The Sudden Dinner Invitation
[Streamer Gamst Calls for an Explanation on the Controversial Video, and Jung Tae-woo Appears in Person to Defend Him]
During the live broadcast, the angel-like Jung Tae-woo—donating one hundred thousand dollars every time someone sends a gift—said, “It’s thanks to Gamst-nim’s video that I can finally communicate with my Korean fans. I’m grateful.”
“Does the swearing bother you? I’m actually having fun watching it,” Jung Tae-woo replied, then surprised everyone by popping into Gamst’s stream on a whim.
The genius goalkeeper of Manchester City, eighteen years old, had just stepped onto a broadcast that was already buzzing from controversy. In the middle of the stream he picked up the phone, voice calm and teasing, “I’m actually thankful that you watch my matches with such passion, Gamst-nim. You’re a real fan.”
With every single sentence he sent, one hundred thousand dollars in gifts flew in. The viewer count shot past fifty thousand in seconds. Twitch live surged to number one, and Naver’s real-time search ranked first too. The entire internet was talking about the goalkeeper who showed up like a guardian angel.
Especially when he said, “Living in Europe has made it hard for me to connect with Korean fans, but thanks to you, Gamst-nim, I got a special chance to speak with them directly.”
The chat exploded. Emojis, hearts, and fire emojis rained down. Gamst, the loud-mouthed streamer, actually stuttered for once.
“W-what the heck?! Tae-woo hyung?! You… you’re really here?!”
Jung Tae-woo’s bright laugh echoed through the mic. “Yeah, it’s me. I just wanted to thank you properly for the video. It really helped.”
He kept sending gifts, calm and polite, the picture of Premier League dignity. The broadcast was saved. The scandal died before it could grow.
Later, back at the agency office, Eun Ga-young sat at her desk staring at the pile of documents. The thick folder labeled “SC Electronics Executive Bribery and Subcontractor Kickback Suspicion Case” sat right on top. Her sharp eyes narrowed.
“Keep investigating,” she told the team. “Focus on Vice President Park Seong-jin’s line. Hold these files for now. We’re not ready to use them yet.”
The staff nodded and left.
‘Oppa… this time you really crossed the line.’
In the youth soccer world, she had slashed their reputation, leaked wild stories to reporters…
“This time I’m not forgiving you.”
At that exact moment her phone rang.
‘Is it Tae-woo?’
The screen showed “Father.”
Her gaze turned ice-cold.
A call from her father at this precise timing…
“Father.”
“Tonight we’re having dinner together. Be home by six.”
Click.
She stared at the clock on her desk. 4:30 p.m.
“Time to leave…”
This was the dinner invitation she had usually dodged for years. But this time felt different. She knew exactly what it meant.
‘Oppa must have done something big again.’
As chairman of SC Group, her father knew every dirty little secret the company was involved in. The fact that he suddenly wanted to have dinner meant he had heard about the call she made to the retired Secretary Kim.
Secretary Kim was her old mentor. When she was young he had been the one to make her feel like there was real kindness in the world—the same warmth she still felt from Mrs. Kim today. And today that kindness had come back to bite them all.
“Prepare the car.”
The black Genesis was already waiting in the parking lot. The driver opened the door with perfect courtesy.
“Home, please.”
“Yes, sir.”
The car pulled away. Eun Ga-young glanced at the clock: 5:15 p.m. Her father always arrived on time.
It had been a long time since they had shared a family meal.
But the table waiting for her was not warm conversation. It was a cold negotiation table.
The last family dinner… she had barely been greeted that time either. Only Mrs. Kim had been there.
The car glided through Seongbuk-dong’s quiet residential streets. Massive luxury homes nestled among dense trees. And at the very end stood the SC Group mansion.
‘Mrs. Kim is probably still waiting at the front door…’
The car stopped. The massive iron gate opened. The driver helped her out.
There at the entrance stood Mrs. Kim, face creased with worry the moment she saw her young mistress.
“Young Miss…”
“Mrs. Kim.”
“Chairman has not arrived yet. Instead… Oppa is already here.”
“Yes, both of them are waiting inside.”
Following Mrs. Kim, Eun Ga-young entered the dining room.
Her second brother and first brother sat quietly at the table.
“What? You’re coming too?”
Second brother Sung-jun looked up in disbelief.
“Did I come to a place I’m not allowed to be? This is still my family.”
“Hah, unbelievable. You only show up when Father calls.”
“Who else would have stopped me from coming?”
“What?! You’re talking to me right now?!”
Second brother jumped up from his seat.
“Quiet.”
One word. But the calm, steady voice belonged to the eldest brother—the successor and heir of SC Group. His single sentence made Sung-jun’s shoulders stiffen instantly.
“If you’re going to bark like a dog, go outside and do it. Not in the dining room where it’s uncivilized.”
“Hyung, but…”
Eun Ga-young met her eldest brother’s calm gaze.
He had always been like this. When Sung-jun bullied her, he had looked the other way. Now, too, he was only speaking up because the noise irritated him.
He was that kind of person.
“If you’re here, sit down and wait. Don’t make any noise.”
The eldest brother’s tone was cool and indifferent, exactly as she had expected.
Silence stretched across the table.
Sung-jun’s lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he glanced at his elder brother and swallowed it back.
Eun Ga-young looked out the window, pretending not to see them.
Then the front door opened.
Mrs. Kim’s voice rang out. “Chairman is entering.”
All three siblings rose at the same moment, as naturally as if they had done it a thousand times.
Clang.
The door swung open. Chairman Eun Kang-hyuk stepped in wearing a perfectly tailored charcoal-gray suit and a burgundy tie. Not a single wrinkle. The weight of the SC Group president settled over the room like a heavy blanket.
“Sit.”
One word. And the French cuisine began arriving one dish at a time—elegant, formal, cold.
White plates held perfectly arranged food, but to Eun Ga-young it looked like nothing more than weapons of cold negotiation. The chairman’s choice.
French food had to be eaten without knife sounds.
Five minutes passed in complete silence.
Then the chairman spoke first.
“Sung-jun-ah, I clearly told you not to touch Ga-young’s company.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No more excuses.”
“Yes.”
He turned to Eun Ga-young, voice heavier.
“Ga-young-ah, I hear you called Secretary Kim.”
“What? Did you really just—”
Second brother’s surprised voice echoed through the dining room.
Even the eldest brother looked momentarily shaken. Of course. Secretary Kim was a man with real influence.
“I don’t know what you’ve prepared,”
The chairman’s tone grew sharp.
“But it would be best if you stopped. If SC Electronics stumbles, the entire Group trembles. Don’t forget you are still a member of SC Group.”
“A member?”
Eun Ga-young couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped.
Every pair of eyes in the room turned to her.
“Have any of you ever treated me as a real member of SC Group? When I said I would help with the company, those words still echo in my ears. Now suddenly you call me a member…”
The old wound she had carried since childhood burst open all at once.
“How funny.”
The air in the dining room froze solid.
Second brother couldn’t even catch his breath. The eldest brother’s fingers twitched slightly.
“Ga-young-ah.”
The warning in the chairman’s voice was as cold and cutting as always.
“You don’t seem to understand my words.”
“No, I understand them perfectly. You mean ‘don’t do anything that harms the Group.’ But is what I’m doing really harming the Group? Or…”
She paused and turned her gaze toward second brother.
“…is it harming someone?”
The cold table, the perfect French dishes, the weight of the SC Group chairman—none of it mattered anymore.
She had come to this dinner for one reason only.
To protect the person she loved most in the world.