‘Prism is a group that has walked an unparalleled path.’
This phrase was primarily used to praise the unparalleled career Prism had built, one that no other group could match. However, it didn’t carry solely positive connotations.
Unparalleled in a
good
way, and unparalleled in a
bad
way.
In the latter case, it was used to point out aspects of Prism that didn’t quite fit the typical idol image, leaving plenty of room for criticism.
‘We weren’t idol-like.’
We were rumored to be rude, we were rumored to be scary, we were rumored to smoke, we were rumored to be foul-mouthed, and our members were rumored to fight like dogs among themselves. Even before the big scandals hit, Prism had a reputation for being constantly criticized and insulted.
And for good reason, too, because everyone knew that Prism was a group of people with less than docile tempers, and we made no effort to hide it. We didn’t even bother to show remorse.
The rumors were all true, and not a single one was wrong.
What could I do? Even if I said it wasn’t true, it wouldn’t change the truth.
[(Photo) Seo Yutae got caught smoking in the smoking room by the paparazzi.]
└ Ah, sh*t, is he giving them the finger? He must be really pissed off because the paparazzi are following him too much.
└ My oppa is an idol who chooses to say f**k off to the paparazzi rather than hide his cigarette or cover his face…..
└ An idol smoking???? hahahaha Are you crazy? If you’re an idol, act like an idol;;
└ Ew lol the ones you stan, they all smoke too, you know haha So what;;
└ I’m impressed by his boldness to openly go to the smoking room when he could just hide and smoke indoors
└
Pant pant pant pant pant pant
└ ?
└ ???
From the get-go, we were never a group that people could easily accept.
‘Never do anything that you think is shameful
‘, ‘
Never commit illegal acts, and always be professional in your main job
‘, ‘
Always be grateful to the fans
‘. These were the minimum rules that I set out, but beyond that,
just stick to your own way of doing things, whether or not people curse at you
.
Those who want to follow, follow, and those who can’t, don’t.
That was the stance Prism maintained.
“If we hadn’t debuted with Yutae-hyung, I don’t think we would have lasted long. We would have been successful, but…..”
“Except for Chise-hyung, the rest of us are 100 percent crooked.”
“I could have turned out crooked too. Even though I look like this, I have my own share of issues, right?”
And that was just the way we were.
Of course, we got a ton of backlash for acting on our own terms, but in the end, we succeeded.
Sales and charts proved Prism’s success. Not a single song released by Prism so far has failed to be a hit, and we’ve earned an enormous amount of revenue, on a completely different scale. We’ve also been able to be with countless Seras who love us.
[A guy who exchanges signals with his girlfriend on stage, drives under the influence, has no talent, and isn’t good-looking
VS
A guy who doesn’t cause any major accidents, is visually and physically insane, and is crazy good at his main job, but has a bit of a wild personality, yet he’s sweet to me ♥
Isn’t the second one the obvious choice?]
└ I find it even creepier when someone acts differently in the front and behind the scenes. I think it’s better to just open everything like this. Prism are exactly who they seem to be, so there’s nothing for the fans to forgive or overlook. It makes me feel at ease.
└ Everyone, get lost, we’ll love each other just fine.
└ Yeah, even if you talk shit about them like that, our kids are still the travelers at the top of the charts~ The results speak for themselves, don’t they?
└ The rumors about him mistreating the manager are honestly laughable. Do you know that the car the manager drives was personally bought by Seo Yutae? His way of speaking is blunt, but he actually takes good care of everyone….
└ Please take care of me too
While the whole group continued the activities with such a rebellious attitude, there was one person who consistently stood out as a troublemaker.
While barely staying within the line I had set.
“Yutae-ya, Yihwon is at it again….”
Nam Yihwon’s main problem was his relationship with his superiors.
“He thoroughly humbled a fellow actor on the set, and that person, feeling humiliated, started crying and causing a scene, shouting he won’t continue filming. The staff contacted us about it. I guess they felt a bit uncomfortable since the other person was older than Yihwon….”
“…….”
Cha Woon was a homebody to begin with. Lee Chise was the only one in Prism who was sociable. Jo Inchan wasn’t good with words and tended to refrain from speaking in front of others. Seo Yuseong wasn’t interested in people. Jay behaved like a fox without being told.
While the other members kept their behavior under control, just enough to maintain their careers in the entertainment industry, only Nam Yihwon kept getting into one mess after another.
‘I told him to not bully the people below him, but he just went and bullied all the people above him…….’
I also tended to maintain the ‘
strong to the strong, weak to the weak
‘ attitude, but Nam Yihwon was fundamentally different from me. While I believed in ‘
protecting the weak and suppressing the strong with even stronger force
‘, Nam Yihwon was more like, ‘
I don’t care about those weaker than me, and if I’m annoyed with my superiors, I’ll screw them over
‘.
“If he’s going to ruin my career, he should just get lost, f*ck. Seeing how they listen to that talentless empty-headed bastard whining, the production team must be stupid too…..”
“Watch your language.”
“Please tell him to drop out of the project and stop causing trouble for the filming, hyung.”
Maybe the effect of growing up under a strict mother made him subconsciously rebel whenever he saw someone in a higher position of authority.
“…That bastard started it first. He was running his mouth about how I only got the lead role thanks to Prism’s fame. If someone has both talent and good looks, it’s natural for them to get a major role even if they had a long hiatus. So, when he’s just trash-talking like that out of inferiority complex, isn’t it really infuriating? I’m not just good, I’m super good.”
Despite these issues, fortunately, Nam Yihwon achieved great results with every project he was in, swept up acting awards, and received a crazy amount of love calls. So, in the end, things turned out well. It was just that every time a problem came up, my head was the one that got hit.
Looking back on those times, it was truly miraculous that Nam Yihwon recognized me as a
superior
, yet didn’t reject me and followed me well. Perhaps the fence called
Prism
was quite pleasant for him.
Oh, but that didn’t mean he behaved well towards the other members of Prism.
“Yutae-ya, come quickly! Woon and Jay are fighting again! We have a schedule tomorrow, so they can’t get hurt!”
The members who fought the most in Prism were Cha Woon and Jay, as their personalities didn’t quite match. Nevertheless, it was unfair to say they were entirely to blame, as it was usually Nam Yihwon who instigated their fights for his own amusement.
“Keep doing what you’re doing. Grab each other’s collars and fight.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Why? You were fighting bloodily just a moment ago. Can’t you do it in front of me?”
While I was scolding Cha Woon and Jay for fighting like dogs, I spotted Nam Yihwon snickering behind me.
“I just stated the facts … Hyung, are you going to scold me?”
“I’m the victim here. Look at this. I got bruised from the stuff they threw around. It hurts, ow, oww!”
It was a tricky situation. On one hand, I wanted to scold him for being so manipulative, but on the other hand, he was so good at it.
Nam Yihwon was that kind of cunning guy.
“So, what is it?”
‘I never thought I’d meet this guy in this situation.’
The reason Nam Yihwon found such joy in watching Jay and Cha Woon bicker was undoubtedly because he had finally found a family of his own choosing, Prism, and spending those trivial moments within that
fence
brought him an immense amount of happiness.
Perhaps because of this, even among the members of Prism who tended to be very insular, he showed exceptional hostility to anyone outside the group. He completely refused to listen to anyone other than me.
How did
that
Nam Yihwon change after cracks began to form in Prism?
“Hey, I asked you what you were talking about. Can’t you hear me?”
One thing was for sure, he was much more sensitive and aggressive now than when I was around. He didn’t usually behave this badly towards juniors who were younger than him, so I never expected him to show his displeasure so openly, given that I was in Han Seungbeom’s body.
‘…He’s really annoyed.’
I could tell just by looking at his face.
It could be that he was simply tired and sensitive from the late night filming, and also the content of the conversation he had just overheard was not something to be brushed off lightly, but I had a feeling there was something more underlying.
I quietly met the gaze of his deep, sunken, golden-yellow eyes as they looked down at me.
Such direct threat held no meaning for me. No matter how hard he tried to intimidate me, would it work?
I am Se
o Yutae
. It would have been more effective for him to cry, look depressed, or show anything that would have made me worry about him.
“I can hear you. I was just thinking about what kind of answer you wanted from me, sunbaenim.”
Nam Yihwon’s eyebrows twitched as I answered calmly with my usual expression.
“You’ve been blabbering on about how Woon-hyung is being blackmailed. Is it true, how do you know about it, and why are you here? Explain everything from start to finish.”
‘So, you’ve already heard everything there is to hear.’
He just woke up, yet he managed to catch all the important details. Unfortunately, playing dumb with answers like ‘
I didn’t say anything … What are you talking about?
‘ would only make Nam Yihwon angrier. It seemed like there was no escaping this situation.
After calculating it for a moment, I let out a small sigh and began to explain.
“There’s nothing more to explain, it’s exactly as you heard. I didn’t lie at all. I was lucky enough to have a chance to make personal contact with Lim Seunghoon-ssi, and that’s how I learned about that information a while ago.”
“Why are you involved in our affairs?”
“I became acquainted with Cha Woon-sunbaenim through the survival program, and I promised to help him.”
When I gave him the superficial reason, Nam Yihwon shook his head in disbelief and let out a sarcastic laugh. Then, he quickly wiped the smile from his face and said in a warning tone.
“Han Seungbeom-ah, do you not understand, or are you just pretending not to?”
“…….”
“What are you trying to pull? There’s no benefit for you in this, so there must be a reason you’re stubbornly sticking your nose in our business. … Ah, yes. I can guess it. You’re just trying to leech off of us, aren’t you? It’s not like I haven’t seen kids like you before. Even when Yutae-hyung was around, I was sick of driving those pests away, and now I have to deal with this nonsense again?”
As his blatant hostility began to show, Lee Chise gently grabbed his arm and tried to stop him.
“Hwon-ah, Seungbeom is here to help me. I asked him to.”
At that, Nam Yihwon roughly shook off Lee Chise’s arm and tightened his grip on me.
“Ha, the great Lee Chise is accepting help from others? You never needed anyone except Yutae-hyung, but now you’re even lying just to protect him. Hey, what the hell did you do to brainwash him like this? If this guy leaks anything about us to the press, Prism will be finished. And yet, you don’t even doubt him?”
Lee Chise’s face slowly turned cold.
“Yihwon-ah, your hyung already told you. That’s not the case.”
Nam Yihwon hesitated for a moment at Lee Chise’s unusual behavior, but then, as if deciding he couldn’t let me get away with it any longer, he gritted his teeth and looked straight at me.
“Don’t get involved any further. I feel like I’m going to puke from how disgusting it is that you’re freely crossing Prism’s fence.”
The moment those words were spoken, Lee Chise stood up from his seat, and Nam Yihwon, not backing down, turned his gaze towards him. Before the situation could turn into a disaster, I immediately pressed Lee Chise’s hand down firmly, stepping in to block the space between them.
Then, in an attempt to calm them down, I spoke in a very calm voice.
“…I’m okay with you finding me disgusting. You can do whatever you want, even if it’s puking in front of me, cursing me, or swearing at me.”
“…What?”
“As soon as I finish this project, I’ll disappear right away. And I won’t ever show my face in front of you again. So, please be satisfied with that for now.”
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Translator’s Corner:
I’m dying …. (how many days is this? 5?)
Ugh the signal so bad since last night, I’m going to die fr ….. I refreshed my wordpress tab for like 30x times because it keeps not getting saved asdfghjkl I hope there’s no cut off sentence or even paragraphs….
The word used for “Fence” is 울타리, so it literally mean … well, fence. It can also be read as “boundary”, you know, like modern concept of “personal boundaries” “relationship boundaries”, but I decided to just use the literal, direct translation because … well, it’s a fence. You build a fence to protect something. Rather than boundary that’s more like “line”.