Chapter 36
Chapter 36
The One Who Lost Their Emotions.
Robot Mom.
I Will Break the Northern Grand Duke's Curse.
The titles I listed were all works where characters who were initially cold or completely emotionless gradually gained humanity as time passed.
Though I had never actually watched them.
I had heard of them because they were so famous.
Honestly, they weren't my taste.
But.
Now I think I get it.
Why such works bring people to tears.
Why they move people so deeply.
"So this is what it looks like when real emotions start to show on a blank face."
Everyone, including myself, froze after watching Hee-ju's performance.
Hee-ju, who would frown while singing a song confessing love, and who would smile, was the only thing filling our field of vision.
I couldn't take my eyes off her.
I guess this is what they mean when they say someone is bewitched.
[Eun Hee-ju, SS+]
As if the information I had glanced at before wasn't wrong.
The grade floated proudly in her head.
"Hoo. Hoo."
Only after Hee-ju's solo performance ended and she returned to her usual expressionless self could we finally breathe.
"Team Leader-nim."
"Huh?"
"Was it good?"
"Of course it was goo......"
As I tried to speak, a single tear fell from the corner of my eye.
Without even realizing it, it seems I had been moved by Eun Hee-ju.
And this was even just a practice for a practice.
To be honest, just saying it was 'good' felt like an insult; Eun Hee-ju a moment ago was living, breathing emotion itself.
"As expected. Still a long way to go, right?"
"......."
Lying is more painful.
But.
If that could make that monster fly even higher than she is now.
Before being a Team Leader.
As a fan, I wanted to see that.
"Still. A long way to go. A lot. Still. I can feel that you've improved a lot."
"Thank you. I will try harder. Everything."
The robot who learned about emotions had become a little more long-winded than before.
Rarely, she even swallows her breath and thinks.
"Everything. It's all thanks to you, Team Leader-nim."
That small smile that appears in the moments when her blank expression slips.
An emotional expression that only Eun Hee-ju can show.
"I'll say it again. You've grown a lot more than before. Even if you're still lacking."
"Yes."
"Do well."
"Yes."
We've only been together for a mere 2 months.
Was I always this sentimental?
My eyes keep stinging.
She's not even my daughter.
No. If she were my daughter, that would be an even bigger problem, but it was, how should I put it, a moment that made my chest swell with emotion.
It makes me naturally resolve to work harder as a Team Leader.
'I will make sure all of you are happy.'
It was separate from the fact that I'd fucked them.
Even if I hadn't ended up fucking Eun Hee-ju.
I was different from that bastard Park Ju-yong.
A choice that could change one's entire life.
If they became trainees because of my proposal, I had an obligation to take responsibility for them no matter what.
"For no reason."
"Hm?"
"I'm starting to regret telling you."
Looking to the side, Seong Se-ri was looking at Eun Hee-ju with a troubled expression.
[Seong Se-ri, SS]
"I don't see any room for me to grow anymore. I feel like I'm just going to fall behind since I'm getting older, and I'm worried that I'm pushing someone I couldn't even beat in the first place too far away."
No, it wasn't just Seong Se-ri.
"At times like this, I wish I didn't have such a good eye for talent. I'd rather not have known. After seeing that. I realized just how lacking I am."
Lee Da-young, too.
"That......."
[Gil Min-seo, SS+]
Even Gil Min-seo, whose infinite brightness was always her greatest strength, couldn't utter a proper word in front of Eun Hee-ju this time.
The fact that Min-seo, who is always talkative, shut her mouth was the greatest expression of all.
"My goal is to succeed on my own."
The finishing touch was Eun Hee-ju's calm determination.
"To do that, I will work even harder."
They haven't even debuted as a group yet, and she's already declaring a solo career.
"What a cheeky brat!"
"Yeah. You bitch. What? You'll succeed on your own? Then what, are we supposed to fail? This bitch has no filter, she says whatever she wants."
"Come on, come on! Let's all work hard together! Go, go, fighting!"
If it's frustration, it's frustration, but the kids, having received a stimulus that could be called a stimulus in its own way, burn their will again.
Even if they bow their heads for a moment, they were kids who would never break.
That's why they have talent.
"Right. There are 6 days left until the monthly evaluation. Let's do our best until then. You have to do better than now. Your level is a dime a dozen once you go pro."
"Yes!"
Clap, clap, they started practicing again.
But. Hmm.
"Hee-ju-ya."
"Yes."
"Something. Hmm. Has your emotional expression faded a bit?"
"Uh."
Eun Hee-ju tilted her head, which was the size of my fist, and answered confidently.
"It seems the happiness I charged up has run out. Could you charge me up again, Team Leader-nim?"
Was that rechargeable?
"Hey, hey! That's cheap, only you? Me too. Me too! Master!"
"You brats. Don't you know about the order of seniority? Order of seniority! There must be a sequence and order between adults and children! If anyone, it should be me first."
"Argh! Just do us all together!"
These lecherous things.
I don't know if these kids can really become the best idols in the world.
"......Follow me to the emergency exit one by one later."
"So. Who's first?"
"Rock. Paper. Scissors! You bitches."
"Yes!"
I shake my head while watching the kids, who are focusing on deciding the order to have sex with me much more seriously than they do on their practice.
"Whoa. Fuck. You scared the shit out of me."
A curse naturally popped out of my mouth as I looked toward the main entrance of the practice room.
It was only natural, because Park Ju-yong was standing there, watching us practice and play. If that bastard weren't a Team Leader at our company, I would have reported him to the police immediately.
That there was an illegal intruder and stalker here.
'Funny bastard.'
If that guy had seen Hee-ju's first performance, he would have been shocked out of his mind.
Not Gil Min-seo.
The one I brought in first.
The one who was the most lacking.
The child who was like a robot was showing the most outstanding performance right now.
No matter how much that guy insists.
As long as he's a Team Leader in the management industry, his eyes couldn't have rotted away completely.
'And is he the only one who knows how to sneak around?'
I immediately asked Novel for Park Ju-yong's location.
[He is in the 4th-floor conference room.]
Huh?
What conference room?
[He called the Oasis kids.]
Don't tell me this bastard.
Again?
"Kids. Keep practicing. I'll be right back."
Just in case, I immediately took the elevator from the 2nd floor to the 4th floor.
There were no meetings scheduled for today, so the lights were all off, but the light in the 3rd conference room at the end of the hallway was uniquely on.
And through the translucent glass, I could see the familiar silhouette of a balding man.
He was holding up a board, presumably with the criteria for the monthly evaluation written on it, and shaking it up and down vigorously.
It looked like he was disciplining a dog that wouldn't listen.
[3rd Conference Room]
[In Use]
I went closer just in case, and even though it was a soundproofed space, Park Ju-yong's yelling leaked out into the hallway.
"Hey! How many years have you been trainees? Tell me!"
"4 years, 5 years, sir."
"And you can only do that much? I'm so embarrassed I can't lift my head. Fuck. I tried to only say good things to you guys, but if you do it like that, I can't help it either! Do you understand?"
Bang-!
Park Ju-yong even created fear by slamming the table with the board he was holding.
The kids, startled, shrank to half their size.
"I, uh? For you guys. Uh? I begged the CEO so much! Uh? I put aside all my pride. I made the effort for you guys and created an opportunity! And you can only do that much now?"
"I'm sorry."
What the hell is he really doing?
Park Ju-yong was literally beating the Oasis kids to a pulp with words, just like catching a rat.
It was just taming them with plausible words, that was.
Gaslighting to make them dolls that only follow his words.
'Is he a crazy bastard?'
Even if idol trainees have good grit, they were still soft, delicate kids.
Some kids practiced so much for their debut that they didn't even have basic common sense.
I can't even imagine how hurt and traumatized they would be when they hear things like that.
"You guys. You didn't even go to school properly and came here to become celebrities, and you've just been practicing like that for years, right? But if you blow this debut because you couldn't grab this opportunity, what are you going to do? Does the company look easy to you? Do you not know how important the first button is!"
"......."
"All the famous groups right now, they all hit it big from the start, secured fans and recognition, and that's why their second albums, third albums are all big hits!"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't say you're sorry. I don't want to hear it."
"......."
The Oasis kids had no choice but to bite their lips, holding back tears, and become mutes.
"You guys. What do you think you'll become if you blow this debut? Do you think you can do anything if you go out there like this! The only things you can do are dance and sing, you stu......"
"That's enough, Team Leader Park. What the hell are you doing?"
I had intended to go in after the conversation ended if possible.
But I couldn't watch this anymore.
What is an adult over forty doing to young kids right now?
He was destroying everything, starting with their self-esteem.
I knew that the way idols were raised and recruited was completely different from when I was a trainee and when Team Leader Park worked, but.
I didn't know the difference in values would be this severe.
There's a limit to everything, you fucker.
"Who the hell are you. Why are you butting in, you asshole. Huh?! I have to correct their mistakes like this so they can do better! I'm yelling like this because they can't do what I tell them to do properly! If you want, do you want to change teams right now? You want these kids?"
"......."
"......."
It was a remark that completely broke the Oasis kids, who were already struggling.
Except for Mina, who was the leader, Lee So-ra and Serina were already sitting on the floor, bursting into tears.
"A person."
I was speechless for a moment.
"How can a person be like that?"
"Who the hell are you. To do that to me. Argh!"
I caught Park Ju-yong's wrist with one hand as he tried to grab my collar out of habit, and growled, bringing my face close to his.
"I have no intention of giving my kids to a bastard like you. The Oasis kids. They have good talent, they're pretty kids. If you give them to me, I'll take them. I'll take care of both teams."
"Yo. You're talking bullshit. This bastard!"
Park Ju-yong, who barely shook off my hand, shouted while pointing his index finger at the crying Oasis kids.
"You guys should do well, even for your parents' sake. Huh? Do well. If you don't want to blow it like this and end up paying off debts."
"That son of a bitch."
I looked to see if I should swing a fist at him, really.
Before I knew it, I saw him walking quickly to the elevator in the distance.
"Ha. Isn't that guy a crazy bastard. Why is he really like that."
Come to think of it, how the fuck did I work under a guy like that for 3 years?
I'm scared that if I had learned more, I would have really become a devil like him.
"Cry more. Yeah. If not now, when would you cry? You wouldn't even be able to cry in front of that human."
"Hwaaaang. Hwaaang!"
Did they say they were 20, 20, 21 years old?
They just became adults.
If they were other ordinary kids, they would be drinking at 00:00 with their friends.
Going on university MTs.
Or if not that, they would be pretty kids who could go on trips with the money they earned from part-time jobs.
It makes me wonder what kind of situation this is, meeting one wrong person.
'Ha. I can't leave that guy alone.'
[Well, there are ways to kick him out.]
[And that's something that can happen even without me telling you.]
[For now. Let's take care of the Oasis kids.]
That's something I would do without being told.
"Excuse me. Team Leader Kim."
"Uh."
Mina, the leader of Oasis, who was holding back while only her eyes were red even in this situation, approached me and bowed her head.
"I know this is a really shameless thing to say."
Bowing her head.
Her two clenched fists are trembling like crazy.
Needless to say about her voice.
"Could you... give us the album? If things go on like this, I think we're really going to die."