You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 124

“……”

At the same time, the director was scrolling down with trembling hands.

He read Choi Jong-hyun’s post on the company bulletin board over and over again.

He refreshed the page several times to make sure that the post was actually on the company bulletin board for everyone to see.

But with each refresh, only the explosively increasing number of views caught his eye.

Everything was real.

“Shit……”

The director hung his head and covered it with both hands.

When he ran into them in the office yesterday at dawn, he thought Choi Jong-hyun seemed to know something.

But he never imagined that this kind of situation would happen.

That the laptop camera was on, that the screen was recording.

Such a program wasn’t even open.

[

We support Choi Jong-hyun, who took courage.

Choi Jong-hyun is not alone.

The editor-in-chief’s obstruction of Choi Jong-hyun’s coverage is definitely not his own idea.

If this isn’t press oppression, then what is?

There was a time when I felt pride as a member of Iljung Daily, but now I feel a sense of disillusionment.

We demand Iljung Daily.

Be sure to reveal all the facts and hold the editor-in-chief accountable.

Culture Department Deputy Director Joo Hwe-young]

As time passed, related posts began to accumulate one by one.

Was it because Choi Jong-hyun revealed his identity despite it being an anonymous bulletin board?

Other reporters also began to reveal their identities and post messages of support for Choi Jong-hyun.

The problem was that deputy director-level reporters were joining in one by one, not just regular reporters.

‘It doesn’t seem like we can just ignore this.’

If reporters start taking collective action, the company has no way to deal with it.

He wanted to check the atmosphere with reporters he was usually close to, but he couldn’t move rashly because he might get betrayed by someone he trusted.

The director picked up the phone with trembling hands.

He dialed a familiar extension number and put the receiver to his ear.

The trembling in his hands didn’t stop, and he could feel the vibration on his ear where the receiver was touching.

“…Chief Editor!”

The director shouted as soon as the ringing stopped.

Then, he covered his mouth, thinking that his voice might be too loud and leak out of the office.

-Haa…….

Park Hyo-sung’s sigh was heard from the other side of the receiver.

His heart seemed to sink.

“Chief Editor, as you’ve been informed……”

-How could you handle things like this, huh?

At Park Hyo-sung’s roar, the director squeezed his eyes shut.

“I’m sorry.”

He was in a difficult situation and had no time to apologize to others, but Park Hyo-sung was the only lifeline he could grab right now.

If his actions offended him, he wouldn’t be able to get help.

-Tsk, tsk.

“Chief Editor. Please, help me. If they start taking collective action, I’m really done for! I think we need to take down the posts on the company bulletin board first. Please contact the administrator.”

-Everyone who was going to read it has already read it. What difference does it make if we take down the posts now?

“But we can’t just leave it like this!”

-If we take down the posts, everyone will say the company is in cahoots and it will be a mess. Things will get bigger. That’s not good.

The director bit his lip.

Isn’t it true that the company is in cahoots?

No, to be precise, it was the company’s will.

He was just a pawn that moved according to the company’s will.

The director felt choked up, but he spoke earnestly once again.

“Then please find another way, Chief Editor.”

-I was about to discuss it with the president anyway, so wait a little. There will be a way. So until then, don’t do anything rash and stay quiet. Got it?

The director grabbed the receiver with both hands and jumped to his feet.

Then, he repeatedly bent over 90 degrees towards the empty air.

“Thank you, thank you……”

Before the director could finish speaking, the phone hung up with a click.

He put down the receiver and slumped into his chair.

Leaning deeply against the backrest, he fell into thought.

The chief editor said he would discuss it with the president, so there would be some way out, but he couldn’t just sit idly by.

First, he needed to keep a close eye on the bulletin board and understand the situation.

“……”

Time passed, and it was already 3 p.m.

It had already been two hours since Park Hyo-sung said he would discuss it with the president, but there was still no news.

But he couldn’t call again and press him on what had happened.

His voice on the phone earlier was full of annoyance.

If he pushed him, he might get on his bad side.

The director took a deep breath, clutching his chest, which was still pounding with anxiety.

‘How did I end up like this…….’

It was then.

A knock was heard.

-Director. It’s Choi Jong-hyun. I’m coming in.

At the mention of Choi Jong-hyun, his heart seemed to sink once again.

Before he could open the door, the director quickly ran and locked it.

Perhaps hearing the sound of the door locking, he began to turn the doorknob.

-Director, did you just lock the door?

The director pulled on the doorknob, fearing that the locked door might open.

But Choi Jong-hyun didn’t care and kept turning the handle and banging on the door.

-Director! Open the door!

If he opened the door now, the situation would spiral out of control.

He couldn’t face him yet, as he hadn’t received any contact from the chief editor.

If he didn’t respond, he would eventually give up and leave.

The director leaned against the door and closed his eyes.

-Reporter Choi. Is the director inside and not opening the door?

-Ah, Deputy Director. Yes. I just heard the sound of the door locking. He’s inside.

This time, the voice of Joo Hwe-young, the deputy director of the Culture Department, was heard.

He was the first person to post a message of support for Choi Jong-hyun.

More than anything, he had never been on good terms with the director.

They had even argued in private about the direction of Iljung Daily.

Of course, Joo Hwe-young wouldn’t have been well-regarded by the company.

He had been forcibly transferred from the Political Department to the Culture Department 10 years ago and had been stuck there ever since.

So he must be even more excited to jump on this issue!

-Crazy bastard. You have to know when to stop avoiding. He must know what a mess it is right now.

Bang! Bang!

This time, the force of the knocking on the door became even stronger.

It was clear that Joo Hwe-young had joined in.

-Deputy Director, what’s going on?

And, from the time Joo Hwe-young joined in, I could hear other reporters gathering outside the door.

Joo Hwe-young and Choi Jong-hyun explained that the director was hiding inside and wouldn’t come out, and the reporters began to criticize harshly and bang on the door together.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The door shook violently.

It wasn’t just one or two people knocking.

Although he couldn’t see, there must have been a swarm of reporters gathered outside.

The director hurriedly looked around.

First, he pushed the sofa to block the door.

As that didn’t seem enough, he moved the table and chairs as well.

But the angry reporters didn’t stop.

“Park Hyo-sung…… Park Hyo-sung!”

The director ran to his desk and picked up the phone.

He frantically dialed the extension number and waited for him to answer.

“Chief Editor. The reporters are banging on my office door and demanding that I come out! Please, please do something! I was just following your orders!”

-My orders?

“Then, wasn’t it? Chief Editor, you’re not going to cut your tail now, are you?”

The director asked in a sharp voice.

-Cut my tail? You’re saying strange things.

“Strange? Isn’t it the truth!”

-So you’re saying that I, the face of Iljung Daily, should fall into the abyss with you over this kind of thing?

The director let out a hollow laugh, as if he was dumbfounded.

“Then are you telling me to take all the blame myself?”

-You should have done it right. How could you be so careless without knowing you were being filmed?

“There were no other programs activated on the laptop! And I clearly checked that no one was there, no…… Is that what’s important right now? If you don’t cover this up, Iljung Daily will be disgraced. You know that Choi Jong-hyun openly said that the people he was covering were Wooshin and Lee Jung-chan!”

-Disgrace is something you can just suffer once and be done with.

“……”

The director was speechless.

It seemed that the consultation with the president was already over.

They had decided to abandon the director.

That’s why they hadn’t contacted him even after two hours.

They must have been informed that the reporters were swarming like dogs in front of the director’s office, barking and trying to devour him.

But they pretended not to know until he called.

“I’m definitely not going to die alone.”

The director said, gritting his teeth.

-You won’t die alone?

“Do I need to spell it out for you? I’ll say I did it on the Chief Editor’s orders!”

-Haha, you’re saying scary things. Have you forgotten what you said to Kim Jung-woo?

Park Hyo-sung’s voice was filled with laughter.

“What are you talking about?”

-You’ll die if you do that.

“……”

-I’ll give you a generous severance package, so just disappear quietly. I’ve already told the president enough about that. But if you let that loose mouth of yours run…….

As Park Hyo-sung trailed off, the director swallowed hard.

-I believe you understand without me having to say it.

“Chief Editor!”

The phone hung up without a reply.

The director put down the receiver in despair.

-Come out! Come out, you bug-like human!

The voices calling for the director became more and more numerous, louder, and more agitated during the call.

They were now using profanity without hesitation.

He had expected that they would become more violent as a group than when there were only one or two of them.

That’s why he thought he had to stop them before it became a collective action…….

“Keuheuk…….”

The director swallowed the anger that welled up with a flushed face.

Thump, thump!

The door shook as if it would break.

The locked door was shaking, and a gap was visible.

In that small gap, he seemed to see the fiercely shining eyes of Choi Jong-hyun.

Crash!

The wooden door couldn’t withstand the force of the reporters.

A small crack appeared.

The moment the crack appeared, the door broke in an instant.

“Come out!”

The door broke, and the reporters poured into the director’s office.

The director’s office wasn’t very big, so the office was full as soon as about a dozen people, including Choi Jong-hyun and Joo Hwe-young, who were at the front, entered.

The director backed away.

Then, his back hit the wall.

There was nowhere else to retreat.

“If you wanted to be Wooshin’s dog so badly, if you wanted to threaten someone, you should have done it directly to me…… Why do that to a powerless junior?”

Choi Jong-hyun shouted.

The reporters standing behind him agreed with his words.

“Do you even know how much Jung-woo, Jung-woo, suffered because of you!”

“……Reporter Choi, calm down,”

“Calm down, my ass, you bastard!”

Choi Jong-hyun spat out curses.

Seeing the director’s terrified face, he was reminded of Kim Jung-woo, who had tried to commit suicide because of this kind of person.

The image of his junior crying sadly on the rooftop.

The guilt of not being able to protect such a junior.

All emotions were mixed together in a complex way.

“Can you even call yourself a journalist after doing that? No, before being a journalist, are you even human?”

The director looked around at the reporters surrounding him.

What should he do?

First, he had to apologize.

Anyway, there was clear evidence that he had forged the suicide note, so insisting on not knowing would only provoke public anger.

“Reporter Choi, I’m sorry. I, I didn’t want to do that either, I…….”

“Then?”

The chief editor ordered me to do it.

It was the will of Iljung Daily.

He wanted to say that, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Park Hyo-sung’s voice from the phone call echoed in his ears.

“……I couldn’t help it. If you kept pushing like that, I thought there would be disadvantages for me too, I couldn’t help it!”

The director shouted in a tearful voice.

Anger flashed in Choi Jong-hyun’s eyes when he heard those words.

He raised his fist as if he would punch the director in the jaw right away.

“Sunbae-nim! Sunbae-nim, stop it!”

At that moment, a desperate voice was heard from behind the group of reporters.

The reporters all turned around.

Kim Jung-woo, who had been keeping his place without getting involved in this matter as Choi Jong-hyun had asked, was standing there.

“Jung-woo.”

“Don’t use your strength on that kind of person. It will only put Sunbae-nim [senior colleague] at a disadvantage.”

Kim Jung-woo’s words made sense.

No matter how much Iljung Daily had abandoned the director, if he used violence against him, Choi Jong-hyun would also be held responsible to some extent.

“Okay, Reporter Choi. Stop it. This bastard is finished anyway.”

Joo Hwe-young patted Choi Jong-hyun on the shoulder and said.

Choi Jong-hyun glared at the director, who was cornered against the wall and breathing heavily.

“I’m going to make sure this issue is properly addressed and hold those above you accountable. Be prepared.”

Choi Jong-hyun said sharply.

As he turned around, the reporters who had entered the director’s office with him also left the office.

The director, left alone in the room with the broken door, slumped to the floor in despair.

It’s over.

It’s all over.