A Thousand Faces (Soon to be Published)

Chapter 55

In a meeting room where everyone had left for the day, Park Jun-gil sat alone in the dark, deep in thought.

The person who had visited the broadcasting station a few hours ago was Hwang Dojin.

Park Jun-gil couldn't understand why someone like the Chief of the Government General Affairs would come to a place like this.

As soon as Hwang Dojin mentioned Daemyoung, Park Jun-gil dropped all his questions and clamped his mouth shut.

Somehow, Hwang Dojin knew everything about the incident involving Joo Mansik that week.

Park Jun-gil recalled Hwang Dojin's warning.

"Do you really think Daemyoung will push forward with this as it is? They're the kind of people who'll back out at the first sign of trouble. Then who do you think will end up bearing the responsibility?"

"...I doubt your side would change directions so easily."

"Well, that might be true. But things change when I get involved. You should know what we have up our sleeve."

...

With a relaxed demeanor and a tone full of conviction,

Park Jun-gil had a gut feeling about who would come out as the winner in this fight.

"Anyway, I suggest you think it over carefully. As I said, I came here to give advice."

The reason given was that any damage to the program's reputation wouldn't be good for that child.

Once again, this person was on Han Junwoo's side.

Before leaving the meeting room, Hwang Dojin had said that if Han Junwoo suffered even the slightest harm because of this matter, he wouldn't stand by idly.

Park Jun-gil's head throbbed with pain.

Following Chairman Kang Geonim, even the Chief of the Government General Affairs was now involved.

He wondered why he kept getting entangled with such people, who seemed to have no interest in broadcasting matters. As if dealing with the program's issues wasn't already giving him a headache.

Regardless, Park Jun-gil had to make up his mind.

The relationship with Daemyoung was really about matters concerning Kang Hyeok; in fact, there wasn't much else involved.

For the sake of the broadcast, he had to find a way to extricate himself from this incident.

***

The overseas filming ended abruptly. As soon as Junwoo returned to Korea, he immediately sought out Mansik.

Mansik was in Seoul.

He said he couldn't go to the theater at the moment.

Junwoo nodded his head.

"Is the situation being resolved?"

"Of course. You just focus on what you're doing right now. Don't worry unnecessarily."

"Okay."

"You're not getting into trouble again, are you?"

"Trouble? Not at all."

Reflecting on it, this was their first real conversation in a long time.

Fortunately, Mansik seemed to be in a better state than expected.

Junwoo didn't say much else, as if that answer was sufficient for him.

He knew not to doubt the contrived and fabricated stories, nor did he want to resolve them on his own terms. Mansik felt relieved and grateful that Junwoo didn't probe further or express anger about the situation. Likewise, Mansik didn't inquire about Junwoo's current circumstances.