Chapter 19

Chapter 19. Whale Hunting (2)

"I'd appreciate a quick response."

"Understood, Reporter Seol."

The moment Mun Byeonggeol ended the call, he immediately dialed the head of PR Team 1.

Ring...

Click.

"Yes, Executive Director."

Kim Hyeongseok, head of PR Team 1, answered before the first ring had even finished.

Mun Byeonggeol was notoriously impatient.

If someone answered even slightly late, they would get an earful.

"We have an emergency. Tell everyone in the PR office to delay going home and gather in the conference room immediately. I want the meeting ready to start at six."

"Everyone in the PR office?"

"Yes."

Something serious was clearly happening.

Kim Hyeongseok immediately posted an announcement in the PR office group chat.

[Emergency meeting chaired by the PR director today at 6 p.m. in Conference Room 1.]

"Deputy Chief, looks like I can't make my plans tonight."

Manager Ju Jeongseok's mouth stuck out in annoyance after a sudden meeting was called right at quitting time.

Deputy Chief Kwon Taean, who had been planning to leave with him, looked equally irritated.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know either... But since they're calling everyone in the office, it's probably another..."

Ju Jeongseok pointed one finger upward, implying it had something to do with the owner family.

"Ah, shit. Did JK cause another accident?"

JK stood for Kwon Jaegwan, eldest son of Handong Group Chairman Kwon Osang.

Inside the company, everyone called Kwon Jaegwan JK.

"Hopefully not. But if the three-year-cycle theory is right, then probably..."

Kwon Jaegwan tended to cause one major scandal roughly every three years.

Because of that, people in the PR office jokingly called it the three-year cycle.

Thud.

Kwon Taean tossed his meeting notebook onto the desk.

"Feels like we're about to spend another few nights working late. Damn my life."

"Everyone here?"

Mun Byeonggeol sat at the center of the conference table, with Kim Hyeongseok seated beside him.

The heads of PR Team 2, PR Team 3, and the New Media Team sat in a row next to Kim Hyeongseok.

"Two people who were out of the office are on their way back now. Other than the two on leave, everyone's here."

"Then let's begin."

Kim Hyeongseok nodded and briefly explained why the meeting had been called.

"Remember that this is top secret involving the owner family and must never leak outside."

The moment he mentioned the owner family, everyone in the room tensed.

Whenever an issue involving the owners surfaced, a few executives usually disappeared quietly afterward.

Mun Byeonggeol was the first person who had ever broken that vicious cycle.

Three years earlier, he had smoothly handled Vice President Kwon Jaegwan's abuse-of-power assault case.

Instead of disappearing, he had been promoted from managing director to executive director for his work.

Even so, scandals involving the owner family always drew blood.

Anyone working in PR could never afford to relax.

"Police are currently investigating JK for the use of psychotropic drugs... The legal team is pouring all available resources into preventing his arrest... That's all."

As soon as Kim Hyeongseok finished, Mun Byeonggeol took over.

"All right. The situation is very bad. After Daehan Daily reported the drug case, the investigation expanded, and reporters have started paying much more attention."

Mun Byeonggeol suddenly raised his head and looked around the room.

"Choi Minjung."

"Yes."

"You came from Daehan Daily, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir."

Deputy Chief Choi Minjung had been recruited from Daehan Daily's industry department.

"Do you know Reporter Seol Yubin well?"

"...Not really."

Choi Minjung answered in a shrinking voice.

Mun Byeonggeol's expression hardened.

"Why the hell do you think the company hired you? You think we had money to burn and decided to provide retirement jobs for former reporters?"

Choi Minjung couldn't lift his head.

"I'm sorry."

"How long ago did I tell you to manage the social affairs department? And yet you can't even manage your own former company, Daehan Daily."

If he could, Choi Minjung wanted to dig a hole in the floor and disappear into it.

Mun Byeonggeol had told him months earlier to arrange meals with Daehan Daily's crime reporting and legal affairs teams.

He had kept putting it off.

And now this had happened.

"For now, everyone's attention is on that celebrity, Benon. But it won't take long before the names of chaebol heirs and high-ranking families start coming out."

Mun Byeonggeol swept a sharp gaze across the PR staff gathered in the room.

"Hey, Kwon Taean."

"Yes, Executive Director."

"What do we do to protect our company's reputation?"

Kwon Taean's expression immediately stiffened.

From the look on his face, it was obvious he was thinking, Why the hell are you asking me?

Still, Kwon Taean was the person who had created Handong Group's crisis response manual.

"Stage one is to stop publication at all costs. If that fails and the article gets published, stage two is to request anonymity or initials. If that also fails, stage three is to muddy the waters."

"You know it well. Then how do we muddy the waters?"

An idea flashed through Kwon Taean's head.

"What if we emphasize that JK had no choice but to take psychotropic medication because of a chronic medical condition? We can run a media strategy saying there was merely some accidental overuse during treatment."

Even as he said it, Kwon Taean thought it sounded brilliant.

Judging from Mun Byeonggeol's expression, he liked it too.

A chronic condition could be created easily enough through Handong Medical Center.

"What do you think, Director Kim?"

They were thinking the same thing.

Kim Hyeongseok liked the idea too.

"I think it's good. I'll strengthen the details and report back."

"Do that. And about Reporter Seol Yubin's questions..."

"We've already prepared a draft response. I'll polish it further and report it tomorrow morning."

Mun Byeonggeol nodded.

He liked how quickly Kim Hyeongseok worked.

"Separate from that, someone needs to meet Reporter Seol. Choi Minjung, you should go, right?"

"Yes. I'll contact her."

"Director Kim, go with him."

"Understood."

Ring, ring.

Choi Sujeong.

She had joined the company in the same class as Harok and was two years below him in university.

In his previous life, she had been the colleague he was closest to until he left Daehan Daily.

She occasionally contacted him after he quit, but Harok deliberately avoided her.

"What?"

"Oppa, what are you doing? Why aren't you here?"

Normally, colleagues from the same recruitment class spoke casually to each other and used names, even if they had attended the same university as seniors and juniors.

But Choi Sujeong had called Harok Oppa from the very beginning and always treated him warmly.

"Is something happening?"

"Today's our class gathering. Are you drinking with a source somewhere?"

"No. I'm done."

"Then come here. We're at Bongbong Chicken near the company."

In his previous life, Harok had never attended a single class gathering after leaving Daehan Daily.

This time, he figured he might as well see everyone's younger faces.

He headed to Bongbong Chicken.

"Yo, Vice Baek. Still alive and kicking."

"The true journalist of our era, writing the lead social affairs story even after getting disciplined."

Everyone greeted Harok warmly when he arrived.

Everyone except one person.

Yoon Taeyeong.

Two years older than Harok, Yoon Taeyeong currently worked on the political affairs department's party team.

Ever since they were trainees, he and Harok had competed to be at the top of their recruitment class.

Yoon Taeyeong never understood why seniors seemed to like Harok more despite Harok's arrogant and prickly personality.

He had also been convinced that the vice-chief position would naturally go to him.

But the company chose Baek Harok.

Ironically, Harok himself had never wanted the position.

Yoon Taeyeong alone had been left boiling with humiliation.

To him, Harok was someone he had to surpass.

"I'm impressed you can still walk around with your head up after causing an accident that big."

Harok could feel the hostility in his voice.

What's wrong with this guy?

Harok's memories of Yoon Taeyeong had basically been deleted.

That meant the man simply hadn't been important enough to remember.

"Should I walk around with my head down instead?"

"The entire recruitment class gets cursed because of you."

Oh?

Are you picking a fight right now?

Other than competing over exclusives during training, they had never had much contact.

Harok had spent his career moving between the crime reporting and legal affairs teams.

Yoon Taeyeong had been picked by the political affairs department early on.

"Then why don't Reporter Yoon bankai it for us? Why the hell are you complaining to me?"

"What, you bastard?"

Bang!

Choi Sujeong, who had been watching, slammed the table.

"What the hell are you two doing? We haven't met like this in ages, and now you're fighting?"

Thanks to Choi Sujeong stepping in, things barely calmed down.

Harok and Yoon Taeyeong were still muttering insults at each other under their breath.

Choi Sujeong dragged Harok outside.

"What's wrong with that bastard?"

"He's always had an inferiority complex about you, Oppa. Ignore him."

"I held back out of respect for the elderly. My fists were crying."

"Of course they were."

Choi Sujeong smoked her cigarette with an amused smile.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Oppa, do you know why Yoon Taeyeong acts like that?"

"Why?"

"This is just my personal theory. You know how ambitious Yoon Taeyeong is. His dream is to become a National Assembly member. Maybe even president. Who knows?"

Whoooosh.

Harok exhaled cigarette smoke forcefully into the air.

"Tell him to become president, then. Why is he giving me shit?"

"It's probably because of Seol Yubin, who's been hanging around with you lately."

"What does Yubin have to do with it?"

"Yoon Taeyeong has a crush on her."

For some reason, merely hearing that Yoon Taeyeong liked Yubin immediately soured Harok's mood.

He irritably threw his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his shoe.

"That bastard sure has high standards."

"You know Yubin's father is the head of Taesan, right?"

"I only found out recently... Does everyone in the company know except me?"

"The fact that you didn't know is legendary..."

Yoon Taeyeong's ambition.

Seol Yubin's family background.

The pieces fit together perfectly.

"Don't tell me he likes her because of her family."

"Considering Yoon Taeyeong's ambition, it's entirely possible. Besides, Yubin is pretty enough to make men lose their minds anyway."

"I don't care whether he loves Seol Yubin or her father. I wish them a beautiful romance."

"I think seeing her walking around with you pisses him off."

That made sense if the man was ambitious.

If Yoon Taeyeong later added Daehan Daily political affairs department head or editor-in-chief to his résumé, then became the son-in-law of Taesan Law Firm's managing partner, a political nomination would practically be guaranteed.

Fine.

Work hard.

The next day.

Harok arrived at the newsroom with a hangover and searched through articles as usual.

Yubin messaged him through the internal messenger.

[Yubin: Busy?]

[Harok: Why didn't you come yesterday?]

[Yubin: Drank and died.]

[Harok: You carry your phone around for decoration?]

[Yubin: ㅜㅜ]

[Harok: When are you picking up your car?]

[Yubin: Today.]

[Harok: Definitely.]

[Yubin: Lunch today?]

[Harok: I'm eating alone.]

[Yubin: Why?]

[Harok: Going to nap.]

[Yubin: Handong Group PR team requested lunch.]

Since Harok was under suspension, going somewhere far from the company would be difficult.

They chose a Japanese restaurant near the office.

"I'm Baek Harok."

"I'm Kim Hyeongseok, head of PR Team 1."

Baek Harok and Seol Yubin sat on one side.

Kim Hyeongseok and Choi Minjung sat on the other.

"Senior Choi, you look great after moving to the corporate side."

"You used to work at Daehan Daily?"

"Was it the forty-first recruitment class?"

"Yeah. Class forty-one."

For a while, nothing meaningful was said as both sides simply felt each other out.

"But all you had to do was send the answers to our questions. I wonder why you came in person..."

Harok made the first jab.

They hadn't gathered to smile warmly and enjoy lunch together.

Kwon Jaegwan had been the first person to humiliate Harok after he became a reporter.

Back then, Harok had carved the character for patience into his heart and waited.

He had been certain Kwon Jaegwan would eventually screw up again.

And now, in his second life, that opportunity had finally arrived.

Whale Hunting, Season Two.

"If we answer everything in writing, subtle differences in nuance can sometimes be lost. You know, one word can change the entire meaning..."

"Didn't you read the questionnaire? 'Did he use drugs or not?' Even an elementary school student can answer that. What nuance is there to misunderstand?"

Sweat began forming on the back of Kim Hyeongseok's neck.

"There's also the relationship between our company and Daehan Daily... If Reporter Baek could show us some consideration, Handong Group would have more opportunities to contribute to the national economy."

Kwon Jaegwan contributing to the national economy?

The country would be lucky if he simply stopped causing damage.

I'm the one helping you.

If Kwon Jaegwan becomes chairman, he'll destroy your company on a global scale.

"That's exactly why I'm trying to give him an opportunity."

"Pardon?"

"Drug addiction isn't something you can usually overcome by yourself. If someone is locked away somewhere for a few years, the chances of quitting go up significantly."

He was essentially saying the best way to cure Kwon Jaegwan's drug problem was to send him to prison.

"Haha... Reporter Baek, isn't that going a little too far?"

"How big a risk do you think it is to the national economy if a drug addict runs Handong Group? He deserves a chance at rehabilitation."

"Hey, Baek Harok. Watch your mouth."

Choi Minjung, who had been listening in silence, finally stepped in.

Harok immediately reacted as though he'd been waiting for it.

"What's so wrong with what I said?"

"You don't talk like that in front of someone's face."

"Senior, you should keep your mouth shut. Remember three years ago, when my article on Kwon Jaegwan's abuse-of-power assault case was killed? Somehow, someone handed my entire article to Handong Group before it was even published."

Choi Minjung immediately fell silent.

"And strangely enough, a few months later, you moved to Handong Group."