After gulping the next drink, Choi So-Hye finally started to respond to my offer. As she revealed all the information she had gathered about Ju Kang-Yong, the bitterness from the soju in my mouth began to taste sweeter.
She already had enough evidence to put Ju Kang-Yong behind bars.
***
My head was throbbing—or maybe my body was swaying.
'Why is someone shaking me?'
When I forced myself to open my eyes, I could see Choi So-Hye shaking me at a close distance.
"Star Jung. You made a promise. Okay ?"
"..."
"Star Jung. Hey. Why aren't you saying anything? Are you dead?"
"..."
"Unnie, stop it. He's a light-weight drinker."
"Hey, Ji-Yung. You are taking the guy's side? I'm really disappointed. We promised to grow old together as elegant single ladies, don't you remember?"
"Ah! What kind of nonsense are you spouting again? And whose marriage plan are you trying to ruin? When did I ever say I'd grow old and single with you!? You are always lying whenever you open your mouth!"
"He he he. Kang Ji-Yung, of all people, taking a guy's side. Ji-Yung and Yoon-Ho sitting on a tree. K, I…"
Kang Ji-Yung continued her sharp grumbling. "Ugh, I hate it when you get drunk! Unnie, just stop it already!"
"Shhh, be quiet. Now give me the information fee."
"Hey, buying you meat and drinks is the information fee! Ugh, I feel so dizzy."
"Not that!"
"Ugh, then what?"
"Let me join in too!"
I had barely managed to regain my senses but chose to feign unconsciousness to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Choi So-Hye set a few conditions. The first was to write an article exposing Ju Kang-Yong's criminal facts under her own name. The second was to ask Hoop Entertainment to take care of the lawsuit costs for the victims. She also set a condition that if an appeal were to be made against her, Hoop Entertainment had to assign a lawyer to her.
"Our company might not protect me. So you need to take responsibility."
Kang Ji-Yung nodded. "Got it. Whether it's money or lawyers, our company will cover it. All you need to do is just hand over that data, unnie."
"Okay ."
Finally, I possessed the card to utterly destroy Ju Kang-Yong. Left unchecked, he would have caused harm not only to Yoo-Jin but to many others as well.
Fortunately, the deal was made and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, I passed out at the same time the deal was made.
***
"What the fuck is this? Are these people rotten with money? Articles defending Jung Yoo-Jin are lining up like crazy."
Ju Kang-Yong faced an unbelievable situation.
He had replaced Yoo-Jin's name with 'J' to avoid a lawsuit but had secretly configured the system such that his articles would show up when people searched for Jung Yoo-Jin as the keyword. However, the number of articles that appeared when one searched Jung Yoo-Jin's name was overwhelming, as if she were a top star.
Because of this, his own articles didn't even show up in the first 5 pages of search results.
"Are they really trying to mess with me or what?"
Ju Kang-Yong's forehead bulged with thick veins.
"Fine then. Let's see who wins this battle."
Ju Kang-Yong got up abruptly and rushed to the editor-in-chief's office. Editor-in-chief Go Dong-Min, secluded in a separate office, was admiring the scantily clad leader of the sexy idol group, Kim Eun-Ji, who was wearing a rag-like swimsuit.
"Wow! Isn't this art? This is real art."
He couldn't take his eyes off the monitor as he clicked his fingers.
"If her popularity drops, she might strip even more. Hahaha."
Go Dong-Min chuckled while touching his lips.
However, Ju Kang-Yong, who had silently approached him from behind, let out a deep sigh.
"Sir, that's the limit for her. She won't strip any more than that."
"Ahhh!"
Go Dong-Min was startled and quickly clicked on another tab, but it was filled with even more naked pictures.
"Uh-oh!"
In a panic, Go Dong-Min hurriedly closed all the internet windows and glared at Ju Kang-Yong with a frown.
"Damn it! You bastard, you scared me! Didn't I tell you not to silently approach me like a thief?! You asshole!"
"Mr. Go, I knocked and called your name when entering."
"D-did you? Wait. But what's this about her not stripping anymore?"
"Kim Eun-Ji got a proper sponsor two weeks ago."
"What? Who?"
"The vice president of Jaewoon Group."
Go Dong-Min's eyes sparkled. "Then are you going to write an article about that?"
Indeed, the sexy idol group 'Nine Ladies' and their leader Kim Eun-Ji's sponsor could be a good story to write about.
"No, not about that. I came to ask for more funds for the project I'm currently working on."
For a moment, Go Dong-Min's face twisted. "You jerk, don't you know the company's situation? You know we've got no money."
"You always say there's no money regardless of whether there is or not. If you keep this up, I'll really go independent. I mean it."
Ju Kang-Yong brought in millions annually for the company by scamming other celebrities and agencies. Remembering this, Go Dong-Min quickly changed his tone.
"Ah, look at this guy's temper. Why does our conversation always lead to this, huh? You know me saying 'no money' is just a habit. You know that if you ask for it, I would definitely give it to you. So, how much do you need?"
In the face of a single threat, Go Dong-Min completely changed his attitude.
"Mr. Go. You know I'm working on Jung Yoo-Jin's case right now, don't you?"
"Of course I do. What's up? Is it not going well? But it's your work after all, so how can it not go well?"
Ju Kang-Yong frowned and showed Go Dong-Min the current situation on the internet using Go Dong-Min's desktop.
"The opponent is spamming their articles, so mine aren't getting high exposure no matter what I do. To solve this, we need to invest more money in my articles. We need a significant amount."
"A significant amount... 100 million? Hey! No way! With that money..."
As Go Dong-Min began to shout in a loud voice, Ju Kang-Yong shook his head. "Ah, my ears are going to burst. Who said a 100 million? 10 million is enough. If it increases, up to thirty million. That should do."
"Oh, is that so? Hey. Why didn't you make it clear like that before?"
"So, you'll transfer it to my account by tomorrow morning?"
Go Dong-Min nodded. "Alright. But don't divert it elsewhere. I'll check later, alright?"
"Okay ."
After his conversation with Go Dong-Min, Ju Kang-Yong walked to the break room as he muttered to himself, "Damn it. Jung Yoo-Jin. I was going to stop at 100 million, but that won't work. You'll have to cough up about 300 million."
Ju Kang-Yong's purpose for writing tabloid articles was simple—each time he published an article, he would either receive money from advertisers due to high views or from celebrities and their agencies in exchange for taking the article down.
However, since the plan wasn't going as intended and he ended up having spent money instead, Ju Kang-Yong planned to extort several times more than the original amount he intended to collect.