Cleanup (2)
The director came running to the car in a hurry, which allowed us to wrap up the situation itself. He probably took the can that still had traces of what was likely a sleeping powder. The manager, who realized there was no point in running anymore, gave up on fleeing and climbed into the director’s car.
The only problem was…
“...Hinami was here?”
“...”
The manager had spilled everything about Hinami too. That she had come with him in the car because she wanted to spend the night with that man.
“Um, Kang Juhyuk… sir. Is this true?”
“Yes. …I sent her up for now.”
While I kept my mouth shut, he nodded at the director. It wasn’t impossible to deny it, but the moment they went up to check, they’d be caught immediately. That judgment itself was understandable.
“So, what exactly is your relationship…?”
“...We’re close. Hinami. She comes over to hang out every weekend. But I don’t have a license, so Juhyuk brought us together.”
…I hadn’t expected my sister, who had just come down, to defend me so actively. Honestly, if we were going to lie, saying she came to play with me would have been far more believable. But there was a massive logical flaw in that story.
The other members had gone home first, so claiming we came back to the house together from the start would have been somewhat plausible. However, if Hinami had ridden in the manager’s car with us and returned to our place, then for this whole incident to make sense, she should have drunk the sleeping powder like I did and passed out.
That was why, even if it felt a little awkward, my sister had no choice but to make excuses on my behalf.
“Ah, I see. …So that’s what happened.”
The director also looked uncertain whether that excuse was true or not. It was strange for her to come all the way to a friend’s house late at night when that friend lived with her boyfriend. And it was even stranger for someone like Hinami to be involved with a man who already had a girlfriend.
In the end, after thoroughly mixing his personal friendship with Hinami and his rational reasoning as a director, he finally said,
“...Understood for now. Yes.”
This scandal itself would be put on temporary hold. He decided to cover it up. Neither side had clear evidence to be certain. And since the dating ban had already been lifted, as long as it didn’t get out to the public, it wouldn’t count as a contract violation.
However.
“...And let’s cover this incident up as well. For now.”
“Why?”
“If the news breaks that one of our own managers did something like this… it would be quite dangerous for us from a company standpoint.”
…This matter too. We agreed to bury it together. Of course, what the director just said was part of the reason. But the more important factor was,
“That’s true. If we call the police now, we’d all have to be questioned together.”
“...Yes. That too.”
Because the fact that I, my sister, Hinami, and Kang Juhyuk were all gathered in the same place at this late hour was a scandal in itself. If it reached a reporter’s ears, it might not end as a mere rumor. In the worst case, it could leak…
…In that case, Hinami’s life as an idol would be— No. Her life as a celebrity would be over forever. She’d be branded as the bitch who slept with her friend’s boyfriend.
“Then how do you plan to handle that manager?”
“We’ll have to shut his mouth. Get him to sign a written pledge or something.”
“...Do you really think a crazy bastard who fed her sleeping pills will stay quiet?”
I agreed with what Kang Juhyuk said. …I couldn’t imagine a man like that keeping his mouth shut forever. But if he really was the manager I had known all this time,
“He’ll keep quiet until the statute of limitations runs out. He won’t want to go to prison.”
“...How many years is that?”
“If we call it attempted rape, it should last until the girls’ contracts end… So it’ll probably be fine. …I’ll make sure it’s fine.”
That man didn’t have the guts to walk into prison on his own two feet. The fact that I, who had been fed sleeping pills, was standing here perfectly fine was proof of that. …If he had been someone like Kang Juhyuk, I might have been dragged to the manager’s house instead of standing in our apartment parking lot right now.
“...Um, Director.”
“Oh, right. Jia. I should have listened to you too…”
“I’m fine. …With that.”
“...Thank you for that.”
When the director bowed his head with an apologetic expression, I also bowed to show that it was all right. Of course, if it were purely up to my feelings, I wanted to throw that bastard in jail right this second…
…I didn’t know. Maybe some lingering attachment to idol activities remained even though I thought I was sick of it. The same might be true for Hinami, whom I thought I was done with. Maybe some friendship still lingered.
And above all else.
“Instead, could you cancel my schedule for next week?”
“Ah, that was going to happen anyway since we need to find a new manager. You should get some counseling too, so I’ll cancel it on my end.”
“...Thank you.”
Just thinking about this incident spreading outside made me feel nauseous. Even when I was the only one who knew the secret, I felt like I was going crazy. The moment other people found out and started pointing fingers at us, I knew I wouldn’t be able to endure it.
I didn’t even want to imagine it. The thought of people talking about us even in communities that had nothing to do with us. The thought of the places that used to cheer for us now mocking us.
“Anyway… thank you for catching it and cleaning it up before it became a bigger problem. Later, we’ll somehow express our gratitude…”
“No, no. It’s my future sister-in-law’s business. There’s no need for that…”
“When you have time, I’ll treat you to a meal. Together with Jia’s older sister.”
“...Thank you. Please contact me sometime.”
So. This was the best outcome. Pretending nothing had happened. Hinami had come here to see my sister, not Kang Juhyuk. The manager hadn’t tried to drug and rape me but had simply quit because he was exhausted. The director had never rushed over to this parking lot. And Kang Juhyuk had simply brought Hinami for my sister’s sake and had no special relationship with her.
That was the truth.
“Then I’ll take him and make sure his mouth stays shut. You all go up and rest. You too, Jia. Don’t go anywhere this weekend. Stay home until I contact you.”
“Yes.”
“Well then. Thank you.”
After exchanging final bows with the director, the three of us who remained in the parking lot suddenly felt the heavy silence settle over us.
…Should I consider this a debt? Even if it was a coincidence, he had stopped something worse from happening and even helped clean up the mess.
“...”
But I didn’t want to obediently thank the man who was staring at me with that expressionless face. …After all, once we went upstairs, it was obvious he was going to fuck Hinami. Saying thank you to the very person giving me a headache didn’t appeal to me at all.
“...Thank you.”
“...Yeah.”
“It would’ve been a disaster if you were unlucky, but it didn’t get that far, so that’s a relief.”
“I guess so.”
…Still. I swallowed my personal feelings and bowed deeply to Kang Juhyuk and my sister in gratitude. Saying thank you to someone I hated wasn’t exactly new to me. And if he hadn’t been there, I might have been… raped. At the very least, the way the manager’s eyes had rolled back earlier made it clear he was fully capable of doing something like that.
“Hey, Juhyuk.”
“What?”
“...The director probably noticed, right? About you and Hinami.”
“...Probably.”
The problem, if there was one, was that the director had grown suspicious about his relationship with Hinami. No matter how much the dating ban had been lifted, that didn’t mean they were allowed to cause a scandal. The manager could be silenced on the surface, but if he secretly spread rumors online, there was no way to stop it. Honestly, if their relationship fizzled out because of that, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for me.
“...”
But from Kang Juhyuk’s perspective, clearly in deep thought, this must have been just as dizzying as it was for me. …That man definitely had affection or obsession toward Hinami.
“Kang Juhyuk.”
“Yeah, what.”
“I don’t care what you and Hinami do anymore. It’s none of my business now.”
“...You?”
So. With complete honesty,
“...I honestly don’t understand why my sister allows it, but it’s not for me to comment on, so I’ll let that go.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
“But… at the very least, could you please stop taking photos or videos? You know the difference between a simple scandal and a leak, don’t you?”
I gave him the one thing I truly wanted to say.
“...I’m not saying this because I like her alone.”
“Hey, how would you even know…”
His slightly troubled expression and my sister’s very flustered face.
“If it’s not that you like her, does that mean Hinami likes you?”
I ignored my flustered sister and pressed him further.
“Yeah. …You know it too. You saw it.”
He easily shot back at my words and pushed me away with his gaze alone.
“...If you really care about her. Shouldn’t you be the one stopping it? You’re the older one.”
“Why should I?”
“So you’re saying you don’t care what happens to Hinami?”
“...Why are you the one arguing about this?”
Not backing down from him, I spat out the words I had wanted to throw in his face and said clearly to that man,
“...Because I don’t want to watch my friend die.”
“...”
…Yes. No matter what I said about being sick of her or not wanting to see her face, she was still my friend. My colleague.
“If you’re going to make her like that… then take responsibility. It’s your doing.”
…And not just Hinami. The same went for my sister, who hated me, and the other members too. I simply didn’t want to watch the people around me get destroyed. I had already seen far too clearly how my sister and Hinami had been ruined by this man.
I didn’t want to see him violate my friend anymore.
“...Is that why you barged into my room?”
“...Excuse me?”
…Even that.
“You came. Last weekend. …When we went out, you sneaked in.”
“...”
…I never imagined he had recorded it.