| Episode 92. Internal Discord (2)
“So you and Jeong Seongbin had a knock-down, drag-out fight yesterday?”
Choi Jeho asked while gulping down cold milk. I told him to warm that milk before drinking it, but he really never listens for shit.
“I explained the situation in a mild and reasonable manner. Seongbin just got a little worked up.”
“You do have a way of pissing people off when you talk.”
“Jeho, are you introducing yourself right now?”
I said it with a refreshing smile, but Choi Jeho only snorted.
Unbelievable. After all the effort I’d put in to help him keep that mouth of his under control, he was throwing me under the bus like this.
“From what I heard, Park Juu doesn’t seem to be on your side either.”
At Choi Jeho’s words, the sparks even flew to Park Juu, who had been quietly eating bread in the corner.
Well, sure. If Park Juu hadn’t blown it from the start, Choi Jeho probably wouldn’t even have noticed that Jeong Seongbin was angry.
Still, with a thread of hope, I sent Park Juu a look asking if he really thought so too.
Then Park Juu avoided my gaze.
Even you’re betraying me?
How many jeon did I feed you during Chuseok? This world is full of traitors.
“No, seriously, was this really my fault?”
I sincerely voiced my grievance.
But the answer that came back was utterly heartless.
“Of course it was your fault.”
“Wow.”
How was putting in effort because I wanted to practice a bad thing?
The guy who used to nag me the most about being bad at dancing sure had a lot to say.
“Hyung, how’s your nose……?”
In the middle of that, Park Juu cautiously asked after my nose. His skill at handing me the illness and the medicine both was top-notch.
“It’s perfectly fine. It couldn’t be better.”
“Sure it is.”
“Choi Jeho, do you want to keep picking fights?”
When I snapped at him, Choi Jeho shrugged.
Leaving him aside, I turned my focus to Park Juu.
“Juu, as his best friend, what do you think? Does Seongbin seem really mad?”
“I’m not sure how to put this…….”
“Put it in percentages.”
“About…… 97%.”
So he’d reached the critical point. This was bad.
As I pressed a hand to my forehead, Choi Jeho asked,
“Are you scared of Jeong Seongbin?”
“A subordinate’s happiness index fluctuates depending on the mood of his superior. If the leader of the organization is upset because of me, how could I not be concerned?”
“Just leave him alone. Once he’s done sorting out his thoughts, he’ll calm down and come back.”
“Sorry, but is that from experience?”
“Yeah.”
Good for you, you little X.
To think I’d fallen to the same level as Choi Jeho. I felt a little sorry toward Jeong Seongbin.
I swallowed a sigh and said,
“No choice, then. I’ll have to apologize to Seongbin.”
“Apologize? Are you sure you won’t just be pouring oil on the fire?”
“No. I just have to explain the measures I’ll take to prevent it from happening again.”
“So you’re saying you’ll pour oil on the fire.”
I wanted to impose a gag order on Choi Jeho, who kept ruining everything I said, but I held back. This country had freedom of speech, after all.
“Then what am I supposed to do? Do you want to look at Seongbin’s heavy expression all throughout practice today?”
“I don’t care. It’s not because of me.”
Choi Jeho raised one eyebrow and looked at me as he said it.
So as long as he wasn’t the one getting scolded, he didn’t care. Seeing that carefree face of his made a deep anger surge up from my solar plexus.
“……I don’t want to see it, but I don’t think that prevention measure…… whatever you mentioned, will make Seongbin feel better.”
Park Juu spoke carefully. I was heartbroken. There wasn’t a single person in this world on my side.
When I fell into self-pity, Park Juu glanced around, reading the room, then added,
“But if you want to do it, hyung, then go ahead……!”
Forget it, man…….
* * *
As I expected, Jeong Seongbin returned carrying his anger intact all the way from the route home.
Kang Giyeon, who had come back from school with him, shook his head behind Jeong Seongbin’s back.
So as soon as Jeong Seongbin arrived, I got down on my knees and offered an apology full of sincerity.
The gist of it was that I acknowledged my negligence in failing to properly manage my health, that I was sorry for startling my teammate, and that I would make sure this never happened again.
‘……That isn’t something you can guarantee, hyung.’
‘I’ll ask my ancestral spirits to attach a guardian ghost to me for health-check measurements.’
I also extend my apologies to my ancestral spirits, who were now only being used by me. Please do not forgive your irreverent descendant.
Still, I was somewhat sincere about making sure it never happened again. Even without a guardian ghost for health-check measurements, I had a fatigue index that could be measured down to the percentage.
Perhaps sensing that I had something to rely on, Jeong Seongbin’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Taking advantage of that opening, I grabbed hold of his concern and sympathy toward a sick member, as well as the guilt that must have grown overnight because he had gotten angry at someone older than him, and shook them for all they were worth.
In other words, I just kept kneeling and begging.
His face turned pale as he accepted my apology. He must have been moved by my sincerity.
The highlight was when Jeong Seongbin sighed in a voice that was about 80% air and said, “Hyung, you’re really…….”
In any case, thanks to Jeong Seongbin’s broad generosity in accepting my apology, our afternoon practice went very smoothly.
Until Yu Hansu called, that is.
There was a missed call on the phone I’d gotten back from the manager, so I called him back. The moment he picked up, he screamed.
— You XX XX, you ignored my call?
Such vulgar profanity. Such rude phone etiquette.
And the anger that came through, transcending the limits of space itself. He really reminded me of someone.
“I’m sorry, Producer.”
I answered politely. The Spark guys, who had been scattered here and there, shot up from their seats.
I gestured to them in order, first telling them to sit and then to be quiet.
Then Lee Cheonghyeon mouthed from one side,
‘Put it on speakerphone!’
That was a bit much.
No matter how worn down my conscience was, I at least knew I shouldn’t let the kids hear this kind of conversation between bad adults.
All the while, Yu Hansu’s medley of curses continued.
“It wasn’t that I deliberately didn’t answer. It’s just that we’re required to turn in all our phones.”
— So what the XX am I supposed to do? Am I in a position where I have to check your circumstances before calling you? Huh?
“Absolutely not. I’m sorry, Producer.”
— Sorry? You XX, if you’re sorry, how could you screw me over like this?
And Yu Hansu was already in a state where words wouldn’t get through to him.
At least in my previous life, I’d never met this level of fossil before meeting Department Head Nam. This life was progressing way too fast.
Just as I was about to put in a drop of artificial tears for my pitiful circumstances, my eyes met Jeong Seongbin’s.
Jeong Seongbin’s eyes seemed to be asking whether I had forgotten the promise I’d made before.
‘Fine, I get it.’
I braced a hand on my knee and quietly stood.
Then, after giving Yu Hansu halfhearted interjections and apologizing, I silently mouthed to the guys,
‘I’ll go record this.’
The guys, understanding what I meant, let me go without a fuss.
And so, in the emergency stairwell, I pressed the record button and spent a long while appreciating whatever Yu Hansu had to say.
I didn’t forget to wait until Yu Hansu yelled at me asking if I was listening properly, then answer in an utterly cowed voice that I was very sorry and that I was listening well.
Sensing that this conversation would drag on, I leaned my back against the stairwell wall.
And instincts like that were never wrong.
Yu Hansu only got to the main point twenty minutes later.
— You XX, you messed with An Yuri’s side too, didn’t you?
An Yuri was Newri’s real name. I had expected it, but he seemed to be considerably furious over that.
“Producer, I…….”
— Why? You want to make excuses? You XXX, after causing all this trouble, you still have something to say? Huh?
“…….”
— Who the hell are you to cross the line? Just because the company praised you a few times, you think you’ve become someone important? Have you never heard the phrase ‘a frog in a well’ in your life?
This was unfair. They were the ones who had very cautiously asked for my opinion first. And if they weren’t going to listen to me, why had they called?
He really was a man with no growth whatsoever. I thought he’d be better off using this time to find a way to save himself.
— You’re not scared of anything, are you? But what are you going to do? Your reputation in the industry is already XX bad. If you get caught on just one thing, you’re going straight down the drain.
“I’m sorry, Producer.”
Of course, I wasn’t sorry at all.
An idol who blew the whistle would certainly be a headache, but wouldn’t the reputation of an employee who tried to embezzle be even worse? I wished he would finally realize how incredible he was.
— You messed with the wrong person. You think I don’t have a single active artist I’m close to? Watch yourself. Jang Junhu goes around talking XX about you too.
Jang Junhu, huh.
I thought Yu Hansu had only filmed Jang Junhu’s music video, but it seemed the two got along pretty well. Well enough to bond in private by talking behind my back.
Or maybe Yu Hansu was bluffing at me on his own.
Either way, it didn’t matter. Whether it was Yu Hansu or Jang Junhu, neither was a real threat.
“Jang Junhu…… sunbae?”
— Yeah. Apparently you’re famous for having no manners. Jang Junhu really has it in for you.
Still, if possible, it would be better if the two of them were actually close. If things came to it, I could tie them together and send them off at once. ‘Producer and senior singer join hands to abuse their power against one group.’ Excellent title.
While fiddling with my fingernail with one hand, I spoke in a thoroughly flustered voice.
“That can’t be. I’ve only greeted sunbae a few times.”
— I heard you threatened Jang Junhu. Insubordination, you punk, is a serious crime. You know that?
No matter how serious a crime insubordination was, could it be worse than abuse of power? That logic only worked in the military.
Perhaps thinking that I was truly flustered after Jang Junhu’s name was mentioned, Yu Hansu didn’t stop talking.
— From what I heard, you were the one making a fuss over something that was nothing. You, just because Jang Junhu threw a water bottle or two, you snatched his phone and checked it, saying he was some senior abusing his authority or whatever?
“Producer, that was—”
— If that much is abuse of authority, then what, I must be abusing my authority over you in some unbelievable way, huh? Did Jang Junhu throw the water bottle at someone’s body? Did he break your phone? Ah, I broke your MP3, so I guess you’ll report me for abusing my authority too?
Of course I will. I can hand this over as evidence, hey. As if the embezzlement suspicions weren’t enough, it was astonishing how he was adding charges against himself all on his own.
I covered my mouth and desperately held back my laughter.
In this X-like world, for things to go this smoothly—maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket today.
And then, as usual, the curses continued.
I had recorded enough, so I was about to start bowing my head, babble out apologies, and hang up when I heard a clatter from below the stairs.
It would be inconvenient if someone caught me here.
If someone from the company got involved, it would be possible to shut Yu Hansu up right away, but if played right, I could send both Jang Junhu and Yu Hansu off as an abuse-of-power duo. Such a mild punishment wouldn’t satisfy me.
So, in as loud a voice as possible, I greeted the figure whose identity I hadn’t even confirmed yet.
“Hello!”
At that, Yu Hansu’s curses stopped. Soon after, along with the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs, one of the agency’s staff members came up.
“What are you doing here?”
“Ah, I was just taking a call for a moment…….”
At the same time, the call ended and my phone screen lit up brightly. When I tilted the phone slightly so the screen entered the staff member’s field of vision, the name I had politely saved as ‘Producer Yu Hansu’ appeared clearly.
“Producer Yu is still calling you?”
The staff member was horrified. I desperately waved my hands and said,
“No, it’s really been a long time since I talked to him too!”
It was true that it had been a long time.
More importantly, I wanted to hurry back to the practice room and check whether the recording had come out well.
Even so, the staff member didn’t immediately leave.
“Producer Yu didn’t say anything to you again, did he?”
“No, really……!”
At that moment, with terrible timing, my nose started itching.
Worried that the inside of my nose, which had burst not long ago, might burst again, I quickly lowered my head.
Pretending to sniffle, I discreetly brought a hand under my nose, but fortunately, it was dry.
Just as I was about to lift my head in relief, the staff member exclaimed in great alarm,
“Are you crying?!”
What? Me?
No, wait.
Could it…… look like I was crying?
If I, after being caught talking on the phone with the superior who had been harassing me, suddenly lowered my head and sniffled…….
It was understandable to misunderstand. I didn’t think I had that delicate an image, but the situation was bad.
I put on the brightest smile I could and actively explained that it wasn’t like that.
However, because the staff member interpreted my attitude as that of “a commendable trainee whose tears were welling up, but who was trying hard to compose himself and act cheerful,” it wasn’t easy.
In the end, I had to postpone checking the recording until night and escort the staff member on their way.