As I waited in the waiting room with the members for our next entertainment shoot, I pulled out my phone from my pocket. I decided to text Taeui to find out Lim Seunghoon’s current condition.
‘First, I need to find out what changes have occurred within RH Entertainment.’
How did Lim Seunghoon act since then?
I needed to figure this out to determine how I should proceed moving forward.
‘Whether it’s murder or whatever, I need to dig to the bottom of it and make them pay for their crimes.’
[Me: Has there been any significant change in the company?]
[Me: Especially regarding Lim Seunghoon-ssi or Director Kang Hyukwoo’s close associates.]
It hadn’t been long since I sent the message when a reply came back with lightning-fast speed.
[T: Hello, Han Seungbeom-nim. This is Taeui from COMA-1.]
“…….”
This rascal, instead of just saying hi, would always use these overly formal greetings every time he contacted me. We had already exchanged numbers, so it was obvious I knew who he was, yet he kept introducing himself like that. Since I didn’t say anything, it seemed he planned to keep up this act until the day he went to his grave.
‘How long does he plan to keep acting so naive?’
His honest nature seemed to shine through in the lame sentence, complete with all the right punctuation marks. Just as I sighed, a new message arrived, even though I hadn’t replied yet.
[T: Wasn’t it just supposed to be a casual conversation?]
It seemed like something had happened.
Before I could even ask, “
Did something happen?
” in response to the words tinged with slight anxiety and reproach, another message arrived.
[T: After speaking with Han Seungbeom-nim, Lim Seunghoon has been acting strangely. He’s searching through various places in the company as if looking for something, and avoiding running into Director Kang Hyukwoo. He seems excessively frightened, but I think he hasn’t done anything dangerous.]
‘Looks like Lim Seunghoon hasn’t told Kang Hyukwoo about what happened with me yet.’
The thought that Lim Seunghoon might consult with Kang Hyukwoo to take swift action was one of the possibilities I needed to be most cautious about. But it seemed the situation hadn’t escalated to the crisis I had worried about.
‘As expected, Lim Seunghoon is far more afraid of Kang Hyukwoo than he was when he was active as a Prism manager. Their relationship isn’t a stable partnership.’
I had a vague idea that this was likely to be the case. Kang Hyukwoo was never the type to be generous with his people.
‘Having already hidden it once, Lim Seunghoon will try to cover this up until he figures out a way to deal with me.’
Even a single mistake would cause him to erupt into a fiery rage, condemn the other person, and sometimes even resort to violence. Whenever a problem arose, he would respond by telling the subordinate who made the mistake, “
Take full responsibility and fix everything yourself
“. It was like the epitome of an evil company’s worst practices taken to the extreme.
This attitude had the advantage of heightening the tension of his subordinates, making it easier and faster to achieve his desired results. It also gave him the satisfaction of seeing his subordinates show absolute obedience, as if he were some kind of great being.
However, by focusing on such one-dimensional effects, he often lost sight of what was really important.
Look at Kang Hyukwoo’s situation now.
Out of fear of repercussions, his subordinate simply rushed to hide the problem when he should have been taking the most rational and swiftest action. Overwhelmed by excessive tension, his judgment dulled, and the situation only worsened in the end.
‘Thanks to Kang Hyukwoo’s usual behavior, things are turning out in our favor.’
I never thought that my past behavior of leaving him alone, hoping that he would ruin himself by tangling up his own fate, would work in this way. It was so funny.
As I sent a reply saying “Got it” while thinking that, I took my eyes off my phone, and only then did I notice Baek Kiryang, who had been crouched in the corner next to me.
“…What is it?”
I couldn’t figure out why he was sitting there, leaving the perfectly fine sofa behind.
When our eyes met, Baek Kiryang had a face drained of energy and pointed his finger toward a certain place. I followed his gaze and saw the culprit of the chilling air in the waiting room.
“…….”
It was Lee Hwayoung. He was standing there with his arms crossed, not saying a word, and giving off an air of irritation.
Thinking about why Lee Hwayoung seemed so upset in the middle of the day, it was clear that it must be because of
Show Me Your Parents
.
Show Me Your Parents
was a new popular program that came after
Agent War
, which has been declining in popularity in recent years due to controversy.
When it first started as a pilot program, it featured the parents of an idol group member competing against the other members, excluding the featured one. However, after it was turned into a regular program, I heard that the segments were structured in a much more refined way.
And this time, the guest invited for the episode featuring Pantheion was none other than Lee Hwayoung’s mother, Camilla.
Lee Hwayoung’s mother was a business owner who was frequently listed as one of the most influential female leaders by renowned economic magazines. In other words, she was undoubtedly much busier than most ordinary parents.
‘I’m sure the production team was quite surprised when she accepted their invitation.’
The reason she decided to appear on a Korean variety show was because of Lee Hwayoung. Despite her affluent background, she was a down-to-earth person and a mother who would spare no time or money to support her children.
She was a loving and responsible person, a good individual, but her tendency to be very self-centered came with the drawback of not listening to others. Plus, she had this really high energy that could be a bit much sometimes.
…Ah, I also need to pray quickly.
Think back to the final live broadcast.
It was apparent that she was no ordinary person, given how she was the one who controlled
that
Nicholas at will in front of the camera.
I could understand why Lee Hwayoung was so nervous.
During the time when I knew Lee Hwayoung as ‘
JackJack
‘, I was also relentlessly tormented by her, just like Lee Hwayoung.
“Haaa…..”
Recalling that memory, I sighed and watched as Baek Kiryang, clutching his stomach, gradually shrank into a ball in the corner of the waiting room. Unable to bear the sight any longer, I finally stood up.
I tapped Lee Hwayoung on the shoulder to get his attention, “Stop scowling, Lee Hwayoung.”
“…….”
“It’s your mother who’s coming, not anyone else, so you don’t have to be so annoyed…….”
At that, Lee Hwayoung turned to glare at me with a look as if he wanted to kill me.
“No.”
“No what?”
“That’s not what I’m angry about.”
At some point, “
annoyed
” had turned into
“angry
“. But I knew that if I pointed it out again, he would lose his temper, so I just tilted my head.
Then Lee Hwayoung stormed over to me and grabbed my clothes in a fierce grip. He then started tearing at them like a madman.
“What’s wrong with you? What’s the problem this time!”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest at the unexpected crisis and fought desperately to protect my clothes.
This, what kind of ridiculous thing is this
,
in broad daylight?
It felt eerily similar to the time in my early twenties when I went on a trip to Japan with Seo Yuseong and had my clothes bitten by a deer. But apparently unconcerned with my embarrassment, Lee Hwayoung remained unmoved. With eyes glaring at me fiercely, he berated me.
“Why are you wearing clothes like that? It doesn’t suit you, so take it off.”
“….Don’t say something like that about the outfit the stylist put me in. It could cause a controversy about your personality.”
I successfully deflected the question without giving in to Lee Hwayoung’s pressure.
“I don’t care if it causes a controversy. Don’t try to change the subject.”
Ah, failure.
As expected, reality wasn’t easy.
As my happiness circuit was completely shattered, I broke out in a cold sweat and looked down at my clothes.
Then, my eyes fell on the oversized beige cardigan with sleeves long enough to cover my hands. I had intentionally picked it out to conceal the bruises that hadn’t faded yet.
‘I’ve been feeling self-conscious ever since Choi Jeokhyeon pointed it out.’
There was a chance that I might have another abnormal reaction. I couldn’t shove my hands into my pockets or wear gloves during the filming, so this was the alternative method I found.
‘Is it really that bad for him to hate it that much?’
Even to me, I looked like I’d been swallowed by a garbage bag. Since my original body was far from slender, I had never worn clothes like this before, making it even more awkward for me.
But after all, wasn’t this also a fashion style? It was something that everyone else wore just fine, and the stylist and other staff even took pictures of me, saying that I looked great in this outfit. I couldn’t figure out what he was so angry about.
As I desperately clung to my clothes, not understanding why he was doing this, Lee Hwayoung finally opened his mouth that had been clenched shut.
“You’re hiding something. Why are you suddenly doing something that doesn’t suit you?”
As soon as I heard those words, cold sweat started to form.
‘JackJack, why are you so quick to catch on? You’re making it difficult for Uncle.’
I had to handle it well.
I had to come up with a plausible reason, so naturally that Lee Hwayoung wouldn’t suspect anything unusual.
‘If I get caught, I’ll be screwed.’
I desperately racked my brain, trying to unravel my tangled thoughts, then tilted my head and said with a sideways glance.
“I’m cute, so clothes like this suit me well.”
I have the brain of a grown-up, but I have the looks of a 20-year-old.
In my urgency, I ended up pushing my luck.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence fell over the waiting room.
Lee Hwayoung, who had been staring blankly at me wide-eyed, quietly let me go after a moment. Then, after placing his hand on my forehead, he left the waiting room without another word.
I was left standing alone, unable to do anything but endure the silence.
Before the silence could linger, Do Yuda tossed the shake he had been drinking into the air like a performance artist. At that signal, Woo Kangwon covered his mouth, Lee Danbi called the manager, Baek Kiryang seemed to be praying, and Zen whispered, “Love yourself. Good.”, while giving a thumbs-up.
“Why is that hyung acting so strange today? His neck is also all red.”
“I don’t know…….”
“Hyung, I think it would be better if you got some sleep.”
I pretended not to hear the concerned members’ pleas and sat back down on the sofa.
Then Do Yuda sneaked up next to me and asked, “Hyung, are you nervous today? You seem a bit off.”
I thought about that for a moment.
For some reason, my face seemed a little flushed. I wondered if I hadn’t fully recovered from the fatigue of the previous day, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘Isn’t it the norm that if you get some sleep, you’ll get better?’
Surely, no matter how weak Han Seungbeom’s body might be, he should be able to handle that much.
In my original body, I could function fine even without sleep. My perseverance shouldn’t be underestimated.
It seemed that there was nothing wrong with me, but rather that I was nervous when I heard that Lee Hwayoung’s mother was coming. After reaching that conclusion, I nodded and replied.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I guess you could say I’m feeling the same tension a teacher feels before a parent-teacher conference.”
“Hyung, but you’re an idol at twenty…….”
When I came up with a vague excuse, Do Yuda, with a faintly detached expression, nodded and said something. As I was casually ignoring him, the sound of high heels clicking echoed from beyond the door.
‘She’s coming.’
Hearing the confident footsteps that seemed to reflect her personality, I tensed up and swallowed my dry saliva.
Bam!
Soon after, I heard the door open.
Then, the crisp sound of English, slightly more casual than Lee Hwayoung’s and tinged with an American accent, but closer to Standard British pronunciation, resonated brightly through the waiting room.
“Nicky! Your mom’s here, and you don’t even come out to greet her? My goodness! I can’t believe this. Is this how I raised you?”
“…….”
As everyone fell silent, Zen spoke up.
“I’m Japanese.”
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Translator’s Corner:
Here comes MC’s sister in law ….
I fell asleep with my laptop still on, but suddenly when I woke up, I think it was restarted? All the tabs closed and it was on the starting page. And when I opened my browser, all my gmail accs were logged out … and I was signed out from all other sites too … me scared, what is this….