Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 39: Who Hit You?

"I can’t believe you never knew where the event office was," Dani scowled as the two of them stepped out of the registration office.

Kaija scowled back. "How am I supposed to know every single thing? This whole place is huge." Camille had already given her a tour, but she was no memory card.

"How long have you been here again?"

"Um... well, I signed a month ago, but I’ve only been around a little more than a week."

Dani gave her a judging look. "I didn’t know debtors could go inside the campus."

"Not because of that!" she squeaked. "Just some... family problems." She couldn’t possibly tell Dani about the kidnapping.

"Huh." Dani’s judging look didn’t fade. "No wonder you don’t know anything at all. If so, you better get to it soon, girl. Once you’ve got a song, tell me. Then we can start working on the choreography."

Kaija’s brow furrowed. "Hey, wait a minute. Not only do I have to write the song, but I also have to produce it, right? I don’t know anything about production."

Dani let out a long sigh. "Oh girl, you’re really clueless. What are producers for?"

"Producers?"

"Yeah," Dani shrugged. "Go find yourself one. There are plenty of them here. You’ll have to work with them after debut anyway. Ask your manager to reach out to the Production Department for you."

There was no part in the training program that mentioned working with a producer. Kaija had passed the Production building a few times, but never gone in. She supposed that part only came after finishing all the basic training.

She gave Dani a playful pat on the shoulder. "Got it, madam! I won’t let you down!"

They parted ways since Dani had more practice sessions with other artists, while Kaija had... that modeling session again.

She sighed. She wasn’t ready to see Juho again so soon.

Just thinking of him, of everything she’d learned about him so far, how she used to get all nervous and blushing at the thought of him, already made her squirm.

She was grateful he’d helped her with the bruises and got her out of there, but God, no. She refused to trust anything that came out of him now, be it words or actions.

Putting on her mental iron armor, she headed to the photo studio. Juho was already inside, sitting by the window with his camera ready in his hand.

There was no expression on his face, just a calm, blank look as he stared outside. The afternoon light played softly across his cheeks, making the emerald of his eyes sparkle like polished gems.

Weeks ago, a sight like that would have stolen her breath away. Now, there was nothing in her but wariness and the bitter feeling of being betrayed. She realized all the feelings she’d had for him had faded away without her even noticing.

Sensing her presence, he turned his gaze her way. His lips no longer curved into a faint warm smile, his face emotionless.

Her breath caught. There were faint blue marks, well covered by a thin veil of liquid foundation around his cheekbones, and a small, barely healed cut on his lip.

Something clenched in her chest. What were those marks? Could it be that he’d been beaten for letting her go? For helping her escape?

Her lips trembled faintly. "Who hit you?"

Juho didn’t reply. He kept staring at me in silence, his eyes calm and still like a lake.

Her voice tightened. "Was it Simo Isota?"

His eyes widened slightly, then quickly became unreadable again. "You’ve met Charles Kosonen already?" he asked, his tone flat.

"He came to see me last night," she shrugged. "Turns out my life was threatened because some ambitious politician has too many dirty secrets to bury."

Juho fell silent again, neither denying nor confirming anything.

"What is your relationship with Simo Isota?" she asked, her voice wary.

Juho didn’t answer. Of course, he wouldn’t give her an answer so easily. He really had to test her patience like that. "Alright, if you’re not telling me then I’m going." She turned to leave.

"He’s my father."

She froze mid-step. "Your father?" She spun around at once. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Juho only gave her a slight nod, his gaze darting away.

She stepped closer. "Your father hit you?" she asked, my voice shaking with anger and disbelief.

Juho merely shrugged. "He didn’t have to. He has men who do it for him, you know?"

The nonchalant way he said those words only fueled her rage. She clenched her fists, trying to swallow it down. "So he found out you let me go?" she pressed.

"No," he scoffed, his tone light. "If that were the case, I wouldn’t be here now. I’d probably be at the bottom of some river. I just made it look like you escaped on your own, but my father doesn’t like useless sons who can’t even keep a girl in one place. But this is nothing, really. I’ve been through worse."

Her control snapped. She lunged at him, clenched the collar of his shirt, and yanked him hard. "Do you even hear what you’re saying?" she screamed at his face. "You already knew you’d get beaten if you let me go? You knew you might even get killed?!"

Juho blinked, his face surprise, like she was overreacting to something trivial in his mind. "Relax," he sighed. "I knew my way around it. I wouldn’t have done it if I couldn’t handle the consequences."

She clenched his shirt even tighter, her voice bursting out. "Even so! You shouldn’t have risked yourself for me! I don’t even know what to feel anymore!"

Frustration flooded through her despite herself. She’d prepared her mind, braced herself not to believe a single word he said today. So why was this man making her lose it so easily with that maddeningly calm attitude? Why did she still care more than she should?

His expression softened again. "Maybe I should have," he murmured quietly. "If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been captured in the first place."

She stared at him, her grip on his collar loosening.

"It was my idea anyway," he finished, his voice barely a whisper.

She let go completely, her hands falling to her sides. "Let’s just get to the shoot," she said flatly.

Just as she turned away, his hand caught her wrist.

She looked down at him over her shoulder. "What?"

He gazed up at her, his eyes heavy with longing, his voice small. "I know it’s a bad thing to ask... but would you forgive me?"