“You can’t do this!”
“I didn’t ask for something so great. All I asked you was one thing. I don’t expect anything from you, so I just asked you to live quietly and not bring shame to our family. I didn’t even ask you to win the competition like your older brother! Just how much more do you plan to disappoint me!”
A sharp voice cut through the production team’s urgent pleas to stop.
Pushing her way through several hands, Baek Kiryang’s mother finally forced her way in and immediately spotted her son in the pristine white corridor.
Before anyone could react, a hand swung through the air and and struck down towards Baek Kiryang’s face.
The moment I saw it, my legs moved on their own.
Slap!
“…….”
“…….”
Everyone in the waiting room covered their mouths at the incident that happened in an instant. Even the person who had lost their reason and and swung her hand was so startled they couldn’t utter a word.
“Seungbeom! Are you okay?”
I raised a hand to Seezy, who rushed over to check my face, gesturing that I was fine. Then, I turned to Baek Kiryang’s mother and spoke.
“Mother-nim, this is a place where only authorized personnel are allowed to enter, so I think it would be best if you left for now.”
The moment I saw Baek Kiyang’s mother raise her hand, I immediately rushed forward and pushed Baek Kiryang aside, taking the harsh blow in his place. Of course, since I couldn’t go on stage with a swollen face, I did my best to avoid getting hit there, and the blow narrowly grazed my ear instead.
‘It was just a little scratch.’
I looked at my hand after rubbing my ear and noticed a bit of blood. Since it was just a scratch, it wouldn’t swell up too much, so it wouldn’t affect the performance.
“Because of me…….”
But Baek Kiryang didn’t seem to think that way. His face was as white as a sheet. The fear in his eyes was more intense than anything I’d ever seen from him. He trembled, his gaze fixed on the fresh red blood.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…….”
‘I worked so hard to purge it, and now it seems like my efforts will all be in vain.’
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
I moved my hand away from Baek Kiryang’s line of sight, pushed him behind my back, and stared at Baek Kiryang’s mother.
‘Is it this person? One of the people who completely destroyed Baek Kiryang’s self-esteem.’
She hesitated for a moment, as if she felt guilty for having unintentionally inflicted violence on an outsider, but then she ignored me and grabbed Baek Kiryang’s wrist.
“…Come with me now. Don’t embarrass Mom anymore.”
I immediately stopped her, “Once the main competition has started, trainees are not allowed to leave the venue. If you have something to say, please postpone it until after the competition.”
“…….”
Baek Kiryang’s mother, who stopped at my words, quietly scanned me from head to toe. She took another look at my hair and outfit, which were styled to suit an idol stage, then sneered.
“Yes, you are Han Seungbeom, are you? The one people said would win first place in the program.”
In order to not let go of her son’s arm, which was too much for her to hold with just her grip, Baek Kiryang’s mother dug her nails into it. She didn’t even notice me frowning at that and continued speaking in a sugary sweet tone.
“Seungbeom’s success came too easily, so he doesn’t really understand life yet. I’m giving Seungbeom this advice out of goodwill. Don’t meddle in other people’s family matters. There are lines in the world that shouldn’t be crossed. This is not your place to interfere.”
“….I understand very well that it’s unpleasant when an unrelated person interferes. I also understand well with what intention you are saying this, Mother-nim.”
When I slightly agreed and spoke more gently, Baek Kiryang’s mother, perhaps thinking that I was backing down, tried to drag her son away again. But I grabbed his upper arm tightly, stopping her in her tracks.
Then, I stared directly into her eyes, which were filled with anger, and spoke.
“As I told you previously, this is a place where only authorized personnel are allowed to enter. The person who crossed the line is not me, but you, Mother-nim.”
“What the…?”
“Look around you. You’ll soon realize who shouldn’t be here.”
At my words, Baek Kiryang’s mother looked around belatedly. Around her were several production staff who wanted to escort the outsider out but couldn’t treat her carelessly due to that outsider’s position as Baek Kiryang’s guardian.
As if the situation finally started to come into focus in her vision, which had been clouded by anger, Baek Kiryang’s mother slightly suppressed her hostile expression and fell silent.
I resumed speaking calmly, “Dozens of trainees are appearing in this program, and all of them are going through tough times without even being able to meet their parents. Surely, you don’t think that their parents are just sitting still because they are unable to do the same thing as you?”
“…….”
“I am here as the leader of the team that Kiryang-hyung is a part of. It is my responsibility to take care of my members. Therefore, I cannot just let you take Kiryang-hyung away like this.”
Baek Kiryang’s mother gritted her teeth as she once again looked around at me and the surrounding production staff. Flustered by the embarrassing situation, she tried to resolve it by attacking someone under her control.
“Look, do you see what kind of humiliation I’m going through because of you? Is this what you want? To bring shame to your parents?”
“…….”
“You’re the way you are right now because you do such low-quality music and hang around with people who do low-quality music. Didn’t I always advise you? That your environment shapes who you are.”
I didn’t put myself in this situation to completely ruin Baek Kiryang’s family relationships. No matter how broken or dysfunctional the relationship might be,
parents are still parents
, and
family is still family.
So, no matter how much Baek Kiryang’s mother crossed the line, I tried to handle the situation as amicably as possible.
However, if you were to ask whether the person involved could forgive the situation, I couldn’t say for certain.
“That’s enough, Mother.”
Baek Kiryang, with a calm and composed expression, firmly pulled away from his mother’s hand and spoke clearly.
“Please don’t be rude to the people who are precious to me.”
“….Baek Kiryang!”
When the son, who had always only run away, put words of refusal in his mouth for the first time, Baek Kiryang’s mother yelled in shock. But Baek Kiryang continued to speak.
“No matter what you say, I will never give up. I am your child, but I also have the right to live the life I want. So please, focus on your own lives, not mine or my brother’s.”
While the words were spoken in gentle tone, the message was that she should stop obsessing over her children’s success and focus on her own. Perhaps feeling humiliated to hear such words from her child in front of others, Baek Kiryang’s mother erupted in anger far greater than before.
“How dare you!”
As Baek Kiryang’s mother attempted to swing her hand again, this time Seezy stepped in and grabbed her arm. Baek Kiryang’s mother, without hiding her displeasure at another third party’s intervention, warned her.
“Let go of me.”
“No, I won’t let go. You are the one who should step back, Shin Mihyeon-ssi.”
Despite the harsh warning, Seezy remained unmoved and continued to hold Baek Kiryang’s mother back. Seeing that firm attitude, Baek Kiryang’s mother let out a mocking laugh and opened her mouth in a sarcastic tone.
“You stamped my child as a failure, and now you’re suddenly feeling sympathy? I heard you criticized him for not meeting your expectations. What makes you so bold to interfere?”
At the malicious words, Seezy took a deep breath. Then, as if telling her to listen carefully, she lifted her head and spoke firmly.
“I am a trainer, not a judge. I’m not here to put a price on shining dreams, but to guide them. If they get a bad evaluation, what’s wrong with that? They just need to work hard and improve from it. That’s what I’m here for.”
“…….”
“Looking back now, I do have some regret. I wish I could have given him that advice in a better way. However, Baek Kiryang has found an excellent advisor who could cover for my shortcomings, and he has overcome all the points I pointed out. He has progressed to the point where I can’t even add anything more.”
Seezy, who briefly turned his gaze to me while mentioning another
advisor
, declared while looking back at Baek Kiryang’s mother.
“So, I will do what is left of my role now. Shin Mihyeon-ssi, I am speaking as a trainer of this program. Please leave this place right now.”
***
“This has been the Go Go Ring team! Thank you!”
“
Catch me!
, please wait on the side!”
As the sound of the team that performed before us greeting the audience filled the air, we heard the staff’s urgent voices calling for us.
Then, Baek Kiryang, who had been quietly staring at the audience, subtly trembled at the tips of his fingers.
Although he was pretending to be calm, his mother’s visit seemed to have been a bigger hit than expected. I quickly moved beside him and grabbed his arm. I pressed down hard, squeezing every part of his arm, from his shoulder to his fingertips. This was to help his numb arm regain some sensation and to make his trembling subside.
As I continued massaging like that for a while, I heard the sound of laughter from above my head. Baek Kiryang, who had been silently watching my actions, had burst out laughing.
I lifted my head with an annoyed expression at his reaction, “What is it, why are you laughing?”
“It just reminded me of old times. When I was a kid, I used to go to competitions and the parents of the contestants would always massage their children’s arms and legs like this … I was always envious of that. But I never thought I would receive it at this age.”
“…Seeing you grin like that, I guess it’s not as bad as I thought. I worried for nothing.”
I let out a small chuckle and gave his hand one final light slap. The back of the hand that briefly touched mine was filled with warm heat—whether from the massage or the laughter, I couldn’t tell.
‘Good. The warmth is finally starting to return to his fingertips.’
“Focus. Don’t waver. What you need to do hasn’t changed.”
At my softly spoken words, Baek Kiryang slowly turned his head and looked straight into my eyes. Seeing the heavy trust reflected in his gaze, I carefully chose my next words.
‘It’s the last moment before going on stage. What should I say to Baek Kiryang?’
The amount of criticism and praise that each person could accept was different.
Throughout the program, I had carefully studied and memorized the personalities of the members I had chosen, and Baek Kiryang was one of them.
Baek Kiryang was someone who needed 9 carrots and 1 whip. He was so skeptical and low on self-esteem that even if I gave him 9 compliments, he would only accept 1.
I complimented him to death while preparing for the fourth mission. Baek Kiryang probably heard more compliments from me in the past week than he had ever heard in his entire life.
“
Catch me!
Team standby!”
“Trainees, get ready!”
And all that compliments, which far surpassed the limits of my patience, was all for today. I had filled the 9 compliments part, so I finally could give him the 1 stimulation now.
“Think back, why did you come to have the thought of wanting to stand on stage?”
The 1 that could push Baek Kiryang to an even higher place.
“When you first had this dream, what was the image of you that you dreamed of, hyung?”
“…….”
”Can you really be satisfied with the image you have now?”
As if answering the question, Baek Kiryang’s eyes lit up.
I grinned at that, and held out my fist.
“Let’s show them, the music we love.”
Baek Kiryang raised his fist, bumped it against mine, and then smiled brightly.
Turning his back to the stage, he spoke as he moved away, one step at a time.
“Thank you, Seungbeom-ah. I feel so lucky to have met you.”
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Translator’s Corner:
Me too … I feel so lucky to have met him…………. send him to me irl pls …..
Anyway if you’re wondering, Baek Kiryang called his mother mother because it’s 어머니. Other person like the staff and Seungbeom called her 어머님, basically Mother + adding the suffix -nim to show respect. I already explained it before that people used -nim either after a name or profession/position right. Since she is Baek Kiryang’s mother, the others are addressing him with “Mother” too. (It’s Asian things).
Anyway my place is raining heavily for hours now (I literally dumb for not stocking food so now I’m just going to starve), and the thunders are so scary it’s so loud the walls of my room is trembling ??????????? jfzhdkjdzhvjk I will shut down my laptop and hide behind my blanket, see you