Chapter 27 |
I was fine until I heard the door open.
I wasn’t too happy about it, as it was best to solve everything on my own terms, but it didn’t hurt to have a witness or two.
However, not everything always went the way I wished.
“What are you doing?”
It was Jay who opened the door and walked in. At the sound of his familiar voice, I immediately realized that the situation had gone horribly wrong.
‘Damn, Zen!’
Zen was full of worries and too thoughtful. Even amidst all this chaos, he was able to judge that I shouldn’t be left alone with Frick.
So, the choice Zen made after returning to the practice room was,
It was likely to inform the ‘adult most friendly to Han Seungbeom‘ of the situation.
“Ah, sunbaenim! This, this was just an accident……”
Frick, who had spotted Jay, quickly moved away from me and approached Jay, looking panicked. He seemed to be trying to explain the situation.
‘Even if you try to explain it now, he’s already seen I got beaten up. How can you act like it never happened.’
Frick waved his hand and covered the shards of the mirror, perhaps thinking that the chaotic practice room needed to be hidden at least a little
But it was a foolish choice.
From the beginning, Jay didn’t even glance at the shattered mirror. He wasn’t interested in it.
Ever since he’d walked into the practice room, the only thing he’d been looking at was me.
“…….”
Jay didn’t say anything. He just walked toward me, step by step.
All those years I spent with that guy acted like big data, triggering a warning signal in my head. When he didn’t say anything, it meant something was going wrong. Cold sweat began to form on my back and hands.
‘.…There’s nothing to swing around here, is there?’
I was confident that I could control him in most situations. I could just smack him on the back to knock some manners into him.
But it was an exception when someone else was nearby, like now.
It was a relief that there was no bat around. I didn’t want Jay to ruin his career by getting involved in a violent incident.
The sound of mirror shards crunching under Jay’s shoe soles filled the silence.
Eventually, the guy came right up to my face. Then his fingers lifted the hem of my shirt.
The skin exposed between the rolled-up clothes was covered in blue bruises. It was the result of the body slam on the stairs.
“Is it him?”
He was asking if it was Frick who had caused the bruises.
He didn’t ask anything else.
I swallowed hard and shook my head slowly. It was a gesture to tell him to cool his head.
“I’m fine. This was caused by a fall, not by what’s happening now. There’s no need for Trainer Jay to worry about my matters at all.”
Jay’s eyebrows twitched.
I told him not to go through all that trouble for nothing, but that guy seemed to have gotten upset about something again.
Was it because saying it was from a fall sounded too much like an excuse?
The guy, who had been silently staring at the red marks on my cheek and my bruised body, wiped his face with both hands. He staggered for a moment, then let out an unsteady breath.
‘This is the worst. What’s wrong with him?’
This kid looked like he wasn’t in good condition. If I didn’t send him out quickly, it seemed like a big problem was about to happen.
I tried to gently push Jay’s body towards the door, but this stubborn guy wouldn’t budge an inch.
“If you could step outside for a moment…..”
Before I could say anything along the lines of ‘I’ll handle it on my own‘, Jay silently put his hand in front of my mouth. It seemed like he was telling me to shut up. He was much angrier than I thought.
Okay.
“Sunbaenim, if you’re not feeling well, please go in and rest first. I’ll explain it to the production team.”
As if trying to appease Jay, who clearly looked like he was in a terrible mood, Frick kept bowing and spoke. Jay, who had been staring at the ground to suppress his nausea, lifted up his gaze and glared at Frick.
“Here, this place is a bit of a mess … Trainee Han Seungbeom, you must have been a little surprised, right? Haha. I need to clean up a bit, so could you step outside for a moment?”
“…….”
“Trainee Han Seungbeom accidentally broke the mirror. Goodness, the discipline needs to be tightened up … I’ll take responsibility and make sure everything is handled. I’ll explain everything clearly to the production team.”
Seeming flustered by Jay’s silence, Frick rambled on, spouting a string of poorly formed sentences, as many as he could think of. Even in the midst of all that, he kept glancing at the camera, as if he still wanted to get his hand on it.
“I was just startled and trying to protect Trainee Han Seungbeom. Seungbeom-ah, you must have been really surprised, right? I didn’t know my hand would bump into you like that.”
Frick, who assumed Jay wouldn’t notice, furrowed his brows and gave me a look. It seemed like he was hinting that I should agree with him.
“Eyes.”
Jay, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spat out a single word.
“Yes?”
“If you look at him one more time, you’re finished.”
“….Yes.”
Before I could react to his threat, a murderous warning was issued. Frick, not knowing what was going on, fixed his trembling gaze on the floor and cautiously observed the situation.
It was impossible for him to know.
To the outside world, I’m just Jay’s one-pick trainee, but in reality, I’m the older brother who raised Jay, died without a word, and has only now returned. I couldn’t tell him that, could I?
“Jongsu-ya.”
“Yes, sunbaenim.”
The guy who grabbed my arm with one hand and pulled me up called out Frick’s real name. When I heard the tone that clearly indicated he was assessing his kill angle, I pulled his shoulder closer and whispered in his ear.
“There’s a camera, right here.”
“Really?”
Jay glanced around, checking the camera’s position, then responded indifferently.
I’d said that out of concern, but he didn’t seem to care. This idiot brat.
Frick flinched as the sound of his shoes got closer and closer.
“Is life a bit more fun for you when you relieve stress by bullying your juniors?”
“Ah, no. I had no intention of bullying him at all … I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding.”
At Frick’s foolish response, Jay gave a slight nod of his head.
“Then you won’t mind if I do the same to you. Because I’m not bullying you.”
“…….”
“I’ve never done it before, so I don’t know how to do it. Jongsu-ya, what should I do? Should I hit you for every bruise I find on his body?”
Jay lifted the corners of his lips.
There wasn’t the slightest hint of smile in his eyes.
“Should I do the same thing and get caught by a senior, and have my career in the entertainment industry ruined? I’ll get kicked out of the program halfway through.”
“..…I’m sorry.”
With his hands clasped in front of him as if in punishment, the frightened Frick finally gave the correct answer.
Those who excessively emphasized the hierarchical order to their juniors were often the ones who became overly intimidated in front of their own seniors. Jay, with his unrivaled career, was undoubtedly a source of terror for Frick.
“I hate bastards like you.”
“…….”
“You’re spineless, arrogant, and incompetent, yet you have a big ego.”
Jay repeatedly clenched and unclenched his left hand, as if his fingertips were numb.
“If I knew you would be this arrogant, I should have just not let it happen when the PD said he was going to cast you to spice up the show.”
Jay told me the other day that when he was first offered this program, he turned it down. But the main PD kept pestering him and begging so much that he eventually agreed.
Jay, who was the top priority among all the cast members of the program, said that he was given prior information about the trainers and was even asked if he was okay with them.
The production team’s regard for Jay’s importance was something all the cast members subtly felt, from his appearance order to schedule adjustments and overall treatment.
‘There are few celebrities who can match Jay’s level of popularity and career success. The production team must have been desperate to get him on board.’
In fact, Jay’s collaboration stage generated far more buzz than those of other trainers, proving his value beyond any doubt. This also meant that his opinion had a significant influence on the production team.
“If you couldn’t even manage to secure a decent schedule and ended up being dragged around as a scapegoat, you should have behaved yourself. This was your last chance.”
“Please … please. Just this once, please tolerate my mistake. I will never do anything like this again.”
“What else could it be if me leaving you alone until now is not tolerance?”
“Te-tell him how this happened. Those bruises, I didn’t cause them!”
Realizing that Jay had no intention of listening to him, Frick clung to me. It seemed he thought that since Jay was favorable toward me, he would listen to what I said.
“I don’t know.”
I feigned ignorance. Unfortunately, I had no intention of stepping in front of someone who was willing to do a sword dance1 for me just to protect a guy I despised.
And, most importantly, something felt off about my physical condition.
‘…..What’s wrong with my body?’
My limbs felt heavy.
Come to think of it, the sun is about to set, but I haven’t eaten yet.
I realized I was more sensitive and demanding than I thought I was. Group living with a bunch of guys was like a rat poison to me. In my previous life, my manager took care of everything for me, but now I had to take care of myself.
‘I couldn’t sleep well today because Woo Kangwon and Do Yuda were making so much noise.’
Between preparing for the program and dealing with people like Kang Hyukwoo, Jay, Frick, Zen, and and Park Sangjoong, I had so much on my plate that I couldn’t properly take care of my sleep and meals.
In this situation, rolling around like this seemed to put much more strain on Han Seungbeom’s skinny body than I originally thought.
“I will never, never cause any problems like this again! Please give me just one more chance.”
The panicked voice rumbled like an echo. It seemed like they had progressed their conversation tens of thousands of miles away among themselves. Mostly in the direction of ruining Frick’s career in the entertainment industry.
‘You crazy idiots, stop fighting.’
Beep. I started hearing a ringing in my ears, and now my vision was turning hazy as well.
First of all, my head was ringing so loudly that I thought I’d have to shut them both up.
“It was because I’ve been beaten a lot by my agency, so I’m having a hard time. Sunbaenim, please, have pity on me.”
“Look at his body right now. How am I supposed to feel pity for you?”
“Both of you, please calm down.”
I stepped between them and waved my arm. Finally, their attention focused on me.
“Just, calm down.”
“I won’t give in this time. Because I didn’t put him in his place from the beginning, he keeps overstepping the bounds and causing trouble.”
“I understand. I will live carefully and reflect on my actions!”
“That’s not the problem right now.”
“Move aside. I’ll handle this.”
Jay seemed to mistakenly think that I was trying to calm him down to avoid escalating the situation, just like when we were at RH Entertainment.
“I absolutely can’t just let this slide.”
“Sunbaenim, I will truly reflect on my actions. Please!”
But that wasn’t it. I was trying to say ‘please, just shut up, at least one of you, because my head hurts so much that I’m about to die‘.
‘Not that. You bastards!’
What the hell did you think you were fighting about right now?
You were fighting because of me.
That precious person is in a terrible state right now, so why are you still fighting?
Thud, thud. I felt a burning sensation on my face, and then I heard the sound of something falling to the floor.
As I tried to focus my spinning vision, I spotted a pool of red liquid on the floor.
‘Is it my head?’
At first, I thought my scalp had been torn open from being hit in the head. But no matter how much I peeked at the part where I had been hit with my sleeve, there was no blood.
Jay, who sensed that something was wrong with me, noticed the blood on the floor. Then, he burst into a rage and grabbed Frick by the collar.
“You! How much did you torment him for him to be in this condition?!”
‘Don’t grab him, come to me.’
There’s only one trustworthy guy here, but he’s in that state.
“I-I never hit him there!”
“What?”
Frick wasn’t lying. The issue right now wasn’t the place I was hit, but my overall health condition.
I grabbed my throbbing head and rubbed the damp part of my face with the back of my hand. Then, red liquid started pouring out near my nose.
‘Ah, f**k.’
The moment I confirmed the source of the blood, my body tilted.
And through my fading vision, I saw Jay running towards me, his arm outstretched. Finally, he’s coming.
“HAN SEUNGBEOM!”
“So, in moderation…….”
I told you to stop. You bastards.
Before I could finish that sentence, everything in front of me turned pitch black.
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Translator’s Corner:
- Sword dance (칼춤) here is a figurative expression that used to refer someone who is dangerously taking risks to eliminate the enemies. It can also be read as “someone reckless who is going to great lengths to protect someone“. ↩︎
On today’s question why dangerous fictional man is so charming …..