The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 160

Climbing the Tightrope (5)

11 PM.

As planned, WBS and TBN were airing special broadcasts. I was at home with Han Jiyu, sitting on the sofa, watching the specials and waiting for *The Prosecutor* to air.

Since Han Jiyu was in the entertainment industry, we were watching a special about celebrity dating scandals when she suddenly tilted her head.

“This seems like something that happened a long time ago?”

“A long time ago?”

“Yeah. From what I’m hearing, it sounds like the story of Jeon Jihye and Song Seongmin.”

Even though the exact details hadn’t been revealed yet and they were just throwing around vague stories, Han Jiyu seemed to recognize it right away, probably because she was in the same industry.

“They dated for a while a long time ago and then broke up. I think it’s been over a year since that couple broke up, so why are they bringing it up now?”

“It seems like they needed a hot topic, so they brought out something they had been saving.”

“Ah, on purpose?”

“Yeah. The prosecution also has cases they deliberately hold onto, especially entertainment-related crimes or issues involving politicians that draw a lot of public attention.”

“That’s fascinating.”

Han Jiyu nodded.

“Anyway, Jeon Jihye and Song Seongmin are both with major agencies and are very famous, so I thought it would be completely buried, but the fact that it’s coming out now means the higher-ups must have been very concerned.”

“That’s right. The moment their names are revealed, they won’t come down from the real-time search rankings for days.”

They were trying to divert attention from the Grand Bridge [a major construction project] by creating a bigger topic.

In other words, they were just trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes.

“But fortunately, if they dated and broke up, the agencies can just issue a statement, and it shouldn’t last long.”

“I don’t think so.”

Han Jiyu picked the stem off a strawberry and put it in my mouth.

“The problem isn’t that they dated and broke up; it’s that she was pregnant.”

“Pregnant?”

I was eating the strawberry and asked in surprise, my mouth still wide open.

“Does he have a hidden child?”

“No, she probably had an abortion. I heard they broke up because they disagreed about that.”

“That’s incredible.”

“There are more things than you think in the entertainment industry.”

It was surprising that she had an abortion, but it was even more amazing that the fact hadn’t been revealed to the media for over a year.

Choi Gyuhyun’s ability to bring it up again was also terrifying.

Even if Jeon Jihye wasn’t, Song Seongmin’s agency, Bit Entertainment, was part of Line 1 [a powerful faction or group], so I figured they probably gave him various favors in exchange for the scoop.

Only the two people caught in the middle were pitiful.

After watching WBS’s program for a while, it was almost time for *The Prosecutor* to air.

Just as I was about to change the channel.

-In exactly 10 minutes, the stars of this dating scandal will be revealed!

The reporter’s voice made the hand holding the remote twitch.

“They really put their heads together.”

“Choi Gyuhyun must have directed even this.”

He was one of the most cunning people I had ever met.

I already knew who the stars of the dating scandal were and even their dirty secrets, but I was still hesitant to change the channel.

The stock and coin broadcast on TBN must have been in a similar state.

“You can change it.”

Han Jiyu said softly, thinking I was hesitating because of her.

“It’s okay since I already know.”

“Really?”

I smiled awkwardly and changed the channel to PBC, where *The Prosecutor* was airing.

***

-What should we do?

I let out a deep sigh at Seong Taehyun’s question.

“Hold off for now. You’ll have to stay in Line 1 for the time being.”

-Understood. Let me know if anything changes.

“Yes.”

As soon as I hung up, I sighed again and again.

The content of *The Prosecutor* was good.

No, it was more stimulating than any other special we had planned with PD [Production Director] Song Jaehun so far.

It was hard for ordinary viewers not to be outraged while watching it.

Even though we had hidden and edited out some of the more serious content for the second report, I still wanted to curse while watching it.

Nevertheless, the viewership ratings for the Grand Bridge special were much lower than usual.

Far below the usual viewership ratings of *The Prosecutor*, which were at least 10% and averaged between 13% and 15%, it was only 7.6%.

In terms of viewership ratings, it was a complete failure, and Choi Gyuhyun’s plan had worked.

It was no exaggeration to say that, as a result, the second report on the Grand Bridge had become uncertain, let alone shaking Choi Gyuhyun.

“What should we do?”

PD Song Jaehun was racking his brain and deep in thought.

“The situation is worse than I thought.”

“But the reaction on the viewers’ bulletin board wasn’t bad, was it?”

“Yes. There are a lot of posts expressing outrage about the Grand Bridge, but the viewership ratings are so low that the momentum is lacking.”

We had succeeded in properly stimulating the viewers who watched the program, so if it had been a normal situation, we could have kept the embers of the fire alive through the community, but WBS had announced a second special, revealing other people’s dating scandals following yesterday’s dating scandal between Jeon Jihye and Song Seongmin, so all sorts of communities were being plastered with their stories.

The Grand Bridge incident was bound to be buried.

“But we can’t back down like this.”

“Yes. We can’t let ourselves be played by these tricks.”

We had to come up with a plan.

If we were to be swept away by Choi Gyuhyun like this, it wouldn’t just be a one-time failure, but we would continue to be played by him in the future.

PD Song Jaehun kept expressing his regret.

“I really think we succeeded in stimulating the viewers this time…”

The moment I heard his words, a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.

“Wait a minute, Jaehun. The viewership ratings were low, but the viewers’ reactions were definitely better than usual, right?”

“Yes. If we could just show it to the viewers again, we could definitely make it a hot topic.”

“Then why don’t we show it to them?”

“How do you mean? Even if we ask the higher-ups to rebroadcast it, they won’t listen.”

PD Song Jaehun continued with a bitter expression.

“And no one is going to pay to watch this documentary-like *The Prosecutor* on IPTV [Internet Protocol Television].”

“If they don’t want to pay, why don’t we show it to them for free?”

“Yes?”

“Copyright aside, you don’t want it to be buried like this, do you, Jaehun?”

“That’s true.”

“Then we can go with illegal sharing.”

He asked with wide eyes.

“Are you telling me to distribute this program myself?”

“Yes. Of course, you won’t be involved in the distribution process. Instead, a top star watches it and is so stimulated that they post an illegal sharing link to the program on their personal SNS [Social Networking Service], and their fans will naturally be interested, right?”

“That’s true. But is there anyone who would step up on such a sensitive topic?”

I smirked.

“Who is my wife?”

Han Jiyu.

With over 9 million followers, she is the top star of this era.

***

When I told Han Jiyu the whole story, she readily accepted my proposal.

Of course, I had no intention of using Han Jiyu inappropriately or portraying her as an unprincipled person with no sense of copyright.

Just one day.

24 hours would be enough to share the *The Prosecutor* video with her nearly 10 million followers.

The fans would try to watch the video, curious about Han Jiyu’s intentions.

And then, my plan was to vaguely gloss over this illegal sharing act by pretending it was a hacking incident.

I entrusted all of this work to Yoon Seolha.

As a young, new-generation woman, she would have much more knowledge of SNS than other old-fashioned prosecutors.

As soon as Yoon Seolha heard my story, she immediately rattled off a plan.

“When talking about hacking, if you just post one post, you might raise suspicions that you’re trying to cover up a mistake.”

She continued as if it were nothing.

“Post a photo with an unintelligible meaning a couple of hours before the main video is uploaded, then upload the main video, and then post various other videos, in a format that is different from the atmosphere of what your wife usually does on SNS.”

“Even if it’s confusing at first, you can definitely create the impression that it’s a hacking incident later on.”

“That’s right. Anyway, someone like your wife will immediately become news just by posting something, whether there are suspicions or not.”

Yoon Seolha shrugged as if it were no big deal.

“It’s okay to be suspected of hacking from the middle. If it seems like the hacker is trying to convey a message, it could even spark a debate in the community about whether it’s hacking or not, which could be stimulating.”

Looking at her confident expression, I already felt reassured.

“Of course, there may be legal problems with this illegal sharing later on, but you know that better than I do, right?”

“Yes. It’s a problem if she posted it herself, but if she was hacked, she’s actually wronged and not subject to punishment.”

Even if Yoon Seolha was in charge of the SNS hacking, she was planning to use a burner phone with no SNS login history and use the Wi-Fi in public facilities, so it was no exaggeration to say that tracking would be impossible.

“It would be good for Jiyu to be abroad to increase credibility a little more. She couldn’t pay attention to SNS because she was busy with her overseas schedule. That makes sense, right?”

“As expected, you consider things that I can’t even think of.”

She playfully held out her fist to me.

“We’re a fantastic combination.”

I smiled lightly and bumped fists with her.

“I’ll tell Jiyu to go on a 2-night, 3-day trip abroad in two days, so please take care of it then. It would be good to give it that much time for the dating scandal that’s currently surfacing to subside. If there are any problems, please contact me at any time.”

“Understood.”

***

One day.

No, in less than 12 hours, the internet was in an uproar.

Just as the dating scandal between Song Seongmin and Jeon Jihye was slowly dying down, the *The Prosecutor* video was shared through Han Jiyu’s SNS, disguised as a hacking incident, through Yoon Seolha.

Her over 9 million followers repeatedly shared the illegal video, and the video spread rapidly. Illegal links even began to circulate in all sorts of communities.

At first, it became a hot topic because Han Jiyu, a top star, illegally distributed the video, and the second was the content of the video. The third was the fact that it might be a hacking incident, which led to a barrage of news.

The hacker would not be found, but it was obvious that the Grand Bridge would receive attention as people speculated about the purpose of hacking Han Jiyu’s SNS and distributing this video.

A full day had passed, and the derailed plan had returned to its original course.

That evening, after everyone had left work, I was alone in my office, reading the official statement from Han Jiyu’s agency that her SNS had been hacked, and I was leisurely taking a break.

There was definitely someone who would be sweating bullets and calling me today.

About an hour passed.

*Beep beep.*

As expected, Choi Gyuhyun was calling.

I cleared my throat and carefully pressed the call button.

“Yes, this is Choi Seojun.”

-Prosecutor Choi.

Those three words calling me were enough to feel an unusual atmosphere.

He was definitely angry, but he was suppressing it.

He continued through gritted teeth.

-I need to see you for a moment.

“Ah, I’m in the office because of overtime.”

I said nonchalantly, twirling a pen.

“Today is a little ambiguous. How about tomorrow?”

-No, let’s see each other right now. Should I come over, or will you come?

A voice full of anger.

From that, I could tell that Choi Gyuhyun was wavering.

I smirked and replied.

“I’ll go. Where should I go?”

-The Dobby Hotel. The usual place.

It seemed he was in the suite right below the penthouse.

-You better come as soon as possible.

“Understood.”

With those words, the call ended.

After confirming that the call had definitely ended, a chuckle escaped my lips.

From his voice, it seemed that he couldn’t overcome the anger of the derailed plan and had thrown a fit at his secretaries.

I leisurely left the chief’s office and called Seong Taehyun.

“Assemblyman, you can now proceed with changing your party affiliation.”

I smirked and headed to where Choi Gyuhyun was waiting.