terrified by the way he just... did things?

As they stepped into the elevator, Charles said, "I won’t be coming back to KE with you, unfortunately. Something came up at Kosonen Group while I was shopping."

"What thing?"

"Just some crooked politician trying to keep the media quiet. The election’s close. Kosonen Media handles these things often."

"Which politician?"

He hesitated, as if considering how much to share. "Simo Isota," he said at last, offering nothing more.

Kaija took the strange name in quietly. Though she’d pressed him, it was mostly out of curiosity. She had no idea who Simo Isota was, and she knew nothing about S Country’s politics or the sort of people he had to deal with either. But the way his brows drew together, his tone flattening out, she could tell it was serious.

"I could take a cab back," she said.

"No, I’ll have someone drive you. The same limousine that brought us here. Go to the North Gate. The chauffeur will find you there."

"Okay," she nodded. "So you won’t be back to your room tonight?"

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Are you sad?"

She startled, scowling. "No! It’s not like that!"

His smirk deepened. His hand slipped down to her hip, giving her bum a playful pat. "I’ll make it up to you."

"It’s okay!" she said quickly, smiling wryly. "You don’t have to!"

Charles didn’t argue. Instead, he pressed her against the elevator wall. The hand on her hip trailed up my back, pulling her closer, while his other hand tilted her chin up. Then his head lowered, his lips claimed hers in a long, slow kiss.

"Mmm... mmm..." was all the protest she could manage. Not that it did her any good.

Thankfully, no one called the elevator during that entire mortifying ride down. He only released her right before the doors slid open. By then, she was already a breathless, blushing mess.

"There’s... There’s a camera..." she said, still gasping for air.

What the hell was Charles thinking? These days anything could leak online. For someone as famous as him, wouldn’t that give him more problems to deal with?

"I know," he said, "Maybe you haven’t noticed, but Kosonen Group owns this building."

Kaija had no word left to say. She mumbled a quick goodbye, covered her burning face, and hurried toward the North Gate. Just as she stepped out of the entrance, a man in a black suit standing beside the familiar limousine waved at her, and she quickly got in.

"Argh... what a day," she groaned, rubbing her face as the vehicle pulled away.

Within a few hours, she’d somehow ended up with a completely new hairstyle, twenty-something shopping bags waiting in her room. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

What was supposed to be a fling with her big boss still showed no signs of stopping and the man was only getting more daring in the most inappropriate places. If she had to sit next to Charles again in this same car, who knew what else he might try this time?!

She leaned back to the seat, trying to relax. Then something caught her eye.

"Hmm? Wasn’t this seat brown leather with brown stitching? Why is it black now? And with brown stitching?"

She might have trouble recognizing faces sometimes, but she always noticed spatial details. The more she looked around, the more uneasy she felt. Did she just get into the wrong limousine? She couldn’t even remember what the chauffeur looked like.

"Hey, sorry, Mister," she said, tapping gently on the divider. "Um... Mr. Kosonen sent you, right?"

"Yes, Miss!" he replied quickly.

Relief washed over her. She thanked him and leaned back again, closing her eyes. Somewhere along the ride, she drifted off.

Her eyes only opened again when the car finally stopped. She got up, stretched a little bit, still feeling drowsy. The chauffeur didn’t come to open the door, but she didn’t think much of it. She reached for the handle.

It didn’t budge.