“Woo-Jin, it’s time.”

As soon as Woo-Jin hung up on CEO Kim Seok-Hyung, Kang Ho-Soo entered the waiting room and pointed out the time. Before he knew it, it was almost time for the press conference. Hwang Yi-Young had followed behind Kang Ho-Soo; she checked Woo-Jin’s attire and makeup to make sure that everything was in place, and explained the do’s and don’ts to him.

Today, Woo-Jin stuck to his usual style. There was no need for him to dress to impress, or to dress modestly. As usual, Hwang Yi-Young tried her best to create a modern and classy vibe, except that this time, Woo-Jin wore the Zenga suit he had rejected last years because it had been too excessive.

“When you enter the conference room, walk naturally as you button up your jacket. When you make eye contact with the journalists, don’t smile; look slightly angry and solemn! Okay?”

The journalist had immediately published such a deceitful article, without checking the facts and going through the negotiation process. Woo-Jin would be considered a pushover if he wasn’t mad at that journalist. The journalists who blindly agreed with him were also considered accomplices. It was important for Woo-Jin to express his disappointment towards them.

Woo-Jin was known for being very polite and smiling at all times, but he had a very solemn look on his face right now. The journalists were about to find out the reason why. Before opening the door to the conference room, Kang Ho-Soo glanced at Woo-Jin and asked if he was going to be okay. Up until now, those journalists had only shown him kindness. It was time for Woo-Jin to face their sharp criticisms and ridicule. Even though Kang Ho-Soo was going to be by his side, the only person who had to deal with that was none other than Chae Woo-Jin himself.

“I’m fine.”

As soon as Woo-Jin nodded, Kang Ho-Soo slowly opened the door. Even before entering, Woo-Jin instinctively wanted to close his eyes because of the incessant camera flashes, but he stopped himself. Woo-Jin fixed his gaze firmly; he buttoned up his jacket and entered the conference room.

When Chae Woo-Jin appeared, the cameras followed his every movement; the conference room was filled with the noisy sounds of journalists busily moving around. Today’s press conference would be broadcasted live. When Chae Woo-Jin said he would be giving an explanation about the sponsorship rumors, several broadcasting stations had offered to do a live broadcast. Since it was what Woo-Jin wanted, CEO Jang Soo-Hwan had given the green light for it to be aired live on broadcasting stations, and some cable ones.

Chae Woo-Jin entered the conference room with a solemn look on his face; he didn’t look nervous or intimidated. Instead, he emitted a very cold vibe, and he looked very dignified. His eyes were filled with disillusionment and anger as he looked at the journalists. The cameras fully captured his expression and everything was being aired on TV.

Woo-Jin’s entrance was drastically different from what the journalists had expected, so they paused for a second as their eyes tracked Chae Woo-Jin as he walked, feeling puzzled. They were gathered here to hear the excuses Chae Woo-Jin had prepared. They had been making wagers with one another about what kind of clothes and makeup he would be wearing, and what kind of excuses he would be making while looking haggard. The most popular excuse they came up with was Chae Woo-Jin recording himself during an acting practice session, and TM editing the voice recording, which was also what his fans had claimed. So many of the journalists had chosen this excuse, which led to the bets being called off.

Aside from a couple of journalists who had always been in favor of Chae Woo-Jin, the rest of the journalists believed that he had made his debut in the entertainment industry with the help of a sponsor. This was a separate issue from acknowledging Chae Woo-Jin’s abilities and value. And in light of the evidence, it would be comical to make a different judgment.

There were many sponsors in the industry, but they were all in hiding. It was just a matter of whether they would be caught or not. Chae Woo-Jin was caught because he was unlucky; it was nothing surprising. As such, the entertainment industry and the sponsorship issue were closely related to one another. The situation seemed too obvious for them to doubt and ignore the cases with sponsorships and just side with Chae Woo-Jin instead.

As soon as Woo-Jin sat down, the camera flashes went off, blinding him once again. However, the journalists were impressed upon seeing him look calmer than ever. They couldn’t help but acknowledge that Woo-Jin was a very talented actor, as per their expectations. They also felt sorry for him. The downfall of an actor, whom everyone thought would have a bright and solid future, was imminent.

It wasn’t just the matter of a celebrity having a sponsor. Many people had been saying he would probably fail the interview stage of the bar exam because of this incident. As of now, Chae Woo-Jin’s future looked very bleak. Needless to say, his acting skills and looks were top notch, so after years of self-reflection and repentance, he would be able to make a comeback. Naturally, he would be getting a lot less fame and glory compared to what he would have gotten if this incident hadn’t happened, but it wasn’t the end of the road for him. That was how valuable Chae Woo-Jin was.

However, in the midst of everything, some of the journalists saw something strange. The drinks and bottled water placed in front of the journalists were products of Taeyang Foods. Chae Woo-Jin was their exclusive model. They wondered if these were sponsored by Taeyang Foods, or if it was just Chae Woo-Jin’s attempt to show that he was still thriving.

“It is with great regret that we’re gathered here on a Monday morning because of such an incident.”

The journalists were experiencing mixed feelings after hearing Chae Woo-Jin’s opening statement. Getting an interview with Chae Woo-Jin was a very difficult feat to begin with. The opportunity that was given to only a chosen few was given equally to all of them today. They didn’t know if they should be happy that this was the topic of their first interview with him as a journalist, or if they should be upset as they were people who loved the broadcasting and entertainment industry.

“It is also with great regret that my very first press conference is being held to refute the article that was published yesterday.”

The journalists nodded; as expected, they had figured that Chae Woo-Jin’s explanation at today’s press conference would be filled with rebuttals and excuses. Perhaps, it was the logical outcome. He had too much to lose to give up without putting up a fight.

The press conference was organized in such a way that Chae Woo-Jin would first announce his stance on the issue at hand, before opening up the Q&A session to the floor. After hearing the explanation of the process of the press conference from the host, the journalists held themselves back from asking questions, and waited for Chae Woo-Jin to speak.

“All of you know what I’m about to say, but the article written by Journalist Kang Il-Ro from Best Day is not true. However, the voice recording that Journalist Kang had publicly released was indeed the final conversation I had with CEO Kim Seok-Hyung on the day I left TM.”

Woo-Jin’s words didn’t make any sense; the journalists were baffled, and wondered what he meant. There was a moment of silence in the huge conference room.

“Except that the contents of the conversation were completely different from what I remember, so I was very confused. I thought my memory was failing me, so I searched for the recordings that I had and played them.”

The journalists’ eyes lit up upon hearing Woo-Jin’s assertion. In truth, the voice recording released by Journalist Kang Il-Ro was very short. In that recording, Chae Woo-Jin had only briefly responded to what CEO Kim Seok-Hyung of TM said. However, things were bound to be interesting now that there was another voice recording.

As soon as Woo-Jin glanced at Kang Ho-Soo and gave him a cue, he pressed a button on an audio device he had prepared.

– Do you think you can make it big without a sponsor?

– I’ve seen a lot of seniors in the industry who became very successful without the help of a sponsor.

– That’s only because you’re not aware of it. Do you know there are things they’re hiding that haven’t been exposed yet?

As soon as the journalists heard the voice recording, they could tell the people talking were TM's CEO and Chae Woo-Jin. Kim Seok-Hyung had often been interviewed; there was no one here that didn’t recognize his voice.

– It’s good to have a sponsor in order to succeed quickly and easily in the entertainment industry. But so what? Have I said I wanted to succeed quickly and easily?

– Woo-Jin, turn a blind eye just this once. If you keep insisting on going against my wishes, you’ll forever remain a trainee. Do you think I’ll let you debut?

– In that case, please go ahead.

– What?

– I’d rather not be a celebrity than do something so dirty.

– You’re walking all over me just because I’ve been overindulging you! Hey, there’s only one way for a broke person like you with no connections to succeed. Just crawl when I tell you to crawl! You have to think about your mother who’s raising her children alone!

Upon hearing Kim Seok-Hyung’s screaming voice, the journalists’ faces turned pale.

– I guess that’s your way of surviving in this world, but just because you lived your life like that, doesn’t mean you should tell me to live my life in the same way.

The conversation between Chae Woo-Jin and Kim Seok-Hyung continued for quite some time. The duration of the voice recording released by Best Day’s Journalist Kang Il-Ro could not be compared to Woo-Jin’s voice recording. Because of that, everybody could immediately see how Chae Woo-Jin’s words had been edited.

The audio device was now playing the part where Chae Woo-Jin revealed he was recording the conversation. Naturally, CEO Kim Seok-Hyung was yelling, while Chae Woo-Jin calmly responded.

– What’s wrong with recording the conversation? You’re pressuring me to get a sponsor.

After clearly hearing Woo-Jin’s reply, Kim Seok-Hyung yelled at him in a voice that was hardly recognizable. It clearly showed how quick-tempered and unscrupulous Kim Seok-Hyung was. Shortly after, the voice recording came to an end, with Woo-Jin leaving TM and handing the phone with the voice recording over to Kim Seok-Hyung.

“This is the entire conversation I had with CEO Kim Seok-Hyung. And as a provisional measure, I would also like to say that I have quite a number of other voice recordings of the conversations I had with TM's CEO, Kim Seok-Hyung. If need be, I have every intention of disclosing them.”

Chae Woo-Jin then took out some documents and stood up. He held out the papers and showed them to the journalists, making sure they could see them.

“With regards to the authenticity of CEO Kim Seok-Hyung’s voice in the voice recording, we have asked a sound and voice researcher, Professor Oh Myeong-Hwan, to confirm that it is the same person.”

After Chae Woo-Jin slowly turned the pages and showed everything to the journalists, he placed the papers neatly together and set them aside, before speaking to the journalists.

“That is all I have to say. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.”

It took some time to play the entire voice recording, so Chae Woo-Jin had barely said anything himself. Thus, the journalists raised their hands immediately as they still had a lot of questions. Woo-Jin pointed to the first journalist he saw who was standing in front of him.

“I am Journalist Choi Min-Jae of Shinhwa Daily.”

“Yes, Journalist Choi.”

“You mentioned that you have quite a number of recordings on top of the one you’ve released today. I’m curious as to what led you to record them in the first place. And you had given your phone to CEO Kim Seok-Hyung, so how did you end up getting your hands on today’s voice recording?”

The contents of the voice recording had clearly documented everything, including the part where Chae Woo-Jin handed his phone over to Kim Seok-Hyung in return for being released from TM. Everyone was curious about how he was able to present the voice recording that had been stolen.

“Whenever I talked to CEO Kim Seok-Hyung, I always had two or three voice recording devices on me, and that includes my phone.”

After hearing what Chae Woo-Jin said, the journalists could not hide their confusion. Chae Woo-Jin was only 21 years old at that time. It was hard to think that a young man at that age would prepare two or three recording devices just to record something. They looked at Chae Woo-Jin, and flocked towards him while wondering what kind of plot he was hatching

“I started recording our conversations because back then, he had been bothering me for months to get a sponsorship. It wasn’t something that happened over a day or two. It just so happened to coincide with the Blue Fit incident as well, so I decided to record everything just in case. And as you’ve heard from the last part of the voice recording, I thought there was no other way for me to safely leave TM without incident.”

As soon as Chae Woo-Jin finished answering that question, Lee Ji-Yeon of Daily Two threw him a curveball. She was someone who worked closely with TM.

“You claimed that the voice recording released by Journalist Kang of Best Day was edited. In that case, do you have any evidence to prove today’s voice recording wasn’t edited?”

“The authenticity of the voice recording will be revealed during the trial. However, if Journalist Kang Il-Ro wants to refute my words, he should just release the full voice recording like I did.”

Chae Woo-Jin didn’t see the need to explain why his voice recording was genuine. These things would be clarified by the experts during the trial. If they wanted to refute the truth, they could always support their arguments with other sources.

“Regardless of what I say, it’ll never be as good as a scientific explanation. However, I just want to say that science and technology has proven that the voice in the voice recording belonged to CEO Kim Seok-Hyung. In that case, wouldn’t it mean that I had given TM's CEO, Kim Seok-Hyung, a script and asked him to record himself with it?”

Woo-Jin looked at Journalist Lee Ji-Yeon with a cold gaze. It was different from how he looked at the rest of the journalists. However, they only made eye contact for a brief moment because of the incessant questions from the other journalists.

“Are you thinking of going to trial?”

“You’re asking the obvious.” Woo-Jin laughed out loud as though he had heard a joke. Instead of striving to maintain a positive image, Woo-Jin had adopted a strong and arrogant attitude today.

“In that case, who will you be suing?”

“We will decide after consulting with our lawyer, but we will definitely be suing the TM employee who had provided the source for the article. Naturally, the ill-intentioned person who edited the voice recording will be included as well. And the actions taken against Journalist Kang Il-Ro will differ depending on his response. Needless to say, I intend to demand a clear apology and compensation from him for publishing the article without first verifying the facts.”

Chae Woo-Jin showed zero tolerance. While there might be room for negotiation, he had already made it clear that he intended to demand compensation for the damage caused. His attitude was firmer than ever; it was certainly very contrasting from his easygoing side of him which he had shown thus far. Ever since the press conference started, he had been emitting a very unapproachable aura. He was not the Chae Woo-Jin everyone knew.