The Bow Incident had cost Do-hyun more than the rest.
He didn't know how Choi Seungcheol had sourced it, only that the details that had surfaced in the press had been specific enough to have come from someone who had been present.
"I have my suspicions," he sighed wearily, "but nothing that I can prove."
"We may be able to establish the source independently," Ji-young reassured him. "Leave that with me."
Do-hyun gave a short nod and continued.
"That leak came first," he said. "It hit the press the same night that Jaemin was attacked in the restaurant, about a week before we received news from Manager Park that all but one of the viable performance venues had been booked out."
"Tell me more about that."
"All major Seoul performance venues," he said. "Simultaneously. Every one we had contacted. But we managed to find the Chamber Music Theatre, and announced the pivot to the orchestra." He paused. "That same afternoon, Choi Seungcheol walked right into our rehearsal hall."
A shiver ran up Jaemin's spine at the memory. Ji-young looked up.
"He was present when you announced the pivot to the orchestra members?"
"He came in as we were speaking with them, and said we were too late." He looked at his mother steadily. "Some of the members accused him of orchestrating the lockout. He didn't deny it."
"Implied admission, then. Witnessed by the full orchestra. Did he give away anything else?"
"He tried to blackmail Jaemin, asking him if he was willing to have us all out of jobs over a 'foolish little tantrum.' The phrasing seemed to indicate that he knew something was going to happen. " Do-hyun's jaw tightened. "And then…"
His gaze darted to Jaemin, suddenly hesitant.
"And then he used an alpha command on me to make me go to him." Jaemin's voice was quiet, but he didn't miss a beat. "But Do-hyun and the rest of the musicians intervened."
Ji-young was quiet for a moment. "How did they intervene?"
"They…" Jaemin had to clear his throat before starting again. "The rest of the orchestra realised that I was being compelled to obey the command against my own will, and held me back. Choi Seungcheol tried to issue a second command, but Do-hyun stopped him."
"How?"
A beat of silence passed, before Do-hyun mumbled, "I punched him."
"He did it to protect me." It was Jaemin's turn to reach for his partner's hand.
Ji-young's expression didn't change. "And I suppose he pressed charges? The civil suit."
Do-hyun nodded. "It was delivered to me the same day as the sponsor withdrawal, which happened almost immediately after."
"Of course it was. The suit names Do-hyun for assault and the SPS for negligence, correct?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Tell me about the sponsors."
"Shortly after the intrusion, Manager Park informed us that three of our major sponsors suspended their funding simultaneously. He confirmed that all of them had been contacted through back-channels, and were told that the SPS leadership was unstable, using the Bow Incident as ammunition."
"Coordinated fraudulent communications to third parties to induce financial harm," Ji-young said. "That's interference with business by fraudulent means, distinct from the lockout. Your Manager Park will be able to testify to the messages?"
"Park Sangho. Yes, I'll speak to him. I don't think there will be a problem there."
Ji-young took it down, then set her pen flat on the desk. "Do-hyun-ah. The civil suit names you for assault, but we won't be contesting the charge on their terms; we'll be reframing it entirely. What you've just described is not assault. It is the lawful prevention of an ongoing criminal act against a…" Her gaze shifted to Jaemin, "non-consenting party. Is that correct?"
Jaemin nodded emphatically. "Yes."
"Good." She picked her pen back up. "The negligence claim has no foundation. And, as we've just established, the assault claim is factually inverted. The suit's purpose was never litigation. It was an attempt to freeze your accounts and compound pressure from multiple points, at the exact moment the orchestra had lost both its venues and its funding. Economic strangulation." She looked up. "We'll file it as abuse of process and vexatious litigation. The parallel timing is the evidence."
Do-hyun nodded in acknowledgement. "There was also the forged document," he continued. "A financial report leaked to the press, alleging that our family foundation had used SPS donation funds for high-risk investments. It was disproven quickly, but not before the board of the SPS was aware of it."
"I'm aware of it," Ji-young said. "The forgery itself is independently criminal, regardless of how long the article was in circulation before it was retracted. A separate charge from uttering of a forged document. We have it." She looked at her son. "You dealt with this."
Do-hyun sighed, running a hand down his face. "Our lawyers did."
"Under your direction. You dealt with it," Ji-young repeated quietly. "Now…" she turned a page in her folder. "There's also the matter of your father's medical records."
Tension ran through Do-hyun's still frame. "Yes."
"I know what they contained," Ji-young said quietly. "I've documented it, and had time to look into it. You don't need to recount that to me." A brief pause. "What I need is confirmation that the disclosure was unauthorized. That you didn't consent to their release."
"Of course not!"
"That's sufficient." She jotted it down, and when she spoke again, her voice remained even and precise, but there was a sharpness underneath it. A layer of steel.
"Your father's privacy was stolen to use as ammunition against his son. Against this family. Against Jaemin-ssi." She glanced briefly at the omega. "I want you to know that I intend to pursue this charge fully."
Jaemin watched as Do-hyun nodded slowly at his mother's declaration. Do-hyun had told him about his father's secret long before. But watching him here, now, with his mother naming the formal shape of what had been done with that information, was something different.
Kang Han-sol had kept that secret for his entire life. Had protected it, had built a life around its edges, had carried it alone, with only his wife to support him, until it had become simply the architecture of his existence.
And Choi Seungcheol had reached into that silence and pulled it into the open, not because it served any truth… but because it would hurt.
"Criminal and civil liability," Ji-young was saying. "Reputational and emotional harm to the Kang family. The acquisition and the disclosure are separately chargeable. This was not information stumbled upon; we took enough care to ensure that it would be hidden. It was deliberately sourced, cultivated, and deployed at a moment calculated to cause the maximum possible harm. If we can establish the chain of instruction—that Choi Seungcheol was the one who directed the acquisition—we move from accessory liability to principal."
Then she said something that made both men sit up.
"We've actually been able to find the operative behind it: a woman named Yoon Hana. She has connections in media and entertainment circles: press contacts, industry relationships. She was the one who obtained your father's records through a third party, and likely also the one who executed the media campaigns and sourced the Bow Incident material." She looked up at Do-hyun and Jaemin. "Does that name mean anything to you?"
Do-hyun's brows were drawn together. "No…"
Ji-young turned to Jaemin. "Jaemin-ssi?"
Jaemin shook his head. "I don't know her. But I guess she's linked somehow to Choi Seungcheol."
"Indeed. That's something our team is working on at the moment. But we'll need to establish that Choi Seungcheol was the one directing her."
Jaemin was silent for a moment, then spoke quietly.
"It's definitely him. He called me, the day that I…" His eyes darted to Do-hyun, "... the day we left Seoul. I can't remember his exact words, but he made it clear that he was the one behind it. Then he threatened to release a second wave of files that would ruin your family, and," He turned to Ji-young, "put you, Ji-young-ssi, in prison. Unless I went back to him that same night."
Ji-young leaned forward. "He named me?"
Jaemin nodded. "He referred to you explicitly. I didn't know what else to do, so I… went to him. But Do-hyun saved me," he added.
He turned to the alpha seated beside him, whose jaw worked once, almost imperceptibly, before he looked away, but not before Jaemin caught the look of guilt on his face.
"Very specific," Ji-young murmured. "What else did he say to you on that call?"
"He said that if I went to him, he would not only make the second packet disappear, but also arrange for someone to take responsibility for the first release so that the investigation stopped."
Ji-young frowned slightly. "There hasn't been anything on the news about that, in either direction, while the both of you have been here. He hasn't released the second packet. That's interesting."
"Interesting how?" Do-hyun asked.
"It could mean it's the last card he has, or he's just waiting for the right moment. Either way, he hasn't played it, which suggests he still believes he has something to gain by holding it." She tilted her head, thinking. "Did he say anything else?"
Jaemin hesitated, remembering something. "No, but… before that, he came to the rehearsal hall a second time. The day before Opening Night."
"What?" Do-hyun sat up, suddenly tense and alert. "When?"
Jaemin bit his lip. He had never told Do-hyun about this encounter.
"Just… Just after rehearsal ended," he mumbled. "Someone passed me a note from him… He said he would come in if I didn't go out to meet him." He looked at Do-hyun, eyes pleading. "I didn't want him to cause another scene like the last time, I didn't want you to confront him and get into more trouble, what with the suit already ongoing—"
"He could have kidnapped you right then!" Do-hyun was aghast. "He could have—"
He stopped, but Jaemin knew exactly what was going through his mind.
He had taken a gamble that Choi Seungcheol wouldn't dare do anything to him when they were both standing out on the street. But, on hindsight, Choi Seungcheol had already dared once to Command Jaemin in front of the entire orchestra; there had been nothing stopping him from doing so again to force Jaemin to him.
It had been foolish of him to brave Choi Seungcheol on his own, Jaemin realised that now. That Jaemin had been able to walk away from that encounter untouched had been a huge stroke of luck. Otherwise, Do-hyun would have been left waiting out front for Jaemin, oblivious to what had happened, until it had been far too late.
"I just wanted to tell him to stop," he whispered. "I thought that if I told him so myself, that if he realised that it was coming from me, and not because of you, he would give up." He swallowed. "I'm sorry, Do-hyun. I should have told you. I'm sorry."
Do-hyun was already shaking his head with exasperation, but Ji-young cut in before he could say anything.
"Do you still have the note?" she asked.
"No… I'm sorry." Jaemin's head dropped lower.
"Do you remember who delivered it to you?"
"One of the crew members."
Ji-young nodded. "And the conversation itself; what did Choi Seungcheol say to you?"
"He…" Jaemin swallowed. "He insulted Do-hyun, and tried to persuade me to go back to him. When I refused, he said…"
Go play your concert. But when the curtain falls, remember…
You chose to break him.
Ji-young paused, absorbing the information as Do-hyun fought down his agitation. "Was this the last direct contact you had with him before his phone call?" she asked.
Jaemin nodded. "Yes."
"Criminal intimidation, and blackmail by threat of harm to a third party. Two separate charges, both straightforwardly prosecutable. The evidence," she tapped her notes, "is your testimony." She looked at Jaemin. "Would you be willing to testify?"
Jaemin nodded again. "Yes. Of course."
"Good." Ji-young leaned back, eyes scanning her notes. "We have quite the list. And I want you both to know that I intend to handle these charges personally, and pursue them in full."
She paused, then looked at Jaemin.
"There is one more thing that I would like to ask about. Earlier, when you spoke about the bouquet and the note… That's not the language of someone who views you as a professional obstacle, or even a rival. That's the language of someone who believes he has a claim on you." She picked her words with care. "Could you give me some context as to why Choi Seungcheol believes this? Anything that you think we should know?"
Jaemin looked down at his hands, then at Do-hyun, whose agitation from earlier had faded somewhat, overtaken by a look of concern.
Then, he took a breath and looked back at Ji-young.
"Yes," he said. "There is."