Chapter 21

Chapter 21. Whale Hunting (4)

Clack, clack.

Harok watched Mun Byeonggeol's group until they completely disappeared from sight.

Then he immediately messaged Yubin.

[Harok: Where are you?]

[Yubin: On my beat.]

[Harok: Mapo Police Station?]

[Yubin: Yep.]

[Harok: Free for dinner?]

[Yubin: Asking me on a date?]

[Harok: Want to get smacked? --;]

[Yubin: Buy me drinks ^^]

[Harok: Get Nam Sangjun from Internet News Team to join us.]

[Yubin: For drinks?]

[Harok: Yeah.]

[Yubin: ‎(っ ᵔ◡ᵔ)っ]

No matter what happened, Harok intended to publish the Kwon Jaegwan story this time.

They had already confirmed the fact that he had tested positive for drugs through investigative authorities.

All that remained was to break the story.

The real obstacle wasn't the reporting.

It was the people inside the company protecting him.

Breaking through that defensive line was the biggest challenge in front of Harok now.

This wasn't about personal revenge.

But shouldn't someone stop a piece of human garbage like Kwon Jaegwan from becoming the head of a conglomerate responsible for the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of employees?

Even in Harok's memories from his previous life, Kwon Jaegwan had stood out as particularly rotten among second- and third-generation chaebol heirs.

And it wasn't just his personality.

His management ability was terrible too.

He eventually drove the company into the ground.

Harok felt a small sense of responsibility.

If that first abuse-of-power assault had been properly reported...

If Kwon Jaegwan had never become the head of Handong Group...

Maybe hundreds of thousands of people wouldn't have lost their livelihoods.

All right.

First, assume the editor-in-chief is not on our side.

He needed to build the plan around that.

Transmitting his previous article without authorization had taught Harok one thing.

The Internet News Team could be extremely useful.

Legacy media like newspapers was already declining.

Influence was shifting entirely toward new media, including social media.

Did it really matter whether something appeared in the physical newspaper anymore?

Does anyone even read it?

What mattered was how the article appeared online.

Harok's plan was a delayed strike.

He would use that to break through the defensive wall built from money and power.

Sizzle.

The pork belly was turning golden over the grill.

Harok and Yubin had already started cooking when Nam Sangjun arrived.

"Sangjun?"

"You can speak casually to me. Senior Harok, you're way above me in seniority."

Sangjun sat across from Harok and Yubin.

The three had gathered at a pork belly restaurant near the company after work.

"You look around the same age as me, though."

"I'm thirty. But I joined pretty late, so I'm only in my second year. I joined the same year as Yubin."

"Ah... Then I'll speak casually."

"Sure."

After several rounds of drinks, they became comfortable with one another quickly.

"If you wanted to become a reporter, why didn't you prepare for the regular recruitment exam? You're still young."

"My life took a few turns. I was a politics fanatic, so after graduation I worked for a civic organization. I also worked as an intern in a National Assembly member's office..."

"Then how'd you end up here?"

"The assemblyman I worked for failed to get nominated in the last general election. The other aides and secretaries all moved to other lawmakers' offices, but I was the only one left behind."

"Why couldn't you go anywhere?"

"They care about experience there too. Nobody cared about someone with only a few months under his belt. The assemblyman felt bad for me and used his connections to get me in here."

Harok slowly began building toward the real reason for the meeting.

"Thanks for putting my article on the homepage headline last time."

"Haha. I had no idea it had been transmitted without authorization."

"Didn't the editor-in-chief yell at you?"

"How could he? I didn't do anything wrong."

"True."

Nam Sangjun could drink pretty well too.

Nearly ten rounds of bomb shots had gone around, yet his posture hadn't changed at all.

"Actually, I need a favor."

"Go ahead."

Harok explained his plan for the upcoming drug follow-up story.

"The moment Kwon Jaegwan's name appears, the editor-in-chief will kill it at the door."

"Probably. I heard that happened three years ago too."

"Yubin."

Harok turned to Yubin, who was quietly mixing another bomb shot beside him.

"Yes, Senior."

"We've confirmed Kwon Jaegwan tested positive, right? And that the police already summoned him once for questioning?"

"Yes."

"When can the article be ready?"

"I could send it out tomorrow if needed."

"Sangjun, can you take the night shift tomorrow?"

"What? Why suddenly?"

"The timing with the Internet News Team is critical for this story."

"I'm not scheduled tomorrow..."

"Switch with whoever is. Can you?"

"I can, but..."

Nam Sangjun had no idea what Harok was planning, but he found himself agreeing anyway.

"Okay. Then Yubin, pitch the follow-up article tomorrow morning. But don't put Kwon Jaegwan's name in it yet."

"Then what do I write?"

"The investigation is expanding to other celebrities too, right? Make that the main angle. Celebrity stories get lots of views, so it'll pass easily."

Yubin was struggling to follow Harok's intentions.

What exactly is he planning?

"All right. This is a fake-out strategy using the newspaper publication system."

"A fake-out strategy?"

"Tomorrow, Yubin's article will probably be one of the major stories on the social affairs page. At least a three-column piece."

"Of course. It's a follow-up to our exclusive."

"If a new page lead or major story is added during the night, even the night editor needs the editor-in-chief's approval. But if you're merely updating an existing article for a later edition, the night editor can approve it."

Only then did Yubin begin to understand.

"So you're saying if we put Kwon Jaegwan in the first edition, the editor-in-chief will cut it. Instead, we'll slip him in during the edition changes."

"Exactly. If it's a newly filed major story, it has to pass through the editor-in-chief. So we'll use a workaround."

"How exactly?"

Yubin was now fully interested.

"In the first edition, your article goes out with 'investigation expands to more celebrities' as the main angle. Then after midnight, once the editor-in-chief has gone home, update the article and add that Kwon Jaegwan is one of the people under investigation."

"Ah... That could work."

"And tomorrow, I'm the social affairs night reporter."

"But what if the night editor objects?"

Harok smiled as if there was nothing to worry about.

"That's why I picked a night when Department Head Jang Junyeol is the night editor. He's the only department head who doesn't bow to the editor-in-chief. He'll probably just let it go out."

After the first edition was published, newspapers assigned a night editor to oversee things.

Department heads and deputy editors rotated through that duty.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Nam Sangjun, who had been listening carefully, finally joined in.

"Same as last time. Put the updated article on the homepage headline, and make sure Kwon Jaegwan's name is exposed in the headline."

"Ah."

"It won't hurt you at all. A new fact was added to an article that had already been approved by the reporting department. Isn't the basic rule of news to highlight the newest fact?"

Daehan Daily's website had a considerable number of direct readers.

A lot of people visited the site without going through a portal.

If the story went live at midnight, tens of thousands of people would see it before six in the morning.

Once morning arrived, the media would begin its usual festival of turning someone else's scoop into page views.

The three finished plotting their little rebellion.

Then Harok raised his glass.

"To the success of the coup!"

"Cheers!"

"...You're not taking your car again today?"

Harok asked Yubin after the drinking session ended.

"It's too late now."

Her car had been sitting in Harok's villa parking lot for days.

Even scratched up, it was supposedly worth more than 150 million won.

Does she not care at all?

"What about tomorrow?"

"I have to meet friends and drink tomorrow..."

"The day after?"

"I have to meet someone from the Ministry of Labor for a planned feature. I'll be going to Sejong City, so it'll probably be late."

As expected of a satsumari reporter.

Always busy with something.

"Fine. You've been drinking a lot. Can you get home alone?"

"Are you going to take me?"

Taking her home again would probably be overdoing it.

"Call a deluxe taxi. I'll write down the plate number."

"Very impressive. Past midnight again today."

"Move. I'm going straight to bed."

Yubin immediately used her special technique for cutting off her mother's nagging.

"No. Your father is waiting for you in his study."

Dad? Why?

She and her father normally got along well and talked comfortably.

Even so, him staying awake this late waiting for her was unusual.

Whoosh.

Yubin tossed her bag onto the sofa and headed toward her father's study.

Knock, knock.

"Come in."

Click.

Yubin opened the door.

Seol Chunggyeong was sitting in an armchair reading a book.

"Our daughter has been drinking every day lately. You'll ruin your health."

"I'm still young. I can handle it."

Seol Chunggyeong removed his reading glasses, placed them on the book, and moved to a chair by the table.

"Sit."

They exchanged a little small talk, and soon the father and daughter were smiling comfortably.

"But I heard something at the office today..."

Yubin immediately knew what it was about.

"The Kwon Jaegwan investigation, right?"

"Yes."

"I was surprised too when I heard Dad's firm is representing him. Let's play fair."

Seol Chunggyeong smiled warmly, as if he found his daughter adorable.

"I'm always on my daughter's side. But just because it's my firm doesn't mean I can do whatever I want."

"I know. Tell whoever's handling it to defend him properly. From what I can see, Kwon Jaegwan's ending is prison."

"Taesan's lawyers are the best in Korea. Do you really think they'll just watch their client get arrested?"

Haah.

Yubin sighed toward the ceiling.

"Dad, this is why I quit law school. What's the point of becoming a lawyer if all you do is keep criminals from going to prison?"

"There are lawyers who help people in difficult situations too."

"Is Taesan that kind of law firm? Want me to start listing Taesan's clients one by one? Name one poor person you represent."

Faced with his daughter's merciless factual attack, Seol Chunggyeong had nothing to say.

Pat, pat.

He placed a hand on Yubin's shoulder and lightly patted it.

"You're right about everything, daughter. But the world is still ruled by the strong. The powerful usually win."

"Sometimes David wins."

"True. I'll cheer for you. But remember this. If Kwon Jaegwan's name appears in print, you'll probably be sued for defamation."

"Hmph. Let them sue. This is public-interest reporting."

One day earlier.

"Director Ryu! Why hasn't the personnel order been issued yet?"

Editor-in-Chief Kim Yeonghwan had personally gone to the Management Strategy Office to confront Director Ryu Jasang.

"Editor-in-Chief, the newsroom isn't the only division undergoing personnel changes. Advertising and Business are too. We need to gather everything and get approval at once."

"You can process the newsroom separately. Hurry it up."

"Editor-in-Chief, is the newsroom the only department in this company? It's stressful for me to keep going to the president for approval too."

Ryu Jasang was starting to lose his temper from Kim Yeonghwan constantly pressuring him.

Damn it. If I followed my temper, I'd just...

It was only a transfer involving ordinary reporters.

It wasn't even particularly urgent.

"When did I ask you to handle this?"

In reality, it had only been a few days.

"I was already about to go get approval now."

Ryu Jasang picked up a folder and straightened his clothes.

Beep.

He dialed the president's secretary.

"Suhyeon, is the president in his office?"

"Yes, he is."

"Okay. I'm coming up."

Ryu Jasang walked out of his office.

There was a separate reason Kim Yeonghwan was rushing Harok's transfer.

It was because of a call he had received the day before.

Ring, ring.

Click.

"Kim Yeonghwan speaking."

"Editor-in-Chief, this has become urgent. It looks like the reporting has gone pretty deep."

The caller got straight to the point without even greeting him.

It was Mun Byeonggeol, head of Handong Group's PR office.

"If his name comes out during the police investigation, there's nothing we can do."

"We'll handle the police. The problem is that if his name appears in an article first, the police say they'll have no choice either."

"How am I supposed to stop reporters from investigating?"

"You can transfer them to another department, can't you?"

"It's possible, but..."

"I heard Daehan Daily is preparing the Thread Exhibition this year. Handong Group will become the main sponsor."

Mun Byeonggeol.

He knew how to negotiate properly.

Main sponsorship for the Thread Exhibition meant at least five hundred million won.

And Handong was entering a full-scale succession process?

If Kim Yeonghwan negotiated well, he might be able to pull in one billion won.

That would practically guarantee he kept his editor-in-chief position during the year-end personnel reshuffle.

The corners of Kim Yeonghwan's mouth rose almost to his ears.

Originally, he had planned to transfer only Baek Harok from the social affairs department to the culture department.

But after receiving the call from Handong Group's PR office, he added one more person to the personnel list.

Seol Yubin.

The reporter who was aggressively investigating Kwon Jaegwan's drug use.

Arrogant bitch.

You think you can humiliate me because your father is powerful?

Go bury yourself in foreign news at the International Department.

Back to the present.

Beep.

Kim Yeonghwan's internal phone rang.

Huh?

That was Kang Suhyeon's extension from the president's office.

"Yes, Suhyeon."

"The president would like to see you for a moment."

"Okay. I'll come up now."