Chapter 152

It was uncertain if Jang Soo-Hwan's power and influence had brought about this unusual outcome or attributed to the influence of the companies Chae Woo-Jin was modeling for. However, it was clear that Rome taking on this case alone would give the parties being served immense pressure.

"I will be in charge of all legal matters concerning Mr. Chae Woo-Jin. We ask for your kind understanding so that Chae Woo-Jin can focus on his acting career and other endeavors in the future."

In other words, the lawyer was telling the journalists not to bother Chae Woo-Jin from now on. It wasn't just an empty threat — Rome Law Firm always followed through with actions. The journalists present here already knew that as they had heard a lot about it.

"In that case, how are you going to deal with the sponsorship issue?"

As soon as one of the journalists asked that question, Lee Young-Hwan openly frowned. It was very subtle, but the journalists became tense after seeing the look on the highly dignified and charismatic lawyer's face. Lee Young-Hwan paid no attention to it, faced the cameras broadcasting the press conference live, and spoke clearly.

"I do not know why Mr. Chae Woo-Jin keeps getting linked to the sponsorship issue. It is a malicious case that damages a person's reputation and the companies they work with by spreading false information. The sponsorship matter is a social issue that should be dealt with by the police or prosecutors separately. It is not related to Mr. Chae Woo-Jin in any way. Please refrain from implicating him in it. This is clearly defamation as well."

Lee Young-Hwan proceeded to present guidelines for future articles. The sponsorship itself was not important; what mattered was the inside story that created false information and evidence. They had to draw a hard line and make it known that the chronic sponsorship issue within the entertainment industry had nothing to do with Chae Woo-Jin. While the reason accounting for this clear division was Chae Woo-Jin's important image, Park Yi-Yeon was also another reason.

Park Yi-Yeong had been secretly investigating the sponsorship problem within the entertainment industry. The litigation was supposed to take place in November, but it had suddenly surfaced because of this incident, so he was in a challenging situation as of now. Even though it had been accelerated, a good thing that came out of it was that it had provided a basis for the investigation to be carried out naturally. Also, this incident had saved him a lot of trouble.

However, the problem was that Chae Woo-Jin and Park Yi-Yeon were cousins. Park Yi-Yeon was indispensable to the investigation. As the prosecutor of this case, his cousin, Chae Woo-Jin, should absolutely not be involved in the sponsorship issue. Hence, Lee Young-Hwan had deliberately emphasized that the sponsorship matter was a social issue that had nothing to do with Chae Woo-Jin. Even though Kim Seok-Hyung was indeed one of the people Park Yi-Yeon had been investigating, Chae Woo-Jin's case had to be viewed as an entirely separate case. It was personal, whereas the sponsorship matter was a social issue that was not related to him in any way. It was necessary to force the public to view it that way.

"Since it's almost time to wrap up the press conference, we will only take two more questions."

The host confirmed the time and informed the journalists. The conference was quickly coming to an end as the voice recording playback took up a lot of time. The journalists raised their hands, eager to ask more questions, but the host picked a journalist with whom they had already made prior arrangements.

"Judging by the voice recording and materials you have prepared, it seems as though you have extensively prepared them since a long time ago. Did you by any chance expect something like this to happen?"

The journalist read the memo they had received from their director before heading for the conference room. When they first saw the question, they wondered what it was about, but they now understood and realized how important this question was. In other words, it was asking if there were any other important things that DS and Chae Woo-Jin wanted to reveal.

"Yes."

"You did? Could you please elaborate on that?"

"It is because of the strange fact that none of the aspiring artistes that left TM became successful."

"What do you mean none of the artistes that left TM became successful? You are one of them, along with Lee Hyung-Jin... Ah...!"

Yes, there had been a few successful ones. However, the one thing they all had in common was that all of them had a bad ending, apart from Chae Woo-Jin. Perhaps, if Chae Woo-Jin didn't have any evidence against TM, he most likely would have become one of the fallen celebrities. At the thought of how there might be more to the story than meets the eye, the journalists looked very interested. The ones who had somewhat guessed it nodded and remarked that they had expected it, while the faces of some of the others turned pale; they couldn't raise their heads and simply feigned ignorance.

"We will take one last question."

Regardless of their reactions, the host calmly continued with the press conference, once again picking another journalist who had already been decided in advance as the final person.

"You mentioned you have spoken to CEO Kim Seok-Hyung on the phone right before the press conference. Is there anything else you have not told us about?"

Chae Woo-Jin looked troubled for a moment after hearing that question. Then with a vague look on his face, as though he was trying to hold back his laughter, he grabbed the mic and answered.

"He told me to come back to TM if I get kicked out of DS."

His answer might be concise, but the cause of the situation was clearly implied. If he didn't have the original voice recording, he would've had no choice but to make a deal with Kim Seok-Hyung to explain and cover up the incident. Judging from Jang Soo-Hwan's conviction and personality, Chae Woo-Jin's contract with DS would have definitely been terminated if he had failed to prove his innocence. After leaving DS, TM would become the only place Chae Woo-Jin could rely on, so Kim Seok-Hyung's calculations were not entirely off.

Perhaps, there was a massive gap between the future Kim Seok-Hyung had dreamed of and the reality.

***

"What is that bastard talking about right now! When did I say that!"

Kim Seok-Hyung was watching the press conference. He was also well aware of the implications of Chae Woo-Jin's answer. Thus, he couldn't control his anger and let it out. He grumbled, saying, 'I only said I'd take him back out of pity, and what did he say? How could he twist my words like that and mislead everyone?' That was his only excuse for getting mad.

"I tried to save him from his plight, and he's not even thankful. I'll sue him for defamation too!"

He sat down on the sofa and yelled as he ripped his hair out, but he knew he couldn't sue Chae Woo-Jin. In any case, he did tell him to go back to TM, and if Woo-Jin were to release the voice recording of their phone call that happened right before the press conference, he would truly be in a sticky situation.

"I was doing so well, and then I became agitated after hearing Lee Yeon's name at the end. What should I do?"

Kim Seok-Hyung had never imagined Woo-Jin would have a copy of the original voice recording. He couldn't understand why Woo-Jin and DS hadn't done anything to him all this while, despite having the voice recording in their possession. If he were them, he would've already used it to threaten him or make a deal. His blunder only occurred because those people sat back and did nothing, so he felt very resentful.

"I think the best thing to do is to insist that Assistant Manager Kim had misunderstood after hearing the voice recording recorded during an acting practice session and tipped off the journalist." Director Kwon had been quiet the entire time; he made a suggestion in a weak voice. No matter how hard he racked his brain, that was the only way he could think of. In any case, as long as he managed to successfully convince everyone that Assistant Manager Kim was the one who had reported it, he would have a slight chance of escaping this predicament.

"Tell Assistant Manager Kim not to worry and that we'll take care of the trial and the aftermath. Speaking of which, why did they hire a lawyer from Rome of all the law firms!"

During the Blue Fit incident previously, DS had sent them a certification of contents filled out by Rome; this time around, they had employed their services once again. Kim Seok-Hyung was mortified upon seeing that. Even if they wanted to flaunt their money, going to such an extent seemed insane.

"But if the other companies choose to participate in the lawsuit, the amount of money involved would be very hefty."

"Perhaps...."

Kim Seok-Hyung wanted to say it was probably just an idle threat, but then he thought of Jang Soo-Hwan and sighed. He was doubtful that Jang Soo-Hwan had persuaded the other companies to participate in the lawsuit. However, they would not have a choice but to take action on account of Jang Soo-Hwan. They wouldn't want this incident to drag on for a long time and cause them more trouble.

"Try contacting some of the executives we know from the companies suing us."

Some of the senior executives of the companies that Chae Woo-Jin was modeling for had a good relationship with TM. Now, he had no choice but to count on them for the time being.

"Everything's going to be fine."

Kim Seok-Hyung was confident things would be resolved this time as well as they always did in the past. It would cost him a huge sum of money, but he decided to think of it as a consequence of bad judgment on his part. Things like that happened when doing a business; there were bound to be risks everywhere.

Director Kwon looked at CEO Kim; he hoped the latter would be more careful and learn something from this incident. However, people don't change that easily. Kim Seok-Hyung had only been dealing with more or less the same type of people. It had played a considerable role in his incredible luck thus far. His continuous success made him confident and arrogant, blinding him. And this time, their opponent seemed too big for them to handle.

"CEO Kim!!"

Kim Seok-Hyung's secretary recklessly opened the door to his office without knocking and barged in, looking very pale. His secretary's rude behavior made him furious.

"Don't you have any hands!"

"I do, but.... An article was just published...."

The secretary's gaze shifted to the TV. Chae Woo-Jin was currently wrapping up the press conference. Kim Seok-Hyung had a feeling the new article his secretary was talking about was about Chae Woo-Jin, so he frowned slightly. It was only natural for the details of the press conference to be published in real-time. She wouldn't have been so surprised by the obvious.

"What is it?"

As soon as Kim Seok-Hyung asked his secretary what happened, she looked as though she was about to cry and showed him the article that had just been published on the internet.

***

"See! What did I tell you? My Woo-Jin oppa would never do such a thing." Chae Woo-Ra pointed to the TV and screeched at the other Berry Rose members. At the same time, the members of Berry Rose stared at her with puzzled looks on their faces. They were in the midst of preparing for the Celebrities' Special Admission to college.

"What are you talking about? Has any of us said anything about Chae Woo-Jin? You were the one who went berserk all on your own, yelling, 'How dare those old bitches try to get fresh with my oppa?'"

As a celebrity, sponsorship had always been a sensitive issue that they had to be cautious about. Hence, after the article went viral yesterday, none of them had said a thing about Chae Woo-Jin. They were not the only ones keeping silent — most of the celebrities held their breath and kept an eye on the situation throughout the day. It was a sensitive issue in this industry.

Chae Woo-Ra was like a double-edged sword to Berry Rose. Berry Rose had been appearing on TV a lot with the help of Chae Woo-Ra's family. Because of that, all the members gained a moderate amount of popularity. Even though they were losing out on a huge source of income because they didn't perform at events for the sake of their group's image, they were still enjoying a substantial amount of benefits in return. Thus, they accepted Chae Woo-Ra's entire personality and somehow got along with her.

As long as Chae Woo-Ra was a member of Berry Rose, there was no need for them to look for sponsors. No, in a broad sense, Chae Woo-Ra's family was their sponsor. The only difference was that they had sold their pride instead of their bodies. As a result, they were in no position to run their mouths and criticize someone else.

Hence, while the other members of Berry Rose remained silent, Chae Woo-Ra became very agitated all by herself and kicked up a big fuss. She had assumed the rumors about Chae Woo-Jin were true and cursed at anyone who was a sponsor. In a way, the person who believed in the rumors about Chae Woo-Jin the most out of all the members of Berry Rose was Chae Woo-Ra.

"I trust people too easily because I'm very naive. What's wrong with that? Is it a crime to be naive?" When Da-Young pointed that out, Chae Woo-Ra acted rather dignified instead. The previous day's events had happened too long ago for Chae Woo-Ra to remember.

"Yeah, sure."

Da-Young no longer had the energy to argue with her, so she simply agreed with Chae Woo-Ra. Even though Chae Woo-Ra was a piece of work, this incident made Da-Young realize that she was grateful for her existence. She was lucky enough to have a relatively easy life in the entertainment industry, as long as she let go of her pride.

"Oh my god! Chae Woo-Jin is the grandson of Rome's CEO!"

Cho-Hee wasn't listening to what Chae Woo-Ra was saying — she was just sitting in a corner doing her own things. She exclaimed after coming across an article online.