Bring It On! - Chapter 45

Chapter 45.

“Finally repenting? Don’t you think it’s a little late for Heaven?”

Seo Narae shoved a disposable plastic cup from the window ledge into a plastic bag.

“Heaven, my foot. I’ll be lucky if I make it to the snack bar called Heaven. I just went to say hi to the Lord, out of courtesy. When everyone, including you guys, was telling me to give up on Cha Yoon, God Himself sent us an informant, remember?”

“Hey, Kim Woo-jung, take notes. Our PD is so dedicated to the broadcast.”

The words ‘You’re going to get punished for contempt’ rose all the way to Kim Woo-jung’s throat, but he barely managed to swallow them again.

“Alright, man. Let’s go to the Seonamsa Temple tomorrow, so let’s wrap up the editing today and head out early in the morning.”

How could they possibly finish a month’s worth of footage by today? Even knowing it was a ridiculous joke, not a muscle moved on Kim Woo-jung’s face. Just then, Kim Cha-young’s phone rang. 

The ringtone, set to maximum volume, blared loud enough for everyone in the conference room to hear. One look at the caller ID made Kim Cha-young’s eyes widen, and from his expression alone, everyone could guess who it was.

“Yes, Ms. Jo Min-a. This is Kim Cha-young. Oh, you’re in front of the station now? I’ll be right down.”

Before he even finished speaking, Seo Narae and the other writers, quick-witted and quick to act, bolted out of the room. The rest busied themselves tidying up the conference room. Even though they had opened the windows an hour ago, the stale smell hadn’t fully cleared. 

Kim Cha-young dug through a random bag, pulled out a perfume bottle and sprayed it haphazardly into the air. It didn’t matter that it was the expensive perfume Kim Woo-jung’s mother had given him to celebrate his new job.

**’

The interview was conducted without cameras, at the informant’s firm request.

In front of informant Jo Min-a sat three drinks, water, coffee, and a bottled beverage. Her gaunt, bony hand alternately grasped and released the water glass.

“Was it difficult to get here?”

“My home’s nearby. About thirty minutes by car.”

Shadows of worry darkened the skin beneath her eyes, standing out sharply against her pale complexion. Before beginning the formal interview, the PD and writers tried several bits of small talk to thaw the frozen atmosphere. 

However, Jo Min-a showed no signs of relaxing. Kim Cha-young tapped the arm of Kim Woo-jung, who was sitting next to him, for no real reason.

“Go make some hot tea or something.”

There were already three drinks in front of her, but without complaint, Kim Woo-jung stood up.

“…You go to church, don’t you?”

It was Jo Min-a who spoke first. She was looking at a parish bulletin from a Catholic church. The one Kim Woo-jung had tried and failed to throw away earlier.

“I’m busy, so I don’t go often. Just occasionally.”

In truth, it was the first time in his life Kim Cha-young had ever set foot in a church, but he lied without so much as a change in expression. For the sake of a broadcast, he was the kind of man who would swap the Buddhist prayer beads hanging from his car mirror for the rosary without hesitation.

It wasn’t exactly a lie, either. From the moment the informant brought it up, he was prepared to believe, sincerely, that it was a rosary. Even now, he acted reverent, insisting that his father wasn’t Mr. Kim Baek-hwan from Seocheon-ri, Namsan-myeon, but the almighty God in Heaven.

“Ga-young said she met you at church, too.”

“If you mean Ga-young…”

“My colleague who disappeared along with CEO Cha Yoon.”

Through the thick, high-rise windows, the room felt so still that even street noise seemed to seep in. Acting like the highly emotional type she was pretending to be, Seo Narae discreetly checked the recorder under the table again. It was running without issue.

“When you say she met someone at church, who exactly do you mean?”

“She said it was her baby’s father.”

“By father, you mean… Cha Yoon?”

Jo Min-a shook her head.

“It was CEO Cha Seong-hwan.”

Kim Cha-young couldn’t hide his surprise. No wonder, every single member of the crew had assumed that the missing pregnant woman’s partner was Cha Yoon. After all, over the phone she had clearly said…

“But you told us she went to confront CEO Cha Yoon to hold him accountable.”

“Yes, that’s true. But… it was almost like she was talking to herself, as if she were under some kind of spell. So I’m not completely sure.”

“Like she was under a spell?”

“She was normally cheerful, almost overwhelmingly energetic, and very sociable. But starting about a month before the cruise party, she suddenly became quiet. She’d come to work with a swollen face, like she’d been crying all night.”

“And how did you know the baby’s father was CEO Cha Seong-hwan, not Cha Yoon?”

Even as he asked, Kim Cha-young clicked his tongue inwardly. The broadcasting world might be dirty, but compared to the chaebol, this kind of scandal was nothing. 

Cha Seong-hwan had only been married three years, still in the newlywed stage, with his infant son and wife living in the United States.

“Because she was my friend. Ga-young never said it outright, but from her eyes, her tone, the way she treated him… I was certain.”

In short, it was just a hunch. From the production crew’s perspective, who needed to report only verified facts, it wasn’t exactly welcome news.

“Maybe Ga-young realized I’d caught on, because at some point she stopped even trying to hide it. She stayed late at the office after work hours, smelled like the CEO, and knew company matters people like us wouldn’t normally be aware of.”

“What kind of things?”

Jo Min-a, who had been answering every question without hesitation, kept silent for the first time.

“They’re unrelated to Ga-young’s disappearance, so I’m not comfortable saying.”

In trying to get a new lead, Kim Cha-young had almost messed things up. He gave a brief apology, then smoothly steered her back to the main story.

“From what you’ve told me so far, it doesn’t sound like CEO Cha Seong-hwan and Ms. Ga-young were on bad terms.”

“No. But suddenly, out of nowhere, Ga-young stopped smiling. Then on the night of the cruise party, she gave me something.”

“What? What was it?”

“A phone.”

Kim Cha-young barely resisted the urge to slam the table. If they had Ga-young’s missing phone, he was certain they could dig deeper into the connection with CEO Cha Seong-hwan.

“Where is that phone now?”

Jo Min-a bit her lower lip hard, then shook her head.

“What?”

“…I threw it away.”

Jo Min-a lifted her gaze to the tall window above Kim Cha-young’s head. Beyond the dense buildings, a green mountain rose high. Reflexively, Kim Cha-young turned to see where she was looking.

“After what happened to Ga-young, I didn’t want any trouble to spill over to me, so I buried it somewhere in the mountain. But I can’t remember where.”

The mountain in his line of sight was the one where Seonamsa Temple stood.

***

“Hoo…”

I lay face-down, unable to move an inch. Outside, Suho was swinging a long stick at Jay. It was, in his own clumsy way, a mix of relief and affection that Jay, who had been lying there like a dead man, was now perfectly fine and full of energy.

“Yeah, hit him. Hit him harder.”

Just remembering the night I’d been tormented by Jay made my lower back tingle again. 

I finally understood why, in dramas and movies, the female lead always clutches her back after being with the male lead. I used to think it was just from strained muscles due to awkward positions, but it wasn’t that at all. After having something long rummage inside me, the whole inside of my belly throbbed in pain.

Like a baby bird in its nest, I spent the day lying down, only drinking and eating the food Jay brought me. In the morning, I’d gone to check the fish traps out at sea and nearly drowned when I got a cramp. 

If Jay hadn’t been watching from the shore, I might really have sunk.

But when Jay jumped into the sea to “save” me… he ended up floundering right next to me. The sudden fear that we might end up as a drowned couple spurred my body into action. Thanks to that, I managed to grab him by the hair and drag us both back to shore.

“Noona, are you still sleeping?”

Suho came running up, panting.

“I’m not sleeping, I’m recovering.”

“I’m bored.”

“You’ve still got that stick. Go hit him some more.”

Even without me specifying the target, the sharp Suho caught on immediately and stood up. Watching the back of his head as he ran off in excitement, I closed my eyes again.