The scene was so violent that it almost felt like something out of a staged performance.
So much so that even those who have no goodwill towards Jo Inchan would unconsciously wrinkle their brows.
If he had not resisted and and just gone along with it, the blow would have been less. If he had simply acted like the typical image of a celebrity that the public was expecting him to be, a pleasure-seeker who enjoyed it on his own will, it would have been
better
.
‘Now I understand why the edited video Kang Hyukwoo used for blackmail was so ridiculously short. He resisted so fiercely that there was barely any usable footage.’
The desperate screams, the desperate struggles, the despair that gleamed in his eyes as soon as he noticed the camera lens pointing at him, only made the scene all the more heartbreaking.
In this convenient world, even if someone had committed sexual assault against a minor, taken someone’s life while driving under the influence, or beaten someone weaker while intoxicated, they could eventually make a comeback as long as they kept a low profile and put on a show of remorse. But this? This wasn’t
acceptable.
‘If this gets revealed to the public…….’
This contradictory world, where the victim has to hide because of the twisted perspectives of others, was so revolting it made me feel sick. Knowing all too well how society was often harsher on the victim, this video was all the more horrifying to me.
This will completely ruin Jo Inchan’s life.
Forget about being a celebrity, it would be impossible for him to even walk around the streets with his head held high.
I knew immediately upon seeing the video. This absolutely must not be made public. While it might prove Jo Inchan’s innocence, it certainly wouldn’t bring him peace.
‘…What should I do?’
Contrary to my initial expectations, my condition was not as bad as I had anticipated. I wasn’t screaming, I wasn’t in tears, and I was fairly rational. My hands and feet were numb, but I was still breathing just fine.
I had to put my next plan into action immediately.
So that Jo Inchan can be free as soon as possible.
As I mulled over these thoughts, my eyes drifted to Kang Hyukwoo’s USB, which contained the video.
‘That one USB could completely destroy Jo Inchan’s life.’
That was a bomb with the power to break the wings of someone inside my fence and bury him alive underground. That tiny piece of metal, barely bigger than my finger.
‘What if something goes wrong and it falls into someone else’s hands?’
I could feel my heart pounding rapidly from the deepest part of my cold and stiff body.
And I thought to myself,
‘Should I destroy it?’
Right now, in this place.
If I destroyed that USB and made sure the original footage would never see the light of day, I could prevent the worst from happening. I didn’t care if it would make dealing with Kang Hyukwoo extremely difficult. No one should ever find out what Jo Inchan had been put through.
‘…Where’s the knife?’
I absentmindedly shifted my gaze towards the kitchen. But no matter how I thought about it, a knife didn’t seem sufficient. Should I just smash it with a hammer? And then burn it so it could never function again. If that didn’t work, I would have to submerge it in seawater. Let it sink into the dark sea forever, so it could never be found.
As I stood up from the sofa to turn my thoughts into action, my body lurched. Before I could even register what was happening, my joints, like my knees and elbows, hit the cold marble.
‘The floor?’
As I stupidly questioned the identity of the black surface against my skin, I felt another hand grab my arm and gently pull me to my feet. My nerves were on edge, and when I was suddenly grabbed, I instinctively tried to break free, but my arms wouldn’t cooperate.
Even after witnessing my state, the other person said nothing.
When I looked up, I saw his red eyes staring at me, unwavering.
However, even facing them, I didn’t have any particular thoughts.
‘But there’s still the edited video in Kang Hyukwoo’s hands. The members of Prism are still bound to RH Entertainment by their contracts … should I gather more evidence and wage a media war? What good will a media war do for a celebrity? Most people just turn a blind eye to uncomfortable things or consume someone else’s misfortune as entertainment. Have I already forgotten why I’m trying so hard to keep Jo Inchan’s video hidden?’
I was only pouring all my senses into thinking about how to deal with this video. I felt like the reality of the situation wasn’t really sinking in.
‘In the end, for everything to be resolved…….’
I subconsciously muttered, unable to stop the never-ending thoughts spinning in my head.
“…Kang Hyukwoo must disappear for Prism to live.”
“It’s because the law, the police, and justice couldn’t stop them until the end. Because, until the moment I had to take matters into my own hands, everything you believed in on my behalf didn’t protect you.”
It was only now that I began to understand, deep down, what Choi Jeokhyeon had meant by those words.
Punishment was meaningless.
Under the laws of this country, Kang Hyukwoo would serve a few years in prison without facing any serious punishment, then he could shamelessly walk free in the world again. And the members of Prism would be forced to suffer all over again.
‘If I can’t get rid of Kang Hyukwoo with evidence or schemes, then I can just stab him to death. After all, once a person is dead, it’s all over.’
Kang Hyukwoo had to disappear from this world so that Prism would no longer suffer.
That was the only way to end this entire tragedy.
“…I want to take away everything he holds in his hands and make sure he dies in the most miserable way possible, without receiving the slightest attention from anyone.”
At those words, the man who had been staring at me with his dark, sunken eyes lowered his head and brought his face close to mine.
Then he whispered in a low voice,
“Shall I kill him?”
I slowly looked up at him, not answering the question right away.
“Kang Hyukwoo has no weaknesses, so making him die on his own, like I’ve done before, is impossible. He’ll likely fight tooth and nail to survive, no matter how dirty he has to be. In the end, though it’s a real hassle, someone has to get their hands dirty.”
“…….”
“But it’s fine. I just need to find someone to kill him for me. There are plenty of people, like a father drowning in debt, anywhere in the world, right? And if I make that person die as well, no one will ever know.”
The ease with which those words were spoken sent chills down my spine. As I instinctively loosened my grip, I heard the sound of a droplet falling.
Drip, drip.
I turned my aching head towards the source of the sound and saw a tightly clenched fist, the palm bearing a wound.
I was too afraid that even a single cigarette might harm this body, so I couldn’t bring myself to smoke, yet I inflicted a wound on myself. Perhaps I even wanted to inflict greater wounds than this. But even if I experienced the same pain, it wouldn’t allow me to forgive myself.
My fingertips, which had been mostly still as I watched the video, suddenly twitched. The part of my brain that was still functioning seemed to be screaming, “
I’m not normal right now
” and “
I’m not thinking rationally.
“.
I rolled my eyes slowly.
Then, as I watched the TV screen that had turned black after the video ended, I saw Han Seungbeom’s body, not
mine
.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t kill him yourself. It will make you have to live as a murderer for the rest of your life.”
Choi Jeokhyeon’s words, spoken at that moment, hit me like a splash of cold water, shocking me back to my senses. It was only after seeing Han Seungbeom’s body, smaller and younger than mine, that I regained my reason.
‘Was I trying to turn Han Seungbeom into a murderer just now?’
“Keugh, haa, ha …. Nonsense, stop talking…….”
My stomach churned, and the bitter liquid that rose up mixed with the sticky fluid in my mouth, repeatedly interfered with my breathing. Gagging, I clapped a hand over my mouth, my shoulders heaving as I struggled for air. Choi Jeokhyeon gently supported my body, then he asked.
“Do you feel like throwing up?”
I had expected it, but his voice was so calm that it almost made me laugh. Of course, in my current condition, I was in no shape to laugh, let alone point out his reaction or even nod at the question that he had just asked.
‘So if it’s not someone he’s interested in, he doesn’t care what happens to them?’
While the horrifying video played, Choi Jeokhyeon … was looking at me.
The sight of his face, which reminded me of Lee Hwayoung’s, triggered a memory I’d long buried.
“Where did her husband go? How could he just vanish during the funeral?”
“
Since his wife, whom he cherished so dearly, died like that, he must be completely distraught.”
“But still, the oldest son is so young ……. yet he has to take on the role of the chief mourner. No matter how hard it is, their father needs to pull himself together so his children can get through this.”
“That’s right … but don’t you think there’s something odd about the younger brother?”
He watched me intently, taking in every detail—my expression, my breathing, even the smallest movement—without so much as a blink. He seemed completely indifferent to the emotions I felt for Jo Inchan, letting those pity and anger pass him by as if they were meaningless, as he searched for something else.
And I could see Choi Jeokhyeon’s true feelings, which he hadn’t managed to conceal, leaking out.
“…….”
He was
smiling
.
He pretended to pity Jo Inchan and comfort me, but with a faint smile on his face, he exhaled a relaxed breath. He looked like someone who had found reassurance in something.
“His mother just passed away … but he doesn’t cry, he just keeps looking at his brother’s face, as if he’s not sad at all.”
“He’s still too young, he probably doesn’t understand what’s going on.”
“But even so, he was a unusually calm and intelligent child for his age. All his extraordinary accomplishments up to this point, couldn’t they have been due to him being not quite normal? The father’s absence now might also be because of that child. If things continue like this, he could end up being abandoned by the only brother he has left…….”
“You! Stop it!”
Although Choi Jeokhyeon resembled Lee Hwayoung on the surface, there was something fundamentally different within him.
“Hyung, are you sad?”
He resembled him.
He resembles Seo Yuseong very, very much.
“Are you okay? You look a little pale.”
I knew very well that they weren’t acting that way because they wanted to. In my eyes,
they
just seemed to be desperately trying to analyze my condition.
“Do you want to go inside and get some rest?”
See? Now that he got a reaction he could see, he completely abandoned all the nonsense he was going on about and started talking about something else. There was absolutely no reason for him to do that.
This was a situation I’d encountered countless times while raising Seo Yuseong. As I calmly took a breath and stared at his face, a sharp pain stabbed at my head, making me wince. I didn’t call him out on it, though, and just answered him normally, with practiced indifference.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be heading back now.”
“If I had known it would shock you this much, I wouldn’t have shown you … This is really hard.”
With more worries piling up in my already troubled mind, I started feeling more and more nauseous.
“I’ll be more careful next time. You’re having a harder time than I thought.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold it back, but Choi Jeokhyeon’s words made me freeze.
‘I’m having a hard time?’
“…….”
It was something that was not supposed to happen.
Haven’t I constantly reminded myself that I don’t have the right to do that?
‘Jo Inchan has gone through such a painful experience, what difference can I even make?’
If I closed my eyes, would this reality that existed so clearly disappear?
If I vomited, would the emotions that were tormenting me disappear?
Compared to the pain Jo Inchan endured, this was nothing more than a trivial reaction.
I knew the reason why Jo Inchan resisted until the end.
“Don’t touch anything strange. Do you understand?”
Just as I had given some warnings to the members of Pantheion before our debut, I had said similar things to the members of Prism as well. But since Prism were far more rebellious, bold, and fearless than Pantheion, I spoke to them in a much stronger tone.
“No matter the circumstances, that’s the one thing I can never forgive.”
This was my sin.
This was a problem I had to take care of.
I had no time to indulge in such pain.
“No, I don’t need that kind of consideration.”
“…….”
I straightened my back and continued,
“…I need to go meet Lim Seunghoon.”
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Translator’s Corner:
I had a hunch that something was wrong yesterday, hence the yesterday’s TN notes, and yeah …. my well pump machine broke just now lololol It’s my own stupidity … it was raining for 3 days nonstop, so of course the water in the well was rising … making the machine drowned drowned … and you know what happened when a machine is drowned in the water …. I’m #OUT
I have nothing to say for this chapter except, this is it. The turning point where Yutae indirectly gave Jeokhyeon the permission to break their promise…..
And since someone asked in previous chapter, I’ll list the height order for you guys to imagine their combination more clearly…..
Pantheion
: Woo Kangwon (193 cm)
→
Nagi Zen
→
Lee Hwayoung
→
Do Yuda
→
Han Seungbeom (179 cm)
→
Lee Danbi
The Pantheion is fixed (idk if Lee Danbi is going outgrow Seungbeom, he’s still 17 years old). But I’m not really sure about Prism aside from the tallest and shortest, my prediction is like this:
Prism
: Seo Yutae (described around Woo Kangwon)
→
Nam Yihwon (190 cm)
→
Jay
→
Cha Woon
→
Jo Inchan
→
Lee Chise (184 cm)
→
Seo Yuseong (180 cm)
Actually I’m not sure at all about Jo Inchan, he could be taller than Jay …. but perhaps also not …. well. I kinda think Jay is tall tall, like he’s described to be already 180 cm+ when he was just entered high school. And, no Lee Chise isn’t small. His height might be like that, but he’s the second bulkiest member in Prism after Seo Yutae, I think?