It was important from here.
'He rushed in.'
I took my smartphone out of my pocket and placed it in plain sight on the desk.
And just like this bastard did to me last time, I played the recording.
-Are you aiming for the grand prize?
-All singers are like that.
It was a recording with a much clearer sound quality than what Chae Seodam recorded.
It was recorded by me.
"You're not the only one who can record."
I stopped playing it and laughed.
"Did you think I would ask you not to reveal it while dragging my feet because I spoke informally to my sunbaenim?"
"… …"
"It's enough to go out on a variety show right away and solve it as evidence of close friendship with that sunbaenim."
Chae Seodam seemed to be trying to understand what the hell was going on.
It didn't help much in the situation, but he reflexively looked for words to refute because he wanted to deny reality.
'Should I wait for him?'
After a few more seconds, he hurriedly opened his mouth.
"Your new song! He said it was all planned…"
Oh, that.
"Well. I didn't want to talk too long, so I just skipped it… Isn't it all up to the circumstances?"
I operated my smartphone again without a long word.
I went to my contacts list and made a call.
[VTIC Shin Cheongryeo sunbaenim]
Tiriring, the melody of the acoustic version of VTIC's new song rang for a while… and then it stopped.
Click.
-Hello, hoobaenim.
"Hello, sunbaenim. Speaking of what we talked about in the waiting room last time, would it be okay if we gave it as a sauce for entertainment shows?"
It was a bit annoying to hear laughter over the phone, but Cheongryeo answered as planned anyway.
-Sure. It was me who told you to speak informally anyway.
"Thank you."
-Yes.
I hung up.
"That's what he said."
"…"
Now, both of his joys and sorrows as weaknesses had been blown away.
The idiot in front of me had somehow calmed down from the momentum that made him grin and rush at me.
'Even his upturned eyes didn't last long.'
The desire to see oneself as a really strong guy.
I knew it was time to take the pressure up a notch.
So the conversation quickly changed.
"So this seems to have answered your question… Next is the school violence report that I originally wanted to talk about."
Now that I had covered my weakness, it was time to talk about his.
I spoke casually.
"Isn't it neat to just have the victim be the reporter?"
"… !!"
"Anyway, doing this officially would be a good message socially, and since there is enough evidence, I think everyone will believe it."
Evidence.
I bet that the recording Seon Ahyeon talked about with him was now floating in this bastard's head.
I finished talking.
"I thought it would be perfect if I added the situation that you were still trying to catch someone else's weakness while recording it. I'm going to proceed right away. The end."
I picked up my smartphone and tidied up my seat. It was a gesture that showed how I was done.
"… That!"
Chae Seodam woke up in surprise as if he had been bombed.
"Now, wait. This… Why, why this?"
Yeah, why would I ask a guy like him to talk about this over and over again? Thank you.
I answered with a faint smile.
"Give up."
"… …"
"Since we've already solved everything, I thought that I should at least notify the person concerned. Now all we have to do is wait."
It was a notice.
"… …"
Chae Seodam froze in place.
It was a normal reaction. At this point, the average person would be overwhelmed.
The opponent had no intention of negotiating, his preparations had been destroyed, and he even warned that he would now fatally attack his weakness.
Right now, he felt l like he had been cornered with no way out.
Regret and distrust.
And this ego-bloated bastard produced unusual results in his head.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
He was putting the fault onto others.
"I haven't done anything wrong to you! Is this because I had a bad relationship with Seon Ahyeon when we were in school… does that even make sense? Why are you doing this?"
Chae Seodam started to speak gibberish.
"You can't just trust Seon Ahyeon's words and make people like this! Like this, you're trying to bury them unfairly…"
"Is that so?"
I spoke nonchalantly.
"If what you did to Seon Ahyeon was something anyone would have done in that environment, then how is being treated the same way by someone else cowardly and unfair?"
"…"
"When you did that to Seon Ahyeon, you knew how to harm the other person. It's the same when you recorded me."
Chae Seodam's face was slapped.
Bastards like this had to suffer in order to reflect.
"If it were me, I wouldn't be able to say that even if I was embarrassed. Wouldn't it be better to accept the outcome?"
Of course, I said it knowing that he was not the one to surrender.
"No, Seon Ahyeon too! When a story like this comes out, it'll hurt him…"
Yeah, if he was a person who would reflect on things like this, we wouldn't have come this far.
I shrugged.
"Do I have to think about that when I've already told you that I'll do it anyway? Who cares?"
"… !!"
"It's not like I'll be ruined."
Chae Seodam closed his mouth.
At this point, he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it.
'This bastard is really a crazy asshole.'
'This guy is going to try to piss me off by releasing everything, whether it's a group hit or not.'
… That would come desperately.
In addition, as for the level of self-destruction, he was probably creating hell by using his own imagination.
He was probably thinking, 'That bastard is preparing for my social death!'
Hmm.
Of course, it was bullshit
I wasn't an idiot, and of course, I didn't intend to bring this up to the surface.
'It's just a threat.'
"You are responsible for your work. Are you not? There's evidence."
"N-no…"
The same went for this.
We realized that Seon Ahyeon had recorded the situation while discussing it among ourselves. However, it was difficult to identify Chae Seodam because of the sound quality of the file.
The only thing left was the counseling record that Seon Ahyeon first mentioned, but this was highly likely to start a dogfight as all kinds of public opinion would cling onto it.
Well, leaving all of that aside, we had no intention of adding another element of our private lives to this group, which had already been eventful.
But Chae Seodam didn't know that.
"… …"
He was completely caught up in this massive bluff and sank.
And he seemed to have lost his will to fight and fell into a state of panic to the extent that he couldn't even think of crying or getting angry.
'I want to leave it like this for a week, but…'
Then again, a variable may come out, so I had to give him false hope to hang on to.
I touched my smartphone once under the table.
It was time for the last helper to appear.
A few seconds later…
- Knock knock!
At the same time as the sudden knock, the door bursted open.
"Hy-hyung."
Gold 2.
His expression was somewhere between urgent and tense.
"… Kwon Heeseung."
Even in the middle of being fed up, Chae Seodam turned his head and looked at him, as if he was writing all the different scenarios.
But the moment Gold 2's next words came out, the atmosphere changed.
"I came to hear the story about the meeting… Moondae-hyung, can you please bear with it until the official announcement?"
"… … Hmm."
I intentionally didn't answer. To act as if I was a little conflicted.
"… !"
Then, a flash of light returned to Chae Seodam's eyes.
It was hope.
"Seodam hyung must be reflecting a lot too. Isn't that right, hyung?"
Chae Seodam nodded as if he were sincere. And he hurriedly opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry."
He realized it was the right time to do something.
"Yes."
"The recording… That's what I was trying to use. I was wrong. There was a misunderstanding…"
After a moderate pause, I answered.
"I don't think you would have apologized if things weren't like this. Anyway, I see."
"Since it's the current situation, Seodam-hyung understood it right?? Hyung, tell him what you understand."
I could see Chae Seodam rolling his head at Gold 2's words.
In the end, he almost followed what I said earlier.
"… It's not okay to try to be nice to the point of causing great harm to others… That's a misguided effort, yes."
'Good.'
Eventually, these words came out.
I didn't know if the guy who lived by violating that obvious proposition was sincere, but what he said in the shocking situation was important.
After some time, if he wanted to rationalize his actions as positive, he would have to affirm that recognition as well.
And the moment the silence flowed, Gold 2 stirred up the situation again.
"Think about it, Moondae hyung! If Seodam hyung resigns so badly… Things may be bigger than we think… Then this year's schedule may be difficult…"
"… …"
I looked at Gold 2 in silence. Gold 2 looked at me with a face that looked like it would shed a cold sweat and swallowed.
Gulp.
I shrugged my shoulders at the end.
"Well… If the company is damaged, there will be a lot of work."
"… … !"
As if holding back a sigh, I glanced at Chae Seodam and then nodded.
"Only this time."
• * *
After that it was simple.
Relieved, Chae Seodam signed a contract in an instant and left the team voluntarily, fueled by the encouragement of Gold 2.
'The nuance of the contract was also important.'
Instead of Chae Seodam keeping the conversation we had just had as a secret, we made sure to keep Chae Seodam's weaknesses silent.
Instead of burying Chae Seodam's attempts to spread rumors and the story of school violence, it was a contract that he would leave quietly and not harm the team.
And articles and announcements quickly surfaced.
[
Anyway, because of various incidents, he was hated by the debut group fandom, and the reason was 'health problems', so this incident passed without any major problems or disturbances.
And at the end of the conversation, Gold 2, who came in and drank all the honey, was a smiling himself.
Obviously, this was the guy Keun Sejin swindled with the role of giving carrots to Chae Seodam while making the plan.
-Okay, Moondae will just hold the stick~ Let's just give Heeseung a bite of carrot at the end!
I couldn't deny it. It was a good line.
"You're good at acting."
"Me? You were completely sincere."
On that day, as soon as Chae Seodam left the room, Gold 2 took a long, deep breath with an expression of relief.
"Hoo… No, how could that hyung make his debut again this time… Oh, I don't know! Anyway, I feel relieved that we quietly sent him away before debuting, really!"
I would also be upset if a guy like a ticking time bomb was in the same group, so I understood his feelings. I just laughed.
"Thank you again, hyung!"
"It's no problem."
"Ah, hyung, it is really great to see you again! I will be really good to you anytime!"
Gold 2 started sending hello messages more often after that.
And after a while, another type of text message came in through the manager of the new debut group of
The caller was Chae Seodam.
It was a long message, but interestingly, it was Seon Ahyeon was requested as the recipient.
[I thought everything was a part of the competition and I was competitive, so I'm sorry that I hurt you more than I thought or intended. I really realized it this time. There might be something wrong with my ways… …]
To sum up these phrases, he said that he seemed to have been too much for Seon Ahyeon during his school days.
Of course, half of it was close to self-excuses.
"… 'More than intended'? Is this what he calls an apology? He still can't come to his senses… !"
"I-it's okay… !"
Bae Sejin, who was angry by proxy, was stopped by Seon Ahyeon.
"I didn't expect to receive an apology… I thought I didn't need one, but… I guess I wanted to get one too."
"Ahyeon-ah… ."
"Th-thank you."
Seon Ahyeon nodded to the surroundings and met my eyes.
"And thank you, Moondae… I-I tried to help, but it seems like I'm the one getting help every time."
"… ?"
What was he talking about after he laid the groundwork out well?
Of course, if I answered like this, there would be endless discussions, so I just answered briefly.
"It was a collaboration. I am also grateful."
"Yes… !"
Seon Ahyeon smiled brightly, and coolly took down the text from Chae Seodam.
"Oh, oh!"
The members applauded as if it was some kind of ceremony. Seon Ahyeon seemed a bit shy.
"Hmm."
I thought to myself as I watched the apology-like thing disappear.
'It looks like that bastard is going to forget about that again anyway.'
However, it was a plan that had been designed with that in mind.
'I'm sure he'll keep his mouth shut because he's the type of person who hates being disadvantaged.'
And the next time he tried something like this again against an opponent with an overwhelming difference, he'd use his brain instead of being driven with revenge.
'We coped well with that situation and got out.'
It was like this.
Therefore, this guy would never think of gnawing at related issues again. Seon Ahyeon would forget this guy.
'We'll never see him again.'
That was because he had been cleaned out of the industry.
"… Hmm."
After thinking about it for a while, I put in a text that night.
[It ended well. Thank you]
Well, it was a plain fact that he helped with this, so it was worth saying this much.
Ding!
Soon after, a picture of a familiar dog with its front paws arrived.
A greeting.
"… Hmm."
I touched my chin.
Surprisingly, he wasn't trying to provoke me. This bastard was slowly coming to his senses…
[VTIC Shin Cheongryeo Sunbaenim: Really? Then I'd like to get a song in return.]
"… …"
Was he crazy?
[VTIC Shin Cheongryeo Sunbaenim: I was kidding ^^]
I turned the text off without replying.
After sending Chae Seodam away with that, the impact was all sorted out.
And the very next day, at the meeting, it was revealed that if Chae Seodam had not been sent away at this time, we would have almost worked together.
"There was a more specific schedule for the company's concert agenda… ."
It was because the story of the symbol of a successful agency, the schedule of a group concert of artists under the same agency, came out.