Episode 24
“Stop circling around it and just say it.”
“Okay, okay. You’re so scary sometimes… Anyway, do you know what I heard earlier when I went to rest? I found
out a huge secret about this factory.”
“What?”
Ha-yoon thought back to what had happened a few minutes ago.
She was heading to the bench to wait for Tae-jun when she overheard some voices nearby. It was the factory workers
who had happily welcomed her and Tae-jun earlier.
They were holding sweet instant coffee and whispering seriously. Ha-yoon was about to wave hello but instead
stepped quietly closer, curious about what they were saying.
“Are we really doing the right thing?”
“What choice do we have? We just have to do what the factory manager tells us. What else can we do?”
“Honestly, this is fraud. If we get sued, we can’t even argue. I’m terrified something bad will happen.”
Ha-yoon didn’t know exactly what they were talking about, but it sounded serious. She quickly pulled out her phone
and started recording their conversation.
“That’s why it’s scary—because everything is fake. We’re not even using local Korean products. The paperwork and samples are all lies. Everything was just for show. And the cleaning? That’s a joke. We only cleaned the visible spots today because someone was visiting.”
Ha-yoon glanced at Tae-jun’s face as he listened to the recording. He showed no emotion, and she couldn’t read what
he was thinking.
“And the manager said there weren’t any complaints, but that’s because he tricked customers so they wouldn’t complain. I mean, we all have to make money, and we’ve seen so much dirty stuff already, but… I feel bad for those people. They’re gonna get dragged into this mess.”
After the recording ended, there was a long silence between them.
Ha-yoon looked at Tae-jun, waiting for him to say something. But he didn’t.
Finally, Ha-yoon broke the silence.
“Um… Director?”
“Hah… I knew something felt off. So this is what was going on behind the scenes.”
Tae-jun stood up, his expression cold, and turned around. Ha-yoon hurried to follow him.
“W-Wait, Director!”
Without looking back, Tae-jun walked straight to the factory manager’s office. The manager, humming to himself and
wiping sweat with a handkerchief, had no idea what was coming.
The door suddenly burst open with a loud bang. The startled manager turned around, his eyes blinking fast when he
saw Tae-jun’s icy stare.
The tension was thick. It felt like something serious was about to happen. Ha-yoon swallowed nervously.
“D-Director…?”
The manager spoke first.
“Who was the one who kept saying the ginseng was locally grown in Korea?”
“W-What’s this all of a sudden…”
“And who said your factory had the best hygiene?”
“Director, why are you suddenly saying this? I can’t understand unless you explain what’s going on.”
“Hah. You want me to explain? Shouldn’t you be the one explaining right now? You really think you can keep
pretending like nothing’s wrong?”
The manager still looked completely clueless.
Tae-jun let out a scoffing laugh in disbelief. Then he held out his hand toward Ha-yoon. She nodded and placed her
phone in his hand.
Tae-jun played the voice recording in front of the manager. The workers’ conversation echoed through the office, and
the manager’s face turned bright red.
“Th-this is…!”
“What’s wrong? Didn’t expect something like this to get out? Just how dirty is this place that your staff is talking like
this behind your back?”
“I-I mean… I…”
“Go ahead. Make excuses. I’ll listen. Tell me why you did all this.”
“Director, it’s not what it sounds like…”
“You know this could be considered fraud, right? If I press charges, you’ll be on your way to the police station
immediately.”
The manager’s face shifted from shock to fear. It was obvious he knew Tae-jun wasn’t joking.
“If you don’t want to end up at the police station right now, you’d better explain everything.”
“I… I…”
“Forget it. I doubt I’d hear anything honest anyway. I’ll just let the police deal with it.”
Tae-jun turned and told Ha-yoon, “Let’s go,” and walked out of the office. The manager trembled behind them,
looking terrified—but the truth was, he had lied to them.
Fraud was a huge issue in home shopping. Even minor things brought in tons of customer complaints. Something this
big…
Terrifying…
Just thinking about it made her legs shake.
“If we go back to the office, I’ll explain why we even considered this company…”
“Director!”
A desperate voice called from behind them.
Ha-yoon gently tugged on Tae-jun’s hand, asking him to stop. He was about to ignore it but paused at her silent
request.
“What is it? You still have something to say?”
“Please… Director, I’m so sorry. I really am.”
“I didn’t stop to hear your apology. If you have something to say, say it. You didn’t run after us just to say sorry, did
you?”
“You’re right… I did try to deceive you. But Director, I was desperate. I had no choice. This was the only way to save
the company…”
“Then tell me the real reason you did this. Don’t make excuses—just tell the truth.”
The manager fidgeted with his fingers and kept biting his lip. He couldn’t look up.
After a long silence, Tae-jun gave a small laugh and turned to Ha-yoon.
“Jung Ha-yoon, there’s no reason to stay here any longer. We’re going back to Seoul.”
“Wait, Director! Can’t we listen just a bit longer?”
“How? He hasn’t said anything.”
“I-I mean…”
“Let’s go.”
Still unable to speak clearly, the manager watched as Tae-jun walked off without looking back.
Ha-yoon looked at both men, shut her eyes tight, then bowed to the manager before following Tae-jun.
Just then, the manager cried out behind them.
“P-Please! Director, I’m begging you. Please save me!”
He dropped to his knees, repeating “please save me” over and over. Ha-yoon covered her mouth, heart aching at the
sight. He was trembling, rubbing his hands together—it was pitiful to see.
“Please… just this once…”
“What exactly are you asking me to do?”
“Team Leader Chae… he said if I didn’t go along with this, he’d ruin my company. He told me to follow his orders if I
wanted to survive. I… I had no choice…”
At the mention of Team Leader Chae, both Ha-yoon and Tae-jun’s faces twisted with shock as they looked at each
other.
Because they both knew exactly who that was.
