Chapter 175. Master's Student Do Jun-hyeok
"It's not just that the work was insignificant. An unpleasant incident happened as well. Choosing the OST was also my responsibility as the director, so I fully accept responsibility. I have no complaints about the Academy's decision to revoke the award. I'll work to become a director worthy of everyone's trust. I'm sorry."
The third video showed an interview with Park Chan-deok.
The content was similar to the future spam I'd received before.
Something had caused controversy around the film, putting him in a difficult position.
The difference was that last time, it hadn't gone as far as having the award revoked.
This time, it had.
The interview seemed to be taking place outside Park Chan-deok's home.
"Then do you agree with the plagiarism allegations against Mr. Jo Yoo-young? The public has been shocked to learn that this may not be the first song he's plagiarized."
"My knowledge of music was insufficient, and I failed to recognize it. I'm sorry."
Park Chan-deok lowered his head.
Jo Yoo-young plagiarized something?
Then the song I'd just received was probably plagiarized from another work.
Had he made a mistake because the film schedule was so tight?
Jo Yoo-young was far too established to have any reason to plagiarize...
Either way, knowing that Jo Yoo-young's plagiarism would bring criticism onto the film was enough.
Now it was time to return to the second video.
When I played it again, a Continue Watching button appeared.
There was no reason to restart from the beginning.
I pressed it, and the video resumed from the part where another file was being attached.
The second file wasn't a photo.
It was a video.
Jae-hee, a member of Korea's top male idol group V.O, was secretly meeting a woman in a motel room.
The third was also a video.
Yoo Soo-eun, an actress famous for her pure and innocent image, was arguing with someone.
Judging by the discussion about custody, she apparently had a child the public didn't know about.
The fourth was another video.
A woman wearing a bathrobe in a hotel room walked toward the bathroom and filmed someone showering.
The clip ended when the woman said,
"Hurry up and come out, honey!"
All four files I'd seen so far involved celebrities.
Each one contained private information intimate enough that both the public and the people involved would be shocked if it became known.
Honestly, even I was shocked just watching it.
The culprit had probably used that very shock as bait to torment the victims.
I forced myself to stay as calm as possible.
The fifth file was also a video.
This time, the person in it was composer Jo Yoo-young.
"The song for the music festival? I ripped that off from Danis Sandoro. Fuck. I didn't have time. How am I supposed to compose every song from scratch?"
"Wow. You're a complete scumbag. Hahaha. And you're supposed to be Korea's top composer? Korean music is finished."
"Songs all sound similar anyway. Nobody will notice even if they hear it."
"Then what about the one you said was going into Director Park Chan-deok's film? Even a lunatic like you would've done that one properly, right?"
"That old man's the worst pain in the ass. Nothing satisfies him. What else was I supposed to do? I picked an obscure piece by the Japanese master Murakami Taro, changed it around, and handed it over."
This was Pandora's box.
It wouldn't even be much of an exaggeration to say this hacker had the Korean entertainment industry by the throat.
If all of this exploded at once, the faces appearing on television could practically be replaced overnight.
More importantly...
Murakami Taro?
Jo Yoo-young plagiarized his music?
I didn't recognize the name, so I searched it.
He was apparently fairly famous in classical music.
Jo Yoo-young must have assumed that changing the instrumental arrangement enough would keep anyone from noticing.
It had fooled both Park Chan-deok and me.
But not the hacker.
Apparently, if something could be considered a person's weakness or private secret, this bastard gathered it without hesitation.
Maybe the hacker had even been the one who originally raised the plagiarism accusations against Jo Yoo-young.
If the plagiarism was real, it obviously needed to come out eventually.
Still.
I had enough information now.
First, I needed to secure Youngchae's phone.
Second, I needed to tell Park Chan-deok to change the inserted song.
Once those defenses were in place, I could catch the culprit.
How?
Somehow.
"Ow, my throat hurts. Someone told me that if your throat hurts after singing, it means you're using the wrong technique."
"Of course your throat hurts if you sing."
Aran and Serin were talking.
The members were all gathered in the practice room doing vocal training.
Anna was still working on her basic vocal placement.
Youngchae was sitting in a chair listening to music.
What do I do?
Should I ask Youngchae to show me her phone gallery?
But if she asked why, I wouldn't have an answer.
And even if I saw it, I wouldn't know what to do afterward.
Why had she taken that picture in the first place?
Had she already taken it?
Or was she going to take it later?
I couldn't exactly ask,
Do you have any photos of yourself without clothes on?
What a headache.
There was also a chance one of the other members might become a victim just like Youngchae.
"Ahem. All right, princesses. Gather around for a moment."
"Okay."
Even Youngchae, who had been wearing earphones, joined the others.
"We're going to America soon, so before we go, let's go over hacking precautions."
"Hacking precautions? Like what?"
Serin tilted her head.
"Before we go to America, there might be people whose twisted obsession with you gets worse. So check your phones and computers for anything that absolutely must never become public."
"Ah..."
The members exchanged glances.
Then Serin asked on everyone's behalf.
"Did we... get hacked?"
"Huh?"
Not yet.
Why did she immediately assume that?
I looked around at the members' expressions.
Everyone looked nervous.
Come to think of it, I wasn't normally the kind of person who gave warnings like this for no reason.
They probably assumed I'd suddenly brought it up because something had already happened.
Considering Youngchae's photo was on the verge of being leaked in the future, that assumption was half right.
First, I should reassure them.
"You all know Root Entertainment, where Chairman Shin Hyung-geol is, right?"
"Of course."
"I wasn't going to mention names, so I wasn't planning to tell you this much, but... apparently, one of their idols had their phone completely hacked. There were extremely private photos on it too. And whoever did it threatened to leak them."
The members recoiled in horror.
"What could they do? Apparently, they can't catch the culprit at all. They're panicking right now. Chairman Shin warned me that this person seems to be targeting celebrities by hacking their phones, so we should all be careful."
"What an awful person...!"
"It's better if we prevent it before anything happens to us. And I want to help Chairman Shin too. That's why I'm asking."
Anna thought for a moment.
"I write my lyrics by hand in a notebook, so I should be fine."
"Really? What about photos?"
"Photos? I don't have anything. You could make my entire gallery public right now."
I made eye contact with each member one by one, trying to judge their reactions.
