Three days. It's been three days since he's seen her. Three days since Dispatches came out with that article. Jeong-hyeok leans back in his office chair and takes a deep breath.
He looks at the projector that's been set up across from his desk, flashing with pictures and headlines. Cho Cheol-gang stands in front of the projector along with the VAST PR advisor, who looks pasty and nervous. Paparazzi pictures of Yoon Se-ri flash across the projector, snapped on her way to or from her apartment. She wears gigantic sunglasses and a stony poker face, unheeding of the media attention.
But Jeong-hyeok can see something in her posture that her expert poker face doesn't give away. She seems harried -- like a hunted deer.
"We're fairly confident that we'll be able to minimize the damage to you." The PR man adjusts his glasses nervously as he speaks, interrupting Jeong-hyeok's thoughts. "There have been very few negative articles about you."
"What about Miss Yoon?" Jeong-hyeok asks. "What about the damage to her?"
The pasty man gulps. "Most of the attention does seem to focus on her. You know how the media deals with women - there have been some comments about her clothing, the, er, backless dress, and all that."
He continues: "But it's not all bad. Her company, Se-ri's Choice, is getting a huge amount of publicity. But the media outlets seem most interested in her past - her father, of course."
Jeong-hyeok nods. "Please keep the articles about her family to a minimum. Especially any of the ones containing any rumors about her parents. Promise them exclusive articles later. Pay them if you have to. Money is no object here."
Cheol-gang claps the employee on the shoulder. "You can bill the company for those expenses, Soo-bin-ah. Call it part of our PR."
"No," breaks in Jeong-hyeok, giving Cheol-gang a sharp look. "Bill any costs incurred for Miss Yoon's publicity to my personal accounts."
Cheol-gang hesitates for a second before bowing before Jeong-hyeok's steely gaze. When the employee leaves and he turns to Jeong-hyeok, there's an overly pleasant smile on his face.
"Tell me, how is Se-ri-ssi faring?" he asks Jeong-hyeok, his voice smooth. "All this media pressure, the digging up of her estranged family. It makes me sick to see, Jeong-hyeok-ah. This can't be good for your relationship. Is she doing all right?"
Jeong-hyeok fiddles with a pencil on his desk, because the most he's seen of Se-ri recently are the pictures flashing across the projector right now. When he thinks about the last time he saw her, he winces.
***
Three days ago:
"How did - how did they get these photos?" Se-ri asks. She picks up her untouched coffee cup, and then immediately puts it down again. It's the first time Jeong-hyeok has ever seen her so bewildered. "I thought Cheol-gang said there were no paparazzi allowed in the club."
Se-ri and Jeong-hyeok had ducked into the first shop they could find on the street, after they'd seen the initial Dispatches article. Se-ri's phone had blown up with so many messages, notifications, and phone calls that she'd finally just put it on airplane mode, and now it just shows the original picture where the two of them are leaving from the club.
Jeong-hyeok furrows his brows, his mind racing. "Could one of the guests have taken the photos without him knowing?"
"A guest!" Se-ri perks up at his words. "Wait, Jeong-hyeok-ssi, I know who took this picture. It must have been Seo Dan!"
When Jeong-hyeok says nothing, she lowers her voice and leans towards him.
"Think about it. She was at the perfect angle to take this photo when we were approaching her. She wants to get revenge on me. Who else could it be?"
YOU ARE READING
Front Page News
Fanfiction"Jeong-Hyeok," his father says in a tired voice, "This is how it's going to be. The general shareholder meeting is in five weeks from now. If you are not firmly engaged by then - I am going to recommend that the board make someone else the Chairman...
