Early Firefighting Is Best

South Korea was turned upside down from the moment morning broke by a bombshell piece of news.

An internet article that had gone up without any real evidence to speak of was copied and reposted from place to place in an instant, spreading at breakneck speed.

Public opinion immediately locked in the "famous celebrity Ryu" from the article as Ryu Yeon-woo, and people who had never dared leave hate comments online because of how powerful his fandom was now swarmed in, sensing their moment — ready to tear into him, rip him apart, chew him up, and savor every bite.

Beyond pure condemnation, a wide range of reactions continued to flood the internet. Because the article had exploded out of nowhere without clear evidence, there were those who questioned its credibility, and fans actively rose to his defense.

As the reactions grew hotter by the minute, the YouTube wrecker channels were just about to gleefully sink their teeth into this plump, well-marbled piece of meat.

Then a single article went public on the internet.

Kim Joon-kyung's article went up thirty-seven minutes after the baseless allegations had first been raised.

Meanwhile, that same morning — one hour before the speculative article on the tax evasion allegations appeared.

"Hoo."

Yoo Do-hyun and Oh Young-jin stood in front of the shared entrance of an apartment near the Government Complex Sejong, checking their reflections in the glass door as they gave their clothes one last neat adjustment.

As of last night when they had gone to bed, they had never dreamed they would be standing here this early in the morning. They had scrambled to get ready after an urgent call at dawn and rushed out, but they had never anticipated that the truth they had gathered and uncovered about Lake Film in the name of justice would ricochet in a completely different direction and end up harming someone else.

Of course, even so, they had been under no obligation to step forward and put themselves through this kind of early-morning hardship. But as they listened to the group call from actor Ryu Yeon-woo that had come in first thing that morning, a sense of mission gradually took hold of them — as if they were being drawn in — that this was something public servants charged with the nation's tax administration duties simply had to do.

"Young-jin, does my tie look crooked?"

"You've never worn a tie straight once in your life. You nervous?"

"A little? We're meeting the Commissioner — of course I'm nervous. Ah, I need to use the bathroom…"

While the two of them were talking, the automatic door opened.

"Hup."

"……?"

The elderly gentleman who stepped out of the shared entrance tilted his head when he found two men staring straight through him.

"Hm? Now that I look at you, those faces are familiar."

"Commissioner, good morning. Please forgive us for the discourtesy of coming to see you in person first thing like this! I am Inspection Officer Oh Young-jin."

"Yoo Do-hyun, Investigation Analysis Division Director."

At that, National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Joong-kwon nodded.

"I thought you looked familiar — so you're people from our Service. But what brings you all the way out here this early…?"

"We have an urgent matter to discuss with you, and every second counts…"

"Hmm. The fact that you came all the way here already says as much. Get in for now. We'll talk on the way to work."

Commissioner Lim Joong-kwon pointed to the official vehicle.

"One of you will have to take the passenger seat."

"Yes, sir! I'll take it."

Still stiff-faced, Yoo Do-hyun and Oh Young-jin climbed into the Commissioner's official car.

And an hour and a half after that — thirty-seven minutes after the tax evasion allegations had been raised — Reporter Kim Joon-kyung's article was uploaded.

The National Tax Service delivered its official response in an interview with this paper at approximately 10:30 a.m. on the 17th.

The NTS stated in no uncertain terms that it "publicly certifies that Actor Ryu Yeon-woo has neither committed tax evasion nor fallen into arrears."

The following is the full text of the official response received regarding an inquiry submitted through the National Tax Service's official website.

The moment the article went public, public opinion flipped one hundred and eighty degrees in an instant.

The original article that had raised the allegations had been little more than a speculative tabloid piece with flimsy grounding to begin with — and before long, a rebuttal article backed by solid evidence had gone up. That solid evidence was nothing less than the National Tax Service's official response. The Commissioner's name was stamped right on it; there could hardly be greater institutional authority.

At that, the various outlets that had been sitting on the fence all morning, unable to decide whether the tax evasion allegations heating up public opinion were true or not, began pouring out articles in unison.

Outlets that had held to neutrality and waited began freely running stories off a confirmed source, while those that had followed the original report just in case now fretted over whether the fallout would hit them and immediately issued corrections.

And the news-style YouTube channels that would never let an incident this interesting sit idle raced to go live.

Watching the reversal of public opinion in real time, community boards and article comment sections heated up all over again. And because these were follow-up pieces on the tax evasion allegations, they were running on the society pages — where comments were enabled — rather than the entertainment pages where comments were normally locked, so the temperature spiked even faster.

Yeon-woo watched the flipped public opinion on his smartphone while rereading the report that had arrived from Han Hae-un.

Yeon-woo nodded as he read the report. It matched what he had expected.

Korea's bureaucratic society was extremely rigid, and public servants themselves often leveled the criticism that it had a strong tendency toward risk-averse inaction — a preference for steering clear of any incident that might become a problem.

The mindset of "just don't make any noise while I'm in the post and let it pass quietly."

It wasn't right, but that didn't mean he couldn't understand it. At the end of the day, their livelihoods were on the line.

But Lim Joong-kwon is scheduled to retire soon, and there's a strong chance he'll move into politics after that. Factoring in his usual temperament, I judged he would be unlikely to turn down a chance at delivering justice and seeing retribution served…

Fortunately, it had landed.

From Lim Joong-kwon's position, there had been nothing to lose. Yeon-woo was a celebrity with both popularity and a good image — and one the NTS had already designated an exemplary taxpayer. Taking a firm stand against a baseless speculative tabloid piece was a fine opportunity to elevate both the Service's image and the Commissioner's personal image.

The critical factor had been timing. Before public opinion could drift in a worse direction, lose the essence of the matter, and tip over into blind condemnation, you had to smash the fire extinguisher open and put the blaze out.

Looks like those two from the NTS really ran hard on their feet from first thing this morning. Fortunate.

Of course, that didn't mean he had simply sat and waited in ironclad faith that an official NTS response would come. The plan had three stages total — and if the NTS response came too late or was refused, he had already prepared contingencies involving help from the Leehan Group or the SL Group. But of all of them, the best option by far was the NTS, which could achieve early firefighting without borrowing anyone else's hand.

When Yeon-woo checked the internet discourse again, the arrowheads ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were now pointed in the opposite direction. Public opinion was forming that demanded Choi Woon-gyu, the NK News reporter who had broken the original story, explain why he had reported false information and reveal the "personally obtained source" he had cited.

Once netizens started feeling a sense of justice and caught a current, there was no stopping them. A lawful hunt was beginning — and anyone who swam against that tide would simply be branded a traitor.

This side will sort itself out if I just wait. The source is as plain as day. Either Director Jo Hoon-gwang or CEO Jeong Yang-gi. Maybe both.

Bang bang bang—.

"Actor—!"

At that moment, Manager Kim Min-su's voice rang desperately from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hallway as he pounded on Yeon-woo's hotel room door. Yeon-woo rose from his seat and opened it, and Manager Kim Min-su rushed in, his face covered in cold sweat.

"A-Actor! This is serious. A rumor seems to have spread in Korea right now!"

The flustered face was so full of genuine worry it felt as if the problem were his own. He did seem a little slow on picking up recent news, though…

"You mean the false article about taxes?"

"Th-that's right. You've already been contacted?"

Looking at Kim Min-su as he asked in a rush, Yeon-woo saw his hands were empty. He had probably heard the news and dashed out so fast he'd left his smartphone in his hotel room.

"Min-su hyung. If it's that, it got resolved just fine, luckily."

Kim Min-su tilted his head with a blank look. He had never for a second believed the actor he managed, Ryu Yeon-woo, would commit tax evasion, and he knew the company managed everything meticulously at the organizational level just in case of any slip — so he had never doubted the truth would come out. But he had been around the entertainment industry for years, and he knew all too well that speculative tabloid pieces of this nature were a headache because of the vicious types who kept sinking their teeth in no matter how thoroughly you explained yourself.

And yet it was already resolved?

"Fortunately a follow-up report came out right away. Check it on the phone."

Yeon-woo handed over his smartphone, and Kim Min-su took it and checked the article. Then he let out a long, deflating sound.

"Huhhh? The National Tax Service…?"