Chapter 177
Choi Jonghyeon and Kim Jeongu watched Jo Bongjun enter the studio with troubled expressions.
"What's with the vibe?"
Jo Bongjun, who had been bouncing around excitedly, gradually slowed down and approached Choi Jonghyeon. With no words, just staring, he looked uneasy.
"Was I not supposed to get hyped?"
"It's not that, Bongjun."
Choi Jonghyeon barely maintained his smile as he faced Jo Bongjun sitting beside him.
"What's up, hyung? Why the sudden formal talk?"
"We're live right now, you idiot."
Choi Jonghyeon pointed at the chat window filled with ‘lol’s..
He stared at the chat with a blank face. The moment Jo Bongjun shouted about being sued, viewers surged like crazy, surpassing a thousand in no time.
Jo Bongjun floundered, unable to keep up with the nonstop chat flood. Then, Kim Jeongu quietly stepped to the computer and started changing the room title.
[(LIVE) Apollo Just Got Sued by Myungwha Pharmaceuticals]
Kim Jeongu glanced back at me, as if asking what I thought. Solid choice. Way more eye-catching and intriguing than the original "Unveiling the Truth of Myungwha Pharmaceuticals." I think Choi Jonghyeon set the initial title—he'd spent a whole month bingeing internet streams to "study" the culture, but I wondered what he'd actually learned.
"Chat's scrolling too fast to read properly. Anyway, looks like we can't stick to the script we prepared. Right?"
Jo Bongjun glanced at his cue cards before setting them down on the table.
"Let's restart with intros. It's our historic debut."
"Sounds good. Hello, everyone. Most of you probably know, but I'm Apollo Jo Bongjun. Current job? Investor."
"Who just said unemployed in chat? Ban that guy. Did you ban him?"
Jo Bongjun peeked at Kim Jeongu, who gestured to just keep going with the intro.
"Say unemployed again and you're really banned. Ahem. Reporter, your turn."
"Sure. I'm reporter Choi Jonghyeon. I already introduced myself earlier, but with all the new viewers, one more time. Current affiliation? None right now. Haha."
"When do we ban that guy?"
Despite claiming he couldn't read the fast chat, Jo Bongjun nailed catching "unemployed." Viewers erupted in LOLs again at his aggrieved face.
"Yeah, no affiliation now, but until recently I was at Iljungilbo's social affairs desk. Don't want you thinking some amateur's rambling, so that's it."
"I'm nothing special, but Choi Jonghyeon here's elite of elites. Google him—Seoul National University journalism grad."
"Aw, don't make me blush."
They handled the broadcast better than expected. Steady back-and-forth kept the audio live, and viewers stayed hooked, reacting in real-time.
"Oh right, the lawsuit. We planned to give a general rundown on Myungwha Pharmaceuticals for those unfamiliar and wrap up. But bam, perfect timing with the lawsuit. Can't ignore it now."
"Exactly. Myungwha's boosting our stream. Haha. Viewers spiked after the lawsuit news."
"Summons arrived at my place— this is the studio, so pretty legit already? Can't show it on air legally, but my little bro snapped a pic from home and emailed it. Can we display this?"
Jo Bongjun showed Kim Jeongu his email scribbled on a note. While Kim accessed it, Jo continued.
"Myungwha sued me for spreading false info damaging their rep. Cyber defamation. Probably my stock forum posts, and that NewsNow appearance. We'll see after I show up..."
Mid-sentence, Kim Jeongu displayed the summons on screen, blacking out personal info but highlighting key parts.
Violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (Defamation).
Please appear on [date/time] at [location] regarding this matter.
"Recap stream for sure. I did nothing wrong anyway."
"Nah, you did something wrong."
Choi Jonghyeon cut in.
"Wrong? What'd I do?"
"You spread facts that damaged their honor."
"Oh, yeah, true. Damaged their honor alright. But after their crap, where's their honor? Don't do shady shit if you care. Plus, public interest—strictly not defamation."
"Viewers might not know, but in Korea, truth or lie, if it's defamation, both are prosecutable. Penalty differs by law, so they gotta verify facts to punish."
"That's why I was kinda waiting for the lawsuit? Heh."
"Not big brain, but look. With allegations like this, MFDS should've acted. Even if they bought Myungwha's initial US study report as legit at first. Now folks question that institute too, and MFDS sits idle."
"True."
"Even if they're debating internally, it's been ages. No response. The agency that verifies truth is silent, so no choice."
"But Myungwha suing Jo Bongjun forces investigators to check if his claims are true. Facts get verified somewhere now, right?"
"Yep. Summons date's five days out. I'll lawyer up, gather materials with reporter Choi here, and show. Anyone with helpful docs, email me—address coming up."
On cue, Kim Jeongu pinned Jo Bongjun's email at the top of the screen. Good call bringing him on as director/editor. He handled things nimbly—must be a stream veteran.
The stream started at 6 PM and ran till 10. Using Choi Jonghyeon's prep materials, they covered the Myungwha case as planned.
"Hope even newbies get it now. We'll stream Wednesdays. New Myungwha issues, lawsuit updates—stay tuned."
"Thanks for worrying, but I'm consulting a top lawyer, so no biggie."
"Yeah. Wow, past 10 already. Wrap up?"
"Let's. Pro term's bangjong. Signing off. See you Wednesday 6 PM. Thanks for joining our debut!"
"Thanks, bye!"
Kim Jeongu caught Choi Jonghyeon's nod and ended the stream. Cameras off, the hyped duo collapsed on the table.
"Man, exhausting."
"This ain't easy."
I set two water bottles from the fridge in front of them.
"Good work."
They'd talked nonstop, throats parched. Faces flushed ranting about Myungwha, juggling chat and cues—total chaos.
"How's the reaction?"
"Great. Jo Bongjun's lawsuit hit news by 6:30."
"6:30? Fast."
Probably monitoring his stream, rushed an article once he verified the summons. Then posts exploded across communities—not just the suit, but articles on Jo and Choi's new stream too. Topical success. Peak viewers hit 2K around 8.
"And we're 'Hot Rookie' on the platform. Thousand recs already?"
"Hot Rookie? What's that?"
"Boost for new BJs. Under 50 stream hours, over 100 viewers—gets main page spot."
Kim Jeongu turned his laptop screen.
"Whoa, really? 100 threshold, we hit 2K—huge win."
"Total jackpot. Current events channels flop here usually. Gaming and chit-chat dominate."
"Nice. Jeongu, you stream a lot? You know your stuff."
"Yeah, love games. I'll clip key parts from today's replay. And besides this platform, tons of video sites—I'll spread 'em everywhere."
"Solid, Jeongu."
"Yeah, smooth sailing thanks to you."
Choi Jonghyeon patted his shoulder; Kim Jeongu smiled faintly.
"Happy to help my sunbae."
I'd checked on Kim Jeongu via Choi occasionally post-incident—this was first in-person. He'd quit Zolpidem for milder sleep meds. Out of Iljungilbo now, teaming with Choi again—should improve.
"Alright, time to plan legal response."
"Yeah. Lawsuit hits right before stream? Brutal."
"But buzz secured, and you two nailed it unprepared. Rest up—meeting tomorrow."
"Cool."
"Good work. Head home."
Decent wrap-up, late hour—call it.
"Cha lawyer, where you off to?"
"...Home?"
"Don't say that, hurts."
Jo Bongjun grabbed my shoulder suddenly.
"What?"
"Historic debut—gotta celebrate. Even pinged NIS guy. Let's eat!"
"Pass."
I wanna soak in a hot bath at home.
"Cha lawyer's treat!"
I covered studio setup, all gear, even their officetel rent—why dinner too?
"Money man's buying!"
...Why me.