“…Han Seungbeom.”
As soon as I met his gleaming gaze, my heart, which hadn’t reacted at all to the staff’s desperate ghost acting to scare me, began to pound like crazy.
‘Nam Yihwon…….’
What is this?
What is going on?
My brain just couldn’t seem to function properly in front of the members of Prism; it felt like my IQ dropped by 70%.
“…….”
First of all, I could tell that his hand was gripping my wrist tightly.
Due to the strong grip, blood wasn’t flowing to my hand, and my fingertips started to feel numb. No matter how sluggish my brain was working, I couldn’t have missed that.
Almost as soon as I registered it, my body, which had been frozen stiff, was suddenly half-lifted and pulled away. Nam Yihwon had grabbed me and was dragging me towards where his car was parked.
‘Hey, crazy!’
It was a replay of what had happened earlier on the set, but the difference in attitude was striking. Unlike Woo Kangwon, his behavior was brutal, with not even the slightest trace of consideration.
‘Is he out of his mind?’
I was dumbfounded by his behavior, which was completely out of common sense.
This behavior was something he would never have done to me in my previous life, and it was something we shouldn’t show carelessly in front of others due to our profession. However, I couldn’t bring myself to forcefully shake his hand off. The memory of the day I left Prism, when I had pushed this guy away and left after he grabbed me, resurfaced, making my heart feel incredibly weak.
‘…What on earth do you expect me to do?’
And at the same time, a mix of emotions swelled within me—
I’m desperately trying hard for you, doing my best to keep my distance so you won’t get caught up in this, so why do you always barge in without knowing anything and mess everything up?
It was a feeling far too complex to be summed up by simple words like
guilt
and
resentment
.
In the end, unable to bring myself to forcibly push him away, I found myself drawing closer and closer to his car. At the edge of my vision, Pantheion’s van receded into the distance, and I saw a few members already inside tilting their heads in confusion.
At that moment, I belatedly snapped back to my senses and said urgently.
“…What is the meaning of this? Let go of me.”
But the other person didn’t even answer, just kept dragging me until he opened the car door and shoved me into the back seat. It seemed like he had no intention of listening to a word I was saying.
…It was beyond absurd, but I reasoned that having a conversation here, out of sight, and then putting an end to it would be better than making a scene in public. I tried to convince myself that this was the best course of action.
“What in the world are you thinking!”
As I spat out sharp words, my eyes met the gaze of the guy in the driver’s seat through the rearview mirror.
But before it could last long, Nam Yihwon slowly exhaled and closed his eyes. His demeanor made it clear he wasn’t interested in having a proper conversation.
“…….”
The dark circles under his eyes were noticeable. His eyes were bloodshot too. His schedule must have been too demanding. If he’d managed to squeeze in some free time, he should have used it to sleep, not come all the way to see me … He couldn’t have come all this way by himself, without a manager, could he?
“If you do this kind of thing in a place where everyone can see, imagine what kind of rumors that’ll spread……”
A jumble of thoughts raced through my head, and with my head lowered, I blurted out whatever came to mind. It wasn’t until I noticed he wasn’t reacting at all that I bit my lip.
And when I lifted my head, my eyes met Nam Yihwon’s once again.
He was just looking at me in silence with his cold eyes.
I regretted it as soon as I saw his gaze.
I should have said that ‘
I
‘ was offended, not that I was worried about Nam Yihwon’s career, but I messed up.
‘…Why do I always turn into a fool in front of Prism?’
No, most people wouldn’t even notice anything out of the ordinary.
To others, it would just sound like an ordinary comment pointing out his rash behavior.
As I was consoling myself with that thought, Nam Yihwon, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
“I don’t know which bastard taught you or how, but you sure learned it perfectly.”
I frowned, wondering what kind of nonsense he was spouting.
But soon enough, I remembered what he had said before, and I understood what he meant.
“Kang Hyukwoo didn’t send you, did he? You were probably told, those Prism bastards are all out of their minds right now, so if you approached them and acted like Seo Yutae, they’d wag their tails in delight. Did he even make you practice?”
It seemed Nam Yihwon still believed I was deliberately imitating Seo Yutae.
“From the way you’re talking right now to the way you’re ghosting people as you please, you’re imitating him perfectly, aren’t you?”
“…….”
I knew I should be relieved about this.
Hearing those words again … it would be too selfish of me to say I felt bitter.
As I thought about it for a moment, I managed to pull up the corners of my mouth.
“If you’re that suspicious of me, then why did you even come looking for me? You’re not going to tell me you came to argue, are you? You’ve dealt with too many people trying to take advantage of you throughout your career to not realize that it’s best to stay away from someone like me … You know that well enough, don’t you?”
“…….”
“I was planning to stick around as long as possible, but this is just … the constant suspicion is just too much. I don’t see enough merit in putting up with it anymore. Either way, the royalties will keep coming in, so it doesn’t matter now. I’ve already earned more than enough to be satisfied.”
“You sure talk a lot for someone who said it was fine not to have your name credited.”
“A person with strong pride like Lee Chise-sunbaenim would never use someone else’s song carelessly, right? No matter what I said, he would have made sure my name was on the copyright. I knew that much when I approached him. Still, thanks to you, sunbaenim, I’ve had more than a few moments worrying that my name might actually get dropped.”
I usually wasn’t one to talk much, but I rattled on for quite a long time, as if I were being chased by something.
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if what I’d said had made any sense. But thinking back to the rather unhappy expression on Nam Yihwon’s face when I glanced at him, well … I guess it worked to some extent.
“So, please don’t contact me anymore, and tell Lee Chise-sunbaenim when you get a chance. Tell him,
we were deceived
.
Just like I said from the start, that bastard was just a piece of trash trying to use us for his own gain
.”
If you ask why I said I only
glanced
at him, it’s because I couldn’t bring myself to look at Nam Yihwon’s face for long. No way, was I really feeling afraid, despite being the one who had inflicted the wound? The thought of how ridiculous I must look right now made me feel embarrassed.
‘It’s done now. We won’t be seeing each other again.’
“…I’ll be going now.”
After offering him a final farewell, I quickly reached for the door handle. It was about time I returned to the members of Pantheion.
But at that moment, I heard a strange sound.
Click.
And the door wouldn’t open.
When I slowly looked up, I saw Nam Yihwon starting the car and using his other hand to press the master control panel on the door.
“You seem to have a talent for pissing people off. You, and that hyung.”
“…….”
He had locked the door from the driver’s seat.
The tense atmosphere that had been razor-sharp from the start instantly sank into something far colder, and the very person responsible for it spoke.
“Call your members and tell them you won’t be coming back for a while. You don’t have any schedules after this anyway.”
“…….”
“I was told that if you just tell Lee Danbi the gist of it, he’ll understand.”
As soon as I heard that, I realized how Nam Yihwon had gotten hold of my schedule.
‘Don’t tell me you seriously
got my schedule and filming location out of Lee Danbi?’
As I was being dragged away by Nam Yihwon, I remembered the way Lee Danbi had looked at me—his eyes shaking more than anyone else’s among the members. He was clearly feeling guilty about something, though his expression made it obvious that he hadn’t expected things to escalate to this extent.
‘…Lee Chise!’
I could guarantee that Lee Chise did this knowing full well that Lee Danbi couldn’t refuse his request. Of course, that child never would have imagined they would drag me off like this.
After getting a rough idea of what had happened, I gritted my teeth, and the corner of his mouth, which had been set in a rigid line of anger, finally softened into a curve, revealing a face of almost otherworldly beauty.
Immediately following that, a languid voice, laced with amusement, drifted into my ears.
“What do you want me to tell Chise-hyung?”
“…….”
“How could you do something that evil to someone as naive as Lee Chise? That hyung still believes in you wholeheartedly. I could never do that to him.”
Calling Lee Chise
naive
would make even a passing dog laugh. I almost blurted out an instinctive ‘
What kind of nonsense is that
?’ at the absurdity of him saying something he obviously knew wasn’t true.
But even after seeing my dumbfounded expression, Nam Yihwon continued speaking without the slightest concern.
“Once you start deceiving someone, see it through to the end. Don’t bail halfway.”
“What…….”
“Go ahead, try it again. Like I said, there have been plenty of leeches trying to latch onto Prism. Do you really think I can’t handle just having you around?”
Does he really mean to keep me around even after hearing that he was being used?
Taken aback by the sheer absurdity of it, I could only open and close my mouth without being able to get any words out. Nam Yihwon, now even curling his eyes into a chilling smile, went on without missing a beat.
“Why? Are you getting cold feet now? Or is Han Seungbeom just more modest than I gave him credit for, satisfied with just this much and not greedy for more?”
“…….”
It was strange. He was so wary when we first met, so I couldn’t fathom what he was thinking during the time we weren’t in contact that led him to this conclusion. That thought suddenly brought back memories of how I had ignored all the members’ attempts to contact me after leaving Prism.
‘…No way.’
“
Chise-hyung
cherishes you more than I expected. It looks like he still needs you. So … keep up the act, whatever it takes, until he’s no longer hurting … It’s fine. In the end, Yutae-hyung will forgive
me
no matter what I do.”
He turned toward the back seat where I was sitting, spouting a jumble of lies and justifications that didn’t add up. Then, leaning his cheek on the headrest, he closed his eyes and spoke in that same distinct, pampered tone he had always used when talking to me when
I
was alive.
“I’m tired. I haven’t slept a wink in three days. So, hurry up and call them. Don’t make them misunderstand that you’ve been kidnapped.”
Anyone could see that his words and actions were far from normal.
“…….”
But even though I clearly knew that…….
Why did I not want to point out or refuse Nam Yihwon’s words?
I just wanted to grab onto the plausible ‘
justification
‘ that he had created, as if it was no big deal.
Wouldn’t it seem far more calculating and ruthless if I just kept approaching the members of Prism, pretending to use them until the end? The members of Prism would be the first to try to hide anything from Jay whenever something happened, so there would definitely be a limit to asking Jay about each member’s latest news. Wasn’t it just a matter of acting well enough so no one would notice? It’s not like Lim Seunghoon would always be around us anyway. I could easily keep that much hidden. As that sordid rationalization crept in, I could feel it slowly taking hold of me.
Biting down on the inside of my cheek, I finally lifted my phone to my ear and quietly made the call.
“…I have something to take care of, so I need to stop by Lee Chise-sunbaenim for a bit. When Yuda finishes his snacks, please tell the manager to head back first. Tell him I said it’s okay.”
Nam Yihwon watched my reflection in the mirror for a moment, then stepped on the pedal without saying a word.
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Translator’s Corner:
In Chise’s defense, Yutae only told Yihwon about not bullying his juniors, he never said anything to Lee Chise ……
Pantheion fight back … your leader is getting kidnapped…..
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