Chapter 122: <National Core Technology>

Choi Taemin asked his secretary, “Was my name mentioned?”

“As far as I know, no. I already made sure to talk to President Ji Minsuk. He has assured me your name will remain a secret. even if your name gets leaked, I made sure the media will not release it.”

“Just where did this video come from? Dammit. We have enough to worry about.”

“It is impossible to tell who leaked it. It was first uploaded on an international porn site.”

“It better stops with Kim Minsoo. There can’t be any other videos of anyone else.”

“It sounds like it will end soon. The reporters are starting to believe Kim Minsoo and Yoo Sona were dating at the time.”

Choi Taemin replied, “You better be right about that.”

“I will find out more about it as quickly as possible.”

“Good. By the way, what is he up to nowadays?”

“Nothing unusual. Work-home, work-home as usual. It looks like he is still doing drugs though.”

“How about KND’s Kang Woosung?”

“He has increased the number of his bodyguards, so it is now harder to learn new information about him. He started to improve his security team after Shin Semi visited his office in Sunleung.”

“He did have a sh*tty security. Now that the election is coming up, we need to prepare some cash.”

“How much?”

“We need to cover the officials from all the provinces, so I would say about a million dollars.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And I heard the semiconductor department is doing well nowadays?”

“Yes, because Blue S2 and Apple are being sold out.”

Choi Taemin sighed deeply. The situation was getting more difficult. It wasn’t so bad that he would lose his position as the heir to Daeyang, but if things continued like this, his future was unclear.

“The report we sent to the chairman on the battery explosion strongly implied the incident was due to the semiconductor overheating. It is partly true too.”

“So we are sticking with the story that the problem came from the semiconductor department.”

“And one good thing is the sales of Amor doubled. We just need to fix this The One situation, and we will be golden.”

Choi Taemin looked outside the window. Until now, he never doubted he would inherit Daeyang. He didn’t like this new form of uncertainty.

“How about the KND’s developers?”

“Most have skills we already have in our developers. We have tried to poach the main ones, but they will not budge so far.”

“… it’s so hard. Arrange a meeting with KND’s Kang Woosung.”

“Yes, sir.”

***

Mayor Oh Hoon’s plagiarism scandal was quickly forgotten.

Yoo Sona.

Yoo Sona tape.

Yoo Sona Kim Minsoo.

ThirtyNine.

Kim Minsoo.

Yoo Sona’s agency.

Keywords involving Yoo Sona’s sex tape filled the internet.

Moon Yongjun murmured, “I think she may not survive this.”

Woosung replied, “I will be the judge of that.”

“I supposed, but…”

Woosung took over Lee Ari’s agency. According to Jang Gwangchul’s research, CEO Moon Yongjun had a decent reputation and a good business sense.

“You will have control over most things, but this time, you need to trust me.”

Moon Yongjun nodded and continued with his report. “Spotify purchase is almost finished. It will be launched sometime next month in Korea.”

“Most Koreans are already using a Korean streaming service, so it may be hard to attract them. I don’t care if we initially lose money for a few months. Just make sure to focus on getting as many users as possible.” Woosung continued calmly. “Spotify is a free music streaming service, so many customers will like that. Grapefruit’s service has fees. It will be, however, not easy to attract the sponsors for ads. KND and Coconut Talk will help as much as possible for that. Spotify will be pre-installed to all Blue S phones, so this will help too.”

“And after we have enough users, we will create a premium service with fees?”

“Yes. We will offer both free and premium services. Currently, the developers are working hard to create a system that makes accurate personalized music recommendations to the users.”

Moon Yongjun still couldn’t understand how such a system could make money, but Woosung was the boss now.

“Yes, sir.”

***

Slowly, the popular online keywords started to involve Han Minsook.

Han Minsook.

Han Minsook Taesun Group.

Han Minsook Kim Gwansun.

Han Minsook Kim Minsoo.

Suddenly, a rumor started. People began saying Han Minsook offered Yoo Sona to Kim Minsoo for his support during the election. The reporters also started writing speculative articles online.

“You need to protest strongly. Tell the media, Taesun, the police, and Nexter to get rid of these false reports and articles. If we let this continue, your chance at winning the election will become slim.”

“Is it still happening?”

“We keep protesting and they deleted it for a while, but a new article keeps popping up. The keywords involving your name also continue to pop up whenever people type Yoo Sona’s name.”

Han Minsook frowned angrily. She had fought so hard to reach where she was. This needed to stop.

“What did the people from Taesun say?”

“They confirmed that Kim Minsoo and Yoo Sona are dating. At this point, that would be the only thing they could say even if it’s not true.”

“Warn Taesun, this needs to disappear in 3 hours, or else I will get the prosecutors involved. Do the same to Nexter.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

***

After a few hours.

Ji Minsuk made Yoo Sona stand in front of the cameras. It wasn’t easy for an actress to go through a press conference after such a scandal, but Ji Minsuk needed her to do this.

Yoo Sona was a true actress as she played the victim.

“I again apologize for disappointing my fans, but I want everyone to know that the rumors aren’t true.” Yoo Sona cried as she asked for sympathy. “I apologize again. I plan on taking some time for reflection. Thank you so much for your support and understanding.”

The reporters started to ask questions.

“There is a rumor you were involved in inappropriate relationships with many powerful men for your career. What do you say to that?”

“Is it really true that you and Kim Minsoo are in a romantic relationship? According to our sources, Kim Minsoo had a girlfriend around that time.”

“How do you explain getting a TV commercial contract from Taesun Group?”

Yoo Sona remained silent.

It was all planned that she made no additional comments.

Ji Minsuk stepped forward.

“We will be taking legal actions against those who spread these vicious false rumors. So I hope all of you will let this poor girl rest.”

Yoo Sona quietly murmured to Ji Minsuk in a cold voice, “As agreed, our contract is now void.”

“Fine. It’s over. You owe me nothing. We’re done.”

When Yoo Sona nodded, Ji Minsuk smiled. Yoo Sona already made him over 10 million dollars.

As Yoo Sona was about to leave the room, Ji Minsuk murmured savagely, “You better keep your mouth shut about this, or else.”

“If that day comes, I won’t be the only one who gets hurt.”

“What? Bitch! Don’t forget who I am!”

Suddenly, Moon Yongjun walked in. “You can’t treat my agency’s artist like that.”

Many bodyguards in black suits followed Moon Yongjun. Ji Minsuk stammered, “President Moon? W…what are you doing here?”

“I am taking her with me.”

“Pardon?”

“Yoo Sona belongs to my company now, so get lost. Got it?”

Moon Yongjun was a legend in the entertainment industry. He was the big fish, while Ji Minsuk owned a small-scale agency.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

Ji Minsuk swallowed and nodded.

“This is my only and last warning. I better not see you again.” Moon Yongjun then turned to Yoo Sona. “The CEO is waiting for you.”

“Alright.”

Yoo Sona got into the black sedan.