Chapter 162: An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth (2)

“…Seohan?”

Shake shake—

Ha Junseo’s voice calling me as he shook my shoulder brought me back to my senses.

I had been too deep in thought about how to crush Reporter Lee Hyojin.

Cha Seongbin looked back at me with a serious expression, clearly worried.

“He’s completely zoned out.”

“Good grief, snap out of it, Seohan.”

“Seohan’s got a weak mentality, y’know….”

Me?

It was ridiculous, but I didn’t argue since it felt too awkward to refute.

In any case, with a truckload of things to worry about, the topic returned to the main point.

At this point, there was only one thing the members were most curious about.

“How will the company respond?”

“Yeah, really….”

Even leader Kang Siwoo hadn’t received anything from the company yet.

So of course, there was anxiety.

What kind of response would Doubles come up with?

It was obvious they’d try to negotiate from behind the scenes with money, and the question was what they’d do after that.

Jin Sehyun scratched his head and spoke.

“They’ll probably stay silent.”

It was quite a sharp observation.

Because it was clear both Taewoon Group and Doubles would take a similar stance.

The basic principle was no response.

Until the rumors died down, treat the issue like gossip and stay quiet.

The more you try to explain, the more tangled it gets, and if it later turns out the explanation was false, it just leads to backlash.

But just accepting it outright?

That would be like tossing Kang Siwoo to the gossip-hungry public as bait.

So Doubles would, with high probability…

Stay silent and do nothing.

Though Doubles were incompetent, in times like these, doing nothing was the better option.

It was about waiting until the roaring flames of the burning firewood died down.

There would be sarcastic comments like, ‘Since they’re not denying it, must be true~,’ but they’d quickly be buried under fandom comments like, ‘Why are you jumping to conclusions without proof? We’ll sue.’

That’s why Kang Siwoo’s stance was also similar to Doubles’.

In this situation, there was nothing he could do as the person involved.

Kang Siwoo cautiously swallowed and spoke.

“Let’s just wait and see how this unfolds.”

“Hyung, are you really okay with this?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll just naturally blend back in with the schedule in a few days….”

“I’m not talking about that. I mean your mental state.”

At Jin Sehyun’s worried words, Kang Siwoo gave a faint smile.

“It’s fine as long as I don’t read the comments.”

If you close your eyes and cover your ears, you don’t hear anything.

It was a judgment made by the more hardened Kang Siwoo who had been through Starf.

But my position was a little different.

“…Got it.”

I had no intention of letting go of the prey I’d bitten into.

Reporter Lee Hyojin’s office. The modern interior felt cold and lifeless.

I sat down, blank-faced, as I scanned the room.

Once again, I had come back here on my own.

Reporter Lee Hyojin sipped her coffee and spoke.

“I figured you’d come, but this is fast. You must be the impatient type.”

“Yeah, seems like I’m a bit hasty.”

Of course, unlike last time, I didn’t even bother with the basic courtesy.

Honestly, I was a little angry.

Reporter Lee Hyojin turned to me and casually said,

“Last time, you came to make a deal….”

“But I was late, wasn’t I.”

“Mm, that’s a shame. I was willing to hear that deal.”

Reporter Lee Hyojin chuckled and brushed her lips with her fingers.

Her sparkling eyes showed not a hint of guilt.

Manipulating someone’s life with a single article—she had been doing it for ten years, so it was only natural she’d become desensitized.

“So, is it a threat this time?”

She was quick-witted.

She probably already guessed I wouldn’t be saying anything nice.

But she was misunderstanding something.

I shook my head and smiled slightly at her words.

A threat?

“It’s a notice.”

“…Excuse me?”

Originally, I had planned to use it as a threatening card, but the opponent had revealed her hand too early.

I wanted to call it a foul, but the timing was long gone….

I just wanted to do everything I could.

Because Siwoo-hyung had always been good to me.

He was a good person.

Not just as a team member, but as Kang Siwoo himself.

I didn’t want someone that good to be gossiped about over something so petty.

I didn’t want to see him get hurt because of it either.

He’d definitely say he was fine.

At least someone like Cha Seongbin had a visible mental breakdown in real-time,

But this guy didn’t even show anything on the surface, which made him way more difficult to handle.

So this was—

My deeply emotional revenge.

“I came here today to notify you.”

I gave a cold smile and spoke.

“You’re probably going to regret this a lot.”

Sometimes, I realized that the pen could be sharper than a knife during my ten years as a reporter.

Getting paid to ruin someone—

Getting paid to save someone—

Could all be done with a few taps on the keyboard.

That’s why Reporter Lee Hyojin had thought the world was easy.

“Have you ever taken money from KJ?”

Only eighteen years old.

That’s what she had thought—until the kid in front of her threatened her.

Reporter Lee Hyojin furrowed her brows and glared at Seohan.

“KJ…?”

“A slush fund. One hundred million won.”

She hadn’t expected that line to come out here.

Reporter Lee Hyojin was momentarily flustered, but quickly brushed it off with a smile.

She couldn’t yet be sure whether he was just fishing or if he actually knew something.

“Ah~ So this is about money, huh.”

“Yes.”

“So what?”

“…Excuse me?”

Reporter Lee Hyojin boldly countered.

“Do you have proof?”

“Of course. The higher-ups will probably dig it up.”

The way he spoke, like he had faith in Taewoon Group and Doubles, made her let out a hollow laugh.

She had been a little tense, but he really was just a rookie after all.

She didn’t know where he’d heard about the one hundred million won, but it was obvious he had come running in a panic as soon as he heard it.

Sure, taking a bribe like that was illegal. If it came out, it’d be a little troublesome.

But honestly, it wasn’t that shocking—it happened more often than people thought.

Reporter Lee Hyojin shrugged and responded calmly.

“If you blow that up, what do you think my follow-up article will look like?”

“You just won’t be able to write one.”

“Oh. You’re going to spread rumors that I’m a bribed journalist? Thinking I’ll get fired for it?”

A civilian reporter taking a bribe—truthfully, it wasn’t something that would blow up massively.

She was a reporter who had landed no less than three big scoops at Centertree.

A little scandal, get fired.

Wait it out, then get rehired.

Throw in a few performative acts for the idol fans and it’d be over.

There were plenty of reporters and PDs still working after doing worse.

After weighing all that in her head, Reporter Lee Hyojin smirked shamelessly.

Right then—

Seohan slowly opened his mouth.

“That won’t be the end of it, though.”

Hm?

Reporter Lee Hyojin tilted her head at the vague remark.

Honestly, she had taken bribes quite a few times, so she wasn’t sure exactly which incident Seohan was referring to.

But then—

“Actually, it wasn’t one hundred million, but two hundred million, right?”

“…….”

“One hundred million must’ve been to cover up your top stars’ dating scandals, and the other hundred million… I wonder what that was for.”

At the unexpected words, Reporter Lee Hyojin’s expression went cold.

“Was it to ruin Kang Dohun?”

Her eyelids twitched.

“…What?”

The only people who should have known about that were the executive director at KJ Entertainment and a few others.

It was an incident from almost three years ago—something that had never even spread anywhere.

Failing to control her expression, Reporter Lee Hyojin stuttered noticeably.

“T-That’s… what are you talking about….”

Originally, Kang Dohun had been an actor that KJ Entertainment planned to launch.

Back then, he was just a rookie actor making minor appearances as a supporting role, but the coercive atmosphere unique to KJ was already in full force, and he had some clashes with the company.

He’d been verbally and physically assaulted by his manager, reportedly.

In the end, he couldn’t take it and requested a termination of his exclusive contract.

At the time, KJ had let him go rather casually, seeing him as a no-name with no future.

But people never knew what was coming.

Kang Dohun, who moved to another agency, hit it big with his next project, and KJ Entertainment was put in a difficult position.

They tried to tie him down using an improperly handled termination contract, but things got complicated.

Before the other agency could launch a public offensive, KJ Entertainment preemptively released a rumor to damage Kang Dohun’s image.

Accusations of power abuse and an affair with a famous actress—enough to completely destroy Kang Dohun, who had been rising as a star.

From the first article about power abuse to the follow-up reports revealing absurd claims about his private life—

The tabloids that approached it all so strategically manipulated the public.

That’s just how public opinion works.

At first, people think, ‘No way,’ but when multiple things explode in succession, most people just say, ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’

The one who wrote that article was none other than Reporter Lee Hyojin.

Seohan stared at her and quietly asked,

“How does it feel? I’m just curious if you still feel proud after ruining someone’s life.”

“W-Wait.”

After the incident blew up, people dismissed it as tabloid gossip due to the lack of solid evidence…

But an actor who’d already been buried socially had little chance of making a comeback.

Maybe the trauma from that led him to lose his will himself.

Either way, seeing Kang Dohun act on screen again was now unlikely.

Seohan coldly spoke in a calm voice.

“If this gets out… do you think people will still believe your articles, Reporter Lee Hyojin?”

“…….”

“Was it your plan to take money from KJ and ruin a rising rookie from Doubles? Well, people will draw their own conclusions. I’m sure they’ll imagine all kinds of things.”

One thing was certain…

Kang Dohun’s fans wouldn’t leave her alone.

Because fans remember the wounds they received for life.

This wasn’t on the same level as just accepting a little bribe—it was the kind of thing you could be socially buried for.

Gulp—

Reporter Lee Hyojin swallowed dryly and bit down hard on her lower lip.

“Excuse me, Seohan.”

Three years ago, Do Seohan would’ve only been about fifteen years old.

It didn’t make sense logically, but how Do Seohan came to know this didn’t matter anymore.

All that mattered was stopping it.

“Let’s try negotiating again, shall we?”

Reporter Lee Hyojin hurriedly poured out her words.

“A deal. I think I might have something to offer you too, Seohan.”

“…….”

“How should I write the follow-up article? It’s still possible—still! It’s not too late to fix this. Let me try, so let’s pretend we never had this conversation just now….”

At those words, Seohan looked slightly awkward.

“But what do I do.”

His tone wasn’t truly apologetic—closer to acting.

The very same words she had once said came right back at her.

“I already blew it up.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep