Golden Spoon Investor

Honk! Honk! Beep!

Car horns blared from all directions, but rather than feeling anxious, Seok-won felt a sense of relief.

"Good. That should do it."

With traffic completely blocked, at least from this direction, no more cars would be able to get onto the bridge.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"

A furious voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Turning his head, he saw the man he had crashed into standing there, still holding the back of his neck. His face was twisted with anger as he shouted.

"You were driving just fine, so why the hell did you swerve into my lane and crash into me? Were you drunk or something?"

The man sniffed the air suspiciously, his brows furrowing.

His face was red with rage—it was clear he was absolutely livid.

And understandably so. No one would be happy about getting hit out of nowhere.

Seok-won glanced around.

Traffic had come to a complete standstill, with cars lined up behind them. Drivers were either stepping out of their vehicles or poking their heads out the window, all wearing expressions of irritation and curiosity.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"

The man bellowed again.

Seok-won straightened up and calmly responded.

"I'm very sorry. I mistook the accelerator for the brake, and that's how the accident happened."

"That's your problem! What about my car?!"

Still scowling, the man rubbed his neck and winced.

"Damn, I think I hurt my neck too."

Seok-won glanced at the damage. The front fender of the white sedan was completely dented, and part of the bumper was hanging loose.

"Shit. I just got this car a few months ago. Just my damn luck."

The man spat on the ground and growled in frustration.

Seok-won's BMW wasn't unscathed either—its left headlight was shattered, and the bumper was cracked—but that wasn't important right now.

"This was entirely my fault. I'll cover all the repair costs as well as any medical expenses. Please don't worry about it."

"So you're admitting it's your fault, huh?"

The man, who had been yelling to assert dominance, blinked in surprise at Seok-won's immediate acceptance of responsibility.

Seok-won bowed slightly and spoke again, his tone polite yet firm.

"I sincerely apologize. Since you're injured, let's get you to a hospital first."

"Uh... oh... well..."

The man, who had been bracing for a heated argument, suddenly looked awkward, unsure how to react to Seok-won's unexpected compliance.

"Ahem."

Clearing his throat unnecessarily, he eventually softened his tone.

"Well... since you admitted you were wrong, I'll just say this—be more careful when you drive. You almost caused a serious accident."

"Yes, sir."

As Seok-won responded, four or five sturdy young men stepped out of the blue van that had stopped in front of them and approached the two.

"Is anyone injured?"

Turning his head to look, Seok-won immediately recognized them as riot police officers dressed in dark uniforms.

'Come to think of it, the van carrying the riot police, who were on their way to receive an award as an outstanding unit at the Police Day event, was also involved in the accident.'

Fortunately, despite the misfortune, they had all survived because the van had fallen straight down from the middle of the bridge deck.

Miraculously escaping with their lives, the riot police, despite being victims of the accident themselves, immediately showed their dedication by rescuing other victims.

"I'm fine, but this man says he's injured his neck slightly."

At that, an officer, who appeared to be their leader and had an inspector's insignia, glanced at the man standing next to Seok-won, clutching the back of his neck.

"It's a relief that the injury doesn't seem too serious."

Honk! Honk!

Just then, the bus and car drivers behind them blared their horns loudly and shouted.

"Hey! How long are you going to block the road?"

"Move the car to the side! Can't you see the traffic is backed up?"

As angry voices erupted from all around, the inspector attempted to take control of the scene.

"Since we're obstructing traffic, let's move the accident vehicles to the side."

Seok-won, who needed to prevent any more cars from getting onto the bridge, felt his heart sink at the inspector's words.

"We can't tamper with the accident scene. We should wait until the police arrive."

"Haha. But we are the police."

Unlike the anxious Seok-won, the inspector reassured him with a calm expression and gestured behind him.

At his signal, a tall riot officer stepped forward.

"Sergeant Park, you brought the camera, right?"

"Yes."

In response, the riot officer pulled out a compact camera that fits in one hand and showed it.

"Good. For now, take the camera and capture detailed photos of the accident scene."

"Understood."

"Make sure to take multiple shots from different angles. They might be used as evidence later."

"Yes, sir."

As the officer began taking pictures of the scene as instructed, the inspector spoke.

"There, that should do it, right?"

"Ah..."

Seok-won let out a sigh of frustration, realizing he could no longer come up with another excuse.

Before long, the officer holding the camera straightened his back and reported,

"I've taken all the photos."

"Great. Now, please move the car to the shoulder."

At the inspector's words, the man who had been clutching the back of his neck quickly nodded.

"Alright, let's clear the way. If we leave those people waiting any longer, they might start throwing things."

Even as the riot police stepped in to control the situation, shouts filled with curses and frustration continued without pause.

As the man got into his car, the officer hesitated for a moment before urging Seok-won, who stood there uncertainly.

"Sir, please move your vehicle quickly as well."

Seok-won checked his wristwatch with a troubled expression.

It was just past 7:38 a.m.

As he heard the impatient honking from the cars waiting behind, he took a slow step forward.

Then—

BOOM!

A thunderous crash exploded behind him. Seok-won whipped his head around to look at Seongsu Bridge.

"...!"

The sky was overcast after intermittent rain showers since the morning. Stretching across the wide Han River, one of the bridge's upper decks had completely collapsed, breaking apart in an instant.

Gasps of horror filled the air as people stared in shock, their eyes wide with disbelief, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

"What… what the hell just happened?"

"The bridge collapsed!"

"Oh, God…"

"My God, what is this…?"

Shock and disbelief gripped everyone, rendering them speechless.

Although Seok-won had seen footage of accident sites many times before, witnessing such a catastrophe unfold right in front of him was an entirely different experience.

'So in the end, what's meant to happen will always happen.'

Frozen in place, he stared blankly at the collapsed Seongsu Bridge before turning his gaze toward the halted buses and vehicles behind him—the ones that had been forced to stop because of his accident.

A terrifying thought struck him.

If those cars had made it onto the bridge before it collapsed, the devastation would have been unimaginable.

***

Ring! Ring!

"The bridge deck collapsed? Exactly which part?"

"The cars on the bridge fell into the water along with the deck!"

"What's the situation at the scene?"

"Yes, yes, we're aware."

The Koryo Ilbo's social affairs department was in chaos after the news broke that Seongsu Bridge had collapsed. With phones ringing nonstop and a flood of incoming reports, the newsroom felt like a battlefield.

Amid the urgent atmosphere, reporters scrambled to gather and organize information to write their articles.

Yang Young-mo, too, sat at his desk with the receiver clamped between his ear and shoulder, completely engrossed in a call with a junior reporter stationed at City Hall.

"So, you're saying that the 5th and 6th piers in the middle of Seongsu Bridge collapsed?"

[Yes! When the bridge gave way, the deck fell 50 meters down, taking multiple vehicles with it into the Han River!]

The commotion at City Hall was apparent, as background noise bled through the receiver. The junior reporter practically yelled, struggling to relay the information over the din.

[Police and firefighters have rushed to the scene and are just beginning rescue operations, so the exact number of casualties is still unknown. But considering that the accident happened during rush hour, it's expected that the casualty count won't be small.]

"That makes sense."

The accident had occurred at the height of morning congestion. The thought of how many people and vehicles must have been on that bridge when it collapsed was horrifying.

With a grim expression, Yang Young-mo jotted down notes quickly as he continued his conversation.

"Anything else?"

[It's not confirmed yet, but there's talk that the pins connecting the trusses supporting the bridge deck couldn't withstand the load and suddenly snapped.]

"The connecting pins snapped?"

[Yes. Apparently, Seongsu Bridge was built using a truss method that connects the decks with pins.]

"And?"

[These pins were made of high-strength steel to increase rigidity, but they had a weakness—they were prone to breaking.]

Yang Young-mo sighed, recalling an article he'd written recently—one that had been shot down by his editor.

"So the bridge had been carrying more traffic than it was designed for, and the stress on the pins finally caused them to snap?"

[Wait… I didn't even bring up the traffic issue yet—how did you know, senior?]

The junior reporter asked in a surprised voice.

At that, Yang Young-mo wore a troubled expression and subtly changed the subject.

"Got it. Call me immediately if you find out anything else."

[Yes!]

As he listened to his junior's response and set down the receiver, Yang Young-mo muttered a curse under his breath.

"Damn it..."

Running a hand through his hair, he glared at the hastily scribbled notes with darkened eyes.

Excessive traffic exceeding the allowable limit, along with insufficient maintenance and inspections—these were precisely the issues he had pointed out in his article.

And now, a disaster had occurred for exactly those reasons. The weight of frustration and helplessness pressed down on him.

Just as he was struggling to suppress another wave of curses, someone suddenly shouted in a loud voice.

"They're showing live footage from the scene!"

"What?"

"Hey, turn up the volume!"

As if by agreement, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads toward the television mounted on one side of the wall.

Yang Young-mo also sprang to his feet and moved toward the TV sitting on a waist-high shelf, fixing his eyes on the screen.

[We will now connect to our news helicopter reporting live from the scene. The footage may be distressing, so we advise elderly viewers and children to refrain from watching...]

On the large TV screen, a news anchor in a grey suit appeared with a tense expression, preparing to connect to the helicopter broadcasting live from the disaster site.

The screen then switched to aerial footage, revealing the Seongsu Bridge spanning across the dark Han River under a gloomy, overcast sky. The middle section of the bridge had completely collapsed, leaving a gaping void.

"Oh my god…"

"How could this happen?"

"Ah…"

The bridge piers, now missing their deck, were left with only skeletal steel frames and shattered concrete debris clinging precariously to them.

It was as if someone had simply sliced that section away by hand. The shocking sight left everyone in the room stunned, their faces filled with horror and sorrow.

A moment later, the camera zoomed in, showing the wreckage of vehicles that had plunged into the river, their frames crushed beyond recognition.

A gasp rippled through the crowd watching the screen. Some of the female reporters, unable to hold back any longer, began sobbing quietly.

Yang Young-mo, too, stood frozen in place, unable to tear his gaze away from the overwhelming devastation displayed on the television.

As he turned his head in despair, his eyes landed on Kim Deok-han, the chief editor, standing among the onlookers, watching the broadcast.

When Yang Young-mo shot him a glare full of resentment, Kim Deok-han, sensing the weight of his gaze, glanced around uneasily before their eyes met.

"..."

For a brief moment, Kim Deok-han's expression stiffened. Realizing his culpability, he awkwardly averted his gaze before hurriedly retreating to his office, almost as if fleeing.

TL/n -

The Seongsu Bridge disaster was a deadly bridge collapse that occurred on the morning of October 21, 1994, in Seoul, South Korea. 32 people died and 17 were injured when a section of the upper truss of the Seongsu Bridge collapsed onto the Han River.