YM778.TV Chapter 325: Counterattack (3)
Chapter 325: Counterattack (3)
As I exited the elevator at the 13th floor, I could hear Jo Jae-Kyung shouting down the hallway. "Let go! Are you gonna let go or not? Hey! Attorney Kim! Sue this bastard!"
"Mr. Jo, please calm down..."
"Calm down? What do you mean, calm down?"
Jo Jae-Kyung\'s lawyer and bodyguards were entangled with hotel staff, security, and lawyers sent by Shin Jong-Gi.
Amid it all, Jo Jae-Kyung was shoving aside his lawyer and berating Park Sun-Jae. "Hey! Park Sun-Jae! I told you I\'d pay you! And you still spread that in the news?"
"How many times have you just said you\'d pay without actually doing it? Plus, you broke your promise to produce the movie!" Park Sun-Jae retorted
"That\'s because your script wasn\'t polished enough!"
"I\'ve had enough. I\'ve already decided to go with LT. I don\'t want to be involved with you anymore."
Jo Jae-Kyung\'s face twisted in anger. "Hey, Park Sun-Jae. Do you really think you can keep working in this industry after being disrespectful to me?"
Park Sun-Jae flinched. It was true that LT Entertainment might be protecting him for now, but he knew that it wouldn\'t last forever.
The moment Park Sun-Jae hesitated and was left speechless, I stepped in. "Mr. Jo, are you threatening him right now?"
Park Sun-Jae and Ahn Yoo-Joo\'s expressions brightened significantly when they saw me.
At the same time, Jo Jae-Kyung shouted at me. "Hey! You\'re the one behind all this, right? From the casino to stirring up Park Sun-Jae!"
\'Does he take me for a fool?\' I thought.
I calmly shook my head and feigned innocence. "You\'re accusing the wrong person without any evidence."
At that moment, Jo Jae-Kyung yelled and suddenly charged at me. "Evidence or not, you\'re dead today!"
Various thoughts flashed through my mind. \'Should I just knock him out? No, there are too many witnesses for that. Let him hit me? Not a bad choice.\'
There may not be any security cameras around, but there were plenty of witnesses. If I went down from his punch, it could easily push Jo Jae-Kyung further into a corner.
The distance between Jo Jae-Kyung and me was about five meters.
Just then, I caught a glimpse of his lawyer\'s face over his shoulder showing a resigned expression as if everything was already over.
Then a thought quickly crossed my mind. \'Wait, getting hit in the face isn\'t really ideal, is it?\'
I subtly backstepped to gauge the distance.
Jo Jae-Kyung\'s fist aimed at my face missed and grazed my chest. As his half-hearted punch made contact with my chest, I threw myself backward with all my might.
"Aaaargh!"
With a scream as if I\'d been stabbed by a knife, I flailed my arms as I flew through the air. Simultaneously, I braced myself for a backward fall and prepared to land properly.
Thud.
The fall made quite a loud noise, thanks to my full effort in landing the right way.
Lying on the ground, I groaned in pain and furrowed my brow. "Ugh..."
I wondered if I was overdoing it, but upon seeing Jo Jae-Kyung\'s stunned expression, I knew it was right.
Jo Jae-Kyung stammered with his fist still extended toward my direction. "N-no, it\'s not what it looks like... I didn\'t hit him. I just grazed him!"
The lawyers sent by Shin Jong-Gi stepped forward. "Director Jo! Why are you attacking someone innocent? What are you, a thug? Huh?"
"Are you okay, Mr. Jung?"
Park Sun-Jae and several hotel staff rushed over to me.
"Are you alright, Mr. Yoon-Ho?"
As people gathered around, Jo Jae-Kyung shouted frantically. "Attorney Kim! No, that\'s not true! That bastard is just acting right now!"
However, Jo Jae-Kyung\'s lawyer squeezed his eyes shut. There were too many who had witnessed the incident.
Judging by the shocked expressions around me, it seemed my acting was quite convincing.
At that moment, the oldest-looking lawyer on Jo Jae-Kyung\'s team instructed the security guards. "Leave this to me and quickly get Mr. Jo downstairs!"
"Yes, sir!"
As the guards lifted and escorted Jo Jae-Kyung away, he shouted, "Hey, you idiots! Are you blind? That guy is just pretending right now!"
Although Jo Jae-Kyung was telling the truth, no one believed him.
After Jo Jae-Kyung was dragged to the elevator, one of his lawyers approached me. "Excuse me... You\'re Mr. Jung, right? We\'re willing to offer a generous settlement if you agree not to press charges. If you refrain from suing, we\'ll ensure that you receive substantial compensation."
The business card he handed me read Park Sang-Choon, Legal Team Lead of CK Entertainment.
If I had agreed to the settlement, I would have likely received a decent sum of money.
Nonetheless, I refused as I couldn\'t pass up this golden opportunity to damage Jo Jae-Kyung\'s reputation.
"I have no intention of settling," I said.
Ignoring the pleading lawyer, I painfully lifted my phone while still lying on the floor. "Mr. Jang."
-Hey, what\'s up? Did you see the article? It came out great, huh?
"I\'ve been assaulted."
-What?
"I\'m at the J Boutique Hotel in Samseong-dong right now. I was assaulted by Mr. Jo Jae-Kyung. I think there might be some misunderstanding... but I have no idea why I got hit."
-Really? Are you serious?
His voice sounded pleased though I hoped it was just my misunderstanding.
"You\'re not laughing, are you?"
-Ahem, no, of course not. Send me a photo! I\'ll write up the article right away.
"Understood."
Jo Jae-Kyung\'s lawyer looked completely defeated, but I wasn\'t planning to stop here.
\'If you start something, you must see it through to the end,\' I remarked inwardly.
After finishing the call with Jang Moon-Ki, I made another call. "Mr. Seo, do you have a moment to talk?"
-I was just about to call you after seeing the casino-related article. This is great timing. The case will be assigned to a special team. Thanks to you, things are progressing smoothly.
As I spoke with Seo Jae-Ill, Jo Jae-Kyung\'s lawyer seemed to have lost all strength in his legs and sank to the ground.
"That\'s not the main issue here. I was just assaulted by Mr. Jo Jae-Kyung at the hotel."
-You\'re going to press charges, right?
I received a thorough guide on how to file a complaint from Seo Jae-Ill, then got up with some help.
First, I needed to go to the hospital to get a medical certificate.
Leaving Jo Jae-Kyung\'s stunned lawyer behind, I headed for the elevator.
\'Adios, Jo Jae-Kyung.\'
***
As soon as I filed the complaint at the prosecutor\'s office, the articles started popping up.
[Director Jo Jae-Kyung Involved in Assault Incident with Talent Agent J]
[Director Jo Jae-Kyung Causes Chaos at Hotel!]
[CK Entertainment Acknowledges Responsibility Despite Jo Jae-Kyung\'s Personal Misconduct; Indefinite Postponement of The Thousand-Year Fox Release!]
[Prosecutors Begin Investigation into Director Jo Jae-Kyung\'s Illegal Gambling at LCM Casino!]
Kwak Moo-Hyuk, who accompanied me, glanced at the articles and chuckled. "Haha. You really finished him off."
"You\'ll handle the aftermath, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, don\'t worry. Just focus on Tae-Poong. Anyway, The Thousand-Year Fox
won\'t be hitting the theaters."CK Entertainment canceled the release of The Thousand-Year Fox which was scheduled for next week. The decision was due to the flood of negative comments and the boycott movement that had erupted.
At that moment, Kwak Moo-Hyuk spoke quietly. "I heard from Mr. Kang. You\'re planning to cut out the rotten parts within the company, huh?"
The night before, I had immediately met with Kang Gam-Chan after my call with Seo Jae-Ill to candidly reveal that Kang Myung-Gil was set to hand money to Park Sang-Gon\'s aide.
I told him that I would exclude Kang Myung-Gil\'s face when handing over the evidence to the prosecutor to avoid causing trouble for Hoop Entertainment.
However, Kang Gam-Chan shook his head.
He said that even if it meant undergoing a prosecution investigation himself, he wanted to take this opportunity to root out the corruption. He also said he would only tell Kang Ji-Yung and Kwak Moo-Hyuk about it.
I bowed my head apologetically to Kwak Moo-Hyuk. "I\'m sorry."
"Sorry? Don\'t be! If we handle it early, we come out ahead. Just make sure you handle it well! Got it?"
"Yes, Mr. Kwak."
Kwak Moo-Hyuk patted my shoulder. "Stay strong! Keep it up as always."
I nodded. "Then I\'ll head back to the company now."
"Alright. I\'m going to meet with Jo Jae-Kyung\'s lawyers. But you know getting him detained over this matter will be tough, right?" Kwak Moo-Hyuk responded.
"I know. Getting him detained with a two-week medical certificate would be an overkill."
"Instead, I\'ll make sure to get a hefty settlement."
I wasn\'t aiming for detention anyway. What I wanted was to bury Jo Jae-Kyung using the media, and I\'d already succeeded perfectly in that.
After saying goodbye to Kwak Moo-Hyuk, I comfortably shifted my focus solely to Lee Tae-Poong\'s matters.
***
The weekend had passed and it was now Wednesday, September 30th.
[Beyond the Boundary Surpasses One Million Viewers Per Day on Saturday and Sunday! (1,132,123 on Saturday, 1,115,615 on Sunday)]
[Beyond the Boundary Surpasses 4 Million Viewers in Just Five Days!]
Over the weekend alone, the movie attracted one million viewers each day.
Additionally, Monday and Tuesday brought in nearly 800,000 viewers each. Combined with the 550,000 viewers from last Friday, the total viewers surpassed four million.
Thanks to this success, laughter echoed louder than ever in LT Entertainment\'s meeting room/
"This is great! Absolutely fantastic! Let\'s keep this momentum going!" Shin Jong-Gi exclaimed while beaming.
Choi Sung-Moon also nodded approvingly with a satisfied expression.
Overjoyed, Shin Jong-Gi made me an additional offer. "Since this whole situation was resolved so smoothly thanks to Team Lead Jung, I\'m willing to grant you one request!"
After a brief moment of thought, I asked for the best reward I could think of at the moment. "If that\'s the case, could you slightly increase the production budget for Mr. Park Sun-Jae\'s project?"
Shin Jong-Gi grinned. "Alright. But there\'s one condition."
I tilted my head. "A condition?"
"Yes. If you agree to my condition, I\'ll increase the budget to 5 billion won."
\'An extra 2 billion won for just one condition?\' I wondered.
Whatever the condition was, it seemed worth accepting.
"What is it?" I asked.
"You\'ll be in charge of casting. That\'s my condition."
I was taken aback by his unexpected remark.
Casting was a director\'s prerogative. However, when the director lacked connections with actors or was unfamiliar with the industry, they would sometimes employ a casting director to find suitable actors for the roles.
Shin Jong-Gi was essentially asking me to take on that role.
"But how could I presume to cast the roles with Mr. Park Sun-Jae on board..."
I shook my head, but Park Sun-Jae quickly intervened.
"Mr. Jung, in fact, I was the one who initially asked Mr. Shin to make this proposal. I\'ve done my homework on you over the past two days and I heard your eye for talented actors is exceptional."
"You\'re too kind," I replied.
"It\'s not flattery. I heard Mr. Choi also requested your help with the lead for Rage of God."
Choi Sung-Moon had indeed asked me to help cast the lead for his next project.
Park Sun-Jae showed no signs of backing down. "As you\'ve seen from the script, the role of the psychopathic killer is just as crucial as the lead in the case of Jiri Mountain. But I envisioned overseas actors while writing, so I couldn\'t think of any suitable domestic actors. I\'m counting on you, Mr. Jung."
\'A psychopathic killer role, huh...\' I thought.
At that moment, one name immediately came to mind. \'Ko Jae-Soo.\'
However, he was signed with TK Entertainment, not Hoop Entertainment.
Casting Ko Jae-Soo wouldn\'t be easy, but with 2 billion won on the line, I had to make it happen no matter what.
I nodded. "Understood. I\'ll secure the best actor for the role."
As if expecting this response, Shin Jong-Gi burst into a big smile. "Alright, alright! Enough with the stressful talk! We\'re throwing a celebration party for surpassing four million viewers today, are you all coming?"
Everyone nodded, but I apologized and excused myself.
After all, today was September 30th—the day of the ruling party\'s leadership election and the day Kang Myung-Gil was set to hand over money to Park Sang-Gon\'s aide.
***
It was currently 10:20 p.m. and I had parked my car in the lot below Naksan Park.
"Sigh. I guess I\'ll have to walk up..." I muttered to myself.
The parking lot at Naksan Park which sat on the mountainside had limited parking space, which meant that I would risk getting noticed if I were to drive my car up.
"They must have planned for 11:30 p.m. on purpose."
The car park at Naksan Park closed at 11 p.m. which meant all the cars would have left. It seemed like they intended to wait until other cars were gone before conducting the transaction.
"I\'ll just go up and check things out."
As I headed toward the parking lot, I double-checked the schedule on the planner.
[Everyday V10.1]
[Date: September 30, 2020]
-11:30 p.m.: Naksan Park Parking Lot. (Report: Instructions to be delivered to Team Lead Kang Myung-Gil.)
The scheduled event remained unchanged.
However, I still didn\'t understand why they chose this location instead of a more private place like a hotel or a lounge.
I sent a KkTalk message to Seo Jae-Ill, letting him know I had arrived at the scene.
Seo Jae-Ill replied and stated that he was preparing to raid from the university area.
He asked me to back off now, but I refused as there was always the possibility that the scheduled event could disappear unexpectedly even before the time arrived.
I insisted that I would just hang around like someone out for a casual stroll and ended the KkTalk chat.
At that moment, the results of today\'s party leadership election started appearing.
[Park Sang-Gon Elected as Ruling Party Leader for a Sixth Term!]
The portal featured a photo of Park Sang-Gon and his daughter, Park Sang-Ah, celebrating together.
"So the money being handed over today was a congratulatory payment for the election win," I remarked.
I started to get a vague idea of why Kim Dong-Soo had sent money in my past life: Kim Dong-Soo aimed to use this opportunity to lobby the political circle.
A little while later, I reached the entrance of Naksan Park where the central plaza and a convenience store were visible in the distance.
However, an unexpected scene awaited me.
[Construction in Progress]
[No Entry from 10 p.m. September 30th to October 1st.]
The entrance to Naksan Park which was on an uphill path was marked by a red LED sign displaying the construction message and a no-entry sign.
Moreover, the whole park, which was usually well-lit even at night, was now dark.
At that moment, I heard a voice calling me.
"Hey, who\'s there?" I asked.
"Can\'t you see the no-entry sign?"
Two burly men in reflective vests and holding red beacons approached me from where they had been crouching.
\'What the hell is this?\' I wondered.
Not only was the parking lot off-limits, I couldn\'t even enter Naksan Park now.