Chapter 8

Chapter 8. A Connection from a Previous Life

After hanging up with the chief, Harok went back up to the press room and dozed off.

He hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep since regressing.

Tap.

Ah, damn. Who is it?

Harok followed the hand resting on his shoulder with his eyes.

It was Yu Seongun.

"Huh? Senior."

"I'm done with my reporting. Let's go together."

"But I don't know that senior. Is that really okay?"

"He'll probably be very happy to see you. He told me to bring one junior from the social affairs department. I think you're the perfect person."

Meeting people was always fine with Harok.

Still, why was this senior being so proactive?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't remember having any real connection with Yu Seongun.

Then again, that made sense.

Since joining the company, Harok had worked almost exclusively in the social affairs department.

Naturally, he'd picked up the nickname the ghost of the crime reporting team.

Yu Seongun, on the other hand, had settled into the culture department's popular culture team early on.

By now, he had become a journalist with considerable influence in the K-pop industry.

"If you stay in the social affairs department too long, your view of the world gets narrow. Not everyone out there is a robber or a sex offender."

Reporters who stayed too long on the crime or legal affairs beats developed a strange occupational disease.

Everyone they met began to look like a potential criminal.

If they saw a young person who clearly wasn't born rich driving an expensive imported car, the first thought that came to mind was usually, Drug offender.

"But you came here today to cover a celebrity drug story, didn't you?"

"Well... that's true."

"So who's the celebrity?"

"Have you heard of Benon from the boy group Beastie Kids?"

The moment Harok heard the name, the basic outline of the celebrity drug scandal involving Benon flashed through his mind.

Harok had always been told that his memory was second to none.

The only problem was that his memory worked mainly on things that interested him.

It was almost as though he deleted unnecessary information quickly to free up storage space for things worth remembering.

After leaving Daehan Daily and becoming an online media desk editor, he had handled countless stories spanning politics, economics, society, culture, and entertainment.

The major cases that left a strong impression remained perfectly preserved in Harok's mental archive.

Benon's drug use was one of them.

But the timing is different...

"I've heard of him. Did he do drugs?"

"That's the rumor. But the narcotics division is denying everything."

Of course they're not going to tell just anyone who asks.

"Even culture reporters are running around police stations now. I guess the culture department isn't safe at the next personnel reshuffle either."

"In ten years as an entertainment reporter, this is my first time coming to a police station. I'm just too nosy. Life over there is elegant."

"I want to live elegantly too."

He said it half as a joke.

"Today's a good opportunity. And if you want, I can pull some strings and get you transferred to the culture department at the next personnel reshuffle."

"Oh, thank you."

Harok's expression genuinely brightened.

"By the way, do you want to look into this case? I can't get anything done with a culture department business card."

"If you're giving it to me, I'd be grateful."

Nice. Now I've got something to pitch.

There was a saying among journalists.

A reporter's personality changed depending on which department they belonged to.

Why did every reporter in the social affairs department seem to have such a terrible temper?

Compared to them, seniors in departments like industry, culture, and sports tended to be far more generous and easygoing.

Just like Yu Seongun.

The meeting place with Lee Jinbaek was an upscale Korean beef restaurant in Gangnam where a single serving cost more than eighty thousand won.

Harok had skipped the crime reporting team's dinner to come here.

"All right, say hello. This is Senior Lee Jinbaek from the thirty-seventh trainee class."

Lee Jinbaek stood up, handed Harok his business card, and bowed politely at a full ninety-degree angle.

The senior-junior relationship between journalists remained forever, no matter where they met.

The thirty-seventh class meant Lee Jinbaek was ten classes ahead of Harok.

And yet he was this polite.

Wait.

He's from the same trainee class as Bang Woncheol, the Senior Secretary for Civil Society at the Blue House.

"I currently work at TS Group's Strategic Coordination Office. I'll be moving to TS Foodnet soon."

Anyone could see that all traces of his old reporter persona had completely disappeared.

He looked like a textbook salaried corporate executive.

At only forty-three, he had already secured a solid position at a major conglomerate.

He had even received an executive title four years ago.

"Are you close with Senior Bang Woncheol at the Blue House?"

For a brief moment, surprise flickered in Lee Jinbaek's eyes.

Harok didn't miss it.

"We see each other at class reunions once in a while. Why do you ask about Woncheol?"

"Ah, I have a bit of a bad connection with him..."

Harok briefly explained the situation with the dumpling article.

Lee Jinbaek showed interest and listened closely.

"By the way, what kind of company is TS Foodnet?"

"A food company. The plan is to take menus from famous restaurants across the country and turn them into meal kits and processed foods."

"Is that even possible?"

"Ready-made food technology has advanced dramatically. We're almost at the stage where the difference in taste is negligible."

"Oh. But isn't food business a bit beneath a corporation as large as TS? Couldn't people accuse you of invading small local businesses or something?"

As the eternal resident of the social affairs department, Harok's question came out slightly cynical without him even realizing it.

Lee Jinbaek answered smoothly, as though he had prepared for exactly that question.

"To put it simply, we're selling consumers peace of mind. In the end, wasn't hygiene the root cause of this dumpling scandal? If a major corporation had been producing them, there would've been almost no room for hygiene problems."

Dumpling scandal?

Did he not read this morning's article?

"This dumpling case was caused by an unreasonable police investigation. I was the one who wrote about it..."

"Ah, of course I know. The police went too far, yes. But it's also true that there were hygiene problems."

That was true to some extent.

They were small companies, after all.

Expecting perfect sanitary facilities from every one of them was unrealistic.

"Is TS entering the dumpling market too?"

"Of course."

After the dumpling scandal, TS Foodnet would grow rapidly and become a major power in the ready-made food industry.

"All right, enough factory talk. Let's start passing around bomb shots."

What gathering of journalists would be complete without bomb shots?

They began making bomb shots using the bottle of thirty-year-old Ballantine's that Lee Jinbaek had brought.

Before long, nearly ten rounds had gone around.

Lee Jinbaek suggested moving on to a second location.

"Everything's already prepared. Tonight's second round is Ballantine's..."

He paused dramatically.

"...No. It's Valentino."

"Uh, Senior. I don't go to room salons."

"It's not a room salon. It's a private bar with spacious rooms where privacy is guaranteed."

"Yeah, Noona. We're heading to Valentino now... Yeah, three people including me. One of them is a successful reporter from the social affairs department, so take good care of him."

While they were on the way to the second location, Yu Seongun spoke on the phone with someone he called Noona.

She didn't sound like a bar madam.

"Who was that?"

"A Noona I'm close with. She works really hard, but things haven't been going well for her. I'm trying to help her out a little."

"How?"

"We're bringing an important TS Group insider today, aren't we? If she can land TS as a sponsor, her company could really take off."

The way he spoke, it sounded as though she were the head of an entertainment agency.

In Harok's previous life, thanks to Gwak Dohyeong, he had occasionally had chances to drink with entertainment agency representatives.

Not long after arriving at the private room café Valentino, the agency president entered.

The moment Harok saw her face, he froze.

The Noona Yu Seongun had been talking about was Yoon Suran, president of the entertainment agency DAP.

She was the very same agency president Harok had drunk with during his final drinking session with Gwak Dohyeong in his previous life.

They exchanged greetings and sat down.

As always, alcohol was the fastest way to lift the mood.

Yoon Suran began with her usual hospitality routine by downing three bomb shots in a row.

In the future, this "three opening bomb shots" routine would become her signature move.

"Noona, where's the girl group you said you'd introduce?"

"They just finished a recording in Yeouido."

"Oh, so they finally made it onto terrestrial TV?"

"Yeah. I just hope the response is good this time... They were completely edited out last time."

Yoon Suran sounded genuinely worried.

A little while later, the girl group members entered the room.

They lined up in a row.

At what seemed to be the leader's cue, they greeted everyone together.

"One, two, three. Hello, we're Havana."

After greeting everyone, Havana sat down.

At this point in time, it had been five years since a former girl group idol had committed suicide after being forced to entertain people at drinking parties and being crushed by the humiliation.

Back then, every related keyword had exploded into a national scandal.

Celebrity suicide.

A newspaper company president.

Alcohol entertainment.

As a result, celebrity drinking-party entertainment had briefly disappeared.

But poisonous mushrooms always grew back.

"..."

Harok had felt uncomfortable from the moment Havana entered the room.

Still, the strange experience of seeing Jo Mina during her rookie years made him temporarily forget that discomfort.

In his previous life, Jo Mina had become one of Asia's biggest superstars.

People called her a walking billboard and a moving small-to-medium-sized corporation.

She moved freely between dramas and films, and at her peak, she was the only female actress whose fee per drama episode exceeded one billion won.

In his previous life, Gwak Dohyeong had used an article about Jo Mina's affair with a married man as leverage to secure advertising.

That very night, Harok had drunk with Yoon Suran.

And afterward, he had regressed into the past.

"Hello. I'm Mina."

"Yes, hello, Ms. Jo Mina."

Jo Mina's eyes widened in surprise.

"You know me? How did you know my surname was Jo?"

Oops.

Mistake.

At this point, she had not yet begun working as an actress.

Jo Mina was the full name she would use once she transitioned into acting.

"Ah, I just guessed. I had a feeling your surname might be Jo..."

"Wow. Journalists really are sharp. You guessed a stranger's surname on the first try..."

Jo Mina stared at Harok with eyes full of admiration.

Once the conversation started, she turned out to be quite talkative.

Yoon Suran was busy trying to sell Lee Jinbaek on her agency.

She was desperately trying to secure even a small performance at TS Group's new employee training center.

Yu Seongun was giving a long speech to the other girl group members.

As Harok and Jo Mina's conversation became more lively, the other members gradually joined in.

"Reporter, have you ever seen a dead body?"

Harok's seniors had told him that in the old days, visiting morgues during trainee training had been mandatory.

Apparently it was supposed to build courage.

What were they training for, the Olympic archery team? Why did journalists need courage training?

Harok had a weak stomach and couldn't handle seeing dead bodies.

That was also why he disliked covering large-scale disasters.

There were simply too many corpses.

Still, he couldn't disappoint these young girls staring at him with sparkling eyes and waiting for an answer.

"I have."

"Really?"

"Yes. I saw someone after a motorcycle accident. You should never ride motorcycles."

That was actually a story one of his seniors had told him.

Out of all the bodies that senior had seen, victims of motorcycle crashes had been the most gruesome.

"Why?"

"The head and body can get separated, the internal organs can burst everywhere... I couldn't eat sundae soup for a week afterward."

"Eww."

"Ugh!"

The members scrunched up their faces in disgust.

Their reactions were so cute that it reminded him they were barely twenty years old.

What the hell are girls this young doing entertaining people in a bar?

At least these girls would eventually become successful.

There were countless idols who spent years attending drinking parties like this only to retire without ever making it.

Then Harok noticed a tattoo on the inside of member Yerin's elbow.

Normally, he might have ignored it.

But his years in the social affairs department were the problem.

He suddenly remembered something a narcotics investigator once told him.

Drug users sometimes get tattoos to hide needle marks. Especially tattoos around the inner elbow. Those are almost a hundred percent suspicious.

Harok felt conflicted.

Should I ask?

Even if I do, would she tell me the truth?

Forget it. I'll just drink.

Gulp, gulp.

"Being a journalist seems like a good job."

Just as Harok put his glass down, Jo Mina suddenly said that.

"Good? What's good about it? These days, everyone calls us trash journalists and curses us wherever we go."

"No. Journalists reveal hidden truths and make the world a better place."

There are still people who think this highly of journalists?

Harok was genuinely moved.

Right.

That's why I became a journalist in the first place.

"I think you're definitely that kind of journalist, Reporter Baek. A righteous and courageous journalist who refuses to compromise with evil in order to reveal the truth."

Harok looked puzzled.

Why was Jo Mina evaluating him so highly when they had only just met?

"Mina, do you know me?"

"This is the first time I've met you in person, but there's an article of yours that I read very carefully."

"What article?"

"I'll tell you next time."

Next time?

Are we going to meet again?

Jo Mina lifted the business card Harok had given her earlier.

"Would it be okay if I called you directly sometime?"

Huh? Why would an entertainer call a social affairs reporter?

"I don't see why not. A reporter's phone number is practically public property anyway."

Just then...

Knock, knock.

The manager knocked on the door.

"It's time to go to the radio broadcast."

As the members prepared to leave, Harok couldn't resist asking Yerin about the tattoo.

"Ah, this?"

She smiled.

"It's kind of like a sticker. You can put it on and peel it off."

She demonstrated by removing the tattoo.

That was all?

Harok let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Jo Mina and the other members left first.

Much later, when the gathering finally wrapped up, everyone stood to leave.

Harok approached Yoon Suran and quietly spoke to her.

"President Yoon, Havana is definitely going to become a huge success. Don't be too desperate."

Feeling sorry for how anxious and desperate she looked, Harok accidentally revealed a tiny bit of heavenly knowledge from the future.

"Thank you for the kind words."

Having no idea what he truly meant, Yoon Suran bowed like a salesperson at a perfect ninety-degree angle.