“I heard you have younger siblings. Say one of them got into a fight with a friend. What would you do?”
“I’d ask what happened... and give them whatever advice I could.”
“What if the fight was serious enough to interfere with their school life?”
As the subject remained on his family, one of Gowon’s eyes twitched, and a little of his habitual politeness fell away.
“I’d ask the school to take action, or I’d step in myself.”
“Why?”
“...Because I’m their guardian.”
“Then who’s your guardian in this situation?”
“......”
While Gowon’s eyes widened in confusion, Baek Hanje tapped his own phone a few times and held it out.
“Tell him. Tell the guardian of your career.”
Kwon Taeyoung’s name was displayed on the outgoing call screen.
Baek Hanje waved it right in front of Gowon’s nose.
—Yeah, what is it?
It was no bluff. Division Head Kwon Taeyoung’s actual voice came through the speaker.
—What is this, Baek Hanje? A prank call?
When no one answered, the person on the other end asked in confusion. Baek Hanje ignored him and simply continued holding out the phone. In the end, Gowon took it with a flustered expression.
“Division Head, this is Gowon.”
—Gowon? But this is Hanje’s number... Aren’t you on your way back from <Music Sea>? Did something happen?
“...Yes. Um, something....”
He hesitated, then felt Baek Hanje’s gaze on him. It was slightly colder than before.
Unable to withstand it, Gowon awkwardly began.
“I have... something to report. I met someone named Kim Eumyul backstage today....”
While Gowon was not looking, Chief Manager Park, seated in the driver’s seat, gave Baek Hanje a thumbs-up. The recipient of that respect merely snorted.
“He posted something on Stargram that seemed to be referring to Senior Hanzel and me... so I thought I should... tell you.”
—Hm? He did?
The speakerphone volume was set fairly high, but Gowon was too nervous to notice. Everyone in the van could hear the sigh and clicking sounds coming from the other end, yet Gowon remained oblivious, glancing at Baek Hanje as though asking whether he was doing this correctly.
—All right. I’ll think about how to handle it and take care of it. Don’t worry too much. Get back safely.
“Yes.”
—And Hanje... Never mind. I’ll contact you separately. Get some rest.
“Yes, Division Head.”
Perhaps because Kwon Taeyoung knew Gowon’s personality, he ended the call first.
Gowon stared at the dark screen, unable to hide his bewilderment. A moment later, applause erupted throughout the van.
“Wow, our Gowon tattled for the first time in his life!”
“I’ve been so frustrated because you look like the type who’d get beaten up somewhere and keep it to yourself.”
“You need to tell us when something’s hard for you, Gowon. Not just this.”
“Ah....”
The staff members who took close care of him spoke in unison, sounding relieved. Since they watched over the artist at close range, there had been far more frustrating moments than even Baek Hanje had realized.
As he received strange encouragement from every direction, Gowon’s face turned so red it looked ready to burst.
It felt odd, as though he had become a child. Then he realized that he really was the youngest person in the van.
“You really are a senior, Baek Hanje.”
“Of course I’m his senior. What, am I his junior? I was on a world tour when he was still doing elementary-school math workbooks.”
“Why are you acting so prickly again? You were cool just a moment ago. ‘Tell the guardian of your career, Junior...!’”
“When did I ever say it like that?”
And Baek Hanje, who had always seemed unimaginably distant, was also among the younger people in the van.
The vast gulf between them remained all the same.
“...Anyway. Since we’ve started talking about this, let’s finish it. Everyone here has a job that consists of making your career go smoothly. They’re people who spend days preparing for a three-minute stage.”
“That’s right. Exactly.”
“So if even the slightest thing bothers you, tell us everything. Not solely for your sake. You’re a company asset and an investment, so of course you’re supposed to report it. Understand?”
“...Yes.”
Gowon answered in a voice as quiet as a crawling ant and held the phone out with both hands. His face grew hotter and hotter.
Baek Hanje stared somewhere into empty space and released a deep sigh.
“Anyway, you did well. Sure, I spoon-fed you the entire answer, but you found it in the end.”
“......”
Gowon’s eyes settled on Baek Hanje, trembled slightly, then moved away. Awkwardness and embarrassment filled his reddened cheeks.
“...What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“......”
Gowon turned his head away completely.
“What is it?”
“......”
“Gowon, are you already ignoring your senior? Does it taste good?”
But Baek Hanje never let anything go as easily as Gowon wanted him to.
“No.”
“Are you rebelling?”
“Oh, stop tormenting him. He’s probably embarrassed because you praised him.”
“What do you mean? I praise him all the time.”
“...You’ve never praised me once.”
The delayed answer drew a disbelieving laugh from Baek Hanje.
“Didn’t I tell you that you did well during the recording?”
“You did not. ...But that isn’t why I was looking at you.”
“...No, wait. What....”
Baek Hanje stared at some corner of the van’s ceiling as though thinking, then crooked a finger at Gowon. When Gowon leaned forward, Baek Hanje placed a hand on the top of his head.
“All right, Junior. You did very well—”
“......”
“......”
Thump!
“Ah!”
The hand resting on his head clenched into a fist and struck his forehead in an instant.
“?!”
Gowon clutched his aching forehead and protested with his eyes. Baek Hanje ignored him, snatched his phone from Gowon’s hand, and shouted.
“Why is the kid my brother is raising letting people beat him up outside? Huh? If you keep acting that soft and oblivious, people in this industry will tear you apart until there isn’t even a bone left.”
“......”
“Do better!”
“...Yes....”
His gaze and voice had grown slightly less obedient than when he had been nodding politely at everything.
Baek Hanje leaned back against the seat and spat out the words.
“You’ll see the result of that by this evening.”
***
How did things end up like this...?!
Kim Eumyul, silently crying on the bed in his accommodations, hurled his pillow across the room.
I was only going to vent to my fans for a little while and delete it once I felt better!
A few hours earlier, in the practice room for Maybe Entertainment’s rookie boy group—
The door flew open, and three people strode inside. They were members of Dearune. All three marched straight toward Kim Eumyul.
The girl at the front was the one who had sung the killing part, “Para, Para, Paradox,” in a clear voice onstage that day. That same voice now slammed into him.
“You fucking bastard. Hari is crying! Did someone shoot you in the head? What the fuck were you thinking when you posted that bullshit?”
“...Excuse me?”
“Lee Jinso. I thought you’d finally cut back on the swearing, but your mouth is at it again. God... Come out here.”
Pretending to restrain her fellow member, another girl stepped forward and looked down at him as though he were an insect.
“You don’t seem to understand what’s happening. Your notifications must be going crazy, so why don’t you check?”
Kim Eumyul opened his phone in confusion. The number of comments beneath the post he had uploaded earlier had exploded.
As he slowly read through them, his face went white.
It’s obviously something Yoon Hari said.
↳ Seriously.. There’s no other reason he’d suddenly post this.
Duet stage -> walked offstage on friendly terms with his friend Gowon after the ranking announcement -> (blank period) -> suddenly posts “I’ll do well on my own”
Who could possibly have picked on the kid during that empty time? ^^
Then Dearune’s leader, Shin Saera, held a screen in front of him with an icy smile.
Bullying a rookie because you’re a senior (puke)(puke)(puke) So ugly~~ Permanently deleting Dearune from my playlist starting today~~
Fucking bitch...... I hope divine punishment finds you
The Dearests are desperately arguing that at least Dearune agreed to perform with a rookieㅋㅋ Our kid received over a million votes in the final round~^^
↳ A promising rookie the entire country knows vs that blond girl from Dearune who isn’t Jinso. So who was doing whom a favor?
There’s a reason every other member of her group got famous while she stayed unknownㅋㅋㅋ They must have kept her offscreen to hide her personalityㅋㅋㅋ
All of those vicious comments had flooded Yoon Hari’s Stargram page.
That was not at all how things had been going when he last checked.
Most of the comments had been comforting him. Mentions of Gowon had gradually started appearing just as he had planned, and he had nudged the conversation in that direction himself....
NOT aimed at GowonXXX They were seen coming offstage together and chatting like close friends
They were best friends during <Debut Chart>^^ Don’t misunderstand!
Amazingly, the people arguing against comments that suspected Gowon were Kim Eumyul’s own personal fans.
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