What do you call a tornado sweeping through a gentlemen's room?
Holy crap.
That was exactly how Jihoon felt about Mara—chaotic, clueless, and completely unpredictable.
On paper, she was just an air-headed assistant he had hired out of sympathy.
Her resume painted her as the daughter of a struggling single mother, and Jihoon, softhearted for once, thought he'd give her a chance.
But what he heard now didn't match that story at all.
Especially not after discovering her true identity.
Mara Murdoch.
The heiress of the Murdoch family.
The very Murdoch family that controlled the arteries of global media.
Jihoon had heard of them in both this life and his past one, but he had never expected to cross paths so soon.
He knew the film industry and the media industry were bound to intersect eventually, but to have one of the heirs standing in front of him—his very own assistant no less—was surreal.
The longer he looked at Mara, the dumber he felt.
Not because the clues weren't there. They were.
He had just been blinded by her natural, almost weaponized dumbness.
If he had looked closer at her clothes, the quality of the fabric, the jewelry she wore so casually, or the way she treated money like it was pocket lint, he would have realized she wasn't living the poor-girl story she had sold him.
The image of a pitiful daughter from a broken home had all been a lie.
Still reeling, Jihoon stared at her, his voice laced with disbelief.
"Mara… Murdoch? Y-you mean… the Murdoch family?"
Mara blinked at him, wide-eyed and innocent, like a bunny caught in a flashlight beam. His tone confused her.
"Yeah… why? Is that weird?" she asked, tilting her head, genuinely puzzled by his reaction.
Jihoon's brain went off like a wrecking ball.
It never hit so hard in life.
All it wanted was to break his walls.
All it ever did was wreck him up.
That was the BGM playing in his head right now.
Even though she had just confessed her true identity, he couldn't quite grasp it.
His thoughts scattered like glass on marble.
Finally, after a long pause, Jihoon managed to ask, "…So, what—you want JH's shares?"
"No, no, no!" Mara quickly shook her index finger left to right, her expression brightening like she had just solved a puzzle. "Not like that. I want to trade with you!"
Jihoon narrowed his eyes. "Trade?"
"Yes!" She clapped her hands once, proud of her idea. "I have a few Netflix shares, and I know you want them. So I'll trade them for shares in JH! That way, I get to be an owner too!"
Jihoon's jaw went slack.
Her logic was so pure, so naïve, it almost hurt to listen to.
Negotiation, in Mara's world, wasn't about valuation, equity, or market strength.
It was about childlike fairness—"I give you mine, you give me yours, now we're both happy."
But the reality? The comparison was laughably absurd.
JH's shares, while not publicly traded nor anywhere close to an IPO, were already skyrocketing in private valuation.
Thanks to the buzz around the newly built Horror Cinematic Universe, the company had become the talk of the industry.
Anyone with half a brain or even a basic understanding of box office trends would instantly recognize the true potential locked inside JH.
Especially in today's market, his company was the bigger fish by far, commanding more weight than Netflix, which was still stumbling its way through its growing pains.
Yet Jihoon, armed with knowledge from his past life, couldn't shake the irony.
He knew exactly how this story would end.
The tables would turn, and Netflix, the clumsy little upstart would eventually rise into a global streaming titan, a half-trillion-dollar juggernaut that would dominate how the entire world consumed entertainment.
And then there was Mara.
The sweet, clueless Mara.
She was holding out those Netflix shares with the same innocence as a child offering candy at recess—bright-eyed, expectant, and utterly unaware of the ridiculousness of her proposal.
For a long moment, Jihoon just sat there in silence, caught between laughter and disbelief, wondering if this girl was trying to trade marbles for gold.
Still, Jihoon wasn't foolish enough to dismiss her outright.
He knew better than to agree instantly, because behind Mara stood a name that carried a very different kind of weight.
The Murdoch family wasn't just another business clan—they represented power in media, influence in politics, and reach across the globe.
Depending on who was truly behind this deal, the meaning could change entirely.
So Jihoon leaned forward, his tone cautious.
"Is this you asking… or your family?"
There was a reason for the question.
If it was just Mara acting on her own, then the consequences might be limited—perhaps only implicating herself and maybe a few close relatives.
But if it was the Murdoch family stepping in, then things became far more complicated.
That would mean JH could eventually be dragged under their empire, reduced to a subsidiary—or worse, a puppet dancing on invisible strings.
Jihoon had no intention of letting that happen.
Mara, however, blinked at him with innocent confusion.
"Is there… a difference?"
Jihoon nearly facepalmed on the spot.
A surge of despair crashed through his head—explaining this to her would be like teaching advanced economics to a rabbit.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
He let out a long sigh, rubbing at his temples.
"Just tell me straight. Who's buying it? You? Your mom? Or your family?"
He didn't bother to spell out all the implications.
If he explained everything—the difference between personal investment, family investment, and corporate takeover—he'd be stuck giving a lecture for the rest of the day.
It was easier to cut through the mess and get straight to the answer.
Mara tapped her chin, clearly still not grasping his concern, but she answered without hesitation.
"Oh… it's me buying it."
Jihoon studied her carefully, his brows furrowing. "So you're buying it under your own name, right?"
Mara nodded enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling as if she were about to receive her favorite new toy.
"Yeah!"
Jihoon rubbed his chin again, slowly nodding.
"I see…"
Her response settled at least part of his concern. If it was under her name, then it wasn't the Murdoch family's hand pulling the strings—at least not directly.
Still, as he sat back, Jihoon couldn't help but wonder about the possibilities this deal could open up.