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From what he overheard, it seemed the KMS reporters were blocking a journalist who had tipped off other broadcasting stations about suspicious circumstances surrounding Joo-Hyuk from entering the building.
“Well, I still have unfinished business with KMS,” the journalist said.
“No matter what you say, we’re not letting you in. Never! Why don’t you go to your beloved KO Broadcasting instead?”
“Do you really think blocking me will change the truth?”
“You keep talking about the truth, but no one here believes your trashy article!”
Actually, there was someone here who fully believed that article—Gang-Woon himself.
Suppressing the urge to raise his hand and reveal himself, Gang-Woon stepped outside the broadcasting station for now. Standing in a corner, he pulled out a cigarette from his back pocket and lit it. Just then, the journalist he’d seen earlier appeared to have been chased out, walking toward him with a sour expression. The man reached into his coat pocket for a cigarette and attempted to light it but seemed to realize he didn’t have a lighter. He looked at Gang-Woon hesitantly.
“Excuse me, could I borrow a light…?”
“Yes, here.”
Thinking this was perfect, Gang-Woon lit the journalist’s cigarette.
“Thank you.”
“Do you work for KMS?”
“Oh, no. I’m a freelance journalist.”
“A freelance journalist?”
Tilting his head curiously, Gang-Woon watched as the journalist smirked and pulled out his wallet from his bag, handing over a business card.
“Ah, are you perhaps… the journalist who uncovered the corruption of KMS’s CEO?”
“Oh, you’ve heard of me?”
“Of course. You’re quite famous these days! You’ve done something remarkable.”
Pretending not to know about the earlier altercation inside, Gang-Woon flattered Mr. Seo. The journalist puffed up his chest slightly and laughed confidently.
“Not everyone thinks like you do.”
“Really?”
“Of course. There are still people who believe in CEO Choi Joo-Hyuk.”
“Why don’t you believe in CEO Choi?”
“Well…”
Mr. Seo hesitated for a moment, took a drag of his cigarette, and then flicked the butt onto the ground.
“It’s ridiculous how he pretends to be righteous and noble after growing his company with dirty money, don’t you think?”
While his eyes darted around the broadcasting station, wary of being overheard, his words flowed freely.
Gang-Woon felt his blood boil. A perfect way to exact revenge on Joo-Hyuk and his father had just come to mind.
This is it.
With his fist clenched tightly despite the sweat soaking his palms, Gang-Woon looked at Mr. Seo with a serious expression.
“Journalist.”
“Yes?”
“I have something to report to you. If I tell you, will you handle it properly?”
“A tip?”
“It’s about KMS CEO Choi Joo-Hyuk and his father. I trust you’ll report only the truth without distortion.”
He deliberately emphasized the word “truth.” As expected, Mr. Seo’s initially suspicious expression brightened instantly.
“Of course! What is it you’re reporting?”
“The two of them are connected to my parents’ deaths.”
“What?”
This was clearly an unexpected revelation.
Gang-Woon smirked at Mr. Seo, whose eyes widened in shock. For Gang-Woon, who had been racking his brain over how to dramatically reveal this fact to Joo-Hyuk, meeting Mr. Seo felt like fate.
Life sure is amazing, isn’t it, Choi Joo-Hyuk?
He couldn’t wait to see the look on Joo-Hyuk’s face when Mr. Seo’s report came out, shattering his arrogant facade.
“Have you ever heard of Hanseol Steel?”
“Hanseol Steel? Hmm…”
“It’s a steel company that once received a large investment from NextOne but went bankrupt after the investment was abruptly withdrawn.”
“Oh, I vaguely remember hearing about it.”
Mr. Seo’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“Why are you bringing up Hanseol Steel…?”
“It was my father’s company.”
“What? …Wait, are you saying that person who committed suicide…? I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Given how much of an issue their parents’ suicides had been, it was natural for him to immediately think of that.
“Do you think Chairman Choi’s withdrawal of the investment drove your parents to suicide?”
“I’m not speculating—it’s a fact.”
“On what basis?”
“Because I witnessed Chairman Choi meeting with my father.”
“Huh?”
Surprising, right?
Gang-Woon had never forgotten even a single moment of that day.
“There was still a month left until the repayment deadline, wasn’t there?”
“How can I wait when my money is about to turn into worthless scraps?”
“Please, Chairman Choi. For the sake of our long-standing relationship, please give us more time…”
“What relationship? That was only relevant when you were useful to my business. Do you even realize how much damage your company is causing me? If your company collapses in a month, do you think I’ll be able to recover anything? Are you going to offer me one of your organs instead?”
“Please, please, I beg of you. I need to survive too, don’t I?”
“Whether you live or die is none of my concern! Pay me back now! If you don’t, I might just kill you myself!”
Even after his father’s desperate plea, Chairman Choi had grabbed him by the collar and shouted relentlessly.
In the end, Chairman Choi only left after taking part of the investment in the form of paintings and gold bars from their house.
Gang-Woon, hiding in his room, watched his father’s stunned face through a slightly open door before quietly closing it.
---
“What the hell is this supposed to mean?”
Eun-Woo burst into the CEO’s office, her face bright red. She was in an extreme state of agitation, unable to control her emotions as panic and anger surged within her.
She slammed a newspaper onto Joo-Hyuk’s desk. The front page was plastered with headlines alleging that Chairman Choi had driven his friend to death.
“Calm down.”
“How can I possibly calm down?”
If she didn’t calm down, then what?
Joo-Hyuk gritted his teeth as he looked at Eun-Woo. He was just as panicked and angry as she was. He had no idea that the truth Gang-Woon had hinted at would drag him into such filthy mud.
Then again, lately, he hadn’t been able to predict anything.
“Is it true?”
Eun-Woo asked, her face serious as she gnawed on her nails, clearly hoping it wasn’t true.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“It’s true that Gang-Woon’s parents passed away. It’s also true that my father met Gang-Woon’s father that day. But I didn’t know my father ruined his business.”
He didn’t know how Gang-Woon had met Mr. Seo, but two days after Gang-Woon’s visit, another explosive report by Mr. Seo aired on OK News this morning.
The gist was that 11 years ago, Chairman Choi had invested in Gang-Woon’s father, who was both a neighbor and a friend. When the business faltered, Chairman Choi demanded the immediate return of the investment, threatening him. Despite Gang-Woon’s father’s desperate pleas for mercy, Choi allegedly pushed him toward suicide by saying he could either repay the money or die.
He knew his father was cold-hearted and ruthless, but why hadn’t he realized his father was capable of driving someone to death?
Or perhaps, deep down, he had already known but refused to admit it.
“Could it… actually be true?”
Eun-Woo collapsed onto the sofa, her face filled with despair.
“Could it?”
“Yes.”
Joo-Hyuk nodded.
Could it be true? No, it’s definitely true. My father is that kind of person.
Sadly, infuriatingly, that was the truth.
Only now did he have no choice but to acknowledge it.
“This is bad news!”
Suddenly, the office door swung open, and Secretary Park rushed in, drenched in sweat.
“What’s going on?”
“The prosecution has arrived with a search warrant for KMS. The labor union is blocking them, claiming it’s an attack on press freedom.”
Joo-Hyuk stood up and walked to the window. Outside, he saw a standoff between a group of men in black suits and reporters at the main gate.
“This is serious.”
Eun-Woo muttered under her breath.
“If we just let them conduct the search, it’ll feel like we’re losing our dignity as a media company. But if we resist, it might look like we have something to hide.”
“Now’s not the time to worry about dignity. They won’t find anything connected to politics anyway, so it’s better to just cooperate.”
“That may be true for us, but employee morale will take a hit. This is a place full of people who specialize in resisting authority.”
Joo-Hyuk couldn’t help but smirk at Eun-Woo’s blunt way of describing journalists as people skilled at resisting power.
“How can you laugh at a time like this?”
“Sorry.”
He covered his mouth with his hand to suppress the smile.
“I agree with you—it doesn’t feel right to just stand by and let them execute the warrant without any pushback. So, putting on a little show wouldn’t hurt, right?”
“Exactly.”
“For now, let’s leave things as they are.”
This time, it was Eun-Woo who smiled.
Several dozen minutes later, when the two of them stepped outside, reporters from KMS were blocking a group of men in suits at the main gate. The atmosphere was tense, verging on the brink of physical confrontation.
Joo-Hyuk and Eun-Woo pushed through the crowd of reporters and stood in front of the group of suited men.
“Who are you here from?”
“Are you CEO Choi Joo-Hyuk?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
One of the men pulled out a document from his jacket and handed it to Joo-Hyuk.
“I’m Prosecutor Lee Shin-Hak from the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office.”
The document Prosecutor Lee handed over was a search warrant. While Joo-Hyuk had anticipated an investigation following Mr. Seo’s report alleging public opinion manipulation during the last legislative election, he hadn’t expected the search warrant to be issued so quickly.
“We will now begin the search and seizure operation.”
“But we weren’t notified,” Eun-Woo interjected before the prosecutor could respond.
“And you are?”
“The editor-in-chief—no, the broadcasting director of KMS.”
“We applied for a preliminary warrant two hours ago, and the warrant was issued thirty minutes ago.”
“We knew about the preliminary warrant application, but are you telling me a judge issued the warrant within an hour? Isn’t that a bit too deliberate?”
“Hmph.”
Prosecutor Lee snorted derisively, looking down at Eun-Woo with an air of exasperation.
“Director, don’t you think it would be more beneficial for everyone if we just carried out the warrant peacefully?”
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