Chapter 12. The Disciplinary Committee
After finishing his meeting with Yubin, Harok was about to head back to the National Police Agency.
Then he changed his mind and decided to go to the sauna instead.
He wasn't really investigating anything at the moment, and wasn't he practically suspended already?
His hangover from the day before still hadn't completely disappeared.
He figured warming himself in hot water and sweating in the sauna might finally make him feel human again.
Harok went to his usual sauna near the National Police Agency and washed up.
Afterward, he sat down in one of the massage chairs in the sleeping area and began peeling a boiled egg.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Chief?
What does he want? I'm basically under suspension. Is he calling to give me work?
Harok quickly left the lounge and entered the smoking room.
"Yes, Chief."
"What the hell are you doing that took you so long to answer?"
"Sorry. I left my phone behind when I went to the bathroom."
"You're at the sauna, aren't you?"
Harok froze.
How the hell does he know?
Is Chief here too?
Harok looked around, searching for him.
But there was no way the police beat chief would be relaxing in a sauna in the middle of the day.
"N-No..."
"Must be nice."
"Sorry. I drank a little too much yesterday..."
"I don't care whether you're at a sauna or getting a massage. But shouldn't you at least take care of your own situation?"
"What do you mean?"
"The date for your disciplinary committee has been set. Next Monday."
Normally, even when some major incident happened, there was a gap before the disciplinary committee met.
A preliminary investigation into the incident was usually required.
But this time, nobody had even asked Harok a single question yet.
Shouldn't they at least hear the explanation of the person being disciplined and confirm the facts first?
Since the editor-in-chief was involved, the whole process already felt biased from the start.
If this keeps up, I'm screwed...
A famous line from an old movie suddenly came to mind.
"Why is everything moving so fast?"
"Looks like the editor-in-chief is pushing it."
"Shouldn't HR at least ask me some questions first?"
"Why are you complaining to me?"
"We need to establish the facts..."
"Hey, what facts are there to establish? Everyone in the newsroom saw you go completely insane that day. And as for the unauthorized transmission, isn't the entire country basically a witness?"
Ah, damn.
Would it kill him to take his junior's side for once?
He was being annoyingly strict and cold.
"...Yes."
"The committee will be reviewing breach of professional conduct, causing internal conflict, failure to follow instructions, and unauthorized absence."
Unauthorized absence?
How did that even apply to a reporter?
They really had to hate him to include something like that.
Reporters occasionally disappeared for a few days in protest when they were unhappy about how a story had been handled.
Three years earlier, when his article about Kwon Jaegwan had suddenly vanished from the editorial system, Harok himself had disappeared for three days.
Nobody had criticized him then.
The social affairs department head at the time had even told him to take a full week off and rest.
And now they were calling it unauthorized absence?
If that bastard hadn't killed my article after giving in to pressure from the Blue House, none of this would've happened in the first place.
"Senior, isn't calling it unauthorized absence a little too much?"
"I don't know. Even if it's common practice, technically it still violates company rules."
Even if they would soon part ways, Harok had spent years doing every dirty little task under Kim Seongjun.
Wasn't this a bit too cold?
Hearing Kim Seongjun's detached answer made even the little affection Harok still had left disappear.
"And yes, unauthorized transmission was a huge incident, but in the end it changed the entire direction of the dumpling scandal. Didn't the media perform its proper role as a public institution? Isn't this practically a heartwarming story?"
"That's your opinion."
"Ah, damn. So petty..."
"Are you talking about me?"
"No. The editor-in-chief."
"Use your subject properly."
You're petty too.
Your junior is in trouble, and all you do is hide behind principles.
"Is there no consideration for mitigating circumstances?"
"Go ask the disciplinary committee to take them into account."
"Shouldn't you at least step forward and defend me?"
"Don't drag me into this. Yubin already organized a petition from the crime reporting team. Be satisfied with that."
Yubin did?
Why hadn't she told him?
Either way, it now seemed almost certain that Yubin had also been the one who wrote the protest poster in his previous life.
"Understood. I'll stand alone in the wilderness and fight the company in a final battle."
"Good luck."
Fine.
Let's fight.
He had written that article according to his conscience as a journalist.
Surely they won't actually fire me.
Yubin had written and circulated a petition for him.
There was no way Harok could ignore that without at least thanking her.
He called her immediately.
"Senior? What's up?"
"I heard you wrote a petition."
"Oh, that. Yeah."
Yubin answered casually, as if it were nothing.
"Even Chief doesn't want to get involved, but you..."
For a moment, Harok felt a lump in his throat.
It wasn't just because of the petition.
The protest poster from his previous life overlapped with this moment.
"Oh my. Senior, are you touched?"
"N-No. I was going to scold you for wasting your energy on something unnecessary..."
"Again. You're saying something you don't mean. Senior, when you're grateful, just say thank you. That's the cool thing to do."
He deserved the criticism.
He had called because he was grateful, yet still couldn't say it properly.
"Thank you."
The word refused to come out naturally in Korean, so he barely forced it out in English.
"You're welcome."
Yubin replied in a voice full of laughter.
"Anyway, the editor-in-chief is really pissing me off..."
"Why?"
"He's rushing the disciplinary committee, and even the charges are petty."
"The editor-in-chief has always had the heart of an anchovy."
That was exactly why Harok worried the disciplinary process would be even harsher.
"I'm so angry I should just tip off Weekly Media."
"You don't need to. They're already investigating it."
"Really? How do you know?"
"One of their reporters was in my journalism exam study group."
The journalism exams were commonly called the media exams.
"Don't tell me you..."
"Yep."
Harok had only been venting.
She had actually tipped them off?
Weekly Media was a media outlet that investigated and reported on other media companies.
"You really reported it?"
"You're at too much of a disadvantage."
"That's true, but..."
"You need to use every bit of power you have if you're going to have even a chance of winning."
She had done it for him.
Harok couldn't exactly scold her any further.
"Ha... Thanks. Seriously."
"Hehe. Thank you for saying thank you."
"Senior, how are you feeling?"
The day of battle had arrived.
The cheerful Yubin from two days earlier was nowhere to be seen.
Her face was filled with worry.
At the end of the day, Harok was still a salaried employee.
If he received serious punishment such as a salary cut or suspension, his daily life would immediately take a huge hit.
What would happen to his monthly rent?
His phone bill?
Electricity?
Other utilities?
It wasn't as though he could rely on his parents.
His only younger sister, Jihyeon, was a graduate student.
If the allowance he gave her every month disappeared, she might come looking for him with murder in her eyes.
More importantly, if he received heavy disciplinary action, his entire plan for his second life could be ruined.
Maybe because he had promised to become a righteous journalist, he had been given this second chance at life.
But what if the punishment transferred him to something like the Readers' Opinion Department or International Desk?
Even being a righteous journalist required the right department.
If he sat alone in an office being righteous, wouldn't that just make him a keyboard warrior?
Phewww.
All Harok could do was sigh.
"Cheer up, Senior. If you win Journalist of the Month, won't that affect the disciplinary decision?"
"Are you joking? Which do you think is coming first, the disciplinary decision or the journalism award?"
Yubin still didn't know how long the Journalist of the Month process took.
"Ah... It's only the middle of the month, so maybe another two weeks?"
"Two weeks? It takes months. The disciplinary result comes the day after tomorrow."
"What? Seriously?"
Rub, rub.
Harok wiped his dirty monitor with a wet tissue.
Ugh. Covered in dust.
"By the way, why aren't you out on your beat?"
Yubin's territory was Mapo.
"I'm on internal duty today."
It was a battle between the editor-in-chief and an ordinary reporter.
If Harok had to describe it, it was David versus Goliath.
Except the playing field was tilted even more heavily than that.
"...Reporter Baek Harok, who has been referred to the disciplinary committee, used abusive and insulting language toward me, the editor-in-chief. Furthermore, he transmitted an article that had been held back during the editorial meeting without authorization..."
Kim Yeonghwan looked as though he wanted Harok fired on the spot.
He practically foamed at the mouth.
Every word he chose seemed packed with personal resentment.
Apparently, being called a worthless reporter who only rewrote press releases had really gotten under his skin.
Then again, what insult could hurt a journalist more than that?
"All right. We will now hear Reporter Baek Harok's statement."
Inhale.
Harok took a deep breath and stood up.
He calmly explained why he had felt he had no choice but to transmit the article without authorization.
He argued that the article had actually prevented the suicide of the Mirae Food president, who had appeared on 120-Minute Debate.
"He clearly said it himself. He had been planning to take his own life, but after reading my article, he found hope."
Harok tried to persuade them sincerely.
That tragedy really would have happened if not for his article.
Because of that, there was genuine emotion in his words, and they carried a certain weight.
"...I deeply apologize for transmitting the article without authorization, and I also acknowledge that I was wrong to challenge the editor-in-chief, who is my senior in journalism."
Harok continued.
"However, what happened was unavoidable in the process of fulfilling a journalist's duty to report the truth and expose injustice in society. I ask that you take those circumstances into consideration."
After his final statement, Harok bowed toward the disciplinary committee.
For now, it was a tactical retreat.
Still, he had said everything he wanted to say so he wouldn't regret it later.
He hadn't expected to completely convince the personnel committee in such a short time.
Even so, did they really have to look at him with such distrust?
It felt as if the punishment had already been decided.
From the start, it had been a fight he couldn't win.
What else could he do?
With his shoulders sagging, Harok left the conference room.
"You're under suspension until the disciplinary committee's decision is announced. Starting tomorrow, report to the office."
Deputy Chief Park Mungyu spoke as soon as Harok came out of the conference room.
Suspension?
They wanted him to sit quietly in that freezing atmosphere all day?
"I'd rather take a few days of vacation."
Back then, sweet phrases like work-life balance didn't even exist.
In journalism, especially in the social affairs department, taking vacation outside of summer break required real courage.
Harok still had all eighteen days of annual leave unused.
"Vacation? That could look like you're rebelling again. The decision will only take a few days. What if it affects the result?"
So they wanted him to come to work, bow his head, and visibly reflect on his actions.
In other words, they wanted him to surrender.
A journalist could go outside and meet ministers.
Sometimes even the president.
What happened if the company crushed that journalist's spirit internally?
Journalists survived on confidence and pride.
"Isn't the result already decided anyway? It's basically a rigged game."
"Even then, mitigating circumstances exist."
"Being forced to sit in the office while everyone watches me is way more painful. I don't think it'll change the result much anyway..."
His second life.
He had sworn not to repeat the path of his previous life, where he wasted years doing nothing.
At the same time, his pride wouldn't allow him to bow his head.
And even if he did, he doubted anything would actually change.
Surely they won't fire me.
As long as he wasn't fired, another opportunity would eventually come.
"Did your explanation go well?"
Harok and Yubin stood together in the first-floor smoking room.
"I've done everything I can. Now I just wait for fate."
"It'll work out."
"I'm going on vacation now."
"What?"
Yubin's eyes widened at the word vacation.
"Why are you so shocked because I'm taking vacation?"
"It's ridiculous, Senior."
"You're not paying for my vacation, so why do you care?"
"We're preparing an article together right now."
"I already handed over everything I investigated."
Yubin shook her head.
"That's not the point. I still have to write the article."
"Then write it. You're not a trainee anymore. You're a proper social affairs reporter at Daehan Daily."
Yubin glared at him.
"What?"
"You tossed the article to me and now you're trying to disappear. That's too much."
"I helped with the reporting too."
"Remember that I wrote a petition for you."
"What about it?"
"Even if you're going on vacation, review the drug article before you leave."
She was being completely unreasonable.
Still, she had written a petition for him.
Fine.
I'll at least review the article before going on vacation.
