Cha Eugene was used to conversing in a language other than his mother tongue.
However, that did not guarantee a completely rich expressive power. There was always some misunderstanding.
So, the words Cha Eugene chose were always straightforward.
"They only ask about bad things."
"The documentary crew?"
"That's right!"
Cha Eugene nodded and put the ice cream in his mouth.
And began to grumble in fast English.
[What traces the car accident left, how hard it was to prepare for the concert, and whether there were any injuries or safety issues! And they asked if I have ever felt skeptical about this work? What kind of guard did they think they were interviewing?]
Park Moondae responded by wagging his fingers.
"So, they kept asking you if you were unhappy."
"Yes!"
He understood what he was saying. So, it was great to talk to this person!
"Why should I reply to them? [We don't even have enough time to show our cool and best sides. And I'm happy!]"
He wanted to give delight, not to show pain or negative energy.
Cha Eugene had a philosophy about his job. He had no intention of living like some celebrities who sold their personal lives for fame.
So he crossed his arms.
Coincidentally, it was the same posture as the person opposite him.
"So, I'm not apologizing."
It was a statement of conversion, but the pink hair on the other side smiled.
"… You must have been very sad about what Lee Sejin said, right?"
He was right on track.
[Of course!]
"Lee Sejin said it for you. If the only thing that comes out of this is that you hit the camera, it will always be your loss. People will misunderstand."
"It's okay. I don't care."
"Then, you should care about the team. Because we care."
"… …"
Park Moondae used an ambiguous expression to mean both the damage to the team and the concern for Cha Eugene.
However, Cha Eugene only understood the latter and nodded obediently.
'He's worried about me.'
It was a net function of linguistic misunderstanding.
"And the crew… They must have wanted to show that we can handle the unfortunate and difficult things. We're popular, and we have already shown a lot of cool things."
Park Moondae slowly changed the path of his words.
"Everyone has pain, and seeing it in person makes us feel more human. It looks genuine."
Cha Eugene respected this clever team member and listened to everything he said.
And Park Moondae slowly respected Cha Eugene.
"But they can't force us to show pain."
That was the correct answer
"Yes."
Cha Eugene growled.
[And they are all fucking liars.]
"Liars?"
[I said it very clearly in the first interview. I didn't want them to ask me about injuries, pain, or personal history. I told them to talk to our company about that!]
"… ! Hmm."
[They nodded and said they would be careful. But hyung saw it too, right??]
"Yes, I did."
Throughout the concert, they tried to record videos of Cha Eugene in pain. He recalled the camera trying to confirm his 'uncomfortable' feelings.
And even endless stories about accidents!
-Don't do that.
- Oh, sorry. I'll be careful.
The answer was mild.
They kept trying to ask similar questions whenever there was a gap.
That was no longer respectable.
"It was so many times! Over ten times!"
"… …"
Moreover, crucially, once he got very angry, they tried to change the topic.
-Eugene-ssi is very quick to find his composure… Maybe in a previous accident-
They were clearly intending to ask about Park Moondae when he was in a coma!
'Without understanding what it was like when he was unconscious?'
How dare they ask such a thing!
"They were being so rude. They made a mistake. I stopped it."
Cha Eugene used Korean again to make a stronger argument.
And Park Moondae seemed to be lost in thought.
"… …"
But it didn't take long before the answer came.
It was the answer he had been waiting for.
"You're right."
"… !"
Yes!
"Okay. I understand."
Park Moondae made it simple and clear.
"Let's go and get an apology. They are wrong."
"Great!"
Cha Eugene bumped his fists and raised his hand to shake hands. Park Moondae thought, 'Do I have to?', but he reacted without showing it.
'This is the joy of the team!'
Cha Eugene shook hands with him and smiled coolly.
Of course, there was work to be done ahead of time.
"I'm done eating this."
"Okay. Eat a lot."
Cha Eugene spent the morning relaxing with Park Moondae on the beach.
It was a pretty pleasant break.
• * *
"Let's buy pizza! The pizza here is delicious!"
"Okay."
While the sun was rising in the middle of the sky, Cha Eugene fully recovered. And on the way back to the hotel, we were buying pizza.
'It's done.'
I was going to listen to him for a while today. I wasn't a guy who needed to lose weight, so pizza was fine.
[It's $89.]
[Here you go.]
I paid for the pizza and organized the situation in my head.
As expected, when Cha Eugene, who was at the nearby beach, was fed something sweet, the situation immediately popped out.
'Cha Eugene must have been pissed off.'
Listening to the story, it was more than what they did to me.
It seemed that the documentary crew filmed Cha Eugene and provoked him more gently.
I immediately guessed why.
'It must have been because Cha Eugene felt the least refined.'
Since he looked the most unaffected and candid among us, it would have been better to pull out something natural.
And first of all, he was 'invited' to select a picture that could be used for a documentary.
'Terrible…'
When I was in college, I remember what I heard from the lecturer in a liberal arts lecture on photography.
'Did they say that it was better to negotiate after taking a portrait than asking for permission before taking a picture?'
It meant that all photo opportunities disappeared when permission was granted. I remembered that it was because of the controversy in the school community.
Anyway, if that was the prevailing sentiment in some parts of the industry, then TeStar's documentary must have had bad luck with the crew.
We didn't know the extent of it.
'We need to give them a warning.'
Coincidentally, Cha Eugene was happily walking with a pizza and asked me a question.
"Hyung! I have a question. How should we talk to them?"
"We don't need to talk."
I spoke leisurely.
"The company will take care of it. Just accept the apology."
There are a lot of circumstances that could reverse this composition among the things we were going to talk about.
"You should go upstairs and eat. I'll make a call."
"Got it!"
As soon as I returned to the hotel, I contacted the company.
Since the recent deal, the management side had also been completely changed and had become a bit quicker, so there was no need to worry about our image and taking care of it ourselves.
"Hello… yes. I found Eugene under the circumstances conveyed."
-Yes, yes! We heard about the whereabouts of Moondae-ssi and Eugene-ssi.
"Yes. Then, there is a story I heard from Eugene… I will tell you about it now."
I put together Cha Eugene's words I heard on the beach and saved a proposition.
"… The production team shouldn't do this, right?"
-Oh~
The manager's voice changed slightly.
-I see what you mean.
It was a tone that gave off a strange sense of confidence. It meant that he understood.
'Looks like we've got some help now.'
Until now, I thought that Ryu Chungwoo should also receive a salary, but this was also a welcome thing.
I finished the call and went up to the hotel room.
And the moment I visited Cha Eugene's room to check his condition and get pizza…
"Moondae hyung!"
"Welcome, Moondae~"
People with pizza here and there waved their hands.
Apparently, they were waiting in the room just in time for Cha Eugene's return.
"Hyung, come here!"
Cha Eugene sat in the middle with a sad face. The atmosphere gave off the feeling that everything had already been talked about and resolved. With Seon Ahyeon as the interpreter, it must have been possible.
"I-I've put it here separately… !"
"Oh, thank you."
I sat down among the waving guys.
"Was the story okay?"
"Of course~ Oh, did Eugene feel sad that hyung made you apologize without asking what was going on?"
"Yes!!"
"I did it because I was afraid that if you didn't apologize, there would be a big problem. Of course, I'm on Eugene's side!"
"It's okay! I didn't even discuss it either. I am very sorry."
"Yes, yes, let's do better!"
Like quick-footed guys, they were quick to reconcile. Bae Sejin seemed to be agonizing over it while thinking, 'Is this something that can be said so quickly?' but soon gave up and ate pizza.
And Kim Raebin was still serious alone.
"Cha Eugene, from now on, be sure to leave after contacting us first. Even if we have a day off, we are on an official schedule, so be careful."
"Yes, okay!"
"…! Uh, uh."
Kim Raebin was embarrassed for a moment, but soon became proud. They were playing well.
However, Ryu Chungwoo seemed to be thinking about something carefully while watching this scene.
'Hmm.'
Seeing that his expression was comfortable, it wasn't a big deal.
And the real special events would be pouring into the production crew in a while.
'I'm looking forward to it.'
Eating pizza, I expected the scene.
And in the evening…
Before the group interview of the members, I heard the conversation between the company and the production team in the next room.
"We've confirmed that it's a complete breach of contract."
"No, that is a misunderstanding."
"It's too obvious a violation to be called a misunderstanding. It was all talked about when we first talked about it."
"Hoo, if you go in that tight with filming…"
"No. I heard that the artist had already told me several times to talk to the company. They said everything was recorded, so I'll check it out."
"… !"
Okay. This part was the problem.
Cha Eugene had already brought up the 'company' story. Multiple times too.
The person in charge refused to comment on certain matters and asked to talk to the 'company', but they ignored it and continued to cling?
It was a breach of contract. Because this clause was in the contract.
[If there is a request from A during filming related to A's sensitive personal information, B will agree to a new timeliness of the information.]
There was also a compensation clause in case of violation of the clause.
Since T1 was behind this agency, as a studio production team, not a broadcasting company, if the company took a hard approach, they would have no choice but to do it.
The guy who had been eavesdropping on the noise in the room with me tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey, Moondae is smart."
"What."
I shrugged.
Now, using this as an excuse, we could get rid of the data by making a scare that the documentary contract may be destroyed.
"Yes. Please do so."
And it seemed that the deal worked well.
In the end, before filming, the production team even apologized to Cha Eugene, which was closer to an excuse.
"I'm really sorry if you were offended."
'They didn't mean to do malicious editing, it was just a desire to create more sincere and better content.'
"… Okay~ But since it's our content, please listen to our opinions."
Cha Eugene passed on coolly and the work did not get bigger, but the production crew became more cautious.
It was a benefit to all members.
'This is enough.'
I restrained Cha Eugene from raising his thumb in my direction.
The rest of the documentary filming was conducted with a little more focus on TeStar's expertise.
And the night after the interview…
TeStar left their respective solo rooms and gathered in a huge hotel room.
"Very spacious!"
"Oh, the facility is nice. Is it Chungwoo hyung's?"
"Mhm, only for today."
Ryu Chungwoo, the man who pushed for this, answered as he closed the door.
"I think the company will take care of the expenses in the future."
"From now on…"
From now on?
"Yes. I was thinking about us spending one day a week with each other while on tour, what do you all think?"
Ryu Chungwoo had a rather serious face.
"I thought about it, because on this tour so far, since we were alone and there were almost no schedules, we rarely talked to each other."
"That… Yes."
Those who had been living alone for the past few weeks looked blankly at Ryu Chungwoo.
"I think that's why Eugene's work this time has become more complicated. We didn't have time to know each other's thoughts."
Ryu Chungwoo ended his speech with a smile.
"I wish we had time to talk and take care of each other's condition. That is my opinion."
I felt the sincerity. And in an instant, the inspired guys came out.
"Hyung…"
"Hey, it's so touching!"
"I-I like it…!"
"That's not bad… it's just a day."
Even Bae Sejin agreed. Even the guy who cheered for a single room was like this, so in the end, it was no different than a unanimous vote.
"What about Moondae?"
"… It's good."
It was a good decision. It could prevent unexpected actions.
I nodded calmly, but suddenly realized the reality.
'Wait, I said nice, but… After all, isn't it like a workshop once a week?
In the end, we'd gather together and check if there was any nonsense, and talk about albums, activities, and concerts.
No. It had already spread on the floor.
"Our teamwork is absolutely the best. I'm moved."
"It would be nice to bring a beam projector for the next meeting."
"Shall we order room service?? Do you want to play cards while eating?"
"… …"
Yes, we had come a long way from just being co-workers. There was no such thing as work.
'It looks like a club room.'
I admitted while lying down on the sofa. Now, it wasn't like a workshop because I wasn't uncomfortable with these guys.
'… No, it's more than that.'
I wouldn't deny it. Even though I was stuck between so many people… It was very comfortable.
I relaxed and thought to myself.
'I'll just have to pay attention to the tour for a while.'
… However, I was overlooking one thing.
Cha Eugene's sensitive filming was omitted due to strong company action, but my filming was left as it was without any protest.
The 'perfectionist Idol who does his best while overcoming the aftereffects from the car accident' is… It was just around the corner.