Although not as much as “Idol Annals of the Dynasty,” “Exclusive Report” also delivered a whirlwind plot development.

The truth behind Cheon Yoonsung’s real objective—someone who had been throwing the protagonists into crisis after crisis with money and power—was finally revealed.

Cheon Yoonsung If only people like you hadn’t stirred things up, none of this would have happened. Do you only understand how useless your flimsy sense of justice is after you’ve experienced it for yourself?

Forced to be involved in illegal corruption under the pretext ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) that only by entwining with the group’s dark side could he remain faithful to the family without betrayal, Cheon Yoonsung once despaired, thinking an individual couldn’t stand against a massive conspiracy. But soon, he came to believe that he, possessing the greatest power, was the only one who could solve this problem.

Outwardly, Cheon Yoonsung carried out the tasks ordered by the group, while beneath the surface, he was plotting for a greater cause. Vowing to one day bring down Cheonju Group with his own hands.

The portion to be filmed today was a scene where the protagonists, who lost their family while Cheon Yoonsung waited for his time, and Cheon Yoonsung, who declared he would turn a blind eye to inevitable sacrifices to root out the problem because he knew the shadows even the protagonists were unaware of, clashed sharply.

Throughout memorizing the lines, I felt it was easier to empathize with the protagonist’s side than with Cheon Yoonsung. How could anyone dare justify the harm someone else had suffered?

It might be a cowardly choice, but if it were me, I would have distanced myself from this problem altogether. Even if it meant giving up everything.

Nevertheless, my role was Cheon Yoonsung, not Gong Jichan. I had an obligation to understand and embody Cheon Yoonsung.

So I wore down his lines in my mind, over and over. A man born into a world where everything was provided for him, yet none of it was truly his. A man who knew, down to his bones, that he couldn’t rely on public authority. A man who grew up never being allowed to make a single choice for himself.

I drew on my own memories: of being a neglected child in a financially stable home, of how violence in a “normal-looking” house was so easily ignored, of the days when survival alone filled every thought.

Bringing up old emotions wasn’t a good experience. But it could add realism to the character of Cheon Yoonsung.

And spending a lot of time, I came to understand Cheon Yoonsung, who could have chosen the single option of running away but didn’t.

All that remained was to persuade others beyond the screen of Cheon Yoonsung’s actions. Embracing the heavy responsibility, I closed the script.

Haneulchae.

The small restaurant that showed kindness to Chairman Cheon in the past when he had no money for even a single meal because he poured all his fortune into his business, transformed into the current high-end Korean restaurant with full support after Chairman Cheon’s success.

A monumental place for Cheonju Group that Chairman Cheon visited whenever there was a celebratory occasion. At the same time, when Chairman Cheon was displeased, Cheon Yoonsung being summoned to Haneulchae meant that someone was about to die.

Cheon Yoonsung invited Ham Yiseo and Gong Jichan to Haneulchae. Knowing the significance of Haneulchae, the two left wills at their respective homes and came to meet Cheon Yoonsung.

Handing over their phones as instructed by Chief Ko, the secretary, and entering the innermost room, Cheon Yoonsung welcomed the two with a smile.

“Funny how people who don’t want to see each other keep running into each other.”

“.......”

“Why don’t you sit?”

Cheon Yoonsung said with a smile. Ham Yiseo and Gong Jichan sat side by side opposite Cheon Yoonsung.

In the silent space, only the sound of Cheon Yoonsung drinking tea was heard. Steam rose from the teacup like incense.

“How does it feel? Finding secrets others don’t know.”

“.......”

“Is it fun?”

“Fun?”

Ham Yiseo was enraged by Cheon Yoonsung, who acted shamelessly after committing evil deeds.

“After killing people?”

“You say scary things, Ms. Ham Yiseo.”

Neither Ham Yiseo nor Gong Jichan could press Cheon Yoonsung with the evidence collected so far. The moment Cheon Yoonsung knew they had leverage, he wouldn’t hesitate to act.

With the enemy of their family living well and prospering right in front of them, all the two could do was hold back their anger.

“How can you wear a human face and do things like this?”

“Things like what, exactly?”

“Using dirty tricks to get rid of anyone or any company interfering with making money, while doing business with a good image.”

Ham Yiseo had spent her life writing articles she could stand by, even if people lumped her in with tabloid reporters. To Ham Yiseo, who had lived honorably all her life, Cheon Yoonsung’s behavior was even more incomprehensible.

“Ms. Ham Yiseo values trust.”

Even in front of the indignant Ham Yiseo, Cheon Yoonsung was calm. Cheon Yoonsung’s eyes turned to Gong Jichan.

“She says so, Mr. Gong Jichan.”

“.......”

“Does Ms. Ham Yiseo know that Mr. Gong Jichan was a member of Cheonju Group?”

Ham Yiseo’s eyes widened. Cheon Yoonsung couldn’t take his eyes off Gong Jichan, and Gong Jichan couldn’t take his eyes off his own tightly clenched hands.

Cheon Yoonsung smiled brightly at Ham Yiseo. He leisurely appreciated Ham Yiseo’s expression, feeling betrayed by the colleague she trusted most.

“What does this......”

Ham Yiseo looked alternately at Cheon Yoonsung and Gong Jichan. Gong Jichan’s silence was answer enough.

Feeling numb as if hit on the back of the head. Feeling trembling with rage at being deceived.

To Ham Yiseo who looked ready to explode, Gong Jichan spoke with difficulty.

“Once we leave here...... I’ll explain everything.”

“You speak as if you can leave.”

And Cheon Yoonsung didn’t miss the opening.

“Didn’t you say it’s a murderer enterprise? One that uses dirty tricks to get rid of obstacles?”

“Are you threatening us?”

“No, just curious. How you can think of leaving safely in front of a human suspected of killing people.”

Cheon Yoonsung leaned back heavily. His head turned toward the wide-open window.

“You came here knowing what kind of place Haneulchae is, right?”

“.......”

“This is a really nice place. Maybe because it’s old, it smells here and there.”

“.......”

“Especially from that pond.”

“......!”

The two gasped. Cheon Yoonsung watched the guests’ reactions with a smile.

“I should tell them to clean more thoroughly. We’re hosting important guests, after all.”

The “cleaner” of the Cheonju Group was Cheon Yoonsung himself. For him, who had no reason to entrust cleaning to others, that pond remark was nothing more than a joke.

“So you get scared by a single sentence, yet you had the guts to poke at the Cheonju Group? You even wrote wills. I thought you were ready for anything, but this is disappointing.”

“We did it because it had to be done. It’s not a matter of discussing whether to do it or not.”

“Taking on something you can’t handle is just stubbornness and arrogance.”

Cheon Yoonsung’s gaze changed. An oppressive feeling that stiffened the body just by facing it dominated the room.

Ham Yiseo pierced through this pressure with her own strength.

“So people like us going after you is arrogance, but what you’re doing is a ‘greater cause’?”

Gong Jichan shot her a look. But Ham Yiseo’s two eyes were fixed only on Cheon Yoonsung and didn’t falter.

Cheon Yoonsung laughed as if dumbfounded.

“Ms. Ham Yiseo.”

“.......”

“Who are you threatening right now?”

“I know you have it. The list of victims.”

Ham Yiseo didn’t back down. It was information Ham Yiseo found out right before coming here, which she hadn’t even shared with Gong Jichan.

“For someone who talk about trust, it seems you didn’t even trust your own colleague.”

Cheon Yoonsung said with a laugh. However, only Cheon Yoonsung’s eyes were coldly sunken.

“It seems you planned to blow it up when the time came.”

“Your deductive reasoning is extraordinary. But why didn’t it occur to you that you’re interfering with my work?”

“Why should I care?”

While you were waiting for the “time” to come, my dad was murdered.

The bulging veins in her neck and her trembling hands revealed Ham Yiseo’s emotions entirely. Gong Jichan, sharing the same pain, couldn’t say anything either.

“Entrepreneurs and individuals cannot help but be different in this aspect.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“If you get hung up over every death, you can’t rip out the roots. As an entrepreneur, I endure minimum sacrifices for maximum profit.”

“What?”

“Ms. Ham Yiseo.”

Looking at Ham Yiseo who jumped up from her seat, Cheon Yoonsung asked in a calm tone.

“Can Ms. Ham Yiseo exercise more influence than me in matters related to Cheonju Group?”

“That’s......!”

“Didn’t you write a will knowing you could disappear without a trace with just one word from me? What can you do with that petty power? Do you really think Cheonju Group can’t bury an article?”

Irrefutable reality hit Ham Yiseo. As long as Gong Jichan was an insider, if Cheonju Group dismissed it as “false rumors spread by a former employee with malice toward the company,” public opinion would quickly turn to Cheonju Group’s side.

“....What is it that you want to say?”

Gong Jichan opened his mouth. The gazes of the two men collided in the air.

“From the moment you leave here, do nothing.”

“.......”

“Shut your mouths and live as if dead. Don’t catch the Cheonju Group’s eye—more importantly, don’t catch mine.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sliding door opened, and Chief Ko appeared. On the wooden tray Chief Ko placed on the table, two mobile phones were placed.

“Recorders would have become useless. You came knowing the interior is treated to prevent recording, right?”

Cheon Yoonsung pushed the tray in front of the two.

“Take them.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

With hands trembling due to various emotions, Ham Yiseo picked up the phone.

Gong Jichan, checking his phone next to her, suddenly raised his head. Cheon Yoonsung smiled gently.

“Seamless, isn’t it?”

At Cheon Yoonsung’s words, Ham Yiseo hurriedly checked the phone’s serial number. Numbers different from the device number she last checked were listed.

The number looked the same, and the accumulated contacts were the same. No text saying a new line was opened came. Not even a messenger login alarm.

Yet, while they were talking, everything was moved. In this process, all conversations Ham Yiseo and Gong Jichan shared and saved data would have been wiped out.

In that moment, even two-factor authentication and ARS verification felt laughable. Could an individual really defeat someone who could exert this kind of control over something as small and personal as this?

“Go home safely. We took care of your wills, so don’t bother looking for them.”

Behind the brightly smiling Cheon Yoonsung, the black pond sparkling under the moonlight was visible. Ham Yiseo and Gong Jichan ran out of Haneulchae as if chased away.