The pulsing bass was so loud he could feel it in his bones before he even reached the door.
He knew this music. It was the demo for Hana's song, the powerful, aggressive track he had neutered. But this wasn't the version he'd sabotaged. This was the original, raw and unleashed, playing at a volume that threatened to shatter the windows.
Yoo-jin pushed open the door to the dance studio.
The scene inside was one of controlled fury. Hana was alone in the center of the vast, mirror-lined room. She was drenched in sweat, her movements sharp, violent, and flawlessly precise. She wasn't dancing. She was fighting. Every spin was a strike, every leap a barely contained scream of rage.
She saw his reflection in the mirror but didn't stop. She just pushed harder, her body a testament to years of grueling, elite training. She was a weapon, and she was reminding him of that fact.
He walked to the sound system and cut the music.
The sudden, ringing silence was more aggressive than the noise had been. Hana finally stopped, her chest heaving, her eyes burning holes into his reflection.
"Get out," she hissed, her voice dangerously low.
Yoo-jin didn't move. He took the small USB drive from his pocket and slid it across the polished floor. It stopped a few feet from her.
"What is that?" she demanded, contempt dripping from every word. "Another one of your tricks?"
"It contains two files," Yoo-jin said, his voice steady despite the pounding in his head from the simulation's after-effects. "The first is my signed, undated letter of resignation from Starforce Entertainment. The second is a full confession, detailing exactly how I manipulated the production process to ensure your song would fail."
Hana stared at the small piece of plastic as if it were a venomous snake. This was what she wanted. Proof. A weapon to destroy him. But she was too smart to believe it was that simple.
"Why?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "Why would you hand me the gun and the bullet?"
"Because you're right," he said, and the admission felt like swallowing glass. "I cheated. I sabotaged you. And you deserve to know why."
He told her everything. He didn't make excuses. He just laid out the facts like a coroner presenting a report. Chairman Moon's "patronage." Director Ahn's command on the rooftop. The threat against Kwon Ji-ho and his mother.
He watched her, his skill active, cataloging the storm of emotions warring across her face.
[Name: Lee Hana]
[Emotion: Fury -> Shock -> Disbelief -> dawning, bitter comprehension]
[Hidden Motivation: She is processing the fact that she was a pawn in her own father's game.]
The revelation that this was her father's doing, that her public humiliation was part of his grand strategy, hit her harder than anything else. Her personal failure was now a symptom of a familial betrayal.
"My father..." she whispered, the words filled with a new kind of poison. "He used me. To test you."
"He did," Yoo-jin confirmed. "And I played my part. I made a choice to sacrifice you to protect my team. It was unforgivable. But it was the only move I had."
He took a step closer. The air between them crackled with tension. "That USB drive is your revenge. You can leak it. You can ruin me. Director Park would give you a medal. My career would be over before the movie OST even premieres."
He paused, letting the weight of her power settle. "But a queen doesn't just execute the traitor. She takes his strength and adds it to her own."
This was it. The 55% gamble.
"Forget the OST," he said, his voice dropping, becoming conspiratorial, seductive. "It's Mina's now. Let her have it. A single hit song for a movie is a spark. You and I, we can create an inferno. Your solo debut album. Let me produce it."
A short, ugly laugh escaped her lips. "You want me to trust you? The man who just admitted to stabbing me in the back?"
"Don't trust me," Yoo-jin countered immediately. "Trust my ambition. Trust my desperation. My survival is now completely dependent on your success. I rigged the game against you once because I was ordered to. Now, I will rig it for you. I will use every dirty trick, every system insight, every connection I have to make your debut the most successful solo launch this industry has seen in a decade."
He wasn't just offering to make her an album. He was offering her a weapon. Himself.
"We will crush Aurora," he continued, his voice a low, intense promise. "We will crush Isabelle Moon. We will make your name so big that everyone forgets Choi Mina's name was ever mentioned in the same breath. I will give you a victory so absolute that what happened today becomes nothing more than a footnote in the legend of your rise."
He could see it in her eyes. The conflict. The logical part of her knew this was the smartest move. Vengeance was a fleeting pleasure. Dominance was forever.
[Her desire for 'Revenge' is warring with her desire for 'Success'.]
[The scales are tipping.]
"And what's your price?" she asked, her voice dangerously soft. "You wouldn't do this out of the goodness of your heart."
"My price is your silence," he said. "The USB is your insurance policy. The moment you feel I'm not giving you everything, you burn me. But as long as we are working towards your throne, what I did remains our secret. A foundation of mutual benefit built on a shared betrayal."
It was a devil's bargain. A partnership forged in the fires of deceit.
Hana walked over and picked up the USB drive. She held it between her thumb and forefinger, looking from it to him. The entire future of the Special Projects Team, his career, his very power, rested in that tiny piece of plastic.
She closed her hand, concealing the drive.
"Fine," she said, her voice as cold and clear as ice. "You're my producer now. My personal producer. You will dedicate 80% of your time and resources to my album. Mina gets the scraps. That's the first condition."
Yoo-jin nodded. "Done."
"Second," she continued, taking a step towards him, invading his personal space. "You will never lie to me again. You will use your... 'insight'... to give me every advantage. I want to know what the critics will hate, what the fans will love, what my rivals are planning. You will be my eyes and ears."
"Agreed."
"And third," she said, stopping just a foot away from him. He could see the exhaustion and the fire in her eyes. "You work for me, but don't ever think we are partners. You are a tool. A means to an end. The moment you cease to be useful..."
She didn't need to finish the sentence. The USB drive in her fist said it all.
"I understand completely," Yoo-jin said.
She held his gaze for a moment longer, then turned away. "Get out of my studio. And send Ji-ho to me. We're starting over. From scratch. Tell him I want something that sounds like a coronation."
As Yoo-jin walked out, the immense pressure in his chest finally eased. The 55% gamble had paid off. He hadn't just survived. He had forged a new, terrifying, and powerful alliance.
He leaned against the wall in the hallway, his legs weak with relief. His phone buzzed. It was a new text, from the same number as before.
He braced himself and looked at the screen.
Deal.