Chapter 104: The Family’s Warning

“What the hell is this? This is about you?”

After reading the article bearing the headline EXCLUSIVE, Chae Woo-seok looked at Go Ha-jin questioningly. He knew almost nothing about the man’s past.

Not only was even his name not his real one, but Ha-jin had always been reluctant to talk about his life before this. Woo-seok had merely assumed that he had lived a difficult life and had made his living through fraud from the beginning.

But the story about the man in the article was completely unfamiliar. If it hadn’t contained certain details that matched what Woo-seok knew about Go Ha-jin, he never would have associated it with Ha-jin’s past.

“…I suppose it is.”

The article was about the past of a celebrity referred to only as A. Draped in all sorts of sensational descriptions, the shocking truth behind an heir to a chaebol family that no one saw coming, the article began with an interview with a single person.

“The name I knew was Han Ji-woon. We met and dated when we were university students, and then one day, he disappeared like the wind. I only found out recently that I’d been scammed by A. Even now, I still find it hard to believe that he really was the one who scammed me. The Ji-woon I knew wasn’t that kind of person.”

It was the person Ha-jin had run into again at the opening ceremony of the art center, the victim of one of his past scams. Back then, Ha-jin had somehow managed to dodge the issue and get through the crisis.

Then the shocking incident involving the disposal of a corpse had driven that face from his mind, only for it to come rushing back now.

“So back then, you weren’t Go Ha-jin. You were Han Ji-woon.”

“…Well, yes. Like I said, I didn’t really have a name to begin with.”

“And after that, Araki Yuto…?”

“Haa… If I kept scamming people in the same place, someone would catch up with me pretty quickly. So I just went back and forth between Japan and Korea regularly. But that isn’t me. I’ve genuinely never heard that name before.”

The article itself did not contain much information. It featured interviews with people who had been defrauded by a man named Han Ji-woon and another named Araki Yuto, along with the revelation that, astonishingly, the two men were the same person.

From there, it went on to expose that the scammer was none other than the current celebrity A.

It briefly explained that A had recently married into a chaebol family and become famous through numerous charitable donations and various incidents, but there was more than enough information to infer that A was Go Ha-jin.

“The article cleverly mixes fact with fabrication. The parts about Korea are more or less accurate, but the Japan part is completely new to me.”

“Hmm…”

Chae Woo-seok continued reading the article as he listened to Ha-jin’s explanation.

“As evidence of A’s past crimes continues to emerge, if his identity is revealed, the repercussions are expected to be enormous…?”

“This is basically a threat.”

Woo-seok set the tablet down with a soft thud and let out a frustrated sigh.

“They’re taking this joke too far.”

“…What?”

Ha-jin had actually expected Woo-seok to get angry when he saw the article. He had anticipated being scolded for whatever he had done in the past. There was no way he could simply deny everything, either.

Since the article contained some truth mixed in with the lies, he couldn’t claim it was entirely fabricated. And he had no idea what evidence the people who released the article might possess regarding Han Ji-woon.

A lie told in an attempt to escape the immediate crisis could easily turn into something irreversible.

Yet Woo-seok had defied all his expectations. He had only asked whether the information was true and hadn’t questioned him about his past at all. All that agonizing over what excuse to make had been for nothing.

“Look. Every article surrounding this one is just gossip. Who the hell is going to read and believe something published by some third-rate trash newspaper like this? Even if they printed your real name, I doubt anyone would believe it.”

“Ah…”

“And why would they leak such a huge scoop to a place like that of all places? Look at how quiet our company has been. Nobody knows anything. That’s what it means.”

Woo-seok was convinced there was some very ulterior motive behind the article. How had a newspaper no one had even heard of managed to interview an alpha from the upper echelons of society?

On top of that, they had cleverly mixed truth and lies to reproduce the information in a sensationalized form.

Rather, it made more sense to assume that someone with access to such information had deliberately provided the material for some ulterior purpose.

“But you said it was a joke…? No matter how I look at it, this goes far beyond a joke.”

“A joke… No. Maybe I should call it a warning. Look at the last line of the article. ‘If his identity is revealed, the repercussions are expected to be enormous.’ What do you think that means? It means they can expose who you are at any time.”

“Come to think of it, they sent the article link directly to me, too. So… maybe they’re saying someone like me can be taken down whenever they want. Then perhaps…”

Ha-jin’s reasoning, which had been clouded by the shock of having his unwanted past exposed, was finally beginning to return. With Woo-seok’s help, he went through the clues one by one.

The article seemed less like an attempt to destroy him and more like a threat concerning something else.

“Maybe I’m not the only one they’re targeting.”

“Looks like we have quite a few people coming after us. Being a celebrity couple is hard.”

Woo-seok let out a heavy sigh and stood.

He had said it jokingly to lighten the mood, but Ha-jin had to agree. Without doing anything in particular, it felt as though people were rushing at them from every direction, trying to tear them apart.

Every time Ha-jin steeled himself to endure a little longer, something came along to knock him down again. Then again, all of this had been caused by his own past. Who was he to blame?

He didn’t even have the right to show how irritated he was.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

Woo-seok took off the clothes he had been wearing and loosened his tie. Then he picked up the tablet and his phone and headed back into the house.

“We’ll deal with this ourselves.”

“…What about making a deal with Chairman Chae?”

In truth, the easiest solution would have been to borrow Chae Il-joo’s power. They didn’t even know who was behind the threats. One wrong move could damage not only Ha-jin and Woo-seok but the entire Chae family.

But Woo-seok didn’t want to ask for help from someone whose true intentions he couldn’t understand. It would be like handing over another weakness for free. There was no telling how his father might try to use Ha-jin with this information.

He wasn’t going to give him that opportunity again.

“I’m not going to do that anymore. We can’t keep relying on our parents forever. Let’s try to solve this ourselves first.”

Ha-jin watched Woo-seok’s broad back as he walked ahead of him.

Sometimes he looked like an immature youngest son, but right now, he was the most dependable man Ha-jin knew.

A man Ha-jin felt he could lean on, just a little, at times like this.

****

“What did you call us here for?”

This was bad.

For two days, Ha-jin and Woo-seok had been putting their heads together, planning how to respond to the article and track down whoever was behind it, when they received a call.

Chairman Chae Il-joo wanted to see them.

As with all the messages they had been receiving lately, this one carried an ominous feeling.

Ha-jin and Woo-seok had gone to the company and were doing their best to appear calm in front of Il-joo, but both their hearts were pounding violently.

“I saw the article.”

Il-joo’s gaze settled directly on Ha-jin.

Surprisingly, there was no reproach or disgust in his eyes. As always, his expression revealed absolutely nothing about what he was thinking. It was impossible to tell whether his feelings were positive or negative.

“I won’t ask whether it’s true. At this point, it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

His next words were just as surprising.

There was no way Chairman Chae could be this forgiving…?

“Thank you… Chairman.”

Apparently, whoever had sent the message to Ha-jin had sent the same thing to Il-joo. Perhaps the person who had released the article had expected a different, more emotional response and had deliberately dragged Il-joo into it.

“However, this is something I can’t simply let slide.”

It happened in an instant.

Il-joo’s demeanor changed completely.

His voice became so cold that even Woo-seok, a dominant alpha, felt a chill run down the back of his neck.

The veins on the back of Il-joo’s hand stood out as he gripped his pen tightly, his fist trembling slightly.

“Father…?”

Then, with a sharp snap, the black pen broke cleanly in two.

“I can forgive everything else, but you know I can’t tolerate anyone touching my family or my children. No matter how useless a child is, he’s still my child.”

Ha-jin had a brief, foolish fantasy.

‘Does Chairman Chae actually consider me family? His child, even?’

Some part of him secretly wanted that to be true.

Was it because he wanted a father like Chae Il-joo?

No.

Perhaps it was simply the vague longing of someone who had never once been allowed inside the boundaries of a family.

But the fantasy didn’t last long.

“No matter how much you’re hated out there, you’re still my son. And they dared to lay a hand on you? Then I can’t just sit back and do nothing. The regular personnel reshuffle will be postponed until we catch the culprit. But if this takes too long, we’ll proceed with it as planned. So you find whoever released that article with Manager Kim.”

‘Of course.’

Once again, Chae Il-joo was angry only because of what had happened to Woo-seok.

Ha-jin knew this wasn’t the time or place to be thinking about such things, but he couldn’t help feeling bitter at the way Il-joo treated him as a complete outsider.

“Father! We should put that on hold for now…”

“Who would that benefit, you idiot? Isn’t that exactly what the bastard who released the article wants?”

Apparently, Il-joo had also correctly identified the motive behind the article.

The timing made it obvious.

The only thing someone could gain from releasing that article was preventing Ha-jin and Woo-seok from getting closer to the position of heir. It was natural to suspect that whoever had done this disliked that possibility.

Or perhaps they harbored a deep grudge against the Chae family.

There were far too many people who might fit that description for it to be particularly surprising.

The family had always faced countless attacks from outside.

“The more important it is to act calmly at times like this. If both of you establish yourselves within the company, unnecessary suspicion will disappear. I’ll deal with those people you interviewed. You two find the culprit. Quickly.”

“Haa… This is driving me crazy.”

Woo-seok let out a deep sigh.

He couldn’t argue because his father wasn’t wrong.

But what if something went wrong and Ha-jin’s true identity was exposed in its entirety…?

At that point, his father would probably dispose of Ha-jin as well.

Come to think of it, it was strange enough that Il-joo had accepted Ha-jin’s ugly past so readily even after it had been exposed.

‘What is he plotting this time?’

This was exactly why Woo-seok had wanted to deal with the matter before his father found out.

This was why.

“We understand. We’ll find them as quickly as possible.”

“You’d better. If it takes too long, I’ll handle it my way.”

There was no doubt about it.

Once again, this was a threat using Ha-jin as leverage.

‘Father really never does anything that falls outside expectations.’

****

“Let’s have a little talk.”

Chae Woo-seok was in an exceptionally foul mood.

The newspaper Kim had investigated was far more pathetic than expected. It barely had a proper office, and the people calling themselves reporters were hardly any better.

They were made up of people who had been unable to get into respectable media outlets, making money by churning out articles as though they were mass-produced. Naturally, sensational wording and provocative keywords were everywhere.

And the condition of the man who had written Ha-jin’s article was even worse.

He looked like an alcoholic.

The stench of liquor was strong enough to hit Woo-seok from several feet away, and the man’s face was visibly weathered from years of drinking.

Having to deal with someone like that personally was enough to make Woo-seok’s irritation shoot through the roof.

Still, this wasn’t something he could leave to someone else, so he had no choice but to handle it himself.

“Who…?”

“I’m from SHS.”

“W-why would someone from there…? I-I haven’t even written an article about your company…”

The reporter, who also served as the paper’s representative and editor-in-chief, was visibly flustered.

The moment he saw that reaction, Chae Woo-seok realized something.

‘This just got very interesting.’

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