Chapter 204. The Newspaper in Hand
'It's about time.'
While listening to the anchor's voice coming from the TV, Yeon-woo sent a message through messenger.
The recipients were the speakers Han Hae-woon had selected - in other words, journalists hungry for a scoop.
Tap tap-
Yeon-woo smirked at Oh Seung-hwan's immediate response.
"Working for the public good, huh..."
To Oh Seung-hwan, it was probably just flattery crafted to curry favor with the 'anonymous informant' who was like a goose laying golden eggs, but it wasn't exactly wrong.
After all, they were actually working for the public good.
Other journalists' tip channels also responded with messages of gratitude and promises to follow instructions.
The excited journalists immediately began writing articles after being given a rough explanation of the ongoing prosecution investigation, several reliable internal documents, and guidance on the article's direction, incorporating the recent wave of criticism spreading across online communities.
Yeon-woo clicked on one of the articles.
"Hmm, they wrote it well according to the guidelines."
The article sharply delved into the real incident that was covered up when Ahn Jun-ho became a scapegoat under drug use allegations.
Of course, based on the information Yeon-woo had provided.
(Excerpt)
Actor Ahn Jun-ho, who made his name through "Your Name" and "Summer's Promise," was indicted two years ago for allegedly using drugs at a party. However, this incident has been revealed to be Jung Tae-seon's doing to cover up a hit-and-run case involving Ms. Yoon, the second daughter of Chairman Yoon Gwang-sun of Jeongyang Shipbuilding.
Our paper has obtained messenger chat logs and bank records detailing the methods and transaction details...
When the article was published, South Korea was turned upside down.
People were already shocked by the drug use and distribution charges against Jung Tae-seon, an actor known across all age groups.
But the noir film-like story of how he protected major corporations by secretly drugging innocent actors to fabricate incidents captured the attention of even those who had become desensitized to celebrity drug scandals.
"See, I told you! They always break celebrity drug scandals to cover up whenever something happens!"
The man shook his head at the woman's words.
"I honestly thought all those conspiracy theories online were nonsense, but how is this real? But the celebrities did actually do drugs, right?"
"No, that's not it! They say Ahn Jun-ho never did drugs - Jung Tae-seon invited him to a party and secretly spiked his drink. Then the next day, the police burst into his home and arrested him!"
The man wore a skeptical expression at the story that seemed too much like a movie.
"Come on, that's going too far. Isn't the reporter just writing fiction?"
"You haven't properly looked at the articles, have you? They found the transaction details and KakaoTalk screenshots on Jung Tae-seon's phone."
"Really?"
As additional evidence continued to surface, South Korea was completely turned upside down, with people discussing nothing but this story both in online communities and offline gatherings.
Yeon-woo sat in his workspace, monitoring reactions across various online communities on his computer.
└ (IP:59.20): For real, is this true?
└ (IP:182.49): Correct
└ (IP:14.32): Honestly, until yesterday it made sense to criticize them, who would've thought they were framed? Now the ones who criticized them should apologize
└ (IP:220.79): 'Dogeza' is Japanese, don't use it
└ (IP:14.32): Sumimasen
└ (IP:14.6): Everyone involved should get maximum sentences, but weren't you heavily criticizing Ahn Jun-ho yesterday?
└ (IP:1.251): That wasn't me, just the same IP
Other communities were the same.
└ NarinSky[1]: What's that?
└ [Deleted comment]
└ Hyea[2]: I shared the info and deleted it
└ SweetTangerine[2]: Thanks to you, I just searched and found out. It's really sad... I hope things go well for him from now on..
└ NarinSky[1]: My boyfriend is also serving in the military ㅜㅜ I want to write a letter to Ahn Jun-ho
└ Swoosh[3]: That actually sounds like a good idea! It would probably encourage him! Does anyone know his military post office address?
Reading through the posts, Yeon-woo nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Fortunately, it's not being buried and flowing exactly as intended."
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Meanwhile, Jung Tae-seon, who had been transferred to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office, sat there with a dazed expression, wondering how things had come to this.
'Ah, damn... What should I do? Was I just used and discarded? Maybe I should spill everything I know to reduce my sentence.'
From the moment of his arrest, Jung Tae-seon had tried calling numerous contacts saved in his smartphone, but they all seemed to have agreed not to answer his calls.
Even when he called 'Golden,' who used to give him orders, he only got an automated message saying the number didn't exist.
As Jung Tae-seon was wracking his brains in this maze with no exit, he reflexively looked up when the interrogation room door opened.
It wasn't Prosecutor Kwon, who was in charge of his case.
An unfamiliar woman walked in purposefully and leaned in close to Jung Tae-seon.
"W-who...?"
The woman brought her face close to Jung Tae-seon's ear and whispered.
"The 'Golden' you knew is already no longer in this world. If you run your mouth, you'll spend the rest of your life in prison begging to be killed, so just go in quietly. You're good at using your head, right? You understand what I'm saying?"
After saying her piece, the woman stared coldly at Jung Tae-seon's wide-eyed expression before turning and walking out.
Han Hae-woon was watching this entire scene from the dark room next to the interrogation room.
'Just as the team leader said, someone approached Jung Tae-seon. Well, thinking about it, Baek Sol's tentacles must naturally extend into the prosecution as well.'
The woman who had just come and gone was a prosecutor he only knew by face.
She wasn't even from the same Criminal Division 3, and since Han Hae-woon had only recently been transferred to Seoul, he couldn't know all the members.
"Hmm, I'll get to know them gradually. What will happen to our poor prosecutor who grabbed the wrong rope without knowing it was rotten? Caught red-handed."
Then Yeon-woo's voice came through the wireless earphone.
"Oh my, I'm going to die from overwork at this rate."
Han Hae-woon smiled slightly, understanding that Yeon-woo's "past" referred to his previous life.
'Besides, when we catch one, another one pops up. These Baek Sol guys have multiplied everywhere like cockroaches.'
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After returning from leveling the ground to plant corn in the field, Ahn Jun-ho's mother discovered a woman lingering in front of their house.
Upon closer inspection, it was Mrs. Jung, the village chief's wife.
Mrs. Jung, who had been waiting in front of Ahn Jun-ho's house, clapped her hands when she spotted his mother walking over.
"Oh my! Sister! Where have you been until now!"
"You're making my ears ring. What's with all this fuss? I just went to check on the corn field since we need to plant soon."
"You weren't answering your phone. I came running here because of you. Here, take this. Congratulations, really!"
"Congratulations?"
The woman approached, thrust a newspaper into his mother's hands, and quickly ran off as if she had urgent business.
Ahn Jun-ho's mother tilted her head in confusion as she watched Mrs. Jung's retreating figure, then turned to look at the newspaper in her hands.
Then her strength gave out and she collapsed right there.
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It had been 4 months since Ahn Jun-ho enlisted in the military on the day Yeon-woo departed for LA for his talk show.
On his first leave, Ahn Jun-ho got off at Chuncheon Terminal, transferred to a village bus, and rode for quite a while along the country roads.
Hiss─.
"Thank you."
The rear door of the bus opened and Ahn Jun-ho got off.
"Ah, the civilian air tastes different. So sweet. Did someone sprinkle sugar in the air?"
Though it was the same Gangwon-do and the same mountain village, just being closer to home made even the air seem sweeter.
Walking along the winding path toward home, Ahn Jun-ho's eyes caught sight of a red brick house that stood out distinctly among the gray cement walls.
Running happily toward it, Ahn Jun-ho discovered his mother collapsed in front of the gate.
His heart seemed to drop in that moment.
"M-Mom!"
He had planned to give her a crisp salute when they met, but his mind went blank and he sprinted forward with all his might.
At the familiar voice, his mother, who had been sitting there, raised her head.
"J-Jun-ho!"
"Mom! Why are you collapsed here! Are you hurt somewhere?"
Rushing over to check various parts of his mother's body, Ahn Jun-ho noticed the newspaper clutched tightly in her hand.
Since that incident, his mother had removed the TV, stopped reading newspapers, and lived cut off from the world, so he tilted his head in confusion.
At that moment, tears welled up in his mother's eyes as she looked at Ahn Jun-ho.
"Oh my poor baby..."
"Mom..."
Ever since that incident, his mother would occasionally become overwhelmed with emotion and cry while holding onto Ahn Jun-ho.
He couldn't let the mood be ruined like this on the happy day of his first leave.
"I'm home on leave, aren't you going to make me something delicious? Your son is hungry."
Though he tried hard to change the atmosphere by switching topics, the words that came from his mother's mouth weren't what Ahn Jun-ho expected.
His mother beat her chest as she spoke.
"Oh my. The world finally recognizes our son. They finally acknowledge that you're innocent, Jun-ho. Right?"
"...Huh? What are you suddenly talking about?"
Then, with tears flowing, his mother silently held out the newspaper.
Ahn Jun-ho's eyes widened at the headline on the front page.
"Th-this..."