“Hey, what’s the deal with you guys and Han Seungbeom?”
“…….”
“I mean, think about it. The same guys who used to just hang out among themselves because they had zero social skills are now suddenly inviting a much younger junior to their party and texting him nonstop. I even heard that when you were planning Legendary Singer, you specifically asked the production team to cast Pantheion?”
At the comment that seemed certain Prism members were still keeping in regular contact with Han Seungbeom, Jo Inchan swallowed dryly.
‘Did the managers report it?’
There were often times during filming when they had to leave their phones with the manager, and it seemed the manager had seen a call or message from Han Seungbeom during one of those times. If it had been caught to that extent, there was no point in trying to deny it anymore.
“…We just got a little closer recently through Chise-hyung, that’s all. As for the show, we were just recommending the ones we thought were doing the best among the current active idols. We recommended Raize too, so don’t jump to weird conclusions.”
Jo Inchan forced himself to come up with a reasonable answer to avoid raising any suspicion. However, Kang Hyukwoo simply stared straight at Jo Inchan’s face with a crooked smirk, showing no other reaction.
If only he had outright denied it, he might not have felt this anxious. Every slight tremor in his expression and every shift in his gaze seemed to hand over clues to Kang Hyukwoo, making his whole body lock up with tension.
“Right, Lee Chise. I know that guy walks around smiling on the outside, but he’s completely different on the inside. So, why the hell did he suddenly involve a junior in his work? He’s the guy who used to criticize every big-name composer we brought in, saying he only liked Seo Yutae. Does he really like Han Seungbeom that much? As much as he liked Seo Yutae?”
“How would I know that? I couldn’t even be near the members at that time because of you.”
“Ah, yes, yes. That’s how it was. You had to report everything and get permission before going anywhere. I remember, you’re the one who told me Han Seungbeom was at that party too.”
At those words, Jo Inchan’s breath caught in his throat. It reminded him once again that because of a single careless comment he had made without knowing anything, Seo Yutae had gotten into a big accident.
Seo Yutae and the other members had never once brought up the incident, doing everything they could to spare Jo Inchan from that kind of guilt. But Kang Hyukwoo, who so easily shattered all their efforts, spoke about that day as if it were someone else’s business, without a shred of guilt
“The last time I spoke to that stalker bastard, he kept insisting he had hit him properly … but Han Seungbeom didn’t have a single scratch on him, so how am I supposed to believe that? And now that things have gone sour between us, I also don’t understand why he hasn’t confessed to trying to hit Han Seungbeom…….”
“…….”
“There are two big dents left in the car I gave that bastard. One of them’s from when he hit Lim Seunghoon, but as for the other one, I have no idea what caused it. It doesn’t seem like he crashed into an object, but there were no reports of anyone hitting a person or animal around that area either. The police are still investigating what it could have been, but they’ve found no leads. Apparently, no matter how much they asked the driver himself, he just kept saying, ‘I don’t know‘.”
And at the end, he asked with a brazen smile, “Didn’t you see anything that day? You said you went there too. Didn’t you see any bloodstains or anything?”
Hearing those words, Jo Inchan couldn’t seem to bear it anymore and muttered while gripping his face tightly.
“You’re out of your mind. You almost killed someone … and that’s the only thing that bothers you?”
“Of course, it bothers me. If I lay a hand on anyone and don’t finish it properly, it all comes back to me. Look, even now, every time I get involved with Han Seungbeom, everything goes strangely wrong.”
“…Then you should have just left him alone. If you hadn’t bothered him and just left him alone, he could’ve lived a normal life, and you wouldn’t have to worry about any of this!”
Eventually, with his head deeply lowered, Jo Inchan even shouted, and Kang Hyukwoo let out a small chuckle. He then took a step forward, stepping on Jo Inchan’s foot with the heel of his shoe as he whispered.
“Hey, calm down. Isn’t Han Seungbeom just a stranger to you anyway? What happens to him has nothing to do with you. Why are you getting so worked up?”
Hearing that, Jo Inchan clenched his still-trembling hands tightly, slowly raised his bowed head, and looked down at Kang Hyukwoo below him with eyes as cold as ice, speaking quietly but with a chilling tone.
“You know, normal people don’t seek profit by sacrificing others. And they get angry when they see someone being treated unfairly. But people like you, who are so incompetent that they have to suck the life out of others just to barely survive, will never understand.”
“…What?”
“But as you said, what you do always comes back to you eventually. I just pointed it out because it looks dumb, the way you’re screwing up your own life even though you know that … Why? Did I hurt your pride?”
“…….”
“After getting beaten up from all sides, you’re feeling anxious, right? You must want to grab and control someone who seems relatively easy to handle to somehow fix things. But since the other Prism members would be too much for you, you deliberately, specifically looked for a time when they weren’t around. Because you’re scared to face them.”
Even if he has the most gentle personality within Prism, Prism is Prism.
As soon as Seo Yutae was mentioned, Jo Inchan immediately changed his attitude and spat out words that were sure to thoroughly provoke Kang Hyukwoo. It was also an attempt to shift Kang Hyukwoo’s attention, which was currently more focused on Han Seungbeom than on him.
“But what are we going to do now? Without that video, you can’t even handle me properly.”
“This bastard, have you gone mad…….”
When Jo Inchan, who had never once dared to rebel against him until now, spat out harsh words, Kang Hyukwoo’s eyes widened in anger in an instant, and unable to contain his rage, he raised his hand.
Buzz!
At that moment, as Jo Inchan reflexively squeezed his eyes shut and flinched, the phone in Kang Hyukwoo’s jacket pocket rang.
Beep beep, beep beep.
Then, the arm that was about to strike his cheek froze mid-air. Kang Hyukwoo scowled, lowered his arm, and began searching through his pockets. After checking the screen, he let out an exasperated sigh, and as soon as he answered the call, he shouted.
“II told you not to contact me unless it’s urgent…….”
But before he could even finish that sentence, the panicked voice of his subordinate burst out from the speaker.
“Director-nim, we have a big problem!”
“What? What’s going on?”
“There were records of the conversation between Lim Seunghoon and Dalli ……. In the process of proving the intentionality of the crime, that evidence was leaked, and it has already spread like wildfire in the news!”
“What the hell are you saying? I made sure all the conversation logs were deleted regularly!”
“It seems that … there were some conversations Lim Seunghoon had been keeping without deleting them.”
“I made an unexpected check last time, and it was all clear!”
“…Didn’t he lose his phone once? It seems that the conversation was still saved on that phone.”
“F**k, does that even make sense? How the hell did he manage to find a phone that was lost a long time ago!”
Kang Hyukwoo ran a hand through his hair, feeling the corners of his eyes stiffen from the surge of stress. Then, muttering whatever curses came to mind, he pulled the phone away from his ear and quickly started checking the news articles.
[COMA-1’s Agency, RH Entertainment, Defames Rival Group Through ‘Sasaeng Community‘ Scheme]
[RH Entertainment’s Director, Kang Hyukwoo, Under Suspicion of Controlling ‘Sasaeng Community‘ Operator]
[RH Entertainment Official Admits to Leaking Rival Artist’s Private Information to Sasaengs Under Higher-Ups’ Orders, “The male sasaeng who threatened Han Seungbeom got into the broadcast station with RH’s assistance…….”]
The article had spread so widely that it could no longer be covered up, and SNS was flooded with posts all about RH Entertainment.
— Wow, hahaha, I knew Han Seungbeom had a hard time because of sasaengs, but I never imagined it was because of those bastards. This is seriously messed up…
— Damn, does that mean Prism also eliminated their competitors in this way?
└ I don’t think so. They were already at the top from debut, they had no reason to resort to such useless stuff. It’s just that COMA-1 were so far behind Pantheion, they probably pulled this stunt because they’re intimidated lol
— Ugh, I’m getting goosebumps. I noticed that at some point, the public started bashing Lee Danbi, who was already doing great, and more people started hyping up COMA-1, so I thought something was fishy, and turns out it was all RH’s doing?
└ I still don’t understand why Lee Danbi got so much hate..
└ 222 Exactly, they were trying to manipulate public opinion, they totally bullied that kid. But a company that knows full well how much idols suffer because of hate comments did this kind of thing? LOL, I’m so dumbfounded, I don’t even know what to say
The newspaper that first published the report was one known for its close ties with Choi Jeokhyeon. The moment Kang Hyukwoo saw the posts containing Lim Seunghoon’s statements word for word, he started cursing and kicking the furniture around him.
“You, son of a b*tch!”
The last time Kang Hyukwoo saw Lim Seunghoon, that man regarded himself, who had lost his legs, as more unfortunate than anyone else; shedding tears of blood with a heart full of resentment as he longed for a fair judgment against the perpetrator. He had also felt deeply betrayed by Kang Hyukwoo’s cold abandonment, despite everything Kang Hyukwoo had done for him until then. In light of that, it wasn’t all that strange for him to want Dalli punished, even at the cost of facing consequences himself.
‘It can’t be … does CEO Lee have a hand in this?’
If that was the case, it was inevitable that the community manipulation RH Entertainment had been carrying out until now would be exposed. Lim Seunghoon had been involved in all the evil deeds Kang Hyukwoo had committed, right there by his side, from the very beginning.
‘Where did everything start to go wrong?’
Was it because he rejected Lim Seunghoon’s request and cast him aside? No, even if he had made a different choice, the outcome probably wouldn’t have been much different. Kicking Lim Seunghoon out was likely the best option. If only Dalli had finished Han Seungbeom off properly, things wouldn’t have gotten this messed up. If only that damn phone hadn’t ended up back in Lim Seunghoon’s hands!
Even though he had searched every nook and cranny, he never found that phone. So how could he have found it now? It didn’t seem like he was lying about losing it. After all, at first, when Lim Seunghoon couldn’t provehis connection to Dalli, he begged and pleaded with him to testify.
He had no family, no friends, and even the members of Prism who used to be on friendly terms with him had recently started distancing themselves. So, how on earth did that guy, who could barely leave his hospital room because of his leg injury, manage to get his phone back?
‘If I remember correctly, didn’t he say he lost it the day he returned from meeting Han Seungbeom?’
The day Lim Seunghoon lost his phone was the same day he had instructed Lim Seunghoon to try to win Han Seungbeom over. The moment that memory surfaced, he suddenly felt a cold, chilling sensation spreading through his chest.
“Director-nim, did you have any connection with Han Seungbeom?”
“Why?”
“I was wondering if you might have done something that would have caused Han Seungbeom to hold a grudge against you. Han Seungbeom claimed to be Seo Yutae’s collaborator, but I have a strong feeling that’s not the whole story.”
“What do you mean?”
“…I had this feeling that I couldn’t quite explain. He seemed to hate you, Director-nim, to an unusual degree. You know how it is. No matter how hard you try to hide it, you can’t hide that kind of hatred, especially when you hate someone so much you want them dead.”
…What if all of this is something that Han Seungbeom came up with?
Just as Kang Hyukwoo reached that conclusion, Jo Inchan’s phone vibrated.
Buzz, buzz.
Worried that Kang Hyukwoo might catch a glimpse of the name on the phone, Jo Inchan leaned back and checked the screen.
“…….”
He hesitated for a moment, then slowly brought the phone to his ear. When Jo Inchan didn’t say anything after answering the call, the other person asked, “Kang Hyukwoo is there with you right now, isn’t he?“, and after confirming there was no response, immediately gave an order.
“Come out.”
“I’ll take full responsibility, so come out right away.”
It was Seo Yutae’s voice.
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Translator’s Corner:
I’m supposed to go read Manager Kim, but hearing that my translation speed is slow made me strangely offended … anyway, I personally really like the next arc, but this situation would take like, another 6 chapters, sigh …. I miss my old speed too, why I have no time nowadays … a day should be 48 hours…..
I think it’s a crime Yutae in Seungbeom’s body, his original body would send Kang Hyukwoo flying just with one punch …. although tbh, now that I think about it, Inchan could do that too ?????
Anyway now that there’s only like, 10 people, updating this really feels like having a very small book club …. but I started to feel guilty because of the constant access request, someone even sent 20+ request already, not giving up since yesterday … when should I unlock it….
And congratulations for Vagabond-san for being the only one who remembers the easy method to ask me for access (actually, without asking too, I would give since everyone who ever left a comment got a pass, unless your request got buried by the others, but surprisingly a lot of names are just unfamiliar to me …. I guess it’s because a lot of people chose to be Anon …. it makes me miss the theorist anon)
As usual if there’s any typo, I’ll check it later and feel free to point it out (my eyesight got really bad lately)
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