The Hyena's Price

"This is Han Jun-soo, social affairs desk reporter for Jungkyung Ilbo."

The man's eyes were razor-sharp as he handed over his business card. Tangled hair, a worn leather jacket — the classic picture of a field reporter, and his gaze gleamed just as ravenously. And to top it off, he wasn't even from the entertainment desk. He was from Social Affairs.

"Kim Dong-su, Acting PR Team Leader. What brings you here today?"

I offered my own card and led him to the conference room. Deputy General Manager Choi Jin-ho tried to follow us in with anxious eyes, but I raised a hand to stop him.

"Please wait outside, Deputy Manager Choi. I'll handle this myself."

"Ah... yes. Understood."

Once the door closed, a heavy silence settled over the conference room. Reporter Han had barely sat down before he pulled out his notebook.

"Let's get straight to the point. The incident at the Main Branch Business Department last week — you're aware of it, I assume?"

"Yes. As I understand it, it was a mishap caused by a malfunction of our internal broadcast system."

I delivered the textbook answer expected of a PR Team Leader. But Reporter Han simply smirked and shook his head.

"That's far too specific to be a mere mishap. The Taekwang Trading kickbacks, the forged documents, and..."

He tapped the table with the tip of his pen.

"Embezzlement and breach-of-trust charges against Branch Manager Park Tae-jin and Team Leader Lee Seok-woo. According to our sources, this was hardly a harmless accident."

As expected. Reporters were fast. Only days after the broadcast accident, he'd already caught the scent and come running.

"Your sources, you say... What exactly have you heard?"

"That the two of them kept slush fund ledgers. That they secured proof of golf memberships and gift vouchers received in exchange for bad corporate loans. The Audit Department is investigating as we speak, isn't it?"

Reporter Han's eyes bored into me as if trying to see straight through me. He was certain of it — he was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only testing me, doing his fact-checking. If I brushed him off here with a flat denial, he would inevitably run the story under a headline like Daehan Bank Accused of Covering Up Corruption. But if I gave away too much, the bank's entire credibility would collapse.

I needed to walk a tightrope.

I held my silence for a moment, then quietly activated my ability. I had to know this reporter's true intentions.

I Hear Your Voice!

Through a crackle of static, the reporter's inner thoughts flowed into my mind.

'Blow this open and the Reporter of the Month award is as good as mine. I won't sink the great Daehan Bank, but one scratch on that hull will raise my market value. An ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exclusive. An exclusive!'

Reporter Han's motive was crystal clear. Ambition over justice. Impact over truth.

Which made this easy. I closed the ability window and let a smile settle on my lips. All I had to do was give the man what he wanted while getting what I wanted in return.

"Reporter Han, you want that 'Reporter of the Month' award, don't you?"

His eyebrow twitched at my words. It wasn't embarrassment at being read — it was him trying to figure out my angle.

"What are you talking about?"

"If you publish this as a simple bribery scandal at a Daehan Bank branch, our legal team will of course mobilize in full force. We'll demand a correction, file a suit. That would make ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life exhausting for you, wouldn't it? After all, it'd be nothing but unsourced hearsay, unverified."

I leaned forward over the table and lowered my voice.

"But what about this instead? Daehan Bank Uncovers Branch Corruption Through Its Own Internal Audit. A story of painful, honest self-correction. How does that sound?"

Reporter Han's eyes wavered.

"Self... correction?"

"Yes. The slush fund ledgers, the golf entertainment records you mentioned — they all match the evidence our Audit Department has secured. I'll hand you that airtight source myself. In exchange, the article's angle should be framed not as a corruption exposé, but as the bank's self-purging discipline."

I threw him the bait. The corruption itself couldn't be buried — it was already festering, an abscess that had burst. So the better play was to package it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as though we had wielded the scalpel first.

Reporter Han deliberated for a moment, then grinned and snapped his notebook shut.

"Team Leader, they say this is your first time heading a PR team, but... you're a seasoned player. Fine. As long as you hand me solid facts, the headline is mine to craft."

"A wise choice. I'll fax the materials to you by this evening."

The deal was struck. He got his exclusive; I managed the bank's risk. This was what they called a win-win.

The next morning, a massive headline ran across the front page of the financial section in the morning paper.

The article's contents were flawless, exactly as I had intended. Park Tae-jin and Lee Seok-woo's wrongdoing was laid bare in full, yet the bank's system for detecting and handling it was evaluated all the more highly for it. The stock price wobbled briefly, but recovered the moment the bank's swift response was announced.

"Team Leader Kim! You did it!"

Department Head Park came bounding into the PR office, newspaper in hand.

"How on earth did you sweet-talk that vicious hyena of a reporter? The bank president has been singing your praises all morning — says you turned a crisis into an opportunity!"

"Just good luck, sir. The reporter turned out to be someone I could talk business with."

I smiled modestly, but the eyes of Deputy Manager Choi and the rest of the team were brimming with awe. They had written me off as a parachute hire, and now that I'd handled both the fieldwork and the press response flawlessly, they had surrendered completely.

"Team Leader, I'll book the restaurant. A day like today calls for a team lunch!"

"Absolutely. Everyone's worked hard — let's go eat something good."

The office atmosphere was at a fever pitch.

"Alright, cheers!"

"Team Leader, thank you for all your hard work!"

"Crisis into opportunity! Go, PR Team!"

Lunchtime. An upscale omakase restaurant serving premium Korean beef near the office. True to my word, I was treating the whole team to a lavish lunch — on the corporate card, of course, not my personal one. I could be the generous one, since the Department Head had handed the card over himself, telling me not to hold back.

"Wow... it just melts in your mouth. Team Leader, this is really something. Thank you for the meal."

Deputy Manager Choi marveled as he popped a slice of beef into his mouth. There wasn't a trace of doubt left in his eyes.

"Eat as much as you like. Everyone worked hard today — especially you, Deputy Manager Choi. Your voice was practically gone from handling all those reporter calls."

"Not at all, sir. You put out the great fire; I was just sweeping up the embers."

The mood was warm and lively. I had crushed a major threat within hours of returning from my dispatch to the Sales Department, and turned it into an image overhaul for the bank. My standing within the PR team had solidified completely. In a good way, of course.

On the way back to the office after the meal, Department Head Park ran into me in the corridor and thrust his thumb in the air.

"Team Leader Kim! The president is absolutely beaming. Says the stock actually went up thanks to you. Don't worry a bit about this round of performance reviews."

"Thank you, Department Head."

The afternoon passed peacefully. Calls from reporters had visibly dwindled, and the internal bulletin board was filling with positive sentiment about the bank's self-correcting discipline.

Ten minutes before quitting time.

Bzzz—

My phone vibrated.

A text from Hae-in. I barely held back the smile creeping onto my face as I rose from my desk.

"Leaving, Team Leader?"

Deputy Manager Choi sprang up from his seat and bowed. The other team members around him stopped what they were doing and looked my way. It was nothing like the way they'd looked at me when we first met.

"Yes. Everyone worked hard today. The article's getting a good response, so just make sure the follow-up press release is ready for tomorrow."

"Leave it to me! I'll have everything set up perfectly by tomorrow morning."

I left the office behind Deputy Manager Choi's energetic reply. In the elevator's mirror, the reflection staring back at me was no longer the cowed divorcee from before. The PR Team Leader of Daehan Bank — and the sort-of boyfriend of a top star. My shoulders squared themselves.

The fourth basement level of the parking garage was quiet. Behind a pillar in the far corner, a black sedan with deep window tint sat blinking its hazard lights. Hae-in's car.

I glanced around and opened the passenger door.

"Welcome aboard, Mr. PR Team Leader."

Hae-in tipped her cap and winked from the driver's seat. With her mask pulled down, her bare face glowed even under the fluorescent light of the underground garage.

"Did you wait long?"

"Nope, I just got here too. By the way — did you see the article? Self-correction? Whoever came up with that headline is a genius."

She waved her phone screen at me, laughing. It was the piece that had dominated the morning paper's financial section.

"Reporter Han has a way with words. Thanks to him, the crisis became an opportunity."

"So humble. My manager was saying that if he had a PR guy like you, our agency's stock would double overnight."

I coughed awkwardly at the compliment. The car glided smoothly out of the garage.

"Where are we headed? You did promise me something delicious."

"We're going to my place."

"Sorry — your place?"

"Mm-hm. Your house is under renovation, remember? All that noise. And besides..."

She looked straight at me while waiting at a red light.

"I want to cook for you. I've got all the ingredients ready."

My heart nearly stopped. A home-cooked meal made by Song Hae-in herself, Korea's top star. Was it really okay to be this happy?

But life was never made of happy moments alone. And I was no exception.