Chapter 165: Hide and Seek (1)
Kang Ra-Eun stiffened for a moment. She had never expected Park Hee-Woo of all people to mention the masked woman. There were only a handful of people outside of her direct submission who knew about the masked woman. Reporter Ahn Su-Jin, and one other person.
“Is Congressman Kim Han-Gyo the one spreading rumors like that?” Ra-Eun asked.
Ra-Eun was the masked woman. She had never shown herself while wearing the mask to anyone but Su-Jin and Han-Gyo, so she was easily able to determine who was spreading the rumors.
‘Considering Reporter Ahn’s personality, she wouldn’t do such a thing.’
Su-Jin had absolutely no reason to expose the masked woman since she had received tons of help from her. Rather, in Su-Jin’s perspective, she had to conceal the existence of the masked woman as much as possible since the masked woman was her informant. In that case, there was only one other person.
‘Kim Han-Gyo. It can’t be anyone else but him.’
“Probably,” Hee-Woo replied.
This was the only answer that she could give Ra-Eun. It was neither a yes or a no, an ambiguous answer. Knowing herself that her answer had been extremely vague, Hee-Woo explained further.
“I haven’t heard exactly who had been spreading such rumors, but considering the circumstances, I think it is Congressman Kim.”
Her vague answer had been out of belief, not certainty. The source aside, Ra-Eun was curious about the rumor’s contents.
“What kind of rumor, exactly?” she asked.
Ra-Eun decided to play dumb for the time being, since she knew that there was absolutely nothing in it for her if she revealed that she was the masked woman. Rather, she would suffer from it.
Hee-Woo told Ra-Eun exactly what she had heard. “A masked woman apparently threatened Congressman Kim Han-Gyo. I don’t know exactly how she had threatened him, but there have been rumors going around that he’s going to carry out an official investigation.”
“Really?”
From Han-Gyo’s perspective, he indeed couldn’t help but be anxious. The masked woman that had threatened him knew far too much about him. He had to find out the masked woman’s identity as soon as possible.
‘But I won’t let you catch me so easily.’
Han-Gyo was likely extremely frustrated since he did not even have a single trail of evidence to pursue. He was walking on thin ice that could break at any moment. Ra-Eun felt satisfied just imagining the sense of crisis that Han-Gyo was feeling right now.
Meanwhile, Hee-Woo continued without having any idea that Ra-Eun was the masked woman.
“This must be bad for Congressman Kim himself, but it couldn’t be better for anyone in opposition to him. I happened to meet Chairman Ji by coincidence a few days ago, and he was saying that he wanted to treat the masked woman real big if she was someone he knew.”
Ra-Eun laughed softly in response.
“Anyway, the political world has been talking about the masked woman a lot lately,” Hee-Woo mentioned.
“I haven’t seen any articles regarding it, though?”
“Well... I’m sure even the reporters find it hard to believe.”
There were even some who doubted Congressman Kim’s sanity. Who in their right mind would believe that a woman in a mask threatened a congressman? However, reality transcended imagination at times, like when Ra-Eun had returned to the past as a high school girl.
***
Reporter Ahn Su-Jin had also been privy to the rumors of the masked woman that had been covertly spreading throughout the political world. Su-Jin thought about the masked woman while twirling her pen. She obviously knew who the woman was.
Kang Ra-Eun. It couldn’t be anyone else but her. However, Su-Jin had no proof. She had far too many things that she wanted to ask Ra-Eun, but Ra-Eun was not an easy person to meet. They were not personally close, nor was she close with Ma Yeong-Jun and his men that worked under Ra-Eun.
Su-Jin wanted to meet Ra-Eun again and ask what she thought of the rumors that were spreading about her.
‘I need a reason to meet her...’
Good news arrived on her doorstep while she had been deep in thought.
“Yun-Seok. You remember we have an interview at GNF today, right?”
“Yes, sunbae.”
“We’ll be leaving in an hour, so get ready.”
“Understood.”
Su-Jin’s eyes lit up after hearing their conversation.
“Can I come too?” she suddenly volunteered.
“Didn’t you have something else you needed to do?”
“It’s not urgent, so I’ll help out. I’m sure you’ll be short on hands with just two people.”
“That’s a first. You usually have zero interest in other people’s coverages.”
Su-Jin was the type to focus on her own thing, and had almost zero interest in anything else. Everyone in the news agency knew this tendency of hers very well, which made her suggestion even more surprising.
“Well, sure, if that’s what you want. I have no reason to refuse help,” the senior reporter remarked.
“Thank you very much, sunbae!”
It was possible for Su-Jin to meet Ra-Eun if she went to GNF. She felt lighter already.
***
On the day of the interview with GNF’s celebrities, Ra-Eun greeted Lee Si-Ahn, whom she hadn’t seen in a very long time.
“It’s been a while, Si-Ahn.”
“Sunbae! I’m so sorry. I should have come to greet you more often.”
Ra-Eun had come to know Si-Ahn through Rita. She sometimes thought about her because Si-Ahn had been her dream girl back when she was a man. However, her interest in Si-Ahn was not of romantic interest; it was only to the point of fascination that she was able to work with a celebrity who she had admired in her past life, in the same agency as her.
“How have you been doing lately? I saw that you’d been doing tons of things,” Ra-Eun asked.
“It’s all thanks to you and Rita sunbae. I’ve been getting tons of jobs ever since transferring to GNF. Thank you so much again, Ra-Eun sunbae.”
“I didn’t really do much.”
Ra-Eun gave indirect advice from time to time to celebrities who weren’t doing so well, since she knew the future. Those who heeded her advice managed to get on the road to success, and those who did not would continue to miss precious chances that would come to them.
Si-Ahn was the former. She had been walking down a road of anonymity while working as a waitress at her family’s restaurant, but she had risen to a fairly popular actress after heeding a few pieces of advice from Ra-Eun.
“I’ll make sure to repay you if I manage to make it really big! Please let me know if there ever comes a time when you need my help!”
Ra-Eun simply laughed in response. She felt good from seeing the celebrity that she used to like be so happy.
Including Ra-Eun and Si-Ahn, a few other celebrities that GNF was supporting took their seats. The reporters arrived at the agency just in time, and Ra-Eun noticed Su-Jin among them. Su-Jin’s eyes were blatantly fixed on her.
Su-Jin was not an entertainment reporter. If she was here, then that meant...
‘She must be here because of the masked woman rumors.’
It was obvious. Reporter Ahn had still not been able to... no, refused to erase her suspicions regarding Ra-Eun.
‘What a persistent woman.’
Although she was not as persistent as Rita, she was not very far behind.
‘Everything about her is fine except for that strong curiosity.’
She was the type to die an early death.
‘I guess I have no choice.’
Su-Jin would continue to obsess over her if she didn’t do anything about it. Ra-Eun decided to take tough measures.
“There’s still some time until the interview, right?” Ra-Eun asked the reporters.
They nodded simultaneously.
“In that case, I will go get everyone coffee. Please let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like to drink.”
Just as she was about to go, Shin Yu-Bin discouraged her.
“I’ll go buy them, so you stay here, Ra-Eun.”
“No. I’m doing this because I want to.”
There were a few celebrities that used their own money to buy food and drinks for staff members. There were two sides to such an action; one was out of the kindness of their own heart, and the other was to keep a kind-hearted image. Whichever it was, there was no one here who would refuse drinks bought by Kang Ra-Eun.
Just then, Reporter Ahn got up from her seat.
“I’ll help. It’ll be difficult to carry all those drinks by yourself,” she stated.
Su-Jin needed time alone with Ra-Eun, and so did Ra-Eun. The reporter had failed last time, but she set ablaze with the will to not fail this time. Ra-Eun smiled in her head while looking at Su-Jin.
‘She took the bait.’
Things were going according to plan.
“In that case, I’ll go with Reporter Ahn,” Ra-Eun remarked.
Yu-Bin nodded as if it couldn’t be helped.
***
Ra-Eun and Su-Jin walked side by side along the hallway on their way to the cafe outside the agency. Su-Jin continued to steal glances at Ra-Eun. The gears inside her head were turning intensely to figure out how to change the subject of their conversation to the masked woman.
However, her worries had been useless, because...
“You must have a lot on your mind because of the masked woman,” Ra-Eun said.
She had beat Su-Jin to it. Su-Jin had never expected Ra-Eun to bring up what she had wanted to ask her first. In terms of the outcome, it was great since it had been brought up.
“It’s been a hot topic among the members of congress. The masked woman suddenly appeared and—”
“And threatened Congressman Kim Han-Gyo, right?” Ra-Eun suddenly interjected.
“...Yes, that’s right. I’m surprised you know.”
“I’d met Vice President Park Hee-Woo recently, and she had let me know about it.”
Just when Su-Jin was about to ask Ra-Eun directly if she was the masked woman, Ra-Eun’s attitude suddenly took a massive turn. She snatched Su-Jin’s wrists with both her hands and forced her against the wall. Ra-Eun’s breathtakingly beautiful face was so close to Su-Jin’s that they could feel each other’s breaths.
Ra-Eun’s light pink lips curled up into a crescent.
She asked Su-Jin, “Would you like to know more about me?”
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