Chapter 131: Caught in the Spotlight

“This feels like… we’re filming a spy movie.”

“Me too.”

Hayoon and I had parked below the acting academy and were waiting inside the car.

“It’s past six now… Why aren’t they coming?”

“Yeah. They should be here by now… Oh! Here they come!”

A police car with its lights off and a black sedan pulled up side by side next to our car. 

Anyone could tell they were here to catch someone, and passersby glanced over or stopped to watch.

“They’re getting out!”

The cars stopped, and four people got out, including Jintaek, whose face I hadn’t seen in a while.

“This is the place?”

“Yes, it’s on the fourth floor.”

“Let’s go.”

Jintaek led the way, and they entered the building where the academy was.

“I’m getting nervous for no reason.”

Hayoon rubbed his sweaty hands on his thighs as he spoke.

“Why are you nervous, hyung~”

“I’ve only seen stuff like this in dramas or movies…”

“It’ll probably be fun.”

About 20 minutes after they went in, the building suddenly became chaotic.

“Hey, you bastard!”

“Sir, you can’t do this.”

“You rotten punk! Nothing else to scam, so you go after people like us?”

Yongmin was handcuffed and being dragged out of the building by the police, and the victims, realizing they’d been scammed, followed him out and hurled curses at him.

“Give me back my money! Give it back!”

With over a dozen people swarming and threatening Yongmin, the few police officers had trouble holding them back.

“You gave it to me yourselves, so why the fuss!”

And instead of apologizing, which he should’ve done, Yongmin acted all indignant.

“And how is this fraud? You all took acting lessons at the academy!”

“You said you’d make us actors! That it was a big agency with connections!”

“Now that I think about it, the acting lessons were weird too.”

“Oh no, oh no…”

Some collapsed in shock, while others reached out every which way to grab Yongmin by the collar.

“Hey, what are you so proud of? Shut your mouth!”

“You booked a plane ticket for tomorrow? You were really planning to bolt.”

Jintaek even knew that Yongmin had prepared to flee.

“Hyunjae, he was planning to run tomorrow!”

“That’s probably why you called me today.”

If I’d shown my face today, these people would’ve thought I was in on it, and I might’ve ended up taking the fall.

“Shit…”

Yongmin bit his lip and fumed at Jintaek, who knew more than he’d expected.

“Shit? Shit? This punk hasn’t snapped out of it yet. Why bother protecting him so carefully? Just rough him up a bit.”

“Yes, sir.”

At his words, the police backed off from Yongmin, and the victims rushed in, shaking him around wildly.

“Ahh! That hurts!”

“Hurts? A punk like you deserves more pain!”

“What do you think that money was? How dare you scam us? Give it back now!”

Seeing him get his hair yanked this way and that was quite a sight.

“But don’t worry. We caught the guy who was gonna ditch you without a thought too.”

“Wh-what? Hold on! What did you just say?”

Even in the chaos, Yongmin heard Jintaek’s words and shouted urgently.

“I said we caught your accomplice, so no need to feel too wronged.”

“Before that!”

“Ah, the guy ditching without loyalty? What, you didn’t actually expect loyalty from a fellow crook, did you?”

“What the hell are you talking about!”

“You bastard… Who do you think you’re yelling at!”

Jintaek smacked Yongmin on the back of the head, and even though his head must’ve hurt, Yongmin lifted it sharply and demanded to know what happened.

“The guy who pulled off this scam with you. He got caught at the airport trying to flee to Vietnam earlier.”

“Earlier?”

“Ha? This punk’s in shock? Hey, looks like he was the discard card. Tell that guy to spill everything.”

“Yes.”

Yongmin seemed stunned by the betrayal, unable to wipe the blank expression off his face even as he was loaded into the police car. 

After Yongmin left, the police gathered the remaining victims to explain, and in the meantime, Jintaek approached the car where I was.

“Wow~ Detective, how did you know?”

There were plenty of parked cars nearby, but he found mine exactly.

“Two big guys like you sitting here? If I couldn’t spot this, I’d have to quit being a detective.”

“Hello. I’m Hyunjae’s manager.”

Hayoon bowed his head in greeting to Jintaek.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Thanks for helping like this.”

“Thanks? Catching criminals is my job. I should thank you for boosting my record.”

When I first contacted him about this, I worried he might feel burdened, but Jintaek was more enthusiastic than me, calling it a fun case after a long time.

“I’ll trust you, Detective.”

“Of course. But why do you attract incidents like this?”

“It’s the life of a star celebrity.”

“Star? Whatever… No one around me knows you.”

“I’m on my way to becoming one.”

I admitted my recognition among guys was low.

“Then you head back too. Get tangled up unnecessarily, and it’ll make the news.”

“It’s gonna make the news tomorrow anyway.”

“No way…”

“I already tipped off a reporter.”

I’d given Woodeuk a heads-up. 

Probably tomorrow morning, there’d be an article about the academy using my image without permission, and in the evening, one about it being a scam.

“You’re really something…”

“We share similar pursuits.”

I’d learned later, but Woodeuk hated Han Jungwoo a lot and often wrote articles sniping at him.

“Yeah, if you click, what can I say…”

Jintaek seemed not too fond of Woodeuk.

“Why? The reporter’s a good guy?”

Hating Han Jungwoo aside, he doesn’t exaggerate articles, and he always fact-checks rumors—seemed like a decent person.

“First off, I basically don’t like people in the reporter profession. They’re scary.”

“Scary?”

A detective who catches criminals being scared of reporters was novel and funny.

“When I first saw him, he charged into the scene with fire in his eyes—ugh… Scary. But yeah, like you said, he seems okay. Just not my type.”

“But he’s in entertainment, and you’re in violent crimes. How’d you meet?”

Woodeuk in entertainment, Jintaek in major crimes. No reason for them to cross paths.

“I saw him during the Jung Jaehyun case.”

And Jintaek mentioned my owner’s name.

***

“Jung Jaehyun?”

“Yeah, that was in my jurisdiction, so I responded. Met him there.”

Jintaek was at my owner’s incident. I thought he might know more.

“Detective! By any chance…”

“Captain~ Let’s go? The guys are waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah, got it. Hey, I gotta go. I’ll handle those punks properly—thanks.”

Without giving me a chance to grab him, Jintaek said goodbye and headed to the sedan, which drove off right away.

“Ah…”

“What’s wrong? Something else to say?”

“Ah, no.”

Jintaek wasn’t disappearing tomorrow, so no need to rush.

Jintaek was there back then…

Human connections are unpredictable.

“Heh, I should buy dinner…”

“No. Thanks to you, Reporter, it wrapped up easily.”

To thank him and ask some questions, I called Woodeuk for a meal.

“Next time something like this happens, call me first.”

“Yes!”

The next day, articles went up as planned, and the reactions were as expected.

[Audacious Scammer Caught Committing Fraud Inside Broadcasting Station]

[Kingdom Ent: “We Will Take Strong Action for Our Artist”]

[Famous Face Alone Led to 2.3 Billion Won Scam… “Celebrity Impersonation Issue Serious”]

-Wasn’t there a comment recently about attending an acquaintance’s academy? That one?

ㄴYeah! It was impersonation, wow

ㄴI thought it was a ridiculous rumor from the start, and I was right

-What a crazy guyㅋㅋㅋ How do you scam inside a broadcasting station, wow~

└Good thing he got caught like this ㅋㅋ

-Heard Kingdom reported it, and it came out during the investigation

Since no one knew about my connection to Yongmin, they just saw me as a celebrity unluckily targeted by a scammer. Even Woodeuk.

“Good thing it resolved well. Bad rumors as a rookie aren’t good.”

“Yeah. Glad I reported it quickly.”

“These days, reporting is the answer. Lots of punks see public figures as easy marks?”

Woodeuk worried about me as a person, not a reporter.

“I met a detective because of that…”

“Ah~ Yeah?”

“He said you two met during the Jung Jaehyun case.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Wow~ Time flies already.”

When I brought up Jung Jaehyun, Woodeuk reminisced with a sigh.

“Years have passed, but the memory when I heard the news is still vivid. It was a huge shock for me too.”

“Can you… tell me about what happened back then?”

“Huh? You a Jung Jaehyun fan?”

Seeing me suddenly ask about back then, Woodeuk questioned.

“Yes. I really like him. A lot.”

“Tsk… I don’t tell this to just anyone, but specially for you.”

He pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded and spoke.

“That day, I was on duty? Then suddenly a call comes in. Saying Jung Jaehyun’s death news just broke—honestly, I didn’t believe it even after hearing?”

I got to hear from Woodeuk about what happened while I was locked on the balcony.

“Then I hurriedly grabbed my stuff and rushed to the home scene, but it was already packed with reporters who’d heard the news.”

Top celebrity in our country dies—people flocking for the scoop.

“Too many, so the police said the crowd was hindering the investigation and briefly announced the situation on site… And the content was shocking. Jung Jaehyun and drugs.”

“No way.”

“I thought the same. That guy and drugs… Ridiculous.”

“Then why didn’t you write an article saying it’s not true?”

If even one person had questioned it, maybe things would’ve changed a bit—that resentful thought prompted my words.

“I told you. When I arrived, reporters were already everywhere.”

“Huh?”

Not understanding, I asked again.

“Turns out those reporters were all called by DreamEnt.”

“What?”

I was so shocked, my voice rose without me realizing.

“So even if I wrote such an article, what would change? Their articles were already flooding everywhere.”

“Wow…”

His words made anger surge genuinely, my hands trembling.

Hah~ I should’ve bitten those bastards to pieces.

Not being able to deal with them right now was so frustrating.

“Whoa whoa~ Calm down.”

Seeing me fuming, Woodeuk laughed as he spoke.

“I’m angry!”

“Getting mad over old stuff like it’s your own business.”

“It’s not old stuff… It is my business.”

Even after 10 years, 100 years, it couldn’t be old.

“You must be a real fan.”

“But no matter how I look, there were so many sloppy parts in the investigation—why didn’t Han Jungwoo get properly investigated?”

If even I, a layperson, felt it, surely the police and investigating reporters did too.

“Everyone was crazy back then. The betrayal of being deceived by a seemingly upright national actor. That blinded everyone.”

“Ha.”

They didn’t look at the case properly just for that reason? 

People who liked my owner, called themselves fans, turning their backs just over the word “drugs”—so disappointing.

“And one more thing. This I found out later…”