Side Story Chapter 9
“If you’re going to give someone a gift, it should be something they actually want, right?”
Jiyoung’s sweet voice came through the phone.
“Yes, we’ll go with this gift.”
“And we’ll send it once you give us Ms. Suji’s contact information.”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll hang up now.”
After the call ended, Goo Yangmo and I looked at each other and grinned.
Neither of us said anything.
But we were both thinking the exact same thing.
This is it.
Three days later, Seo Jiyoung contacted us.
We managed to obtain the phone number of the woman named Im Suji.
“Hello? Is this Ms. Im Suji?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Ah, my name is Goo Yangmo. I’m a reporter who works on Nutube.”
“You know Seo Jiyoung, right?”
“I heard you used to be trainees together at JNC Entertainment....”
A heavy silence fell over the line.
“I know this may be uncomfortable for you, but could you spare me some time?”
“I’m trying to make sure there aren’t any more victims like you....”
“I’m sorry.”
“I have nothing to say.”
Before Goo Yangmo could even finish, Im Suji apologized and hung up.
Afterward, Goo Yangmo called and texted her several more times.
But Im Suji never responded.
“From Ms. Im Suji’s perspective, it’s probably something she never wants to bring up again.”
Late that night, Goo Yangmo and I sat in his studio drinking soju.
“We can’t force her to drag that memory back out.”
“And we shouldn’t.”
“That’s true, but....”
Despite agreeing, disappointment was obvious on Goo Yangmo’s face.
“Let’s just stick to the original plan.”
“If what we’re planning works, there may come a moment when Ms. Im Suji chooses to speak on her own.”
Goo Yangmo slowly nodded.
“Yeah.”
“That might happen.”
“We don’t have much time left anyway.”
Baek Ina’s contract with JNC Entertainment was nearing its end.
We needed to make a decision.
“Let’s start preparing immediately.”
The preparations took a full week.
Through a security company I knew personally, we quietly installed hidden cameras inside and around Goo Yangmo’s studio.
Five cameras inside the studio.
One at the building entrance.
One on the rooftop.
And another at the entrance to the alley.
We selected equipment capable of recording clear footage even at night.
“This is seriously starting to feel like a spy movie.”
Goo Yangmo stood with his arms crossed, looking around the finished setup.
“They’re just cameras.”
“Act naturally.”
“Tch. Easy for you to say.”
“How am I supposed to ignore the fact that a security company is watching me through cameras twenty-four hours a day?”
“I won’t even be able to fart comfortably.”
I smirked at his exaggerated complaint.
“For the time being, I’ll stay nearby after work too.”
Goo Yangmo chose the broadcast date himself.
His regular broadcast aired every Thursday at ten at night.
But this time, to make it feel like an emergency special, we decided on a surprise broadcast at seven on Tuesday evening.
Instead, we would release an extremely dramatic teaser the day before.
We wanted as many people watching as possible.
Something that made it look like Goo Yangmo had uncovered a truly massive scoop.
“What should we do for the thumbnail?”
“Make it as provocative as possible.”
“Something anyone would be tempted to click.”
Goo Yangmo thought for a moment, then grinned.
“As provocative as possible?”
“Okay.”
“That’s one thing I’m good at.”
On the day of the broadcast, I handled my morning schedule as usual.
I had two meetings.
Then in the afternoon, I had a short meeting with Hanshin Media’s Visual Content Business Team.
Outwardly, I looked perfectly normal.
But inside my head, I was constantly running simulations of what might happen that night.
How long after the broadcast goes up will it take for word to reach Cha Hyunwoo?
Around quitting time, Reporter Goo Yangmo called.
“Everything ready for the broadcast?”
“Already done.”
“Make sure you watch, all right?”
He tried to sound casual.
But unlike usual, there was tension in his voice.
“Yes.”
“And we don’t know how long it’ll take for this broadcast to reach CEO Cha Hyunwoo.”
“Nothing is likely to happen tonight, so don’t get too nervous.”
“Can you tell I’m nervous?”
“Am I shaking right now? Hahaha.”
“You can still joke, so I don’t think we need to worry too much yet.”
After ending the call, I hurried out of work.
Then I parked in a lot not far from Goo Yangmo’s studio.
I had told him that nothing would probably happen immediately.
But just in case, I decided to wait nearby.
I opened my laptop and connected to the live feeds from the cameras installed around the studio.
Onscreen, Goo Yangmo was adjusting the lights.
A moment later, he sat in front of the blue backdrop and checked the camera angle over and over.
Exactly seven o’clock.
I opened Goo Yangmo’s Nutube livestream on my phone.
Maybe because of the dramatic teaser the day before, the number of concurrent viewers was much higher than expected.
“Just as I promised yesterday, today I, Goo Yangmo, have brought you a story that is nothing short of a nuclear bomb!”
The live chat immediately exploded.
[↳ LOL, a nuclear bomb?]
[↳ I waited because of yesterday’s teaser. If this turns out to be nothing, I’m unsubscribing.]
[↳ What is it?! Hurry up before I pass out!!]
I leaned back in my seat, keeping my phone fixed on the livestream.
Goo Yangmo sounded far more excited than usual.
I assumed it was part of his strategy to stir up the viewers as much as possible.
“JNC Entertainment.”
“I imagine more of you know the name than don’t.”
“A mid-sized management company established twelve years ago, with twenty-three actors currently under contract.”
He paused briefly before continuing.
