Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 88: Do It Properly

"What do you mean you’ve lost?" Juho’s brow furrowed.

Having watched both Kaija’s performance and Liisi’s before leaving, he was certain who was more deserving of the grand prize tonight. Now that Kaija had returned without the trophy in hand, he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

When Juho told Kaija a week ago that he didn’t like crowded places, he was actually telling the truth. However, a festival night like this came with larger orders and smoother distribution. He couldn’t miss out on such an opportunity.

After the break, he’d been waiting for everyone to settle back inside the concert hall before sneaking out to deliver the remaining orders for the night. He’d planned to wait until at least one post-break performance finished before heading out, to ensure no stray guests were lingering outside and might catch sight of him in the act.

However, the last thing he expected was seeing Kaija walking onto the stage for that very performance.

As one of KE’s most in-demand photographers, Juho had received countless requests from trainees and artists to shoot their festival competition cover photos.

Since Kaija had never asked, he assumed she wasn’t competing. But now that she was on stage, looking stunning and confident in that beautiful blue dress, he didn’t know what to feel anymore, being her only photographer.

A strange irritation rose in his chest. He tossed his camera bag onto an empty seat at the back row before dropping himself into the chair beside it, arms folded tightly.

If she’d hidden her participation from him, then he really wanted to see exactly what kind of performance she’d prepared.

After her short introduction, Kaija moved to the chair and struck a pose. Instinctively, he reached for his camera, removed the cap, adjusted the settings with practiced hands, and began snapping photos, as if he were compensating for the cover shoot she’d never asked him for.

But the camera didn’t stay in his hands for long. Once Kaija started singing, his finger froze on the shutter button.

Slowly, he lowered the camera, turned it off, and set it aside. A performance like this needed to be watched with his own eyes, not through a viewfinder.

She danced on the chair like flowing water, elegant and unhurried, even if the moves weren’t complex. With her long, wavy golden hair spilling around that floating blue dress, she looked to him like a goddess dancing beneath a full, blue moon night.

And not just that. Only in that very moment did Juho realize — although he’d long known Kaija was signed as a singer with KE, he’d never, ever heard her sing.

When the performance ended and the audience rose to their feet, Juho remained seated, unmoving, still trying to process the emotions tearing through his senses during those four intense minutes.

He’d always cared more for visual arts than for auditory ones like music, but a voice like that? Singing something that difficult? Even someone as clueless and disinterested as he was felt blessed to have witnessed such an extraordinary experience.

And now Kaija was telling him she lost?

Not that Liisi’s performance was bad. It was pretty good. It just wasn’t sensational.

"Well, that’s how the result was..." Kaija said, scratching her head.

"You sound like you don’t care whether you won at all," he muttered, displeased by her response.

"I’m more concerned about how to sneak you out of my place now that those men in suits aren’t roaming around anymore," she said, tossing her coat aside.

The night had been long enough.

Before coming back here, she’d spent the entire elevator ride gasping for air under Karl’s lips.

The moment the elevator doors slid shut, Karl had already pressed her against the wall, pecking her lips like a hungry baby chick.

Only when the lift reached the 19th floor did she manage to push him away and out of the elevator, much to Karl’s displeasure. She could still see his sulking face, with his brow knit together and his cheeks puffed when the doors closed again.

Now, all she wanted to do was get Juho out of her place safely and quietly, have a hot shower, slip into comfy pajamas, and get some proper rest.

And yet, look at this young man standing in front of her, wearing absolutely nothing but a white bath robe, its belt loosely tied around his hips.

His hair was still damp like he’d thoroughly enjoyed a good bath while she was away. His white shirt and black kaki jeans from earlier were already washed, now tumbling inside her dryer, sending low humming sounds to the living room that they were in now.

He looked more than ready to enjoy a deep, thorough sleep at her place tonight than being sent away anytime soon, and just thinking of that already made her head spin.

Juho, for his part, was utterly speechless.

Was that really all she was thinking about right now? Getting rid of him immediately?

"Are you sure they’ve cleared out?" he asked, his face slightly twitching.

"I’m pretty sure," she replied quickly. "On my way back I didn’t see any. Besides, all the gates are open again and thousands of people are leaving campus. If you want to leave without drawing attention, you should go now."

Juho fell silent. Turns out Kaija wasn’t clueless at all. She knew those men were after him as well. Not only did she let him hide in her place, she’d even thought of a way to get him out and had taken note of the gates.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked, watching for any hint of deception on her face.

"You helped me out, didn’t you?" she shrugged. "I’m returning the favor."

"So this is about that?"

Kaija raised a brow. For a second she wasn’t sure whether she’d imagined it, or whether she detected a flicker of disappointment in his voice.

"Um... yeah. What else would it be about?" she replied, confused.

Then Juho fell quiet again, and the air turned awkward.

After a long pause, much to Kaija’s surprise, he shook his head.

"No," he said, face serious, "I’m sure they’re still checking everyone passing through the gates. Besides, I already told my old man I’m not coming home tonight. If I turn up now, it’ll look like I lied."

Her face darkened as she realized where this was going. "Are you saying... you’re going to stay here tonight?" He had said during the call he’d found some blue-eyed model to spend the night with. Wait, didn’t she have blue eyes too?

"Is it not possible?" he shrugged, dropping onto the couch like she’d already invited him. "You did say you wanted to return the favor, right? If that’s the case, do it properly, Kaija Sepala."