The Premature Exposure
It wasn't as if I'd never watched someone get buried under absurd rumors before — and still I trusted the information I already knew over the Woo Hwi-gyum standing right in front of me.
The fact that the Hwi-gyum of the previous timeline had stepped down without a single word of defense made it hard for Ye-chan to claim he'd had no choice but to believe it. His pride wouldn't allow it.
Debts — whether owed or received — were meant to be repaid twofold. That was only human nature.
Ye-chan looked up at Woo Hwi-gyum with steely resolve.
"For now, don't tell anyone about what we just talked about. And if anyone starts calling you a school bully, do not — under any circumstances — say you're dropping out."
"But…"
Telling a pushover that he's being a pushover never actually fixes the problem.
Ye-chan decided to shift his approach.
"Everything you did was for another friend, right? Admitting it was school violence and just walking away — that doesn't sit right. How do you think that friend would feel if he found out?"
"Ah."
The look on his face said, plain as day, that he'd never considered that.
He's this easy to read!
Having peeled off the rose-tinted glasses of prejudice, Ye-chan could only sigh.
"And you have to think about the fans cheering for you right now. If you just drop out, they'll assume they were supporting a school violence perpetrator. How crushing would that be for them?"
Woo Hwi-gyum bit down hard on his lip, then nodded.
Whew. That did it.
Somehow, the persuasion had landed. Ye-chan let out a quiet breath of relief.
The first tip-off calling Woo Hwi-gyum a school bully is supposed to drop around the time Episode 6 airs, after this training camp ends.
He counted the days in his head and continued.
"Since the rumor even made its way out of Jung Chan-yang's — Senior's — mouth, if we leave it alone, that kind of story really will start circulating. Once this camp is over, let's go to your old school together."
"You're coming with me?"
Startled, Woo Hwi-gyum raised his voice in a way that didn't suit him at all.
Ye-chan narrowed his eyes.
"Of course I'm coming with you. What are you going to accomplish going alone?"
"…Thanks."
After a brief hesitation, Woo Hwi-gyum offered a quiet, well-mannered thank-you. He was a guy with a solid grip on self-awareness.
Ye-chan decided to wrap things up.
"Woo Hwi-gyum."
His voice was solemn, and his eyes burned.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry I believed other people's stories without asking you myself. You've probably been hurt by the way I've treated you — I'll make it up to you, bit by bit."
He dumped the awkward apology out in a rush and shoved Hwi-gyum toward the door before the other boy could even respond.
"Everyone's waiting. Let's get back."
The next day was the air date for Episode 5 of Chumaf.
The trainees gathered in the auditorium an hour before the live broadcast. Because Episode 5 covered the first ranking announcement from start to finish, the atmosphere was completely different from when they'd monitored the previous camp footage.
Only after the long string of elimination rankings finally ended did the heavy air lighten even a little.
They're even showing how many votes the benefit recipients got.
On filming day, only the rankings had been announced — never the actual vote counts. The broadcast, however, displayed the numbers as on-screen captions, and Ye-chan watched with his full attention locked on those subtitles.
In the mid-tier, where the vote gaps weren't large, the benefits had clearly made a real difference.
Huh?
When first-place Beom Se-hyuk's vote total was revealed, followed immediately by Ye-chan's — who had automatically taken second — a small ripple of murmurs ran through the trainees.
The difference in their benefits: fifty thousand votes total.
And the difference in their overall vote counts: forty-nine thousand.
Without the benefits, I would have been first!
Ye-chan found himself glancing toward Beom Se-hyuk before he could stop himself.
Apparently of the same mind, their gazes collided in midair.
Beom Se-hyuk was the first to smile — the most combative expression Ye-chan had ever seen on his face.
Ye-chan smiled back without a word.
Fine. The benefits were results you earned through legitimate skill. I won't deny your victory. And this next performance — I'll win it fair and square.
A bold, restless energy stirred in Ye-chan's chest.
After Episode 5 ended, the preview trailer showed a mosaic-blurred Jung Chan-yang linking Ye-chan and Woo Hwi-gyum as close friends. It was probably bait designed to hook Lee:Spirit fans — but now that Ye-chan knew the school violence allegation against Hwi-gyum was a rumor, it landed with zero impact.
Ye-chan had just finished consoling a thoroughly sobbing Gi Tae-rang and returned to their room when—
"Y-Ye-chan!"
Nam Ji-yu, pale as a sheet, flung the door open.
"What's going on?"
Ye-chan turned from handing a tissue to the still-sniffling Gi Tae-rang. Nam Ji-yu, for all the force of his entrance, suddenly hesitated and fidgeted.
"Hyung, I think you need to read this."
Bae Sae-byeok, who shared the neighboring room with Nam Ji-yu, slipped out from behind him and held out his smartphone.
A cold premonition swept down Ye-chan's spine.
Hello. I am a high school classmate of trainee Woo Hwi-gyum, who is currently competing on Choose My Prince 99.
Woo Hwi-gyum transferred into our class in the first year of high school. He was tall and handsome, and he was famous from day one. Students from other classes — even upperclassmen — would hang around our hallway just to get a look at his face. Everyone loved his quiet personality, too. They thought it was cool.
But Woo Hwi-gyum hated me intensely. To this day, I still don't know why.
The harassment started small — tripping me when I walked past, sighing loudly for no reason — and when I didn't react, it grew more and more blatant. Sending notes with curses written on them during class, throwing eraser shavings at me from the seat behind mine — that became routine. He'd deliberately slam into my desk on his way past, or crumple my notes without permission.
To everyone else, Woo Hwi-gyum was still that quiet, cool guy, so it was hard to complain to anyone.
I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I called him out into the hallway and asked why he was tormenting me. I even said that if I'd done something wrong, I'd fix it.
Woo Hwi-gyum hemmed and hawed without giving a clear reason, then suddenly lost his temper and shoved me down the stairs.
I broke my arm. A school violence committee hearing was held. Not long after, Woo Hwi-gyum withdrew from school — I guess he figured that was better than expulsion. Around that time, rumors also started circulating that the reason he'd transferred to our school in the first place was a forced transfer. The shock of what happened made me leave school not long after, too.
When I first found out by chance that Woo Hwi-gyum was on an audition program, I debated just looking the other way. I had no desire for revenge at this point, and I didn't want to be involved with him anymore.
But today, the moment I opened a portal site, there was an article saying Woo Hwi-gyum ranked 6th. The thought that if I didn't speak up now, I'd have to keep seeing that name for the rest of my life made it hard to breathe.
I believe the people who are supporting and liking Woo Hwi-gyum without knowing anything deserve to know the truth.
Woo Hwi-gyum — I think you know who I am. If you feel even the slightest bit of remorse about what you did to me, I hope you'll make sure I never have to see you on TV again.
+ Since he withdrew and isn't in the yearbook, I'm attaching a commemorative photo from our school trip and the school violence committee hearing notice.
You've got to be kidding me.
Ye-chan's eyes went wide at the familiar title of a post on an anonymous community board.
Why is this going up now?
He speed-read the post three times.
The timing was different, but the content matched almost exactly what he remembered. A photo with everyone but Woo Hwi-gyum's face mosaicked out, and a school violence committee notice with Hwi-gyum's name printed clearly on it, dramatically boosted the post's credibility.
A quick scan of the comments showed most of them were tearing into Woo Hwi-gyum, with only the occasional post declaring an intention to stay neutral mixed in.
Of all times — during the training camp.
He couldn't understand why the exposé had been moved up. If anything, Woo Hwi-gyum's ranking had dropped compared to before the reset, so it couldn't be because Ye-chan had interfered. And the writer's claim that they'd blown it up out of spite over Hwi-gyum doing well didn't hold up either.
And that school violence committee notice.
That was something that hadn't been attached last time. Ye-chan remembered clearly how the public, initially skeptical of a school violence exposé with no evidence — wondering if an innocent person was being framed — had erupted the moment the article about Hwi-gyum dropping out came out, suddenly convinced he really had been a bully.
The changed timing of the exposé and the thorough attachment of evidence pointed to someone's influence behind the scenes.
The only things that are different are me and Jung Chan-yang. It's obvious.
The memory of Chan-yang's strangely smug face sealed the suspicion into certainty.
"Hwi-gyum got called by the PD and went downstairs. What do we do?"
While Ye-chan stayed silent, organizing his thoughts, Nam Ji-yu asked anxiously.
In the meantime, Im Chae-jin had found the post on his own phone and nearly jumped out of his seat.
"What does Hwi-gyum say? Is this true?"
"I couldn't even ask him. A staff member just grabbed him out of nowhere, so I looked it up and found out myself."
Nam Ji-yu shook his head hard.
Im Chae-jin let out a long, groaning sigh.
"Ha… what about our performance? We've already practiced as six, and Woo Hwi-gyum is the main vocal — we're screwed."
Ye-chan frowned at the shift in how Im Chae-jin referred to Hwi-gyum. Im Chae-jin, apparently oblivious to the sharp look Ye-chan was giving him, kept heaving dramatic sighs.
"Talking like that without even hearing Hwi-gyum's side seems pretty hasty."
At Ye-chan's cold words, Im Chae-jin shrank back.
"No, I just meant — if it's actually true, that's a huge problem, you know? Haha, come on, Ye-chan. Why are you looking at me like that?"
A textbook bully-the-weak, cower-before-the-strong type, he tucked his tail in an instant.
Ye-chan calmly took stock of the other members' reactions.
Gi Tae-rang is so shocked his tears dried up. Nam Ji-yu looks normally worried. Bae Sae-byeok — no idea what he's thinking.
"We can't make any judgments until Hwi-gyum gets back, so let's wait for now."
Ye-chan met each teammate's eyes in turn, then added firmly:
"And I don't believe this exposé is real."
"Y-yeah, right! I hope it's not true either."
Im Chae-jin, reading the room, nodded rapidly.
After sending Nam Ji-yu and Bae Sae-byeok back to their room, Ye-chan ignored Im Chae-jin's furtive glances and sat on the edge of the bed.
If I had any sense, sitting here and waiting would be the right call. I do owe Hwi-gyum something, but I already talked sense into him yesterday — and he's not even a Party member I need to debut with.
Unless he was actively trying to get on the production staff's bad side, the correct move was to sit quietly, wait for the outcome, and accept it with humility.
Unless a choice window shoves me in the back, I wouldn't… wait. Did I just wish the choice window would shove me?
The thought made Ye-chan snort out a hollow laugh — and then he was already launching himself off the bed.
"Y-Ye-chan hyung?"
He could feel Gi Tae-rang and Im Chae-jin's confusion, but he didn't have time to answer. Jamming his feet into his shoes, Ye-chan burst out of the room and tore down the hallway at the fastest speed he could manage.
He could sense trainees opening their doors at the racket of his footsteps, but he didn't look back.
This was going to be the longest night of the entire training camp.