After making a promise with Cha Woon, I had a brief conversation with him.
Cha Woon’s voice was shaking severely, but whether I had become much more comfortable to talk to, or if he thought sharing information would help with revenge, he began to open up and tell me various things.
“As soon as my hyung left the team and I became the leader of Prism, Hyukwoo-hyung came to see me. Then, he started threatening me by showing all kinds of personal information about us, asking if it would be okay if it was made public. That was the beginning.”
“Until then, I just thought Hyukwoo-hyung was a person with less integrity, someone blinded by money, but he suddenly changed in an instant. Hyukwoo-hyung was much scarier and worse than I had imagined. The reason we didn’t know that was because Yutae-hyung silently handled everything, and only then did I realize that.”
When and how Kang Hyukwoo’s blackmailing started.
“Yoo Jay and I didn’t get along to begin with. We had many personality clashes, but after Yutae-hyung, who always mediated between us, disappeared, our relationship worsened out of control. It got so bad that even the gentle Lee Chise could not persuade us with words, and had no choice but to suppress us by force.”
“In the midst of all that, Jay, had an uncanny knack for poking at the exact parts I wanted to avoid, so in front of Jay, I think I unintentionally spoke too harshly. Since he was so quick to pick up on things, there were times when I had to say things even worse to avoid him noticing.”
The reason why he and Jay argued so badly.
“Whenever I was having a hard time, I would lock myself in my studio. And sometimes, I would listen to the songs that my hyung had created from the drive that he gave me access to. But by chance, Kang Hyukwoo-hyung came to the studio and found out that there were more songs composed by him. I think you, Seungbeom-ssi, probably know well what happened after that.”
“Why didn’t my hyung say anything when I asked for the song that day? Until now, I thought it was because he was so disappointed in me that he had nothing to say, but looking back now, I don’t think that was the case. I think he patted me on the back … I was so nervous at that time that I couldn’t really see what kind of expression my hyung had.”
Even why he brought my song to the survival program.
I simply listened in silence as Cha Woon unraveled the long story. Perhaps because I already knew about Kang Hyukwoo’s wrongdoing, Cha Woon was able to erase his guilt and anxiety by sharing the story he had been carrying alone, and he began to regain his composure.
And when the conversation was roughly coming to an end, I stood up. Since a considerable amount of time had already passed, I had to start heading back to the dorm.
Then Cha Woon, with a look of anxiety, rolled his eyes back and forth before asking, “…What are you going to do?”
I opened my eyes wide in surprise at his gentle tone, as if all the venom had been sucked out of him. Luckily, I was wearing the hat the manager had given me and keeping my head down, so it seemed like he saw it, but I was honestly shocked beyond belief.
‘This tone of voice … is completely similar to what he used to use when talking to me.’
I felt the same shock as when I first encountered Cha Woon’s harsh tone directed at
Trainee Han Seungbeom
. After dealing with the hard-mode Cha Woon the whole time, this felt like the difficulty level suddenly dropped.
I pushed my hat back down on my head to hide my expression and replied casually.
“For now, I’m planning to deal with that rookie group first. They’re a nuisance. And while continuing my activities, I’ll slowly make contact with RH Entertainment and erase the data. There shouldn’t be any major issues with the approach itself.”
“…That’s true. Even now, our company is waiting for your contract to end so they can bring you in right away, Seungbeom-ssi. There’s a big possibility that they’ll go crazy and charge at you instead.”
That’s a given. Why else would I chose to appear on a survival program?
After all, I never officially debuted under SU Entertainment, and the project group’s activities would end in the blink of an eye, so I was probably the most coveted target for RH Entertainment. I had no intention of signing a contract with them, but I could definitely make use of that mentality.
When I nodded as if I already knew about RH Entertainment’s reaction, Cha Woon let out a heavy sigh and continued speaking.
“The problem is how to manipulate those people. They won’t follow anyone else’s words except for Kang Hyukwoo’s.”
“Well, even if they don’t want to follow, they’ll have to. There are plenty of ways to push people. The only one without a weakness is Kang Hyukwoo, and the employees don’t fall into that category. They’re just trash who side with Kang Hyukwoo, so I don’t need to show any mercy.”
“…….”
When I casually blurted out that I was going to crush the employees, Cha Woon looked a little taken aback, closing and opening his mouth several times. Then, he asked in disbelief.
“Seungbeom-ssi, you were crying just a moment ago. How can you recover so quickly and start thinking about sending someone else to their grave? Am I hallucinating?”
“That’s that, and this is this. Crying won’t solve the situation.”
At my answer, Cha Woon slightly flinched his eyebrows, then mumbled while avoiding my gaze, “I thought he looked exactly like Yutae-hyung, but how come he’s even similar in this aspect?”
I could hear everything, so I wondered what the point of speaking like that was.
I just ignored Cha Woon’s monologue and calmly said what I needed to say.
“As a member of Prism, I don’t think you will be able to help with this, since your every move is most likely being monitored. For now, please don’t rush into anything and have a meal first. Get some sleep as well.”
“…Okay.”
“Alright, it’s a promise.”
With that, I said my goodbye and walked out of the studio.
Then, strangely enough, a strong scent of bubblegum filled the air outside the door.
After closing the studio door, I looked up, feeling puzzled.
“Seungbeomie, hi.”
In front of me, Lee Chise stood.
‘Eh, f**k. Why hasn’t this guy gone home yet?’
***
As soon as I saw Lee Chise’s face, my heart dropped. No horror movie could have frightened me like this.
Afraid that Cha Woon might notice Lee Chise’s presence, I grabbed Lee Chise and hurriedly dragged him far away from the studio. I had no idea what Lee Chise was thinking, but he just followed me obediently, without any resistance.
“What on earth are you still doing here?!”
“Well, I was worried there might be an accident. I’m so sick of accidents. I left my phone on speaker mode and came out with another phone. I have two phones because I record calls. One for work, one for personal use! And I have separate numbers for each.”
After moving to a place where no one was around, I urgently asked, and Lee Chise waved his phone and answered very nonchalantly. In short, it meant he had heard our entire conversation.
As I gaped in bewilderment, Lee Chise waved his hand and continued in a casual manner.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Cha Woon-hyung will just think I left my phone behind.”
“…….”
‘In the modern world, that’s called wiretapping. Is it not?’
The phone Lee Chise was holding wasn’t the brand he usually used. It seemed he carried a separate phone specifically for work purposes, one that could record. I hadn’t known about this either, and I couldn’t even begin to guess when he had started carrying two phones.
I sighed and quietly asked him, “…You mean you know everything?”
“Yep. I heard everything, without missing a single word. And I had to.”
Lee Chise tapped the headset hanging around his neck with his fingers as he spoke. Then, lowering his gaze, he continued in a slightly exhausted tone.
“…I had a feeling something was off, that there had to be some kind of situation. But I never imagined things would be this serious.”
“…….”
Come to think of it, Cha Woon said Lee Chise stopped Jay from confronting him. If he hadn’t known the situation, he might have joined the other members in blaming Cha Woon, but Lee Chise didn’t do that.
He was always the type to focus on the person, not the incident. Therefore, for the past few days, or rather, ever since Prism’s leader changed, he must have been sensing something strange about Cha Woon. Seeing Cha Woon passive behavior towards Kang Hyukwoo’s actions in such a situation, he seemed to have guessed that there was some underlying reason.
‘Why the hell does this guy never act the way I expect him to?’
Lee Chise was probably the only one among the members of Prism who could carefully observe someone’s behavior, analyze it deeply, and detect abnormalities. Jay was also quick-witted, but when it came to Cha Woon, he had a tendency to deliberately turn off his attention.
The thought that Lee Chise had learned the truth started to weigh heavily on my mind. If Cha Woon found out, he would go crazy, and I didn’t want to cause confusion to someone who had just started to regain some stability. As I stiffened my face with various worries, Lee Chise sighed softly as if there was no helping it, then bent down and met my gaze .
He patted my head and said, “You don’t have to worry so much. I’ll keep pretending not to know until the time comes. I’m not planning to ask why he didn’t tell me until now, nor am I planning to storm into Kang Hyukwoo’s place and confront him.”
“…Why?”
“Hmm, I can understand Woon-hyung’s position. I heard everything he’s been through and how he’s been enduring it alone until now, so how could I say anything to him about it? The other members probably wouldn’t be able to think that far.”
The guy, who seemed to be deep in thought, paused for a moment before letting out a small laugh and responding like that. Despite the situation being one where smiling would be difficult, he forced a smile. When I quietly looked up at his face, as if noticing the meaning of my gaze, Lee Chise added a few more words.
“I have to always have a smile on my face. Like I don’t know anything. Otherwise, he’s already a person who thinks too much and worries a lot, so we never know when he might break down. I don’t want to lose another member. If I let on that I know something and the truth gets revealed, the member whose weakness is caught might feel guilty. Now that I’m the second oldest in Prism, I have to do my part properly.”
“…….”
“So, you should also keep it a secret from Woon-hyung until the end. Got it?”
What could I possibly say to that?
Even though he knew everything, even though he was all torn up inside, he said he would pretend not to know and keep his eyes closed for the sake of everyone. He was determined to carry out a task that was never going to be easy on him, so there was no way I could refuse his request.
I simply nodded slightly. Then, Lee Chise raised the ends of his eyebrows and smiled once again.
“Thank you. I really feel like I’m always indebted to you.”
As I was quietly staying still without responding to Lee Chise’s words of gratitude, that guy exclaimed loudly as if he’d suddenly remembered something.
“Ah, now that I think about it, Seungbeomie, you! You keep in touch with Jay just fine, but how could you not even give me one call?”
“Somehow, it just happened that way.”
“This won’t do. Homework number one! Call Chise-hyung often. Got it? You must!”
“…….”
I frowned a little, wondering why the hell he was acting like this In response, Lee Chise smiled brightly and threw his arm around my shoulder. Then, he whispered softly in my ear.
“Surely you’re not thinking of doing this alone, are you?”
“Huh?”
“I’m the only member who hasn’t shown any weaknesses to Kang Hyukwoo. And he doesn’t even know that I’ve learned the truth. So, creating evidence behind his back, without the company knowing, is nothing for me.”
Lee Chise said that with a bright smile on his face, but the eyes that was staring at me were devoid of warmth.
“So, contact me, Seungbeom-ah. I will never forgive that bastard.”
….How come I thought he was calm?
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Translator’s Corner:
Prism hyung line together, who cheered
Anyway guys don’t stress too much, it’s not the time yet. You will absolutely love the next chapter.
The rain stopped and I secured my matcha drink. And they have a promo when it’s cheaper when you bought it with ice cream too, so I guess I’m quite happy now. I was cutting on my sugar intake since I don’t move much lately, so drinking one after weeks (or months? I’m losing track of time) only allowing myself mineral water is so satisfying T_T (I had a really hard time when I first stopped drinking sweet things. I guess they’re not lying when they said sugar is also making you an addict. When you stopped, the withdrawal is INSANE).