“That person, he’s not our manager. He is Director Kang Hyukwoo’s limb.”
As soon as I heard that, my head throbbed.
I was prepared for it, but having someone else drive the nail in like this delivered quite a blow.
‘…I really trusted him.’
Lim Seunghoon was the person I trusted most deeply while working as Prism, aside from the other members and Choi Jeokhyeon. No, perhaps I had shared even more with him than I had with Choi Jeokhyeon. Although Jeokhyeon and I were very close, he caused so much trouble that I was always busy hiding things from him. Closeness and trust were different matters.
“…Should I talk to the company about cutting back the schedule a bit? Everyone keeps collapsing from overwork. If this continues, something really bad will happen. Even if they don’t listen, I should at least bring it up.”
“Yutae-ya! Jay and Woon are fighting again! Oh no, they’re going to break everything in the dorm! Help!”
“Hold on, I’ll go pick up Yihwon. He went out for an appointment, but now I can’t reach him.”
He was the one who took the risk to communicate with the company for the sake of the members of Prism, and even went out of his way to take care of each member’s personal matters, not just our schedules. Both I and the other members relied heavily on Lim Seunghoon in many ways.
I didn’t want to believe that someone like him would betray us.
‘Is he being forced to follow Kang Hyukwoo’s orders because he’s being threatened?’
It wasn’t unreasonable to suspect that Lim Seunghoon was being blackmailed by Kang Hyukwoo. Otherwise, there was no way he could have been treated so poorly by the other officials.
“Among Director Kang Hyukwoo’s subordinates, Lim Seunghoon was relatively mild. At least he didn’t look down on us or insult us. However, he was clearly someone who acted under Kang Hyukwoo’s orders. You should never confuse that part.”
Recalling those words made my head spin even more.
“Haaa…..”
I talked to Taeui for a bit more after that, and then hurriedly returned to our respective waiting rooms.
We had already spent too much time, so if we took any more time, Taeui might be suspected by the RH Entertainment officials.
“Have all the members gone to the restroom? We’re going to move to the next schedule now.”
“What’s the next schedule?”
“Self-produced content. The details are a secret.”
Following the manager’s instructions, I got in the car and, as we headed to the next shoot, I recalled the things Taeui had added about Kang Hyukwoo.
‘At first I wondered what kind of guy is he…….’
As I talked with him, I gradually began to realize why Kang Hyukwoo had tried to make Taeui my replacement.
“Director Kang Hyukwoo will definitely lose his way. Apart from the illegal business he’s personally involved in, RH Entertainment will naturally be eliminated from the entertainment industry. I can’t say for sure whether that will happen after the collapse or not.”
“…What makes you so sure of that?”
“Don’t people all live their lives tied to the success of their past? Instead of recognizing that the success came from undeserved good fortune that only comes once in a lifetime, people often delude themselves into thinking that it was solely due to their own abilities. That way, they can take the second and third successes for granted.”
Taeui certainly had talent and star potential. However, that alone wouldn’t have been enough for Kang Hyukwoo to place him in that position. He was someone who had been forcibly brought in to replace me. There was definitely something special about him.
“The thing I found most strange while working under Director Kang Hyukwoo was his abnormally strong obsession with Seo Yutae-sunbaenim. He would repeat things like, ‘Why is there no one who can do as much as Seo Yutae?’ and ‘If you continue like this, you can’t even follow in that guy’s footsteps’ every single day, and all his standards were set according to that senior.”
In the eyes of the guy who recited words about Kang Hyukwoo in a monotone, there was a strange intensity that wasn’t there when I had said I would cooperate.
“But Han Seungbeom-nim, doesn’t you know this as well? There will never be another person like him. Even if we set aside the talk about talent, there can’t be two people exactly the same in this world, yet Director Kang Hyukwoo would often behave hysterically, as if denying that reality.”
Taeui wasn’t as meticulous as Jay in understanding the situation, nor as quick-witted or skilled in strategic maneuvering like Choi Jeokhyeon. If a bland guy was in charge of that department, something must be off with his eyes.
“Director Kang Hyukwoo’s obsessive behavior of excessively controlling his subordinates didn’t just happen for no reason.”
“…….”
“That habit was formed from years of fearing that the day would come when he would be unable to control Seo Yutae-sunbaenim. He must have known it himself. He knew he was tying down an existence that he himself could not handle.”
That guy had the insight to see through people.
In some ways, it seemed similar to Lee Chise, but in Lee Chise’s case, didn’t it root from affection for a specific person?
“Director Kang Hyukwoo seems to believe that Seo Yutae-sunbaenim is indispensable for success, but I think differently.”
That guy felt like an extended version of it.
Not a narrow and deep understanding of a
specific few
, but a broad, shallow understanding of
everyone
.
That was the root of Taeui’s insight.
“He was more like a curse. A curse that blinded you with too much light and trapped you in eternal thirst. He could have been a beacon of hope for those with the same kind of specialness, but for someone ordinary like Director Kang Hyukwoo, he was nothing but poison.”
He was born with too much kindness in him, allowing him to read the hearts of others.
Even the heart of Kang Hyukwoo, who has pushed his life into despair.
‘I never thought I’d meet someone who’s an even bigger pushover than those guys from the Motorcycle team.’
Although he didn’t condone what was done to him, it seemed that at least he had a clear understanding of what kind of incident led the other person to behave that way.
This was the opposite of me, who could see right through everyone’s head because I didn’t like them.
‘Well, I guess he could be useful in some ways.’
“Eep, eep, eeong.”
As I was nodding my head with that thought, I heard some strange noise coming from below.
“Arr, eung, eong.”
“Purrr, prrr.”
‘Haa … I’m thinking about something important right now, why is it so noisy…..’
My mind was already a mess, and now I was dying from the noise. As I turned my head to find the source of the noise, I saw a bundle of fur curled up in my lap.
“…….”
When I came to my senses, there were four cats on my lap.
There were even three more around me.
Startled, I looked up and saw a foam board with the words ‘
Just Pantheion playing with animals (Made to heal the Muses yay
)’ printed on it, members surrounded by animals not knowing what to do, and self-produced content staff members holding cameras.
“Ah?”
I was so deep in thought that I didn’t realize we had moved to the filming location.
“Ah, haha! Stop it, Elizabeth!”
I heard a licking sound from the side, and when I turned my head, I saw a Border Collie, a little bigger than JackJack, tackling Do Yuda and licking his face aggressively.
‘Elizabeth, what Elizabeth? Her name tag clearly says Deoksam.’
Ignoring Do Yuda, who was causing a scene with such a ridiculous name, I looked elsewhere. This time, I saw Woo Kangwon kneeling quietly with something in his hand.
“…What is that?”
As I doubted my eyes at the sight of him holding something like a chestnut, I got closer and saw pink paws peeking out from between the chestnut.
‘It’s a hedgehog.’
The hedgehog curled up in a rage, stabbing Woo Kangwon’s hand with its spikes. I pointed my finger at the hedgehog and spoke calmly.
“It’s stabbing you. That one.”
“Huh?”
Woo Kangwon’s face remained serene, and then he rechecked his hand, which was still being mercilessly pricked. Afterward, he looked up and smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.
“It’s really cute. Isn’t it?”
Then, Zen, who was sitting beside a Retriever twice the size of JackJack and watching the scene, shouted with a solemn expression.
“Hedgehog crazy killing mode is ON.”
Woo Kangwon looked at the hedgehog again after hearing Zen’s words and seeing my serious expression. Then, he spoke gently, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Oh, I have thick calluses on my hands, so it doesn’t hurt much. Thanks for worrying about me.”
“No, I mean, it’s attacking you, hyung.”
“It’s okay.”
I shook my head at how he was completely unbothered by the hedgehog attacking him. Then, I looked down at my lap and let out a sigh.
‘Now is not the time to worry about others.’
“I’ve never seen someone attract cats so strangely like that before.”
“I think all the cats here have gone to Seungbeom…….”
I could hear Lee Danbi, whose pants were being chewed off by a Pomeranian, and Baek Kiryang, holding a Shih Tzu that had already passed out and was sound asleep, whispering as they glanced at me.
“…….”
That’s right.
My lap was now a bed of cats that had crawled all over me.
‘Uh, seriously, why are they like this?’
Ever since the old days, cats have always been strangely drawn to me.
I had no idea know why this was happening when I didn’t put on anything special. In my original body, I thought it was because my hair was long, and they wanted to play with it. But I never expected this to happen with Han Seungbeom’s body as well.
“Haa…..”
I’ll say it in advance, but I don’t really like animals.
The only cats I occasionally picked up were those whose lives were in danger if I didn’t take them in. The days I had to be careful were only typhoons, rainy seasons, and heat waves.
And after treating them and nursing them back to health, I found them good caretakers and put them up for adoption.
It was truly a heartless thing to do, but I had no choice. I was too busy to spare time for animals, and I already had too many human cubs to take care of.
‘In the end, I put them all up for adoption and kept only one.’
I recalled the white cat that I hadn’t put up for adoption because he was unusually quiet and scared of everyone but me and Seo Yuseong. I cleared my throat and let out a heavy breath.
‘I’m never taking one in again.’
I had vowed to myself ever since that guy died.
I hated animals, they were so troublesome and noisy.
…and their lifespan is short.
So, I would never raise one again.
“Hyung, did you hear about the filming in advance from the production team and secretly put on catnip? You’re too popular with the cats?”
While I was thinking about that, Do Yuda tapped me on the shoulder and teased me.
Then, one of the cats sitting on my lap jumped up and bit him hard on the butt.
“Aaaaah!”
I naturally pretended not to hear Do Yuda’s screams, and awkwardly grabbed the kittens who were climbing me like a mountain. After putting them down, I spoke to them sternly.
“Uh-huh, sit down. Stay still.”
Then, Do Yuda spoke in a voice that sounded as if he were scolding a kindergartner, as if he found it pathetic.
“Hyung, there’s no way cats will understand you. Cats are different from dogs. They can’t be trained and don’t like going for walks.”
“They understand if you speak to them properly.” I replied with a furrowed brow.
“What are you talking about, hyung?”
“Well…….”
This time, even the rest of the members started to tilt their heads, looking at me like I was making it all up. Watching their reaction, I was so frustrated that I could hardly stand it. I ruffled my hair and recalled the memories from when I raised that child.
“While Dad’s at work, go and press the remote so you can watch TV. There’s a tuna pouch next to the sofa, so eat that. The water is from the water purifier. You know, right?”
“Meow.”
That child did everything I asked him to do.
He even responded properly every time and begged to go for a walk.
‘Of course, if it’s a cat, it should be able to do at least that.’
As I wondered if the average intelligence of cats had suddenly dropped or if humanity was playing a hidden camera prank on me, I suddenly remembered something that Seo Yuseong had said.
“He’s abnormal.”
No, who are you calling abnormal?
I’m offended.
“A love-struck fool.”
Be quiet, Seo Yuseong.
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