A Hospital Visit, Part 3
Myeong I-dam had opened the chat window where he had been talking with his mother. In the most recent exchange, there was an audio file his mother had sent him.
"Well, she said my mom turned on the recorder, left her phone in her coat pocket, and went out. After Kim Ji-rok came by, my expression must have looked strange, so she did it just in case. Said it was a mother's instinct."
Myeong I-dam's mother had pretended she was going out to buy snacks, then stayed by the door instead. After a while, she had burst back in and put on a performance worthy of a stage actress.
"Oh dear, my goodness! I left without my wallet!"
After the threat was over, Kim Ji-rok left, saying he had an appointment and had to go. Myeong I-dam's mother had sent the recorded file to her son and cried in relief.
"My mom said... not to worry about her, just give a proper statement and submit the recording. But I'm still uneasy.... I don't know how Kim Ji-rok will react. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with this."
He seemed to be truly worried. Neoul looked at Myeong I-dam, his face full of concern, and suddenly thought of Baek Yuri, who loved Myeong I-dam very much indeed.
A blue-ringed octopus who had trained in spear arts at the Dragon Palace practice yard and could, if necessary, spit poison to subdue an opponent.
She was no ordinary rank-and-file soldier; she had earned the position of escort captain through her own strength. Since she was also a woman, she probably would not mind keeping Myeong I-dam's mother close at hand.
Oh...
That actually seemed like a pretty good idea.
Besides, with Neoul busy now, she was taking a break from escort duty too. Unlike the sea, where danger always lurked, land was safe.
No human was foolish enough to pick a fight with Neoul, a broad-shouldered giant over 190 centimeters tall, and the tiger he always stayed wary of had not shown its face even once so far.
On days when the Korean language teacher came, Dong-dong would groan and slog through dictation. The rest of the time, she lazed around eating crustaceans or indulging her hobbies.
Though lately, she had said that worrying about Myeong I-dam made even crab and lobster hard to swallow.
"I will assign an escort."
"An escort...? You mean a bodyguard?"
"That is what they call it, yes."
"Wouldn't hiring someone like that be really expensive? Even this single room has cost me a fortune. It's fine because the production team sent compensation money, but still."
"..."
"And even if I hired someone, they couldn't stand next to me all day every day."
Neoul's expression turned faintly stern as he asked again, very seriously.
"Was it me that Kim Ji-rok was targeting?"
"W-well... yes. I mean..."
"Taking the water I meant to drink was surely meant to help me. Drinking it yourself was somewhat... hm, not a very wise thing to do."
"Hey! I only meant to pretend to drink it! I wasn't really going to drink it! I know I was being stupid, okay?!"
Myeong I-dam shouted, embarrassed and indignant. Neoul ignored his embarrassment and tossed out what he wanted to say.
"I do not turn a blind eye to my benefactors."
"Huh...?"
"I will lend you my escort warrior. He came with me from the Dragon Palace. He is also a fan of I-dam, sir."
At Neoul's words, Myeong I-dam picked up the letter.
"Don't tell me... the person you said was your acquaintance...?"
"Yes. Dong-dong, the blue-ringed octopus escort captain."
"Blue-ringed octopus...? An octopus is your bodyguard? Escort captain...? Is that some kind of rank? Like someone who protects the king?"
"Yes. He was assigned to protect me this time and followed me to land."
"So you really were a prince..."
"But I do not need an escort. Rather than idling about with nothing to do, Dong-dong escort captain will find the day far more worthwhile if he spends that time protecting Myeong I-dam's mother."
Myeong I-dam seemed to find the existence of a "blue-ringed octopus escort warrior who writes letters and is into fandom" even more astonishing than the "mermaid prince from an idol survival show." His jaw had dropped and didn't seem inclined to close again anytime soon.
"Now that your mother's safety is taken care of, Kim Ji-rok's threat will be nullified. So if Myeong I-dam sir wants to testify, he may. If he doesn't, then he needn't."
"Oh. Uh..."
"And if you wish to punish Kim Ji-rok, then..."
Neoul went on.
"When facing an enemy, weapons are more effective when there are many of them than when there is only one. But since one has only two hands, there is a limit to how many weapons one can wield, so in military strategy, traps are usually set to confuse the enemy."
Neoul, sharing knowledge he had learned beyond the practice yard wall, explained it to Myeong I-dam.
"Kim Ji-rok's soul was rotten from the moment I first saw it. Surely this is not the only evil he has committed in his life. If we uncover his past deeds and use them, we will be able to deal with him more effectively."
"Past deeds...?"
Myeong I-dam's eyes widened.
"Yes. Do you remember when nonsense rumors about Baek Gi-yeom spread on the internet?"
"Uh... I saw those too."
"We managed to clear up the misunderstanding safely after much effort, but the person involved was very startled and frightened."
"Of course he would be... If it were me, I'd have been incredibly shaken and scared too."
Neoul nodded in agreement.
"Humans are weak of heart. We will use that."
"Oh..."
"If we trace Kim Ji-rok's past misdeeds and spread them anonymously, then Kim Ji-rok will be too busy cleaning up the mess to focus his attention on Myeong I-dam sir. Baek Gi-yeom teacher's rumor was false, so it was quickly tidied away, but Kim Ji-rok's crimes are real, which will make them much harder to cover up."
"That actually sounds... pretty tempting."
Light sparked in Myeong I-dam's eyes. If they exposed not just this incident but also his past crimes one by one, they might be able to bury Kim Ji-rok socially for good.
"But how am I supposed to track down Kim Ji-rok's past?"
All he'd ever done in his life was dance, sing, and compose.
Myeong I-dam looked uncertain. But Neoul's mouth curved, as if to say that was no concern at all.
"I will handle it. I was told there is nothing in the human world that money cannot solve."
"Do you have a lot of money? No, wait, who told you that?"
"Representative Won Hasin."
"How do you know Representative Won Hasin? Are you two on familiar terms?"
"Why, yes. Representative Won Hasin has a great deal of money, so we can borrow from him to take care of this, and then once you debut, you can earn money and pay him back."
"Whaaa..."
Myeong I-dam stared at Neoul, speechless. This mermaid prince didn't seem to have the slightest fear of loans; he was recklessly planning to go into debt. At this rate, would he start using private lenders too? If he couldn't pay it back, what then, just run to the sea? Myeong I-dam was so exasperated he launched into a lecture.
You don't borrow money lightly. Do you even know what units money comes in? Do you know how much change you're supposed to get back when you buy something and hand over a bill? Have you ever done money calculations even once in your life?
Neoul let the torrent of scolding enter one ear and drift out the other.
"Enough of that. It is now time for episode 9 to begin."
"I'm giving you advice that could change your life, and you're worried about a broadcast?"
Even as he said it, Myeong I-dam checked the time and turned on the TV. Idol Travel episode 9 was just starting.
The segment about listening to the demo songs from the composition contestants and deciding on teams came on screen.
"Good, I didn't get cut from this part."
Myeong I-dam appeared on screen through the earlier stages he had participated in. But from the moment he drank the water and threw up, the entire thing was edited out. The scene then showed Team Tube practicing in a dispirited mood, stripped of Myeong I-dam's presence and seeming to lose all momentum.
"Right. Collapsing after drinking antifreeze counts as declining health too, I suppose."
Myeong I-dam muttered with self-mockery. The interviews of the team members who had pushed another contestant aside and taken song number 6 continued.
Everyone said something similar to Lee Gal-chae.
They're grateful to Myeong I-dam for letting them perform with his precious song. They'll make a good stage because it's a good song. They'll make sure the carefully crafted piece shines.
Myeong I-dam's song. Myeong I-dam's composition.
Wonderful, precious, carefully made...
No.
Song number 6 had become tiresome from the sketch stage onward. It was a song that made him feel pathetic and heartbroken for putting something like that out into the world.
What Gal-Neoul had said before was right.
Music holds emotion, doesn't it?
The discomfort and pain of forcing on clothes that didn't suit him and didn't even fit his size. The violent impulse to tear them to shreds and throw them away.
And out of that came...
"That song is nothing more than a knockoff of Wildweed."
Fake.
"I didn't make it."
False. Hypocrisy. A mechanical string of notes stamped out like machine parts.
Myeong I-dam recalled Wildweed, who had mercilessly denied the many songs he had made. Under the excuse of evaluation, he had repeatedly belittled Myeong I-dam and worn away his self-esteem.
He had been taught that music was art, and art had no one right answer. Out of more than eight billion people living on the same planet, a few of them might even have liked his music.
At some point, he had abandoned himself entirely and poured his every effort into making something that would suit Wildweed's taste.
To please just one person out of eight billion.
The moments when he had fought like mad to earn Wildweed's approval flashed through his mind like a lantern slide.
There had been times when composing was no longer fun, when it had become pain instead. Times when terrible obsession and depression had come for him, choking off his breath.
Song number 6, Team Tube's stage, rolled on. Myeong I-dam heard his own scream hidden beneath the upbeat melody.
— Uh... this is way too similar to Wildweed's;;
— At first I thought the song was good and catchy, but somehow, hmm. It doesn't really feel catchy to the listener.
— Galchae with the under-eye piece is just insanely pretty, T_T
— Lee Gal-chae is the male lead of a teen movie, period
— His expression is crazy lol a genius genius hedgehog, I love you T_T
— Wow, Lee Gal-chae really carried this.
— Huh, I think the song is just really good. Why are people reacting like this...
— Dunno, it just somehow feels flat
Some among the viewers were hearing that wordless scream too.
I won't live like I used to anymore.
Myeong I-dam clenched his fist hard.
"There are ninety-nine songs of mine that were judged to be trash, useless, not even fit for sorting. They're mine. My songs."
Myeong I-dam turned his gaze to Neoul.
"You said it before. Since I stubbornly finished song number 6 even though I hated writing it, the other songs must be better."
Doing something you don't want to do is hard for anyone. And yet you made song number 6 so convincingly that the other ninety-nine songs must be even better.
Neoul nodded. Myeong I-dam asked him again.
"Do you think the fans who say they like me would like those ninety-nine songs too?"
"I cannot know that. I have not heard them."
Neoul answered honestly.
"But they would not dislike them. I am certain of it."
"Right. Listen to them sometime when you have time."
"That is not difficult, but..."
Neoul searched SNS for Myeong I-dam's name. The screen was full of fans grieving his withdrawal.