Chapter 26 |
This industry, though seemingly glamorous, was built on a foundation of numerous injustices and suffering
Yes, up until just 10 years ago, it was common for agencies to use corporal punishment on trainees. Some agencies even broadcasted the scenes of punishing trainees on TV.
Of course, during my time at RH Entertainment, I also witnessed and even experienced that kind of violence. It was clear abuse.
“Hyung, the Overture kids contacted us with a long message saying they really want to collaborate with us. What should we do? It seems like they want to get attention by linking up with our popularity.”
“I don’t know. I need to know their names before deciding whether to collaborate or not.”
And this violence followed the typical patterns, often passed down to others. From agency to trainee, from senior to junior. Once someone initiated it, it was unstoppable and contagious.
“They’re from an agency famous for mistreating its trainees. One of the members there has a bad habit. He does the same things that were done to him to the juniors.”
“…..Reject it.”
“I knew it. Alright, I’ll reject them.”
“Where did he take Zen?”
“It looked like they were heading to a place without cameras! To the right corridor!”
The victim has no choice but to keep their mouth shut.
No matter how big they made the issue, the public would only focus on their scandal, not their skills. Every time they appeared on broadcast, if the reaction was something like, “Oh, isn’t that the person who said they were hit by a senior?” then their career as a celebrity could essentially be considered over.
While an established celebrity might be able to survive a scandal, a rookie would be completely consumed by that image and fall into ruin.
Whether they endure it in silence or expose it to the public, both choices would cause harm to the victim.
“Trainer Frick insulted you in front of us, hyung. When Zen-hyung heard it, he got angry at Trainer Frick and told him to apologize.” “And then, his voice began to get heated…..”
I didn’t want Zen to create a scar that he could never erase for the rest of his life because of me.
‘Damn, where are you!’
I ignored the sharp pain in my chest and ran to find Zen and Frick. My body, which hadn’t fully recovered from fatigue, felt like it was on the verge of collapse.
‘Please …. please!’
Zen was too honest, too naive. He was under the illusion that a better relationship could be built by honestly facing the other person and pointing out their mistakes.
Frick was an overwhelmingly difficult opponent for someone who had never truly experienced the viciousness of this industry.
“He said the Trainer was petty. I think he also pointed out that it’s wrong to boost your ego by belittling others without elevating yourself.”
“Trainer Frick got really angry, so we were scared and hid.”
‘That’s not wrong, but why would you say it directly to him?’
Frick was indeed a petty person. He also had an inflated ego.
But with his personality, he wouldn’t be able to humbly accept advice from others. Especially not from a much younger trainee who hadn’t even debuted yet.
‘Found them.’
“What did you say? Say it again.”
“I said that your inferiority complex is painful to watch.”
As I ran around the corner, I caught a blurry glimpse of two figures.
“It’s a pitiful life. To succumb to the convenience of violence is no different from living like cattle.”
Frick was gripping Zen’s face with a clenched fist, and Zen was stubbornly saying everything he wanted to say.
Goddamn it.
“Please stop.”
Luckily, seeing that there were no injuries, it seemed he hadn’t been hit yet.
I pushed my way between the two of them, shook off Frick’s hand, and hid Zen behind me.
“Leada?”
“Stop? Hey, you, back off. Who do you think you are, bastard, butting in and making a fuss?” Frick let out a scoff, as if he was dumbfounded, and spoke threateningly.
“I am the leader of the team Zen is part of. I need to take him inside now. Isn’t this enough?”
“No? It’s not enough? From the way this bastard is talking, he hasn’t come to his senses yet. How can that be enough?”
“You said you were teaching me mental education. This is not education. This is covering up the incompetence of the educator with physical violence.” Zen, who was looming behind me, spoke like a rapid-fire cannon.
Hearing it directly with my own ears, rather than just being told, was a much bigger shock than I anticipated.
The strangely perfect vocabulary and the almost literary tone of speech felt like a critical attack on the opponent’s psyche.
“This guy has gone crazy, seriously. You laugh at your senior.”
I blocked Frick’s approach to Zen.
“Hey, get out of the way!”
“You left the Practice Room A unattended and just came here. The kids were making a ruckus. It’s only a matter of time before the production team becomes suspicious and comes looking for us here. Do you really want this to escalate?”
“…….”
“Please calm down, let him go and we can talk separately.”
“Leada, I……”
“Zen, go tell the kids that you’re okay, then go sit next to Kangwon-hyung and rest. It’s alright, I’ll finish the conversation and come back.”
The first thing you must do is separate the perpetrator from the victim.
I gave Zen a word of advice and pushed him gently.
Frick, realizing that his position would become awkward if Zen stayed in this place any longer, didn’t interfere. Instead, he glared at Zen and issued a warning, “If you spread strange rumors, I won’t let it slide. Go and say nothing happened.”
“But, Leada.” Zen mumbled nervously at Frick’s threat, glancing at me anxiously.
“Go.”
“………”
“Hurry.”
“….I understand.”
At my firm tone, Zen reluctantly started leaving. Only after confirming that he was completely gone could I finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then I turned to Frick, “Let’s go inside and talk. People might pass by here.”
I opened the door to the practice room right in front of us and went in.
“Seriously, what’s wrong with kids these days? Are you all out of your minds?”
“…….”
As soon as we entered the practice room, he started voicing complaints, making it clear he thought I had come to calm him down and appease him.
But there was something he was overlooking.
“My fists were really shaking, but I barely held back.”
I smiled brightly as I closed the door to the practice room. Then, I opened my mouth.
It seemed he had forgotten, but the one who caused Frick to face all that criticism was none other than me.
“Are you not ashamed of yourself? Of your tendency to resort to violence so easily.”
“….What?” Frick, having lost words for a moment, made a dumbfounded sound.”
“Recently, I’ve noticed that Trainer Frick often shows emotional agitation regarding topics related to me, so I’ve been thinking about the reasons behind it. If there’s anything I’ve done wrong, I’d like to apologize.”
“…….”
“However, since I am lacking and have almost nothing, I couldn’t find anything that could be considered a problem. Except for my fans who are really too good for me.”
When I emphasized the word ‘fans‘, I heard the sound of teeth grinding.
‘As expected.’
As I suspected, Frick’s strange behavior seemed to stem from losing his famous fansite master. He already hated me, but this was the finishing blow.
“If that was the case, it would have been better if you had told me, the source of the problem.”
What I meant was, “aren’t you acting like this because I took your fans?“. In a situation where it would be shameful to lie and deny it, or to admit it was true, Frick trembled all over.
“I am truly sorry for causing you pain.”
“You, you!”
“But next time, if you need to vent your anger, please take it out on me. Think about how terrifying it must have been for a 19-year-old who knows nothing to endure such persecution alone.”
“How could he know nothing! Didn’t you see the way that bastard talked?” Frick spat, finally finding something to retort.
“I didn’t hear the conversation from the beginning. I only heard the latter part, so I couldn’t catch the wrong parts. If you tell me, I’ll make sure to give him a proper explanation.”
The important point is not that I’ll explain it, but rather that I heard the latter part and there was nothing wrong with it.
A pitiful life, a life like that of cattle, an incompetent educator. I implicitly meant that there was nothing wrong with everything I heard. No one would knew unless they were me or Frick who heard what Zen said.
Frick probably wouldn’t tell anyone what he heard from Zen.
No, he couldn’t. If he did, he’d only embarrass himself.
“Are you messing with me right now! Do I look like a joke to you?!”
“Not a joke. But you’re not that intimidating to be afraid of.”
“Akh!”
As I snapped back with a petty retort, Frick, unable to control his anger, let out a furious sound. Then, he shoved me hard on the shoulder.
‘Come on.’
The moment Frick’s hand made contact, my body was jolted with a thud, and I combined my strength with the impact, slamming hard into the mirror.
Bam! The mirror shattered, and my hair scattered instantaneously.
“Ugh!” I collapsed, gripping my back as if I had been seriously injured by the strong impact.
“Wha-what. I didn’t hit you that hard … I was just trying to scare you….”
Frick’s face had gone pale as he looked over my curled-up form, his expression filled with anxiety.
‘Exactly … this kind of thing happens when you have bad habits.’
The Lucky Center was maintained by the production team, so even if they weren’t using this room now, they would eventually find the broken mirror sooner or later.
No matter how much of a jerk Frick was, he would find this kind of situation troublesome.
“Hey, hey, are you okay?”
“…….”
I had to keep up the sick act, whether he was anxious or not.
Because.
“You, where are you looking at in this situation…….”
The camera was filming everything.
Frick, who followed my gaze, finally spotted the small camera hidden behind the curtain, with only its lens exposed.
“Let’s secretly put a small camera in and make sure it keeps recording. Since the trainees’ fandoms are getting too big, everyone’s being so careful not to make a mistake. Whether it’s a trainer or a trainee, we need to catch one.”
“What if they notice?”
“They won’t notice. Anyway, it looks more realistic if the screen isn’t clear, so as long as it’s captured, it doesn’t matter if some parts are obscured.”
Birds hear the words spoken during the day, mice hear the words spoken at night1, and dog’s barking2 is heard by Han Seungbeom.
I knew that the camera had been running in this practice room even before this incident happened. I overheard the main PD and staff whispering thanks to my special ability.
“…….”
So, I purposefully lured him here, provoked him, and led him to commit violence. He was already known for his bad habits, so I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist.
‘Anyway, since the distance is far, the camera’s built-in microphone won’t capture our conversation.’
Therefore, there’s no problem for me at all.
Frick’s face was filled with surprise as he discovered the camera, and he slowly turned his head to look at me.
I smiled brightly. Then, in a low voice, I said, “Oh, I got caught.”
The camera was capturing the mirror. So, with my back to the mirror right now, the camera would only capture Frick’s back and the reflection of my back in the mirror.
“What the f*ck!”
Frick tried to quickly get up. He seemed to want to destroy the camera and its memory. I tightly grabbed the hem of his clothes and didn’t let go.
“Get out of my way!”
‘If it were you, would you get out of the way?’
It was nonsense. I tightly hugged Frick’s leg.
Han Seungbeom likes warm hugs.
“This crazy bastard, you!”
Thinking that erasing the contents was the most urgent, Frick swung his fist at my head.
Creak.
In that critical moment, someone opened the practice room door and walked in.
The punch that had already swung out couldn’t slow down and struck my head hard. A chilling sound echoed throughout the practice room.
The blow to my temple blurred my vision for a moment, but I could recognize the person clearly.
I could recognize him by his voice alone.
“What are you doing?”
It was Jay.
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Translator’s Corner:
- Birds hear the words spoken during the day, mice hear the words spoken at night (낮말은 새가 듣고 밤말은 쥐가 듣는다) is a Korean proverb that means that everything said will eventually be overheard or discovered. So if you say something carelessly even when there is no one around, that word can still be found out by others and caused you trouble. ↩︎
- English equivalent would be “Bullshit”. ↩︎
It was so predictable but I’M STILL KSKJSDHFJSDHFDJHFDH