Chapter 105: The Man Behind the Article

“Let’s talk somewhere quiet first. It’ll be better for you, too.”

Certain that the man would follow, Chae Woo-seok walked ahead without looking back. Someone from a tiny operation like this would be easy to persuade, with money. There was no reason for him to lower himself during such a brief meeting.

Just as expected, the man followed closely behind with hesitant steps. Whatever the situation was, he seemed to think this was an opportunity of sorts. After all, getting a chance to work with SHS could be a very big opportunity indeed.

They entered a nearby café and took a seat in a secluded corner. The reporter sat across from Woo-seok.

“I recently found out that The Seoul News has been publishing some pretty interesting articles.”

“Ah, yes. Well, these days, even news outlets have a hard time making a living, so we don’t have much of a choice. But I hope you won’t misunderstand. The stories aren’t completely made up. We did have to work hard to dig up the information ourselves.”

“There are a few articles I found interesting, too. With investigative skills like that, I imagine you could put your abilities to good use somewhere else as well. Don’t you think?”

“Hah, you’re young, but you’ve got a good eye. Honestly, I don’t want to write that kind of gossip either. If only I had the opportunity, I could really show what I’m capable of. If only I had the opportunity.”

The reporter smiled greedily. He had placed particular emphasis on the word opportunity.

Woo-seok thought this was perfect. People this greedy were actually much easier to deal with.

“As it happens, our broadcasting network has been having a hard time finding decent stories lately…”

He was referring to the general programming channel owned by SHS.

Strictly speaking, it churned out stories of a quality comparable to The Seoul News, but it was still an established broadcasting network, putting it in a position that an online outlet like The Seoul News couldn’t even dream of challenging.

“So I think we might be able to form some kind of partnership. Don’t you?”

“…A-a-a partnership? With us?”

Woo-seok thought this was almost too easy.

He had wondered whether he would have to hand the man a large sum of money, but perhaps he could hook him without spending a single won.

The reporter’s previously dull eyes were suddenly full of life, and he looked as delighted as though he had already become an official partner company.

“I think you’d fit well with our news division, too. There could be some good synergy between us.”

“Exactly! I knew you had a good eye!”

“So, there’s one article that’s been bothering me. I’d like you to check something for me.”

There seemed to be no reason to drag this out.

As anticipation grew in the reporter’s heart, his body gradually leaned closer to Woo-seok. By now, he was practically hunched across the table as though he might crawl over it and grab Woo-seok’s hand. Apparently, he was just as greedy as he looked.

“Ask me anything. I’m also the editor-in-chief, so I remember the contents of most of our articles.”

Seeing how confidently he spoke, Woo-seok hoped the man would make another careless slip, just as he had during their first meeting when he said, “I haven’t even written any articles about your company.”

It might have sounded insignificant, but saying that he hadn’t written anything about SHS also meant that he had no idea that the exposé on Go Ha-jin was connected to SHS.

“So how much did the client for this Celebrity A article pay you?”

Woo-seok skipped every other step.

Normally, he would have asked who the person in the article was, whether the reporter had investigated the matter himself, and so on. But there was no need anymore.

Woo-seok spoke with absolute confidence.

The article hadn’t been the result of an investigation. The reporter had undoubtedly been paid for it.

“W-well… As I said, newspapers have a hard time making ends meet, so sometimes we have no choice but to publish articles in the form of advertisements… Haha…”

“Yes, of course. And sometimes you have no choice but to write an article without fact-checking everything, right?”

“Just as I thought. You’re from SHS, after all. You really know how things work!”

The reporter had been stammering awkwardly, but when Woo-seok agreed with him, the troubled smile disappeared from his face and he relaxed.

“So, who was it? And how much did they pay?”

“Twenty million…”

Twenty million won for a single article.

It was neither an insignificant amount nor an enormous one. But it was an excessive sum to pay a newspaper like this. It meant that the matter was important, and extremely shady.

“Didn’t you find it suspicious? That’s quite a lot of money.”

“Well, I did, but… Since it wasn’t being published under a real name anyway, I figured there wouldn’t be any problem, so I just… haha…”

“I see. I like your way of handling things even more now. Whatever the matter, if you don’t get caught, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

Once again, Woo-seok concealed his true thoughts and defended the man.

To be honest, what the reporter had said wasn’t entirely wrong. Expecting journalistic integrity in South Korea was practically a pipe dream.

“So who was the client?”

“Well, that…”

The man, who had answered Woo-seok’s questions relatively honestly until now, suddenly found himself unable to open his mouth. He looked troubled.

“The person mentioned in the article could be a competitor of ours, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Ah, no, that’s not it. I don’t actually know exactly who they are…”

“What do you mean? Are you saying the client was anonymous?”

“…Yes. They said they absolutely wouldn’t reveal their name, and we only communicated by phone.”

That was a problem.

If this was true, it would be difficult to trace the person through the reporter.

“I see.”

Woo-seok made a quick decision.

There was no need to waste any more time. The reporter was no longer useful.

Just as Woo-seok began to rise from his seat, the other man seemed to read his thoughts. If he didn’t know the client’s identity, then the prospect of partnering with SHS would disappear as well.

“Wait! Haa, but I’m actually very thorough when it comes to my work! I took a picture of the client leaving the money, just in case something like this happened!”

“You said you only communicated by phone.”

Woo-seok gave him a suspicious look and remained standing.

The reporter quickly pulled out his phone, brought up a photograph, and placed it on the table.

Only then did Woo-seok sit back down and pick up the phone.

“That person brought the money in person. In person. I took a picture at the time. And of course, there are CCTV cameras, too.”

The person in the photograph had not even bothered to hide his face. He was holding what appeared to be a paper bag filled with bundles of cash.

Woo-seok could clearly see the man’s face.

Unfortunately, he knew him.

“Is this person really the client?”

“Absolutely! I don’t know who he is yet, but we’ll be able to find him in no time!”

“No. This is enough. We can discuss the partnership with SHS News separately.”

Woo-seok couldn’t take his eyes off the man in the photograph.

Why was this person here?

Why… Tae-seol?

No matter how hard he tried to make sense of it, the confusion only grew.

This couldn’t be right.

It was impossible.

****

“Where have you been?”

“What? You’re already home? You came back early.”

Go Ha-jin was surprised to see Chae Woo-seok sitting in the living room as he entered through the front door.

It wasn’t even time for Woo-seok to leave work yet.

Not the time most people would consider the end of the workday, the time Woo-seok usually came home.

He had returned much earlier than usual and was sitting in the living room, so Ha-jin approached him.

“I’ve made a coffee friend recently. I went to see them.”

“Who?”

“Tae-seol. They say you never know how things will turn out. Who would’ve thought I’d become coffee friends with him?”

Thump.

Woo-seok felt his heart drop at Ha-jin’s words.

The two of them had never been particularly close, but since they lived under the same roof, it was entirely possible that they had grown closer with time.

Yet somehow, Woo-seok’s instincts told him that wasn’t what was happening.

A warning signal went off in his head.

“When did this start?”

“Let’s see… I think it was after Father and the Chairman called us in and told us to take on the succession position… Why are you asking so frighteningly? You’re giving me chills…”

“When you met Tae-seol, did anything unusual happen? Anything strange. It doesn’t matter what it was.”

Ha-jin found it difficult to complain about Woo-seok throwing questions at him without offering any explanation. Woo-seok’s condition was clearly no joke.

Without protesting, Ha-jin did as he asked and thought back to his meetings with Tae-seol.

“Well, the fact that he was the one who suggested we have coffee was strange enough… And we always have it at Tae-seol’s house, too. Hmm… There was something else before.”

Ha-jin even told him about the previous broken vase incident. If he had to choose the strangest thing that had happened, that was the one that fit best.

Only after finishing did Ha-jin wonder whether Woo-seok would once again take Tae-seol’s and Chae Junseok’s side.

But Woo-seok said nothing, as though he had fallen deep into thought.

“So… you’ve been having coffee with Tae-seol regularly lately? And you haven’t really talked about anything in particular?”

“Talked…? Not really? Just about Siyeol, or the family…? Nothing special. He’s not exactly a talkative person, you know. I’m usually the one doing most of the talking.”

“Haa… From now on, don’t ever meet him alone.”

“W-who?”

“Your brother-in-law… Tae-seol. Something about this feels wrong.”

Woo-seok had always been the one to defend Tae-seol.

He almost never spoke badly about him.

Hadn’t he even told Ha-jin that Tae-seol was one of the reasons behind this fraudulent marriage?

So naturally, Ha-jin couldn’t help but feel confused.

“What exactly is going on between you and Tae-seol? You told me before that if I could protect him, I should. And now you’re telling me not to see him. What am I supposed to do?”

“That… Haa…”

Even Woo-seok knew that what he was saying sounded completely contradictory.

It was difficult to believe that Tae-seol was the one who had tipped off the news outlet.

And yet, the uneasiness remained.

Especially the fact that Tae-seol, someone who should have had difficulty getting along with Ha-jin, had been meeting with him so frequently.

There was no helping it anymore.

Woo-seok had to tell him about his relationship with Tae-seol.

“…The truth is, I was once engaged to Tae-seol.”

Korean had suddenly become far too difficult for Go Ha-jin.

It was only one short sentence.

Not even a particularly long one.

Yet he simply couldn’t understand it.

That was how shocking the revelation was.

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