Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Consequences
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"What do you think you're doing in my car!"
Do Chang-ryeol recognized Min-jun, Answer's manager who had appeared on broadcast several times, and recoiled from his murderous gaze.
For a moment, Do Chang-ryeol tried to flee the car, but Min-jun's hand had already clamped down on his right.
"Kugh!"
The immense grip, strong enough to break bones, sent a cold sweat running down Do Chang-ryeol's spine.
"What are you doing!"
Min-jun, expressionless, fiddled with his phone and held it in front of Do Chang-ryeol's face. Considering the crushing strength of the hand gripping his, one might have suspected it belonged to a different person entirely.
"You won't be able to run, but it's better if you don't. Your net worth could become zero."
Do Chang-ryeol instantly realized Min-jun's words were true.
"...Who are you!"
Min-jun shot a cold glare at Do Chang-ryeol, who was pretending not to know him.
"Stop pretending and take a good look."
Only then did Do Chang-ryeol look at the phone screen, and he was so startled his body jolted.
It was SJ Enter's shareholder list. Right in the center was a picture showing his wife's name and 50,000 shares.
Do Chang-ryeol swallowed hard. He instinctively knew he was in a serious crisis.
"You staked your life as a reporter to drag Answer into the abyss. In return, you illegally received 50,000 shares of SJ Enter stock from Gyeon Sang-jin. Is that right?"
Min-jun spoke down to the much older Do Chang-ryeol without hesitation, but Do Chang-ryeol was in no position to feel offended.
"Hmph! You're recording, aren't... you? I won't fall for that. I'm a reporter, you know."
An oppressive aura, making it hard to breathe, emanated from the expressionless Min-jun.
"You seem to be mistaken about something. Whether I'm recording or not is irrelevant. With a single word from me, you'll lose everything you own."
At first, Do Chang-ryeol thought it was utter nonsense, but as he pieced together the circumstances, he finally grasped the precise nature of the crisis he faced.
The fact that this man knew about the stocks he'd received under a borrowed name and the existence of his affair partners meant he had a grip on all of his weaknesses.
But Do Chang-ryeol decided he had to play dumb.
"What are you... talking about, I..."
"Are you pretending you don't know, or are you just an idiot?"
Do Chang-ryeol watched Min-jun's lips nervously, hoping against hope.
"You're smart, I'll give you that. To evade legal responsibility, you had the illegal gift transferred to your wife instead of yourself. That way, if things went south, you could just sign the divorce papers and solve everything."
*Gulp.*
The sound of his own swallowing felt like thunder to Do Chang-ryeol. He wanted to deny this reality.
Min-jun's voice continued.
"But that was the problem. If you actually get divorced, it becomes your wife's property, not yours. And on top of that, you're having affairs. Of course, that was probably through Gyeon Sang-jin too, but that's not important right now. Because I have all the details on the numerous former trainees you've been sponsoring."
"..."
Do Chang-ryeol's breath caught in his throat.
"So, back to the point. What if I expose your numerous affairs and other immoral acts to your wife? You'll be divorced as the party at fault, and you might not get a single penny back from the stocks that were in your wife's name to begin with. In other words, you'll become a jobless, homeless bum."
Min-jun calmly recited the story, which for Do Chang-ryeol was so horrifying it felt like his world was collapsing.
Do Chang-ryeol was on the verge of passing out before he realized he hadn't been breathing.
"...*Gasp*. Haa, haa."
"Ah, I forgot. Should I add one more thing?"
"..."
"Hurry up and ask. What else is there?"
In Min-jun's expressionless face, Do Chang-ryeol saw a devil with a wicked smile.
"Hey, let's not do this. Let's talk it out. With words."
"Isn't what I'm doing now a conversation? Ah... I guess dropping truth bombs is a form of violence?"
Do Chang-ryeol racked his brain with superhuman effort to get out of this situation.
"Right! Let's do this!"
"Do what?"
"Let's call Chairman Gyeon and..."
"Chairman? He's the CEO of a company that hasn't even gone public. How unsightly. He's just a CEO."
"Ah, anyway, let's call CEO Gyeon and you too..."
"Me too?"
"No, no, sir."
Min-jun's thuggish speech and behavior were rattling Do Chang-ryeol to his core.
"I'm sure CEO Gyeon will also reward you handsomely..."
"I'm not interested."
"Why! It could change your life. No! I'll even share mine! You won't have to be a mere manager anymore!"
"See, you knew who I was all along."
Do Chang-ryeol realized his mistake, but he composed himself and spoke calmly. He thought he could persuade Min-jun.
"Sir, you might not know, but these stocks right now..."
Do Chang-ryeol was about to offer 30% but changed his mind. He thought Min-jun might ask for half.
Do Chang-ryeol cleared his throat again and spoke as if he were making a great sacrifice.
"Haa... I'll give you 300 million won."
'Even if this bastard negotiates, it'll be 500 million at most. Thirty percent of my stocks is worth at least 2 billion won. That was a close call.'
Do Chang-ryeol snickered inwardly, thinking Min-jun couldn't refuse. He even wondered if he could demand more from Gyeon Sang-jin as a reward for handling Min-jun.
"You're offering 300 million? You've got a lot of money, huh?"
Do Chang-ryeol hid a sigh of relief and regained his composure.
"Ahem! But there's a condition. As you seem to be well aware, the stocks are currently in my wife's name."
"So you're asking me not to get you divorced as the party at fault? Because then you can't even give me the 300 million?"
As Min-jun spoke with a nod, color seemed to return to Do Chang-ryeol's face.
"You understand immediately."
"I refuse."
"What? What exactly are you refusing? It would take you more than ten years to save 300 million won!"
Do Chang-ryeol said, agitated.
For a moment, Min-jun felt the urge to brag about his own stocks, but he decided there was no need to give away information.
"I have plenty of money."
"Ha! Haha."
Min-jun's absurd answer left Do Chang-ryeol deflated.
"I'll be blunt. Take down the malicious article and take responsibility for all the clickbait articles. Then post an apology. Of course, the apology must be based on facts. Deal?"
Do Chang-ryeol planned to agree for now and then run. He figured that even if things went wrong and his affair was exposed, his wife wouldn't go as far as divorce if he flaunted that his connections with big shots were still intact.
'Gaslighting was my specialty long before the term became popular. And this guy, he's definitely recording. Anything done under duress is legally void. You young punk. How many years have I been in this game? You think I'd fall for your tricks?'
Contrary to his inner thoughts mocking Min-jun, Do Chang-ryeol put on a resigned expression.
"...Haa. I have no choice. I'll do as you say."
Min-jun's eyes twitched.
"'As I say'? That makes it sound like you're going to fabricate things under my duress. That's not it, is it?"
'This guy is uncanny. Is he reading my mind?'
For the first time, Min-jun spoke with a cynical smile.
"Yeah. I'm holding your hand, so I can see right through you."
Do Chang-ryeol was so shocked that he saw stars before his eyes and shuddered as goosebumps erupted all over his body.
"You seem to think you just need to get out of this situation, but let me add one more thing. Were all the trainees you had affairs with adults? If I dig a little, might I find a minor? Maybe it wasn't an affair, but compensated dating?"
"That's not—! I've never done anything like that!"
A chilling feeling washed over Do Chang-ryeol, and he denied it loudly.
"Your history of receiving favors and entertainment spans over a decade. Can you really be sure?"
Do Chang-ryeol now began to feel true fear.
The reality that his entire remaining life could be ruined if he were linked to a crime involving a minor dawned on him.
"And it might not even be called compensated dating. What if it was sexual assault using your position of power?"
At Min-jun's words, instead of imagining winning over his wife, he pictured himself living with the stigma of an electronic ankle monitor in his forties after serving a prison sentence, jobless and penniless.
"That never happened! I can't say I've lived an entirely honest life, but I haven't lived so shamelessly!"
Do Chang-ryeol's composure completely shattered.
"A man who claims he hasn't lived shamelessly ruins others with fabricated stories?"
"...Sir, please save me."
Do Chang-ryeol's mind was no longer functioning properly.
"I came from nothing, a dirt-spoon family, and it led me to make the wrong choices. Please, forgive me."
"Does being born poor give you the right to ruin other people's lives?"
"Sir. The root of all this is CEO Gyeon. I just took what he gave me... Haa... I'll take down the article right away and take responsibility for all the clickbait versions. I'll get them all down by the end of today. Of course, I'll also post an apology that will satisfy you, sir."
After confirming Do Chang-ryeol's words were sincere, Min-jun let go of his hand.
"Ugh..."
The parts of his hand where the blood flow had been cut off by Min-jun's grip had turned white like the flesh of a fish.
"That's the bare minimum. How are you going to compensate for the damages Answer and our company suffered? Do you have any idea how much we lost from canceled contracts alone?"
Anxiously, Do Chang-ryeol wiped his sweaty palms on his jacket.
"...I'll do whatever you want. If you need to press charges against CEO Gyeon, I will be your witness."
"Deal with the articles first. I'll think about it."
"Understood."
I went with Do Chang-ryeol to his newspaper office and watched his every move from behind him.
Many people at the office found my actions strange, but at Do Chang-ryeol's behest, no one said a word.
He deleted the article and called each of the outlets that had posted the clickbait versions. It seemed they had a prior arrangement, as the deletion process that had been so difficult for us went very smoothly for Do Chang-ryeol.
Should I use this chance to take down Gyeon Sang-jin?
I ran a mental simulation of taking Gyeon Sang-jin down with the resources I could currently mobilize.
He could certainly face legal punishment, but I judged the probability of completely ousting him from the industry to be low, given his vast financial power and connections.
That's not enough. I have to turn him into a beggar and strip him of his power so he can never dream of doing something like this again.
When my available resources become much stronger than they are now, I'll slowly destroy him from the inside. Just you wait, you bastard.
"...It's all done."
"..."
Do Chang-ryeol said in a drained voice.
"You'll keep your promise, right?"
I never made a promise. What is he asking me to keep?
"Atone for your sins and live a good life."
"I will. Thank you. I will be sure to express my gratitude to you separately."
Unaware of my true intentions, Do Chang-ryeol wore a look of relief.
"I don't need it. Why don't you give a gift to Answer? They must have suffered great mental distress."
"Ah! Let's go right away!"
Afraid I might change my mind, Do Chang-ryeol led me outside and drove to a nearby department store. The lights of the building, glowing as night fell, seemed to shine with unusual brilliance, as if congratulating me on a successful quest.
We entered the jewelry section.
"How much is something like a lucky key?"
"We have them in 1-don, 3-don, and 1-nyang sizes..."
Do Chang-ryeol glanced at me furtively with an expression that pleaded for understanding.
"The 3-don one."
"The 3-don key is 1,577,000 won, sir."
"How much if I buy five?"
The clerk's expression brightened.
"We have a fixed price system, so..."
"7.5 million won."
"Yes, sir!"
When Do Chang-ryeol held out his card, the clerk demurely snatched it.
"It will take some time to liquidate the stocks I have. I will be sure to thank you properly later."
"The 300 million? What about CEO Gyeon?"
"Everything's already a mess, anyway. Don't worry about that."
Do Chang-ryeol held out the shopping bag, and I didn't refuse.
We returned to my company in Do Chang-ryeol's car.
"Live a good life."
"I'll live diligently, remembering the passion I had when I first aspired to be a reporter."
Reporter Do Chang-ryeol, who had gotten out of the car with me, bowed a full ninety degrees.
"Thank you for forgiving me. Please take care."
I left Do Chang-ryeol behind and headed into the company building.
Who said I forgave you?
Those who turn to the dark side once never come back.
I sent a text to Gyeon Sang-jin.
And I also sent all the data I had gathered to Do Chang-ryeol's wife.
This is the punishment for daring to mess with the people around me.