Chapter 012: Suspicion (1)
Six in the morning.
After sleeping for only three hours, Hee-soo forced himself out of bed and left the house.
The cool morning air helped awaken his exhausted body.
The gym he visited every morning wasn't far from his home.
Hee-soo was enjoying the refreshing air when he sensed someone approaching him.
Damn it.
I should have come out with Chief Jang.
I shouldn't have come alone.
Chief Jang had been extremely busy helping with Hee-soo's work lately.
Hee-soo had deliberately gone out alone so the man could at least sleep properly in the morning.
Unfortunately, someone was now following him.
The footsteps reaching Hee-soo's ears were light.
Hmm. A woman?
It can't be Min-jeong.
There's no way she'd wake up at this hour.
Having served in the special forces, Hee-soo could roughly determine whether someone was male or female simply from their footsteps.
At least she doesn't seem like a physical threat.
Realizing that the person following him was a woman made him relax slightly.
He pretended not to notice and continued walking.
However, the woman soon approached him directly.
"You're Director Choi, right?"
Just as expected, it was a woman's voice.
Even though Hee-soo had already known she was there, he deliberately pretended to be surprised and looked to the side.
"W-who are you?"
"Ah, I'm sorry for surprising you this early in the morning."
She said she was sorry, but her tone was completely professional.
There wasn't the slightest hint of apology in her voice.
It sounded almost like an automated customer-service recording.
The woman handed him a prepared business card and continued.
"My name is Jo Yoon-hee. I'm a reporter from Samhan Ilbo."
"Ah, Reporter Jo Yoon-hee."
"I know you very well. You've written quite a few articles about me."
"It's my first time meeting you in person."
"Thank you for writing so many positive articles."
"Especially the one about the commercial building fire. I thought that article was excellent, so I'd been hoping to meet you sometime."
"I didn't realize you were so beautiful."
"Do you read our newspaper?"
"No. My assistants collect all the articles about me each day."
"Ah. Yes. Of course."
"Well, what you did back then really was incredible."
"To be honest, I was moved."
"Moved? Any firefighter would've done the same thing."
"Yes. Any firefighter would."
"That's their profession, after all."
"But Director Choi, this isn't really your profession, is it?"
"Whether it's your profession or not doesn't matter."
"When someone trapped in a disaster asks a firefighter to save their life, another switch turns on inside you."
"You stop thinking about your own life."
"The only thing left is the determination to save the person who entrusted their life to you."
"That's very moving."
Her response was mechanical.
Her expression didn't look moved in the slightest.
Hee-soo's answer hadn't been much different.
He also wore a professionally polite expression as he asked,
"So why are you here?"
"Why else would I be here?"
"Someone as unusual as you is the perfect subject for a journalist."
"Besides, I've already received permission for close coverage."
"I'm sure reporters from other media companies have approached you too."
"Most other media companies contacted Suseong's public relations office, so I didn't deal with them personally."
"But you said you've already received permission?"
"Who gave you permission?"
"Chief Jang."
"He told me that if I was so suspicious, I should investigate you directly."
"He said he'd fully support the coverage."
Hee-soo stopped in front of an old five-story building.
"Ah, I see."
"But I need to exercise this morning."
"If you want to continue the interview, you'll have to wait."
"That's fine. I'll go inside the gym with you and wait."
"All right."
Hee-soo immediately entered the old building in front of them.
Yoon-hee hurriedly called after him.
"W-wait. You work out here?"
She stared at the building Hee-soo had entered.
It was five stories tall and looked extremely old.
The gym equipment visible through the windows didn't look particularly impressive either.
Yoon-hee followed Hee-soo upstairs with a confused expression.
"You seriously exercise here?"
"Yes. It's the closest gym to my house."
"Couldn't you just build a private gym at home?"
"Grandfather doesn't like things like that."
"Besides, there's already a gym close to my house."
"Why would I waste money building another one?"
"And the owner here is excellent at personal training."
Hee-soo spoke cheerfully as he climbed toward the second floor.
Yoon-hee's suspicious expression didn't disappear.
Maybe the outside looks shabby, but the inside could be incredibly luxurious.
Yes. That must be it.
Wait, then I should hurry after him.
What if I can't get inside because of security?
She quickly followed.
"Wait! I'm coming too!"
There were no security systems anywhere in the building.
The interior looked exactly as shabby as the exterior suggested.
Standing at the entrance of the gym, Yoon-hee became even more confused.
Even this early in the morning, the smell of sweat immediately reached her nose.
She frowned.
"What is this place?"
It was the kind of shabby gym Yoon-hee normally wouldn't even look at twice.
Does the owner not know Hee-soo is a third-generation chaebol heir?
Is Hee-soo hiding his identity when he comes here?
Or did he deliberately come here because I'm following him?
Is this some kind of image-management performance?
While countless questions filled Yoon-hee's mind, Hee-soo returned after changing his clothes.
The gym owner welcomed him happily.
"Oh! Our third-generation chaebol, Director Choi!"
"Still hardworking this early in the morning!"
"Leg day today?"
"Good morning."
"Upper body today."
"Don't you even remember my routine now that I'm not paying for personal training anymore?"
"Hahaha! I only remember as much as you pay me to remember."
"You've got plenty of money. Buy more PT sessions."
"There's nothing left for me to learn from you."
"If I want to learn more, I'll have to go somewhere else."
"Ah, there you go again."
Hee-soo chatted naturally with the gym owner for a while before beginning his stretches.
