Chapter 105
Chapter 105
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Reporter Connections
-----------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Social Media Post What to Do After Graduating from Korean Lit. 0. Lit major apology (feat. Kill your major, chase a job) 1. Become a Korean language teacher 2. Double major in journalism/media studies, become a reporter 3. Win the Nobel Prize in Literature (new!) Humanities majors, dream big! (Sciences and arts/PE folks, dream big too~ Fighting!) Right now, what I needed was option 2.
A reporter.
An adult who'd bite this juicy hook for me, investigate it, and turn it into a full article.
'Even before my regression, a reporter blew the lid off this whole scam.'
I just needed to pull that timeline forward a bit.
If a mere high schooler like me tipped off the media directly, I'd get brushed off as "imaginative" or told to "submit it to a publisher instead of stirring things up here." So, connections it was.
No matter how outlandish the story, if it came through school ties, blood relations, or regional connections, they'd at least pretend to investigate out of courtesy. And if it turned out to be true? Jackpot.
And those connections were standing right in front of me, grinning ear to ear.
"Huh?"
I tilted my head and asked the student teacher, who was looking at me quizzically.
"Teacher, do you happen to know any reporters?"
"Yeah!"
"Are you close?"
"Yep!"
"What's your relationship...?"
"She's a senior I truly admire!"
"I see...?"
A reporter from Korea University. In Korea, school ties were second only to family. Probably at a major outlet, too.
"But why a reporter?"
This was the crucial part. I swallowed hard and continued, careful not to sound too far-fetched.
"I have a tip I want to share..."
The shaman that chaebol families trust and rely on is actually a convicted criminal—a woman in disguise as a man.
"She already served time for similar crimes. You can find it with a quick search online—the Kang Tae-ju case."
It was the incident where she impersonated a chaebol heir to seduce a high school girl into running away, then extorted hundreds of millions from her parents. Showing up in fancy clothes, a luxury car, and bodyguards at the school fooled the kids.
I remembered that when the shaman scandal broke pre-regression, this old case got dug up too, doubling the shock value.
"Of course, there's no proof right now that Kang Tae-ju and the shaman are the same person, but a quick identity check at the police station would reveal it..."
Even I thought it sounded like a story ripe for mockery, but surprisingly, the student teacher listened seriously.
"Got it. You want me to pass this tip to the reporter I know?"
"Yes. I could tip them off myself, but I feel like it'd get read and ignored."
"Fair point. I'll talk to my senior about it."
"...You're taking me at my word?"
Just like that?
"Is it a lie?"
"No, but..."
"Then I believe you."
"There's no evidence..."
"That's what investigating is for."
"Won't the tipster's credibility tank?"
"I trust you, Da-hye."
"I'm just a high schooler."
"When I judge people, age doesn't matter. Just smarts and diligence."
And reality's always stranger than fiction, right?
The student teacher whipped out his phone without hesitation and dialed a number, switching it to speaker. He placed it between us.
"Not sure if she'll pick up... Oh, she did. Noona!"
His voice shot up a full octave calling "Noona." Soon, the voice of the senior he admired most came through the phone.
-Yeah, Do-hyeon? What's up? You doing okay?
"Not great. School feels empty without you here. How about you?"
-Don't ask. The bosses keep nagging me to dig up something... but you need leads to chase. I'm dying here.
"Can't have you dying, Noona. Should I blow up the Blue House for you?"
Why was his tone so cutesy...?
I stared at him with wide eyes. He didn't even glance my way, totally fixated on the phone. He was leaning in so much, he might fall into it any second. He'd completely forgotten I was there.
"I have a tip I want to share. You free today, Noona? Can we meet?"
He smoothly set up the appointment, then hung up. His face lit up as I asked,
"Wait... girlfriend?"
"Nah."
He waved it off.
"As if I could ever."
Clutching his phone with both hands, he boasted,
"Among everyone I know, this senior's the smartest. Back when I was a freshman, she was our department rep..."
...Was this guy just looking for an excuse to call his crush?
"During orientation camp, these mechanical engineering guys crashed our department dorm. So many girls in Korean Lit, easy target or whatever. But Noona grabbed a beer crate and smashed the front guy's head...!"
His senior fangirling continued until Seo Jae-kyeom returned with snacks.
"So anyway, Noona..."
Seo Jae-kyeom narrowed his eyes at the student teacher chattering away glued to me.
"Have some snacks."
He thudded the tray onto the table.
Banana milk in front of me, steaming ssanghwa-cha in front of the teacher. *Today's weather: 33°C
Seo Jae-kyeom shrugged.
"Older folks like stuff like this."
The teacher clapped delightedly.
"Jae-kyeom, you've got taste! I drink ssanghwa-cha every day."
...Seo Jae-kyeom was no match for the teacher. Not even close.
"Jae-kyeom even knows my tastes. I'm gonna go home tonight thinking of you as I drift off."
The teacher booped Seo Jae-kyeom's nose and cradled the mug of ssanghwa-cha in both hands. Seo Jae-kyeom's face crumpled as much as humanly possible.
"Thanks for the treat."
As the teacher slurped his tea, I poked my straw into the banana milk.
He went on about writing in his diary about praising Jae-kyeom nonstop, how Jae-kyeom had to think of him every time he saw ssanghwa-cha from now on, when suddenly,
"I guess I'm the type who spills a lot."
Yeah, flirting's basically your lifestyle. Sipping my milk casually, I replied,
"Took you long enough to notice."
"...Huh?"
"?"
I glanced at him.
The teacher, wiping ssanghwa-cha he'd spilled on his workbook, blinked at me.
"Oh..."
The spill...
"Da-hye...?"
"......"
"What did you mean just now...?"
"......"
I turned away from him.
"I'll meet with my senior today and let you know what she says."
"Sure. I'll send you the materials I compiled via KakaoTalk."
"You made materials too?"
"Just to make it easier to read."
I'd scraped together every scrap of future knowledge I had.
"You're so sharp."
Showering me with praise, the teacher practically flew down the stairs and vanished. Left alone on the second floor with Seo Jae-kyeom, who grumbled,
"What materials?"
"Nothing much."
Really nothing—just stuff to save your mom from that con artist.
But I couldn't tell Seo Jae-kyeom that. Airing parents' dirty laundry to their kid felt... off.
And.
'He wouldn't get it even if I told him.'
He's grown up with everything handed to him since birth. He couldn't empathize with relying on superstition.
Similar to why I hadn't told him about my house—to avoid seeing him wrinkle his nose in clueless judgment.
"Just chatted about what major to pick in college."
"Major? What do you wanna do, Kang Da-hye?"
"Haven't decided."
"There must be something you wanna study more."
"There is, but."
I'll pick whatever major guarantees a job, regardless of what I want to learn.
Beats me.
Korea University... Pickpocketing Department?
'Employment's a sure thing.'
Even overseas. Paris, Barcelona.
I chuckled inwardly, thinking of Jeong Eun-seong.
Hope he's doing well in Paris. He replies on KakaoTalk, so probably didn't get pickpocketed.
It's been over two weeks since I last saw Jeong Eun-seong. Not as empty as I'd thought. We message faithfully once a day.
Well, yesterday the '1' vanished, no reply. Thought I'd been ghosted... but it came in the evening. Busy filming, apparently.
'Does he carry a parasol around Paris too?'
I snickered to myself.
"By the way."
"Yeah."
"Why's the student teacher coming on so strong to you?"
Seo Jae-kyeom swept back his perfectly styled bangs, scowling. He thought it looked tough, but it wasn't scary at all.
"If he crosses the line, just say the word. I'll handle it."
"Uh... th-thanks?"
But I probably wouldn't need to!