1RomanceEB Chapter 56 The Line on the TV: Someone Lost Money
Chapter 56 The Line on the TV: Someone Lost Money
January 7th, Tuesday, 10 PM. Su Yu was lying on the bed in the semi-basement, enjoying the most standard posture of modern young people—holding his phone, the screen light making his handsome face pale.
Cai Xiubin's message popped up: "What should we eat for breakfast tomorrow?"
Su Yu's fingers flew across the screen: "Seaweed rice rolls."
The other end replied instantly: "Eating this again? Are you a rabbit? Aren't you tired of it?"
Su Yu replied affectionately, "I don't mind what you make. I'd eat it even if it was full of ginger."
Cai Xiubin sent an "eye-rolling to the back of her head" emoji, and the conversation ended.
The TV was on, the volume turned down to a whisper. The female anchor was reporting the evening news. Su Yu had been slacking off by checking work messages until the words "Chairman Kim Myung-hwan will attend a hearing today" reached her ears.
Su Yu's fingers stopped. He looked up at the television.
The man in the video, dressed in a bespoke dark suit with hair combed so perfectly it would be impossible for a fly to stand on it, is none other than Kim Myung-hwan, a top figure in South Korea's chaebol world. He is suspected of embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, and bribery, the amounts of which are so large that an average person would be left scratching their head.
But he had hired the most expensive legal team in all of South Korea, and they were getting out of the black car with indifferent expressions, as if he wasn't going to be investigated, but to attend fashion week.
But in Su Yu's eyes, something was off about the scene. Kim Myung-hwan had a black line running down his chest. It wasn't a thin blood vessel, but a thick, cable-like black line that pierced directly from his body and extended beyond the frame.
Even more horrifying, there was a huge crack on the black line, as if someone had slashed it hard.
There was no blood flowing from the crack; instead, light was leaking out. It was a dark red light, like molten iron or some kind of highly concentrated energy liquid.
The light leaked out wildly along the black lines, not dissipating in the air, but flowing straight towards Su Yu due to some kind of gravity.
"Holy crap, I struck it rich?" Su Yu sat up, his phone clattering onto the bed.
He looked down at his right palm. There, a very thin, dark red thread had appeared, taut like a fishing line, its other end firmly connected to Kim Myung-hwan on the television screen.
The thread in his palm trembled slightly, and that familiar pulling sensation returned—the last time he felt this way, he had made a windfall.
It seems that Chairman Kim is going to have to "bleed big" this time.
Su Yu quickly glanced at Cai Xiubin's message, "Go to bed early, don't stay up late," and replied, "See you at the company at seven tomorrow." Then, he quickly changed into a black outfit, put his keys in his pocket, and left.
Midnight, Gangnam District.
Su Yu stood beneath the headquarters building of Kim Myung-hwan's entertainment company. The building's exterior was a dark gray glass curtain wall, which looked like a giant tombstone in the night, eerily sinister.
The black line on the rooftop pierced the sky, while the red light from the crack continued to flow down, dripping onto the ground and seeping into the earth.
Su Yu followed the flow of the red light. It felt like playing an RPG game with auto-pathfinding enabled; he didn't need to think at all.
After walking for about ten minutes, the navigation brought him to a dilapidated residential building. This place was a completely different world from the luxurious office building he had just been in; the walls were peeling, the iron gate was rusty, and it was filled with an atmosphere of poverty.
The red thread pierced through the rooftop and plunged into a window on the third floor. Su Yu groped his way upstairs in the dark; the motion-activated lights had long since stopped working. He stood at the end of the corridor and noticed that the door was ajar, from which came hushed arguments, their voices urgent as if they were having a fight.
Su Yu had no intention of being a helpful citizen. He looked down and saw the dark red thread emerge from the crack in the door, circle around his feet, and then—with a "snap," it broke.
The moment it broke, a red light spun in the air before finally landing on the ground with a "ding".
Su Yu bent down and picked up the thing. It was a black USB drive, covered in dust, looking like it had been lying there for quite some time.
Just then, a loud crash came from inside the door, as if someone had smashed a cup in a fit of anger. Su Yu's lips curled into a smile, and he turned and went downstairs, concealing his accomplishment.
One o'clock in the morning, in a semi-basement.
Su Yu plugged the USB drive into her laptop. A bunch of folders popped up on the screen. She clicked on the first video, and wow, it was practically a scene from a restricted-rated movie. Kim Myung-hwan was sitting in a hotel suite, opposite a trembling young actress. The rest of the story was predictable—it was definitely a power-for-sex deal.
Su Yu turned off the video without expression. This wasn't just a USB drive; it was clearly Kim Myung-hwan's death warrant. The evidence inside was enough to send this chairman to prison for the rest of his life.
Call the police directly? Too slow, and it'll likely be suppressed. Su Yu leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen, contemplating life. He didn't need justice; he needed to completely sever Jin Minghuan's connection. Once the connection was broken, the contents of the crack would leak out more completely. Not the evidence on the USB drive, but money.
He picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Reporter Jiang, it's me, Su Yu."
A tired middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Su Yu? It's so late, if it's an insurance salesman I'll hang up."
Do you have any information on Kim Myung-hwan?
There was a three-second silence on the other end, then the tone changed: "Why are you suddenly asking this?"
"I found a USB drive, and there's a surprise inside. You'll see when you see it."
"What is it?"
"Come to the company tomorrow, I'll treat you to coffee, and I'll also show you a movie."
After hanging up the phone, Su Yu put the USB drive in his pocket and lay back on the bed. His mind was filled with the image of the black line splitting open, the dark red light gushing out like blood. He suddenly remembered the black line on Shirley's body, which was also charred and broken. It seemed the lines used by these important figures weren't of very good quality.
The phone lit up again. Chae Soo-bin: "Oppa, are you asleep?"
Su Yu: "No. I'm thinking about the script."
Cai Xiubin: "You're lying. Every time you type 'think about a script,' the pressure you apply to your fingers is different; it feels like the screen is being punched."
Su Yu laughed: "Occupational hazard, huh? You can even analyze the force of your typing."
Cai Xiubin: "You have something to do tonight. It's not good news."
Su Yu was silent for two seconds before replying, "Yeah, I ran into a little trouble. But it's resolvable."
"Oppa, every time you say 'I can solve it,' you're actually not sure."
Su Yu did not reply.
"Oppa, you don't have to carry this alone."
Su Yu looked at the message and her heart softened. She typed, "I'm not alone. Aren't you here?"
A smiley face appeared on the other end: "I'm here. But you're not next to me."
"See you at the office at seven tomorrow morning. I'll be there."
"You said it."
"I said it."
January 8th, Wednesday, 7:00 AM.
When Su Yu arrived at the company, Cai Xiubin was already sitting by the window. She was wearing a red sweater, her hair in a low ponytail, and she was holding two cups of coffee.
"What time did you go to bed last night?" She handed me the bitter cup. "The dark circles under your eyes are almost down to your chin. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been working in the coal mines."
"Those are eye bags." Su Yu took a sip of scalding hot, bitter coffee to refresh himself.
"Aegyo sal (eye bags) on your lower eyelids? Do you think I'm some kind of idiot?" Cai Xiubin rolled her eyes at him. "What were you doing last night?"
"It's a work-related matter, and it involves Kim Myung-hwan."
Cai Xiubin was stunned for a moment: "That chaebol? Oppa, you're not going to get into trouble, are you?"
"Don't worry, I just found a USB drive. Picking up things isn't illegal; it's basic common sense."
What's on the USB drive?
"The ticket to send him to jail."
Cai Xiubin's expression changed, and she reached out to grasp his hand: "Oppa, if anything happens to you, I will visit you in prison."
Su Yu smiled: "Okay, remember to bring seaweed rice rolls."
"Bring two portions. One for you, one for me. I'll eat it outside the iron bars and watch you eat it."
The two looked at each other and laughed.
At 2 p.m., reporter Jiang arrived on time.
The man, in his fifties, with gray hair and wearing a faded gray jacket, looked like a recently retired Chinese language teacher. Su Yu handed him the USB drive.
Reporter Jiang plugged in his laptop and opened the first video. Three seconds later, his glasses almost slipped off.
"This...this is..."
"Kim Myung-hwan. The following parts are even more exciting, so I suggest you prepare some nitroglycerin pills," Su Yu said calmly.
With trembling hands, reporter Jiang opened several documents, her expression shifting from shock to anger, and finally to a kind of resolute determination.
"Where did you get these things?"
"I found it on the roadside, right under an old building in Gangnam District. Maybe God couldn't stand it and made it fall down on purpose."
Reporter Jiang stared at Su Yu for a long time: "Do you know that once these things are exposed, you'll become Kim Myung-hwan's number one target?"
"I know. But I'm daring, and screenwriters have wild imaginations."
After a long silence, reporter Jiang pulled out the USB drive and put it deep inside her briefcase: "Su Yu, keep this to yourself. If I release it, you might get implicated."
"So what if I get implicated? I'm not exactly a law-abiding citizen anyway."
Reporter Jiang looked at him, then suddenly smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes smoothing out: "You're quite an interesting kid. If you ever need any help in the future, just let me know."
After seeing reporter Jiang off, Su Yu stood by the window smoking. Cai Xiubin walked over and leaned against him.
"Oppa".
"Um?"
"You'll be alright."
"I know."
How did you know?
Su Yu turned her head and looked into her eyes: "Because the script isn't finished yet. Didn't you say you'd act until I couldn't write anymore? If the main character dies halfway through, how can we film this show?"
Cai Xiubin paused for a moment, then smiled broadly: "Yes, it's not over yet."
A few days later, the news exploded.
Major media outlets were abuzz with Kim Myung-hwan's scandal, complete with videos, photos, and recordings. His once-mighty chaebol empire collapsed overnight.
Su Yu lay on the bed in the semi-basement, watching the scene on TV where Kim Myung-hwan was handcuffed and led to a police car. This time, the black thread was completely severed.
As the black line snapped, a massive, dark red current surged from the void, instantly rushing into Su Yu's body. This time, it wasn't a slow seepage, but a direct influx. Su Yu felt his blood boiling, and the dark red thread in his palm tightened abruptly, as if a hand was forcefully pulling him.
My phone vibrated. It was a text message from the bank.
「您尾号XXXX的帐户于1月12日入帐美元50，000，000。当前余额……」
Su Yu counted the zeros at the end, his heart skipped a beat. Fifty million US dollars. Not Korean won, but US dollars. Converted to Korean won, that's over 60 billion.
He leaned against the pillows, staring at the ceiling. The ticking continued, but tonight, it sounded like firecrackers.
How much is Kim Myung-hwan's empire worth? Hundreds of billions of US dollars. The amount revealed is just a drop in the ocean. But for Su Yu, it's enough. Enough to launch a new drama, enough to sign new talents, enough to make those who want to mess with him think twice.
My phone vibrated again. Cai Xiubin sent a message: "How about some fried chicken and beer to celebrate tonight? I heard someone had good luck today."
Su Yu replied, "Okay. Add two more seaweed rice rolls. It's on me, order whatever you like."
She replied instantly: "Did you win the lottery?"
Su Yu thought for a moment and typed a few words: "More exciting than winning the lottery. Let's talk when we meet."
Outside the window, moonlight streamed in through the half-open window, casting a pale patch of light on the floor. Su Yu stretched, thinking: Life seems to be getting more and more interesting.