Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Episode 9. First Broadcast (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After wrapping up the recording shoot, the four men settled into a small conference room.
Three of the men sat across from him first, then Kang Han-do took his seat opposite them.
“Then, let’s proceed with the interview…”
“Sorry about this.”
PD Yoo Tae-hwan walked in through the door, offering an apology.
“The studio cleanup isn’t quite finished yet. I got held up handling that.”
“No, it’s fine. Shall we get started right away?”
“Please take care of us!”
Kang Han-do pulled out a notepad and laptop.
He first turned his gaze toward the three performers.
“For starters, let’s hear from Kang Han-do first.”
“Yes.”
“You mentioned you’re from the 16th batch of public recruitment comedians… I heard you passed on the first try. Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Could you briefly share your thoughts on passing the public recruitment comedian exam and joining HSL Season 2 with a new corner?”
“I’m deeply moved. As a rookie, I’m grateful for this great opportunity, and above all, I have to work my hardest for PD Yoo Tae-hwan who saw potential in me.”
“I see.”
Kang Han-do tapped away on his laptop, jotting down content for the article.
From Kang Han-do to Oh Min-tae, Jeon Yoo-hyeon, and even PD Yoo Tae-hwan, they exchanged formal questions.
Midway through, Kang Han-do looked at Jeon Yoo-hyeon.
“We can’t skip talking about the panic disorder incident. Mind if I ask? It’s nothing serious. Just what you did during those two years. That’s all you need to answer.”
The panic disorder topic had finally come up. Everyone’s eyes fixed on Jeon Yoo-hyeon.
Jeon Yoo-hyeon gave an awkward smile.
“I mostly spent time alone. Watching TV, playing games, or seeing movies. Like that.”
“You made good use of your time.”
“Haha, you think so?”
“You’re much better now?”
Kang Han-do sent a concerned look. Jeon Yoo-hyeon nodded heavily.
“From now on, I’ll work hard to get better.”
He wanted to overcome his own limitations. That was Jeon Yoo-hyeon’s wish.
* * *
About 30 minutes passed.
“Then, that wraps up the interview. Good work, everyone.”
“Good work!”
The three performers and PD Yoo Tae-hwan exchanged words of thanks.
As they finished the pleasant interview and were about to head home,
“Reporter-nim.”
Kang Han-do suddenly approached him and spoke.
Wondering what it could be, Kang Han-do paused his steps toward the office and met his gaze.
“Do you need something from me?”
“Yes, I have something to tell you. Do you have a moment?”
“…”
Kang Han-do glanced at the departing Jeon Yoo-hyeon and PD Yoo Tae-hwan, then nodded briefly.
“Alright. There’s a quiet café nearby. Let’s move there.”
“Yes.”
Originally, he planned to head straight to the office, write the article, finish his daily quota quickly, and get off work early.
But the moment Kang Han-do approached him,
Kang Han-do had a hunch that something important might come up.
No evidence. No proof.
It was just a reporter’s instinct nagging at him.
* * *
“This way.”
With the tinkling of a small bell, the two men entered the café.
It was a café with very few patrons.
The space was small, and with no apparent part-timer, a middle-aged man with a bushy beard manned the counter alone.
“Let’s sit somewhere appropriate.”
“Yes.”
Kang Han-do subtly avoided the window seats and took one, with Kang Han-do sitting opposite.
Since a confidential conversation might take place, he deliberately chose a spot not easily visible to outsiders.
Of course, he didn’t think their talk would leak through the walls. He simply didn’t want outsiders seeing the two of them engaged in some serious discussion.
“Two Americanos, please.”
“Yes.”
As the laid-back owner responded and Kang Han-do closed the menu, he cut straight to the chase.
“So, why did you call me here?”
“To give you an exclusive scoop personally, I requested this meeting.”
“Requested?”
“Yes. There’s VQ Entertainment… Do you know it?”
“VQ, huh.”
Of course he did.
It was a rising powerhouse aggressively expanding into the entertainment industry lately. For Kang Han-do, who worked in the entertainment beat, it would be absurd not to know.
“Of course I do.”
“Among their contracted singers, there’s a female artist named Noni. Go to her and ask about VQ Entertainment’s hidden side. You’ll get a solid exclusive out of it.”
“Noni? Does she have some issue?”
“To be precise, the problem stems from the sloppy contract signing between Noni and VQ Entertainment.”
“…”
“I know you won’t easily believe a mere rookie comedian. But investigating it yourself won’t take much effort. Why not reach out, even if you think you might get fooled?”
Kang Han-do was right.
Hearing about VQ Entertainment from Noni herself wasn’t hard.
Still, there was unease.
“What if she doesn’t talk?”
“She will. It’s about time her dissatisfaction with the agency boils over.”
Worst case, nothing lost.
‘It’s not credible on its face. But he must have some conviction to tell me this.’
In the end, Kang Han-do decided to take Kang Han-do’s words.
* * *
Two days since telling Kang Han-do to look into VQ Entertainment.
He hadn’t reached out first with anything special yet.
It would take time before Kang Han-do moved in earnest.
Reporters, by nature, pounce the moment they spot a scoop, so he couldn’t ignore the bait Kang Han-do tossed.
He wouldn’t brush off Kang Han-do’s words lightly.
With those thoughts, Kang Han-do focused on his broadcasting work while waiting for Kang Han-do’s decision.
Then one day.
The doorbell started ringing early in the morning, disturbing Han-do’s deep sleep.
He stumbled to the door in a disheveled state and opened it, where Nemid greeted the just-awakened Han-do with a fresh smile.
“Good morning, Han-do-nim! Have a great morning!”
“Is it a ‘great morning’ when… it’s this early…?”
He grumbled while checking his smartphone screen.
For reference, it was 7 a.m.
The time when the sun had just punched in.
Yet Nemid, visiting Kang Han-do’s home at this very early hour, calmly continued.
“How about using this chance to become a morning person?”
“…Even without that, I wake up promptly at 8 a.m. every day.”
As a freelancer, the top thing to guard against was ‘laziness.’
With no fixed commute or quitting time, freelancers could endlessly slack off.
Once sloth sets in, people get lazy, work motivation plummets.
Then ambition for work naturally fades.
Kang Han-do had to become a superstar somehow. If he couldn’t raise Korea’s happiness index, this world was done for.
So Kang Han-do maintained a regular routine, steadily practicing scripts or exercising.
“More importantly, what brings you here?”
“To update you on that favor you asked.”
“Favor?”
“About whether past memories can be viewed in data format.”
“Ah… right.”
Kang Han-do finally recalled.
At the same time, Nemid continued apologetically.
“Sorry. Bottom line, it’s not possible. They worried that if made tangible, someone other than you seeing it could cause big trouble, so…”
“I see.”
“Yes. But we’re looking into other methods separately, so don’t worry. And with your talent, Han-do-ssi, you can become a superstar even without past memories! Definitely! I believe that.”
“Haha…”
Nemid’s blatant flattery was in full force even early morning.
The favor hadn’t panned out, but since they were seeking alternatives, he decided to wait a bit more.
* * *
Inside the True Journal head office.
Slumped in his chair, staring at the ceiling, Kang Han-do stretched his right hand to fumble on the desk.
After flailing for a while, he finally snatched his target.
“Got it.”
Grinning with cigarette and lighter in hand, but
A passing female junior reporter crushed that joy instantly.
“As I said last time, no smoking inside the office, sunbae-nim.”
“I know, I know.”
Reluctantly, he stood, stuffing the cigarette and lighter into his pants pocket.
He left the office and headed to the rooftop.
Leaning on the railing, he lit up.
“Phew.”
Exhaling a long plume of smoke, he organized his thoughts.
The bait about VQ Entertainment from Han-do two days ago still lingered in Kang Han-do’s mind.
Investigate singer Noni, and VQ’s hidden uncomfortable truth would emerge.
That tip, akin to a leak, left Kang Han-do’s head in turmoil.
‘Can I trust that?’
Too early to judge right or wrong.
Though Kang Han-do was a rookie just debuting in entertainment, credibility of a tip couldn’t be judged by career alone.
There must be something to it for him to tip Kang Han-do.
Conversely, it made no sense for a near-zero-career rookie to feed false info to a reporter he’d keep running into.
A sensible person wouldn’t deliberately spread lies to Kang Han-do.
He must have had conviction to leak it.
“Investigating takes no great effort anyway.”
Just contact singer Noni and chat.
Not a big deal.
“Shall I look into it?”
Scoops don’t wait for reporters.
Unpredictable time bombs anywhere. That’s scoops.
A battle over who finds and controls the bomb first.
Scoop bombs were powerful weapons for reporters.
Especially for a fledgling media like True Journal, they needed more explosives.
To avoid threats from giant media giants.
“Alright, let’s move.”
Decided, Kang Han-do stubbed out his cigarette and quickened his steps to act.