Protect Hayeon (2)
In the original story, Baek Haon and Lee Seohwan end up in juvenile detention before they even reach adulthood.
The reason? They were running a video room dealing in underage sex exploitation material.
Guys who only knew how to throw punches started racking their brains for ways to make money, and since Baek Haon was one sharp bastard, he quickly rose to executive level in the organization not long after joining.
Was that the starting point...?
Now that I'd chosen to dodge the situation I was supposed to lead, the backlash was coming at me from the opposite direction...
"It's all just speculation, but now that it's happened, I'll stop it."
I was sitting in the convenience store near my house, lost in endless thought.
"What the hell's got you calling me out with such a serious voice?"
Seohwan had arrived.
"Ha... those crazy fuckers."
Seohwan crumpled the beverage can he was drinking after hearing everything that had happened so far.
"What we're about to do seems a bit risky, so I couldn't ask the other kids... Just checking, I reached out to you."
"Fuck, the way you're saying it so calmly brings back memories of that time."
"That time?"
"Yeah, when you said you'd take down all those punk asses and charged into the third-year classroom all by yourself."
"Well... circumstances were circumstances."
I let out a short sigh, and Seohwan pondered my proposal, looking up at the sky.
"So, you're saying we need solid evidence... and it's probably tied to those Baekgok Middle School bastards... right?"
"Exactly. Those guys'll do anything for money—they wouldn't pass this up."
"Hmm..."
Honestly, there was no way to explain it to Seohwan.
If I told him I was originally from another world, this was a novel, and we'd done that shit in the original story, he'd believe me in a heartbeat...
But if Seohwan and I had backed out of our villain roles, the organization would've found another stand-in for sure.
Given the original plot flow, it was highly likely someone from Baekgok Middle was controlling it now.
"Okay, I get it. But even if we track 'em down and beat the shit out of them, will they spill easily? Like you said, they've got gangsters backing them."
"That's why it's dangerous."
"No, what I'm saying is..."
Seohwan scratched his head, explaining in a tone that said he wasn't quite getting it.
"You think low-level punks like us scaring them with a beating will make them listen more than the gangsters who could smash their whole families?"
"Ah, if that's the issue, don't worry."
"Huh?"
"From now on, we're not gonna be those cool model students teaching life lessons... We're going back to being the thug assholes who volunteer for the bastard role."
In the original, an insider exposed the room to the media for a self-destruct play...
All we had to do was become that insider.
We couldn't just wait around forever for one to show up.
Hayeon decided to take a break from school for the time being.
Her dad had flipped out upon hearing the story, screaming that he had to kill them right now.
Once he calmed down, he swore he'd do everything possible to pursue full legal action.
To prepare for any contingencies, Hayeon was sent to stay with her nearby maternal grandma, and her parents said they'd commute from there too.
When I got to school, Lee Jihye was waiting at my desk.
"I got us a lawyer. I talked to him first... He asked me to pass on that he can't guarantee a win for sure."
"Because of the evidence?"
"Huh? How'd you..."
"Don't worry. I'll handle it."
Even in the original, Chae Serin couldn't touch them because of solid evidence—or lack thereof.
Even showing call logs and messages, the company wrapped it up as "just a photoshoot," claiming thumbnails were just clickbait and nothing explicit was actually filmed, slipping away slyly. She was left stamping her feet in frustration.
On the surface, it all looked like innocent work for the company and influencers.
As Lee Jihye finished explaining, Wooju and Taeyang showed me footage too.
"Looks like it's already started."
"Faster than they look, these guys."
Hayeon's feed comments were already crawling with trolls.
Wooju and Taeyang were trying to block them with burner accounts, but against factory-style bot farms manipulating comments, it was only a matter of time before they got overwhelmed.
"Even if Hayeon quits SNS entirely, crap like this sticks like a tag."
"We'll block it somehow."
Dark circles hung heavily under their eyes.
They'd clearly pulled an all-nighter fighting a bloody PR war for Hayeon.
"Thanks..."
"I'll make a group chat for info sharing first. Haon, invite Jihye and senpai."
"Okay."
With Wooju's quick action, the chat was up in seconds.
I added not just senpai and Jihye, but Seohwan too.
I sent the message and let out a quiet sigh.
Honestly, my mood right now...
Irritation was boiling over.
Damn original story's ironclad laws.
Things were starting to smooth out bit by bit, I'd gotten chummy with the leads...
Then bam, incident hits—couldn't call it coincidence.
They'd keep interfering with every little thing, so I'd been ground down quick.
"Fuck, let's see who wins."
I was just throwing down a gauntlet laced with fury at whatever god or asshole dragged me here.
Classes flew by, and during breaks, we poured everything we had into what we could do.
Lunchtime arrived.
Everyone headed to the band room with grim determination on their faces.
"...You're early."
Senpai, who was already there, gestured for us to sit anywhere.
"Food tastes like shit."
"Same."
"Figured as much, so I grabbed some simple stuff."
I handed over the bag from the school store.
Can't work 'em on empty stomachs—they're here to help me, after all. I'm not heartless enough to let them starve.
"Sandwiches and milk okay? Simple stuff."
"...Good sense."
Senpai patted my head in thanks and took a sandwich.
"Thanks, future boyfriend!"
Lee Jihye patted my head too.
"Mmm~ If Haon bought it, gotta eat."
Kim Minji patted too.
"Th-thanks."
Chae Serin patted too.
What is this, some ritual to get food from me...?
"Having fun?"
Seohwan, arriving late, leaned against the door and gave me a pitiful look.
"Fun my ass. Yours is here too."
I tossed him a sandwich nonchalantly.
"Should I pat you too?"
He joked lightly as he sat down.
"Yo, Seohwan, been a while."
"Knew you'd get the call too."
Wooju and Taeyang welcomed Seohwan with a crisp high-five.
"But who's...?"
"Ah, late intro. Middle school buddy. Lee Seohwan."
"Nice to meet you all. Thanks for liking our Haon."
Was Seohwan's intro kinda lame?
For some reason, the girls' reactions were lukewarm.
One cleared her throat and stared at distant mountains, one blushed beet red and fidgeted, one eyed the others warily...
Eh, this kinda thing happens to Baek Haon all the time. But no time for that now.
"Alright, everyone's here. Quick situation rundown."
I pulled over the whiteboard in the band room and explained step by step.
"First, thanks to Jihye, we've got a lawyer. Introduce him to the parents, he'll handle the legal side and buy us minimum time. What we need in the meantime: evidence."
Chae Serin, Kim Minji, and senpai nodded at my words.
"Seems like there are other quiet victims too. Planning to gather their stories."
"...I'm in too."
At some point they'd swapped contacts—Chae Serin, Kim Minji, and senpai had teamed up to execute.
"Okay, next: Wooju and Taeyang's media manipulation. Bluntly, once Hayeon goes dark, the company moves first and we're just reacting. Any ideas?"
Taeyang and Wooju pondered briefly.
"We're iffy too, but... there's a way to flip their public opinion against them."
Taeyang came over, took the board marker, and explained slowly.
"Their method: stir false controversy. Fabricate pasts to drag down influencers. In reality, it doesn't stick to nobodies, but it does to famous ones."
"Right, even if cleared, the label lingers."
"Everyone knows that one Hayeon vid that blew up recently?"
"Yeah, that's why we went to your place."
"...Yup."
"Silver lining... Haon's clarification vid with his 'big bro' was paywalled. Viewers laughed it off, but non-viewers are still burning like us."
"Plus, Haon's SNS is private and low-maintenance, so no solid facts stuck."
Wooju added to Taeyang's explanation.
"In short: the company's riding the flaming opinion wave to trash Hayeon."
"But can't Haon just explain that?"
Lee Jihye said, puzzled by the company's handling.
"Exactly. That's the poisoned chalice. Unless they storm your house, they don't know if you're really her brother—so they swallowed it. Just pouring more fuel on the fire."
"So our play is..."
[Watch the Fire]
Lee Wooju scrawled their role in big letters on the whiteboard.
"Keep feeding the flames to blow it up bigger."
"..?"
Everyone frowned at Wooju's plan.
"Just watch them trash Hayeon?"
"Feels off..."
"Not helping, even."
As the girls shot cold glares, Wooju quickly clarified.
"We could flip opinion now, but they'd grab another hook and drag it out. But if there's a chance to flip it all at once...?"
"There is?"
Taeyang and Wooju quickly showed us Hayeon-related posts.
"Bait's spreading now—talk about her's heating up. News soon."
"We gotta stop that!"
"No, we move after news breaks."
"From the start, company's wrong-footed: rumors Haon and Hayeon are lovers, living together. We exploit that max."
I started getting their point.
"So, when the fake news goes public, I drop a clarification stream?"
"Yep. Blow up the easy debunk—family certificate proves it—then flip."
"Hmm... solid, but Hayeon's mental...?"
Just as I thought it genius...
Chae Serin's words froze everyone.
"Don't worry. Parents confiscated her devices for a while. Peeking while media burns would suck, but post-resolution, it'll swing her way... She'll be fine."
I gave the okay, and Wooju and Taeyang sighed in relief.
"Our role ends there. If it gets that far, Haon's stream calls out the company too—opinion shifts target for sure."
"Phew... Okay. So all that's left is nailing perfect evidence."
I glanced at Seohwan.
And then...
"These fuckers already bit the bait?"
He showed me his phone.
"Probably hit 'em up after school."
Theoretically perfect plan locked in.