Chapter 58: Don’t Cry, Miso (2)
Ju Kang-Yong began writing articles just a week ago. However, through strategic promotional efforts using the extra budget that he had secured, his article has successfully secured a position in the top 30 now.
[Rookie Actress J's Private Life]
-A witness appears in the school violence case involving Miss J.
-Miss J's full-body plastic surgery rumors.
-Miss J's niece is actually her daughter born during her high school days?
...
(Accepting tips. By Entertainment Big News Ju Kang-Yong)
Ju Kang-Yong had published sensational lies and blurred Yoo-Jin's photo in a weak attempt to mask her identity, but it was clear to everyone who he was targeting.
[NAVE Live Search Rankings]
2. Jung Yoo-Jin bully
3. Jung Yoo-Jin, school violence perpetrator
4. Jung Yoo-Jin's daughter
5. Full-body plastic surgery
...
(Comments)
-Wow, this is shocking. Was Jung Yoo-Jin really a bully?
-A 24-year-old with a 7-year-old daughter? Wow, scandalous. They were right when they said pretty-faced celebrities are always two-faced.
-And she's still in the entertainment industry? I was going to watch Blue Sky, but not anymore.
-What's this about full-body plastic surgery?
-Wow, this is insane. LOL. Have you guys seen Jung Yoo-Jin's pre-surgery photos? Unbelievable. (Link)
In the meantime, Hoop Entertainment was countering Ju Kang-Yong’s articles with their own articles.
[Hoop Entertainment, “January 27th, SBC Human Stories Broadcast – Everything about Jung Yoo-Jin revealed!”]
(Comments)
-People actually believe that Jung Yoo-Jin was a bully? That’s ridiculous.
-People who leave hate comments are not afraid of karma, are they? Such reckless lives.
-No one believes Ju Kang-Yong's trash articles, right?
-If you had ever met Jung Yoo-Jin during her part-time days, you’d know this article is a lie.
-Jung Yoo-Jin was famous for being super nice during her high school days.
The battle between Jung Yoo-Jin's fans and her haters was getting more heated day by day.
And now, I was in a meeting where a large LCD displayed the hate comments, articles, and social media reactions to Ju Kang-Yong's article.
Gu Seong-Cheol’s face turned red in anger as he raised his voice.
"...Kids these days are just fearless, aren't they? Don’t you think so, Team Lead Oh?"
Nonetheless, he managed to refrain from using curse words since the SBC Human Stories filming team was shooting in the meeting room
In response, Oh Deok-Gu gave a textbook answer. "Y-yes, I agree, M-Mr. Gu. But, I think... we should still go easy on the g-good people. I-it’s the reporters, w-who are bad, not them.”
"Cut!"
Human Stories' PD, Na Hun-Seok, shook his head with a disappointed expression. "Mr. Oh, can't you make it sound more natural?"
"Sigh. I guess not. I'm no celebrity."
Then, Na Hun-Seok shook his head again and turned toward me.
“Mr. Jung."
"Yes?"
"It seems like we should only film you and Mr. Gu."
Gu Seong-Cheol nodded in agreement. "Yes, Star Jung. You've been on TV once—no, twice —including last time. How about you handle this? Deok-Gu just won't do."
Agreeing with Gu Seong-Cheol, Oh Deok-Gu also pushed the TV appearance onto me.
"Yes sir. Understood."
Na Hun-Seok snapped his fingers, giving the cue. "Here we go~ Ready~ Action!"
The filming started again.
Responding to Gu Seong-Cheol's criticism of Ju Kang-Yong's article and comments, I gave a calm response.
"It seems there's a misunderstanding because of Reporter Ju Kang-Yong's article. The general fans are not at fault, so let's refrain from suing them. And it might be better to respond with defamation charges limited to the person who posted the article."
Gu Seong-Cheol nodded solemnly. "Do you think that will do?"
"For now, yes. And Yoo-Jin is a rookie. Let’s just think of this as publicity for her."
Gu Seong-Cheol's tone became deeper. "Hmm, I suppose that could be the case."
For a while, we performed a scripted show of criticizing trash reporters, saying 'Fans did nothing wrong,' and 'But if malicious comments continue, we won’t let them off easily!'
However, I also took the opportunity to clarify that there was one thing I would never forgive.
"No matter what... those human trash who dragged a 7-year-old child into this should receive no mercy. We should sue them without any grounds for negotiation."
Suddenly, Gu Seong-Cheol responded in a way that reflected his honest thoughts and feelings. "Seriously, those who insult a child don't even deserve a lawsuit. I should just take care of them myself..."
Snap!
Gu Seong-Cheol broke a pen in half with one hand in anger,
At that moment Na Hun-Seok exclaimed, "Cut! That's a wrap."
"Well done, everyone."
After the filming ended, Na Hun-Seok approached me.
"Wow! You seem young, Mr. Jung, but you are quite eloquent."
"Not at all. I think I got a little too heated, but did the shot turn out well?"
Na Hun-Seok gave a thumbs up, saying that my angry demeanor and affection for Yoo-Jin were well captured.
Then, a call came through on my phone.
[Caller: Miso Angel❤]
When I answered the call, Miso was crying.
"Uncle Yoon-Ho, something terrible has happened. Mom... Mom is... sob sob."
***
"Ugh! These people are really pushing it to the end, aren't they?"
Ju Kang-Yong fumed and stomped out the remains of his cigarette. He had expected Hoop Entertainment to have called him to negotiate by now.
Yet, even though two weeks had passed into his plan and Blue Sky was approaching its broadcast date, there had been no contact whatsoever.
Then, Go Dong-Min, who was smoking next to Ju Kang-Yong, made a suggestion. "Hey, instead of waiting, why not just contact Hoop Entertainment yourself?"
Ju Kang-Yong scowled. "How can I contact them first? I have my pride as a reporter!"
"Pride? What pride? If you don't get paid, it's all for nothing. Are you really going to push this to the end?"
"Yes. Now that it's come to this, I'll show them what happens if they don't negotiate with me. It's not just about the money, but also about showing them they can't trample over me. I’ll teach them a lesson."
"Yes, but...isn't it kinda strange? Hoop Entertainment seems too confident."
Go Dong-Min felt uneasy about this situation. Normally, by now, the publicity or legal team from the company in question would have contacted them to either offer money to take down the article or threaten a lawsuit.
However, Hoop Entertainment had made no such contact.
"Anyway, I can't back down from this fight."
"Sigh. Do what you want. Don’t say I didn’t warn you."
As Go Dong-Min left, Ju Kang-Yong lit another cigarette alone. At that moment, a novel-like article title suddenly popped into his head.
"Fuck it. Let's see who wins this battle, Jung Yoo-Jin."
After smoking half of his cigarette, Ju Kang-Yong hurried back to his desk and began writing another tabloid article.
***
When I rushed to Yoo-Jin’s house after receiving Miso’s call, I found Yoo-Jin lying down with her face pale as she struggled to sit up.
"Oppa. You're here."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine. Sorry to worry you over something trivial."
Contrary to her words, her complexion didn't look okay at all.
Miso was sitting by Yoo-Jin's side and looking around anxiously with her eyes brimming with tears.
"Mom, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Are you really, really okay?"
"Of course~."
Ever since Ju Kang-Yong targeted Yoo-Jin, I had been checking on her every morning.
Today was no different—but around lunchtime, she suddenly felt sick and vomited everything she had eaten which scared Miso into calling me. But a simple stomach upset wouldn't turn someone's face so pale.
'Did she perhaps read the new article published by Ju Kang-Yong?'
I cautiously asked Yoo-Jin if she had seen the day's article. "Yoo-Jin, did you read the article today?"
Yoo-Jin lowered her head with a bitter expression.
For a moment, I couldn't help but let out a sigh mixed with frustration. "...I told you not to read those articles. Give me your phone. I'll keep it for a while."
"Okay..."
Yoo-Jin weakly handed over her phone.
But at that moment, I realized the real reason why Yoo-Jin, who had been avoiding reading articles, as advised by me, decided to read them today.
[Aunt: How do you manage to get yourself involved in such articles? A young woman should behave properly.]
[Uncle: My friend sent me the article. Did you actually behave like this during high school? Your deceased father would have been devastated if he saw this!]
[Aunt: I'm saying this because I'm worried. You said it’s difficult to survive in the entertainment industry with Miso, right? It's not too late even now...]
Ping! Ping!
Yoo-Jin’s phone was constantly ringing with KkTalk messages from Yoo-Jin's relatives who had supposedly cut ties with her.
'Could it be because of these messages that she looked at the article?'
I felt a surge of anger welling up within me. The messages from her relatives even included links to the article. They were pretending to be worried for Yoo-Jin while blaming her for being foolish.
I decided that once this was over, I'd handle all of it myself. I resolved to tell them never to contact Yoo-Jin again. They had already decided to become strangers, so they shouldn't torment her anymore.
Yoo-Jin sat on the sofa and looked up at me as she muttered weakly, “Oppa, I am really okay.”
‘Okay? Who is she trying to fool? She is not okay at all.’
Yoo-Jin’s face was becoming paler with time.
'I might need to take her to the hospital.'
That's when I heard the sound of a camera from behind—the Human Stories team had followed me and was filming the scene.
'When did they start filming?'
I stood up and blocked the camera.
"Mr. Na, could we please refrain from filming these kinds of situations...?"
I didn't want to show Yoo-Jin's frail state. However, Na Hun-Seok briefly lowered the camera and asked for trust. "Mr. Jung I’m sorry, but we need to film this. Just trust me this once."
"Trust you?"
Na Hun-Seok's face was very serious as he explained how he wanted to show the pain the celebrities go through caused by malicious articles and hateful comments.
"People don't understand. They don't realize the impact their comments have on those who read them. Filming Miss Yoo-Jin's current condition makes me feel uneasy as well. But I want the viewers to feel the same feeling I have right now watching Miss Yoo-Jin!"
Having followed Yoo-Jin, Na Hun-Seok had grown deeply empathetic. His hands were even trembling with indignation.
At that moment, Yoo-Jin grabbed the hem of my clothes.
"It's okay, oppa. We were prepared for this from the start, weren’t we?"
"But Yoo-Jin..."
Her words made me take a deep breath and compose myself.
In my past life, I would have resorted to underhanded means and manipulation to promote a celebrity. But now that I have a second chance at life, I resolved to live differently, drawing clear boundaries concerning what I would allow and what I wouldn’t.
'Let’s be flexible.'
I had to be flexible to fight people like Kim Dong-Soo and Ju Kang-Yong. I wouldn't initiate any wrongdoing, but I wouldn't just do nothing and remain a victim either.
If Na Hun-Seok's words were true, broadcasting Yoo-Jin's struggle would have a significant impact. Erasing the line I had drawn in my mind, I stepped aside and signaled Na Hun-Seok to continue filming.
'Keep filming.'
Then, I composed myself and stepped into the camera angle of Human Stories.
"Why do you bother looking at those articles when I told you not to?"
As I sat down in front of Yoo-Jin and grumbled, my tone naturally carried my true emotions.
Yoo-Jin responded with an apologetic look. "I didn't mean to, but I ended up seeing them while checking messages from relatives."
‘Relatives? More like digital citizen trolls.’
From the moment they suggested sending Miso to an orphanage, they were nothing less than sworn enemies of mine.
Yoo-Jin took a glance at me and cautiously opened her mouth to speak. "But, oppa."
"Yes? What is it?"
"Did I really do something wrong? Was adopting Miso to prevent her from being alone really something to be condemned for...?"
Yoo-Jin’s every word defending Miso pierced my heart.
"No, not at all!"
Yoo-Jin's expression faintly brightened. "Then did I do the right thing?"
Yoo-Jin's question was answered first by Miso, not me. Miso tightly held Yoo-Jin's hand and nodded vigorously.
"Yes! Mom, you did the right thing! I'm so happy because of you, Mom!"
Miso's support brought tears to Yoo-Jin's eyes.
"Yes. Miso is my daughter. I'm Miso's mom."
Yoo-Jin caressed Miso's cheek.
Miso, with her eyes smiling like crescent-moon, kept calling Yoo-Jin 'Mom.'
"Yes, Mom! I'm your daughter."
Then, Yoo-Jin turned to me. "Oppa, I'm okay now. Please help me get up. I need to go to the script reading."
Even in this situation, Yoo-Jin didn't forget her professional commitments.
"Okay. But let's stop by the hospital first to get an IV drip."
I ignored Yoo-Jin's claim of being okay and immediately called 119. "Hello. We're in Cheonho-dong right now, and...huh? Gas? No. A traffic accident? ...No, really! There's someone who is really sick here!"
‘Ah, this is a blooper.’
The 119 operator recognized me immediately and started asking what the issue was this time.
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