Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 82: Valuable Customer

When Kaija was offering her final bows to the audience after finishing her performance, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the furthest back row.

With her 10/10 vision, and with the small black bag the young man always carried everywhere, along with the black leather jacket he always wore to their weekly photoshoots, it wasn’t hard for her to tell it was Juho Isota.

Though everyone else was on their feet, Juho remained seated coolly, alone among the empty red chairs, arms folded in front of him like he refused to join the crowd cheering for her.

Not that she was upset he didn’t appreciate her performance. What surprised her was the memory of asking him, during their shoot just a week ago, whether he’d come to see the festival.

"I’m not a fan of crowded places," he’d said nonchalantly as he packed his gear into that same small black bag now sitting by his side.

She paused briefly at the memory, before quickly retreating backstage.

After coming to the waiting room with Antony, she met Dani and Esko and was instantly drowned in their hugs and compliments.

Esko was the most excited. He practically leapt at her when she walked in, screaming "My superstar! You absolutely killed it! Woohoo! I’m so so so so proud of you!" into her ear, making her cringe.

Dani, strangely, was much calmer, like she’d already expected this outcome. She simply gave Kaija a pat on the shoulder and whispered, "Good job, my girl," like a proud mother. Then her attention shifted entirely to the pretty blue dress Kaija had somehow managed to find out of nowhere.

Soon, the remaining contestants swarmed around Kaija with admiration in their eyes, and she began feeling a little exhausted from too many social interactions happening at once.

"I’m gonna go outside for some fresh air for a bit. You guys stay here and enjoy the show," she told Antony, Dani, and Esko before slipping out of the room.

Once outside, a heavy, relieved breath escaped her. Then she looked down at her hands.

They were still cold and trembling, the blood not rushing back to them yet. All of it must have been concentrated in her brain to keep her conscious, or in her lungs to keep her breathing until now.

Her stomach growled. The hot chocolate at Antony’s place had kept her running so far, but after burning through all her energy onstage, she was suddenly starving.

With all the festival stalls already closed, she had no choice but to head to the café under the Production building. She knew the Production building never fully shut down, even on festival night, which meant the café would still be open for the producers and staff there.

She got herself a mocha. The caffeine would ruin her sleep later, but she needed to stay awake until the winner announcement. Just as she was about to return to the concert hall, she caught a glimpse of a familiar black leather jacket at the threshold.

Juho was standing by the large column outside the building, now wearing a black cap and mask, his camera bag slung across his body. His attention was fixed on his phone, fingers moving quickly like he was texting, so he didn’t notice Kaija watching him through the café’s clear glass door.

The moment he lifted his head and started walking into the building, she jolted into the corner, pulling the collar of her long coat higher so he wouldn’t recognize her honey blonde hair.

When she pressed her gaze to the glass door again, he had already disappeared behind the emergency exit door.

Inside the exit, Juho headed downward instead of up. The stairs took him down two floors until he reached a sealed grey box once connected to the building’s electrical system. It now lay abandoned, waiting for him to make use of it.

He quickly took out ten small white bottles from a hidden pocket in his bag, his sharp emerald eyes gleaming in the dim light as he checked them one last time, before placing them inside the box and sealing the cover neatly back in place.

Raimo was a particularly lazy customer, always whining about how busy he was and refusing to come to Juho’s chosen pickup point.

However, this lazy customer placed large orders, so losing him would be a waste. The guy was always ordering on behalf of other producers in the building, and a night like this was the best opportunity to deliver the order to the Production building.

With his father walking free from the investigation now, Juho couldn’t afford to do a sloppy job and risk losing any name on his long list of customers at KE.

Good thing he hadn’t done anything reckless in the past weeks that might’ve revealed his intention to bring his father down.

He knew how widespread his father’s network was, how the old man could flip a dire situation around overnight by making a few calls, shaking a few hands, giving up a few territories, or simply stepping away from the presidential race.

He also knew how hard it would be to convince his father’s loyal underlings to come under his wing.

So he had chosen to wait and see, and the waiting had paid off. Now he could return to playing the role of a useful, capable youngest son, continuing to gather more power in secret until his resources were solid enough for a total takeover.

With a final bitter smirk, he descended to the last floor, stopping in front of the door at the end of the stairs. The door was locked, but he had the staff key card Raimo had given him.

This door led to the basement connecting all the buildings in this part of the campus. It used to be a parking garage, but ever since the new parking building was constructed, it had been left abandoned.

Still, many long-term producers had grown used to commuting between buildings through the basement, and some of them still had key cards.

Just as he swiped the card and the door opened with a soft ding, he heard the emergency exit door creak open above him.

The moment Kaija stepped into the exit, she heard a ding echo from several floors below. Her brow furrowed. She strained her ears for footsteps above, assuming Juho had gone up, but hearing none, her attention shifted to the faint ding from below.

Drawing in a deep breath, she began descending the stairs.