[I go. Korea. To see you.]
That was clearly what Richard’s message said.
‘Richard is coming? To see me?’
Was this a dream, or was it real?
She could not believe it.
But even after she turned her phone off and back on, the message remained unchanged, so it clearly was not a dream.
Her eyes began to sting, and tears welled up in them.
In all her life, had she ever met anyone who said they would do something for her?
Her late husband and her married son had always only expected things from her.
Most people of the older generation may have been like that, but what woman in this world did not want to be loved?
Richard was different.
— Your warm smile captured my heart.
It was the first comment Richard had left on the first selfie she posted.
At first, she had thought it was ridiculous.
How could the face of an old woman like her have captured anyone’s heart?
But Richard’s comments continued.
When she posted a picture of flowers, he commented that they looked like her face. When she posted a picture of food, he told her to spend another healthy and happy day.
She dismissed him as a funny man who was good at empty flattery, but at some point, she began looking forward to Richard’s comments.
Later, she posted pictures specifically so that she could see Richard’s comments.
— Have a good day too.
Her fingers trembled when she replied to one of Richard’s comments for the first time.
No, perhaps she remembered it that way because her heart had been trembling so much that the feeling reached her fingers.
It felt like that when she had agonized for days and days during her school years before writing a reply to a boy who had given her a letter.
Ding-a-ling, ding!
On the day Kim Hyeonja left that reply, Richard contacted her through messenger.
That was how the sweet conversations between Kim Hyeonja and Richard began in earnest.
“You’re a U.S. soldier?”
His Korean sounded awkward, so she asked him, and she could not describe how surprised she was when he answered that he was a U.S. soldier.
But love knew no borders.
The fact that he was five years younger than she was and that he had been divorced did not matter at all.
Why?
Because Richard looked so handsome in the photograph he sent her.
Because he was a handsome man who looked as though he belonged in a movie.
From the moment she received Richard’s message saying he was coming to Korea, her heart began pounding wildly.
Was he really coming because of me? What if he is disappointed after meeting me? What should I wear when we meet? Should I take this opportunity to buy myself a new outfit?
Every imaginable thought passed through her mind.
But stronger than anything else was her desire to meet Richard.
So she carefully sent him a message.
[When… are you coming?]
“Hmm-hmm-hmm, hm-hmm-hmm.”
I came to work before dawn again that day and looked for Mrs. Kim Hyeonja.
Her humming was unusually loud, so it seemed she had received a pleasant message.
Judging by her mood, he did not seem to have brought up money yet…
“Good morning, ma’am. Have another sweet-potato latte with me today.”
“You came in early again. Thank you, as always.”
Mrs. Kim Hyeonja had come to accept the kindness of a man named Reporter Lee Hyeonwook without hesitation.
She might have withdrawn into herself during the days when both her husband and son pushed her away.
But after meeting Richard, who told her that her smile was beautiful, her hunched shoulders seemed to have straightened a little.
“Did you… resolve the matter with your girlfriend?”
“Ah, yes. We simply broke up.”
“Oh dear, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Not at all. Thanks to you, I was able to make up my mind.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I don’t think someone who truly loves me would keep putting me in a difficult position by asking me for money.”
“You thought it through well. They say even family members shouldn’t exchange money. Since you’ve broken up, I’ll say this: I hope you meet a kinder, more respectable young woman next time.”
“Thank you. Since you listened to one of my concerns, you can consult me too if you ever have a problem. I am a reporter, after all. Whenever you have a question or something you want to ask of me, please tell me.”
“I’m grateful just to hear you say that, Reporter Lee.”
Kim Hyeonja was in a good mood again that day, perhaps because the bachelor named Reporter Lee Hyeonwook had treated her to a warm and sweet sweet-potato latte.
‘Though it still isn’t as wonderful as a message from my Richard.’
Even someone as intelligent as Reporter Lee Hyeonwook seemed to have difficulty meeting the right person. How fortunate was she to have met Richard?
It felt as though the heavens were giving her a gift, telling her that she had suffered enough and was now allowed to be a little happy.
[I will go as soon as possible. Quickly. When I buy plane ticket, I will do it. Contact.]
How could an American speak Korean so well? Everything about Richard seemed endearing to her.
He had apparently begun studying Korean after watching Korean dramas and growing fond of Korea, then studied even harder after seeing her photograph and falling for her.
Her only regret was that she wanted to grab anyone nearby and talk about Richard, but she had no one to tell.
[My love. I reserved plane ticket. Meet, soon. I want to hug you tightly.]
The previous night, Richard’s message had nearly made her heart burst.
He wanted to hug her.
Did he mean the sort of embrace where she would run to meet him at the airport, and he would lift her and spin her around?
The images of male and female leads she had seen in movies and dramas replayed in her mind for a long time.
Her face reddened as though she were a teenage girl again, and the smile never left her lips.
“I’ve truly never felt as peaceful and happy as I do these days.”
She had spoken too soon.
Kim Hyeonja regretted the words she had said the previous day.
Peaceful and happy?
It felt as though someone had heard those words and immediately thrown a problem her way.
As though telling her she did not deserve to live like that.
Ding-a-ling, ding!
It would be a message from Richard.
She exchanged messages with Richard before going to sleep and immediately after opening her eyes, so even though they were far apart, she felt as though they were connected.
Wondering what pleasant message he had left this time, she looked at her phone with anticipation.
But what was this?
[My love. There is. A problem. I reserved plane ticket, but there is trouble at customs. They say I must solve this problem to go to Korea.]
What in the world did that mean?
The message that immediately followed was even more absurd.
[They say if I pay fine, problem will be solved. My card is suspended, so it is difficult. Fine. My love. I am in trouble. If you help with fine, I will go to Korea and repay.]
He was asking her to lend him money, wasn’t he?
[Fine is 5,000 dollars. Oh, my love. I am very sad that I cannot go meet you right away.]
Kim Hyeonja felt as though her heart had dropped.
It was because she was worried about why something like this had happened to Richard.
Hadn’t it happened while he was trying to come and see her?
Then she suddenly recalled her conversation with Reporter Lee Hyeonwook.
More precisely, she recalled something she had said to him.
「To put it bluntly, what would you do if you lent her that much money, only for her to break up with you and run away?」
She had definitely said that.
Because that was how she had always thought.
No matter how deeply you loved someone, you needed to be careful about financial dealings, and it was best to avoid exchanging money even between family members.
Moreover, five thousand dollars was well over five million won in Korean currency.
It was an amount she could only save by working as a cleaner for four months without spending a single won.
‘If I lend Richard money, will Richard repay me?’
Kim Hyeonja soon shook her head.
She did not want to suspect Richard.
She had finally found love.
She did not want to lose Richard because of a hasty misunderstanding.
What if he truly was in a dangerous situation?
If she did not help and Richard ended up in even greater trouble, could their relationship continue?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.
「I’m a reporter, after all. Whenever you have a question or something you want to ask of me, please tell me.」
The words Reporter Lee Hyeonwook had said when they parted echoed in her ears.
[November 16, 20XX. Mrs. Kim Hyeonja, responsible for cleaning the sixth floor of the KCN broadcasting station, was defrauded of her entire fortune by a lover she met through a messenger app.]
[She resigned because of the emotional shock…… I wonder whether she is doing well.]
After ordering sweet-potato lattes in the broadcasting station’s first-floor lobby, I opened my reporting notebook.
Today was November 9, which meant exactly one week remained until Mrs. Kim lost her entire fortune.
‘It doesn’t seem like she would send all her money at once…’
A romance scam was a classic fraud scheme that began with a small amount and gradually increased the sum.
Sending money for the first time was difficult. After that, it became easy.
When contact continued even after money had been sent, the victim’s suspicions might fade. And because the victim needed to maintain contact to recover the money already lent, it became difficult to refuse requests for even more.
「My Richard…… He wasn’t that kind of person…… Sob.」
I remembered Mrs. Kim’s tearful voice from before my regression.
I also remembered the name “Richard.”
It was obviously fake, but I desperately needed information about him.
‘Should I try using a bonus?’
I wrote the name “Richard” in my reporting notebook.
For a moment, a faint light appeared over the notebook before fading away.
Then important information appeared.
[Bonus Points Activated: Providing information on Richard.]
[Richard: Hwang Seonju, 34, homemaker, 121-3 Gudang-dong, Gangcheon-gu, Seoul]
No way!
Was this what the bonus I had accumulated three points for would give me?
I had experienced a preview bonus during the Jin Hwaju case, but it was still astonishing to see it again.
I was so surprised and delighted to discover that my reporting notebook had a cheat code like this that my mouth nearly fell open.
In my previous life, I had not known what became of Mrs. Kim Hyeonja, nor had I known whether the romance scammer was ever caught.
They probably had not been caught, had they?
That made it feel as though my reporting notebook was strongly demanding that I catch the culprit this time and make an example of them.
Without realizing it, I clenched the precious reporting notebook in my hand.
I resolved that I would have a deeper conversation with Mrs. Kim that day, no matter what.
I also resolved to keep reporting diligently and continue accumulating points.
“Your three sweet-potato lattes are ready.”
The drinks I had ordered came out at the perfect moment.
“Han Jiwon, please have one of them.”
I spoke while calling the part-time employee by the name written on their name tag.
The broadcasting station café was the only place that sold sweet-potato lattes from before dawn.
I handed it over like a bribe, carrying the earnest wish that they would never open later or remove the drink from the menu.
Step, step.
Carrying two sweet-potato lattes, I entered the News Department office on the sixth floor.
Because Mrs. Kim Hyeonja was not humming as she usually did, the sound of my footsteps seemed unusually loud.
I saw an anxious and restless expression on her face, unlike usual.
‘Surely she hasn’t already sent money?’
In my previous life, she had sent money several times.
From the scammer’s perspective, deceiving her again must have been child’s play.
It was only after she had sent away every last part of the fortune she had kept in reserve that she realized she had been scammed.
‘She had better not have sent any money yet.’
Controlling my expression, I greeted her.
“Good morning, ma’am. I had a lot of work today, so I came in early. Have a drink.”
“……Thank you, Reporter Lee.”
Looking at her face from up close, she appeared even more troubled.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“What? Oh, no.”
“I’m glad to hear that. The wind felt much colder on my way to work today. You need to be especially careful not to catch a cold at times like this. They say the flu has been lasting a long time lately.”
I continued making small talk, thinking that she would only open up if I kept speaking to her.
“Reporter Lee, may I ask you one thing?”
“Yes.”
I answered with as harmless an expression as I could manage.
“Well… you see.”
“Please speak freely. I’ll answer anything I know.”
“I don’t really understand these things. Why would there be a problem at customs after buying a plane ticket from the United States to Korea?”
“Customs? Did someone perhaps say that a fine had to be paid?”
“My goodness! You know about it too, Reporter Lee. That’s right. He said the problem would be solved as long as the fine was paid.”
“…Did Richard tell you that?”
“Yes, Richard was trying to come to Korea… What? How do you know Richard?”
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