Chapter 163: An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth (3)

Right after the article broke, Taewoon Group was also on high alert.

They had somewhat expected it ever since the unsettling rumors started circulating in the industry, but they hadn’t imagined the article would drop without even a hint of negotiation.

‘I was completely out of it.’

Taewoon Group Vice Chairman Kang Byeong-tae was scrambling for damage control.

Outwardly, they appeared to take no action, but the top priority was to somehow get in touch with Reporter Lee Hyojin and settle the matter peacefully.

They weren’t in a position to afford the luxury of retaliating against her.

But then—

His son came to him of his own accord.

‘You have to take responsibility.’

The boy who used to talk back, refusing to let go of his youthful dreams, now brazenly lifted his head and demanded accountability when trouble had actually broken out.

‘I need to keep being an idol. So you have to take responsibility, Father.’

Kang Byeong-tae let out a dry chuckle at that.

He had given fair warning, and yet the company was now in chaos because of a thoughtless action.

And now, instead of lying low and gauging the atmosphere, he was talking about responsibility?

However—

The next words made it hard to simply criticize him.

It was information about Reporter Lee Hyojin’s actions that had never even reached Kang Byeong-tae’s ears.

Because the boy had brought something that could land a solid counterpunch against her.

‘It’s something that blew up three years ago. I thought it might be worth digging into.’

He knew his son was mature for his age, but…

He wasn’t the type to pull off something this big on his own.

Naturally, a certain face floated up in his mind.

Back during the Stardust Project, when he had tried to make his son quit the show—

The audacious kid who had blocked his path.

‘Assault seems a bit much, doesn’t it? You’re someone whose face is known.’

‘Actually, I recorded a bit of video from over there. If you’d like to make the front page of tomorrow’s news, I could send it to the reporter….’

‘If you quietly leave today, I’ll pretend I never saw this video.’

The boy who stood his ground and handled the situation like a seasoned pro.

In the end, he had to back down and leave.

That kid debuted in the same team as his son, and it seemed likely this was his doing.

‘Who told you?’

‘…….’

‘Do Seohan?’

Even that silent reaction to a probing question was enough to make it clear.

Ah, that kid—my hunch was right.

Kang Byeong-tae murmured quietly as he looked out the window.

“He’s going to be something big.”

Whether that was for better or worse—

One thing was certain: the kid was no ordinary one.

That afternoon, an explosive article was published on Korea Patch, a rival of Centertree.

The long-dormant scandal involving Kang Dohun resurfaced.

There had always been whispers that Kang Dohun had been falsely accused and forced into retirement from the entertainment industry.

But the new article surpassed anything the public had imagined.

A management agency had fabricated false information to destroy a rising star actor out of revenge for breaking their contract.

The shock was massive because both the agency and the media outlet involved were major players.

Soon after, a post sharing the article appeared on a community forum.

[Exposé on the reporter who spread Kang Dohun’s scandal just dropped]

It was Centertree’s own ‘Reporter Lee Hyojin’

The article revealed suspicions of her accepting a 200 million won bribe from KJ, and it was so shocking that I had to share it.

Remember Kang Dohun’s affair scandal three years ago?

It dropped right when his drama was a massive hit and he was shooting CFs back-to-back, and it completely ruined him.

Turns out the article was entirely fabricated for money, from beginning to end lol

This is why people call them tabloid scum, they deserve every insult ㅎㅎ

I was someone who 100% believed that article back then.

I feel like I’ve been hit in the back of the head, my mind is spinning.

Below is the phone transcript.

Not sure how it was obtained, but it’s up on Korea Patch.

KJ: Please drop something big enough.

Lee Hyojin: Something provocative, anything okay?

KJ: Something that’ll ruin their acting career. Yes. Maybe tie it to the co-star they’re filming with and make it about a woman.

Lee Hyojin: You mean OOO?

KJ: They’re from the same agency anyway.

Lee Hyojin: But if this blows up, it’ll get noisy. Will they be able to make a comeback?

KJ: They’re not renewing the contract with us anyway.

Lee Hyojin: Not renewing?

KJ: We dumped them.

I started cursing the moment I read it lololol

Kang Dohun is a person, not some object—“we dumped him” my ass….

Are you even human?

So here’s what happened: Kang Dohun was originally with KJ.

After a conflict with his manager, he broke the contract and moved to Airis Entertainment.

When his next project became a hit, they got jealous and asked to renew the contract.

When that didn’t work, they tried to destroy him with a fake scandal.

What the hell is wrong with KJ?

Their public image already tanked from the trainee assault incident….

This might be the nail in the coffin.

I hope the actors and idols under KJ manage to safely terminate their contracts.

I’m losing it, my idol is with them, I’m too worried to even speak

└ They’re a company that’ll ruin you if you don’t renew your contract—insane….

└ Just looking at this, you can tell how much media manipulation they’ve done all along

└ They’re seriously messed up

└ I’m going crazy with worry too… the kids can’t even speak up and are acting like mice ㅠㅠㅠ

How is Kang Dohun supposed to sleep, he was basically buried back then ㅠㅠ no one even believed him

└ Articles were dropping nonstop… it was chaos ㅠㅠ

└ Why did people believe it when there was no evidence?

└ They made it look like there was evidence back then. Looking back, it was all fake

└ They even released text messages as “proof,” and that was fabricated?

└ But no one believed him…ㅎ

└ Ha f***…

└ Can’t he start acting again?

└ Does he even have a current agency?

└ Not even sure about that.

└ Looks like he quit acting… ha….

└ He was such a great actor, but this completely ruined him.

Can you really fake things for money like this? I’m speechless. Who’s going to take responsibility for Kang Dohun’s acting career now?

└ That’s why you shouldn’t pick sides. Everyone went wild cursing back then, lol.

└ I bet the ones going “What do we do about Kang Dohun ㅠㅠ” now were the same ones leaving hate comments.

└ Honestly, this is the truth.

└ I cursed him out back then too… now I just feel sorry. This is why it’s so hard to be a celebrity.

└ Only Kang Dohun is truly pitiful.

Let’s not forget Centertree’s “Lee Hyojin,” the tabloid reporter. Her history is quite something.

└ For real? Kang Dohun wasn’t the only one?

└ She’s dropped plenty of other fake news without evidence—someone made a post summarizing it all!

└ http://neotube.com.32gd23

└ Damn, it’s not just one or two ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ How do reporters like that even exist? There are a lot of trash journalists, but she’s just evil…ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Who are you trying to destroy next with that pen of yours ㅠㅠ

└ Wasn’t she the one who broke the Taewoon Group story too?

└ ?????

└ Holy crap, it’s really her.

└ Damn, it’s the same name.

[That reporter’s the one who spread the Taewoon Group rumor]

Stardust ㄱㅅㅇ and whatnot, the whole community was in chaos.

And apparently that article was written by ㅇㅎㅈ reporter too ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Who are you trying to ruin this time with that rumor?

Ah, crap. Isn’t this KJ dropping a rumor to destroy Doubles’ rookie?

└ Seo Ian was originally from KJ, right? Looks like they leaked it intentionally out of spite.

└ If that’s true… wow….

└ One thing’s for sure—I can’t trust any article that reporter writes ㅋㅋㅋ Wonder how many of her past pieces were fake.

└ She also leaked a ton of dating rumors….

└ I didn’t know, but she’s apparently quite a famous reporter;;

Who would believe an article thrown out with zero evidence, just to stir the pot?

└ But a lot of people believed it, and it spread like wildfire on anon accounts ㅠㅠ

└ And the article never even mentioned ㄱㅅㅇ, but people ran with the rumor spread in the community and ripped him apart.

└ I’m curious—why hasn’t Doubles released a statement?

└ Why should they?

└ Doubles staying silent is actually helping.

└ People go crazy whether you clarify or not, so the agency probably just wants to avoid escalating it.

You’re all so naive ㅋㅋㅋ I think Taewoon Group leaked this incident to destroy that reporter.

└ I thought the same ㅋㅋㅋㅋ You don’t mess with a big corporation for no reason.

└ So is there proof that ㄱㅅㅇ is the Taewoon Group Vice Chairman’s son??

└ Let’s get it straight—he’s not just a son, he’s an illegitimate child ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Speak for yourself. So what, if not a son, is ㄱㅅㅇ a daughter?

└ What the f***… what is this again…

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ah

└ Not exactly wrong though ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

At that very moment, the Centertree office was flooded with complaint calls.

Most were from Kang Dohun’s fans, but Dusties also joined in to pressure for disciplinary action against Reporter Lee Hyojin.

At the same time, a surge in website traffic caused the homepage to crash, sending the company into emergency mode.

Of course, that didn’t stop secret accounts from continuing to attack Kang Siwoo.

guwjia @swdkf113

Just look at how Taewoon Group’s keeping its mouth shut—it’s obvious, right?

Kang Siyoop’s probably an illegitimate child ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

His family’s a mess ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Mhm~ No wonder our boy looked like a chaebol~ he had that elite glow in his face ㅠㅠ

└ What’s so rich about being illegitimate ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Even if it’s a mess, better to be born in a chaebol family ㅋㅋㅋ you live in a shack

└ Better that than being a bitter anon shaking in a thatched-roof hut

└ Hey hey, go easy, she’s crying

Dusties swiftly shut down trolls whenever they appeared.

Their mental strength, fortified ever since the Stardust Project days, really paid off this time.

And finally—

Before the weekend even ended, an apology was posted on Centertree’s homepage.

[Centertree Apology]

Hello, this is Centertree.

We confirm that the article published on August 23, 2014, contained false information, and we fully acknowledge the bribery suspicions surrounding the involved employee.

We sincerely apologize for the concern caused by reporting fabricated content.

The employee in question has been immediately terminated internally, and we are currently discussing legal action.

We promise to become a transparent media outlet through rigorous employee training to prevent this from happening again.

Once again, we offer our deepest apologies.

It was an apology that seemed hastily put together in the face of overwhelming backlash.

It mentioned internal disciplinary action against Reporter Lee Hyojin, as well as legal proceedings.

It seemed unlikely she would ever work as a reporter again….

Hmm.

“Centertree wants to be a clean media outlet…?”

Shameless bastards.

Dusties unleashed harsh words, furious with rage.

Did they have any idea how many sleepless nights fans had because of the article that reporter released?

And when they thought about the pain this must have caused Kang Siwoo, the Dusties’ hearts ached all the more.

Fortunately, the rumor about Taewoon Group seemed to quiet down due to lack of evidence.

The occasional troll could just be shaken off and chased away, dust and all.

And then—

The following evening.

A teaser was dropped that instantly calmed the battle-ready Dusties.

[‘I Am Alone’ Stardust’s Friendship Matching Project!]

[Can Stardust escape Solo Planet in search of true friendship?]

[Releasing 2017.12.12 at 8 p.m. (KST)]

It was a new self-produced content released after their promotion period.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep