Chapter 177

Chapter 177. The More I Think About It

"Huh? Why is Do Jun-hyeok here...?"

The moment I walked into the conference room, Shin Hyung-geol and the heads of the major entertainment companies looked surprised.

As expected, they were still regularly gathering at the Riven Entertainment building to plot things together.

Apparently, the hacker was located in Korea.

He had been using a fake IP address, but the photo had still been downloaded onto his own computer.

Since he didn't even live overseas, arresting him wouldn't be particularly difficult.

In Korean, this situation was called a checkmate.

And in English...

Also checkmate.

In the first future-spam video, Shin Hyung-geol and the other agency heads had been furious.

It probably wouldn't become public knowledge, but if they learned that the culprit was practically caught, this was exactly the kind of timing where they might do something reckless.

What if they thought it was already over and provoked him?

If that lunatic suddenly dumped every photo onto the internet, the victims would still be the ones to suffer.

It seemed most reasonable to share my plan with them and make sure nobody acted rashly.

That was why I'd come to Riven headquarters.

"I'm aware that the private lives of several celebrities under your agencies are in danger of being exposed."

The moment I said that, hostility flashed in the executives' eyes.

There they go again.

They're already misunderstanding me.

"But don't worry. The culprit will be caught soon. And just in case, I'm not the culprit."

"What do you mean, he'll be caught soon?"

The Riven CEO asked.

This was our first meeting since Sam Jason's lecture.

"I was worried someone might try hacking our members' phones, so we planted a fake photo containing tracking code and waited. We received a download signal from an unknown local device. We've already reported it to the police. He's probably the same guy you're all looking for. According to what I heard from the police, there are quite a few celebrities among his victims."

"..."

The executives kept glancing at me suspiciously.

"You don't believe me?"

"No, I believe you. I'm just curious how you knew we were having trouble with this. And there's no guarantee it's the same hacker."

That was true too.

It was difficult to explain how I knew they were struggling with it.

Because I'd seen it in future spam.

"He's a hacker who digs into the private lives of famous celebrities and demands money. In that case, someone among the people gathered here was bound to know something was happening. I don't know exactly whose private information he obtained or which agency they belong to."

Shin Hyung-geol nodded.

The other executives followed suit.

"So only those of you who think this applies to you need to quietly listen."

"What do you want from us?"

"We've identified the hacker's physical location. He'll be arrested soon. But until the moment his drives are actually confiscated, we need to continue cooperating with his demands. If we openly move against him with the police, there's a risk he'll dump the entire drive onto the internet."

Once I got that far, Shin Hyung-geol lightly raised one hand.

"We can say this happened because we failed to properly manage our artists. But it sounds like you have something involved too, CEO Do."

"I do."

"Can you tell us what?"

So now we're all in the same boat?

No thanks.

I'm already aboard the Boeing Gary.

Why would I switch?

"I already told you. I planted the code in advance because I was nervous. Anyway! From now on, if the hacker asks for money, just pay him. He'll be arrested soon, so you'll probably be able to get it back."

"About once a month, on Wednesdays, we invite distinguished guests from various fields for interviews. We've announced today's guest through several channels already, but for October, we managed to invite someone perhaps even more famous than most celebrities. Please introduce yourself."

"Hello. I'm Jin Young-chan, studying at the Daejeon Technology Complex."

The culprit was caught faster than a grandmother picking perilla leaves from her garden.

From what I heard, everything in his house that existed in document form had been seized.

From printed illegally obtained recordings all the way to a collection of Tolstoy short stories.

The shameless bastard's name was Jo Hyung-won, and the sheer amount of material he possessed was enormous.

Naturally, the case became public too.

All of the documents seized from him were collectively being called the Jo Hyung-won List, and the public was extremely curious about what was inside.

As he was currently appearing on anchor Shin Seok-hee's newsroom program, Jin Young-chan, who had played a major role in catching the criminal, had suddenly become a public figure.

"What led you to catch the culprit?"

"Ah, there's a very famous person who runs an entertainment company, Do Jun-hyeok. He contacted me because he wanted to learn how to prepare against hackers and whether there was a way to prevent attacks in advance."

Jin Young-chan began explaining what had happened between us.

Dae-hun and I were watching the news together.

The moment my name came out of Young-chan's mouth, Dae-hun let out an impressed sound.

"Hyung, I'm hearing your name on the news again. I'm getting emotional."

"I've been on the news plenty of times since then."

As the broadcast continued, live reactions poured onto the internet.

[That guy's Youngchae's brother apparently ㄷㄷㄷ]

[Oh, now that you mention it, they kind of look alike. Talented siblings.]

[Do hyung appearing everywhere, seriously... what even are you?]

[What? Why is Do hyung wearing glasses?]

[That's not Do hyung. That's Youngchae's brother.]

[If he's Youngchae's oppa, isn't he Do hyung?]

[Her real brother.]

Shin Seok-hee continued the interview.

"Were there any difficulties in using this code?"

"Yes. Embedding the code itself wasn't technically difficult, but we needed an image attractive enough to catch the hacker's attention. It had to be provocative enough to interest him, but if it became too provocative, then we ourselves could face legal issues. That was the hardest part."

Please.

Don't mention the bait photo any further.

"So you managed to avoid any problems regarding indecency as well. I honestly can't imagine how you accomplished that. In any case, impressive."

"You're flattering me."

"If that's the case, then I assume the photo wouldn't be particularly problematic even under our broadcast standards. Would it be possible to show it?"

What exactly are you saying right now?

"Of course."

What?

Jin Young-chan began rummaging for his phone.

What is happening?

Even people with IQs above 180 apparently became idiots when nervous.

Was he seriously about to show that?

Anchor Shin Seok-hee had no idea.

He was probably imagining something like a slightly revealing fashion photoshoot.

But the problem wasn't the amount of exposed skin.

"Ah, wait. My younger sister's suddenly calling."

Jin Young-chan, who had been looking at his phone together with Shin Seok-hee, hesitated.

"That's all right. I was the one who made an unreasonable request. I didn't mention it earlier because I didn't want to put our guest in an awkward position, but your younger sister is Youngchae of Blue Moon, isn't she? We can pause the interview. It might be urgent, so please answer."

"Ah, all right. Hello?"

Originally, they probably planned to edit out the footage while he was on the phone.

But for some reason, the broadcast continued.

Even though it was prerecorded.

At least we'd stopped him from showing the photo.

I finally let out a breath.

Then Youngchae's voice came through loud and clear.

"Oppa, are you insane?! Why are you trying to show CEO-nim's picture?!"

Hey, Young-chan.

Move the microphone away from your cheek.

"Anchor Shin asked me to show it. What was I supposed to do...?"

"You show someone everything just because they ask? If it had been your photo, would you have shown it too? If you were wearing a skin-tight bunny-girl outfit, fishnets, rabbit ears, and something cut open around your stomach showing your belly button, would you have shown that too?!"

"No, I'm sorry... I'm just really out of it right now."

...Stop.

Just show the photo instead.

Put it directly on the news.

Wait.

Isn't this already the news?

Anchor Shin Seok-hee, who had been listening, spoke.

"I do have a slight personal grudge against CEO Do Jun-hyeok because of the challenge incident... but I think that's probably enough detail."

"What? Me?"

Now I understood why Youngchae called Young-chan an idiot.

Still, I wasn't sure Youngchae was in any position to criticize him.

I felt a little sorry saying this about their parents, but perhaps it was genetic.

Filming was about to begin.

As soon as the OST was finalized.

I went back to Choi Gyu-sik's studio to meet Park Chan-deok.

Apparently, 〈Listen to the Sound of Blue〉 would be filmed using Choi Gyu-sik's studio.

Youngchae said she would hike Bukhansan as an act of repentance.

She had been watching the newsroom broadcast from a waiting room when the conversation started going strangely, so she'd immediately called her brother.

She'd waited until she saw Shin Seok-hee say they could pause the broadcast, then left the waiting room before starting the call.

She'd thought she was being considerate by stepping outside so nobody else could hear.

Apparently, if she'd just stayed there and kept watching the screen while talking, none of this would have happened.

Either way, she said the incident had made her deeply disappointed in herself.

I'm the one who needs fresh mountain air.

"What's this bunny-girl story? I saw people online saying you actually wore the outfit yourself. People's imaginations are incredible. It's pretty funny."

Park Chan-deok asked while laughing.

"Of course not. Youngchae exaggerated. Hahaha..."

"But why specifically a bunny girl?"

Because I really wore one.

But if I made excuses, I lost.

If I didn't make excuses, I lost.

Even mentioning it meant I lost.

I quietly kept my mouth shut.

"Anyway, I listened to all the songs you sent. At first I wondered why you were proposing alternatives when I'd already selected the OST, but after listening, I understood. They're very good."

"I'm glad."

Sang-do had finished his song within a few days and sent it to me.

I immediately added it to the proposal and forwarded everything.

Park Chan-deok probably wouldn't decide today.

I could've visited tomorrow.

The reason I'd come today was because Sang-do had discovered something surprising.

Sang-do had listened to Jo Yoo-young's OST over and over.

He wanted to analyze why Park Chan-deok liked it and how it managed to recreate the imagination of a deaf character.

Eventually, he realized it sounded similar to a Japanese new-age piece he knew.

That's right.

It was the exact piece Jo Yoo-young had actually plagiarized.

The original was Murakami Taro's 〈The More I Think About Sakura Bridge〉.

I'm not one of those people who insists the original is always better, but I honestly thought it was better than Jo Yoo-young's version.

And it wasn't as if I'd been listening to the original for years either.

I'd assumed plagiarism usually involved improving on the source somehow.

Apparently not.

Anyway, since Sang-do had found it, I planned to let Park Chan-deok compare them directly.

"Is the film progressing well? It feels like there isn't much time left."

"No matter what happens, I'm finishing the shoot according to schedule. There won't be additional filming. That's how I normally work. I make sure to shoot enough material from the beginning, but the more room the editor has to imagine, the fewer useless scenes you end up with."

He sounded completely confident that they wouldn't miss the contest deadline.

"That's a relief. Anyway, there's something else. I was talking with one of our company's composers and happened to learn something."

"Yes? What is it?"

"You know the OST Composer Jo Yoo-young sent you? Apparently, there's another piece of music that's similar to it, so I listened to it today. But... I'm not knowledgeable enough to tell whether it's plagiarism or just coincidence."

Park Chan-deok burst into laughter.

"Hahaha. Come on. Surely Jo Yoo-young wouldn't plagiarize anything. It's probably just an accidental similarity."

"Of course, right?"

"Absolutely. Still, now I'm curious. Can you show me the piece?"

I'd already interfered once with Lee Ye-won's casting.

Doing it again made me feel a little awkward.

But he had volunteered to hear it.

That was exactly what I'd been hoping for when I casually brought it up.

Perfect.

I opened Mango Music and played 〈The More I Think About Sakura Bridge〉.

Park Chan-deok began listening casually.

Then, little by little, his expression darkened.