Late at night. Just as Mina tried to get in contact with the reporter's cousin, the man was about to release Y/N's newest scandal; Mina's call had intercepted him just in time.
He thought Y/N must have made a decision to buy the evidence off him. So when Mina asked to meet, he did not refuse. However, he decided not to tell his cousin about this. Jisoo had given them so much money to defame Y/N, yet he only got a 30% cut. Since Y/N had contacted him directly, then he was going to take advantage of this opportunity to take some money from her. So, before he released the scandal, he deliberately deleted some information and said he still needed some time to edit the article; he wouldn't be able to release it today.
The reporter couldn't do anything about it, he completely trusted his cousin. He quickly made a phone call to tell Jisoo and she was immediately on guard as she asked, "Don't tell me there's been a change..."
"No, no, of course not..."
Early the next morning, Mina secretly took all the information she had on Lim Yu to meet the reporter's cousin at a remote cafe. Among the two cousins, one had the surname Choi and the other had the surname Kim. The one with the surname Choi was the one that tried to blackmail Mina last time and was also the older cousin of the man currently sitting before her.
This man was Kim Seokjin. Dressed in a black-patterned t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans; hair slicked back neatly; he seemed to be the type of person that was used to luxury. Upon seeing Mina, he removed his sunglasses and raised his eyebrows, "What have you called me out here for?"
Mina wasn't aware that this man was about to release a scandal about Y/N. She just simply said, "If I have a money-making offer for you, will you take it behind your cousins back?"
"How much money are we talking about?"
"Both you and your cousin should know that our Y/N is very stubborn. No matter how badly she is being defamed, she will still refuse to spend money on clearing her name. Originally, with the information I have in my hands, I could just directly expose it since Y/N has left it in my hands. However, when I think about the person behind the bed-climbing scandal, I feel bad for her, so I've decided to work with you. I'll give all the information to you for free, not only because it will prove Y/N's innocence but also because I have one simple request: tell everyone that you got this information from HYP Entertainment's Kim Jisoo."
After hearing her words, Seokjin realized Y/N already knew everything. After a moment of hesitation, he finally took the information out of Mina's hands. To his surprise, the information about Lim Yu was more extensive than what he already had; it had the names of all the female celebrities involved as well photos.
The photos he and his cousin had previously taken weren't always clear, but the evidence in front of him was definitive proof.
Since Mina was so sincere, Seokjin decided to lay his cards on the table, "To tell you the truth, Jisoo is currently preparing to release a scandal about Y/N. She is planning to use a photoshopped photo to claim that it is a photo of Y/N and Lim Yu in bed. If not for your phone call last night, Y/N would already be the hottest topic again."
Hearing this, Mina's heart skipped a beat. Lucky...
"That's why you're stupid. If you put that fake photo up, someone will expose it as being fake sooner or later; how much is Jisoo paying you and your cousin to do that? and how much of it is your share? On the other hand, Y/N definitely won't be giving you money, but look at this information. All you have to do is release it but hide the names of all the celebrities involved. When they see it, they will be so paranoid of being exposed, they will contact you and offer you money as well as other benefits to keep quiet."
"As for Jisoo, you won't be losing out. You just need to contact HYPE and tell them you have information to expose about members of the Kim family in the entertainment industry and Jisoo will definitely try to make negotiations with you."
Hearing all this, Seokjin agreed with her words.
On top of everything, he had been suppressed by his cousin for too long. With the information from Mina in his hands, he was now in possession of more definitive evidence than his cousin. This meant he no longer had to be under his cousin's control.
"Of course, I need to remind you, if these female celebrities are willing to give you money, you shouldn't be too greedy. Otherwise, going against you is as easy as stepping on an ant. If you're left with nothing, it wouldn't be very beneficial for you."
"This I understand." Fortunately, Seokjin was less of a risk-taker than his cousin.
"Jisoo shouldn't blame me for being too ruthless. Both you and I know how much she's done in order to defame Y/N; I am merely giving her an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Can I trust you to handle this? I've already placed a huge stack of cash in your hands, if you mess this up, then you can only be suppressed by your cousin for the rest of your life. Plus, don't forget, if you can't do it, my alternative choice is to give this information to your cousin."
"Of course I want to handle this personally, but Y/N's scandal will be released at noon..."
"Then it's up to you to figure something out..."
Seokjin was silent for half a second before turning his head in response, "I have a plan!"
Mina squinted her eyes slightly as she nodded her head, "In case you're lying to me, I'll send you the high-resolution photos after I see the news. After all, you don't need definitive evidence just yet."
"That's fine."
Seokjin's plan was actually quite simple. Before the release of Y/N's news, he would prepare another article. After his brother approves Y/N's news, he would swap it out with the information Mina gave him. Like this, his cousin wouldn't be able to stop him - instead, he would have to beg him.
Mina watched as Seokjin appeared to be deep in thought; she felt a sense of irony. Anyone that had previously hurt Y/N would not be able to escape unscathed.
Of course, this method of deflecting the danger on someone else, was thought up by Y/N and Jimin. Their aim was for all the models involved with Lim Yu to despise Jisoo.
After their conversation was over, Min left the remote location. She chose this place because there were no surveillance cameras anywhere to be seen.
Did Jisoo really think, by being in a big company and being a capable employee for Kim Jennie, she could do whatever she wanted?
By involving herself with Y/N...and Jimin - who loved his wife - there was no way they would allow this.
An hour later, Mina returned to Hannam Hill. She reported all the details of her meeting with Seokjin to Y/N. She found out Jisoo was about to make a move. Hearing this, she thought of the anonymous email she received; did this mean it was someone from HYPE that had sent it?
She couldn't figure out what Jisoo's intention could be.
"Did you leave behind anything for them to hold against you later?"
"Hehe...Big Boss is so amazing he already told Lu Che to teach me how to take precautions, there's no need to worry," Mina waved her hand reassuringly as she smiled; Y/N was being too anxious.
"Then I'll just wait to watch the show at noon..."
"Yes, sit back and enjoy."
****
Noon. HYP Entertainment, CEO's office.
Jennie was sitting at her desk dressed in a professional-looking white suit as she smiled at Hyunjin, "How'd you go? I asked you to contact Y/N, what was the result?"
"I contacted her, but...it seems Y/N will be signing on with Creative Century. Although Creative Century is a smaller company, her voice can be heard there and she can give her opinions," Hyunjin answered with caution and care.
"That makes sense. Y/N is a model with ambition; she doesn't like people to intervene too much," Jennie responded. "Since this is the case, then let it be."
"Yes...President," Hyunjin breathed a sigh of relief.
He was the one that had sent a warning.
By preventing Y/N from joining HYPE, he felt he owed her. So, knowing Y/N might suffer innocently, he couldn't bear to watch it happen. Now that he had given her the warning, what she was to do was her choice and not his problem anymore.
"Oh yeah, in 2 days time, there is a charity event. I don't have a partner yet, you can come with me," Jennie suddenly ordered.
"Haven't you always hated events like this?"
"I have no choice, Park Jimin will be there. You know how I can't resist the temptation of a capable man," Jennie brushed her hand through her hair elegantly, looking extremely stylish.
"But I heard Jimin is already married..."
"If he's married there's no way he wouldn't announce it. Since he didn't announce it, it must be a cover; have you ever seen a wedding ring on his hand? So there's no reason we shouldn't go; I have nothing to lose..."
At the same time, while his cousin wasn't paying attention, Seokjin swapped out Y/N's scandal with the article he had prepared.
It was not until the article created an uproar in the media that Choi Beomgyu realized, the scandal his cousin released did not even mention Y/N in the headline...
The headline read, [Shocking Revelation: Solid Evidence Against New Models Involved in the Bed-Climbing Scandal!]
Seokjin cleverly avoided mentioning Y/N as previously agreed upon with Mina. Now that everyone knew Y/N wasn't involved, there was no point in throwing her into the mix.
The article that was released, contained detailed information about Lim Yu's whereabouts and photos of models involved with his under-the-table operations. Their names were all replaced with one-letter nicknames.
Most importantly, Seokjin excitedly mentioned that his information came from 'Miss J', a manager from a famous agency with a joy in its name; he practically told everyone, the person was Jisoo!
Beomgyu was so angry, he almost smashed Seokjin's computer. Meanwhile, Seokjin looked at him with a ridiculing smile, "Don't be angry. After I get paid I'll give you a 10% split."
"Who gave you the confidence to do this?" Beomgyu slammed his hands on the table; the fire in his eyes looked like they were ready to burn Seokjin alive.
"If you had treated me fairly, I would not have done this to you. But now, all you can do is wait for Jisoo to come look for you." After speaking, Seokjin took everything he owned, except his keyboard and left the small studio.
Beomgyu never expected, Y/N's methods were so clever. By deflecting the danger onto someone else, not only did she start a battle between Jisoo and the models involved with Lim Yu, she also destroyed the relationship between the cousins. Now that the article had been released, it was already too late for him to stop it from spreading...
He should not have offended Y/N!
If he hadn't written fake articles about Y/N, he would not be in the situation he was currently in; not only did he not receive any money, he had attracted a whole heap of trouble!
****
As soon as the scandal was released, the four models involved and Jisoo became the hottest topic online. Netizens were obsessed with guessing the names of those involved, and the only obvious name was Kim Jisoo.
Good friends called Jisoo to check on her situation. But after seeing the article, she decided to stay quiet for a while as she adjusted her glasses. She could roughly guess, this was Y/N's counterattack and method of revenge. At the same time...it was a warning.
Jisoo turned off her computer. She originally intended on leaving the office, but the people in the office were pointing and complaining about her. It seemed they had all assumed she was the one that had sold the bed-climbing information to the reporters. In the end, she had gained benefits, but the company was implicated because of her.
Jisoo sneered; she didn't care about all the gossip. She simply headed for the lift. Coincidentally, she ran into Hyunjin; he was also leaving the office. Jisoo's mouth twitched a little, but nothing came out.
After reaching level B1, they were the only two people in the lift. The lift rang as the doors opened. Behind Jisoo, Hyunjin spoke coldly, "I've seen too many female celebrities being stepped on by you and being stabbed in the back by you. But I never expected there would be someone with better methods than you."
"I can tell you're quite happy about this," Jisoo replied without turning back to look at him, "Don't forget. If Y/N finds out you were the one that prevented her from joining HYPE, I wonder what she would do to you."
"I have a feeling, there will be a lot more suffering coming your way..." Hyunjin laughed. His face relaxed, it had been a long time since he felt at ease like this; it was all because of Y/N's counterattack.
"Let's just wait and see. By the way, I almost forgot to tell you, President Kim has already handed the responsibility of auditioning newcomers to me."
"Although President Kim hasn't mentioned anything, with this bed-climbing incident, you have become the target of public criticism. The only reason President Kim gave you the responsibility of auditioning newcomers is so that you can recover a bit of trust amongst your coworkers. This isn't something you should be proud of," Hyunjin responded.
Jisoo finally turned around and glared at Hyunjin...
Hyunjin simply opened his car door and stepped inside.
He had never imagined, the extremely arrogant Kim Jisoo; the Jisoo that was always scheming, had been brutally attacked by a model to the point where she couldn't fight back.
Y/N, I really need to take note of you!