Chapter 1

Chapter 1. Trash Journalist Baek Harok

Clack, clack, clack!

His fingers flew across the keyboard in a furious typing frenzy.

One photo article after another appeared on the screen, almost every minute.

[Actress Kim Daae Shows Off Her Stunning Figure from Behind]

[Girls' Generation's Lime to Become a Mother... In a Drama]

Baek Harok, forty-one years old.

He was the head of the reporting department at Yellow Times, a tabloid that survived by attracting clicks on internet portals. These days, people generally referred to journalists like him as trash journalists.

Not that he particularly cared anymore.

It was the same routine every day. His work had no meaning beyond earning a living.

He covered everything from politics to social affairs. Entertainment news, in particular, was the lifeline keeping online news companies alive.

It's not like I'm doing this because I enjoy it.

But earlier that morning, something particularly unpleasant had happened during an interview with a new applicant.

Since the applicant would be working under him, Harok had conducted the interview alongside the editor-in-chief.

"Why do you want to become a journalist?"

"Because I want to experience what it's like to work in an extremely demanding profession..."

"What?"

"Every day, you have to stalk celebrities on social media, lurk in online communities, keep track of other people's romantic gossip, and watch TV dramas... And whenever a popular article comes out, you have to copy it immediately. Where else can you find such a demanding profession?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"You guys write a hundred articles a day, right? I bet the salary is pretty good."

"What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?"

"Ha... Hahaha!"

The applicant turned out to be a YouTuber.

He claimed he was filming an episode titled Extreme Jobs: Trash Journalists. He had even smuggled a hidden camera into the interview room and recorded the entire thing.

There had been a time when Harok was full of pride in his work as a journalist.

And now, he had fallen so low that even a third-rate YouTuber felt comfortable making fun of him.

Unable to contain his anger, Harok took it out on his junior reporters.

"Fuck! Why the hell couldn't you screen out someone like that?"

Of course, it wasn't as though a small media company had a proper human resources department in the first place.

Ah, screw it. I'm in a lousy mood anyway. I might as well get drunk.

After drinking alone during lunch, Harok returned to the office thoroughly drunk.

"Chief Baek, come see me."

Editor-in-Chief Shin Jongsu called him over.

Harok glanced at the date. It was the twenty-eighth, almost the end of the month.

He already knew what was coming.

He's going to start nagging me about sales again.

"Chief Baek, you still haven't gotten rid of your old journalist habits."

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

A journalist was being criticized for acting too much like a journalist.

What kind of nonsense was that?

"Do you think we're Daehan Daily? Why are you so obsessed with the quality of our articles?"

Quality? All we ever write about is women's backsides and whether their underwear is showing. What quality are you talking about?

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean..."

Shin Jongsu opened a folder and irritably pulled out a printed article.

"Take a look. You do have eyes, don't you?"

[Choi Ray Revealed as a Regular at XX Club]

It was an exclusive article recently published by Harok's department.

"When you come across something like this, doesn't it occur to you that we could make some money?"

"Pardon?"

"Did you contact his entertainment agency?"

"No, I didn't."

Shin Jongsu flung the paper straight at Harok's face.

"Something to be proud of, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry."

"Get out. I don't even want to look at you."

Harok got up and bowed.

"He still thinks he's a reporter at Daehan Daily. What a pathetic idiot..."

Shin Jongsu deliberately spoke loudly enough for Harok to hear as he left.

Thud.

After getting thoroughly chewed out in the editor-in-chief's office, Harok returned to his desk and sat down.

For fuck's sake. Can't he stop bringing up the fact that I used to work at Daehan Daily?

Sure, it's a major national newspaper, but it's only somewhere in the middle of the rankings. What's so impressive about that?

It was time to get back on the hamster wheel.

Writing captions for photographs taken by the photojournalists was another important task that could never be overlooked.

[Shocking! Jo Mina's Secret Child Exposed... Spotted on a Date with Her Dog at Hangang Park]

Some people would probably wonder if he had completely lost his mind.

But for an online media company that survived on portal clicks, page views were everything.

They were its lifeblood, its God, its Jesus, and its Buddha.

Just then...

"Chief, are you free this evening?"

The reporter who had approached him was Deputy Chief Gwak Dohyeong.

He held the deputy chief position in a department that had only four reporters, but that was beside the point.

When it came to being a trash journalist, Gwak Dohyeong had already reached the maximum level.

His sensational articles and provocative headlines had contributed enormously to the company's revenue.

"Why?"

"I've prepared something for you, Chief. I know you've been worried about our sales."

"What is it?"

"Just sit back, enjoy the show, and collect your reward."

Gwak Dohyeong had obtained a major scoop involving top star Jo Mina and traded it for advertising revenue.

By generously sharing his portion of the deal with Harok, he had effectively performed a first-class act of sucking up to his superior.

"Chief, get home safely."

"Sure. Are you staying out a little longer, Deputy Chief Gwak?"

"Well, you know how it is. Hehe. The head of their PR department wants to keep drinking."

"Okay."

Throughout the drinking session with the entertainment agency's CEO, Harok had felt utterly ashamed of himself.

He simply couldn't bring himself to raise the subject of money.

In the end, Gwak Dohyeong had stepped in and negotiated a deal worth thirty million won.

It had already been ten years since Harok started working at an online news company. By now, he should have developed a thick enough skin to handle situations like this.

Back when he worked at Daehan Daily, he had been a highly capable journalist who won journalism awards almost every year.

But those abilities were completely unnecessary at a company like this.

What mattered wasn't uncovering newsworthy stories. It was knowing how to slightly rewrite someone else's articles and turn them into money.

And Harok was terrible at that.

He was reasonably good at coming up with clickbait headlines, but when it came to sales, he was hopeless.

If that's what you wanted, you should've hired an advertising salesperson instead, damn it.

"What a rotten world."

Completely drunk, Harok cursed at the sky as he staggered down the street.

Then he spotted a stone lying in front of him.

For some reason, it looked exactly like the back of the editor-in-chief's head.

How many times had he wanted to smack that bastard on the back of his head?

Why does a stupid rock have to look like that asshole's head?

Get the hell out of here!

Just as Harok lunged toward the stone...

Vroooom! Screeeech!

A large SUV suddenly shot out of a narrow alley as though its driver had slammed the accelerator to the floor.

Startled, Harok fell backward.

Anyone could see that the driver was at fault for recklessly accelerating through such a narrow alley.

But instead of apologizing, the driver acted as though Harok were the one to blame.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing, jumping out like that?"

A heavily built man with colorful tattoos covering his arms rolled down the window and began scolding him.

He was the stereotypical muscular, tattoo-covered thug.

He should be apologizing to me. What the hell is this?

"Hey, you're the one driving like a fucking maniac!"

Perhaps because of the alcohol, Harok couldn't stop himself from swearing.

The tattooed man gave him an incredulous look and stepped out of the vehicle.

"You little bastard. Have you completely lost your mind after getting drunk? Who the hell do you think you're swearing at?"

Harok flinched slightly.

But it was already too late to back down.

"Apologize."

"Apologize?"

The man dramatically rolled up his sleeves as though showing off his tattoos.

Then he lightly slapped Harok's cheek a few times.

"Why don't you just walk away, huh?"

"I told you to apologize."

"You little shit!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

WEEEE-OOO!

The sound of a police siren tore through the silence of the night.

"Name?"

"Baek Harok."

"Occupation?"

"..."

Harok couldn't bring himself to answer.

Should I really tell them I'm a journalist?

He finally understood why celebrities arrested for drunk driving sometimes lied and claimed they were ordinary office workers.

"Occupation?"

The police officer preparing his statement repeated the question impatiently.

"...Office worker."

Harok answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's.

Although Harok had been closer to the victim in the altercation, the incident was legally classified as mutual assault.

As he was being locked in a detention cell, one of the officers on duty outside kept staring at him.

"...!"

It was a familiar face.

Overwhelmed with embarrassment, Harok quickly lowered his head.

Damn it...

It was an officer he had frequently encountered back when he covered the police for Daehan Daily.

Of all the places we could've run into each other, why did it have to be here?

The officer shook his head and made a phone call.

As the night grew later, drunken troublemakers began arriving at the police station one after another, bowing their heads in front of the officers.

Back when I covered the police station, I used to think people being questioned here were so pathetic...

And now I've become one of them. Heh.

A bitter, self-mocking laugh escaped his lips.

"Do you really find this funny?"

Huh? Who's that?

Still inside the detention cell, Harok lifted his head and looked toward the voice.

A beautiful woman in her thirties was standing there, staring at him.

She was attractive enough to draw anyone's attention.

That face looks familiar...

Still not completely sober, Harok searched his memories.

"Who are you?"

"Seriously... You don't recognize me?"

He forced his alcohol-clouded eyes open a little wider.

Only then did her face come into focus.

"...Ah."

Why are you here?

Of all the people I could meet in a place like this, you're the last person I wanted to see...

Seol Yubin.

She was a junior reporter who had joined Daehan Daily as a trainee around the time Harok left the company.

Harok had been responsible for training her intake of new recruits.

Yubin had since become an experienced journalist and had recently been appointed police beat chief of the crime reporting team.

The police beat chief was responsible for directing the crime reporters assigned to police stations. It was considered one of the most prestigious positions in the social affairs department.

For journalists hoping to advance their careers at a major newspaper, it was an essential position to hold.

Apparently, the officer who recognized Harok earlier had called Yubin.

She had dropped everything and rushed straight over.

"...I had no idea you'd fallen this far."

With Yubin's help, Harok was released from the detention cell.

At her insistence, they headed to a street food tent.

"There were even rumors that you'd fled overseas. Nobody could get in touch with you..."

Yubin emptied her glass of soju as she recalled what had happened ten years earlier.

"Was that so?"

Harok could only laugh awkwardly.

"...How have you been?"

Perhaps because he was still under the influence of alcohol, Harok ended up telling her all sorts of trivial stories about his life over the past ten years.

Even though his livelihood now depended on chasing clicks, he stubbornly tried to defend himself by clinging to the fact that he was still technically a journalist.

"At the end of the day, journalists are just salaried employees too, aren't they? Once I started doing this kind of work, I actually found it pretty entertaining. Hehe."

Yubin listened quietly without saying much.

"It's tough once you're out there on your own. No matter how difficult things get at work, hold on to your job and endure it. Hehehe."

Harok deliberately tried to sound tougher than he felt.

It was a matter of pride in front of his junior.

But then...

Huh?

Two streams of tears began rolling down Yubin's cheeks.

What? Did I say something wrong?

"Senior, I guess I was mistaken."

"About what?"

"I thought I'd be happy to see you again."

"..."

Yubin picked up her glass and drank the soju in one long gulp.

"I should've just remembered you the way you were ten years ago... Seeing you like this, completely ruined..."

She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Hey, how can you say something like that to my face...?"

"I'm barely holding myself back from saying something much worse."

Yubin took a handkerchief from her bag and gently dabbed the tears beneath her eyes.

"What?"

"Senior, where did Baek Harok go? The proud, confident ace of the crime reporting team? You're free to live your life however you want. But I don't think it's right for you to hurt the juniors who looked up to you and wanted to become journalists like you."

Harok's heart had already been battered by everything that happened that day.

But Yubin's words were like sharp daggers, tearing apart whatever pieces of it remained.

"Please... You were once my idol, Senior. I respected you so much. Please don't trample on those feelings any more than you already have."

After wiping away her tears once more, Yubin gathered her bag and stood up.

"You know how people call journalists trash journalists these days, right? Looking at you, Senior... No. Forget it."

Yubin couldn't quite bring herself to leave.

She stood there for a moment, staring at Harok as though there was still something she wanted to say.

Harok couldn't lift his head.

"Let's never see each other again. And I hope the other juniors never have to see you like this, either."

To think I'd hear something so harsh from a junior I personally trained...

Harok couldn't bring himself to go straight home.

Instead, he bought a bottle of soju at a convenience store and headed toward the Han River.

"Ugh..."

Drinking straight soju alone was unbearably bitter.

Of all places, why did I have to run into Yubin in a police detention cell?

Everything she said had been so painfully accurate that he hadn't even found an opportunity to argue.

Seeing a senior she once respected reduced to such a miserable state must have been a terrible shock.

Ah, this wasn't how things were supposed to turn out...

Memories of his early days as a journalist suddenly came flooding back.

Back then, he had dreamed of uncovering hidden truths and making the world a better place.

He had been overflowing with a sense of justice.

But where did everything go wrong? How did I end up like this?

These days, even his younger sister treated him like garbage.

He was practically afraid to visit his parents' house during the holidays.

'You enjoy making money by writing articles about women's panties?'

'Isn't the media basically pollution these days? Stop filling internet portals with your garbage articles.'

Yubin had once been a trainee who couldn't even write a short crime report properly and constantly got scolded for it.

Yet she had already become a police beat chief.

And what about me?

Can't I go back to those days?

If only I could return to the past, I'm sure I could do things properly this time.

'I used to be the ace of Daehan Daily's crime reporting team, you know! God, Buddha! Can't you help me just this once?!'

Harok lived in a small room in the Goshichon neighborhood of Sillim-dong.

As soon as he opened the door, he hurried toward his bed, only to trip over the threshold and fall.

"Ouch!"

His shin struck the electric fan standing near the entrance.

Clutching his leg, Harok writhed in pain for a while before giving up and lying flat on the floor.

He stared at the ceiling for a long time.

Then he casually turned his head to the side.

Flash.

Huh? What's that?

Something was glittering beneath the bed.

Using a back scratcher, he awkwardly dragged the object out.

Huh?

It was a wristwatch.

No way.

It was the very same wristwatch he had received as a prize for winning a Scoop of the Year Award exactly ten years ago.

Back then, the entire country had been thrown into an uproar by the garbage dumpling scandal.

Baek Harok had been the first journalist to report the story, earning himself the award.

I thought I'd lost this while moving. So it was here all along...

The moment he saw the watch, memories of that time unfolded before his eyes like a panorama.

At first, everyone had celebrated it as an extraordinary scoop.

But...

That article had ultimately forced him to leave the company and sent his entire life spiraling into ruin.

Damn it...

The wristwatch had stopped, apparently because its battery had completely run out.

Right. The watch stopped, and so did my life...

Harok struggled to his feet and retrieved a can of beer from the refrigerator beside the television.

He began pouring the beer down his throat.

One can, two cans, three...

Before long, empty cans began piling up beside him.

"What a miserable life. Whatever happens, happens..."

After muttering those words to himself, Harok collapsed onto his side and gradually drifted off to sleep.

Snore... Snore... Hrrrk... Cough, cough.

How much time had passed since he fell asleep?

Tick. Tock.

The second hand of the stopped wristwatch suddenly began moving.

Tick. Tock.

But there was something strange about the direction in which the hands were moving.

The second hand was running backward.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock...

"Hey, Baek Harok! What the hell are you doing?"

"Uh... Huh?"

Harok woke with a start when he heard someone calling him.

"You bastard! Are you sleeping when your senior is talking to you?"

What the hell is going on?