Chapter 102
Gu Yang-mo raised the corner of his lips with a strange grin.
“I’m an early adopter, you know. Haha.”
We immediately headed to the parking lot where Gu Yang-mo had left his car.
Using the memory card from his dashcam, we were able to check the footage from that night.
It was dark because it had happened at night, but fortunately, the place where Han Hye-ju and I had been photographed was directly beneath a streetlight.
Our faces were clear enough to recognize.
The dashcam footage showed everything.
Han Hye-ju approaching me with a worried expression.
Her manager following behind her.
Me pushing Han Hye-ju against the wall.
And then vomiting all over Han Hye-ju’s clothes.
Every part of what had really happened was recorded.
“Reporter Gu, please publish this footage in an article.”
“Don’t worry. Even if Team Leader Min told me not to upload it, I was planning to publish it anyway.”
Along with the hotel CCTV footage, this video would become additional evidence proving that the photographs used in the dating scandal had been manipulated.
Just then—
Near the end of the footage, someone carrying a camera walked right in front of the dashcam.
That’s him!
I stared intensely at the man holding the camera on the screen.
“Got you, you bastard. Haha.”
Excited, Gu Yang-mo rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Unfortunately, the area near the parked cars was dark.
We couldn’t see the man’s face.
Only his back had been recorded.
“Ha... His face... We only have his back.”
A short sigh escaped me from frustration and disappointment.
Then—
“Wait a second...!”
Gu Yang-mo, who had been staring closely at the footage, suddenly broke into a wide grin.
“Bingo! I think I know who this bastard is.”
“Really? How... No, who is he?!”
When I urgently pressed him for an answer, Gu Yang-mo gave me a sly grin.
“Come on. You want that information for free? Team Leader Min, aren’t you being a little too greedy?”
Seriously?
He was trying to negotiate even in a situation like this.
These damn newspaper guys...
“Fine. What do you want?”
“Just owe me one for now. I’ll tell you what I want when I need something later. Okay?”
Instead of answering, I nodded.
“Who is he?”
“When I first arrived there, this guy asked me to light his cigarette. Looking at his clothes and hairstyle, I recognize him. Didn’t I tell you? I have a good eye for this kind of thing. I thought he had left because I couldn’t see him anywhere, but apparently he was hanging around the back entrance taking those photos.”
“Do you know who he is? His name or where he works?”
“Of course I do. He works for an online newspaper called Weekly Sunday. They’re third-rate even among third-rate tabloids. They follow celebrities around like paparazzi, desperately hoping to catch something they can turn into gossip.”
Gu Yang-mo clicked his tongue.
“There were even rumors that those bastards were the ones who collected all kinds of disgusting information for that celebrity X-file five years ago.”
“Weekly Sunday?”
After parting ways with Gu Yang-mo, I was heading back to the company when I received a call from an executive at Han Hye-ju’s agency.
He told me that an article refuting the dating scandal had just been published.
I immediately checked the article on my phone.
[Exclusive] Han Hye-ju’s Dating Scandal Was Just a Simple Misunderstanding?
[Hot Issue] Additional Photos from Han Hye-ju’s Dating Scandal Obtained! Incident Revealed to Be Nothing More Than a Misunderstanding!
Below the article was another photograph.
It appeared to have been taken shortly after the photos uploaded earlier that day.
In the picture, Han Hye-ju and her manager were supporting me as they helped me into the hotel.
Ha... Does this mean the dating scandal is finally settled?
When I arrived at the office, everyone happened to be gathered together on the twelfth floor in the planning department.
Cha Seung-jun was there.
Director Choi Kyung-min was there.
Even Executive Director Kim Eun-kyung was there.
The moment I entered the office, everyone turned toward me at once.
“Team Leader! Did you see the article that just came out?”
“Hey, Min Gi-baek! Why weren’t you answering your phone?! You didn’t even reply to my messages!”
“I’m glad it turned out to be a simple misunderstanding, but what exactly happened?”
Questions came flying from every direction at the same time, overlapping chaotically in the air.
I quickly raised one hand.
“Stop! Everyone, stop!”
My voice cut through the office.
The flood of questions immediately disappeared.
With everyone staring at my lips and waiting for me to speak, I finally opened my mouth.
“I know everyone is extremely curious about what happened. But as you already saw in the article, it was nothing more than a misunderstanding.”
Even after I said it was just a misunderstanding, the people gathered there still tilted their heads doubtfully.
“That doesn’t make sense. If it was just a misunderstanding, the real-time search rankings wouldn’t have gone completely crazy like that...”
Executive Director Kim Eun-kyung was concerned.
The people directly involved, as well as countless others, had suffered because of the incident.
She questioned whether it was really right to simply brush everything aside by calling it a misunderstanding.
“Han Hye-ju’s agency is already preparing to sue the reporter who first published the story. I’m going to do the same.”
When I said I intended to file a lawsuit as well, Kim Eun-kyung and the others finally nodded in understanding.
“Ha... At least it’s fortunate that the misunderstanding was cleared up. But because of this, all the articles promoting our drama got completely buried.”
“Exactly.”
Planning team members Kang Joo-young and Lee Hyun-woo spoke with exhausted expressions.
“Anyway, I’m sorry that all of you had to suffer today because of me.”
The third floor of an old building in Euljiro.
I slowly walked down a dim hallway with Moon Chang-soo and Do Gi-jeong following behind me.
It was the middle of the day, yet the corridor was still dark.
Rusty pipes hung from the low ceiling.
Faded flyers and advertising stickers covered the walls in layers.
Small offices were packed tightly together on both sides of the hallway like narrow compartments.
Each old wooden door had a sign attached to it.
‘00 Trading Company.’
‘△△ Planning.’
‘□□ International Trade.’
I slowly walked forward, checking each sign.
Then—
“Ugh, it smells like piss. I can’t believe buildings like this still exist in Seoul.”
“Seriously. But Gi-baek, are you sure this is the right place?”
