Chapter 391: On Air (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 391: On Air (2)
≫ Anyone want to talk about the latest episode of Exclusive Report?
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What is up with Cheon Yun-seong……?
He always called him ‘Chairman,’ but then he calls him ‘Grandfather’ for the first time while sobbing his eyes out > Psych, it was just acting! Up to that point, I was like, ‘Wow, I knew you were a bad guy, but you’re really a bad guy.’
But then the ‘Psych, it was just acting’ > the dry towel part. I was like, ‘Uh……? Are you actually…… sad? Are you…… wiping away tears??’
└ Psych, it was just acting, lol. But I’m seriously curious. Was Yun-seong not sad at all?
└ If he didn’t have any sad emotions, I don’t think there would’ve been a reason for the dry towel to appear.
└ Wet towel → To wipe his face after acting in front of people // Dry towel → To wipe away the tears he shed when no one was looking. That’s what I thought!
└└ Yeah, I agree.
└ On the other hand, Cheon Gang-hyeok looked terrifying because he didn’t seem to care about family or anything…… I wonder if Cheon Yun-seong will end up like him later.
└ I saw an analysis on MeTube saying that the higher you climb in the group, the further you get from your humanity.
└ The group’s name is literally ‘Owner of the Heavens’ (Cheonju). They’re getting further and further away from the ground people walk on.
≫ The male idol everyone’s saying had insane acting today
Data Warning
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It’s Kim I-wol from Exclusive Report.
He showed a triple set of emotional acting: crying + cold-blooded + suppressing longing. All three clips hit the real-time trending videos.
The comment reactions are great, too!!
└ In-My-Office was amazing, but Exclusive Report is just…… I can’t say anything except that it’s insane. Taking off the fresh rom-com filter and putting on the suspense filter makes him so scary.
└ I think this episode had the most intense emotions in his filmography so far, and I’m surprised he did so well. Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t be able to do anything except plain acting.
└ All the Sparklers who said they wanted to see Kim I-wol cry are now begging for forgiveness…… Our baby cries so pitifully……
└ Drama geeks really will stan anyone as long as they have a pretty face, huh? lol. After seeing the articles about his verbal abuse, I lost interest in the drama just by looking at his face. lol.
└└ Reported.
‘So this is how everyone posts after watching a drama.’
Yeo Ha-na read the posts while waiting for her companions to get ready. These were the first posts that came up when she searched for ‘Exclusive Report.’
She heard the drama was only up to episode 4, but it already had its own category. Hundreds of posts had already accumulated in the ‘Exclusive Report’ section.
The TV in the restaurant where they went for lunch was showing a rerun. From one side, she heard someone say their gukbap was served; from the other, she heard a line about the Chairman passing away.
『Even if you were going to leave, you should have seen my face before you went…….』
In the following funeral scene, Kim I-wol’s face, which had made her mother tear up last night, filled the monitor. A sigh escaped from the kitchen.
“Is everyone watching that? Exclusive Report!”
“Is that a new drama?”
“It’s a weekend drama, and it’s super popular. Everyone’s acting is great.”
“You’re right. I’ve never seen that actor before, but he’s good.”
“Isn’t that the guy? The public service advertisement model?”
“I saw him on my way to work today. He’s on the subway all the time.”
Yeo Ha-na’s colleagues began to chat animatedly. Everyone knew Kim I-wol.
‘Chae-hee would have been so proud if she heard this.’
Thinking of her junior whose bias was Kim I-wol, she was about to add seasoning to her gukbap when someone spoke up.
“But I heard he has a controversy.”
“What controversy?”
“Apparently, he has issues with his family. His mother wrote a handwritten letter, and wow, that mom is something else.”
“Wasn’t there something before, too? About him having a bad personality.”
“Wasn’t that just a rumor?”
The focus of the conversation shifted entirely to Kim I-wol. Her colleagues dug up the fact that the personality controversy was a baseless rumor from numerous articles and found posts saying he was in a dispute over family matters.
“People are too much. If they release corrections like this, how are we supposed to know if the rumors are true or false?”
“Exactly. This culture of only excitedly talking about bad things needs to be fixed.”
“You won’t know unless you go looking for it. I guess that’s why they say you have to look things up if you’re curious.”
Kim I-wol’s eventful career was mentioned in detail. She knew idols had many incidents, but the fact that it was to this extent surprised Yeo Ha-na.
“Looking at what the mother is saying, it doesn’t add up at all. If the kid had that many problems, there’s no way his School Life Record would be clean. Didn’t they say his record was completely leaked before?”
“My point exactly. If he had laundered his image, people would have talked back then.”
“But still, if what she’s saying is true, I’d feel so bad. Imagine if this actually happened.”
Listening to the fierce conflict between the parents and the child made her think of her own mom and dad.
The family who still called her ‘Our Ha-na’ even though she was thirty, who filled the fridge with things she wanted to eat, and for whom going on a trip with their daughter was the most important schedule in the world.
“I know.”
How would it feel to have no family to lean on?
The vague expression of feeling like being dropped in the middle of a vast ocean felt somewhat insufficient.
Yeo Ha-na pondered for a moment, then thought while eating her steaming gukbap.
A life where there is no one who comes to mind when eating something delicious, where you enter a dark house because no one left a light on for you when you return late, and where you only listen to the same songs every day because there is no one to recommend a good one—that would be a very lonely life.
At the end of episode 4, President Cheon naturally ascended to the position of Chairman. Cheon Yun-seong also gained a new title.
The broadcast for the week ended with a preview for episode 5, hinting that the Cheonju Group might be split in two as the sparks flew between the two men who had seized greater power and Cheon Yun-seong’s hidden intentions were revealed…….
“Why won’t you let us watch the live broadcast?”
“It’s not good for the emotional well-being of adolescents.”
……I tried to stop them, only to be met with fierce resistance.
“It’s rated 15 and up. I know you cherish and protect me and Kang Gyeon like we’re preschoolers, Hyung, but we’re nineteen. We’ll be adults next year. Okay?”
“Just because it becomes January 1st doesn’t mean a teenager suddenly becomes mentally mature. There are teenagers who are okay to watch Exclusive Report and those who aren’t.”
“Are you saying my emotions are immature right now?”
Lee Cheong-hyeon argued back clearly, hands on his hips.
“Cheong-hyeon, you’re busy enough just working on tracks. Why can’t you understand that I just want you to take a breather and watch it later?”
“Don’t make excuses. You told Seong-bin Hyung and Ju-woo Hyung not to watch it either.”
“Conversely, is it okay for Seong-bin and Ju-woo to watch it while you can’t?”
“Isn’t that obvious? That’s how the viewership ratings will go up!”
No wonder these punks had both the TV and their laptops on when they watched episodes 3 and 4. I’m sure I explained it before, but do I need to teach them how viewership ratings are calculated again……?
“You won’t even let Je-ho Hyung watch it! Since when did you care about Je-ho Hyung’s mental and physical health!”
Lee Cheong-hyeon’s protest grew even stronger. Seeing as he was even bringing up Choi Je-ho, the viewership ratings were just an excuse; his real intention was probably just to stubbornly get permission to watch.
But I couldn’t help it. In episode 5, there’s a scene from the past where Cheon Yun-seong’s back is torn open.
Could I see Cheon Yun-seong bleeding after being hit with a golf club by Cheon Gang-hyeok and not be reminded of my own childhood? I didn’t want them to see that.
“You watch the members’ fancams right in front of them! You’re a mass of contradictions! A total hypocrite!”
“Ju-woo, did you teach him the word ‘hypocrite’? It feels like unhealthy vocabulary is being passed down through generations in our dorm.”
“Ju-woo Hyung is innocent! Do you think I’m some greenhouse flower who only learns about hypocrisy from his hyungs?”
Kang Gi-yeon, who appeared late, shoved an energy bar into Lee Cheong-hyeon’s chirping mouth. Perhaps because he was still growing and hungry, he chewed the energy bar vigorously even while huffing.
“Don’t act like you’re doing this because you’re worried about the ratings. You just want to see the next episode yourself.”
Kang Gi-yeon hit the nail on the head with a heavy blow. Then, he stuffed a vegetable stick (which was rolling around the practice room because it tasted terrible) into Lee Cheong-hyeon’s mouth as it was about to open again.
“If you’re doing this because you’re embarrassed of your acting, Hyung, we can just gather in a room by ourselves and…….”
“I appreciate the consideration, Seong-bin, but that’s even more embarrassing.”
The five of them gathered around a single tablet, heads huddled together to watch my drama? I’d rather do a bungee jump without a cord than see that.
“Anyway, starting this weekend, watching Exclusive Report is banned…….”
As I tried to end the conversation, my phone vibrated. It was a call from my lawyer.
“Yes, this is Kim I-wol.”
─ I’m calling because there’s an urgent matter to share. Do you have a moment?
The news the lawyer brought was indeed urgent.
─ The defense has just started a press conference. Would you like to watch it yourself, or should I watch it and we can verify the facts together later?
My solar plexus stung as if pricked by a needle. It was probably a stress-related ailment, even without looking. However, I didn’t have time to leisurely soothe my aching stomach, so I replied that I would watch it myself and hung up.
The rented meeting room where the press conference began was cramped and dark. A hideous banner hung on the wall behind the podium.
Judging by the camera shots that occasionally showed the entire room, there weren’t even any major media outlets. On the other hand, cameras with gossip rag logos were common.
‘There are MeTubers, too.’
The audience was diverse, from people with phones on tripods running lives to those with laptops running broadcast software on stands.
Shouldn’t society, which shows interest in such absurd stories, also be treated for that illness? I wondered if a presentation of such low quality should even be allowed to have the title of a press conference. A sigh escaped me inwardly.
『I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who attended today. I sincerely hope this press conference will be a noble occasion to reveal the truth…….』
“Why watch it if it gives you a headache?”
Choi Je-ho suggested. He was also undergoing the punishment of having to watch this ‘Hellish Live’ with me, on the grounds that his father might appear at any moment.
“It’s not that bad.”
Looking at the comment section did give me a headache, though. The comments written by people watching such a live stream in the middle of the day were lacking in many things. Keeping an eye on them was quite draining.
But for me, headaches were already out of style. I had a feeling stomachaches would be the trendsetter for the second half of the year. If you’re a true center, I wish you’d read the trends a bit more promptly.
The statement continued endlessly, starting with a re-reading of the handwritten letter.
『He would disappear without leaving any contact information, and then frequently ask for help through others when he got into trouble.』
『He received demerit points for his deviant behavior, but he would hurl verbal abuse and threats at his teachers, and cause a disturbance at school to manipulate his School Conduct Record, which is a public document…….』
“I know the rest is bullshit, but what’s this about demerit points?”
Choi Je-ho asked, seemingly listening quite seriously. He managed to connect the ‘disappearing and only contacting when in trouble’ part to the time I contacted them for my head surgery.
I kindly explained that it was because I had been beaten up and the bruises wouldn’t fade, so I wore my mid-season uniform even after the transition period ended.
“The teacher saw my reflection letter and cleared the demerit points. I already told the lawyer about this. I even handed over the reflection letter.”
“If they didn’t clear it, would they even be human?”
“I told you, they cleared it. Watch your language.”
My mother’s accusations didn’t end. I made notes in my memo app, thinking of evidence to counter them.
『At the agency we visited to check on our son’s well-being, we were assaulted by our son and kicked out. We hereby request UA to release the CCTV footage.』
And finally, the problem I had been dreading surfaced.