The committee's deliberation stretched for two hours, a torturous eternity in the silent antechamber where Ha-ru and Jin-woo waited. They didn't speak. They sat side-by-side, their shoulders touching, Jin-woo's hand a cold, tight fist in Ha-ru's warmer grasp. The adrenaline of their declarations had faded, leaving behind a hollow, buzzing anxiety. Had they been too bold? Had they just handed their enemies the rope to hang them with, wrapped in the finery of their honesty?
Ms. Choi brought them water. Sang-cheol, their attorney, paced by the window, his face grim. "Legally, they have no grounds. Morally… you've just rewritten the rulebook on corporate morality. They don't know what to do with that."
Finally, they were summoned back. The gallery had not dispersed; if anything, it had grown more packed, the air thick with anticipation. The committee members filed in, their faces unreadable masks. Chairwoman Hong did not sit. She remained standing, her hands resting on the dais.
