Chapter 153

"What?"

The other Berry Rose members rushed over to Cho-Hee and began reading the article that she showed them. The article started by describing an eyewitness account about how Chae Woo-Jin appeared at Rome Law Firm on Saturday. Rome Law Firm was located in a building with other law firms; due to the nature of the job, many people worked on Saturdays as law firms were always swamped with work.

Several people were puzzled when Chae Woo-Jin showed up at Rome. The first thing that came to mind was that perhaps he might have been involved in some sort of lawsuit. However, it would have been rather strange for Chae Woo-Jin to show up at the law firm with a bouquet of red roses if that had been the case. Looking at the photo of Chae Woo-Jin that was sent to the journalist on that day,, he looked more like a guest than a client.

"A man with flowers is truly attractive."

Chae Woo-Jin was very photogenic - he looked good in photos taken from any angle. People couldn't help but admire his beauty when they looked at him.

Chae Woo-Jin's visit had stimulated a lot of curiosity, and many theories and stories surfaced after that, but it was a clear fact that Chae Woo-Jin was the grandson of Rome's CEO, Park Hyun-Man. Thus, it was only natural for Chae Woo-Jin to visit his maternal grandfather the day after the list of candidates that had passed the second round of the bar exam was announced.

As such, the journalist ended off the article by saying it was understandable that Chae Woo-Jin had taken the bar exam, and how absurd the sponsorship theory was.

"That's right, why would the grandson of Rome's CEO look for a sponsor?"

"That's insane. Didn't TM's CEO mock Chae Woo-Jin for not having any connections in the voice recording? So he didn't know about this?"

"He must have done it because he didn't know any better." If he had known about it, Kim Seok-Hyung wouldn't have made those blunt remarks and pushed Chae Woo-Jin into a corner. Neither would he have introduced Chae Woo-Jin to a sponsor, much less do what he did today.

"TM did all kinds of foolish things, huh."

Chae Woo-Jin was already a great asset on his own; if they were to include the huge connections he had, it would mean that TM had suffered a very big loss. Even in Berry Rose's case, the fact that Chae Woo-Ra was the only child of Bareunjeong Foods' CEO had already been a huge help.

"Wait, if you're talking about Rome... Woo-Ra, I mean, A-Ra, isn't your maternal grandfather the CEO of Rome?"

It had never been published in a news article; it was just a rumor that had been covertly circulating around on the internet. It was normal since people could easily search on the internet and find out that Chae Woo-Ra's father had once been the son-in-law of Rome's CEO. People naturally deduced who Chae Woo-Ra's grandfather was by looking at her age.

After looking at the articles posted on the internet, the other Berry Rose members had asked Chae Woo-Ra directly about it

"Members from the upper class were bound to meet one another. Did you think my mother came from just any family?"

Even though Chae Woo-Ra didn't openly admit it, it was as good as a silent acknowledgement. . Hence, the Berry Rose members had no choice but to feel even more disheartened and walk on eggshells around Chae Woo-Ra, as her maternal side of the family consisted of powerful people too.

However, now that an article had revealed Chae Woo-Jin was the grandson of Rome's CEO, Park Hyun-Man, what was the relationship between Chae Woo-Jin and Chae Woo-Ra?

After hearing Da-Young's question, Chae Woo-Ra's face turned pale; she couldn't give a response and simply froze in place. Another member looked at her and muttered pitifully.

"So you didn't even know you had a real brother?"

The members of Berry Rose knew how much Chae Woo-Ra liked Chae Woo-Jin. They felt sorry that she had such a story as well. Nobody in Berry Rose could call Chae Woo-Jin 'oppa' as Chae Woo-Ra would kick up a huge fuss. Seeing as the oppa she liked turned out to be her real brother, it could only mean their family got broken up. However, Da-Young didn't get caught up in the exchange of emotions among the other members.

"Chae Woo-Jin has another younger sister who's the same age as you. Are you twins?"

Chae Woo-Ra's father had gone through a divorce, so it was understandable if their family had gone their separate ways when they were very young. Seeing how Chae Woo-Jin had alluded to his mother's remarriage during the press conference, the possibility of him being her half-brother couldn't be ruled out. However, after seeing Chae Woo-Jin's younger sister in Golden Ball not too long ago, Da-Young didn't think they would be step-sisters as they looked alike. If that was the case, what was the identity of the two sisters that were of the same age? Her first speculation was that they were twins.

And upon hearing Da-Young's question, the cold look on Chae Woo-Ra's face started to crack.

***

It was the first time since Chae Woo-Jin's debut that news and articles were being published and released one after another in real time, while receiving such intensive media attention. It was as though he had hit three home runs, which started from the news about him passing the second round of the bar exam.

The level of attention Woo-Jin was receiving from the media and the public was the same as a celebrity who had caused a scandal. This time, quite a number of things had been revealed, so people were busy sorting out the facts. Wish Baragi had quickly grasped the situation and organized the facts as they rushed to sway public opinion. At the press conference, Chae Woo-Jin's lawyer had strongly emphasized that Chae Woo-Jin must not be linked to the sponsorship rumors in any way. His fans had completely understood the intent behind it, and they made it their mission to educate the public.

<So we have to make sure that the word 'sponsor' doesn't show up under related searches. Regardless of how untrue it is, it might become a word that could haunt Genie for the rest of his life. As time goes by, people tend to forget the details about other people's affairs. They usually remember the situation via the words related to the incident. Hence, we have to do something to ensure that awful word will have absolutely nothing to do with Genie.

Bear in mind that this incident is not a case of suspected sponsorship but an act of malice by TM's Kim Seok-Hyung. It's a crime stemming from obsession and greed for something he couldn't obtain. Thus, I hope all of you will refrain from using the word 'sponsor' as much as possible.

Also, let's not make any assumptions or create any misunderstandings about the other artists from TM. That's not our job. We don't have time for anything else - 24 hours a day isn't even enough for us to think about Genie.>

-- Thank you barag, for straightening out the situation. Thank you for making us feel relieved after yesterday's rude shock, and bringing up such an important point.

-- You're lying, barag! Previously, you told us you were dating someone who looked like Genie. I'm sure you think about your boyfriend during those 24 hours too.

└ I see my perfect (apart from his name) boyfriend every day at work, so I don't have to think about him. He's right in front of my eyes.

As Wish Baragi had been thrown into a state of confusion the day before, one of the contributors wrote a post to calm the other barags down and explained the current situation in a comprehensible way. Hence, many barags were grateful to her, and expressed their anger while watching the live press conference.

-- I almost blew my lid when I was watching the press conference. Everything had been going so smoothly for Genie, what kind of bullshit is this? If Kim Seok-Hyung was that greedy, he should've protected him dearly and helped him flourish! What did he do to the young man in his early twenties? Sxxxxxx? When I was listening to the voice recording, I was so angry that I cried.

└ Let's think of it as a process to help Genie become more prosperous. Letting the whole world know how smart and resolute 21 year old Genie was via this incident alone is a huge bonus. Seeing how he wasn't swayed by temptation and worked hard on his own, I fell in love with him all over again. He has absolutely not suffered any damages or losses because of this incident.

└ I know, right? It must have been hard for a 21 year old to say those words to the CEO (I meant to say 'bastard') of the agency and safely(?) get out of the situation. Our dear Genie accomplished such a difficult feat at a young age. Ah, I'm going to wipe my tears.

-- I think we should take this opportunity to look into the other artists who have been embroiled in rumors after leaving TM. Genie oppa would never call Lee Hyung-Jin his favorite singer for no reason.

└ That's right. I had goosebumps when Genie said he had prepared everything in advance because he knew something like this was going to happen. I figured they must have done the same thing to Lee Hyung-Jin. Genie knows something about it, right?

With the addition of Chae Woo-Jin's testimony and suspicions about Lee Hyung-Jin's incident, a hypothesis was established and circulated. As soon as the rumors about Lee Hyung-Jin surfaced last year, he had insisted on his innocence until the very end, and even the family of the deceased had sided with him.

Nonetheless, people didn't believe his claims because the media had strongly portrayed Lee Hyung-Jin as the culprit behind the entire incident, and no one else had stood by him. Everyone had accused him of being a murderer and a bully, and he wasn't given the opportunity to defend himself. If by any chance, someone had a different opinion, they would have been treated as an irrational and cold-hearted fan of Lee Hyung-Jin, so people had no choice but to keep their mouths shut. That was why nobody stood up for him, which eventually led to his downfall.

At that time, the public thought justice was served, so they were pleased.

-- I've suddenly become afraid of TM. Genie will be fine, right?

└ He has DS backing him up, and the other companies said they were going to file lawsuits as well. And his lawyer is from Rome Law Firm. I looked it up and found out he has a high chance of winning the lawsuit, so please don't worry. CEO Kim's underhandedness is terrifying, but not his power or influence. That said, justice always prevails!

-- He made a mistake by stirring up trouble when Genie left him alone. What exactly was that TM bastard thinking when he did this?

└ He was probably afraid that Genie would pass the interview segment of the bar exam and his guilty conscience pricked his mind. It seems like he published that article to ensure Genie would fail the interview.

Surprisingly, a lot of people had identified the root cause of this incident. CEO Kim Seok-Hyung didn't pull such an act because he was resentful of letting go of a big fish. Instead, it was because of his rational fear of the fish catching and eating him alive.

-- Yesterday, Jin-Hee's Mother told us not to worry because everything would be revealed at the press conference, so I wasn't worried at all.

└ Exactly. Not only do we have Manager Kang and Coordinator Hwang on the official front, we also have Jin-Hee's Mother on the personal front.

When the news broke out and rumors started circulating, Kang Ho-Soo and Hwang Yi-Young published a post on Wish Baragi, but it wasn't able to ease the members' anxiety. It wasn't because they didn't trust Chae Woo-Jin - they were simply too worried about what would happen if Woo-Jin didn't have any evidence to refute those accusations.

Meanwhile, Jin-Hee's Mother wrote a message to the agitated barags, telling them not to worry. She was known to have a personal relationship with Chae Woo-Jin. She told them they would find out everything after watching the press conference, and uploaded on the bulletin board a real-time photo of Chae Woo-Jin casually playing with Woo-Sa on Sunday. Several fans felt relieved after seeing how Chae Woo-Jin was casually enjoying his afternoon while looking very carefree because they were very worried the incident might have hurt him.

The confidence shown by DS and the people around Chae Woo-Jin was naturally conveyed to the fans. That allowed them to feel confident and reassured. Following which, another piece of news broke out right before the press conference was over, shocking the barags who thought this incident couldn't become even more dramatic.

<Chae Woo-Jin turns out to be the grandson of Rome Law Firm's CEO, Park Hyun-Man.>

-- I... Didn't that TM dog mock Genie for having a hard life with his single mother in the voice recording? He also mentioned at the press conference that his mother had remarried last year and he's currently living with his parents... What is this article talking about?

-- In another follow-up article, it's said that after CEO Park Hyun-Man's only daughter had gotten a divorce, she raised her children alone without any help from her parents. I guess that's why Genie didn't talk about his mother's family.

└ The person Genie's mother is currently married to is the CEO of Brisingamen! Gaon, the brand Genie is modeling for, is one of its brands. Wow~! It seems like all the puzzle pieces are falling into place now.

-- Even though I don't know much about the law, I've heard a lot about Rome, so I was initially grateful that they were representing Genie, but it turned out to be an expected outcome. Ah, those people deserve it! Normally when something like that happens, even if it turns out to be nothing more than a rumor, companies don't come forward to participate in a lawsuit. However, the CEO of one of the companies that hired him as a model is his father, and after some digging, it seems like his father is a very close acquaintance of Taeyang Foods' CEO. That's why they're taking action.

└ That person is completely screwed. The people who ran their mouths yesterday are nowhere to be seen right now.

-- I'm having a mental breakdown right now... ;;

└ Ack! Come to think of it, you're one of Gaon's designers. You really didn't know about the relationship between your CEO and Genie?

The other WIsh Baragi members asked her out of envy and curiosity, but the response they had gotten back was a shocking piece of information.

-- My team leader is the CEO's wife...

This was what fans called a 'lucky fan'.

***

Chae Mu-Seok of Bareunjeong Foods was reviewing the documents he had received in the morning. While he was reading the final draft of the advertising materials for the newly announced condiments line, his secretary quietly entered his office. As soon as he glanced at her, she placed a piece of documents on his desk.

"What's this?"

He thought he had already received all of the reported documents, so Chae Mu-Seok frowned as he thought one of them had been left out.

"I printed out an article that had just been published because I figured it's something you need to read."

After hearing what she said, Chae Mu-Seok looked at it. There was a photo of a man, along with an A4 sheet of paper with the contents printed on it. Chae Mu-Seok's eyes scanned the article indifferently; it didn't take long for his eyes to light up.

"I see."

However, there was no warmth in his cold voice.