ATGRA 33

At the same time, the PD was on the verge of being demoted.

“PD Kim, are you in your right mind?”

“No, it’s just……”

“A retraction? A ret-rac-tion? Are you crazy? You’re trying to throw the credibility of our broadcast program into the gutter. Do you want to retire that badly?”

“……”

“Even if you’re quitting, you shouldn’t cause trouble for the broadcast. What is this! It’s not like you’ve been a PD for a day or two.”

He knew it would be like this from the moment he was summoned to the president’s office.

He had rolled and struggled from the bottom to finally reach the main PD position. Unlike entertainment broadcasting stations, he had endured so tenaciously in a cultural affairs broadcasting station where promotion was difficult because there was nothing that could create a big hit.

To consistently maintain his industry reputation, which changed like the flip of a hand overnight, PD Kim lived a truly diligent life. He grabbed onto any topic that could become an issue, and though he felt sorry for the staff, he humbly accepted forced overtime and extra work.

Thanks to that, the harvest had been quite good recently. Both Gongjindan and Riritang were products in demand, so they both created quite a buzz online.

Until then, the president had been kind to PD Kim. The hope of our cultural affairs broadcasting station is only PD Kim! It was just a few months ago that he had heard such words.

But now, to the broadcasting station president, PD Kim was nothing more or less than a bastard who deserved to be torn to pieces.

However, there was nothing PD Kim could do. Who would have known that a problem would arise because of Baek Wonhee, who was much more affable than the Korean medicine doctor who made Gongjindan and even readily leaked industry information?

The PD had already somewhat guessed that there was a problem with Riritang. A diet Korean medicine with such great effects. No matter how great Korean medicine was, there were many shady aspects to it.

However, the advertising fee was too much to refuse……. Baek Wonhee had said that his Riritang was safe. Although it was suspicious, it had received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and had completed clinical trials, so his words sounded like the truth.

However, drug components were detected in the supposedly safe Riritang. It was a situation that would make one go crazy. In other words, PD Kim had promoted a Korean medicine containing drugs on public television.

It would have been fine if he just staunchly insisted he didn’t know and washed his hands of it. Because not only cultural affairs broadcasting stations but also other broadcasting stations often pretend to be innocent, saying, “We didn’t know either,” when problems arise.

However, even that was a bit difficult now. PD Kim let out a deep sigh. He didn’t know what would happen to him if he tried to cut his losses.

PD Kim recalled the past when he had gotten drunk at a company dinner and blabbered about things he should and shouldn’t have said. Not only did he ramble on about personal stories, but in his inebriated state, he also unreservedly spouted criticism and harassment towards Moon Yeonghwa.

Baek Wonhee had cunningly recorded everything he had said while drunk. Recording without the consent of the person involved is illegal, but PD Kim’s recorded voice was so spectacular that the law could be slightly ignored.

—That one, is he really an omega? He doesn’t have a cute side. When I tried to get close, he just blocked me on messenger.

—That’s right. He’s a recessive, so he looks like a beta.

—Hah…… what a shame. I should have sweet-talked him then and tried to screw him.

—…….

—You know what? People who are that prickly are amazing in bed.

The fact that the remarks of a tolerable level were to that extent said it all. PD Kim mentally flogged his past self. He had made a mistake because he had let his guard down when things were going a little well.

Even if he thought that way, he shouldn’t have said it out loud to others. However, he couldn’t take back the words he had already uttered. It was even more so if it had been recorded.

When the true nature of Riritang was revealed through Kim Minah’s accusation, Baek Wonhee used the recording file as leverage to persuade PD Kim. Now that things had come to this, he asked him to promote Riritang again after some more time had passed.

PD Kim pondered. The recording file Baek Wonhee held was a threat to PD Kim’s social standing.

However, he couldn’t put Riritang, which had already been sued once for a drug problem, back on public television. The sexual harassment remarks could be dealt with over time, but the drug problem was a matter for imprisonment.

In the end, PD Kim attempted to cut his losses. Up to this point, it was a wise judgment.

However, the problem was what came after. Although he had planned a broadcast to target Baek Wonhee, it didn’t mean that Baek Wonhee would go to jail right away.

While he was anxiously worrying about when and how his social standing would hit rock bottom, a tip came in to <I Want to Know Everything>, the show he was in charge of.

The anonymous informant testified in a fresh tone that he knew someone who used Fentanyl patches. Since he had to air the planned broadcast, the PD took a few staff members and went to meet the anonymous informant.

And there was a familiar face there. He didn’t recognize him right away at first, but he remembered because of his sturdy build and the gaze that had stared intently at him from next to Moon Yeonghwa.

The man who had appeared, claiming to be an acquaintance, next to Moon Yeonghwa who was trying to avoid the company dinner. The anonymous informant was Jung Pureum.

Next to Jung Pureum sat one more man with a pale complexion. He was the person who supposedly used Fentanyl patches for rehabilitation purposes.

Jung Pureum called him ‘sunbae,’ and his complexion grew worse every time Jung Pureum spoke to him, as if he had some weakness held against him.

If he was going to run, he should have run then.

PD Kim recalled Jung Pureum, who had presented him with the recording file with a smiling face. His attitude was gentle, and his tone was polite.

‘PD-nim, I listened very well to your vulgar words.’

‘Wha, no, how on earth did you get this…….’

‘Your interesting opinion that our hyung would be amazing in bed, I will take responsibility and submit it to the police.’

The more Jung Pureum continued, the worse PD Kim’s complexion became, just like his sunbae’s.

Unlike Baek Wonhee, who had used the recording file to persuade him but couldn’t immediately brandish it as a weapon because his own voice was also recorded, Jung Pureum was a third party with nothing to lose.

The PD recalled the events of a few days ago and made a stern expression.

“The retraction broadcast must be aired.”

“Oh, my head……. There’s a limit to losing your initial resolve. What will people think of <I Want to Know Everything> if you do that? Whether it’s real or a scam, if you’ve framed it as a scam, just stick to your guns and push it as a scam!”

I want to do that too…….

PD Kim shed tears of blood inwardly. It was a situation that would make a ghost weep, how things had turned out this way. For goodness sake, why was Baek Wonhee’s recording file in Jung Pureum’s hands?

No matter how hard he tried to guess, PD Kim couldn’t deduce the correlation between Baek Wonhee and Jung Pureum. He could only swallow a sigh while looking at the president, who was furious and telling him to write a letter of apology.

Jung Pureum was, as he appeared, an ordinary physical education student with a talent for swimming. Aside from the fact that he went from being a beta to an alpha while taking the college entrance exam, there were no other particular peculiarities.

A hidden third-generation chaebol, or actually hiding a secret of his birth……. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, he had no dramatic background whatsoever.

However, even without such a background, Jung Pureum’s execution skills were top-notch. After the Riritang video was uploaded to Kim Minah’s You-Tube channel, Jung Pureum also began to move in his own way.

Moon Yeonghwa had said, “As long as Jung Pureum doesn’t suffer a loss, it’s fine.” So Jung Pureum really decided to ‘just not suffer a loss himself.’

The first stage of Jung Pureum’s not-suffering-a-loss project was to not say anything to Moon Yeonghwa. He had to move in complete secrecy, because if he even showed a hint that he was busy running around to help him, there could be trouble.

As it happened, there were plenty of people around who were fine with taking a bit of a loss. From his university sunbae, who was periodically involved in violent incidents and showed signs of addiction to Fentanyl patches, to that damn Baek Wonhee.

Stage two of the not-suffering-a-loss project. Jung Pureum decided to start by shaking down Baek Wonhee.

Since Jung Pureum also lacked settings like ‘turns out to be a genius hacker’ or ‘actually a dark magician who can control people’s minds,’ he simply walked into the main entrance of Wonhee Korean Medicine Clinic and made an appointment for a consultation.

The employee sitting at the reception desk was very kind. Baek Wonhee knew Jung Pureum’s face, but the employee didn’t know who Jung Pureum was. She just thought he was a handsome patient visiting the clinic.

Thanks to that, Jung Pureum was able to sit face to face with Baek Wonhee without much difficulty. It was the same method as when he had tried to get a prescription for Riritang.

As soon as Baek Wonhee saw Jung Pureum, he scrunched up his face, asking if he had come to commit industrial espionage again. But the purpose of Jung Pureum’s visit was not Riritang.

Pureum opened his mouth with a kind and polite attitude.

‘Isn’t a Korean medicine doctor distributing Fentanyl a betrayal?’

To storm in through the main entrance and say… what? Baek Wonhee was at a loss for words. Beyond being absurd, it was because he had no idea what Jung Pureum knew to be saying this.

Betrayal. In the first place, aren’t even Western doctors not supposed to distribute Fentanyl? There were many things to rebut, but his mind became anxious, and his mouth wouldn’t open.

Fentanyl, like Dietamine, is a medical narcotic. If you break Dietamine down very finely and take it, it becomes Fentanyl. In countries without medical insurance, there were cases of addiction from abusing Fentanyl as a painkiller.

And in the case of alpha athletes, they sometimes used medical Fentanyl for injuries because regular painkillers didn’t work well. The problem was its addictiveness. Why would a drug be called a drug? Even if the effect is amazing, it’s a problem because it’s addictive.

Jung Pureum’s university sunbae was one of those examples. Contrary to his words that he only used what was prescribed by a doctor, he bought illegally distributed Fentanyl patches with his own money even during the off-season when there were no competitions.

It was something Jung Pureum had only recently noticed. Perhaps thinking that other people wouldn’t know, the sunbae was truly bold, leaving patches that were clearly illegally prescribed in a shared locker.

They say you need to be smart to lie. He didn’t intentionally look into someone else’s locker, but since they shared a locker room, it was hard not to know in the end. Not only Jung Pureum but also other athletes must have noticed the presence of illegal drugs rolling around in the locker. They just pretended not to know because they didn’t want to get involved.

Right after meeting Kim Minah, Jung Pureum immediately confronted his sunbae. Jung Pureum, who was usually calm even when provoked, was grilling him, and the sunbae also got scared that the problem would get bigger.

Medicine prescribed by a doctor was fine, but the moment the illegal patches he bought with his own money were discovered, his athletic career would be over.

In the end, the sunbae, who couldn’t give up his career, confessed to Pureum in detail why he started taking Fentanyl and even where he got it.

While listening to that confession, Jung Pureum thought. Reporting drugs is 1301 without an area code……. Getting drugs seemed easier than he thought, but getting them in large quantities was a complicated process.

Then, how on earth did Baek Wonhee get so much Dietamine to put in Riritang?

This, if I poke it right, I might get lucky?

It was a judgment that would have made Moon Yeonghwa faint in shock if he had known. He would have jumped up and down, asking where he learned such cunning tricks. Little did he know that he had learned it all from him…….