Chapter 26: Setting the Trap

After lunch, I received a message saying he had arrived, so I left the broadcasting station.

Entering the café on the first floor of the building next door, I spotted a familiar back seated not far away.

“You came a long way, Uncle.”

“It’s nothing. It’s not far from the company headquarters.”

Uncle Hyeon-Ik, seated by the window, had just lifted his teacup but put it down again upon seeing me.

The reason he came all the way here was because of a favor I had asked him some time ago.

“The thing I asked about last time…?”

He pulled something from the envelope beside him and handed it to me.

“I’ve compiled everything I found in here.”

It was a USB drive.

“A sudden investigation into a company called Intech…”

Even as he passed me the USB, his eyes were filled with unease.

I had asked him to look into the project that Seo Ji-Han was handling at Hojin Group. He didn’t know the full story yet, so I could understand his concern.

But it wasn’t something I could explain in detail here.

“What are you planning to do with this? Besides, this company seems to be in contact with Hojin.”

“Yes. Ji-Han has his eye on that company.”

That’s why I had chosen it as bait.

As I took the USB from his hand, my gaze caught Chae Seo-Rin, seated at a nearby table.

She still comes to this café during lunch, just like always.

It seemed she was having tea time with a fellow announcer ahead of the afternoon meeting.

Startled by our eyes meeting, she quickly turned away.

Hmm.

She probably didn’t recognize who the man sitting with me was. And having lost the anchor position, she was likely grasping at anything she could.

That explained the way she kept glancing curiously at the man seated across from me.

“Young lady, are you really going to call off the engagement? No—what I should be asking is, are you ready to make an enemy of Hojin?”

Uncle’s concerned voice brought my attention back to him.

“Hojin and W Group aren’t just longtime partners, but their chairmen have a deeply personal friendship.”

“That’s true.”

“So I don’t understand why you’d go so far as to make Hojin your enemy.”

I smiled faintly and picked up his phone, handing it to him.

“Check the email that just came in.”

“Email?”

One email appeared on the screen of his phone.

As he read through it, his pupils began to tremble.

“This… Is this real?”

“Yes. He’s been preparing quite meticulously. He’s planning to swallow up W Group by marrying me.”

Attached to the email were several photos of Ji-Han meeting privately with Vice President Kim Young-Min.

Uncle Hyeon Ik looked devastated by the implications of my words.

“Unbelievable… Don’t tell me even the chairman’s accident was orchestrated.”

“No. That was truly an accident. All three of them.”

I firmly shook my head before he could spiral further.

My parents and grandfather’s accident hadn’t been planned. It was, tragically, a real accident.

“Uncle, I can’t explain everything here, but… Hojin won’t last much longer without merging with W Group.”

Just then, I met eyes with Seo-Rin, who had stood up to leave. She glanced back at us suspiciously before turning away.

Meanwhile, the screen of Uncle’s phone now displayed another set of images.

Photos obtained through a hired investigator—showing Ji-Han and Seo-Rin in a private scandal.

“This is why I’m ending the engagement.”

“To do that to you… How could he…? But wait—will he step down so easily after doing so much?”

He pressed his temples, clearly distressed.

“He can’t afford to stir things up over a broken engagement. His claim as successor is already shaky, and pushing this further would only hurt him.”

I watched Seo-Rin’s figure walk away and then rose from my seat.

Facing Uncle’s still-shocked expression, I offered a soft smile.

“I have to get back. I’ll leave first.”

“……”

“Thank you for coming. Please take care.”

*****

The camera was focused on me, seated at the newsroom desk.

A breaking news banner about a scandal involving a high-profile political figure appeared on screen.

Seeing the messy story naturally brought someone else to mind.

I glanced toward Seo-Rin, who was standing behind the teleprompter waiting for the weather segment.

Our eyes met.

Her cold, sharp stare swept past me.

How she could remain expressionless during this kind of news was astonishing.

Truly shameless.

Once the scandal between her and Ji-Han broke, it would create an even bigger shockwave—but she didn’t seem the least bit fazed.

I looked back toward the camera.

[We begin with breaking news. Messages have been leaked from Representative A of the XX Party, already embroiled in a scandal.]

I clearly enunciated the word scandal and stared into the camera.

Once I finished reading the script, the screen transitioned into the scheduled interview.

[This has been News9.]

That wrapped up my final lines, concluding the News9 broadcast.

I stood only after confirming the commercial break had begun.

“Thank you, everyone.”

“You too, Anchor Yoon—great work on your first day.”

“That breaking news scandal story—you handled it so smoothly.”

“Maybe because it was a topic I was already very interested in?”

As I rose, I caught sight of Seo-Rin by the green chroma key wall.

Her expression had darkened—clearly, she’d heard my delivery.

Clutching her script tightly, she glared at me.

I gave her a relaxed smile.

“You’re interested in stories like that?”

“Yes, surprisingly.”

I continued chatting with the staff gathered around me, smiling. Apparently, she couldn’t stand seeing me in the newsroom. Because when I turned toward the entrance again, she was already gone.

By the time I returned to the Programming Department, the office was empty.

Since it was the last news segment of the day, it had run late, and everyone had already gone home.

Something feels different.

A sense of déjà vu crept in as I sat at my desk and looked around.

And there she was—Seo-Rin, still seated diagonally across even though the workday was over.

Just in case, I turned around, and there she was, busily typing away.

She didn’t even seem to notice the sound of the office door opening. She was completely focused.

I had been about to leave but instead turned and walked toward Seo-Rin’s desk.

Even as I approached, she remained engrossed in what she was doing.

“You’re not heading home?”

“Eek!”

Startled by my voice, Seo-Rin yelped and quickly closed the window on her monitor.

Her face twisted into shock as soon as she realized it was me.

“What are you so surprised about?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. I didn’t realize how late it was. I should get going.”

She hurriedly packed her things and flashed an awkward smile.

“Unnie, I’ll be heading out now.”

Just as she was about to leave, the office door opened and a familiar voice called out.

“Anchor Yoon.”

I looked up to see a news production team staff member speaking through the half-open door.

Seo-Rin also turned her head toward the voice.

“Director Lee is asking for you.”

“For me? Right now?”

“Yes, he said if you haven’t left yet, please stop by for a moment.”

What could the director want at this late hour?

I passed by the frozen Seo-Rin, puzzled by the unexpected summons.

She also looked suspicious, watching me with wary eyes until I disappeared through the announcers’ room door.

Why is he calling for me?

As I quickened my steps toward the director’s office, my head was filled with question marks.

I was even surprised to learn the director hadn’t gone home yet.

With a short knock, I entered the director’s office and found him seated on the couch.

“Oh, there you are.”

“You asked for me?”

He smiled brightly at me, and next to him sat someone familiar.

At this hour… who is that? That silhouette…

The back of the man sitting across from the director felt familiar, unsettlingly so.

My heart started to beat faster.

No way…

As I took a few steps toward the center of the office where the couch was, the man turned toward me.

“I watched your broadcast. You did great.”

It was, as expected, Seo Jae-Ha.

“What are you doing here?”

It was well past ten at night. Seeing him in the director’s office at this hour left me visibly flustered.

He looked at me, unfazed, and curled the corner of his mouth into a smile.

“What else? I came for work.”

Work? At this hour?

He looked completely relaxed, in contrast to my confused expression.

As I approached the sofa, he leaned in and lowered his voice so only I could hear.

“I told you I’d congratulate you, didn’t I?”

“What do you mean…?”

Then I suddenly remembered our phone call from that night, on the way back from the hospital.

He must’ve caught the shift in my expression—he squinted playfully at me.

Still… why come all the way to the director’s office just to congratulate me?

As I continued darting confused looks between the two men, Director Lee smiled and pointed to the TV.

“He came by about an investment issue. Ended up sticking around to monitor your first broadcast.”

He said it casually, with a shrug, as if it were nothing unusual.

Still, the idea that the two of them had stayed this late just to watch the news didn’t quite sit right.

“And didn’t the two of you have plans after this?”

“Plans?”

What plans? I don’t remember anything like that.

Surprised by the mention of an appointment I didn’t know about, I turned to Jae-Ha.

He met my eyes, and again, in a quiet voice only I could hear, he replied, “Dinner.”

“…What?”

“Let’s go eat.”

With that, he stepped back, putting some distance between us again.

So the director knew about this dinner plan before I did?

The absurdity of it all made me let out a dry laugh.

“Go ahead and sit. The director said, He has something to tell you.”

“Right. Anchor Yoon, why don’t you have a seat?”

Jae-Ha gestured to the empty spot beside him, and Director Lee chimed in.

When did the two of them get so in sync?

Still blinking in surprise, I sat down as they requested.

“You said you were curious about the anchor audition, right?”

Back on my first day, I’d asked repeatedly about it. But the director had brushed it off, saying I’d find out later.

Don’t tell me…

The process for selecting the anchor for the late-night news had shifted from unofficial evaluation to a sudden, public audition.

Only someone capable of pushing back against Seo Ji-Han, could’ve pulled that off.

Realization dawned, and my eyes widened.

Don’t tell me…

“You guessed it. That was thanks to CEO Seo Jae-Ha.”

As the director confirmed it, I couldn’t even close my mouth in shock.

“He helped switch the anchor selection process to a public audition.”

Jae-Ha, looking at me, broke into a soft smile.