Chapter 23 |
“Leada! I’ll protect you!”
With a strange, indescribable shout, Nagi Zen rushed toward me. It seemed that he started to move the moment the C-Class trainee, Park Sangjoong.
Bam!
‘What the hell.’
I was shoved hard against the railing by Nagi Zen, who lunged diagonally and grabbed my waist. The fact that I was crushed beneath Zen, who was as tall and thin as a pole, was just the cherry on top.
I might have gotten a few bruises from hitting the railing, but it was nothing compared to what I would’ve suffered if I’d fallen down the stairs.
‘Oh my, my back hurts.’
I suppose I was a bit surprised.
My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears.
“Hyung! Are you okay?”
The kids with pale faces rushed toward me. Among them was Park Sangjoong, who had pushed me.
‘The audacity.’
Look at how pale his face was after he pushed me. Just by looking at his expression, it was obvious. He probably intended to push me gently, but I ended up being shoved hard, which seemed to surprise him.
“Oh, I’m okay. I must have slipped for a second.”
Since the children were all watching anyway, I had no intention of making things more unsettling.
I gave them a reassuring wave and patted Zen’s body, “Thank you. I’m fine now.”
“Are you really okay? Is there any injury?” Zen, who had his head down the whole time, finally raised it and asked with a furrowed brow. Seeing his voice and hands tremble, he was unmistakably a fragile nineteen-year-old.
The agitation reflected in his face made my conscience prickle. I shouldn’t have judged a person by their appearance. It was clearly my mistake.
‘No, but objectively speaking, he acted really suspicious.’
“I’m not hurt anywhere, everything’s fine, so don’t worry.”
I quickly got the kids, who were looking at me with teary eyes, to their feet. And to prove that I really wasn’t injured, I shook my body a little and got up as if nothing had happened.
Only after seeing that, the children patted their chests in relief and quickly regained their composure.
Perhaps because the visibility was so poor, it seemed that no one but Zen knew that Park Sangjoong had pushed me.
“I was really shocked. I almost got a heart attack.”
“Me too! I thought there was going to be a big accident! Hyung, you need to watch the floor carefully.”
“It’s okay, Zen helped me.”
As I expressed my gratitude while patting Zen’s dry hair, he shyly bit his lips and bowed his head low.
“I just did what I had to do.”
His face looked like a total thug, yet he’s suddenly acting shy. The members all widened their eyes in surprise.
“Why have you been so quiet with us when you speak so well like this?”
“I was worried that my Korean might be strange and that I might say something rude.”
The children, who were scared of Zen’s face and atmosphere throughout the preparation for the first mission, burst out laughing.
“What! If that’s the case, we can talk a lot from now on! I was scared for no reason just by looking at your face.”
“Scared? I don’t know. But I’ll talk to you a lot from now on.”1
Amidst this cheerful atmosphere, there was one person standing off to the side, unable to blend in.
“…….”
It was Park Sangjoong, the criminal behind all this. He seemed to be questioning why I wasn’t calling him out right now. The moment he pushed my body, I definitely made eye contact with him. He must have realized that I knew who the culprit was.
‘Wow, this bastard. He’s not apologizing?’
He glanced at me, but didn’t say anything. I smiled brightly, covering the blood vessels in my forehead that were popping out in real time.
“Let’s get to know each other tomorrow. Hurry up and go in, wash up, and sleep.”
Judging by the lack of any sign of any other people nearby, it was already late. We couldn’t stay in this dangerous place forever.
I pushed off the backs of the children, who were chatting with Zen with a sudden burning friendliness, and stepped off the stairs.
“Sweet dreams, hyung.”
“Okay.”
“Zen, see you tomorrow!”
As the kids scattered to their respective rooms, I grabbed the shoulder of the guy who was sneakily trying to go with them. Then, I asked.
“Sangjoong-ah, where are you going?”
His body started trembling wildly like someone who had encountered a ghost. Eventually, he even started hiccuping, making him looked quite pitiful.
‘Okay, what kind of bastard was he?’
I rummaged through my memory and came up with his personal information. Park Sangjoong. Twenty years old.
That meant he was already of age, and the only ones I could tolerate were only up to minors.
“You, you’ve got something to say to me, right? Where do you think you’re going?”
“Oh, Hyung. Please. You sound like a gangster.”
The words that Do Yuda had habitually said to me came to mind, but they vanished within three seconds. For the sake of the adult’s conversation, I opened the door to quite stairs again and dragged him in.
“The kids are asleep, follow me quietly.”
“Wa-wait!”
What do you mean wait. Ignoring Park Sangjoong’s desperate cries, I slammed him against the wall.
After slamming the door shut, I smirked.
“How much did you underestimate people, you dare to push someone in front of everyone so easily, then act like you don’t know anything?”
If I could give just one piece of advice to the children of a new generation, there’s something I really wanted to say.
If you want to gain the upper hand, hit their head first.
“Hey, you almost made someone cross the Jordan River2, how can you be so shameless and just walk away? Huh?”
Whack. I banged my head against the wall with him in between.
The light, sensing the movement, fell vertically onto the top of my head, casting a shadow over my face. Park Sangjoong, who had collapsed to the floor, looked up at my face and froze, like a mouse in front of a lion.
The program would last for months. I couldn’t let him keep disturbing me like this all that time.
So I had to show him.
I’m a mad dog, and you’re beneath me, so don’t bark.
Every time I banged my head against the wall at regular intervals, Park Sangjoong’s body recoiled. The hiccups that had been interrupting his breathing had disappeared at some point.
“I really want to live a good life, but I don’t understand why guys like you keep getting in the way. You should’ve known better. Didn’t you get a hint of it while we’re practicing together? My temper is like a dog’s.”
I grabbed the face of the completely terrified guy with one hand and pressed my forehead against his.
“Huh!”
I heard him squeak as he sucked in fear.
“Sangjoong-ah, say something. I’m so pissed off I’m about to snap, so at least try to calm me down.”
When I urged him to answer, Park Sangjoong finally opened his mouth and stammered, “I-I…”
“I?”
“I didn’t, I didn’t mean to kill you … I was just joking.”
It was a disappointing answer. I didn’t expect him to tell the truth, but I didn’t expect him to be so uncreative.
“Hahaha! Haha!”
“…….”
“Joking?”
I laughed out loud and immediately grabbed him by the collar, yanking him off the railing.
God, I’m sending one over.
“Aaaah!” Park Sangjoong screamed in desperation, his arms and legs flailing.
“Is this a joke to you?”
“Please don’t do this!”
“You said it was a joke.”
“Save me! I was wrong!”
“If you lie to me one more time, I won’t let you off the hook.”
I picked him up and threw him backwards just before his body tilted completely. Then, I sat down in front of him, sprawled in the corner of the staircase, and glared at him murderously.
“It was Director Kang Hyukwoo who ordered you to push me down the stairs. Isn’t that right?”
As soon as the truth of the incident was revealed, Park Sangjoong sucked in a breath. His face turned pale, as if he had encountered some kind of God.
Although I had a certain similarity to Jesus, in the sense that I had died and come back to life, it wasn’t the correct answer.
“Ho-how did you know that?”
“If you have the right connections, it’s easy to find out. He makes trainees do all sorts of ridiculous things under the pretense of giving them a chance to debut, then discard them. Surely you didn’t think he would debut kids who committed dirty deeds, did you?”
Of course, the first claim was a lie. Kang Hyukwoo was extremely sensitive about any talk leaking about him. He controlled the mouths of those involved to the extent that it was almost brainwashing and surveillance, so there was no way there could be an informant.
But other than that, everything was the truth. Kang Hyukwoo would only take advantage of the trainees’ desperate desires, and would have no intention of treating them with any respect as individuals.
“Discard them?”
“Yeah. If something goes wrong, he just discards them. You know what kind of person Director Kang Hyukwoo is.”
More than anyone, he must be the one who knows best that he is being used as a consumable product.
Park Sangjoong’s eyes started to shake. Next, a decisive blow was needed to shake his heart.
“But whether you debut or not isn’t up to him. It’s up to me.”
“..…What do you mean?”
“There’s someone who witnessed what you did. You know, right? What’s the most important thing for an idol.”
Nagi Zen. Park Sangjoong must have known that that guy was opposing him and watching him.
Therefore, he became a witness to Park Sangjoong’s misdeeds.
‘An idol is ruined once a scandal breaks.
It seemed he had momentarily forgotten because he was blinded by the prospect of debuting.
In reality, what he should fear the most is not Kang Hyukwoo, but his own actions.
“Please, I only did it because Director Kang ordered me to! He told me to do it! Break at least one of your arms or legs!”
Realizing his situation too late, Park Sangjoong knelt and clung to me. I brushed off his arm and held out my hand.
“Stop acting pathetic and give me your phone.”
“……The conversation history is in there.”
He seemed to think that I wanted the conversation history with Director Kang Hyukwoo, so he hesitated while taking out his phone.
“It probably doesn’t exist. Director Kang Hyukwoo deletes the call records and conversation history every day. And, he also tracks your location.”
“…..You really do have an informant.”
Ignoring Park Sangjoong’s gaping mouth, I waved again, and the phone finally fell into my hand.
“So don’t even think about messing with me.”
I answered dismissively, placed the phone against Park Sangjoong’s face to unlock it, and started digging around to my heart’s content.
[Director Kang Hyukwoo]
[CEO Kim Chansol]
[Director Park Younghyun]
.
.
.
‘As expected.‘
When I opened the address book, I saw familiar names. Kang Hyukwoo was someone who valued connections with specific people greatly. There was a possibility that the names in this address book were connected in some way to my scandal and death.
I engraved those names in my mind, pressed the keypad firmly, and dialed the number on my phone.
‘Phone number secured.’
I deleted my number from the call log and threw the phone at Park Sangjoong.
“Ouch!”
“I’ll overlook it.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll let you go. But in return, you’ll have to pay the price, right?”
“…..What do you want?”
“When I call, pick up before the third ring. If I tell you to come out, come out immediately.”
“Why?”
“Why, you ask. To keep an eye on you so you don’t do anything stupid.”
I was too lazy to even think about keeping an eye on him. I was just trying to blackmail him, but if I told the truth, he might run away, so I told a little lie.
I heard a mutter ‘It doesn’t seem like he’s going to let me go‘, but when I kicked the wall with my foot, all the useless noise stopped.
“Now that the business is over, go get some sleep. If you show it in front of the kids, you’re done for.”
I opened the door and gave a slight nod, and Park Sangjoong, who had been following my instructions, paused for a moment. He then hesitated and mumbled something else.
“I really don’t have any ill feelings toward you. I just did it because that person told me to. I’m grateful for your help with the practice … I’m sorry.”
“…….”
I wasn’t curious about the circumstances of someone who tried to sacrifice others for his own gain. It just felt hypocritical for him to say such things now.
“Whatever. Just get lost.”
“Ah, okay!”
Park Sangjoong narrowly avoided my kick and hurriedly returned to his room. When the fidgeting back of that guy’s head disappeared from view, I exhaled deeply.
Left alone in the quiet darkness, I pulled out the small object that had been in my pocket the entire time. I spun the lightweight object in my palm and pressed firmly on the protruding part.
[“Please, I only did it because Director Kang ordered me to…..”]
Then a recorded voice came out of a tiny hole at the bottom.
[“He told me to do it! Break at least one of your arms or legs!”]
“Thank you. I’m the one who should be more grateful, Sangjoong-ah.”
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Translator’s Corner:
- The way the previous person saying “I was scared” the “Scared” is spoken using informal, kinda slang way choice of word. So, Zen, a foreigner said “I didn’t know” because he didn’t understand what is “Scared”. ↩︎
- Cross the Jordan River (요단강 건너다): death. In the Bible, the Jordan River is the river that separates life from death. It’s popular expression in Korea because when someone (of this religion) died, the hymn that they sang has this “Crossing the Jordan River” lyrics. ↩︎