Youngbin had been worrying more than usual lately.
It was inevitable.
Once he accepted the Director position, there would be no backing out.
Refusing outright would already be awkward, but accepting and then backing out would be tantamount to declaring war against Raywill Games.
So, he only had two options: accept, or not accept.
Director of a major corporation's game division.
A position that could be a lifelong goal for some.
However, Youngbin's hesitation wasn't for any other reason.
Simply because he couldn't let go of his childhood dream.
The petty desire to start his own company and make games again with colleagues.
Of course, he had already given up on that thought.
Being a game director is the right fit.
What adventure? With two daughters and a wife, it already felt too late to cling to the past.
Yes, that's what he thought.
'Both Seoyeon and that girl.'
He never dreamed the two would face off in the King of Singers match.
He was honestly surprised when Seoyeon sang her song too, but he thought that could happen.
Opening.
Obviously, it wasn't a proper title.
It was just a song inserted into the game with the name "Opening" because it was hastily completed.
But there was no title that fit better.
To think she would sing that song of all places, at the King of Singers match.
When nobody would know the song.
"Hah, you'll regret it. Dumping me."
It had been over 20 years, but some scenes still vividly came to mind.
The girl who was always confident and arrogant, speaking while drenched in tears.
"Even if you don't say it, I'll live well. I'll live so well it'll make you regret it. This isn't the end, you know?"
Words that revealed her strong pride.
"Just wait and see, you fool!!!"
The sight of her screaming at the top of her lungs and running away as Youngbin left for Seoul.
He didn't know what happened after that, but he heard she later came up to Seoul.
When she showed her successful self on TV not even a few years later, he just thought she was doing well.
'So this is what she meant by making me regret it.'
He chuckled and stepped out of the company elevator.
Passing through the transparent glass walls, he entered the now-familiar planning office.
"……."
"……?"
It felt oddly quiet.
The moment he walked in, everyone's heads turned in unison.
Youngbin, who was about to lightly raise his hand and greet them with 'Oh, everyone's here early,' slowly lowered his hand at this bizarre atmosphere.
"W-what is it? Why is everyone gathered?"
As he stuttered in confusion, the huddled people slightly parted.
Then, a monitor that was turned on, and several articles that had come up.
It was footage and content from yesterday's broadcast of
'Ah.'
He realized too late.
Youngbin hadn't actually watched the broadcast.
He had something on his mind at that time.
He thinks he fell asleep a bit early.
Come to think of it, during the King of Singers match, he was so focused on Yeohee that he forgot, but he felt like Seoyeon had definitely said something.
'……What exactly did our daughter say.'
Even when he asked Sua, she wouldn't tell him.
He wondered why.
'Daughter, did Daddy make some huge mistake?'
The articles went like this:
['Ash Crow.' Her identity is Yeohee?]
[Netizens uncover the backstory. Popular singer Yeohee's surprising past!!]
[The song Yeohee sang is a nostalgic song from her school days]
Up to that point, well, that could happen.
There were already many clues.
Yeohee's song, and what Sua said in
Through those, it wasn't difficult to deduce that 'Ash Crow' was Yeohee.
If you trace Sua's past, the game club would come up.
And there were only four members in that club, so finding Yeohee among them wasn't difficult.
The problem was the full text of that surprising past they uncovered.
It was incredibly detailed, even with a timeline neatly organized.
He wondered how they knew all this, but then thought it could happen for a singer of Yeohee's caliber.
A star's past usually remains like a scar for life.
"……Team Leader."
"No, wait a moment. Is what's coming up on the internet really true? This could be a huge misunderstanding."
Youngbin reached out his hand to stop the others who seemed to be in a bad mood.
"Think about it, it's all just speculation. It's true they were high school classmates, but……."
The moment he said that much.
One employee held up a phone and played a video.
It was Yeohee being interviewed today with a face of someone who had given up.
A face that said 'let whatever happens, happen.'
"Ah, yes, it's a song from that high school time, and I was in a game club back then……."
At first, it seemed like she would just casually talk about the past and end it.
But the flustered Yeohee couldn't speak properly.
She ended up spilling everything to the reporter who had investigated much more thoroughly than expected.
'Is this what she meant by making me regret it?'
Revenge after more than 20 years?
That was the only way the interview could be interpreted.
"This is a misunderstanding."
Youngbin said that with a serious face.
But the team members' gazes didn't change.
That was understandable, as Youngbin's Sua was such a great beauty that no one in the company didn't know her.
Furthermore, his entire lifestyle had been exposed recently through
'Is it okay for such an absurd existence to exist?'
'My wife just nags me when she comes home.'
His one-year-younger wife had such a youthful appearance rivaling celebrities, as if she didn't age.
One of his two daughters was a recognized actress in South Korea.
And the second daughter, how incredibly cute she was!!
Yes, they could generously overlook all that up to that point, but now what? A female singer who was a high school classmate?
On top of that, the song she sang at the King of Singers match was also very meaningful.
That's because Youngbin and Sua were also together at the King of Singers stage at the time.
What female singer would sing a song recalling her high school days?
Even on an important stage like the King of Singers match, with a song nobody knew.
No matter how much it's variety show, anyone who isn't a fool could figure it out.
Naturally, the internet was in an absolute uproar.
- Ju Youngbin you crazy bastard
- Is this shit real? Is this interview WWE?
- No no, Yeohee looked like her soul left her during the interview
- No but what did this bastard do in high school???
The two places that were most chaotic were:
Yeohee's fan community.
And the game communities for Raywill Games that Youngbin was in charge of.
Especially the game communities, with as many community phantoms as they had, the firepower was no joke.
- I let Seoyeon and Mama Sua slide but
- Sigh, life
- I suppose this too is Shin Youngbin's grace
- What? What happened?
Those who found the community late couldn't understand the situation and had puzzled reactions.
That was natural for people who weren't interested in celebrities or TV variety shows.
But even that changed when it got preserved and spread across all communities.
- So to summarize, Ju Youngbin was in a game club in high school, there were only three girls, one is his current wife, another was Yeohee??? Who's the other one??
- They said she was in charge of story, heard she writes novels now
- That's normal
- Yeah, except she was his childhood friend
- Fuck
- So in the game club there were three girls and he was the only guy. And all three liked Ju Youngbin?????????
- No no, the rest is speculation, but looking at Yeohee's reaction, they definitely had something going on lololol
- Fuck this is reality... I only saw this in novels...
Once the story was unearthed, rumors spread quickly.
That's because for the generation that uses the internet now, and especially if they were from the same high school as Youngbin, they couldn't resist the itch to speak up at this opportunity.
- I'm Ju Youngbin's high school classmate. It's all true.
Posts authenticating with even their high school student ID went up.
- Where is this bastard Ju Youngbin
- Give him back
- You fucker, this isn't right. Is this acceptable between us? Turn on the broadcast right now??
- I knew when this fucker Shin Youngbin said he was making a new gacha game, what a bastard
Anyway, the community was burning like that.
And when videos of Youngbin bowing his head and apologizing from before started being uploaded as edited compositions.
"S-Seoyeon? Are you okay?"
"With what?"
Seoyeon was happily eating ice cream.
The ice cream was just so sweet and delicious.
***
The aftermath of
Actually, the parent of a star who isn't even a star themselves.
The reason this issue could burn so largely was not just Seoyeon, but Yeohee's influence was significant.
Yeohee was no ordinary figure in the music industry.
She had diverse activities, and even went to America briefly for activities, appearing regularly on the national pride channel.
An issue tangled with a singer of that level of recognition and influence.
Relatively speaking, attention was focused on that side, but the attention focused on Seoyeon was similar, definitely not less.
That was because she lost by only two votes against that Yeohee.
- Did Ju Seoyeon sing this well?
- If she lost by only two votes to Yeohee, she basically won
- But Yeohee shamelessly sang her own song……
- It was a song nobody knew though lololol
As long as it wasn't a song that made her identity too easily guessed, they tended to allow it.
Even so, singing her own song and winning by two votes was somewhat in the realm of comedy.
Of course, that was also because the performance Seoyeon showed in the finals was that impressive.
"Ju Seoyeon!!"
Perhaps she heard the rumors, Jo Seohui had come riding her bicycle again.
Wait, what happened to the Benz she used to ride?
"Is this real? Is it real?"
At that intense reaction, even Seoyeon, who always treated Seohui listlessly, flinched and stepped back.
"I-It's real."
"Then, introduce me to Yeohee sunbaenim!!"
When she wondered why she came, it was inevitably a request to meet Yeohee.
Both Jiyeon and Jo Seohui definitely gave the feeling that Yeohee's recognition was incredible.
'Given Jo Seohui's personality, she's probably trying to build connections.'
Actually, Seoyeon didn't particularly intend to meet Yeohee more.
At first, she only knew her as just a club friend, to that extent.
But looking at the posts coming up on the internet, it was quite fascinating.
To the point she made up her mind to definitely visit her sometime.
Of course, when she got home and Sua looked at her with resentful eyes, she felt a bit guilty.
But at the same time, she had a slightly complicated face, happy that a connection with Yeohee had been reestablished after being severed.
'This is all because Yeohee ajumma beat me.'
Of course, she thought losing was natural.
But separately from that, Seoyeon's competitive spirit was really, really, extremely strong.
So it was something she said as a small spite, but she didn't expect it to return with this level of impact.
Of course, she said it after some thought and thinking there wouldn't be a problem, but wasn't this a bit much?
That was what she was thinking these days.
"But I think speaking up was good."
She couldn't just leave Jo Seohui on her bicycle, so she dragged her to a nearby McDonald's.
Chewing on her hamburger, Jo Seohui said that.
"It became an issue, right? Honestly, there won't be major damage to the image. It's an unsubstantiated story from decades ago, right? There's no safer material than this."
Well, that was true.
Even if this became known, no one was actually harmed.
It just made people feel sorry for Yeohee, an old maid.
'Ah, is our dad a victim too.'
Recently, Seoyeon's hobby was watching AI-composed videos of her dad's greeting.
Youngbin's appearance greeting to the beat was so perfectly timed that she played it on TV and on her monitor.
When Youngbin came home, seeing him nearly have a fit made it twice as fun.
Seoyeon was always in the position of being teased, but now she was finally able to properly counterattack.
"And, the synergy with the recent 'Sky Garden' is good too."
"I don't think it's particularly related."
"Attention was focused. The search volume increased overwhelmingly."
Until now, they had been falling behind
But recently, after
And by today, they actually started to dominate.
Because word of mouth spread, the recent episode of
"Did you see the last episode. They went on a trip together. And it ended hinting at an incident."
Jo Seohui was recording and watching Seoyeon's drama.
Partly for studying, and partly to match Seoyeon's acting.
Of course, the most important thing was that it was fun.
Jo Seohui was a fan of
She had already reserved all the
"The next episode will be important. Since expectations have been raised, it needs to explode properly there... How is it?"
At Jo Seohui's words, Seoyeon took a big bite of her hamburger.
And.
"No problem."
Episodes 11 and 12 to be aired this time.
Kim Hyunseok, playing Lee Minhyuk, was also gradually hitting his stride.
Especially his recent acting.
His acting clearly revealing Lee Minhyuk's inferiority complex was truly top-notch!
Even Seoyeon thought it was real.
YW9peUx5cktZYXhyU2hzY1VsMkQ0VzM1SkJ1eW1wTXlFenVSdTJDQVRWTWgxb2czSDZmaW1tOTJFWUZGTDdDTg
And the content to be aired this week continued the explosiveness of the previous week.
So she was confident.
Confident that she would completely crush