“Chief!”
“No, you can’t. Where are you trying to meddle without thinking? Do you want our newspaper to fail?”
“What is the role of the press? Is it just to play with power and write articles that suit their taste? Is that press ethics?”
Siyeol was so angry that his face was flushed. Although he had a fiery personality to begin with, this time the intensity was different from usual.
The chief, flinching, scolded Siyeol.
“Oh! Why is someone so rigid? What difference does it make to publish a few lines of clarification now? And shouldn’t we fact-check?”
“It’s an interview with the involved party! Fact-check? Of course, we did it! Isn’t revealing the truth the attitude of a journalist?”
“Enough! I don’t want to argue with you anymore. Go and bring me another article.”
The chief waved his hand. Siyeol bit his lower lip tightly, then turned abruptly and returned to his seat.
Siyeol threw the notebook in his hand onto his desk.
Jaeyeong’s face was filled with anxiety.
As Siyeol stormed out of the office, Jaeyeong followed him, holding two canned coffees in both hands.
“Uwaaaah! Good heavens!”
Siyeol climbed to the rooftop and shouted.
It was distressing, not knowing what to do with the pent-up frustration. Jaeyeong, who followed him, hesitated and called out to Siyeol.
“Sunbae!”
“…….?”
“Did the chief scold you?”
“The press has decayed like this! Jin Cheol-wook is busy cleaning up after it. Ugh.”
“Um, here, please have one of these and calm down.”
Jaeyeong handed Siyeol a warm canned coffee. Siyeol took it from Jaeyeong as if catching it.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. So, what about the interview with Han Taekyung, the CEO?”
“Well… I don’t know. If that guy is desperate enough to grab me for an interview… I don’t know.”
Jaeyeong took a sip of the coffee. Meanwhile, Siyeol chugged the coffee down and tossed the empty can into the trash.
“Is it all gone?”
“Yes? Oh, yes!”
Jaeyeong quickly finished the coffee at Siyeol’s words. Hurrying, he followed Siyeol.
After suppressing his emotions, Siyeol managed to handle the evening reporting schedule. Jaeyeong, with an uneasy look, trailed behind him. He was like a time bomb ready to explode at any moment.
Once the schedule was over, Siyeol casually dropped a comment.
“Do you have time? Let’s have a drink.”
“Yes!”
Jaeyeong vigorously nodded. Siyeol chuckled and playfully ruffled Jaeyeong’s hair.
“Sure. Senior will treat. How about pork belly?”
“Yes! That sounds great!”
Siyeol took Jaeyeong to a shabby barbecue place near the office.
The dimly lit alley felt eerie.
Even the chilly air brushing against their skin felt creepy.
As Siyeol and Jaeyeong turned the corner of the alley, a loud noise rang out.
A motorcycle was heading toward them. Siyeol hugged Jaeyeong, attempting to avoid the motorcycle. It passed by Siyeol’s side.
“Ugh!”
“Sunbae!”
Siyeol’s knee buckled, and he collapsed onto Jaeyeong. Blood gushed from Siyeol’s side.
Jaeyeong was too shocked to make a sound.
“Haah. Ja, Jaeyeong. Wha, what should we do? Call 119. 119!”
“Ja, Jaeyeong. Tae-kyung, Tae-kyung.”
“Jaeyeong!”
Siyeol lost consciousness. Jaeyeong, trembling with hands covered in blood, pressed the phone button.
Pressing the wrong button repeatedly, he finally connected to 119.
Tears streamed down as he spoke through sobs.
“Somebody stabbed him with a knife. There’s a lot of blood, and he’s unconscious.”
Soon, 119 arrived, and Siyeol was urgently transported to the hospital. Siyeol went into the operating room hastily.
Watching this, Jaeyeong, covered in blood, sank to the floor when the surgery room’s door closed tightly, indicating “surgery in progress.”
Shortly after, Jaeyeong, barely coming to his senses, remembered what Siyeol said just before losing consciousness.
“Yeah, I need to contact Han Tae-kyung, Han Tae-kyung, the CEO.”
Jaeyeong, with a face smeared with tears, mucus, and Siyeol’s blood, took out his phone. Seeing the blood-soaked phone, tears welled up again, but he wiped them away with the back of his hand.
He didn’t know Tae-kyung’s phone number. In a hurry, he called Tae-kyung’s office.
After a long ring without an answer, Jaeyeong was about to give up.
“Please… Please answer the phone! Please!”
Finally, after a prolonged ring, Tae-kyung’s voice was heard.
Yes, this is Han Tae-kyung.
“Pl-please help!”
Who is this?
“I-I’m Song Jaeyeong, a junior of Go Siyeol sunbaenim! Sunbae-nim was stabbed with a knife. Sunbae-nim told me to call the CEO. Please help! CEO!”
It’s Siyeol? Just wait a moment. I’ll come.
After hearing Tae-kyung’s words, Jaeyeong, relieved, collapsed on the floor.
After a while, Tae-kyung arrived at the hospital.
The surgery for Siyeol was not yet complete.
Seeing Jaeyeong covered in blood, Tae-kyung’s face twisted in dismay.
“What happened? Have you contacted the police?”
“Not yet. Sunbae-nim told me to call the CEO when he was still conscious, so I thought you wouldn’t want to make it public.”
“I see.”
Tae-kyung took out his handkerchief and handed it to Jaeyeong.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
