Chapter 55 – 054 Prologue
Arriving at the house, the inheritance left by his parents, Hwanin wandered around the living room, thinking about the details of his future plans.
Thoughts were short, actions were quick.
After grabbing a few USB’s from his father’s and then his own, he called one of his few contacts, a journalist friend who worked in the social affairs department of a fairly well-known press.
“Hey, it’s been a while. How are you?”
“No.”
Hwanin’s personal connections appeared in the stereotype of a reporter. Yuhanseong, who can be described as one of the few friends, sat down in front of Hwanin, putting down the cannon camera that was hanging around his neck on the table, and opened his eyes wide.
“What? Did something bad happen?”
Although the friend in front of me is blunt and doesn’t talk much, he doesn’t say anything nonsense and always speaks based on facts.
His knowledge is not shallow, his gaze on society is sharp, and he is a friend who never acts against the law.
If such a friend doesn’t get along, it means that she will stick around even if something big happens, and it’s likely that it has something to do with calling her.
When he thought so, Yuhanseong heard a story that made him doubt his own ears.
“I want to expose the corruption of Saman Corporation.”
Unsurprisingly, the evidence presented by the friend was a lump of corruption so large that even Yuhan-seong, who had been rolling around in the Ministry of Social Affairs for several years, had never seen it.
Contents that can shake even the foundation of Saman, a company that is quite strong, if done properly.
“This…… How the hell did you gather all this material? You are the representative of the personnel department. Can the deputy get his hands on such advanced information?”
“Some people think of computers as little more than titanium alloy safes. Other than that, I have my own means.”
“But. You’ve been extraordinarily good at tact from before…….”
Strangely, only Hwanin often escaped when he was caught and scolded by the teacher while playing around together.
But her friends weren’t annoyed. Rather, I liked it. When I came out after being scolded by the teacher, he would appear as if he had disappeared and buy me gimbap or tteokbokki.
Teachers’ assessment of Hwanin was that he was a good student who spoke little but was kind, listened well and studied well.
Yuhan-seong, recalling his friend from his school days, checked the contents of his memory card with the terminal.
Hwanin, who watched for a while, took out a brown briefcase from his briefcase and put it on the table.
“What you will do is to publish it at the time I specify. The data necessary for preparation and the identity of the reporter are written here.”
“Well…….”
Inside the envelope was a picture of an ordinary salaryman who appeared to be in his mid-to-late 40s and a suitable personal information.
According to Hwanin’s explanation, it seems that he chose one suitable homeless person and made it.
“It wouldn’t be bad material for you either. Depending on how you do it, your name may be prefixed with the modifier journalist.”
“…….”
After removing the memory card from the terminal, Yuhan-seong looked around the inside of the secure hanok-style room and wiped his chest.
Then, after moistening his mouth with tea, he spoke cautiously.
“It is as you say. It’s an absurd amount of volume. If it wasn’t for you who brought this, I’d be mad at you for messing around with a piece of shit and rumors.”
Although she had often written articles that could be called issues, it was ambiguous to say that she was a monopoly.
The articles published as exclusives were, frankly, meager.
But this is different. If this is published as an exclusive article, as Hwanin said, it will surely mark a milestone in his career.
As a reporter who exclusively covered the revelations, when imagining the future after that, Yuhan-seong felt his heart pounding hotly, albeit for a moment.
But that was all.
Yuhanseong shook his head to clear the delusion from his head and opened his mouth with a hard face.
“If this is successfully raised as an issue, it will have a not small impact. At least the heads of the executives, including the president and general manager, will be blown away. Maybe even physically.”
When something like this explodes, it’s not just one or two people sitting on the street. Don’t ask, sword strikes can also happen.
I shifted my gaze from USB to Hwanin in front of me.
This friend was a do-it-yourself guy. As long as he said he would burst into corruption, he would definitely do it no matter what.
So, a warning should be given. Because we are friends.
“If this is exposed, the black hands of large corporations will be frantic to find the informant. If you get caught, your life is in danger.”
“Know.”
“Got it. But you must be unaware of the level of the danger.”
The content of the memory card was so deep and so vast that I wondered how it was put together.
As vast as it was, it was forged into a deadly weapon that could affect not only Saman C&T, but also the companies and companies transacting with Saman C&T, as well as the parent group.
Companies do a lot of corporate good deeds ‘more than necessary’.
Corporations “Excessively” Punish employees who commit corruption.
It is known as an open secret that the reason for such behavior is to reduce the ripple effect by mentioning the social contributions that have been made so far along with a public apology when they are discovered while committing corruption.
Saman Mulsan followed that example.
On the surface of the water, he pretended to be nice, but underneath the water, he was committing all kinds of corruption called dirty corruption.
Based on power abuse, bribery and undue pressure through private contracts, delivery, policy establishment and approval, improper solicitation, interference with interests, neglect of duties by department heads and executives, corruption indigenous to the region, and subcontracting of companies in arranging illegal solicitation. Personnel corruption, accounting fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion, subcontract corruption, information magazine violence, etc.
Corruption that a company can do is all evidence that the president, two managers, and the executive director and deputy managers worked together to commit corruption.
It is inevitable that companies that do business closely with these corrupt companies will also be viewed with suspicion.
The business world is a place where blood ties, regional ties, and school ties are connected without knowing or not.
If you are ranked 149th in the business world ranking, it means that you are a person from the upper class, if not the highest class, and you are in a relationship with the upper class to some extent and exchange small boxes that can fit hundreds of millions of won.
It is certain that people involved in corporate crimes will come out one after another, just like pumpkins rolling along the vines.
Beyond such gold spoons, will diamond and titanium alloy spoons leave wild boars and moles trying to pollute their fields?
“You don’t know either. They are Celestial Dragons. Never let things go against you. They will try to bury you in every way.”
If someone hears this story, he leans down on the table and whispers to Hwanin as if he is in trouble.
“It’s not just them. Don’t think that the shareholders who lost their fortunes because the stock price crashed will not stand still. No doubt they will use any means to uncover the identity of the accuser and retaliate.”
“…….”
“Don’t even think that the speculum will be on your side. The Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act are bullshit. It is the true face of our society that the police or prosecutors calmly leak information about the whistleblower.”
Hwanin, who moistened his lips with cold water while silently listening to Yuhanseong’s heartfelt advice, quietly opened his mouth.
“Know. That’s why I’m trying to explode ‘everything’.”
“…… Me, everything?”
“Okay.”
Hwanin’s reply left Yuhanseong at a loss for words. Then, he glanced at the memory card and the USB next to it, then swallowed his saliva unconsciously.
I remembered now.
Memories of hearing the news that a group of bullies who tried to make Hwanin, who had few friends because he was quiet and used him as a shuttle, dropped out of high school one day after becoming paraplegic and vegetative.
The chills were intense, just like that time.
Smart smart
There is a knock at the door, and a waitress comes in and begins to serve the pre-ordered food to the table.
The conversation naturally cut off, and the waiter said, “Enjoy your meal~.” After saying goodbye and closing the door, we continued.
“That…… Do I have to do this?”
“The other side is going to bury me first. Even an earthworm wriggles when stepped on, but people are appalled.”
“You’re the only one who wants to blow off the other person’s neck for being stepped on.”
Yuhanseong let out a deep sigh and said with his eyes glowing darkly.
“Do you have any plans?”
“I’m thinking of solving it by another route. In many places, in various places, in turn with terms.”
Hwanin’s hand gestures, which point at the memory card and three USB sticks in turn, follow Yuhan-seong’s eyes.
“If it becomes a huge social issue, there will be no time to pay attention to anything else for a while.”
“In the meantime, are you hiding yourself?”
Seeing Hwanin nod slightly, Yuhanseong let out a deep sigh, put on a plastic glove in front of him, and stretched out his hand for the tasty seasoned crab sauce.
“There is no way that you, who gathered this kind of data, act carelessly……. Okay. What can I explode?”
“All you have to do is to properly unpack the contents of the USB to media reporters you can trust. The more you spread, the better. The contents of the memory card are for your use only. If people’s attention is on you, provide a homeless person’s profile.”
“So I’m acting as a breakwater of sorts?”
“You won’t be in any danger.”
Even if you track it down, the informant is already dead.
Hwanin stared at the finite nature with a frown on his face in complicated thoughts.
I wouldn’t have revealed myself to my friends if I hadn’t needed a statement from the media with public confidence.
However, without the help of finitude, this data cannot detonate spectacularly.
But the fortunate thing is that Yuhan-seong is known among his friends as a loyal guy.
Being a reporter for the Ministry of Social Affairs is also a guy who devoted himself to purifying the dirty upper class with his pen, so Hwanin also weighed the scales and calculated his trust.
“Since you are a reporter of justice, of course you will abide by the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act, right?”
Hwanin also raised a spoon and said it in a joking tone.
Seeing that, Hwan-in also smiled and jokingly talked about his damn experiences at the company, and Yu-seong also talked about his school days as if he had forgotten all the conversations he had just had because of Hwan-in’s troublesome story. Went.
After meeting Yuhan-seong, Hwan-in provided a small source and spread the data to reporters who had made a relationship through the Internet.
A journalist with an extraordinary sense of justice.
A reporter who publishes anything for money.
It was distributed to famous YouTubers who deal with the business side of shit, as well as Twitch, Africa, and YouTube streamers, and evenly distributed feed and data to right-wing and left-wing BJs who are putting all their energy into destroying the ruling party by connecting business issues with government policy.
Finiteness, which will act as a detonator, was concluded to be reliable through several tests, so I showed my face and handed over the data, but the rest is different.
In order not to reveal the identity, and even if it is known, it takes time to bypass IPs in various countries as stepping stones, connect to virtual mail, and send mail in turn.
Start two days later.
Even if people who receive the data have doubts about the data and are reluctant to disclose it, if Yuhanseong starts to set fire first, they will start to set fire to it, saying that they cannot lose.
Hwan-in, who installed dynamite on the body of a giant called Saman Mulsan, slowly began to organize his personal affairs to the extent that people around him did not notice.
It was tidied up, but nothing grandiose. It’s to the extent that anyone can see that they’re just going on a trip in moderation.
Since his parents’ heritage and insurance money were not small, and he was not a wasteful or extravagant personality, he was a hwanin who saved all his salary while working.
Tangible assets have taken measures to ensure that they remain intact even if they are absent for more than a decade.
If you save enough money, you can play for decades, so you don’t have to do anything financially because you have saved money in a pan-national bank that is used all over the world.
“…….”
Hwanin, who was packing a small suitcase, looked at the small picture frame on the table.
A young couple smiling brightly. And her childhood self, standing expressionless in the middle.
Hwanin, who was staring at the shadows of his parents, who seemed to be a happy couple, disassembled the frame and took the picture separately.
After that, Hwanin, who slowly packed the rest of his luggage for the trip, looked around his room…… He opened the bedside drawer and held a silver multi-tool with a little finger stain in his hand.
A Swiss-made platinum-gold alloy multi-tool worth 7.6 million won that my father, who is interested in survival camping and bushcraft, bought with pocket money for a full year.
Hwanin changed his mind after putting his father’s belongings in his travel bag, put them in his pocket and looked around his house.
It is a house where nothing has changed since my parents passed away.
Minor consumables were changed, but other than that, not a single floor rug had been changed, so the house was no different from before his parents passed away, but Hwanin, who saw it, was not impressed at all.
His heart was as empty as if there was a hole in it.
“…….”
If he was ordinary, would he have felt something?
Hwanin, who was fiddling with the multi-tool in his pocket, confirmed that the time had come, put on his coat, and left the house.
Kang Ha-yeon glared at Hwan-in, who called her to a nearby coffee shop.
It was Kang Ha-yeon who spent the whole day thinking about how to bury Hwan-in in a very painful and cruel way in society because of her resentment.
In the meantime, a guy like the enemy made a completely unexpected call, so it couldn’t be good to plant.
Leaning back on his back, Kang Ha-yeon, arms crossed and legs crossed, raises his chin and casually looks down at Hwanin.
Other guests glanced at her because she was so natural and pretty, like her top model.
Kang Ha-yeon calmly opened her mouth, feeling the envy in people’s eyes.
“If you intend to ask for forgiveness, it is too late. I am the one who has never been beaten by my father. You don’t dare to slap me on the cheek and hope nothing happens, right?”
“Mr. Kang Ha-yeon. I have nothing to lose.”
Kang Ha-yeon’s painted eyebrows furrowed at Hwanin’s words without context.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve probably heard of a psychopath.”
“Is that you? Are you threatening me now?”
Whether or not Kang Ha-yeon was astounded, Hwan-in just said what he had to say.
“My parents have repeatedly told me that if you hurt others, you will hurt yourself through legal problems. That is why I have lived my life trying not to harm others as much as possible.”
Kang Ha-yeon wanted to stop talking because she felt like the man in front of her had stopped her, but her voice didn’t come out even when she opened her mouth, perhaps because of Hwan-in’s tone of voice, which didn’t have much difference in accent.
“By the way…… Just because I don’t harm it doesn’t mean that others won’t harm me.”
“…….”
“One day, a classmate bullied me for no reason. That day I asked his father. I was still, but what if someone else bothers me first?”
As he listened to the blunt and steady accent of the words, anxiety began to rise in Kang Ha-yeon’s heart.
“My father said. Watch what your opponent is doing. And remember. Retaliate one last time.”
“Radish…… What…….”
“For saying that, my father gave his mother a slap on the back. He says he teaches the child very good things.”
With a click in Hwanin’s hand as he said that, the cap of the iced americano bottle was detached.
Kang Ha-yeon’s heart skipped a beat with anxiety. It was because the lid of the bottle felt like it was turning her own throat.
This sensation, she once felt when she went to the zoo with her parents as a child.
“My parents passed away in a car accident seven years ago, so I can’t ask them again, but I think they meant to give back as much as they received.”
The feeling you get when you hear a tiger roar in front of a tiger cage and get scared.
The feeling of a prey standing in front of a predator.
“If you want to bury me in society, I will accept it. Fortunately, I have a legacy left by my parents, so I can live comfortably for the rest of my life without any problems.”
While saying that, Kang Ha-yeon felt her fingertips and toes become cold at Hwan-in’s calm appearance while drinking iced Americano.
Her heart pounded, the nape of her neck grew cold, and the feeling of weakness in her lower back came back.
I want to say something, but my lips don’t come off as if they were glued together.
Hwanin’s unspeakable voice pierced painfully into her ears.
“Mr. Kang Ha-yeon. If you touch her mad dog, it will bite her hand. Then, in case she touches the madman…… What will happen?”
Hwanin stared into Kang Hayeon’s eyes and said.
“I will retaliate as much as I have received from you. Since you said you would bury me in society, I think burying you in the ground would be a reasonable equivalent exchange.”
“…….”
“If you don’t get caught, it won’t be a big deal, and if you get caught…… After living in prison for a few years, I think I can live comfortably. Fortunately, I have enough money.”
The man in front of you is real.
She has seen countless men, and with her eyes, inherited from her father, she was a Kang Ha-yeon who could tell in the realm of intuition whether her partner was telling her heart, whether she was acting, or lying.
She was screaming as if her instincts were screaming. She said that if she touched the man in front of her, she would be destroyed.
It was a very precise instinct.
The only problem is that it was performed one beat late.
