Chapter 17: Are You Confident?

“Did you find out?”

“Yes, CEO.”

“Which bastard is it?”

At that point, Team Leader Bae Young-jun hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t quite sure if he should say it.

“What? Why the reaction?”

CEO Bang Gi-cheol immediately glared with narrowed eyes.

“For starters, it’s a reporter we’ve never met.”

“Oh? They prepared a new face and came at us with full intent to stir things up, huh? So, where did the article originate?”

“NBS. Reporter Cha Do-gyeong was the first to report it.”

That’s how articles work. Once one breaks, identical content grows like cancer cells. Often, those reporter types just change the name and copy-paste the whole thing. They won’t match the original reporter’s impact, but if it’s a hot issue, it guarantees a certain amount of views.

Except.

“No, wait. NBS? Isn’t that a major news outlet?”

“That’s correct.”

“It’s not even Dispatch, so why the hell is NBS…?”

CEO Bang Gi-cheol stared blankly, his mouth agape. He naturally assumed it was some run-of-the-mill entertainment reporter close to Shin Hye-seo, or maybe a reporter from a rival company’s line with a bit of weight.

However.

“NBS covering the entertainment world? Fuck. That’s way too petty for them.”

“The thing is… he’s a reporter on the prosecution beat.”

He froze.

For a moment, CEO Bang Gi-cheol thought his ears were failing him.

“…What did you just say? The prosecution?”

“Yes.”

Bang Gi-cheol’s expression turned grave. Not all reporters are the same. Even if they write the same article, the content varies vastly between the political beat and the entertainment beat. Naturally, some reporters were stationed at the police or the prosecution.

Generally, the youngest reporters at a news agency are assigned to the police. Since they have no connections, they eat and sleep at the scene, doing the legwork where accidents and incidents are most frequent. But the prosecution…

“Isn’t that where the veteran reporters go? Especially if it’s a major media outlet…”

“Yes. They likely have many connections with high-ranking officials, including politicians and conglomerates.”

“This is so out of left field, seriously.”

Was Shin Hye-seo’s backing really that strong?

‘No. That’s not it.’

CEO Bang Gi-cheol shook his head. They had been involved for over ten years. If she had that kind of backing, there was no way he wouldn’t have known.

“Then who is it!”

Continuing his thoughts, CEO Bang Gi-cheol ruffled his hair messily.

“I mean, which son of a bitch is aiming for my back!”

The more he dug, the more confusing it felt.

***

Prosecutors and reporters are closer than one might think. Can’t you tell just by looking at a single ‘leak’? Especially since they are practically the only ones in Korea with the power to bury a specific target using nothing but a ‘pen.’

‘There’s no reason for them not to be close.’

Pressuring suspects, inflating public achievements, and sometimes even political maneuvering. To a prosecutor, a reporter was the best partner. Naturally, for a reporter, the prosecutor’s words themselves became their performance record, so it couldn’t be better.

‘Thanks to this, I’m even contacting them for the first time in a while.’

Of course, I had at least one reporter I saw eye-to-eye with. After all, I had spent ten years as a prosecutor.

— Thank you truly for providing such a good scoop, Prosecutor.

“Don’t mention it.”

Where would an old habit go? This is exactly how ‘leaking’ should be utilized. Even if the investigative agency found out the source of the leak…

‘What could you possibly do?’

They don’t punish leaks anyway, do they? No, they can’t.

“Unca!!! Come here!!”

Just then, Seol-i shouted toward me.

“I’ll contact you again next time.”

— Ah, yes! I’ll set up a dinner for us soon.

“Take care.”

After hanging up, my mother also beckoned to me.

“Seo-jun. Let’s eat!”

“Yes!”

The dirty stories of the underworld end here. From now on, it was a cozy mealtime and the timing for our family’s grand operation to be executed.

Namely, feeding Seol-i her vegetables!

“You go first, dear.”

Lady first. My father readily yielded the first turn to my mother.

“Is the first turn really the best?”

Tiling her head, my mother soon smiled brightly.

“Seol-i.”

“Gramma!”

“Do you want to go to the amusement park with Grandma tomorrow?”

Oh. My mother is coming out strong right from the start.

“Merry…? (Merry-go-round?)”

“That’s right. Let’s ride the merry-go-round with Grandma.”

“LOVE IT!!!!!”

“Then, you have to eat all your vegetables here, right? Only children who eat everything can go to the amusement park.”

A piece of cabbage was immediately pushed in front of Seol-i. My cute niece froze like a stone statue, her arms still raised in the air.

“…No.”

“Hm?”

“No merry.”

“Seol-i…”

“NO VEGGIES!!!!!!!!!!”

Right. Next player.

“You prepared quite a cunning move, as expected of my wife.”

“…And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Ahem. Seol-i.”

Trying to ignore my mother’s words, my father smiled.

“Rice grain play with Grandpa…”

“NO GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Clang.

My father dropped his spoon right then and there. Looking at his expression, he seemed quite shocked.

‘This is why they say life is all about timing, Father.’

I let out a pitying sigh. In this case, the first turn really would have been better.

“Hmmmmm…”

Just then, the clever Min Ha-ru quietly scanned the room. As if letting rice steam properly. Like a predator stalking its prey, her eyes even sparkled silently.

Nom nom nom nom!

A moment later, Seol-i’s meal began. She used her fork to deftly pick up and eat her food. Specifically, she only picked out the octopus-shaped sausages.

“Now it’s just the two of us left, isn’t it?”

Glancing toward me, Min Ha-ru gave a wicked smile.

“What’s with that smile?”

“Hey!”

“…? Yes?”

“Are you confident!”

“…”

I blankly gaped at Min Ha-ru’s reaction.

“How was that? My dialect.”

“That was just informal speech.”

“Oops.”

“Anyway, go ahead and start. I’ll be watching.”

“Fufufu. Look forward to it.”

Soon after, Min Ha-ru brought out something she had prepared from the room. At first glance, it looked quite impressive. It was a pink gift box wrapped very beautifully.

“Trends are important for children’s gifts too. After all, us celebrities are the ones who lead those trends!”

As if giving a speech, Min Ha-ru focused everyone’s attention.

“Giff?”

With her eyes wide open, Seol-i was already completely captivated by the pink box.

“Seol-i. If you eat this one piece of cabbage with me!”

Slide.

Right on cue, Min Ha-ru untied the giant ribbon.

“Tada! I’ll give you all of this as a gift!”

The contents were even more colorful than the wrapping. And they were quite familiar to me as well.

‘Aren’t those the Teeniepings or whatever?’

I felt like I had seen them on the internet at some point.

“How about it? If you eat just one, these are all yours, Seol-i!”

Min Ha-ru shouted confidently. I heard later that every single one of them was a ‘Ping’ that was hard to find. Apparently, she went through a lot of trouble to get them, even paying a premium on a secondhand app. Even in their original packaging.

‘Oh boy, what now.’

However, I already knew. Seol-i didn’t have much interest in Teeniepings.

Snap!

Sure enough, Seol-i quickly lost interest and turned her head away.

“S-Seol-i?”

A flustered Min Ha-ru could only blink. The third player, disqualified.

“By the way, I’ve been curious since earlier, what on earth is that in the yard?”

“Fufufu.”

I let out a small laugh. Is it finally my turn?

“Drumroll, please.”

I deliberately made a drumming sound as I stepped down into the yard.

“My goddess of victory that you’ve all been curious about. I will reveal it right now.”

Flap!

At my gesture, the large cloth disappeared.

“Oh my goodness!”

“What is that? What kind of fuss did you make with ice?”

“A sculpture…? My god, the detail…!”

My mother, father, and Min Ha-ru reacted in turn. But the most important person was only one.

“!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Our Seol-i was already jumping up and down, going wild.

“Unca!”

Then, she immediately came running toward me with a ‘vroom!’.

“Whoops!”

Since the wooden veranda was quite high, I caught Seol-i safely as she lunged at me.

“Otter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Yeah. It’s the otter Seol-i likes.”

“Wanna touch!”

“You can’t. It’ll be ‘Ah, cold!'”

“Hinnnnng.”

Seol-i immediately puts on a crying face. Her expression looked like she was about to shed big, teardrop-sized tears at any moment.

“Instead!”

I quickly continued.

“If you eat the cabbage with Uncle, I’ll let you meet a real otter.”

“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Wh-at!?”

Well, Seol-i aside. Miss Min Ha-ru, shouldn’t you not be the one getting excited?

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Promise!”

“Yeah. Promise.”

I locked my pinky with Seol-i’s and even stamped it firmly. By that point.

“…”

With a deadly serious expression, Seol-i picked up a piece of cabbage.

“Hinnnnng…”

She stared at it for a long time with her two eyes. She let out a deep sigh like an old grandmother who had lived through everything. Later, with a half-resigned expression, she spent some time just touching it with her tongue.

‘…Do you really hate cabbage that much, Seol-i?’

At that moment.

“Nom!”

Seol-i took a bite of the cabbage with her rabbit-like front teeth.

Chew.

“…?”

In an instant, a large question mark appeared over Seol-i’s head.

Chew, chew, chew.

“…Tasty!”

Seol-i, who finished a piece of boiled cabbage in an instant, quickened her hands. The cabbage piled on the plate began to disappear rapidly at that speed.

— Yay!
— Tee-hee-hee!
— We won!

Beings visible only to my eyes. The ones who had already gathered around with curious expressions were now in a complete festival mood.

‘Thank you, snowflakes.’

Now they were even dancing in unison. They spun around each other in the yard. As if having a campfire around the otter ice sculpture.

“Ugh. This is frustrating…”

“Heh.”

Hearing Min Ha-ru’s voice from right beside me, I unknowingly puffed out my chest. Whether it’s a fierce courtroom battle or a trivial bet like this.

‘The fruit of victory is always sweet.’

***

Vrrr, vrrr!

The phone vibration rang out harshly. After checking the caller, Kim Jin-su’s face darkened.

“C-CEO. It’s CEO Bang again.”

CEO Bang Gi-cheol was being exceptionally persistent today. Usually, the average was about three times a day. Today, there were already thirty-four missed calls.

“It seems like something happened… Should I try answering it?”

“Then just give it to me. I’ll take it.”

“What? But…”

“He’s going to want to talk to me anyway.”

Just as Shin Hye-seo was about to take the phone.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll take that call.”

“!”

I stepped into the room.

“It’s CEO Bang Gi-cheol, right?”

“P-Prosecutor.”

“Give it here.”

I snatched the phone from Manager Kim Jin-su as if taking it by force. Then,

“Hello, CEO Bang. Did you receive the warning I sent you?”

— !

Without dragging it out, I went in strong from the beginning. The reaction coming back was quite fresh.

— Who are you?

“Well, I wonder who I am?”

— You son of a bitch. Do you know who I am to be pulling this crap?

Cursing right off the bat upon our first meeting. I can tell exactly what kind of person he is without even seeing him.

“Instead of doing this over the phone, why don’t we meet?”

— What? …Ha! Ahahaha!

Bang Gi-cheol did nothing but laugh for a long time. As if I were pathetic.

— Are you confident?

A faint smile appeared on my lips. It was because someone naturally came to mind. Even though it’s the same phrase, I didn’t realize the nuance of asking ‘Are you confident?’ could be this different.

“One thing is for sure, isn’t it?”

— What?

“The fact that once you face me, you won’t be able to throw around those kinds of insults so easily.”

— !