chapter 22

Chapter 22: Beneath the Mask

Eunha stared at her laptop screen, heart pounding. The photo of Ji-hoon's former mentor—Chairman Park Il-sung of Luma Entertainment—was staring right back at her from a list of board executives. A cold chill passed down her spine.

She grabbed her phone and called Ji-hoon.

He picked up on the second ring. "I was just about to call you."

"I found something," she said urgently.

"So did I," Ji-hoon replied. "It's bigger than we thought."

"Chairman Park," she said.

There was a silence. Then Ji-hoon whispered, "I should have known."

---

They met in Eunha's tiny apartment an hour later. She cleared space on the kitchen table as Ji-hoon plugged in his USB drive. The screen came alive with the damning footage Haneul had given him. The recording of Baek Do-jin's confrontation with Sae-jin played again. Ji-hoon couldn't take his eyes off the screen.

"This man," he said, voice heavy, "he wasn't just handling her. He was threatening her for something. Something they didn't want exposed."

Eunha nodded. "Chairman Park is tied to multiple production companies under shell names. Shows, idol training programs, variety shows. Baek Do-jin is just one of his tools."

They sat in silence for a moment before Eunha continued. "I also found a deleted thread on an anonymous forum. It was posted the night Sae-jin died. It said: 'She tried to talk. They made sure she wouldn't.' It was removed in under five minutes. But I traced the IP."

Ji-hoon raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"It came from inside Luma Entertainment."

---

Meanwhile, at Luma HQ, Chairman Park sat in his office, staring at a tablet. He watched the same leaked clip of Baek Do-jin and Sae-jin. He didn't flinch.

A knock on the door.

"Come in."

Baek Do-jin entered, looking visibly shaken.

"They're digging," he said. "Ji-hoon and that reporter girl."

Chairman Park remained calm. "Let them. They're too late."

"But the footage—"

"Won't hold in court. Besides," Park said, pouring himself a drink, "by the time they put the pieces together, the story will be buried under something far louder."

Baek Do-jin hesitated. "And if Ji-hoon talks?"

Park turned to him with a smile. "Then we remind him who built him."

---

Back at the apartment, Eunha looked up from her screen. "We need to go public. If we sit on this, they'll bury it."

Ji-hoon hesitated. "I've stayed quiet for years. I told myself it was for survival. But now... Sae-jin's gone. And so many others."

He looked up at her, eyes clear. "I'm done hiding."

Eunha nodded. "Then we leak it all."

They began organizing the files—testimonies, videos, financial records, and confidential contracts. It was more than enough to blow the lid off the entire industry's darkest secrets.

As they worked late into the night, neither noticed the blinking red light outside the apartment—mounted discreetly above the doorway.

A surveillance camera.

Streaming live.

To someone watching very closely.