Chapter 266
Chapter 266
Cha Yu-jin was used to communicating in a language that wasn't his mother tongue.
However, that didn't guarantee a perfectly rich range of expression. Misunderstandings occurred constantly. Because of this, the words Cha Yu-jin chose were always blunt and direct.
"Those people, they only ask about the bad stuff."
"The documentary crew?"
"Yes!"
Cha Yu-jin nodded and popped a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. Then, he began to grumble in rapid-fire English.
[What kind of scars did the car accident leave? How hard is the concert prep? Are there any injuries or safety issues? In the end, have I ever felt skeptical about this job? It felt like I was being interviewed by a prison guard!]
Park Moon-dae tapped his finger and replied.
"They kept asking if you were miserable."
"Yes!"
Moon-dae understood him. This was exactly why Yu-jin liked talking to him.
"Why do they have to do that? [I mean, we don't even have enough time to show our cool side, our best side. And I'm happy!]"
He wanted to provide joy, not showcase pain or negative energy.
Cha Yu-jin had a philosophy regarding his profession. He had no intention of living like those celebrities who sold their personal tragedies for fame.
He crossed his arms. Coincidentally, it was the exact same posture as the person sitting across from him.
"So, I'm not apologizing."
It was a defiant statement, but the pink-haired man across from him let out a small chuckle.
"...I guess what Keun Se-jin said really hurt your feelings?"
He hit the nail on the head.
[Of course it did!]
"Se-jin said that for your sake. If the only footage they have is you hitting the camera, you're the one who loses. People will misunderstand."
"It's fine. I don't care."
"Then care about the team. Because we care."
"……."
Park Moon-dae used an ambiguous expression that meant both concern for the damage to the team and concern for Cha Yu-jin himself. However, Cha Yu-jin only understood the latter and nodded obediently.
‘He’s worried about me.’
It was a positive side effect of a linguistic misunderstanding.
"And that crew... they probably wanted to show that we handle misery and hardships, too. Since we already show plenty of us being successful and cool."
Moon-dae slowly shifted the direction of the conversation.
"Everyone has pain, and seeing it directly makes a person feel more human. It makes them look sincere."
Cha Yu-jin respected this clever teammate, so he listened intently. And Park Moon-dae, in turn, showed respect for Yu-jin.
"But you can't force someone to show their pain."
That was the right answer.
"Yes."
Cha Yu-jin growled.
[And those guys are all damn liars.]
"Liars?"
[When we first interviewed, I told them very clearly. I said I didn't want questions about injuries, pain, or personal history. I told them to talk to my company about that stuff!]
"…! Hmm."
[They nodded and said they’d be careful. But, Hyung, you saw them, didn't you?]
"Yeah, I saw."
Cha Yu-jin recalled the cameras that had tried so hard to capture him looking pained throughout the concert, trying to confirm his 'uncomfortable' feelings. And the endless talk about the accident!
—I don't want to do that.
—Ah, sorry. We'll be careful.
The answers had been compliant enough. But they kept trying the same questions every time a gap appeared. It was no longer behavior worthy of respect.
"They did it so many times! More than ten times!"
"……."
Moreover, the clincher was how they despicably changed targets once he got truly angry.
—Yu-jin, you seem to regain your composure very quickly... Perhaps from your past accident...
They were clearly intending to ask Park Moon-dae about the time he was in a coma!
‘To ask someone in the middle of a concert about the time they were unconscious, without even asking for permission?’
How dare they ask that!
"That is too rude. They were wrong. I stopped that."
Cha Yu-jin switched back to Korean to emphasize his point. Park Moon-dae seemed lost in thought.
"……."
But it didn't take long for an answer to come. It was the answer Yu-jin had been waiting for.
"You're right."
"…!"
Exactly!
"Good. I understand."
Moon-dae summarized it simply and clearly.
"Let's go get an apology. Those guys were in the wrong."
"Great!"
Cha Yu-jin raised his hand for a fist bump and a handshake. Moon-dae thought, 'Is this really necessary?' but he went along with it without showing it.
‘This is the joy of being a team!’
Cha Yu-jin laughed refreshingly as he shook his hand. Of course, there was something to finish first.
"I'm going to finish eating this."
"Sure. Eat up."
Cha Yu-jin spent the morning relaxing by the beach with Park Moon-dae. It was a quite pleasant holiday.
*
"Buy pizza! The pizza here is delicious!"
"Alright."
By the time the sun was high in the sky, Cha Yu-jin had fully recovered. He spent the entire walk back to the hotel pestering me to order pizza.
‘Fine.’
I planned to indulge whatever whims he had today. He wasn't someone who needed to cut weight, so a bit of pizza was fine.
[That will be 89 dollars.]
[Here you go.]
I paid for the pizza while organizing the situation in my head. As expected, once I fed Cha Yu-jin some sweets at the beach, the whole story came pouring out.
‘Yu-jin had every right to be pissed.’
From what he said, it was even worse than what they’d done to me. It seemed the documentary crew had filmed Yu-jin and then kept poking at his sore spots. I could guess the reason immediately.
‘They probably did it because Yu-jin feels the least refined.’
Since he seemed the most unvarnished and honest among us, they likely thought he’d be the best source for "raw" footage. They had "pushed" him just to get a usable shot for the documentary.
‘Good grief...’
I remembered something an instructor said during a photography elective back in university.
‘Is it better to take the photo first and negotiate later than to ask for permission?’
The logic was that the photo opportunity disappears while you're waiting for consent. I remembered it because it caused a bit of a stir in the school community after he said it.
Anyway, if that sentiment is prevalent in even a part of this industry, then TeSTAR just had bad luck with this production crew. They didn't know where to draw the line.
‘It’s about time they got a warning.’
Just then, Cha Yu-jin, walking excitedly with the pizza, asked a question.
"Hyung! I have a question. How do we talk to those people?"
"We don't need to talk to them."
I said leisurely.
"The company will handle it. Just accept the apology."
There were plenty of circumstances in what he told me that could flip the script.
"Go on up and start eating. I need to make a call."
"Got it!"
As soon as we returned to the hotel, I contacted the company. Since the management team had been overhauled and sharpened up after the recent deal, there was no need for us to step in directly and worry about our image.
"Hello. ...Yes. You were informed that I met up with Yu-jin, right?"
—Yes, yes! we heard about your and Yu-jin's location.
"Right. Well, there are some things I heard from Yu-jin... I'll pass those along now."
I wove together what Cha Yu-jin told me at the beach, highlighting one specific point.
"...So that's what happened, and this is something the production crew shouldn't have done, right?"
—Ah~
The manager's voice changed slightly.
—I see what you mean.
His tone carried a strange sense of confidence. It meant he understood.
‘Finally, it feels like we actually have a company.’
Until now, I’d often thought Ryu Cheong-woo should be getting a manager's salary too, so this was a welcome change.
I finished the call and went up to the hotel room. And the moment I visited Yu-jin's room to check on the situation and grab some pizza...
"Moon-dae Hyung!"
"Welcome, Moon-dae~"
Guys holding pizza slices waved at me from all over. It seemed they had been waiting in the room for Yu-jin to return.
"Hyung, come here!"
Cha Yu-jin sat in the middle with a look of pure bliss. The atmosphere suggested they had already talked it out and resolved everything. Since Seon A-hyun was there, a rough translation would have been possible.
"H-here, I set aside some for Moon-dae...!"
"Oh, thanks."
I sat down among the waving idiots.
"Did the talk go well?"
"Of course~ Gosh, was our Yu-jin upset because Hyung told you to apologize without even asking what happened?"
"Yes!!"
"I only said that because I was afraid something big would happen if you didn't. Of course I'm on your side, Yu-jin!"
"It's okay! I didn't consult you either. I'm very sorry."
"Right, right, let's do better from now on!"
As expected of guys who move fast, their reconciliation was just as quick. Bae Se-jin seemed to be agonizing over whether 'this was something that could be settled so easily,' but he soon gave up and just ate his pizza.
And Kim Rae-bin was still the only one being serious.
"Cha Yu-jin, in the future, you must make sure to contact us before leaving. Even if it is a holiday, we are currently on an official schedule, so you must be careful with your movements."
"Um, okay!"
"…! Oh, okay."
Kim Rae-bin was momentarily flustered by the easy compliance, but he soon looked proud. They were getting along well.
However, Ryu Cheong-woo seemed to be watching the scene and thinking deeply about something.
‘Hmm.’
His expression was relaxed, so it probably wasn't anything serious. And the real serious business was about to hit the production crew in a moment.
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
I anticipated the scene while eating my pizza.
*
That evening.
Before the members' group interview began, I could hear the company and the production crew talking in the next room.
"From what we've confirmed, this is a complete breach of contract."
"No, there's a misunderstanding."
"It's too clear a violation to be called a misunderstanding. This was something we discussed thoroughly when we first spoke."
"Sigh, if you're going to be that rigid about filming..."
"No. Didn't the artist already tell you several times to talk to the company? I heard everything was recorded; let's check it."
"…!"
Yes. That was the problem.
Cha Yu-jin had already brought up the 'company.' Multiple times, in fact. If the person involved refuses to speak on a specific matter and tells you to talk to the 'company,' but you ignore them and keep pestering?
That's a breach of contract. Because that clause is in the contract.
[If the Artist requests it during filming related to sensitive personal information of Party A, Party B shall newly negotiate the disclosure of said information.]
And there’s even a damages clause attached to the violation.
Since T1 was backing this agency, the studio crew—who weren't even from a major broadcaster—had no choice but to take it seriously if the company played hardball.
The guy eavesdropping on the sounds from the room with me nudged my shoulder.
"Wow, Moon-dae, you're smart."
"Whatever."
I shrugged. Now, all we had to do was threaten to terminate the documentary contract using this as leverage to get the data deleted.
"Yes. Please do that."
And it seemed the deal worked perfectly. In the end, before filming started, the production crew even offered an apology that sounded more like an excuse to Cha Yu-jin.
"We're truly sorry if you were offended."
They claimed they weren't trying to do any malicious editing, but were just overzealous in their desire to create more sincere and better content.
"…Okay~ But it's my content, so please listen to my opinion."
Cha Yu-jin let it go coolly, so the matter didn't escalate further, but the production crew's behavior became much more cautious. It was a win for all the members.
‘That’s that.’
I stopped Cha Yu-jin from giving me a subtle thumbs-up.
The rest of the documentary filming proceeded with a greater focus on TeSTAR's professionalism.
*
That night, after the interviews were over.
TeSTAR left their individual rooms and gathered in a massive hotel suite.
"It is incredibly spacious!"
"Oh~ the facilities are great. Is Cheong-woo Hyung treating us?"
"Well, just for today."
Ryu Cheong-woo, the one who pushed for this, replied as he closed the door.
"I think the company will handle the costs from now on."
"From now on...?"
There's a "from now on"?
"Yeah. I was thinking, how about we stay together like this about once a week while we're on tour? What does everyone think?"
Ryu Cheong-woo looked quite serious.
"I've been thinking, since we're using individual rooms and have almost no schedule during this tour, we haven't had much chance to talk to each other."
"That's... true."
The guys, who had been living comfortably alone for the past few weeks, stared blankly at Ryu Cheong-woo.
"I think that's why the situation with Yu-jin got more complicated. We didn't have time to know what each other was thinking."
Ryu Cheong-woo finished with a smile.
"I hope we can have time to talk and look after each other's well-being. That's my opinion."
His sincerity was palpable. And immediately, the guys who were easily moved chimed in.
"Hyung……."
"Sniff, that's so touching!"
"I-I like it...!"
"Well, it's not... bad. If it's just for one day."
Even Bae Se-jin agreed. Since even the guy who had cheered for having his own room was like this, it was essentially unanimous.
"What about Moon-dae?"
"...Sounds good."
It was a sound judgment. It would help prevent impulsive behavior. I nodded readily, but then I suddenly realized the reality of it.
‘Wait, he put it nicely... but isn't this basically a weekly workshop?’
Gathering these guys to check if they're having any stray thoughts while talking about the album, activities, and concerts...
No. They’ve already sprawled out on the floor.
"Our teamwork is the best. I'm touched."
"I think it would be good to bring a beam projector for the next meeting."
"Should we order room service?? Let's play some cards while we eat."
"……."
Yeah, we’ve come too far to treat these guys as just coworkers. Work, my foot.
‘It feels like a club room.’
I leaned back on the sofa and admitted it. These guys weren't uncomfortable enough to call this a workshop anymore.
‘...No, it’s more than that.’
I won't deny it. Even though I was squeezed in among all these people... it was quite comfortable.
I relaxed and thought to myself.
‘For a while, I can just focus on the tour like this.’
...However, I had overlooked one thing.
While Cha Yu-jin's sensitive footage had been removed due to the company's strong measures, my footage had gone through as is, since there were no particular complaints.
The ripple effect of the 'perfectionist idol doing his best while overcoming aftereffects' was... just around the corner.