Lee Do-yun's Downfall
It was truly grotesque.
Lee Do-yun couldn't even recognize his own daughter. Instead, the sight of her only brought out the ugliest parts of his nature.
For a man like that, maybe this outcome was inevitable.
Because this was his true face — filthy and bare.
"Name: Kim Hyewon. Age: twenty-eight. She has a two-year-old daughter, and the father is, of course, Lee Do-yun. He doesn't even know the child exists."
"......"
It was identical.
Exactly the same as Han Jihyun and Yoo Serin's situation.
"Continue."
CEO Oh Sang-gu laid a few more photographs on the table and carried on with the shocking revelations as if he were discussing the weather.
"Kim Hyewon received one billion won on the condition that she get an abortion and never speak a word about Lee Do-yun for ten years. She got another two hundred million on the condition that she go to America."
"America? How did you find someone living in America?"
"She's back in the country now with her daughter. They're staying at a villa in Yangpyeong registered under Lee Do-yun's name."
"You said he doesn't know the daughter exists?"
"He doesn't. She was planning to show him the child whenever he came by — but he never visited even once."
"And these people?"
I pointed at the photographs I still had no information on.
"Choi Yebin. Nineteen years old. Eight months pregnant. The most recent woman Lee Do-yun got pregnant."
"Nineteen...!! Hoo....."
"She's an aspiring actress. She met Lee Do-yun through a chain of introductions. The kid was struggling financially, so he supported her for about a year — and eventually she slept with him at his request."
"And these ones?"
"Park Eunchae. Twenty-five, a law school student. Her father is a deputy chief prosecutor at the Central District Prosecutors' Office. And this is Jeong Hyeonseo. Those marks on her body are from the sadistic sex he demanded. Last one — this woman was the ace at a bar Lee Do-yun frequented. She's off the job now; looks like she's under his sponsorship."
"Ha..."
"Ah — and every single one of these women heard the same line."
"What was it?"
"Marriage. Every sexual relationship was entered into under a promise of marriage. Except the bar girl, of course."
It was staggering.
So staggering that for a moment I lost the ability to speak.
Sure, a man meeting a lot of women wasn't unheard of. Someone as capable and good-looking as Lee Do-yun was practically expected to have more options than most.
But the way he did it was filthy beyond measure.
A man who lived off the public's love had a private life so sordid that the public would never forgive it.
That alone was enough to send Lee Do-yun straight into the abyss.
Assuming they were willing to testify, of course.
"Given that they told you all of this, can I take it that they're willing to testify?"
"Kim Hyewon said she'd testify for about five hundred million and then go back to America with her daughter. Choi Yebin is just in a full-blown panic. Jeong Hyeonseo wants an apology instead of money. The bar girl would invent stories that never happened for about a hundred million. The problem is Park Eunchae."
"Why?"
"Apparently she genuinely loves him."
"What??"
"She's a law school student, a future legal professional, and her father is a deputy chief prosecutor. There's a significant age gap, but she doesn't want the man she was promised marriage to to be destroyed. The deputy chief prosecutor might even get involved — if his own daughter gets dragged into a filthy scandal."
That was an unexpected complication.
A law school student meant she was at least a full twelve years younger than Lee Do-yun. Any parent would oppose a marriage like that — but they say no parent can truly defeat their child.
Depending on the parent, of course.
Either way, if Park Eunchae publicly took Lee Do-yun's side, the deputy chief prosecutor would step in for his daughter's sake. He would never allow the marriage — but the mere fact that his daughter had been involved with a man this filthy would ruin her marriage prospects.
And his own reputation along with it.
"Then we make sure Park Eunchae can't step forward."
"You have a way to stop her? Looks like she's got stars in her eyes for real."
"No parent can defeat their child — but the reverse is just as true. Especially when the parent has real power."
"......"
I asked CEO Oh Sang-gu for the phone number of Park Eunchae's father, the deputy chief prosecutor.
I was finishing this today.
The business of taking out the trash.
Late that evening, in the underground parking garage of a hotel in Gangnam.
The place had two entrances.
One was the ordinary hotel lobby.
The other was a members-only entrance.
Not that "members-only" meant anything particularly exclusive. It simply referred to people who had rented residences in the building.
A residence let you enjoy every hotel service while living with a full kitchen and all the amenities of a private home — and residents could come and go through the dedicated entrance without ever passing through the lobby.
Which meant no photos, no rumors, no chance of anyone knowing you'd been at the hotel at all.
This was how Lee Do-yun had been sleeping with countless women.
"There he is."
Lee Do-yun's car pulled into the underground garage and headed for the members-only parking section.
It wasn't far. I got out of my own car and walked over at an unhurried pace.
"Let go of me!"
"What's wrong with you?!"
"I didn't know this was the kind of place you meant when you said we'd talk!"
"Don't get the wrong idea. It's just a place to stay. And I'm not some college kid tutoring for pocket money anymore — I'm an actor. A famous one. I can't just show my face anywhere, so I take work meetings here too. For me, this is just an office."
"Then let's just talk here."
"This is a parking garage with people coming and going. Just come with me."
"......"
When her only resistance was silent body language, Lee Do-yun gained confidence. He seized her wrist hard and dragged her inside.
How much time passed after that?
It felt like a long stretch before a single text message arrived.
The moment I saw it, I burst out of the residence I'd rented in a rush that same day and strode down the corridor.
Then I knocked on the door.
Bang bang bang!!
Click—
Ssshhk—
The closed door opened, and the person who greeted me was Han Jihyun, tears faintly welling in her eyes.
"Eunho..."
"......"
I didn't ask what had happened.
I simply stepped past her and went inside.
Apparently he'd heard the knocking, because Lee Do-yun emerged from the bathroom with a robe tied around his waist.
"Yoo Eunho?? What the hell? How did you even get he— Guhk!!!!"
"You son of a bitch!!!"
I kicked him in the gut again as he crumpled against the bathroom door, then grabbed a fistful of his wet hair and hauled him roughly upright.
"Ugh!!! Wh-what the hell are you doing..!! Have you lost your mind..?!!"
"What am I doing?"
"Yeah, you bastard..!! Argh...!!!"
"I'm Han Jihyun's nephew."
"What...?"
I slammed the hand gripping his hair into the door, driving the back of his startled head into the wood.
"Aaaagh!!!"
"Feel it for yourself. What it's like to be abandoned and left alone in the world."
"Y-you won't get anything good out of doing this to me..! If I go down, you're looking at fifteen billion won in—"
In that instant, Lee Do-yun's eyes went wide and began to shake.
He'd figured it out.
My intention.
"So your brain still works."
"You... from the very beginning, you knew everything..... P-please! Eunho!! Please! Just spare me this once!!"
On his knees, Lee Do-yun started begging desperately.
Then his attitude flipped without warning.
"What did I even do?!"
"What?"
"What did I do!! I just washed up because I was tired and felt gross! I didn't do anyth—"
Lee Do-yun's words trailed off.
Because he'd heard it.
Rip!!
Tear!!
The sound of Han Jihyun yanking at her own clothes, popping buttons and tearing fabric.
"What the hell are you doing?!!!!!!"
"Compared to what you did, this is nothing. So don't act like you're the victim."
"You heard that?"
"Y-you think doing this is going to accomplish anything?!!"
"No. Something this small won't accomplish a thing."
"What...?"
That was when it happened.
The guest I'd invited arrived.
"Police! Don't move!!"
"What is this....."
Officers flooded in. I raised my hands and stepped back.
Then my eyes met those of a middle-aged man who arrived right after them.
"......"
"......"
Intimidating.
He was glaring at me like he wanted me dead — but separate from that, he gave me a slight nod.
A kind of thank-you.
Because I had saved his daughter from this human piece of garbage.
"L-let go of me!! This is a setup!! That bitch and that bastard cooked this up to frame me!!!! N-no! Just one phone call! Please, just let me make one phone call!!"
The middle-aged man walked steadily toward the dual-faced Lee Do-yun, waved the officers back, and whispered in a voice only I and Lee Do-yun could hear.
(Shut that mouth of yours..! If you so much as mention my daughter, you'll rot in prison until the day you die..!!)
"......"
The color drained from Lee Do-yun's face.
From those words, he would have understood.
That this man was the father of Park Eunchae — his only remaining lifeline — the deputy chief prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors' Office.
"Take him away."
"Yes, sir!"
"Lee Do-yun, you are under emergency arrest as a flagrant offender for attempted rape. You have the right to remain silent..."
As the police dragged him off, Lee Do-yun was probably thinking about it.
That becoming an attempted rapist would destroy his image.
But this was only the beginning.
"Grab his phone. Search his house too — computers, everything. Don't leave a single thing behind."
"Yes, sir!"
There might be videos or photos of his daughter having sex with Lee Do-yun.
So they would rake through every last grain of sand and take it all.
And that wasn't all.
The illegitimate child, the underage pregnancy, the sponsored bar girl — and every other piece of dirt CEO Oh Sang-gu had dug up — would plaster the front pages of tomorrow morning's papers.
All of it, to drop him into an abyss with not a single ray of hope left — one he could never crawl out of.