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chapter 13
The men had definitely carried those cardboard boxes with their own hands. Which meant—there might still be some trace of memory left on them.
Quietly stepping out of the alley, Noh Hyung-jin approached the pile and placed his hand on one of the boxes.
‘Who are you… who are you…’
Several memories overlapped, but not too many. It didn’t take him long to find the key one.
The memory ended with the sound of the trunk closing, but that was enough for Noh Hyung-jin to know who had sent those men.
“As expected… Yoo Sang-ho.”
No sane employee would dare call the chairman ‘young master’. That left only one possible person.
“He’s already caught on, huh… what now?”
Coming quietly like that, without lawyers, without announcements — this clearly wasn’t a friendly visit. Rumors may not always be true, but they’re rarely baseless.
“For now… I’ll have to try a different approach.”
“What do you mean I can’t file the complaint?”
“To file a complaint, you have to include the person’s address or contact information.”
“What if I leave that out?”
“Then it gets dismissed.”
“What about a phone number? Isn’t that enough?”
“No way. With modern tech, they can track someone within a 50-meter radius.”
Of course, such tracking was illegal. But the opponent here was Daeryong Group. Not only did they have the means — even if caught, a two- or three-million-won fine was pocket change to them.
“Wouldn’t filing the complaint at least make them hesitate?”
“That only applies when the other party’s a public figure. Besides, even if you file it, it’ll take at least three months before anything happens. If something ‘accidental’ happens during that time, the case will be dismissed since the plaintiff is gone.”
“…Oh no.”
Realizing at last what kind of mess she’d walked into, Kang So-young’s face turned pale.
“C-can’t I just drop it? Give up now?”
“If you’d given up before, maybe. But not now — they won’t leave it alone.”
If they’d never known of Young-min’s existence, maybe. But now that they did, they’d never let him live in peace even if she backed off.
‘Live or die, there’s no choice but to go forward…’
If it had been this kind of case from the start, he would have told her to back out. But at first, it hadn’t been. Things only spiraled after the father died.
“So what do we do?”
They couldn’t hide in a motel forever.
“I’ll find a way. Until then, don’t step outside. At all.”
With that, Noh Hyung-jin stood up. He had to find a way — any way — to keep them alive.
Jirasi.
In Korea, people often use the word “jirasi” to mock cheap, gossip-filled tabloids. But real jirasi actually existed — more like underground intelligence bulletins. They ran on membership fees and compiled unverified but plausible rumors.
From Noh Hyung-jin’s experience, entertainment news in jirasi was 90% nonsense — but political and financial rumors? At least 70% true.
It made sense. The jirasi’s origins lay in the stock market. Celebrities couldn’t move markets, so fake gossip didn’t matter. But investors who paid over three million won a year wanted real political and economic information. If the content was false, nobody would keep paying that fee.
That’s why Noh Hyung-jin decided: his best shot was through jirasi.
‘And jirasi is always read by people with money.’
Three million won a year wasn’t small change. The kind of people who could afford that were the market’s “big hands.” He knew — because he’d once read it himself. Not to trade stocks, but because such rumors often hid crucial truth.
And once something appeared in jirasi, even the rich hesitated to act rashly.
The problem was gaining access to it.
‘Damn it, when will I grow up already?’
Back when he was an adult, he had information channels — a few informants. But as a teenager, he had none. So he’d have to find a… dumber way.
“Urgh!”
He nearly vomited as soon as he peeked into the memory of a man nearby.
“What the—?”
“N-no, sorry. I just felt nauseous for a second.”
He quickly backed away from the man.
“Ugh, what the hell…”
If it had been a straight sex scene, it might have been tolerable — but gay sex, and a big muscular guy whining “Oppa~”? That was nightmare fuel.
“Ugh… how am I supposed to find one?”
He was looking for an informant. There were plenty — in politics, entertainment, finance. He just needed to read the memories of the right person and approach them.
“Haah… this is impossible.”
But it wasn’t easy. Reading someone’s memories demanded intense concentration — and every time, their emotions flooded into him. When it came to scenes like that, the clash between a gay man’s arousal and a straight man’s normal emotions was unbearable.
“Phew… how long do I have to keep doing this? Damn, when am I supposed to study for the CSAT?”
His parents had agreed: if he passed the national qualification test and scored well on the university entrance exam, they’d let him study law. He had to ace that exam.
“This wasn’t part of the plan…”
Originally, he’d just planned to draft a legal complaint, get the DNA test, and go back to studying. But now he was stuck in a full-blown corporate conspiracy.
“Haah…”
As he sat sighing, a man approached.
“A student like you doesn’t belong here, does he?”
“Huh?”
True — the police station wasn’t exactly a hangout spot for students. Most kids were scared of cops.
“Ah, I just came for a little tour.”
“A tour?”
“Yes, sir. I’m thinking of going into law.”
“Law, huh?”
“Yes.”
“You look young to be deciding that already. Ambitious kid.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, as encouragement, how about some cocoa?”
“I’d never refuse that, sir.”
The man bought a cup from the vending machine and handed it to him. As Noh Hyung-jin accepted it, he instinctively brushed against the man’s memory.
“Ugh—!”
“Whoa, almost spilled it there.”
“Haha…”
But what he saw nearly made him drop the cup.
‘Of course… an ordinary person couldn’t access that kind of info.’
The man was a detective. But beneath that — he also moonlighted as a jirasi informant.
It made perfect sense. Many of those insider reports contained details the public couldn’t access.
“So, what do you think of law?”
“It seems interesting.”
“It’s not just interesting — it’s a headache too.”
‘Heh, I know that better than anyone.’
But he couldn’t let that show. Casually sipping his cocoa, he decided to bait the hook.
“I actually thought about journalism too, but it’s tougher than it looks. So I switched.”
“Haha, journalism, huh?”
“Yes. Running everywhere, meeting people… I prefer staying still.”
“Well, everyone’s got their preference. Wait, you said journalism — did you actually go to a newspaper office?”
The man asked offhandedly, probably just bored.
“Would someone like me get any attention there?”
“Fair point. Journalists have egos the size of mountains.”
“Haha.”
“So how’d you get any experience then?”
“I just joined a student press group.”
“Not bad.”
Satisfied that the man was listening, Noh Hyung-jin started feeding him bait.
“So, I was doing a piece on runaway teens…”
It was one of the most common, harmless topics for student reporters.
“I see.”
“And I met this older girl.”
“Older girl?”
“Yes. Turns out she was a single mother.”
“Well, that’s not uncommon.”
He didn’t seem interested — naturally, a cop wouldn’t care about single mothers.
“But she said… the father was Yoo Sang-min.”
“Yoo Sang-min?”
The man frowned, the name sounding familiar.
“You know, the chaebol heir who died in that car crash recently.”
Pffft! “What? Who?”
The man nearly spat out his coffee.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. Fine. Wait — what did you just say?”
“She said the baby she had is Yoo Sang-min’s.”
“The Yoo Sang-min — the one who just died?”
Seeing that reaction, Noh Hyung-jin smiled inwardly. Hook, line, and sinker.
“I wouldn’t know. That’s just what she told me.”
The detective’s eyes trembled, though he kept a cautious, professional expression.
“She’s probably lying. There’s no shortage of people making up stories like that.”
“Well, true. I’ve met my share of liars too. Like one runaway kid who said his dad beats him—”
Smoothly, he changed the subject. If he kept pressing, it’d make the detective suspicious. Sure enough, the man’s face grew impatient.
“So what happened?”
“With the runaway? I told him to go home, but his dad—”
“No, no, the woman. What happened to her?”
“The woman?”
“The one who said she had the kid.”
“Oh, her! She said she’s looking for a way to sue.”
“Sue?”
“Yeah, for… uh, what was it… paternity? Something like that?”
“Paternity suit?”
“That’s it!”
The man visibly stiffened. These days, with DNA testing, faking a paternity claim was almost impossible.
“Anyway, after that I took the runaway—”
“Forget the runaway. Tell me more about that woman.”
“There’s really nothing more.”
The man took out his wallet and pulled out a 50,000-won bill, handing it to Hyung-jin.
“Here. Keep talking.”
“Huh? Why are you giving me money? I didn’t ask for—”
“Well, since you want to work in law someday, you should know — detectives can open investigations on their own if they sense a possible crime. And this… feels like one.”
‘Gotcha.’
Noh Hyung-jin cheered inwardly but kept his poker face.
“She didn’t seem like a criminal, though.”
“That’s what I’m checking. So? What happened?”
“Well…”
He discreetly pocketed the money.
“She didn’t say much. Just that she didn’t have money, and asked if I knew any lawyer who could help. Said she’d pay me back once she got child support for her son.”
“Son? Wait — she said son?”
“Yes. Why?”
“No, it’s… nothing.”
