I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 152: Sacrificial Pawn (2)

Ma Yeong-Jun was confused by Kang Ra-Eun’s mention of a classmate.

“Is there a reporter among your high school classmates?”

“No, they’re all university students.”

Ra-Eun had not mentioned her classmate for that reason.

“What do you mean, then?”

Yeong-Jun looked down at the document envelope that Ra-Eun had given her. It was obvious that it contained very important information inside.

Ra-Eun explained, “There is detailed information about the Kim Chi-Yeol case inside. The investigation will commence right away as long as they have that.”

The ways that Kim Chi-Yeol had planted his roots inside the entertainment industry as well as how he had committed illicit acts, were all saved inside Ra-Eun’s head. Since she already knew the results, it had been very easy to find the cause and process.

Yeong-Jun was even more confused.

“And you’re handing over such important information to your high school classmate?”

There was absolutely no use in giving this to a regular person; it was better off being given to Reporter Ahn Su-Jin instead. However, Ra-Eun had not made this decision for no reason; she had made very detailed calculations.

“I have a high school classmate whose father works in the Special Investigations Bureau. His name is Choi Sang-Woon. You have an idea of who he is, don't you, mister?”

“Your boyfriend who went to the army before enrolling in university, right?”

“Watch it. You’ll cause misunderstandings. He’s a friend that’s a boy. Don’t say it like that.”

She had gotten confessed to by Sang-Woon twice, but she still didn’t see him as a man. The wall of friendship was far too high.

“Then isn’t it better to deliver it straight to the boy’s father?” Yeong-Jun asked.

“There’s no merit in revealing oneself to observant people. Besides, people like you and your men don’t like engaging with people who work in the same field as Sang-Woon’s father, do you?”

Ra-Eun was right on the mark. Park Seol-Hun and Do Hye-Yeong were supporting Ra-Eun in the light, but Yeong-Jun and his men were in her shadow. Since none of the things that they did could be considered good, they tried to avoid members of the prosecution as much as possible to avoid being grabbed by the tail.

Hence, Ra-Eun was thinking of using Sang-Woon as an intermediary instead of directly handing the documents to his father.

Despite all that, Yeong-Jun was still unsure about something.

“What are you going to do if that Choi Sang-Woon boy just ignores it after seeing its contents?”

It was common for people not to trust information from an unspecified source. Yeong-Jun was worried, but Ra-Eun was not.

“Sang-Woon is more sensible than you think. He’ll know what to do once he sees that.”

Ra-Eun had known Sang-Woon ever since high school. After spending time with him playing basketball and going to the PC Room, she found out that he was not that dim-witted.

‘But of course, he’s fairly dense when it comes to things related to the opposite sex.’

That was why he confessed and was turned down twice.

Yeong-Jun had nothing else to say since Ra-Eun was so certain. He took the document envelope and left her office without delay. Ra-Eun stared at the article about the Kim Chi-Yeol case on her computer screen. She laughed softly as she looked at the picture of Chi-Yeol on top of the article.

“Goodbye, Kim Chi-Yeol.”

The time had finally come to bring one of her blasted relationships to an end.

***

Sang-Woon belatedly regretted applying to return to school as soon as he was discharged from the army.

“I shouldn’t have put on airs that I didn’t need time to adjust to society.”

He had boasted that he was okay to his family, but a wave of annoyance hit him after actually going to university. It was of course far better and more freeing compared to the army; he no longer needed to wake up at 6 AM from the morning trumpet, and there was no one to criticize him for drinking with friends until late at night. However, going to school on a fixed schedule was a little annoying.

‘So this is why people say greed is terrifying.’

People tend to want to sit when standing up, and lie down when sitting down.

As Sang-Woon was heading home, he picked up a yellow document envelope that had been placed in front of his front door.

“What’s this?”

Neither the sender nor location was written. All that was written on it was...

[To Choi Sang-Woon]

...His name.

“I guess it wasn’t sent to me by accident.”

It looked highly shady, but he couldn’t help but wonder what was in it. Considering the weight of the envelope, it didn’t seem like there was anything dangerous in it.

‘But you never know.’

Sang-Woon decided to check what was inside before going into his house.

Tear—!

He ripped the portion of the envelope that was shut tight by tape. He opened the envelope to see a bunch of pieces of paper in it.

“My God...!”

Sang-Woon immediately called his father once he checked the contents of the pieces of paper.

***

When the Kim Chi-Yeol case first blew up, Chi-Yeol thought his world had ended. However, he had still clung on to hope that there was still a way out. Hence, he continued to hold on. Although he was forced to live like a bum because of it, his efforts had been paying off.

Chi-Yeol recalled what Kim Han-Gyo had told him long ago.

- Korea is like a fire. It burns for a moment, and then burns out just as quickly. So, just hold out for now. The public will forget that it ever happened once enough time passes.

Chi-Yeol had been told to lay low until the fire burnt out. He strongly agreed with the idea. There was no need for him to explain himself; he just needed to be careful enough not to get caught. Everything that could be used against him had mostly been disposed of.

‘All that’s left for me to do now is to wait!’

Chi-Yeol took out another bottle of whiskey. He had never drank so much in his life.

“This is all... because of whoever made that damn audio file...!”

It contained the entire conversation that he had with Ji Kang-Hye. Just that one conversation caused this entire mess. He had tried to find out the source of the file, but it had already been too late.

“Come to think of it, Father said someone has been out for him.”

The masked woman. Han-Gyo was desperately searching for her identity at the moment. It was natural, since she knew far too much. Due to this, Chi-Yeol had no choice but to handle the deadlock that he was in all by himself, but...

“Without Father’s help... I can’t do anything.”

He had no choice but to rely on his father.

Vrrr—

Just as he was about to take another swig of whiskey, his smartphone vibrated. His executive officer had texted him. He checked the contents.

“Fuck! Not fucking again!!!”

He succumbed to his uncontrollable rage and threw the bottle of alcohol he was holding.

***

Chi-Yeol had already been in a predicament due to the anonymous informant who had submitted the audio file. He had come this far with the single ray of hope that he just needed to hold out for a little longer, but now it was all over.

The fire that was public interest had been lit once again after detailed information regarding the Kim Chi-Yeol case had emerged. Like Han-Gyo had said, Korea was like a fire; it burned out quickly if the fire was small. But conversely, it continued to burn if firewood was given to fuel it.

The Kim Chi-Yeol case had risen back up from the surface due to the firewood that was the information provided by Ra-Eun. As a result of the blazing public interest and the attack of the party in opposition to Han-Gyo, an exclusive special investigation unit had been established to investigate the Kim Chi-Yeol case.

Chi-Yeol visited his father, as that was the only choice he could make. Han-Gyo unconsciously frowned after seeing the sorry state his son was in.

“Father! I can’t hold out for any longer. Just one time... Could you please help me just one more time like before? You’re more than capable of taking care of this mess, aren’t you?!” Chi-Yeol begged while wailing like a little boy.

Seeing this, Han-Gyo replied cold-heartedly, “How long do you expect me to take care of your messes?”

“Father!”

There was only one thing that Han-Gyo could tell Chi-Yeol.

“I hear prison facilities have gotten very good lately. Don’t make this mess any bigger than it already is, and just quietly do your time. It’ll all be over after you do.”

Han-Gyo had given up. Chi-Yeol had completely lost.

***

Ra-Eun was finally able to smile after seeing the news that Chi-Yeol had been arrested.

“Why did they drag it on for so long when it could’ve been over so much earlier?”

The prosecution had not been able to make any reckless moves since their opponent had been so influential. Hence, Ra-Eun had decided to give the prosecution a little push, using the wave that was the public.

Ra-Eun had not sent the information that she had gathered just to Sang-Woon. She had also sent the exact same thing to Reporter Ahn Su-Jin, in case the prosecution buried the information that she had sent them.

Once Su-Jin presented the evidence one by one in her articles, it spurred the investigation speed of the prosecution. The prosecution was unable to just sit around while the public’s eyes were all over this case.

Ra-Eun checked the text that she had received this morning while reclining deep into her chair with one leg over the other. The production had decided to postpone the shoots while they cast a different actress for the role that Jo Jin-Ah previously had. They would also need to re-shoot some scenes, so they would be extremely busy.

The Kim Chi-Yeol case had been resolved very nicely, and she had received a two-week break.

‘I want to do something.’

It was a bit of a waste to stay at home for two weeks straight. Ra-Eun wanted to go celebrate at some nice place. She closed all the tabs of articles relating to Chi-Yeol and opened a new tab.

Click, click.

Only the sound of mouse clicks could be heard in Ra-Eun’s office. An image of a vast sandy beach on her computer screen caught her attention. She was captivated by the picture of the beach that felt cool just from looking at it.

“Maybe I should go to the beach. It’s been a while.”

Ra-Eun had chosen the location, so it was now time to gather the members. As she took out her phone and was pondering over who to take, she noticed a text that had been sent just in time. Ra-Eun smiled as she checked who it was.

“Oh yeah, this guy.”

There would be absolutely no problem in dragging this guy to the beach, even right this instant. Since he would have nothing but time at the moment, Ra-Eun gave him a call.