The Resolve of a Sixteen-Year-Old Girl
I shook his hand and we briefly discussed the terms of our agreement. We covered the method and timing of compensation, along with various safeguards and guarantees. The more I listened, the more I felt he was being completely sincere.
The warm atmosphere carried us through a reasonable exchange of opinions. Just as we were about to go our separate ways, I turned to Seok Hyeonwu.
“There’s one last thing I’d like to ask.”
“Do you have more questions about the payment method?”
“No, it’s not that.”
The question that had arisen was more fundamental, about the situation itself.
“Based on what you said earlier, Manager Seok, I assume Jin Yeoreum will definitely refuse the offer.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then why do you want me to make the scouting proposal?”
“….”
Why ask for a scout when she wouldn’t even accept one?
“In the end, all that happens is I spend about five minutes delivering a scouting speech. From that, I interpret that Jin Kang—or rather, you, Manager Seok—are offering me a rather substantial amount of money and opportunity. Because nothing else actually gets accomplished.”
What remains after that short performance? And why does it become the object of a transaction?
“No matter how powerful a conglomerate Jin Kang is, with all its capital, I can’t imagine them engaging in a losing deal. Yet to anyone looking at this, it seems like Jin Kang is clearly taking a loss.”
Jin Kang, which had risen to become one of Korea’s top business families through the efforts of its elite dealmakers, would be even less likely to accept a disadvantageous transaction. That position could only be reached by never allowing such losses.
“What benefit does Jin Kang—or Jin Yeoreum—gain from this deal?”
There had to be one. Something I simply couldn’t calculate.
Seok Hyeonwu hesitated to answer. It seemed this was a question touching on sensitive internal matters, perhaps even company secrets. I quickly decided to drop it. If he was hesitating this much, knowing the truth might be poisonous.
“If it’s uncomfortable to discuss, you don’t have to answer. I’ll still go through with the scouting as promised, even if you stay silent.”
The opportunity to become a general advertising model was too valuable to throw away over mere curiosity.
Seok Hyeonwu slowly shook his head at me.
“…No. I’ll tell you. I think I should.”
He looked at me directly. Until now, his gaze had felt purely professional, like someone conducting business. But the Seok Hyeonwu who was about to speak now was slightly different. A thread of emotion I couldn’t quite identify lingered in his eyes.
“What do you think about the doping controversy surrounding Jin Yeoreum?”
Even after talking with her about it, my thoughts hadn’t changed. She had probably used her connections to avoid legal consequences. Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.
“I understand she was found not guilty. I don’t have any other thoughts on the matter.”
He turned to Yuri.
“And you, Yuri?”
“…I only watch games and anime, so I don’t follow the news. I don’t actually know the details.”
Our little shut-in was adorably pure.
“If only everyone felt the same as you two, I would be truly grateful. However, the majority of public opinion believes Jin Yeoreum committed illegal doping and tried to cover it up. But that is not the truth.”
Well, of course you’d say that—you work for Jin Kang.
“I’m not saying this because I’m a manager at Jin Kang.”
…Did the people at Jin Kang, Yeoreum included, learn mind reading or something?
“With eight years of experience supporting the Jin Kang family, I will state this clearly. From the very beginning, neither Jin Kang nor the current chairman, Jin Baekho, approved of Jin Yeoreum pursuing rhythmic gymnastics.”
This was the first I’d heard of it.
“But didn’t Jin Kang actively push her rhythmic gymnastics for image-making purposes? I remember them providing aggressive sponsorship and even filming CFs to promote the company’s brand image. They practically made her the company’s mascot.”
“That support came from the previous chairman, Jin Woochul—Jin Yeoreum’s grandfather—and the public relations strategy planning department. It was a corporate decision based on the judgment that her beauty and talent for ribbon gymnastics held sufficient commercial value, rather than personal affection.”
Come to think of it, if I had a granddaughter who was an A+ potential beauty who swept up gold medals from a young age, I probably wouldn’t have stayed quiet either.
“Unlike Chairman Jin Woochul, Chairman Jin Baekho found the excessive attention focused on fourteen-year-old Jin Yeoreum—by Korean age—quite distasteful. He worried that the moment such attention was placed on her, her freedom would disappear.”
It sounded like overprotection. But for someone who had lived as the second generation of Jin Kang, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable concern. Looking at the current situation, it had been the right call. The backlash from that very attention was what had left Yeoreum in her current state.
“He said, ‘The world will only see that child as either the national rhythmic gymnastics representative or the third generation of Jin Kang.’ He always wanted Jin Yeoreum to live simply as ‘Jin Yeoreum.’ Not burdened with heavy responsibilities.”
“Then why did he let her start rhythmic gymnastics?”
I understood the good intentions, but if he knew that, shouldn’t he have stopped her? If he had dissuaded her from the beginning, none of this would have happened.
“Because Jin Yeoreum loved rhythmic gymnastics.”
“…I see.”
“He probably would have reluctantly allowed it even if it had been an indie band or becoming a painter instead.”
There was no grand twist to this story. It was simply one doting father who couldn’t bring himself to crush his child’s dream.
“After Chairman Jin Woochul’s term ended and Chairman Jin Baekho took over, the sponsorship policy—that is, Jin Kang’s official stance—softened somewhat.”
“What do you mean by ‘softened’?”
“They stopped demanding results.”
“…Wow.”
A sponsor that didn’t demand performance from an athlete?
“Did the company actually allow that?”
“This was Chairman Jin Baekho’s unilateral decision. …Naturally, there was opposition. But he pushed through it regardless and made it happen.”
Apparently, he had created family dinner appointments using the very time that had made him chairman. At this point, the term “daughter-obsessed fool” felt almost majestic.
“As a result, they adjusted Jin Yeoreum’s schedule and reduced the number of competitions she entered. This is documented in the official records from that time. If you wish, I can show you the related materials.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll trust you.”
“Thank you.”
As I listened to Seok Hyeonwu’s story, I began to anticipate where he was going. I gave him a small nod and said,
“I think I understand what you’re trying to say, Manager Seok. It’s the same argument the defense team made during the legal battle in court.”
“Correct. The public viewed it as a fabricated justification to shift blame, but it was the unexaggerated truth.”
The emotion in Seok Hyeonwu’s eyes flared up like fire.
“The doctor in charge, who had received bribes, frequently recommended medication. When Jin Yeoreum felt uncomfortable and considered switching doctors, the personal physician feared for his position and took action. He tried to blackmail her with it. Contrary to his intentions, Jin Yeoreum underwent an unscheduled doping test, and the rest unfolded as you know. The media had already spread the story that Jin Yeoreum had been caught by the medical team after illegal doping. There was no time for Jin Kang to bury the doctor or stop the narrative. …All of this happened because of that stupid, greedy bastard.”
He practically shouted the words.
“Doesn’t it defy common sense? Why would someone who had doped voluntarily submit to a medical test? She wasn’t the kind of person who would need such drugs! The fourteen-year-old Jin Yeoreum at that time could not possibly have done it! There was absolutely no intentional negligence either!”
The burning emotion was a mixture of resentment, pity, and affection. It seemed Seok Hyeonwu wasn’t treating Jin Yeoreum as merely part of his job.
He took a deep breath as if to suppress his exposed feelings and apologized.
“…I’m sorry. I let my emotions show in an inappropriate place.”
“No, there’s no need to apologize. I actually liked seeing that side of you, Manager Seok.”
This was purely my personal taste as a human being. I liked people who didn’t seem like they would stab you in the back. Unlike someone like Ban Seongcheol, who smiled while calculating when to betray you.
“According to the doctor’s later statement in court, even if the blackmail failed, it was meant to increase her dependence on him.”
“What a truly vile person.”
“…Haha, indeed.”
I didn’t understand why there were so many crazy people in the world.
“Unlike what the public believes, I now understand that Jin Yeoreum was an unfairly victimized party.”
When he spoke with such conviction, it was hard not to believe him. Besides, there was nothing for Seok Hyeonwu to gain by deceiving me. But my questions hadn’t completely disappeared.
“But how does that connect to me making a scouting proposal?”
Seok Hyeonwu, who had been speaking in a cool, collected tone, now continued with a voice full of pity.
“…Jin Yeoreum needs encouragement.”
Encouragement?
“Could you explain that in a bit more detail?”
“The truth is, this volunteer work is being done despite Chairman Jin Baekho’s strong opposition. The fact that she isn’t attending school and is only doing volunteer work here is entirely Jin Yeoreum’s own decision.”
No parent would be happy about their daughter skipping school to spend all her time on volunteer work. If this was her own stubborn choice, the situation made a little more sense.
“Jin Yeoreum feels immense guilt for causing trouble to the name of Jin Kang and to her family. She has always been searching for ways to make up for it.”
“And that’s the volunteer work?”
“Yes.”
His intentions were good, but I was negative about its effectiveness.
“You can take this as the light opinion of an outsider. But as an employee of an agency that handles image management, I’d like to say one thing.”
I understood Yeoreum’s circumstances and that she was a victim. But that didn’t change the fact that the public saw her as a doping criminal. My desire to avoid getting entangled with her remained unchanged. Still, it felt somewhat wasteful for her to spend her youth on something so ineffective and with such low prospects. That was why, fully aware that I was being meddlesome, I spoke up.
“That will be an incredibly difficult task. Even if she dedicates herself to volunteer work for two or three years, people will just interpret it as a political show.”
Even if they heard that she was repenting for her sins through volunteer work, people would respond coldly. They would tell her to stop posting those disgusting photos, or to only bring news of her death. They would casually pour poison straight into Jin Yeoreum’s heart while saying such things. This wasn’t an extreme exaggeration. It was the actual reaction I had seen from online communities when I was working to improve a singer’s image.
“It’s not just two or three years. Jin Yeoreum is looking at a minimum of ten years for that image to change.”
“Even that might not be enough. Public opinion works that way.”
At my assertion, Seok Hyeonwu shook his head and said,
“It seems I spoke in a way that caused a misunderstanding. That was referring to the minimum period.”
He spoke plainly, as if stating nothing but objective facts without personal sentiment.
“Jin Yeoreum has already made up her mind to live her entire life doing volunteer work. Fifty years, a hundred years—it doesn’t matter.”
“….”
The words Jin Yeoreum had said to me right before leaving suddenly came back to me.
‘I will always be here waiting… But I won’t expect anything.’
So it wasn’t just empty words. A chill ran across my skin. I felt pure awe at the resolve and determination held by a girl who had just turned sixteen.