There is too much pain in this world to count.
“Aa, agh…..”
Human beings, too weak to carry the weight of it all, sought any means to survive. By limiting their understanding to the
pain
they personally saw, heard, and felt, they convinced themselves that was the entirety of its existence.
“Yoo Jay.”
“It was all the company’s doing. It wasn’t that Cha Woon-hyung betrayed us … he had no choice but to do that. Because of us … I didn’t even know that!”
Ignorance was the only blessing that could protect someone from the truth.
Those who choose to abandon it on their own would have to suffer the corresponding pain, and both Cha Woon and I knew all too well how painful that would be, so we chose silence.
“I lived without even knowing that, laughing carelessly, doing solo activities just fine, sleeping, eating……..”
In order not to take away the blessings given to Jay and the other members.
“I-I said things to Cha Woon-hyung that I shouldn’t have.”
“It’s okay. Calm down.”
It was fortunate that Jay had put the phone on speakerphone in the first place.
He was too distracted to pay attention to his phone, so the harsh sounds of the microphone hitting the floor went on and on. And mixed in between was the sound of his muffled sobs.
“…What if he resents me?”
“…….”
“If Chise-hyung hadn’t stopped me … I would have called him a traitor, asked what the hell he became the leader of Prism for. If I had said that, how would I ever apologize to Cha Woon-hyung….”
Lee Chise stopping Jay was a double-edged sword.
It served to prevent an irreversible situation from happening once Jay learned the truth, but at the same time, it had also provided Jay with a hint that led to discovering the truth.
In conclusion, his action was the right choice.
It was an incredibly wise decision, especially when considering that it was an action taken without any certainty. Regardless of what happened, once everything was over, Prism had to return to its rightful place, and the truth would inevitably come to light.
“The reality is that you didn’t say those words. Don’t feel guilty about something you didn’t do.”
“I was able to live fine thanks to Cha Woon-hyung’s sacrifice, yet I dared to reproach him. I thought he was pathetic. But the truly pathetic one was me.”
But to learn the truth in this way, at this time, was too cruel for Jay.
Lee Chise hadn’t intended it, of course, but Jay was too quick-witted to ignore the clues he was given. And he didn’t know how painful it would be to learn the truth.
Because that’s how we raised him.
Because everyone had done everything in their power to protect the youngest of our family from getting hurt.
‘He’s already so unstable!’
Jay was different from Lee Chise. He lacked the maturity to immediately discern what actions would be best for both Cha Woon and me in the midst of a confusing situation.
I tried to guess Jay’s condition as I listened to the sound coming from the speaker. The phone, which had been shaking wildly just a moment ago, was now delivering the sound clearly, as if it had fallen to the floor.
“…….”
There was no sound besides the sobbing.
It seemed like he was just curled up on the floor and crying.
I felt anxious as I listened to him.
If Jay stopped crying and went to find Kang Hyukwoo with hostility, everything would be over.
‘If that happens, both Jay and Prism will be in danger.’
I should have nipped this in the bud before it got out of hand. This guy was the type to act impulsively as soon as I let my guard down.
“Yoo Jay, listen to me carefully from now on.”
I was sure that Jay was listening to my voice, so I calmly began to speak.
“Both Cha Woon and I, the leaders of Prism, feel the same way. We’d do anything for our members. And that’s the responsibility of a leader.”
“…….”
“We don’t want you to feel guilty like this. Rather than watching you belittle yourself and grieve like this, we would much prefer it if you just cursed at us without knowing anything. Whether you like it or not, that fact will never change, now or forever.”
I could hear the sobbing slowing down. It seemed like the words ‘
we would much prefer it if you just cursed at us
‘ had quite a big impact on that guy.
‘If I just blindly tell Jay that everything’s fine and not to feel guilty, he won’t even pretend to listen. I need to say it in a way that makes him understand that if he gets better, it will help Cha Woon and me.’
“So if you want to at least do something for Cha Woon, and if you don’t want to make everything he did meaningless, please don’t feel guilty. And if you keep being sad like this, think about how the other members will feel. They were just as unaware, do you want to make them unable to forgive themselves for the rest of their lives along with you?”
“….No.”
Finally, the silence ended, and a compliant answer came back.
I exhaled lightly, feeling that Jay’s condition had stabilized a little.
‘Yeah, I’m an expert at handling Yoo Jay. I’ve raised this kid since he was a snotty little brat.’
While I was feeling relieved with that thought, Jay, who had been silent, asked me in a low tone.
“…Hyung, what should I even say to Cha Woon-hyung?”
“Later, when everything is finished and properly solved. Tell him it must have been hard for him to be alone, that he did well, and that we can live happily together again. The same goes for the other members. That much is enough. Because, above all, that’s what Cha Woon wants most.”
“Can we really be happy?”
“Of course. I’m digging the ground diligently now to make it happen. Just wait and see.”
I smiled at Jay’s question and answered confidently.
Yes, all of this was for Prism’s happiness.
I will bring happiness back to these guys.
‘By then, I may have disappeared from this world…….’
As I was thinking about it, I suddenly remembered what I needed to tell him. Even though Jay wasn’t in front of me, I held up a finger and said.
“You can’t show it in front of Kang Hyukwoo. You can’t play
Se Se Se
with Cha Woon right now either
1
. That bastard Kang Hyukwoo’s only talent is his head, and you never know when or how he’ll figure things out. Just like how you found out the truth about Cha Woon from Lee Chise’s small action this time.”
“Hyung, what did Kang Hyukwoo have of the members’ to threaten Cha Woon with….”
“I won’t tell you. What if you found out and gave it away in front of Kang Hyukwoo? If you’re upset about it, go train your mind like Lee Chise to stay calm in any situation and come back. But I guarantee you, you can’t do that. It’s just not in your nature. So don’t complicate things. I’ll take care of it. You just go wipe your nose and have something to eat.”
When I pinpointed Jay’s exact weakness, he went quiet as if he had been hit right on the mark, then asked in a doubtful voice.
“You always say you’ll take care of it, but is that really okay?”
“Well, I’ve already started, so what?”
“….What?”
I casually answered the question and got a stupid answer back. It seemed like he had no idea what was going on.
“How long has it been since you last checked your phone?”
“Since this morning.”
“Take a look at it. You’d be surprised.”
“…….”
I heard Jay pick up his phone, so I decided to take another look at the internet.
‘It’s been quite a while since I last checked, so maybe I should take another look.’
People had a variety of reactions toward the rookie group member who imitated me.
There were people expressing their displeasure, people who continued to enjoy it and pretended to be unaware of the controversy, and people who tried to rationalize by saying things like, “
It’s an expression of respect for Seo Yutae
“, “S
ince Prism allowed it, it’s fine to enjoy it
“, and “
It’s a stretch to say that he imitated Seo Yutae when it’s RH image
“. As I observed these varied reactions, I thought to myself.
People, by nature, don’t really care about other people’s pain as much as you might think.
‘I’ve always known that, but it really hit me this time.’
In a world where celebrities who committed crimes, works that were stolen from others, and even gossips that would ruin someone’s life could all survive as long as they were entertaining, what’s the big deal about imitating one famous celebrity and enjoying the limelight that comes with it?
In the end, what mattered to the public was not the moral integrity of what they were consuming, but the entertainment it provided.
‘RH Entertainment has probably survived this long because of that aspect of the public.’
I already knew that, so I had the sense that it would take more than pointing out RH Entertainment’s immorality to divert the public’s attention. The reason I chose to release the practice video instead of attacking RH Entertainment was because of this.
‘It’s not RH Entertainment’s wrongdoing that needs to be attacked.’
My aim was to make the public lose interest and excitement in the trainee who imitated me. I had an intuition that this was the most suitable method to achieve the result I wanted in the current situation.
And the actions I took based on that belief actually worked very well.
— Wow shit hahahaha this is insane hahahahaha. No matter how hard that worthless guy tries, it’s meaningless. Seo Yutae is the one and only. He dances insanely well and is so cool hahahaha
└ Even just by standing still and talking, his presence stood out strongly, his physique is a killer … Is this the star quality I’ve only heard about … I wonder if someone like him will ever appear in the entertainment industry again……?
— It’s not because of the styling that Seo Yutae became popular, it’s because of Seo Yutae that the styling became popular.
— This is Seo Yutae. He really got the devil’s talent.
— Take your imitation away and give me Seo Yutae back~~~
— I knew the public opinion would turn out like this. There have been plenty of people trying to imitate Seo Yutae before, and the only difference with this Taeui guy is RH trained him, but other than that, there’s nothing new. It’s funny how everyone is making a big fuss.
└ I think it’s also because he is the first to appear after the SYT controversy blew up. Before that, everyone was treating SYT like the epitome of a visual center, but as soon as the scandal hit, they all abandoned him. That was funny enough, but this is also the first time someone’s gone this all-in hahahaha
— Even before he commited s**c***, there were already tons of kids claiming to challenge Seo Yutae hahaha. How long are you guys going to keep getting caught up in media play? Might as well call Yoo Jay the second Seo Yutae instead;;
— For real, Prism isn’t speaking out because they’re tied to that agency and restricted by it … Anyone who’s been a Sera since the very beginning knows this, there’s bad blood between the company and the Prism’s members. So how can people act like everything’s fine just because Prism is staying silent, when they don’t even know the whole story?
└ Exactly ㅠㅠㅠ Did you see the paparazzi shots of Jay with his eyes all red? ㅠㅠ He looked so unwell, you could tell just by looking at him. I think it’s because of the recent incident. My poor baby ㅜㅜㅜ
└ You’re really going overboard with consuming those paparazzi shots and making all sorts of wild guesses.
— I’ll just ignore it and moving on ㅠㅠ To the ones excusing everything, open your eyes and face reality lol It’s because you keep consuming this stuff that people like that keep showing up. The way you avoid responsibility is ridiculous ㅠㅠ
— Even Seo Yutae’s close friend is openly showing his discomfort like this, so imagine how he’d feel if he were alive. Just from watching the video, you can tell he found those imitators incredibly irritating and looked down on them, it’s so obvious lolol
— Now, how will those Coma kids debut? They’re going to be compared a lot. But it’s their own fault, why did they have to imitate Seo Yutae? lololol
— I miss him so much. We’ve lost such a shining star.
Jay, like me, muttered in disbelief at the complete reversal of public opinion in just a few hours.
“…What is this?”
“What else could it be?”
I laughed heartily at that question, then replied very cheerfully.
“Kang Hyukwoo is totally f**ked up, that’s what.”
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Translator’s Corner:
Se Se Se / Sse Sse Sse (쎄쎄쎄 )
is what Koreans say when playing hand clapping games.
Honestly if you asked me why MC used this expression, I also don’t know. I even looked thrice at the text at first because why suddenly a children game appearing here ??? Seo Yutae-nim, they’re men in their 30s????????????????
But in short, it means Jay can’t act too friendly with Cha Woon right now. Since you know, children who’s playing clapping game together is doing it while having both of their hands happily clapping each other’s hands. Definitely not suit Jay and Cha Woon. ↩︎
Omg you guys … I know my life is full of misfortunes but you wouldn’t believe how unlucky I am … the eletricity in the house I’m living in suddenly broken earlier djklhdskhfvjkhvjh AND AS I MENTIONED, I’M THE ONLY ONE IN THE HOUSE ???? THE LANDLADY IS IN ANOTHER CITY 20 HOURS AWAY ???? the weather is so fine, no one using any electronics, I’m just stuck in my room, and it’s not a total blackout you see … I was just spending my day and suddenly the Wi-Fi disappeared, so I was like ?? my fan still on so it can’t be a power outage. So, I checked and found out half of the house (the back part) suddenly lost eletricity … and that’s the bathroom, the kitchen, the dining room …
Anyway, it’s a relief it happened during daylight and I checked it right away … so after an hour of searching what’s wrong, the technician found out that there’s broken wire in … idk what is it called? roof? attic? you know the space under roof? okay that’s. It got fixed after that so it’s fine now. BUT HONESTLY I’M A LITTLE FREAKING OUT BECAUSE WHAT IS THIS KIND OF LUCK??? WHY THE WIRES SUDDENLY BROKEN WHEN I’M ALONE IN THIS HOUSE RIGHT AT THE END OF THE YEAR WHERE THERE’S ALMOST NO HUMAN NEARBY T_T Let’s just hope it gets cut by rats or something … this is really starting to sound like a thriller movie plot
This chapter was supposed to come out earlier for happy christmas but sighs … that whole thing happened
Aaaand Cha Woon is back to his Cha Woon-hyung status again
Also tbh you can’t actually say Jay was like that because of MC’s bad parenting, he’s literally joint-effort of Prism….