Chapter 48

Chapter 48. What He Had Hidden Away

There was no reason to delay.

I immediately called Yoon Jin-seo.

"Yes, Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, Seongnam..."

"I have something I'd like to confess regarding the current chart-manipulation investigation. Is Prosecutor Yoon Jin-seo available?"

A sigh came from the other end.

I'd only repeated the same trick one more time.

He already recognized it.

Still, they understood that I genuinely needed to speak with Yoon Jin-seo.

The call was transferred.

"What is it this time?"

What I needed was simple.

I had to determine whether one of the 〈Good Pro〉 works nominated in that future award ceremony was written by the Yoon Jin-seo I knew.

A work nominated for the grand prize had already succeeded commercially.

Even second place meant success.

Winning the grand prize itself would bring enormous prestige to the producers and actors involved.

Every spam message so far had given me information that could become an opportunity.

And now I had two different works with the same title airing at the same time.

First, I needed to confirm the writer.

"Our Blue Moon song is currently racing toward number one."

I began with small talk.

"So?"

"I didn't expect you to handle the chart-manipulation investigation so aggressively. Looking back, if it weren't for you, we never would've reached number one. So I wanted to thank you, bring you a small gift, and ask whether I could visit."

Yoon Jin-seo cleared his throat.

"Well... your song reached number one because you made a good song. I merely did what I was supposed to do."

"That's the difficult part. Even the way you opened cases against the agencies was incredibly clever. Your ability really is impressive..."

I emptied my entire arsenal of compliments.

That bandit-like face was probably softening like a princess right now.

Praise could make even whales dance.

After listening, Yoon Jin-seo said,

"The way you're flattering me this hard means there's something you actually want to discuss in person. Come today. Gifts are difficult because of the anti-corruption law, so come empty-handed."

Pretending to be cool even though he was clearly pleased.

I told him I'd come immediately and hung up.

I was trying to learn about the future GIF.

Still, what Yoon Jin-seo had achieved this time genuinely wasn't ordinary.

He had nearly wiped out the digital-chart manipulation industry.

Thanks to him, the Mango chart had become incredibly clean.

People were calling it The War on Chart Manipulation.

The phrase fit perfectly.

"All right. These are VIP tickets for the K-Culture Festival Blue Moon is appearing at. They're worth 45,000 won. And this is a multivitamin set so you can take care of your health. It's a gift from Serin, 48,000 won. And this bellflower-root syrup is from Youngchae..."

After I placed all the gifts on his desk, Yoon Jin-seo sighed and pulled out his phone.

"As far as I know, those vitamins cost 120,000 won... You're really trying to get me fired, aren't you?"

The thorough Yoon Jin-seo searched every product price one by one.

I'd planned to teach him a lesson about accepting things carelessly.

Something like, The moment you take the bait, you're already dead.

But he was too cautious.

"Huh? This is the new 〈Dragon Hunter 5〉. I was waiting for the price to drop before buying it. Guess I'll just buy it now."

He glanced at the game package.

I'd simply bought a pile of random gifts just in case.

Apparently, he secretly liked every one of them.

I'd chosen the game because during my previous visit I'd briefly noticed an auto-hunting mobile game running on a screen behind his desk.

"Hahaha. You must've been too busy investigating to notice. That game's already near the end of its sales cycle. It's heavily discounted now."

"Really? Still expensive."

Of course that was a lie.

The price would probably keep dropping below fifty thousand won.

"Here. Eight hundred thousand won. Subtract the ticket value and give me the rest. The 〈Dragon Hunter 5〉 too. Keep the change."

I obediently accepted the 800,000 won.

It looked like a stack of emergency cash he kept nearby.

Was he short on money?

The fact that he only excluded the ticket hurt my pride a little.

Apparently, Yoon Jin-seo didn't mind talking with me.

He brought two coffees and began discussing the kidnapping victim.

When they first rescued her, she'd been tied up with something like a sock stuffed into her mouth.

Afterward, doctors found multiple threads stuck between her teeth, the kind of colored string sometimes used on traditional shaman flags.

Something foreign had been kept inside her mouth for a long time.

She had now finished treatment and returned to her father's care.

The mother who'd sent her for the spirit initiation couldn't receive serious criminal punishment, but they managed to issue a psychiatric treatment order.

Janggun Bodhisattva, naturally, was likely going to prison for nearly ten years.

"As expected, you're handling everything perfectly. Old dramas like 〈Good Pro〉 had moving cases like that too, right?"

I'd already spent almost a million won on gifts.

I couldn't keep praising Yoon Jin-seo forever.

It was time to start probing.

The instant I mentioned 〈Good Pro〉, Yoon Jin-seo reacted.

"Whoa! You know 〈Good Pro〉? I'm a huge fan! The detective captain in that show was incredible. You remember Captain Smith, right? Captain Smith? I cried so hard when Captain Smith died..."

Mentioning something he liked instantly made him excited.

Unfortunately, I couldn't really join the conversation.

I only knew of 〈Good Pro〉.

I'd never properly watched it.

Then Yoon Jin-seo said,

"That's why I've been writing my own Korean version of 〈Good Pro〉 lately. A movie. Captain Smith, who everyone thought died, returns."

So the Yoon Jin-seo in the future GIF really was this Yoon Jin-seo.

Then Yoon Jin-seo's 〈Good Pro〉 was a film.

The 〈Good Pro〉 written by famous drama writer Go Won-hee was a drama.

Things were becoming clearer.

Apparently, once you mentioned his favorite series, he talked freely.

This might be easier than expected.

Time to encourage him.

"Really? I didn't know you also had talent for filmmaking. If it gets released somewhere, I'll definitely watch it."

"Of course. Any 〈Good Pro〉 fan would have to watch it. It won't have a theatrical release, though. We're planning exclusive distribution through Watflix."

Watflix?

The production was already confirmed?

A prosecutor had casually written a screenplay and it was going to be distributed on a global streaming service?

"The 〈Good Pro〉 sequel? Or your specific project?"

"Mine. I started writing it in elementary school and kept revising it ever since. It was just a hobby project. I have a relative who works at Watflix Korea, and I got lucky with the opportunity."

Yoon Jin-seo spoke proudly.

"I'm a hardcore retro fan, so the movie will include real incidents from the past, romance, all kinds of things. Since Watflix is involved, we're even planning to persuade the original actor who played Captain Smith to make a special appearance."

This conversation was going to last longer than expected.

I was already getting tired.

Still, if classic foreign actors appeared, the film could draw attention overseas too.

I'd heard enough.

To imply that he could stop talking now, I praised him without much emotion.

"That's incredible."

"Not really. Something I wrote as a hobby just happened to become a film. I'm not a professional writer. It's basically self-indulgence. If I'd tried writing for a major-network drama while worrying about viewer tastes, I probably would've ruined it."

A major-network drama.

The other 〈Good Pro〉 adaptation was being written by Go Won-hee.

It wasn't common for two different writers to adapt the same original work and release both versions at the same time.

But according to the spam GIF, that's exactly what was happening.

Maybe it was acceptable because one was a film and the other a drama?

Still, I doubted they'd signed overlapping rights contracts without realizing.

Either way, Yoon Jin-seo's film would be released on Watflix.

Go Won-hee's drama would air on a major network.

Which version would be more interesting?

Which one would win the grand prize?

Which version would make our future top actress Serin shine?

I needed to decide quickly.

"Haa... I cried so much when Captain Smith died. I can't believe we'll see him again. I'm really excited. Could you maybe show me the screenplay?"

"Wow. Hardly anyone likes 〈Good Pro〉 these days. Somehow, the first time I saw you, I knew you were a good person."

Like hell you did.

The man had wanted to throw me in prison.

Anyway, Yoon Jin-seo looked at me more warmly than ever before.

Then he brought out the screenplay.

It was a brotherhood-heavy crime-action epic about detectives suffering under a national war-on-crime policy and prosecutors legally cooperating with them.

Aside from the male protagonist, the main supporting characters were prosecutors.

There was a beautiful female prosecutor.

A beautiful female detective too.

Even a beautiful judge.

You could also see the effort he'd poured into making Captain Smith cool.

There was even an emotional story about two people saving each other.

But I couldn't tell whether it would actually be a good movie once filmed.

Watflix had selected it.

That probably meant it was entertaining.

But would it be as good as Go Won-hee's drama?

Hard to know.

Even while investing attention in the spam GIF, I couldn't neglect our regular schedules.

The day of the K-Culture Festival had already arrived.

We'd secured the opportunity dramatically after exploding upward on the digital chart.

Thanks to help from everyone around us, preparing for the event hadn't required much effort.

While traveling to the venue, the members chatted quietly.

Most of the conversation was about chart predictions.

"Iblis is probably coming back soon. Once they do, we'll probably fall from number one, right?"

Aran asked while staring down at the Mango chart.

Their song wouldn't be better than 〈N.Dolphin〉.

Still, she was probably right.

No song stayed number one forever.

The greatest long-term success for a track wasn't remaining number one after release.

It was settling permanently into that low-speed driving zone Seo Hoe-dong had described.

"Manager! Do we have time to change clothes? Don't we usually change inside the car?"

Serin, sitting behind the passenger seat, asked.

"Yeah. Teacher Hong Eun-hye has a truck at the venue. You'll change there."

It wasn't a refrigerated truck.

The interior had been turned into a wardrobe.

People called it Eun-hye's Moving Wardrobe.

Hong Eun-hye had been so excited about Blue Moon reaching number one that she'd gathered hundreds of outfits.

She said there was no need to plan everything in advance.

She would simply look at what the other idols were wearing and change Blue Moon's styling on the spot.

"That's more comfortable than changing in this cramped car, right?"

"It's not cramped."

Serin answered immediately.

So kind.

Would someone as gentle as Serin have a suitable role in a sweaty crime-investigation story?

Her acting talent was good enough to handle anything.

Still...

Now that schedules had exploded, Oh Su said he would replace the Starex with a large luxury van.

After settlement, of course.

I told them to endure until then.

Youngchae, who had remained quiet, suddenly spoke.

"Huh? You can't do that."

"Why?"

"This car is your soulmate, Manager."

I liked the familiar Starex too.

But newer cars were always better.

Even monkeys fell from trees.

If we ever got into an accident, modern warning systems and semi-autonomous driving could make a huge difference.

We arrived at the venue with my now-terminally-ill Starex.

A large truck was parked nearby.

Hong Eun-hye climbed out smiling.

"Girls, get out and change."

"Manager, aren't you coming?"

"No. I'm comfortable here."

I felt a little bad toward Hong Eun-hye.

But she was exhausting.

Sometimes a man needed time alone with his thoughts.

Youngchae noticed my expression.

"Manager says he has unfinished business with his soulmate. Let's give him privacy so he can cry."

"I'm not going to cry, Youngchae."

I appreciated her reading the mood.

But crying because we were replacing a van would be far too embarrassing.

Thanks to Youngchae, I successfully avoided Hong Eun-hye and remained in the Starex.

Serin had recently shown emotional acting as someone's first love.

Maybe showing a completely different side in her next project would be good.

In that sense, 〈Good Pro〉 was extremely tempting.

She could show action and reversal charm as a detective.

Or she could play the female lead attorney and present an intelligent image.

Let's get her cast.

Show Serin's acting to Yoon Jin-seo.

Make him want her in his movie.

Once that happened, the role was basically ours.

Making Yoon Jin-seo a Serin fan couldn't possibly be easy, though.

As the members changed outfits and gradually emerged from the wardrobe truck, I looked around at the people near the venue.

Then I noticed a tall man mixed into the crowd.

He wore a Blue Moon fan shirt.

He looked like Yoon Jin-seo.

Was I hallucinating because I wanted so badly for him to become Serin's fan?

I closed my eyes once, opened them, and focused again.

A blue shirt.

[BLUE MOON, I LOVE YOU]

Apollo members surrounded him.

Yoon Jin-seo was talking with them, laughing brightly and chatting excitedly.

Ah.

What a beautiful sight.

He wasn't even a prosecutor anymore.

He was simply Writer Yoon, author of a future hugely successful movie adaptation of 〈Good Pro〉.

A writer who might put Serin in an award-winning project.

And he was participating in Apollo fandom activities.

Thinking calmly, it had to be someone who merely looked similar.

If he were already Apollo, he couldn't possibly have sounded so cold when I first called him.

You could hide fandom in your heart for a while.

But not that perfectly.

Like every other Apollo member, he would've greeted me with Do hyung! Do hyung!

And last time, hadn't he specifically refused the festival ticket while buying everything else?

I finally left the car to deal with the greeting I'd been postponing with Hong Eun-hye.

Then I heard a loud familiar voice.

"Ah~ Mr. Do Jun-hyeok! I'm here."

I turned around.

Yoon Jin-seo, wearing a blue Blue Moon fandom shirt, was approaching while waving.