BRF Chapter 18

Hyohyun laughed strangely. It sounded like excitement, and at the same time, mixed with anger. Woojin felt the urge to turn and run, as if he had encountered a lunatic in a dark alley.

“What are you so fixated on?”

She seemed genuinely curious.

“I’m not fixated on anything.”

Woojin waved his hand dismissively and tried to walk away.

“There must be a good reason you ran out before dawn to see a woman you’re not even interested in. How much did you pour into her?”

Hyohyun casually spewed out a vulgar question, leaving Woojin staring down at her in shock.

“Pour into her? What are you talking about? Have some decency, Ban Hyohyun! Have you no shame?”

“Huh?”

She tilted her head, then burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. Woojin frowned, completely bewildered.

“Decency, you say?”

She was practically howling with laughter, a hint of madness in her eyes.

Woojin abandoned his plan to retreat to his bedroom upstairs and sat back down on the sofa.

“That’s why I told you to stop watching those weird dramas. How can you say such vulgar things…?”

Woojin shook his head as if he’d heard something he shouldn’t have.

“How much did you pour into her? I was asking how much money you spent on her! What did you think I was talking about?”

He felt his face burned as if it were on fire. It occurred to him that it wasn’t Hyohyun who was vulgar, but himself. To think he only interpreted the expression “pour into” in that way… He cursed his impure mind.

“I didn’t spend any money.”

Knowing that Woojin wasn’t the type to be easily swayed and recklessly hand over his wealth, whether to a man or a woman, Hyohyun still seemed completely baffled by the current situation and asked.

“Well, if a large sum of money had gone out, Lawyer Choi would have contacted me. Then if it’s not money, what is it? Did you give her something from the vault?”

Woojin had several vaults, both domestic and international. The secure storage facilities were filled with rare paintings, sculptures, ceramics, jewels, tapestries, and other valuable items he had collected throughout his long life.

He hadn’t intentionally acquired these valuable items from the beginning. The furniture he bought out of necessity and books he kept instead of throwing away had drastically increased in value over time.

After learning about the value of antiques, he began selling items from his collection that gained popularity as times changed, at high prices, and buying potentially valuable items at low prices, anticipating their future appreciation.

As he repeated this process, his possessions accumulated, and, proving the saying that the ultimate collection was real estate, he bought land, built buildings, and created vaults.

“Have you ever seen me recklessly give things away?”

“That’s true, but if it’s not that, then why all the fuss before dawn?”

Woojin closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Hyohyun showed no sign of backing down today. She seemed determined to get to the bottom of it.

Woojin, too, felt suffocated by the unusual situation. If he’d been living alone, as he had for a long time, he would have kept his mouth shut and endured it. But now, with Hyohyun staring at him intently, he felt an urge to confess everything.

Perhaps it was because Hyohyun was the only one who knew his secret.

“I can hear her heartbeat, even though she’s far away.”

Although he hadn’t said anything embarrassing, Woojin slowly swept his mouth and chin again with his large hand.

“Whose heartbeat? Could it be… the woman from the cafe in Gangnam…?”

The perceptive Hyohyun referred to the incident from that day.

“Yes, now that I think about it, things have been strange since that day. Has this ever happened before?”

Hyohyun’s voice was low and serious, her question earnest. Woojin slowly nodded.

“Wait, so you’re saying you can hear…”

Hyohyun’s face paled, to the point where she looked pitiful.

“Didn’t you say you could only hear the heartbeats of those about to die? Can you still hear it now?”

The woman’s heartbeat, like the ticking of a clock confirming her survival, reached his ears in a steady rhythm.

“Yes, I can hear it.”

Hyohyun covered her mouth with her hands in surprise.

“Then was Reporter Kang Eunseong in danger this morning? Is that why you rushed out?”

She seemed to be questioning the sudden change in Woojin, who had always avoided interfering with human life and death.

“Yeah.”

Woojin replied with a sigh.

“So, to sum it up, you’re saying that ever since you saved Reporter Kang Eunseong in Gangnam, you’ve been able to hear her heartbeat? Have you ever heard the heartbeat of someone you saved before, again like this? Has a heartbeat you could hear ever stopped? Oh… For a heartbeat to stop…”

For a heartbeat to stop, her heart would have to stop beating. The thought of Kang Eunseong’s heart stopping sent a chill down his spine.

“I’ve never heard the heartbeat of someone I saved again before.”

Hyohyun furrowed her brow deeply, as if lost in thought. She seemed to be trying to come up with a solution.

“Could it be some kind of side effect because it’s been so long? Why don’t you try saving one more person?”

Hyohyun winked as if suggesting a brilliant idea.

“Save one more person?”

Woojin frowned as if he’d heard the most bothersome suggestion in the world. He had no intention of protecting foolish humans who struggled through a mere 100 years of life.

“There must be a reason why you’ve suddenly gained the ability to discern the life and death of those near you, Woojin.”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about the reason. But like the difficult question, “Why do humans live?”, it was a riddle with no answer.

“You’ve been rejecting that fate all this time, haven’t you? And then you were captivated by Kang Eunseong’s face and saved someone for the first time? Perhaps the god who gave you that ability is angry?”

“Seriously…”

Hyohyun, her lips pressed together, looked at Woojin with a mixture of amusement and seriousness in her eyes.

“Are you saying I saved her because I was captivated by her face?”

All humans age. Beauty is fleeting. Hyohyun’s assessment that he had saved a life because he was captivated by a fleeting moment of beauty was hard to accept.

“Then why would someone who’s lived so selfishly suddenly save Kang Eunseong?”

Why did he save her?

This, too, was a difficult question to answer. He had simply acted instinctively, primordially, without time to think. But if he answered that way, it would sound like he was reinforcing the idea that he had been captivated by Kang Eunseong’s appearance.

“Lived selfishly? Me?”

Hyohyun smiled meaningfully and narrowed her eyes at Woojin’s uncertain voice, which lacked conviction despite his incredulous tone.

“If you get the chance, try saving one more person.”

It was the most annoying suggestion.

* * *

“While another stations were making headlines, what the hell were we doing?”

Just before the end of the workday, the entire news headquarters was summoned. Everyone was called in except for the reporters stationed at government offices, such as the presidential office, the National Assembly, and the police stations. Reporters from all departments, including Social Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Security, Political Affairs, and Economics, filled the large conference room.

Kim Hwanseok, the head of the news headquarters, was livid. They had been badly outmaneuvered.

Pointing at the projector screen at the front of the room, General Manager Kim Hwanseok raised his voice.

“Not even a terrestrial broadcaster or a cable news channel with news authority! Does it make any sense that we didn’t know about the information Seocheon Media acquired?”

Being beaten to a story by other media outlets, such as newspapers or broadcasting companies, was common, but this was the first time they’d been scooped by a media outlet without news broadcasting rights.

While Seocheon Media was airing what was essentially a special report disguised as a cultural program, ABS and other broadcasters and news organizations were completely unaware of the incident.

A preview video released by Seocheon Media about two hours earlier was playing repeatedly on the large screen.

A great discovery! The Goryeo Annals! The historical record of the Goryeo dynasty, thought to have been lost in a fire at the Chunhugwan¹ Hall during the Imjin War²! The Goryeo Annals is about to be donated!

Seocheon Media was promoting a special cultural entertainment program about the historical record in anticipation of the donation of the Goryeo Annals. The program featured a panel of renowned Korean history lecturers, foreign celebrities studying East Asian history in Korea, political science professors, and idol singers.

General Manager Kim berated the reporters, saying that the Goryeo Annals special report should have been covered by ABS.

The Social Affairs department, responsible for covering various social issues, was naturally held accountable. The Foreign Affairs and Security and Political Affairs departments were also held responsible, as the discovery would lead to discussions on the history of the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia, as well as political and diplomatic implications. And, considering the potential economic impact, the Economics department was also severely reprimanded.

“Anyone! Anything! Get me information! Got it?”

The order was given to gather any information related to the Goryeo Annals. The reporters left the conference room with slumped shoulders.

“I thought it was a non-existent historical record? Where did it suddenly appear from to cause all this trouble?”

The historical significance of the Goryeo Annals was, of course, important. But the reporters, with this sudden fire to put out, resented the Goryeo Annals that had popped up without their knowledge. Despite their grumbling, everyone was busy checking through their phone contacts, trying to get a scoop before anyone else.

Eunseong was among the reporters whose faces had darkened after failing to get any answers from their contacts.

“The Cultural Heritage Administration only replied that they are still confirming the details.”

The reply to Eunseong’s email to the Cultural Heritage Administration was extremely short.

“The National Museum of Korea says they can’t comment.”

“The National Archives of Korea and the Academy of Korean Studies, which hold the Joseon Dynasty Annals, say they’ve never heard of it.”

Her fellow reporters from the Social Affairs department also seemed to have hit a dead end.

“How did Seocheon Media find out? Do you think it’s going through the Seocheon Foundation?”

At a colleague’s rhetorical question, Eunseong thought of Cheon Sarang, the director of Seocheon Media. Eunseong, too, had considered the possibility of the Seocheon Foundation’s involvement.

“Reporter Kang, come see me for a second.”

News Director Lee Dongha, walking towards her from the other side, seemed to be thinking the same thing.