By Zephyria 
“That, that, Seo Baek-han, that guy…!”
Kang Bu-nam, who had been momentarily stunned, regained his senses and pointed at Seo Baek-han.
“Pleased to meet you, I’m Seo Baek-han.”
With a light bow, Kang Bu-nam, as if things had gone his way, rolled up his sleeves and charged towards Seo Baek-han, huffing and puffing.
“You followed me here on purpose, didn’t you? Just to sabotage me like this!”
“Sabotage? I’m not sure what you mean. I was just going to submit the lawsuit and quietly leave, but it seems our visiting times unfortunately overlapped.”
As Seo Baek-han mentioned the lawsuit, the reporters’ hands, reaching for their laptops, became busy. Judging by the red lights on the cameras, major news outlets had already started their live broadcasts.
“You expect me to believe that? DH clearly assigned someone to me! Look at this. This is the tyranny of a large corporation. Civilian surveillance? They’re doing that kind of thing without a second thought. Hey, reporters! What are you doing not writing this down! DH Group’s civilian stalking! Something like that, right?”
It was fortunate, rather. That Kang Bu-nam’s terrible character would be recorded on video. If it had only been conveyed through articles, it would have been impossible to know the nuances of that jerk’s nonsense.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way. I have things to do.”
“A lawsuit? A laaawsuit? Don’t tell me Joo Tae-hyun told you to sue me? Suing a relative, that, what is it. Right, filial impiety! Are you planning to commit even filial impiety? You bastards!”
Seo Baek-han tried to pass Kang Bu-nam and go inside, but he was in trouble as Kang Bu-nam jumped up and down, blocking his way.
Of course, with such a perfect stage set, he had no intention of retreating inside. He had thrown those words out there expecting that rude and foolish guy to act like that.
“Director Seo Baek-han, are you really going to sue CEO Kang Bu-nam?”
“It seems like there must be a reason why you chose to submit the lawsuit directly, in person?”
“No, I have no idea, and I mean absolutely none, why CEO Kang Bu-nam is visiting the police station.”
Seo Baek-han, his path blocked by Kang Bu-nam, wore a troubled expression and stroked his chin as the reporters followed him.
“He says he’s a relative, but I’ve never met CEO Kang Bu-nam before. And just by listening to what CEO Kang is saying now, you can probably guess that I didn’t deliberately try to sabotage him.”
Seo Baek-han skillfully steered the situation to his advantage. Kang Bu-nam, thoroughly upset that the reporters he had brought were only interested in Seo Baek-han, took a deep breath, ready to shout again.
And Seo Baek-han didn’t miss that moment.
To think that such a perfect timing for causing trouble would come so opportunely.
“I came to file a lawsuit against His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince.”
A moment of silence fell.
The sound of typing articles, the clicking of camera shutters, even the fervor of the reporters desperate to get an exclusive scoop, seemed to vanish completely into perfect silence.
CEO Kang Bu-nam, who had been about to shout at Seo Baek-han, coughed dryly, his face red, as if he had choked on his own saliva.
The silence lasted longer than expected.
Well, it was the Crown Prince, after all, not just anyone. Even though he wasn’t popular with the public, he was the next emperor, so it was natural that no one could easily step forward. They wouldn’t want to seem to be supporting the crazy talk of suing the Crown Prince.
Kang Bu-nam, his blustering attitude gone, quickly lowered his tail and began to retreat, as if he didn’t want to be caught in the same frame as Seo Baek-han.
“My spouse, Joo Tae-hyun, has been suffering from malicious rumors for a long time. This is the work of Mr. A, the eldest son of a certain corporation, and the photos Mr. A recently posted on social media are also just baseless fabrications.”
Choi Yeon-jun was silently staring into the distance. He hadn’t expected his hot-tempered friend to let things go quietly from the start, but he hadn’t thought he would cause such a huge accident in this way.
“Above all, Mr. A is a drug addict who urgently needs treatment. Mr. A is so afraid of this fact being revealed that he has even been confirmed to have ordered a hit on a drug dealer he frequently dealt with.”
“If that’s true, that’s a huge deal… but based on what Director Seo has said, the case doesn’t seem to be directly related to His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, does it?”
“Did you know that just that statement alone could constitute insulting the imperial family?”
Belatedly, some reporters expressed their doubts, and others gained courage and began to add their voices. Seo Baek-han waited patiently with a smile for the commotion to subside.
“The father of Mr. A, the CEO of a certain corporation, is one of the key figures responsible for the scholarship foundation under His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince. He has been donating a large sum of money since the foundation was established.”
“But-!”
“The suspect who has been harassing Joo Tae-hyun… well, should I call him the defendant for now? Anyway, Mr. A also regularly attends the scholarship foundation and has openly mentioned that ‘His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, has my back.'”
“I don’t think there’s enough evidence to sue His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“Isn’t it too irresponsible to turn all the blame on His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, with just that much evidence, or rather, speculation that isn’t even evidence?”
That’s right. Even among those who knew the inside story, there were only occasional speculations that the Crown Prince might be behind it, but he had never been mentioned directly.
There was no evidence that the Crown Prince had ordered Kim Seung-jun’s bizarre behavior, so involving him was definitely excessive.
“I think you, as the Director of Royal Hospital, already know that you can’t send a lawsuit to His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince. Isn’t this an attempt to harass His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, using the Joo Tae-hyun case as an excuse?”
This was also true. Even if Seo Baek-han had clear evidence in his hands, a lawsuit against the Crown Prince would not even be accepted in the first place. This was one of the privileges granted to the imperial family.
That’s why Seo Baek-han decided to use the Crown Prince’s name in reverse to escalate the situation. Even though he didn’t have any solid evidence to bring him down.
In any case, the Crown Prince cannot express any position on this matter. How can he refute my words when the lawsuit hasn’t even been accepted?
A statement? Even that would probably be difficult. From the moment they release something like that, the Crown Prince’s side would know that they would have to answer all the subsequent allegations faithfully.
They could file a lawsuit against us for defamation or insulting the imperial family, but they would not be able to move rashly due to the vague anxiety that Seo Baek-han might reveal hidden evidence.
Well, this was also just Seo Baek-han’s speculation. Even he couldn’t say for sure how the Crown Prince’s side would react.
This was a gamble.
Uncertainty, impulsivity, illogicality. He was doing something crazy that had all three of the things he hated so much, and he was doing it himself.
But if he was going to cause trouble, shouldn’t it be at least this much?
He had even declared that he would file a lawsuit against the ‘Crown Prince’ for the first time in history.
Now, nowhere and no one would be able to dismiss Joo Tae-hyun as just a piece of gossip. They wouldn’t be able to carelessly spread unverified articles and say ‘never mind’ as if it didn’t matter.
Kang Bu-nam’s shallow tricks, as well as all the things that Kim Seung-jun had been doing, would be revealed one by one.
Yes, that’s why he had rushed out with his name on the line.
“Of course, I also know that I cannot file a lawsuit against His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince. I even know that I may no longer be able to maintain my position as the Director of Royal Hospital if things go wrong. But when I think of the hardship my spouse has gone through, I cannot just stand by and do nothing.”
“Joo Tae-hyun announced that he was divorcing, but are you going to continue your marriage?”
“Wait a minute! Director Seo. Can we interpret your previous statement as meaning that you will resign from your position as the Director of Royal Hospital?”